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By Ernest Kim
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Beautiful street art in Rio

September 22, 2014 in Life

I had an opportunity to visit Rio de Janeiro earlier this month and was captivated by the beauty and expressiveness of the street art. Here’s just a small sampling of the work I encountered...

Along the Praça Nossa Senhora da Paz In the Rocinha neighborhood In the Rocinha neighborhood Along the Praça Nossa Senhora da Paz In Ipanema, a few blocks from the beach
Tags: Art, Travel
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If it's showing near you, please try to see the new Alfonso Cuarón film, Roma, in a movie theater. It’s now streaming on Netflix, but Roma is a film that absolutely deserves to be seen in a theater. • I wrote a short blog post explaining why (link in bio), but, in a nutshell, it is, in every way I can think of, the sort of film that movie theaters were invented for. It’s also the most deeply affecting film I can remember seeing ... ever. • Through the first 20 minutes or so I wondered, “Is this film about anything?” But, by the end, I realized: It’s about everything ... everything that makes life—in all its beauty, joy, chaos, despair, ugliness & everything in between—worth struggling for. • Oh, and it’s probably also the most cinematically masterful film of the year, but all of that technique is in service of the storytelling. • To the best of my knowledge, the only theater in Portland showing Roma is the wonderful @HollywoodTheatr & it appears that it’s only scheduled through December 20th. Please see it there while you can or, if you’re outside of Portland, seek out a theater near you that’s playing it before it’s too late! • @RomaCuaron #RomaMovie #RomaFilm #AlfonsoCuaron #HollywoodTheatre #Cinematography #Film #BandW #BlackAndWhite
Update #2 on our remodel project: Our @SierraPacificWindows have arrived and they are bee-yoo-tee-ful!🤩 Man, oh man, I cannot wait until they’re all installed. I’m keeping fingers & toes crossed that all goes well.🤞🏼🙏🏼😓 • The window openings have been boarded up while we waited for the glazing to arrive, so the house has been quite dark & dreary. Not that the interior is much to look at at this point—it’s still stripped down to the studs—but the darkness certainly doesn’t help the mood. I’m hoping that the addition of the windows is as transformative as I’m imagining it will be. I promise more pics when the install is done! • #Remodel #Renovation #RealReno #RanchRemodel #SierraPacific #SierraPacificWindows @InsituArch @AformaCo #Architecture
Whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant that offers saba shioyaki—aka salt grilled mackerel—on the menu, I can’t resist ordering it. • Not only is it deeply delicious when cooked well, much like roast chicken for a Western restaurant, it’s so simple that it demands great ingredients & great technique and, as such, is a telling gauge for the overall quality of a restaurant. • Lots of places do it poorly, resulting in a dish that’s overly salty, overly fishy, mushy in texture or some combination of the three. The one place in the Portland Metro (okay, it’s actually in Lake Oswego😉) we’ve found that consistently offers an exceptional rendition is Kurata. • I should note that some days it’s better than others, but even on a lesser day it’s very good. This happened to be an especially good day—I mean, just look at that char on the skin & that glistening of the mackerel’s innate oils. Also note the beautiful purity of the presentation: There’s no hiding behind fusion-style sauces or sides here. This is cooking at a very high level. • BTW, Kurata is also our favorite spot in the Metro for Japanese-style shumai, as shown in the second photo. The flavor is delicate with just a hint of sweetness, making it a fantastic starter. • #SabaShioyaki #Saba #GrilledMackerel #SaltGrilledMackerel #鯖の塩焼き #GrilledFish #Shumai #シュウマイ #Kurata #LakeOswego #Portland #FoodFinds
Portland-based fans of Japanese-style curry rejoice—a year-plus after their closure, Kalé has re-opened in a new location at 50 SW Pine St! • The new spot is significantly smaller than their previous, cavernous location, but it’s cute, cozy and, I think, better suits the concept. • Most importantly, the food is as delicious as ever.👍🏼 Pictured here in front of me is their chicken-based curry atop brown rice and with a baked chicken katsu cutlet. The little red bits are Japanese pickles (I strongly recommend ordering extra for $1 as they elevate the entire dish). Jo ordered their veggie curry doria, which means it’s covered in cheese. It’s super cool to have an option for vegetarian Japanese-style curry in Portland! • It’s funny that what, in my experience, are the two best purveyors of Japanese-style curry rice in Portland are now within a block of one another, namely, Kalé and the Marukin Ramen location inside of the wonderful Pine St Market. • Marukin’s pork-based curry rice is my personal favorite, but if you want the ability to customize your base and toppings, or if you’re a vegetarian, Kalé can’t be beat. • #KalePDX #KalePortland #JapaneseCurry #JapaneseCurryRice #カレーライス #MarukinRamen #ChickenKatsu #鶏カツ #Fukujinzuke #福神漬 #KaleDoria #カレードリア #JapaneseComfortFood #StickToYourRibs #FoodFinds #Portland
If, like us, you’ve never visited @TheGrottoPDX, now would be a great time.🎄Their Christmas Festival of Lights is on through the end of December and, as corny as this may sound, it really does offer something for the entire family. • The grounds themselves are a sight to behold—I can’t imagine how much time it must take to string up all those lights! • I had hoped to catch the Christmas-themed puppet show, which I heard is quite good, but the timing didn’t work out (it’s performed at 6pm, 7pm & 8pm). We did, however, catch the Grotto Carolers, who were excellent. • On the topic of song, the Festival of Lights is also apparently the largest Christmas choral festival in the world. Every night, at least five choir groups perform inside the beautiful Chapel of Mary—it’s a wonderful thing to experience. • I must admit that my favorite attraction was their petting zoo, which featured a number of very cute miniature farm animals.🐄🦙🐐 • Food, including delectable @SmaakenWaffles, along with warm beverages are available on site as well. • At $12 for adults and $6 for kids (no fee for kids 2 & under), plus free parking, I think it’s a heck of a deal. • #TheGrotto #FestivalOfLights #ChapelOfMary #TheGrottoCarolers #Choir #Choral #ChoralFestival #ChristmasSpirit #FamilyFun #TravelersNotebook #Portland
Our newest furball doing his best impersonation of a jungle cat, while simultaneously engaging me in a staring contest. 👁👁 • #CATalumni #CatCamouflage #UrbanCamo #PlantBeard #StaringContest #MauCat
We’re really excited to have an excellent & affordable new Levantine—specifically Lebanese & Syrian style—dining option in downtown Portland! • A lot of people have probably seen Karam’s pre-packaged meal boxes at markets across Portland. But they’ve operated a deli/sit-down restaurant in Beaverton for some time, and have now expanded into Portland proper, very close to the Portland Art Museum & PSU campus. • The new Portland location has a deli case as well, but offers far more seating than the Beaverton location & features a very nice bar area too. • We’ve dined there twice so far, and everything has been delicious. In fact, I liked their falafel plate (as pictured here) so much, I ordered it on both occasions. I’ve never had falafel as light and airy—super crisp on the outside with nary a hint of dryness within. Scrumptious!🙌🏼 • Their lentil soup & baba ghanouj are excellent as well. Oh, and make sure to give their mint tea a try. They use loose leaf tea & serve it in a coffee press, so you can let it steep as much or as little as you like. It goes incredibly well with the food & smells amazing to boot! 🌱☕️ • Overall, highly recommended for lunch or dinner. • @KaramLDC #KaramRestaurant #Lebanese #Levantine #Falafel #Hummus #Tahini #Vegetarian #VegetarianWithFlavor #MintTea #FoodFinds #Portland
I know I’ve already posted glowingly about Wa Kitchen Kuu, but they’ve updated their menu, which I thought merited another post. • Fortunately, all of our favorites are still on offer, including their absolutely perfect nattō dashi omelette. But they’ve added a number delicious new items, such as this beautiful salmon sashimi dish. • I can’t remember how it was labeled on the menu, but it featured salmon sashimi tossed with slivers of red onion & shiso (aka perilla) leaf, topped with ikura (aka salmon roe), and finished with a very light dressing. It tasted even better than it looked—a perfect starter. • And, if you’re interested in sake, Kuu offers a fantastic selection of the drink as well. My favorite from their menu, as shown above, is called Kaze no Mori, or Wind of the Woods. It actually has a very slight effervescence, which adds to its intoxicating (literally😜) flavor & aroma. Magical stuff! • Oh, I should also mention that Kuu now offers dinner service every night except Tuesday, when they’re closed for the day. If you haven’t already, absolutely give this place a try—I can’t recommend it strongly enough!👍🏼 • @Wa_Kitchen_Kuu #WaKitchenKuu #JapaneseHomeCooking #Salmon #SalmonSashimi #Sake #酒 #日本酒 #KazeNoMori #Umami #うまみ #おいしい #FoodFinds #Portland

 

 

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