September 19th 2010: Portland

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Click on images below to enlarge:
Portland's Chinatown gate.	Voodoo Doughnut, a Portland institution known for its eclectic doughnuts. Note the line stretching around the block.	Its menu has many doughnuts with inexplicable names.	Racks of doughnuts. If you look at the full-sized image, you'll see how strange some of these are.
Ankeny Square, on the way to the Portland Saturday Market.	Under puffy clouds, one end of the Saturday Market.	A low-resolution movie of the plaza at one end of the Saturday market. People sat around the fountain and listened to the performers (which you can hear in the audio track of this movie). I took this movie because I thought the messages on the steps would make a good game clue. (Yes, there are messages; they're impossible to read in this video. I don't recall what they say.)	The market is along the Willamette River, which cuts through the center of the city. I believe this is Burnside Bridge.
Lots of people jog or stroll along the waterfront. This picture looks south toward Morrison Bridge.	As seen above a park, the so-called Steel Bridge, a truss double-lift bridge.	An example lane within the Saturday Market, under Burnside Bridge.	Saws with messages carved on them ("Dad's Shop", "Gone Fishing", etc.). The stall is named Sounds of Steel Enterprises.
Bird feeders made exclusively from teacups and plates.	Spoonman Creations makes tons of stuff (jewelry, mobiles, artwork, and more), all out of metal table spoons.	A guy selling puzzle boxes and the like, wooden things that appeal to engineering geek.	One t-shirt shop had a number of fun shirts: "Don't hate the player. Hate the dungeon master." the word karma above a recycle logo series of labeled shapes: pentagon, hexagon, oregon Another shop sold one saying "Jesus likes you as a friend." I had to think about this one before I got it.
One glass shop sold pens with glass barrels, glass oil droppers, and glass perfume bottles. I would've bought a glass pen if they used pens I liked.	Fresh-tasting falafel.	The park at SW 3rd Avenue and SW Salmon Street is very green and pretty.	Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland's central downtown square, had a symphony performing when we wandered by.
Judging by this signpost, Pioneer Courthouse Square is not just the center of Portland but also the world. It's a short walk (54 yards) to the local information center, but a long way to tipperary. This sign would make a good game clue. By the way, see the arrow to Suzhou? I was there recently. (Portland and Suzhou are sister cities.)	Look west down SW Morrison Street, an arbitrary street running through the center of downtown. Note the trees, planters, and streetcar lines.	By the way, I like the look of Portland's trolleys. Sorry I didn't nab a photo.	Di Yin demonstrating waiting at one of Portland's sleek, modern-looking bus stops.
Portland doesn't have any shortage of water. Fountains such as these were always running.	A typical street in downtown Portland.	At SW Broadway and SW Main Street, there's an old-style concert hall on one corner, an old-style movie theater (playing modern movies) on another, and a performing art center on another. These bricked up church windows are one side of the concert hall. I took a picture because it's an interesting look.	The park at SW Main Street and SW Park Avenue.
An excellent piece of trompe l'oeil on SW Park Avenue near SW Jefferson Street, by the Oregon History Society.	We stumbled on Portland State University. It's pleasantly leafy green.
Dinner at Apizza Scholls
We ate dinner at Apizza Scholls, ordering a pizza that was half house-made sausage and "goathorn pepper" (with the usual: tomato sauce, mozzarella, pecorino romano, and olive oil) and half margherita (the usual, plus garlic and basil). Both pies were sprinkled with a bit of truffle oil. It was "a mighty fine pizza." I approve. The mozzarella and the crust were of notably good quality. Also, the pecorino added a nice sharpness and a saltiness that obviated the need to cook with salt directly. As for the meat half, the sausage was good, and the fennel seeds were a nice touch. The slightly brined peppers--a bit vinegary--helped cut the grease in the sausage. The meat half was definitely heavier, so we were glad we had the margherita to balance it out. Di Yin is showing how the pie is much bigger than her head.	The chefs talk about philosophy and tell a story on the menu. They shout out to Lombardi in New York. They even have a simpler philosophy about simplicity, requiring no more than three ingredients per pie and no more than two meats.	The decor felt homey to Di Yin. Sorry I didn't take a picture of it this day. I did photograph it when we returned the following week.