Portland Gardens

A weekend get away to Portland, Oregon. It was a two day trip, by road, with friends.

We stopped for a coffee break here.

The car crossed the railway station of Portland.Railways are popularly called Amtrak.

Union Station, Portland

The next planned stop was the waterfront of Portland. It was a very cold day and we rushed.

Waterfront, Portland

Portland has a huge China Town which has several Chinese Restaurants, Shops and a Chinese Garden. We ate at a Chinese Bistro that night. It is one of my favorites.

Entrance to China Town, Portland

The Garden of awakening Orchids, Portland.

The layout

The Rainbow Bridge at the Chinese Garden

The beautiful floor in the Chinese Garden

The Cave at the Chinese Garden

The Japanese Garden, Portland
The Japanese Garden is divided into multiple sections.

The Temple Lantern

Sand and Stone Garden

It reveals the stark simplicity of weathered stones
rising from a sea of raked sand.

Flat Garden

The two islands in the shape of sake and sake bottle (gourd)
represent pleasure—spiritual and temporal.

And those who have seen Kill Bill,
they might remember this features during duel
between O-ren ishii and the Bride.

After returning from the Japanese garden, I had a delicious meal of sushi in an authentic Japanese Restaurant, accompanied with Japanese Fried Ice cream (yummy).

The other places that we visited were - Powell Book Store in Portland and the state capital of Washington - Olympia.