Week 5: Portland!

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 The Weekly Update: 

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This week, there is no weekly update.  

There are too many factors in play to measure accurately.  (Not to mention my fancy, automatic, weight-to-money spreadsheet is back in Minnesota.)

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       In case you were wondering, here's one of the reasons for our Portland visit.  Our new nephew and godson... Oliver "Ollie" Benjamin!  I'd link up a better picture, but we've been holding him and playing with him more than we've been snapping photos.  Probably for the best, right?  Anyway.  He's adorable.

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So!  The "Skinny for Kitties" Challenge continues!  And, despite the struggles of eating while traveling, it's been a decent dietary week.  I won't bore you with the mundane details of how I ate less delicious pizza than I wanted to, but I will share a lovely little slice of Portland with you.  (Get it?  "Slice?"  It's a pizza pun.  Yeah... Sorry, I... uh, I'm drunk on vacation.)

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Dan and I visited the "Classical Chinese Garden" in downtown Portland today.  It's just off of (duh!) the Chinatown and Pearl districts.  Above, you see Dan at the entrance gate.

To the right, you can see a general shot from one of the pavilion porches into a main open space.  There's a beautiful, lily and lotus covered pond that's filled with many (if only small) koi and goldfish.
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The larger building in the background is the Garden's Teahouse.  It's a gorgeous structure with a functioning teahouse and small-meal restaurant.  After wandering in, Dan and I ordered a flight of three Oolong teas, which were served in a traditional Chinese ceremony fashion.
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Our waitress explained the teas, their flavor, the proper brewing process, and walked us through the necessary steps.  She even politely refrained from laughing as we over-steeped, spilled, and made general fools of ourselves.

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Here I am, doing my best not to screw up the tea.  Please note the fine tea-holding form and well extended pinky finger.

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Honestly, though... we didn't do all that bad.  The tea was very tasty (and basically calorie free!).  Our favorite was the "Strong Fire Oolong" from Taiwan, which had a very dark, rich, and smoky flavor.  The ambiance of the teahouse was incredible, too.  It came complete with a sunny, garden view and a Chinese musician.

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Here's another photo of the Garden grounds.  The pavilion shown was one of the art houses (I believe), that displayed a number of beautiful paintings and embroidered silks.
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You can also see just a touch of a downtown skyscraper in the background.  It's funny, really.  To be in such a peaceful, quiet, serene and tranquil environment... and yet, you're still in the heart of an urban city.  Gotta love gardens, huh?
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All in all, a wonderful afternoon!  We highly recommend the Classical Chinese Gardens (also known as the Lan Su Gardens) to anyone who is Portland-bound.
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See?  See that?  It's hard to tell, but believe me....  That's the "Dan-and-Whit Seal of Approval," right there.

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That's it for this week!  No real "skinny" or "kitties" to report, but next week... it'll be back to business!  I promise photos of cats, photos of food, and maybe even... (gasp)... a video.
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See you then!

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Thanks again, readers!  And pass it along!  

Interested parties can email their donation pledges to skinnyforkitties@gmail.com.

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