Hurricane Su Comes to Portland: What Happens When Alienman Hosts a Visitor Pt. 3

We’d been eating out and going out so much that we definitely needed a day of just relaxing at home. My friend took a long nap and when she woke up, I had dinner ready for her. It’s a simple and healthy meal I like to make at home (minus the bread). Salmon fillets baked with garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice, and sautéed asparagus. I didn’t expect to impress her with this. I just wanted something simple and light since we’d been eating pretty heavy foods during her stay. Also, I didn’t want my asparagus to go bad.

Su and I are both totally addicted to garlic. We can both finish off bulbs of roasted garlic in a sitting.

I guess I’ve been taking Costco fish fillets and locally grown asparagus for granted. My friend was blown away by the experience of eating salmon and asparagus at home, with a glass of wine. She likened it to fine dining, which embarrassed me because it’s such a simple dish that I would never have served to guests on a special occasion. She was even impressed with the asparagus. Apparently, only expensive restaurants serve asparagus in Korea. I had hated asparagus most of my life until just this past year. It has always been so readily available around me, like lettuce, cabbage or broccoli. While I was lamenting the absence of Korean greens, I had been taking asparagus for granted. Oh, asparagus, I should not have forsaken you! *Tenderly strokes an asparagus as I coo sweet nothings in its spear*

Meanwhile, Bella continues to spy on the boyfriend…

And, when I take a break from folding laundry to make a quick run at Walgreens, I come back to her new nest.

You probably realize these are all pictures from our old apartment. Gosh, what dump. We would try so hard to keep it tidy and clean but if your living room is also functioning as an office AND a kitchen with only about 5 sq ft of closet space altogether, the entire living room itself becomes a closet. Just thinking about that and looking around at my new place now, I feel like my lungs have expanded to twice their size.

We drove to the coast and made a quick stop at Tillamook, the famous cheese town of Oregon. I always take people here when they visit Oregon for the first time. I sure hope they enjoy it, instead of thinking I’m just some crazy cheese fanatic.

I like to come to the Blue Heron creamery just for free cheese and wine tastings and the petting zoo. I am a simple creature. I love petting zoos. I love goats. In fact, there’s a goat breeder that brings goats into the city to eat grass from empty lots by the industrial district. I love to go down there and pet them. They love the attention. I love goats. I love… goats and cats… and lamp… and carpet. No, I don’t love carpet. I love hardwood floors. I am TOTALLY wasting your time.

Pet mweh-eh-eh-eh-eh.

The alpacas wanted nothing to do with us. They had their asses turned to us the whole time.

So, I'm always seeing ostriches at farms and petting zoos but I never see anything made from ostrich or their eggs or anything anywhere. What do they do with ostriches? Do they just keep them around for fun?

Hallo. Nyub nyub.

Good lord. How do you work here and NOT EAT EVERYTHING?!

Sampling a variety of brie. Oh, happy day.

All kinds of dips, sauces and dressings, waiting to be sampled throughout the store.

Tillamook is better known, of course, for Tillmook Cheese. This is where the magic happens.

Forget Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory. If I were to write a book about a magical factory, it'd be a cheese factory.

WTF are you looking at? Do I look like an Oompa Loompa to you?

After the self-guided tour, you can go through the samples of cheese. So many delicious cheeses.

Have you ever tried cheese curds? It's similar to dry mozzarella.

I love trying all kinds of cheeses from around the world but extra sharp cheddar will always hold a special place in my heart.

They call this the sample line. I call it the Path Towards Utter Bliss. Or should it be Udder Bliss? Was that too cheesy? HALP I CANNOT STOP THE HORRIBLE PUNS

MUST HAVE MOAR CHEEZ

Nice earring, cow. I think I'll take it.

It's a creamery, after all. They have dozens of ice cream flavors and there's always a long line.

Striking our we-are-eating-ice-cream-and-we-bought-cheese-at-the-cheese-factory pose.

I got so carried away with pictures of cheese that I almost forgot to post the beach photos.

Now, when I say “beach photos”, you should realize I mean “Oregon beach photos”. So, no bikinis and no sunbathing. My poor friend had a hard time grasping this. In Korea (or pretty much ANY normal place in the world), summer means beach means “hot enough to wear a bathing suit”. When she was planning her trip here, I had told her I’d take her to the coast. She got excited and said she’d bring her swimsuit.

Me: I don’t think you’ll get a chance to wear your swimsuit here. It’s too cold.

Su: ??? Is it not summer over there in July?

Me: Yes, it’s summer but the coast is always cold.

Su: But it’s summer?

Me:… Yes.

Su: I’ll bring my swimsuit.

Of course, it was too cold to ever wear a swimsuit (unless it’s under leggings and a parka).

Su finds a starfish. Later, she tries to make me eat it. That bitch.

She's saying: I'm gonna shove this starfish down your sorry throat.

We look pretty serene here. That indicates this picture was taken before she tried to shove a starfish down my throat.

The journey ended here at Newport, which is probably my favorite town at the Oregon coastline.

I wonder if they ever found Jop. How does one spell 'experience' perfectly and not spell 'job' correctly?

My friend. F.O.B. If she had worn her green Von Dutch hat, this scene would have been perfect.

This is what you get for trying to force feed me a starfish.

… and the story continues another time! Maybe it’ll be next summer by the time I finish blogging about this one week from this summer.

Related Posts:

• Cannon Beach and Seaside: How Oregonians Enjoy the Coast
• No Better Way to Spend a Birthday: Dinner at EaT Oyster Bar and a night at the coast
• Hello Autumn: Columbia River Gorge
• Portland and Los Angeles in a Week
• Hurricane Su Comes to Portland: What Happens When Alienman Hosts a Visitor Pt. 2