Matt Fong’s Blog

I hopped on a flight home today. Security at Sea-Tac as pretty bad (the worst I’ve seen it since 9/11) but it might have been the time of day (2:30pm) or simply this time of year. It took almost 30 minutes to pass security. Even during peak travel periods, I’ve never had to wait so long but it’s good to be home. I’ve got like 20 episodes of West Wing stored on my TiVo just waiting to be watched (and deleted).

Looks like I’ll be subletting at 1106 in Tacoma this summer . Happy 21st Thomas and hope you enjoyed the bars!

I took a trip to the Oregon Coast yesterday to the city of Cannon Beach. In Oregon terms, I’m under the impression it was a fantastic day for a beach stroll. It was sunny and hot in the upscale commercial district of town but the wind was blowing like crazy on the beach. It’s the first time I’ve been to the Oregon Coast and I can tell why everyone raves about it. Seeing the beach with a virtually untouched forest to the sides is amazing. Too bad it’s not much of a swimming beach. The beach is bordered with vacation rental houses (in a Southern California feel) and the town is full of kite shops and art galleries (in a Monterey/Carmel, CA feel). Ate lunch at the Ecola and had the Halibut fish and chips, excellent.

We headed into Portland for one more night at the bars. Actually we really only went to meet Debbie and went to the Rock Bottom and this taqueria/bar on 23th (or maybe it was 24th) street. Going to drive back up to Tacoma today, hopefully I won’t run into traffic on i5 but before I go, we are stopping for Mexican food served out of the back of a truck.

Wow. We took the Max into Portland from the Hillsboro station which seemed like a smart idea at the time. The Max is the light rail system that connects Portland and its suburbs. We got into Portland within 50 minutes and ate dinner at Kells Irish Pub. We continued to hop from bar to bar (Rock Bottom is the only name I remember) for the next few hours. Ran into a couple of UPS alumni, which is always a good time. 1:20am rolls around and we decide we are hungry and go to eat yam fries (excellent, btw) at XV.

Turns out the last Max lightrail makes its run at 1:30am. Needless to say, we missed the last Max by 10 minutes (if only that waiter could have been quicker at giving us our check!!!). Being the adventure seeking, intoxicated, yet logical people we are we devised several ways to return home including walking (30+ miles), hitchhiking, calling AAA (faking a broken car), flirting our way to a bed, or sleeping in a bush and waiting for the morning Max. We attempted the first option but opted for the last, sleeping 4 hours in the luxurious, bark filled, outdoor, absolutely freezing, side yard area of a downtown apartment building. Anyway, we made it back to Forest Grove by 7 the next day.

I’m going to leave you with just one hyperlink. TriMet: MAX Light Rail Service Schedule

Saw a dressage horseback riding competition today at Devonwood Equestrian Centre while visiting a friend in Oregon. Couldn’t really understand the difference between the skills each rider performed (it all looked the same for me), but the competition was a first for me and enjoyable. The Devonwood Estate is absolutely gorgeous. The setting is right out of a Hollywood movie and my horse enthusiast says the amenities (for the horses) are top notch. Keeping up the grounds must be a gardener’s nightmare.

Last night I went to the local movie theatre and saw Van Helsing and Mean Girls. Both were good movies but Mean girls was surprisingly entertaining and funny (I’m big into black humor) despite the demographics (mostly teenage girls) of fellow audience members. Anyway, I’m off to Portland to checkout the nightlife.