In the Bay Area you could eat from a food truck every night of the week, if you felt like it. They seem to be everywhere and they wheel around an enormous variety of food. Eating weird and wonderful street food is one of the things I miss about living in China and even though it’s not quite the same, the food trucks definitely help beat the cravings.
What better place to meet some friends from China for a beer, than the city that has more breweries than any other city in the world. Portland, Oregon. It had been on my please-can-we-go-there-list for quite some time so I was pretty delighted when our plan finally came together earlier this month.
We love our new little house. It is surrounded by large trees, which makes it feel like a holiday cabin. This is of course aided by the many hours of sunshine California so generously provides. One of the great things about this place is the outdoor space, not just for us but also for the local wildlife, consisting mainly of squirrels, spiders, recently a rat couple, and the thing that lives under our deck…
Now that everything is back in its place, we’ve hung some pictures and our first utility bill has been paid, I think we have deserved a drink! The last time we lived in California (like it’s something we do from time to time…), we discovered the Dark ’n Stormy and it’s still one of my favorite drinks to make at home.
There are a lot of words in American English that have confused me at one time or another, cilantro being the first mystery I had to solve. With all this Mexican food, surely they must have coriander! Luckily I now have coriander planted outdoors so I won’t have to go looking for cilantro anymore.
Being back in California, it feels like I am getting a second chance at trying all the stuff I didn’t get around to the first time. Undiscovered restaurants and State Parks as well as sailing in the bay, just to name a few. Luckily we now have access to an experienced sailor so we can hopefully tick that one of the list in the next six months. Also near the top is exploring the local farmers markets of which there are many in the bay area.
About a month ago, having packed up our stuff and in possession of all the appropriate official stamps and stickers, we said our Chinese goodbyes and went on a much needed (by some) break.
Looking to release my seatbelt buckle while getting up off the couch this morning was a strange but amusing sensation. The couch in our temporary accommodation being quite safe (touch wood on earthquakes), it does not have seatbelts…
