A Lack of Jack

Is it me or are there less jack-o-lanterns out this year?!.. actually, let me correct myself. There are NO jack-o-lanterns out this year!!! Granted, I haven't celebrated Halloween in Portland in over five years, but I could have sworn people use to put out more jack-o-lanterns on their front porch! It's the day before Halloween and as I drive around town, I don't see any orange faces staring back at me. SO SAD! Does that mean less houses for kids to trick-o-treat at?! I really hope this isn't a sign of a slow death of my favorite holiday... or indicate the demise of future holidays to come. Recession sucks.

OMSI

The Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) is popular for kids interested in natural sciences, human development, lifestyle issues, and technology. There's even a submarine that's actually submerged in the Willamette River! But I wonder if many know about OMSI After Dark (an event held after hours on the last Wednesday of every month) for adults only?! Folks over 21 can leave the kids at home, get drunk and explore the exhibits themselves!

So after Ping last night, Michael and I ventured over to OMSI (he's never been!!!) and spent the evening solving puzzles, learning about wind & water, played in the physics lab, experienced an earthquake (in their Earthquake House), built a bridge, and played Connect Four with robotic arms (yes, Michael's a NERD!!! not me though :) haha

There were tons of labs and games, with various Portland vendors in between giving away samples of beer, vodka, juice, chocolate, etc. Their feature exhibit Scream! was on the science of fear... and we experimented with common fears - fear of falling, fear of animals, fear of shock, etc. which examines why our knees shake, our body sweats, and heart races when we're scared and how society affects our fears! It was pretty cool!... especially since I love being scared :D And so appropriate before Halloween!
The exhibit goes on until January - you guys should check it out!

Ping

Is it me or do all restaurants these days get an award for anything!?

Ping was named "Rising Star of 2009" in The Oregonian's Diner Guide. So Michael took me there for date night last night. oOohhh, aren't we adventurous ?! <--- like our blog title?! LOL Date night on a Wednesday! Date night is usually on a Friday, but with this steady stream of (now involuntary) time off, it seems as though we can afford some spontaneous shifts in our schedule :)

I'm too lazy to write a full on review about this place, but I did like it. Cool spot in a shoddy (but up and coming) area, Old Town / Chinatown. For those of you who don't know, Portland's Chinatown is about two blocks long and two blocks wide (barely) and Chinese people don't actually live here, nor are there that many Chinese restaurants here... maybe because it's (again) two blocks long and two blocks wide. I like the Japanese take on (is it) Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai street food (????) Personally, the decor made me miss and wish it was one of those pure play ramen restaurants you'd be lucky to run into on the streets of New York :: sigh ::

Baby Octopus Skewer - marinated in lime, chilies, garlic, fish sauce and cilantro

Red Potato Skewer - salt roasted and grilled, served with spicy mayo sauce

Wild-caught Gulf Prawn Skewer - served with Vietnamese sea-salt , black pepper and lime

Spicy Mama Ramen - instant Thai ramen noodles in house-made pork bone broth (tamarind, fish sauce and chilies) with pork balls, prawns, yu choy and poached egg

Pok Pok

You know how you have friends you don't speak to very often, either because they live far away or because your lives are just so hectic?... but yet, when you do speak to them, you can just pick up where you left off? Well, I am extremely blessed to have a few of those friends. Friends that don't blame you for not calling for 6 months; friends that may have taken different paths in their lives and may be at a different point in their life than you, but are always happy to see when they do or gladly talk to you when you make the time? One of those friends is an old friend of mine from high school named Thao aka "Shortie" (yes, that's a childhood nickname and yes, we still call her that :)

Thao was actually my very first new (and first Vietnamese) friend in high school. We had to sit next to each other in P.E. (don't ask me why, but we sat in alphabetical order) (surprise surprise to you people on the East Coast, we also both have the same last name :) and while I thought she was mean at first (don't kill me Shortie :) we quickly became friends and as I busted my ass in hockey and dodge ball for an "A," Thao skipped class every other day and got the same grade!!! She literally did not break a sweat the entire year :P

We reminisced about that phenomenon during a long overdue dinner at a restaurant in SE Portland called Pok Pok last night. I had heard about it from a friend, while Thao had seen it featured on the Food Network and when I looked it up, realized it was given the 2007 Oregonian Restaurant of the Year award. Whatever happened in '08 and '09, I have no idea... but we still thought it was worth a try!

Pok Pok features a Southeast Asian street food menu, with special emphasis on dishes from North and Northeast Thailand. Thao and I agreed that we should try their most famous dish, Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings (thank god Michael wasn't with us - I don't know how "fish sauce" in the name of its most famous dish would fly with him) and paired it with the waitress' recommendation of Papaya Pok Pok (papaya salad) and Kuung Op Wun Sen (a claypot with prawns).


The chicken wings were marinated in fish sauce, garlic and sugar, deep fried and tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic. Supposedly, this recipe comes from Pok Pok's daytime grill cook's home in Vietnam... we wondered where Ike is originally from in Vietnam because neither of us had ever had aVietnamese dish like this before! It was a very interesting take on chicken wings and a very good one at that! Meanwhile, the papaya salad was good, but nothing special.

And the prawns baked in a clay pot were a Chinese influence on Thai food, baked over charcoal with pork belly, whiskey, soy, ginger, cilantro root and black pepper.


Overall, if you're looking for authentic Thai food, there are definitely better places in Portland (try the new Thai Fresh on SE Division), but if you're up to trying some new dishes in a cool atmosphere (we sat inside their "Whiskey Soda Lounge," but you can also sit outside under heated lamps and order snacks from their shack), Pok Pok is worth a visit.

As for me and Shortie, she finally revealed to me she did extra credit to get that "A" in P.E. WHAT?! I didn't know that was even an option! Maybe during our next dinner, she'll explain to me how she did extra credit without exerting any physical activity!

GDC: And the Winner Is...

Chi Quan & Derek!
... from Week 7

Good thing they decided to award 1st and 2nd place, because Michael and I got 2nd place. Woohoo! And by 0.03 of a point! ooOOoOoohhh, by a hair!!!

Congrats to Chi Quan and Derek for a job well done!

We held a pot luck gather (Chinese restaurant style) to count the votes. There was SOOO much GOOD food! Ever since we started GDC, casual family get-togethers are no longer the same. Everyone's standards are much higher, with each event requiring RSVP, formal invites, and an agenda of activities! Good times, good times!