Afuri

     This week's restaurant of choice is one of my favorite foods; ramen. Located in Old Town Portland, Afuri Ramen + Dumpling is next to the famous Voodoo Doughnuts. Normally, I choose not to venture near Old Town very often, but there are some amazing places to eat. Additionally, it is close to the waterfront and provides a great location for tourists to visit. 

     This location does bring in the down-town-attitude. The restaurant is busy with locals and tourists alike. The tables are communal tables with more private seating along the outer edges. For those who are looking to meet new people, the center communal tables provide a great environment to start a conversation with someone new. The window seats are great for individuals or pairs looking to enjoy their meal in peace. Outside the windows are great views of downtown Portland and the individuals who inhabit downtown. 

     Afuri is a great Japanese restaurant with several locations world-wide. According to their website; 

     "Afuri [named after a mountain in Japan] has long been known for its waters, and
in days past, it was considered a sacred mountain of good harvest, and thousands would journey to Mt. Afuri every year in pilgrimage. We like to think we're bringing sacred Mt. Afuri to the rest of the world. The mountain provides us with a kind of philosophy. It can be a little tricky to translate it literally from Japanes, but let's just call it "Higher". We push higher in everything we do - everything, from pickling to serving - and we intend to reach for excellence as we are AFURI. Mt Afuri remains - straight, honest, steadfast, dependable. That's our aime. One ramen. One staff. Always higher." 

     When you first enter the restaurant seat yourself, on the table are containers with chopsticks, napkins and an ordering explination. On the table are laminated QR codes to scan for the menu. I personally do not mind QR code menus and with COVID have noticed the recent increase in popularity. I do, however, know there could be potential difficulties with this. For this restaurant you do everything from the QR code. Each QR code is specific to where it is located within the restaurant. From the menu you can start a tab, order and pay all from your mobile device. For groups this makes splitting the bill much easier, but for families or groups that want to be on one check this means everyone has to share the one mobile device that it is set up on. 

Yuzo Shoyu

     When we went it was just Roy and I, and we don't mind one of us paying for the bill. I also enjoy when Roy orders for me since he actually knows what I do and don't like. Sitting next to us was a larger family with about four or six individuals. In this situation it meant that one of them essentially had to play waiter. There appeared to be two choices in situations with large groups on one check. One, pass the phone around to everyone, or two everyone reads the menu from their own phone and tells the person ordering what to put in the phone actually ordering. 

     I ordered the yuzo shoyu, a ramen in chicken broth with bamboo shoots, an egg, pork, fride garlic and nori (seaweed). Roy got the yuzu ratan, a slightly spicer ramen made with, chicken broth, bamboo shoots, sesame, peppers and lemon peel. While ours were not, they do offer gluten free and vegan options. 

     Another popular menu item is the gyoza dumplings. We have too many to count at home so we decided not to get some, but the family next to us got a couple servings and I almost immediately regretted not getting some. 

     In terms of accessability, I again did not venture to a restroom to see, but the rest of the restaurant is very friendly to all. In honest, the most difficult part would be other customers. The tables are spaced far enough apart to not only allow for customers to freely wander, but also to allow the staff to quickly navigate around crowds of people. 

      Afuri Ramen is a great place for lunch or early dinner. During evening hours I would not reccomend it just do to location. With that being said, Afuri has a sister restaurant (that I have not been to yet) in southeast Portland. Afuri Izakaya from it's pictures appears to have a much more upscale vibe and would be a much better dinner option, I'll try to make a trip accross the river sometime soon to verify. 

Azuri Ramen + Dumpling at a Glance:

• Simple, easy to chose from menu
• Moderate volume
• Communal tables
• Great accessibility
• Easy to navigate areas, low tables, extra space
• Price: Two ramens, one drink, plus tip $45.00

Kenny and Zuke's Delicatessen

Onion Bagels

     To be perfectly honest, some of the restaurant and cafe's I drag my husband along to are mostly planned out. Looking at location on google, the menu online and even reviews to decide if the adventure will be worthwhile before I even start my adventure. This, in part has encouraged me to write this series. To create a place where readers can know what a place is like before visit. To have someone else check out the place before. There are lots of reasons why someone might want to know what to expect before. For some it's as simple as knowing the vibe or atmosphere to wear the best clothes for "aesthetic". For some it might be social anxiety or limitations. Whatever the reason, there are many valid points to know what to expect before entering somewhere.

     Now, there are those out there who will tell you "some of my greatest adventures where unplanned!" And I get that! I also have experienced fun memories and wild stories from circumstances that didn't allow for planning, or where plans went sideways. I have also experienced not so great outcomes when plans have gone awry. Fortunately for myself, this restaurant was neither an exciting adventure nor a disastrous misfortune. 

    During our weekly outing, on our way to go watch the new Dr. Strange, we stumbled upon Kenny and Zuke's Delicatessen. It's not that this is a super secret location or a brand new location, it just was one that I had not added to my personal list of food to try. We went at approximately 11:00 am on a Saturday. With my new perspective of trying to view areas from all levels, the first aspect I noticed was just that; levels. 

     According to their website; Kenny and Zuke's is a Jewish Delicatessen with choices ranging from various bagels, sandwiches, and other various treats. Located just a block from Powell's, this shop has an ADA automatic door that places customer's right in front of the counter to order. At the counter there is a glass case showing various sweets. Behind the counter shelves of freshly made bagels, next to those, several servings of salami hanging from the wall. Around the corner is where everything else is made. A grill with two or three working fills the restaurant with various smells of perfect sandwiches. After ordering there are truly three options.

    Option one: walk two steps to go sit at the dining area. Now, I know that I cannot speak for those who might have difficulty with stairs, but this use of two steps did slightly frustrate me. Larger staircases architecturally make sense, however with two steps it is difficult to believe that the two floors could not be on the same plane. If absolutely not, there seems to be no reason those two steps cannot be swapped out for a much more accssible ramp. 

    Option two: go back outside, to re-enter the dining area from the emergency access. With those two steps, the only way to enter the dining area is to exit the front door and go down the sidewalk to re-enter the restaurant from the exit door.

     Option three: take your order to go.

Bagel with Lox

     We ordered two simple bagels for breakfast. For Roy, a bagel with cream cheese, for myself, a bagel with lox cream cheese. Overall, they were good, but if I'm being completely
honest, not worth it. We waited longer to order, and receive our food then it took for us to eat the bagels. Also, my bagel was rather difficult to bite into. Roy's however was soft and easy to bite, but I had to battle mine to eat.

     The location is a great spot, right near Burnside, with big windows to people watch. The menu is simple and friendly to most diets (everything is on bread however). The dining area is spacious and provides lots of space for distancing and navigating. Lastly, it is a great breakfast/brunch place for those looking for time to kill while downtown Portland. 

Kenny and Zuke's at a Glance:

• Simple, easy to chose from menu
• Medium volume
• A shop made for talking
• Difficult accessibility
• Some difficult areas to navigate to get to the seating area
• Time
• Not a place for a quick trip
• Price: Two bagels, plus tip for $14.00 

Von Ebert Brewing

Photo from Von Ebert Brewing

      A football game in one corner, a basketball game behind you, a hockey game in the right, premier leauge playing over the bar, and baseball on a small screen to the left. For lunch this weekend we visited Von Ebert Brewing, a sports pub located in the Pearl District of Portland. Upon first walking in, there is a ramp leading you up to the main floor of the pub. Towards the back wall a bar with a large screen overhead. The first area walking in is high rise tables designed for sports fans to sit or more appropriately stand at to watch their game of choice and enjoy their drinks with some finger food. For anyone wanting to sit and enjoy their food, continue to the left towards the back of the pub. Here you'll find booths along the outer wall and middle. Filling the space between the booths are tables. Keep in mind, when I say "filling the space" I mean it. Past Covid regulations of six feet apart no longer exist in this pub. Be prepared to walk sideways to squeeze by tables and those sitting at tables. While last week I made a slight acknowledgement towards accessability, this pub was the first time I looked at a space from a different perspective. As someone who is able bodied, I admittedly went from "this place has great accessability" when seeing the long ramp leading into the restraunt to "someone in a wheelchair would not be able to navigate this space" in seconds. From  my aunt, I have learned that sometimes a difficult space in a restraunt can be manageable with the willingness to assist from staff, however this pub was short staffed, and as someone who is 150lbs, I had to wiggle and worm through tables both empty and with customers to find a seat. The area at the front is more open and easier to move, but as I stated earlier, the tables are standing tables, coming just above my stomach when standing at 5ft 5in. Again, I appologize for any of my readers out there that would prefer to know the bathroom situation before entering a location. I did not use the restroom during my visit nor did I look for it. I did however, make an attempt to snoop through photos posted on Google reviews. I found what may have been the restroom as a single door hidden just to the left of the bar. 

Top: Brisket, Bottom: Pulled Pork

    Once we found our table, there was a laminated sign instructing us on how to order. Like many restraunts are chosing post-covid, a QR label was included on the sign providing a link to the online menu. Overall, the pub largely sells smoked meats, pizza and finger food. For gluten free options the pizzas can be made with a gluten free crust for an additional charge of two dollars. For vegetarian and vegan options it is the typical selection of salads as well as a vegetarian pizza option. When we went the only options they had for sandwiches were brisket and pork. Originally Roy had wanted the grilled chicken sandwich and I wanted the turkey sandwich but we ended up with brisket and tater tots for Roy and pulled pork with coleslaw and a salad for me. The brisket sandwich was good, but it was missing something to put it over the edge, a sharp cheese, a different sauce, more pickles or something else. Between the lack of toppings and pairing with the tater tots it was a rather underwhelming sandwich. The pulled pork on the other hand was much better, largely due to the coleslaw on top. As mentioned earlier, this restraunts in every aspect holds true to an American Sports Pub. Plenty of sports, beer and mediocre food. 

     For those of you who drink beer, you might find there selection more appealing than I did. I however, know what I like and what I don't like. Now I'm not saying I'm picky, but I am particular. Their selection of beers did not match my particular requirements, but I think for those of you who are IPA fans, you'll definately be able to find a drink here. I did end up finding a sour beer, Recent Yesterdays. Truthfully I made Roy finish mine because it was just a little too sour for me to finish a full bottle.

     Overall, this restraunt is exactly what it offers; a sports pub with a small brewery attatched, American pub food and a good location. I would not recommend this location to those with limitations, families with young children or even most tourists. For Portland locals looking for a bite in the Pearl District, or even on a game night I would recommend this location. 

Von Ebert Brewing at a Glance:

• Simple American pub menu
• High volume
• Sports Pub
• Limited accessability
• Some difficult areas to navigate in the seating area
• Not children friendly
• Limited children's menu, closer to a bar atmospher than pub
• Price: Two entries, one drink, plus tip: $60.00 

Good Coffee

Photo from Good Coffee Website

     Waking to the daily rain drops on the window and the gray skies creating the perfect shade of background to the wood and brick buildings we were heading to, my husband and I dressed for "the gram" and headed to an appropriately named cafe. 

     Located in Slabtown, Good Coffee at 2175 NW Raleigh St, brings the hustle and bustle of city life inside. At first glance a large glass garage door remains closed on the rainy day but opened briefly during our time there to let in the cool crisp May air. We went on a late Sunday morning and were just in time for the other city goers starting their Sunday day as well. The line to order was to the door when we entered, but our wait was only long enough for me to get in two photos and a 10 second video of my husband trying to film me. 

 Pastries

     The seating was almost gone and the noise in the coffee shop reflected the amount of people enjoying their time. At the counter is a glass case just below the ordering station filled with pastries and sweets. We had already eaten breakfast, so we didn't enjoy any of the breakfast items they had out. With that being said, there is a good selection, and each piece was on the larger side providing a good item to enjoy with your beverage. We were able to find a few seats available, depending on how close you would like to be to others. In the front area of the cafe, it is wide and open to allow for customers to congregate before ordering. Just off camera to the left is bench seating with two or three tables and a handful of chairs. As you go further back into the cafe, the tables and seating become more congested, navigating through this can pose for complications for anyone with mobility issues or children.  

     On warmer days, and less rainy days, the coffee shop opens its garage door to the sidewalk, or patio as they might call it. This patio area is more open and accessible and still leaves lots of room for foot traffic to walk by without invading customers space. I’ll admit I did not see, nor did I look for bathrooms so I cannot say how accessible the restrooms are or what amenities they might have. The coffee shop is located in a communal building and I noticed an interior hallway, I would assume restrooms are through there. If my assumption is correct customers would essentially have to leave the coffee shop to find them. Overall, Good Coffee creates a "slow down and enjoy life" atmosphere. This is a coffee shop that customers want to enjoy their time and experience at. Both indoors and outdoors create spaces for individuals to enjoy their order, spend time with others and take a pause on life. Some coffee shops are made to grab and go, this one is made to sit and enjoy. 

Horchata and Matcha

     We both ordered the two most common items on the menu, an Horchata Latte and Matcha Lavender latte. Both were sweet and well made, albeit, not the best I've ever had, but I do recommend. Overall, the menu is a simple menu, covering coffee shop basics with a selection of teas. They have a seasonal menu with four or five items, but I can’t say how often they update their seasonal menu. Additionally, alternative milks are offered for the drinks they serve. I got my horchata with cow milk, but I do think an alternative milk of a little thicker consistency would give the drink the level up it needs.

     As far as pricing is concerned, most drinks on their menu range from around four dollars for a standard coffee, four dollars for tea, and six dollars for a specialty drink, with an additional charge for alternative milks. The pastries that were out for display during my visit averaged about five dollars a piece, however, size wise, they were about twice the size of what you might buy at Starbucks. On a whole the price is comparable with other coffee shops in downtown Portland. 

    Slabtown is one of my favorite parts of Portland as it meshes Portland Indie and Industrial atmospheres together. Good Coffee is a fitting reflection of the neighborhood it is in, and I would say it is worth the adventure on a sunny day to stop by the coffee shop, sit outside and admire the industrial-chic architecture. 

Good Coffee at a Glance:

• Simple, easy to chose from menu
• Medium volume
• A coffee shop made for talking
• Moderate accessibility
• Some difficult areas to navigate in the seating area
• Price: Two drinks, plus tip for $15.00 

New Mini Series Coming!

Hello internet readers!

     A quick update here. I am beginning a new mini series on Portland living. The goal is to try a new restraunt and cafe, here in Portland every week. Hopefully documenting and publishing this goal on the internet will keep me more accountable. 

     Additionally, I hope to not only experience new cafes and restraunts, but I also hope to provide a first hand look for others that might be interested. With some of my background, I hope to inform readers of the most popular items on the menu and what I had. I am not a food critique so I will not be critiquing these locations, but rather provide a review of my experience. I have also connected with the author of Wandering Wheelchair, to hopefully provide an acknowledgement to accessability. I would like to note that I recognize my perspective is from an able bodied individual, but I hope to provide some insight to how others might be able to enjoy and navigate spaces within Portland. With that being said, if anyone has experienced differently than what I am noticing I would love to open up a discussion in the comments for more to know.

     Along with accessability, I hope to also review other factors such as, diets. As someone who was once a vegetarian for almost five years, I recognize the frustration of being told there are vegetarian or vegan options available, only to find that the options are the same salads that you have to ask for no meat on. For reviews outside my scope, my husband will help me research and determine if the menu might be Halal. For any of my readers out there that eat Kosher or other diets, please leave a comment on what you look for or what you require and I will do my best to keep those in mind as well!

     For my final overall note on the places I visit, I will also try to best describe the atmosphere, dress code, price and any other details that are worth mentioning. 

     Can't wait to start this journey and for you all to join me. I'm also looking forward to any places my readers might reccomend! 

First post coming next week!

Welcome to 2020 Too!

      Hello readers, friends and family and everyone else in the world. Returning from my internet sabbatical I am here again to continue telling stories. There’s a lot to unpack in this post, so sit down, grab a hot cup of coffee or tea and settle in. Let’s catch you up on the final leg of 2021 as we round into what started to be the second year of 2020… 2022. Following up on my last post we left off with the season finale of our wedding! Shortly following we celebrated the holidays.

     For Halloween we dug through the black hole in our closet to throw together costumes, feel free to name our costume in the comments! I jumped on the opportunity to return to my favorite activity, dancing! We spent our Halloween night at Dance with Joy Studios scoping out a potential venue location and learning some new moves. Dance with Joy Studios is one of my favorite locations, not because I love the owner, but because they cater to every level of dancer. While it was a small covid friendly crowd Halloween night, there were beginner and advance dancers sharing the floor and teaching each other. This is why dancing has become one of my favorite activities. Many locations in Portland mirror this atmosphere of accepting and learning. I’m definitely looking forward to the return of pre-covid dance days. 

     Our next adventure took us to Salt Lake City for Thanksgiving. After Hawaii, Roy and I were both eager to get back into a plane. Flying in on Thanksgiving morning Roy and I jumped right into family activities. For Roy it was getting to meet the family, in person, for the first time. For myself, it was catching up on the latest family shenanigans and events. Roy fit right in with the family, thankfully since I left him to fend for himself for almost two hours while I ran off with my cousins. You know what they say, sometimes the best way to learn to swim is to jump right in, I threw Roy into the deep end and shouted “Good luck” as I watched him figuratively sink under water. Luckily my uncle saved him from drowning and now they are what you could call “besties”.  

     Being Roy’s first time in Salt Lake we spent the next day showing him the sights and giving him a tour of my life. Showing him my beginning. Starting with where my parents met, their love story and my first house. Roy and I have this joke that he is secretly a Saudi prince. Of course he always denies it, but showing him the difference between an American neighborhood he almost admitted he had a mansion back home. The key word here being almost. Following the tour of Salt Lake we finished the day with a visit to my great grandma’s house. There Roy learned the family game of Oh Hell… story has it, he’s still practicing for the rematch. 

     Salt Lake was a short trip, being over Thanksgiving weekend, and the fact that we now had two brand new additions to the family to come back home to. On November 8th we officially brought home our two fur babies, Arakan and Squid. From that day on we would be known as the SlayitzFamily. Keep an eye out for that social media handle on Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube… okay, enough plugging, back to the important part - the kittens. Squid is our baby girl and Arakan is her brother. These two tabby’s took no time adjusting to there new home and now are the true owners to the apartment. There favorite toy being plastic springs my parents bought for them. 

     For Christmas, I took Roy on his first trip to The “Real” West, Pendleton. A quick flight there and we had left the city for good old cowboy country. Of course, most of the time was spent with family celebrating the spirit of an American Christmas, but Roy and I did take an hour to drive around the whole town. Shortly following Christmas, Roy and I took our next trip up to Seattle for New Years. 

     In Seattle we spent our first day with my best friend Calies and her boyfriend. After brunch we made our way to the Selfie Museum and the gum wall. Of course we ended our day with watching the New Years Fireworks from my aunt’s condo. 

     Now jumping into 2022, we are already at March! Well… almost April now. My final updates include a last minute trip to Pendleton for my birthday and a new job closer to home. For now Roy is still at home with the kittens, the kittens are almost full grown now, and I have hopes to restart my online presence. Be sure to find us on social media (links below) and leave a comment for what you want to hear next! 

My instagram

Slayitz Family Instagram

My Tik Tok

Slayitz Family Tik Tok

Falling into Routine

New life

     Following the excitement of beach days brought about summer in Portland, my very first summer in Portland at that! Staying true to the 2020's summer blew past as time was lost and the days ticked by. As summer has come and gone, my life, now "our life" with Roy - more on that later- has also changed as the seasons changed. The first, and barely outshined change in life stated with graduating! Through degree changes, traveling abroad, online classes from COVID-19, and other normal college obstacles, I successfully completed my bachelors degree in Applied Health and Fitness from Portland State University. Sadly, it is not the final destination of my acedemic journey, but it is one step high on the ladder. Of course I have a plan for the next steps, but knowing me it's already plan C or D, whereas the actual exucution will probably be plan Y. For my bachelors degree my parents came up to celebrate and took me on a mini shopping spree and then took Roy and I out to dinner. They also gave a gracious gift of money to have another celebration or something fun.

Chocolate fondue

     In the weeks that followed, Roy and I found time for a fancy date night at The Melting Pot sponsored by my parents. It was a dual celebration for us, graduation and.... drumroll please... our engagement! Roy had asked me earlier in the week, in a way I had once said I would never say yes to, but when you're in love things change! We had been talking about our futures and how our futures might become one future. Roy stated he had an "idea" but he wasn't sure how I would feel about it. He continued to hint and ask around the question until finally I asked "So what exactly are you asking me here?" To which Roy finally found the words to say "I want you to marry me." Of course I said yes, even though there was no big show of him getting down on one knee ( I made him do it later of course).

     After that night I went straight into planning mode, I pulled up my 2015 Pinterest board on weddings and started a whole new one! I looked into venues, color schemes, caterings, and dances, all before I had even told anyone! We told my parents over the phone unexpetedly, and even made them a cute announcement box. Due to the chaos of it all they didn't get the box until much later, but it's the thought that counts right? Drawing on older Saudi tradtions the box contains two camels to present to my dad, even though I'm clearly worth 75 according to this Camel Calculator, and fake diamonds and gold rolo chocolate to give to my mom. 

    Just around the other corner of life was a new job. I still occasionally help out at the assisted living facilty for traumatic brain injury survivors, but temperature taking at the hospital doors was a quickly dying career (or so we thought). With COVID-19 stating to take a turn for the better, I applied to any and every open position in the hospital. After quite literally hundreds of applications and a smaller handful of interviews, I was able to find a full time position working front desk in a primary care office on the hospital campus. 

Work Attire

   Of course, this changed filled the rest of my summer. The transition from one position to the next and from one department to the next was filled with weeks of training, but if I'm being honest the most exciting transition was the one out of scrubs. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved not having to choose what to wear, and the comfortability of scrubs, but it's nice to have an excuse to go shopping again. 

    While Roy and I get ready for the next steps in our life, I have found my career in this job. For now I will be working as a patient relations representative, working as the first person patients see and interact with during primary care visits.  It's a good job, and good hours. With the new job, slightly better pay, and better hours have allowed for more connection with Roy and allowed to settle into our new life together, as well as our new lifestyle. 

Newly Weds

    Now for the moment you've all been waiting for. The wedding! With COVID-19 continuing to be a problem in our lives, Roy and I were having a hard time trying to plan a wedding, especially with the logistics of international travel. After many discussions, with many parties we decided to have a true COVID-19 wedding. A small elopement ceromony broadcasted over zoom and instagram live, filled with family and friends. We began the night with everyone gathered around for Korean Fried Chicken from our favorite place, Chimcking. Following dinner my parents joined us for the rehersal and the ceremony. My closest friend in Portland graciously got ordained and performed the ceremony dressed in his otter onesy. Our other friends Sunho, Asme, and Jean joined the celebration as well as my parents. My father gave me away, my mother gave me her veil and we closed the ceremony with champagne and better than sex cake.

    Hopefully in the near (covidless) future we will be able to have our larger reception, filled with everyone and filled with dancing. Roy has already accepted the fact that I will be making a him participate in a choreographed and propably slightly over the top first dance. More to come on that next year.

     Like any newly weds we had a honeymoon, a COVID-19 stay at home honeymoon, filled with finalizing moving in and officially making the apartment, "our home".  Roy is currently taking the time off from work to focus on his career goal of personal training, and his personal goal of personal training himself... and me when I put up with it. For the time being that means we will be fighting the gender cultural norms and I am the bread winner of the household. 

     Currently our plans for the upcoming future include a small Halloween celebration - although we haven't decided on custumes yet, Thanksgiving plans, Christmas in the works and New Years on the drawing board. More to come in the months ahead!

    Eventually I'll get back into a regular posting routine.

Happy Covid Holidays

Yuseong and I 

     For a brief time, before the second lockdown, I was able to meet up with friends, celebrate birthdays and return to an almost normal Portland lifestyle. I was balancing three days of work, while half attending online university and slowly began seeing a glimpse of future social gatherings. This fleeting moment lasted through Halloween. For the remainder of the Portland Metro 2020, our governor issued a new Covid-19 freeze. For my 2021, I am enjoying that my work schedule will be busy for hopefully the last half of the Covid-19 virus. My work schedule has become my social line, and hopefully I'll start to see an uphill in finances, rather than a downhill.

Odella

     Somewhere around the end of September and beginning of October, I finally was able to purchase the pet I have been wanting to get since returning from South Korea; sugar gliders. It was in South Korea that I first heard of these pets. Jin from BTS, has sugar gliders, and after researching I was hopeful that they would fit my lifestyle. I was able to buy three girls, a mom and her two daughters. For the first couple of days I had them, they were not open to me, or the apartment, but in time they warmed up. The mother is named Bat, because I knew I wanted a sugar glider named Bat. I find it amusing when animals are named after different animals. Her two daughters are Odella, named after lake O'dell on Lake of the Woods, and Eretria from Shannara Chronicals. Odella is by far the most social one and always runs to the cage door when she sees me. As soon as I open the door she jumps out on to me and will hang out on my shoulder, or runs around the apartment exploring. 

Pirate by day

     On Halloween day I worked at my brain
rehabilitation residence. For the Halloween spirit I pulled out my corset, and puffy shirt for a pirate gypsy. During my shift at work, one of the clients was giving up a beautiful black tuxedo kitten, that I shortly attempted to convince my friend Yuseong and my boyfriend to look after. The kitten however, found a safe home at one of my co-workers homes. After my shift, and a quick costume change I headed to my boyfriends apartment for a small gathering of six as a samurai. We spent the night eating pizza, playing games and enjoying our last bit of social enjoyment before the next unknown lockdown. The morning after Halloween, I returned right back to work, in my normal clothes.

Calies, Georgie, Shar

      A silver lining around the storm clouds, was having Calies come visit the West Coast during the second week of November. Unluckily for her, she got here just in time for the city of Portland to begin its preparations for the new Covid-19 guidelines. Our restaurant choices were limited, it was raining the whole week and not many places were open. However, we still made the most of our time together with a photoshoot, window shopping (and actual shopping) at malls, and I even took her to a drag show.  The first day in Portland we spent the day exploring downtown around my apartment doing a wet, Portland fall photo shoot. Georgie and Sharmaine drove up from Salem as well to join us for the evening before heading home again. Another day we all spent window shopping at the mall and eating Korean fried chicken back at my place. The next day Calies and I went out for coffee, walked around the mall again some more and ended with empanadas at a tapas restaurant and ended with Voodoo donuts. Calies's take: they're not worth the hype; which I agree. For Calies's last day we drove to the outlet mall during the day and viewed the drag show at night. I took Calies to the well known Darcell's XV, which is listed as one of Portland's must sees and we were lucky enough to be able to get a show in before the freeze. And just like that, the week was over faster than it came to be. 

Zoom

    The remainder of the days in November leading up to Thanksgiving fell into a routine of work, and school when I remembered. Thanksgiving almost snuck up on me this year and due to Covid-19, work and finances I celebrated in Portland via zoom. The day before Thanksgiving, my boyfriend and I did a mix of making some food, and ordering the chicken from Popeyes- yes, including their new chicken sandwich. For Thanksgiving day, we had the leftovers. Thanksgiving morning, like many other families, was celebrated with various zoom calls.

Providence

     In December I started my second job at Providence St. Joseph Hospitals. For now I'll be working as a "Health Access Monitor"- just a fancy name for temperature taker, and working at my brain rehabilitation job. These two jobs will take me through the last six months of earning my bachelor's degree at Portland State University and hopefully will set me up to begin shadowing an occupational therapist and a recreational therapist at both locations. For now, that is the goal and plan for my 2021. Again, with Covid-19 protocols keeping everything in Multnomah county closed, and with bills to pay, I'm working six day weeks between the two jobs. I come home to sleep, and eat, and play with my sugar gliders, before getting up the next morning to go to work again. With that being said, if you want to help support me, please check out my work-in-progress LinkTree for important links. :)

Pioneer Tree

     For Christmas, Roy and I celebrated early since I had to work Christmas night. On Tuesday we went got dressed up for our "second" date at Southpark Seafood. The seating was outdoors and Roy let me sit closest to the heater, so I'm sure he was cold. We ended the night by going to Pioneer Square to see the tree and all the lights. For our actual Christmas Roy opened his presents on Christmas Eve and I got to open mine after the Christmas weekend. Christmas morning was filled with zoom calls with both sides of my family before I finally headed off to work. After the short break I had for Christmas my weekend was packed with as many hours of working as I could squeeze in. Between my schedule at the brain rehab center, I worked my first overnight shift in the Providence ER. Luckily for me, the shift ended up not being too hectic and I was able to find an on-call room to sleep in for a few hours before my next shift in the western wing. 

     For New Years, Roy and I spent the night in, watching tv. At midnight we stepped outside to the river to watch the fireworks, then at 12:05, we went back inside and went to bed. Now for 2021, I'll be heavily utilizing my google calendar as I balance, two jobs (a total of 70 hours a week) and two online classes. 

Back in Portland

Nikki

     After a year of moving and traveling from Canada, to the Midwest of The States, to South Korea, Japan and back to America, this September I found an apartment to settle down-for a year- back in Portland. The month of September was filled with moving into my new place, rearranging the furniture several times and job hunting before classes started up. The week before school started I balanced job interviews and meeting up with friends. 

     My first day back in Portland Roy and I had our very first date. After getting the keys to my new apartment and of course checking it out with overjoyed excitement. Roy and I went to Buffalo Wild wings. Aside from Roy, Nikki was the first person I got to meet up with again in Portland. Her and I were both craving Bingsu and luckily for us, there is a food cart near my apartment that has it. After getting our food we took it back to my place to eat and spend the rest of the night catching up. Later in the week I met up with another one of my friends who lives in my building. We met for lunch and I shared my stories of Korea with him and made plans to see each other often as we are now neighbors. Now all moved in Georgie and her twin sister Sharmaine drove up from Salem to visit me in Portland.

Georgie and Sharmaine

Georgie and I reminisced about Korea and found it humorous that this was our first time meeting in America. With Nikki, Georgie, Sharmaine and I enjoyed a night of pizza, popcorn and seltzers. 

     For classes, they are of course, all online. My senior year at university is looking to be completely online. This term I have Research in Health Fitness, Physiology of Exercise and Health, Mind and Body. I was taking Korean as well, but after the first week of class I felt I would benefit more from studying on my own, also, I don't mind the extra time in my schedule now. Portland State University has already announced that winter term will also start online, so for the time being I can officially do my university studies from anywhere I want. My desk, the library, my bed... or anywhere in the world. If only I had the money to travel again. 

     My second week of school brought no excitements or new stories, but the interviews paid off and I started my first day at work the second week of October. With the pool closed at Portland State University, returning to my job at campus rec was not possible in the near future. I extended my horizons and now am working at Brain Rehab Network. An organization that works with individuals and families who are living with a traumatic brain injury. I work in the residential aspect, helping individuals in their apartments with cooking, cleaning and anything else they might need assistance in. 

    For now it is work and school; until the upcoming holidays bring more stories.