Portalando!

It is a peculiar feeling to be heading to the again for the 3rd time in a year. It is the first time in my life I had done so, spending 3 weeks in NYC and the surrounding regions in May (Summer)...

Family trips are always fun

another 2 weeks in NYC in Oct (autumn)..

Biz trip to the UN..hence the silly heels in the park

and now, 5 weeks in Portland, Oregon (Winter!). Up til about 5 days before I left, I was still pronouncing it ‘Or-re-gon(e)’, until someone casually mentioned “Ohhhh…!! Ore-gen! How wonderful!”

Maybe I got it mixed up with the spice….

Anyways, I was excited because (1) I was on a course to study a particular branch in psychology (Yay! Time to be a student again!) and (2) I got to wear my winter clothes I stocked up on my last NYC trip! I have come to conclude that apart from tweezers, boots are girl’s best friends.

Oh and yes, I must also (obligingly) point out that (3) I get to meet sis and Dan again after more than 6 months!!!

Travelling with them is a total treat because sis is a great planner (and knows all these places to go and discounts to get) and Dan is a great companion for stupid adventures. And chicken-eating.

Chicken whores at work

So the first 5 hours was non-stop yakking about what’s been happening for them, and what’s been happening at home. – like Mom scolding dad stupid for putting cucumbers into Asam curry. Sigh. What would I do without my family? We settled into the apartment that I got for my 1 month stay here. It was a cosy decent place that was quite aesthetically pleasing.

Living on the sofa and out of my luggage

Sis went ahead to book us all Beginner Snowboard classes and passes for Saturday at the ski resort about 1.5hrs drive from Portland – Mt Hood, that was part of the ..um…. Mt Hood National Forest. Yes. That is it’s name. I did not make it up just because I have occasional amnesia bouts in my Geographical knowledge.

The drive there was beautiful. We drove along the famous Columbia River highway that embraced us with spectacular views of the Mt Hood river (I didn’t make that up either) and up up up toward the top of the mountain where it started to get chilly. At the corner of my eye I noticed a snow-covered car whiz by, and it seemed so totally out of place amongst the green trees and bright skies. Well, 5 minutes later, snow started falling onto the windscreen. It is amazing how little bits of frozen water can thrill a fully grown adult. At least 2 of us in the car, not the other 2 who spent several weeks freezing their Chinese asses off in the cold. In fact, poor (why does he always get referred to as ‘poor’ in this blog??) Dan had to dig out his Alpaca sweater for me from the bottom of their perfectly packed knapsack, as they were not intending to head into snow anymore on this trip. Ah well. The price you have to pay to watch a pig on a snowboard.

Suited up and ready to roll...

Goat on board

We grabbed all our snowboard equipment in a hurry, and made our way out into the snow for our first snowboard lesson! We learnt how to strap up, glide down gentle slopes, turn left and rights and of course, brake. Then, it was up to the elementary slope 'Buttercup'!

Board meet snow. Snow meet board. Butt meet snow. Snow meet ass crack.

As you can tell, in a short span of 2 hours, I have now become an expert in ‘snowboards for beginners’, and if you don’t want to suffer more than you should in your first attempt to throw yourself off a mountain face, you might want to catch the next entry for some precious ‘snowy tips’.