PORTLAND FOOD CARTS

Another favorite place is where a dear cousin took me for lunch one chilly day in Portland, Oregon.  Right somewhere in the middle of downtown Portland, similar to a CBD (central business district), are  sidewalks lined with food carts with cuisines ranging from Thai, Fijian, Hawaiian, Ethiopian, Korean, Spanish, Mexican, Cuban…gee…name every nationality and it’s aptly represented via these carts.

United Nations food carts all around

It was such a surprisingly cold noon time that visiting all food carts was not a favorable choice unless one wanted to end up frozen.  Best bet was to scrutinize 1-2 sidewalks only.  Good thing, we happily found Asian food we liked which we thought could also help with the cold weather.

Comfort food for the cold. One of the best meals had in Oregon. There were other food carts to be "discovered" but very little time and tolerance for the weather. This is a must do next visit.

Grab take-out food containers and walk to the nearby park and dine in true al-fresco style.  Marvel at the beauty of nature’s blooms and be amused with the number of doves frolicking for attention.  And as a fitting end, cheerfully give left-overs to the homeless plying the streets.  A truly fulfilling meal. ♥

CHRISTMAS IN TAIWAIN

Taipei to be exact.  Easy, tranquil, cold (at least for moi  with 10-12), surprisingly friendly populace, injected with the usual interesting sight seeing, shopping high mid and low, and glorious food.  A lot have been discovered about this place and these finds will surely turn up here.  In the meantime, here are a few family snap shots taken with ze Canon =)

Click on photo to enlarge

A truly Merry Christmas!

NANJING: AN ANCIENT CAPITAL OF CHINA

Nanjing, presently the capital of the province of Jiangsu has a prominent place in China’s history. Nanjing used to be the capital of China being one of the seven ancient capitals and was one of the earliest established cities. It has an abundant amount of history covering dynasties, revolutions and massacres (the Nanjing massacre in 1937 by the Japanese).

There are many places of interest and they are organized and maintained very well by government.

Giant stone statues representing martyrs at The Yuhua Terrace, Nanjing's cemetery of the Martyrs. Resting place of the communists and enemies of the Kuomintang or the Chinese Nationalist Party.

One of several religious images displayed within the temple.

Legend says a Buddhist master named Yunguang held ceremonies on the largest hill in this area and through his powers, made flowers fall from the sky that turned into colourful pebbles when they finally touched the ground thus calling them Rain Flower Pebbles (more on this on next post).

More than 100 steps to reach the top of this scenic structure.

View from the top

Lush greenery. A rare sight to see in a busy city like Nanjing.

ANGKOR AND FOOD! WAT?

After being templed-out in Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Ba Phoun, Phimeanakas and more in Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia, resting our weary feet and feeding our appetites with Khmer cuisine was the next best thing to do!

Entrance to Angkor.

Closer look at one of the guard statues lining Angkor's entrance.

One of the many faces of Bayon Temple.

Way up high in Bayon.

A blurred nose to nose shot

Inside Bayon.

Bayon pictorial...he he!

Ta Prohm, the temple taken over by 500-900 year old trees. Popularly known as the location of Angelina Jolie's movie Tomb Raider. This tree is the most popular among tourists.

This is one of the funny spots in Ta Prohm. A gigantic tree root shaped like a derriere. Here's an American tourist clowning around with the root =)

Time for refreshments, Coconut juice au naturel

Khmer cuisine at Khmer Village Restaurant inside Angkor

A typical Khmer dish...Amok fish. Also available in chicken variant. It is similar to curry minus the spice. Loaded with coconut milk and filled with julienned green vegetable whose leaves we saw at the restaurant's garden entrance. Name escapes our guide's memory at the time of photo. This is a favorite of TBW. Brought home some Amok spice hoping to replicate dish. Goes very well with steamed rice.

Sweet and sour snake cat fish. Our guide's fave...not mine =)

Fried snake cat fish with mint and mango salad

Chicken curry with sweet potatoes. The curry sauce is on the sweetish side because of these. Quite good.

Khmer cuisine's version of fried beef and french fries. Oooh la la... the Cambodians have amusing stories about the French...fries =)

Another TBW favorite: Nangka or Langka fruit shake. Really yummy. Creamy, fruity and refreshing. Cambodians are big on fruit shakes. There even is a cashew shake. Wanted to order that but they ran out. It's that popular with the locals.

After refueling, it's back to the temples. On the way, we see the ruins of the Terrace of Elephants. This was where elephant wrestling took place centuries ago solely for the entertainment of the King and his subjects.

Some of the inlaid figurines "supporting" the Elephant's Terrace

Inside Angkor Wat, fronting an entire stone wall carved by hand, depicting life in the kingdom's imperial court during ancient times and of mythology. We are in awe.

One of the many magnificent hand carved stone figures. Unbelievably beautiful!

Temple City or City of Monastery. The beauty and splendor of Angkor Wat.

Man-made lake surrounding Angkor for protection purpose.

A calming and spiritual feeling enveloped us during our visit to Angkor.  And that was enough.  But this city offered more.  It was an absolute feast for all the senses.

More on food haunts in Siem Reap soon…..