At the airport now waiting for the delayed flight to finally leave. PDX is a pretty nice airport. Free wifi and workspaces with desks and outlets. A key sign of a civilized society.

Here’s a shot from the beach at Seaside, OR. We were there on Saturday hanging out at the finish line of the Hood To Coast 200 mile relay race (crazy). While the runners were coming in exhausted, I was equally tired and sleeping on the beach.

After the race finished, we drove up to Astoria, Oregon and stayed at a nice little Bed and Breakfast. 1st time at a B&B which is a sure sign of getting old. Was very nice and had a great view of the Columbia River. Here’s a shot from a little further up the hill from where we stayed.

All in all, Portland and the Oregon coast was a really nice trip. Very chill and relaxing which is exactly what I needed after a bunch of hectic months at work.

Good thing I recently bought some sandals, its helped me fit in here in Portland. The weather up here has been fantastic. We’ve been eating outside for every meal.

My goal for today is try this so called Stumptown coffee that I keep seeing propaganda posters for everywhere.

This past June I was in Beijing for a few days for the SIGMOD database conference. It was good being back in China. It definitely broke back alot of great memories. While I was there I got to experience why Hunan cuisine is considered the spiciest of the chinese regional cuisines. Here’s a shot of the broth. The milky side was not that bad, the other side was crazee hot.

Other patrons had a huge pot that was all peppers. The air had so much peppers in it that it tickled ones lungs to the point that you were always coughing or eating (or drinking beer). Here’s a shot of me during the sweaty feast:

Anyway, I did enjoy it. I can’t say that I tasted a whole lot of what I ate. After a while it was just about getting it down as fast as possible.