Sunday, March 13, 2022

Portland has the Best Japanese Garden

Portland Japanese Garden is the best Japanese garden I've encountered outside of Japan.


The misty light rain added to the existing serenity of the garden. I liked this place so much that I was considering joining their membership program despite the fact that it's pretty far away from where we live.





They got even more awesome points by being home to the Umami Cafe, that sold traditional teas and little tea snacks.











Lydia got the matcha and sakura yokan.



I went with the hojicha and chikara cake. 



I sipped on a lovely bowl of misoshiru along with my tea. The place was kind of small and so the staff were super attentive. The refilled my hot water at least once. I could have stayed in here all day.































On top of the awesome gardens AND the amazing tea house, they had a Japanese art exhibition on display as well!

Fashion and Fantasy

The Art of Netsuke Carvings

Portland Japanese Garden celebrates the addition of over two hundred exquisite netsuke (pronounced nets-keh) to its collections by showcasing select examples of artistry and imagination. At the heart of Fashion and Fantasy lies the breathtaking diversity of stories, artistic expression, and imagination that netsuke can capture. Exploring the themes of artistic mastery, fables and myths, people, and animals, The Netsuke Collection of James R. Coonan, Denise C. Bates and Lurline C. Menzies provides a window into the character and creativity of Japanese chic during the intensely artistic Edo period.

















I was sad to leave this fantastic place.





Portland seems to have an even worse hobo problem than Seattle. My impression of downtown Portland anyway is that it's like Seattle without tech jobs.







We popped into a crafty local stuff store and I was tempted by these glasses that have famous mountains depicted in the glass.









Visiting Powell's City of Books was surreal for me because I used to ship them a lot of books in my bookmonger entrepreneurial days. They were incredibly anal about the condition of the books they would buy so I always feared working with them.







We were now very serious about putting a big dent in the number of McMenamins passport stamps we had left to collect. We had lunch at the Ringler's Annex.







McMenamins often has outlandish bathrooms.







I made my very first stop at Voodoo Doughnut.









There were many festive and sometimes anatomically correct doughnuts to choose from.









Lydia got the class little jelly filled voodoo man doughnut with the pretzel through the heart. I don't think I got anything because I'm on a little diet. Must be friggin' nice!



I'd never seen a Keens store before. Those are our favorite shoes for adventuring.





Simpsons creator Matt Groening was born in Portland and named many of his famous characters after Portland street names.



We had to check out a Nike store while we were in town. The company is headquartered in nearby Beaverton, Oregon.









We had dinner at McMenamins Olympic Club on the way home in Centralia, Washington.









There was a special stamp for a wine flight. Don't mind if I do!









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