Last week my mom and I took a trip to the “green city” of Oregon since neither of us had really been there before and I will be moving there next month to begin grad school.  I was successful in both finding a nice apartment to rent and exploring a little of the city – its 4+ modes of public transportation, shops, and restaurants. :)


awesome apartment + city roads dominated by trains and buses… and bikes

I’d have to say, considering how energy-conservational the civil engineers make it a point to be, it sure is challenging to navigate the roads as newcomers. They are indeed super bike-friendly (I am so thankful!) but there are a few areas where you can never make right turns or left turns in your car and you’d better come prepared with a great map or a reliable GPS for driving.

We spent a couple days walking around the campus of Oregon Health and Science University which is just spectacular for a hospital plus many schools to be closely arranged on a single hill; it reminded me of a theme park. =)  What a nice place to be!

Both on Marquam hill and downtown you’ll find lots of compacted trailer-eateries which are probably most comparable to the food trucks I saw when I was living in Boston.  The food is quick and… the quality you’d expect of quick; I just thought it was neat to see transportable restaurants everywhere.

Hotel Modera

We stayed in a cute and beautiful hotel for the weekend which was close to the OHSU campus and also located downtown with access to the light rail train, streetcar, and bus stops.  The restaurant had incredible desserts and a super friendly staff.  Highly recommended place to stay.

Mother’s Bistro and Bar

For a superb meal with a vintage atmosphere, Mother’s Bistro is a very large [expanded] restaurant near the Morrison Bridge and has really great breakfasts.  I’m sure the other food there is awesome too; it was probably our favorite place to eat that was recommended by the locals.  The cinnamon roll was the best I’ve ever had!

Voodoo Doughnuts

This old bakery was AWESOME.  The establishment should hold some award just for its incredible creativity!  Voodoo Doughnuts could show the world that you can do anything with doughnuts – or anything with anything, as long as you aren’t afraid to try.  Cereal as toppings, bacons in your icing, homemade vegan recipes, bubble gum flavored breakfast, even the notion of having a voodoo doll in the form of raspberry-filled dough.  :)


Even if they don’t seem all that strange or unlikely to taste good, I was really impressed.  You don’t see these combinations at Krispy Kreme, but they really work.  On the weekends, expect the line to be out the door!

Good things come in pink boxes.

Ultra delicious, but beware – they take no mercy on the sugar!!

Shop Fuego

This is THE hipster store.  Located in the Pioneer Place mall.

Trendy, cute, unique, popular, handmade. ;)   Not too badly priced either.

Airport display of Recycled Fashion

What if the ultimate measure of coolness was how little you bought and how much you creatively reused?

On the return trip, I was so excited to find a display of unique Junk to Funk fashions at the AIRPORT!  Of course, they were all a shade of Portland green – recycled coffee filters and plastic silverware (below), cat litter bags, wine bottle holders, scrap metal, and bedsheets made up some very cool dresses.  The idea may not be super practical for the effort required and comfort factor, but the designs were pretty sweet.

And lastly, I’ll include my favorite quote from the OHSU med school  =)