Food, Job, Ya Da Ya Da..
Today I spent a relaxing afternoon with hubby at a tea shop called Tea Bar in North part of the city. I figured out about this place from a friend's facebook post a good while ago. Surrounded by several legit boba places in the area, I didn't get a chance to check it out until today.
Hubby ordered lavender milk tea, while I had the original black milk tea -featured in the menu as Hong Kong Style Milk Tea. The tea comes out a tad too strong than most other places. So if you're much of a tea person, this place is for you!
I often get asked, especially by friends and family back home, about the kind of diet (read: food) I consume in the States. That has inspired me to write this post. I guess to give people a better idea about not only myself but also general ethnic food ubiquity in Pacific Northwest -Portland and the surroundings, especially.
Like some, my bestie and I love bonding over eating-out. We typically eat out once to three times every week, depending on our free time/day-off. I must say that I'm blessed to have been exposed to a good variety of ethnic cuisines, and wouldn't be hesitant to call them Heaven on Earth. My bestie agrees with that too -good food is indeed our true love! Yeah.. You may laugh at that :D
Before sharing some of my favorite cuisines, I wanna share some happy news. I just landed an out-patient nursing job! Yep, it's a clinic job.. Where patients will be in and out in no time. What does this mean? This means less stress -and more pay too- compared to my previous rehab job. I am so excited and can't wait to start the orientation in a week -yayyyy!!
I also recently got hired on a weekend on-call basis at a rehab facility very close to home. This is a similar setting to my old work place but of a better one as I do have enough help/support. My patient load is also lower than that of the old place.
When I said this rehab place being very close to home, this place is literally only a 7-minute drive from where I live! Pretty awesome, isn't it? I recently started my training there. And boy, let me tell you.. it's sooo nice leaving for work just 15 minutes before your start time.
'Nuff rambling! Mwahaha.. Let's go over some of the food I eat on a regular basis.
1. Chinese
Nope, as some of you probably already know.. I am no Chinese. However, we eat quite a bit of Chinese food on our regular eating out. Chinese fried rice, sizzling plate dishes, sweet and sour and/ egg drop soup, shrimp in lobster sauce, and chow mein are probably our choices most of the time.
We devour a wide variety of the cuisines from Cantonese, Hong Kong style, Sichuan, to the Americanized (read: fake) chinese food...you name it!
Whatever the style of the cooking is, as long as it suits our palates and has no pork element to it, we'll eat it. Our go-to places in the area, though, remain Taste of Sichuan, Powell Seafood Restaurant, and Wong's King.
2. Japanese
We eat lots of sushi (including nigiri but only those with shrimp, octupus, and eel on top), bento items (teriyaki style mostly), to traditional dishes such as sukiyaki, udon, and black cod collar dish. We, however, don't eat sashimi and other raw fish stuff. Oh, and definitely not a ramen eater -will have it once in a bluemoon under one condition: if the broth isn't pork-based.
We found our favorite Japanese restaurant about 23 miles (37 km) from home. In Beaverton (a suburn of Portland, the home for the Asian people/families) it is. We've been eating there for a few years now and will continue to keep going back there for our authentic Japanese food fix. For sushi + hibachi quick-eat, we go to this Sushi place called Chiyo -a 4-minute drive from home.
3. Vietnamese
Who doesn't love a steaming hot bowl of pho (Read: fuh)?? I know this is an acquired taste, as most of my fellow Indonesians living in the homeland prefer bakso (meatballs in noodle soup) than pho. I didn't like pho at first. I actually started loving the taste after my second exposure to it. I have had pho in both the US and its origin Vietnam, and must say.. that pho we eat in Oregon is just as close -if not better, in some places- as those in Vietnam!
I consider myself lucky for being surrounded by a few good Vietnamese restaurants in town. My favorite one remains this one named Pho Van. In addition to pho, I enjoy veggie spring rolls. What's different with Indonesian lumpia is that Vietnamese spring rolls have minced/ground taro in it, making the taste quite distinct.
Banh Mi (Viet sandwich) and also Bun Ga (Viet vermicelli dish served with pickled veggies, grilled lemongrass chicken, and fish sauce) are also among our Viet delicacy favorites. Yum, I am salivating just talking about it now!
Guess what I am about to do now? Hubby is done with cooking tempura udon so am going to jump right in the kitchen and devour it :)
When I said this rehab place being very close to home, this place is literally only a 7-minute drive from where I live! Pretty awesome, isn't it? I recently started my training there. And boy, let me tell you.. it's sooo nice leaving for work just 15 minutes before your start time.
'Nuff rambling! Mwahaha.. Let's go over some of the food I eat on a regular basis.
1. Chinese
Nope, as some of you probably already know.. I am no Chinese. However, we eat quite a bit of Chinese food on our regular eating out. Chinese fried rice, sizzling plate dishes, sweet and sour and/ egg drop soup, shrimp in lobster sauce, and chow mein are probably our choices most of the time.We devour a wide variety of the cuisines from Cantonese, Hong Kong style, Sichuan, to the Americanized (read: fake) chinese food...you name it!
Whatever the style of the cooking is, as long as it suits our palates and has no pork element to it, we'll eat it. Our go-to places in the area, though, remain Taste of Sichuan, Powell Seafood Restaurant, and Wong's King.
2. Japanese
We eat lots of sushi (including nigiri but only those with shrimp, octupus, and eel on top), bento items (teriyaki style mostly), to traditional dishes such as sukiyaki, udon, and black cod collar dish. We, however, don't eat sashimi and other raw fish stuff. Oh, and definitely not a ramen eater -will have it once in a bluemoon under one condition: if the broth isn't pork-based.
We found our favorite Japanese restaurant about 23 miles (37 km) from home. In Beaverton (a suburn of Portland, the home for the Asian people/families) it is. We've been eating there for a few years now and will continue to keep going back there for our authentic Japanese food fix. For sushi + hibachi quick-eat, we go to this Sushi place called Chiyo -a 4-minute drive from home.
3. Vietnamese
Who doesn't love a steaming hot bowl of pho (Read: fuh)?? I know this is an acquired taste, as most of my fellow Indonesians living in the homeland prefer bakso (meatballs in noodle soup) than pho. I didn't like pho at first. I actually started loving the taste after my second exposure to it. I have had pho in both the US and its origin Vietnam, and must say.. that pho we eat in Oregon is just as close -if not better, in some places- as those in Vietnam!
I consider myself lucky for being surrounded by a few good Vietnamese restaurants in town. My favorite one remains this one named Pho Van. In addition to pho, I enjoy veggie spring rolls. What's different with Indonesian lumpia is that Vietnamese spring rolls have minced/ground taro in it, making the taste quite distinct.
Banh Mi (Viet sandwich) and also Bun Ga (Viet vermicelli dish served with pickled veggies, grilled lemongrass chicken, and fish sauce) are also among our Viet delicacy favorites. Yum, I am salivating just talking about it now!
Guess what I am about to do now? Hubby is done with cooking tempura udon so am going to jump right in the kitchen and devour it :)
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