Day 1 (19 Sep 03) click to view pictures

SFO to PDX
   Kelly and Salina Chang took the Friday off. Headed to SFO to catch an afternoon 4:30pm flight to Portland, Oregon
for the mini-gathering hosted by our most popular host Tom and Bernadette Chow. While the Chang's were riding bus
to SFO, Teddy and Catherine Tam were already on their way (somewhere in the state of Washington) from Vancouver.
The Tam's left Vancouver around noon that afternoon and made to Portland before the Chang's landed at PDX. They
spent the few hours for some tax-free shopping around Portland.
    The Chang's landed PDX a few minutes ahead of the scheduled 6:04pm. While waiting for Bernadette at the airport
who got held up by the Friday afternoon rush-hour traffic, Kelly wandered around the recently renovated airport terminal.
There is a shopping area featuring Nike Factory Store (merchandises sold at retail prices) and many other household
famous brand shops. The impressive all glass ceiling bridging the parking garage and the terminal building was put in
place very recently, should provide passengers some cover in this rainy northwest part of the U.S.
    It was around 7pm when Bernadette and the Chang's arrived the spacious house by the Willamette River in Lake Oswego.
The Chang's took the advantage of being the first arriving and grabbed the guest room. They immediately carried
their luggage upstairs to their room in order to "mark their territory".
    Since Kelly promised Tom that "dinner on the table" by the time he returns from school, so he and Bernadette were
busy in the kitchen. The menu for the evening:
    - Stirred fried GaiLan and BakChoy ( ²Mª£Âù¯À: ªãÄõ / ¥Õµæ)
    - Straw and dark mushroom over Shanghai BakChoy (Âù Û£ ¥¶ µæ Áx )
    - Steamed pork rib with black bean sauce (³a ¥Ä »] ±Æ °©)
    - Steamed minced pork with preserved (salty) fish («w ³½ »] ¦× »æ)
    - Fillet of steak Chinese style (¤¤ ¦¡ ¤û ¬h)
The Tam's arrived around 8:15pm. They brought all the goodies from Vancouver, including various kinds of snacks, buns,
and mini-moon cakes. They also brought several bottles of wines specially brewed for making "drunken chicken" as gift
to our host.
    Tom returned from school around 8:30pm, 15min ahead of his scheduled arrival time. He must have pedal-to-the-metal'd in
his SL as soon as the school bell rang :-)
    Dinner was served around 9pm and all seemed to enjoy the meal. Tom must have skipped lunch that day as he was still
eating while everyone else had put down their chopsticks. After dinner, all enjoyed the delicious mini-moon cakes (¦B ¥Ö °g §A ¤ë »æ) featuring
red bean paste wrapped inside a soft white frosty icing shell, as introduced in HongKong just a couple years ago. During the
post-dinner chat, Tom suggested to tour the Bonneville Dam on Saturday as crabbing & fishing would be unlikely due to the
small craft advisory with 15-20 knots wind issued by the Coast Guard. Kelly and Salina tried to keep up the team spirit that
their charm would bring California sunshine to Portland again.

Day 2 (20 Sep 03)

Fishing and Crabbing Trip
    All enjoyed a relaxed breakfast. Tom especially liked the cream filled bun with coconut confetti topping that the Tam's
brought from The Boss Bakery in Vancouver. Tom checked the weather forecast before breakfast that the wind had
dropped to 10-15 knots but small craft advisory was still in place that the water is too rough for any fishing/crabbing trip.
Kelly was persistent in urging Tom to check the weather again as he noticed the sun had come out. Tom then checked the
weather from his computer and the forecast was the same as before breakfast. Kelly could not believe his
California charm had disintegrated. Tom later was convinced to make a call to a friend in Astoria to get the real weather
report there. After Tom hung up on his phone, he yelled out with excitement:
        "the wind has dropped to 5-10 knots, let's drive to Astoria to try our luck!"
Kelly was mumbling that the wind might drop to 1-5 knots by the time the group arrives in Astoria.
    All were excited by the news and got ready in notime. They boarded Teddy/Cat's van and soon the gang of six were
on their way to Astoria. On the way, Tom informed this year's salmon run is the largest for the last two decades.
    While crossing the bridge from Seaside into Astoria, the water was so clam that there was hardly any wave. Upon arriving
the marina, the group was split into two: the Chang's went to KFC and bought dinner, while the rest helped Captain Tom
in getting the boat ready. It was past 1pm and everyone's stomach was grinding. It is hard to work with the sighting of
food and its aroma from the table. The Tam's and Chang's got a new job as S.I.T. (Sailors In Training) carrying out
tasks typically performed by minimum wagers. After about 30min of preparation work, DanaII slowed pulled out of the
marina under the control of Captain Tom heading west towards the Pacific Ocean. For some reason, all were anticipating
the fishing/crabbing excitement, in addition to their stomach grinding, none paid much attention to the beautiful scenery.
    About 1 hour of cruising over the hardly choppy water, DanaII arrived the junction where Columbia River meets
the Pacific Ocean -- all hoped plenty of crabs to be present beneath the 30-45 ft of water. After Captain stuffed two
smelly mackerel as bait, the two crab cages were tossed into the ocean. Then all sighed some relief as it's lunch time!!
Twice (last time was in May 2003) the gang of six swallowed the KFC chicken like a bunch of hungry lions on board
DanaII.
    After waiting patiently for about 30min, Teddy pulled up the cage by the port side but quite disappointedly, no sign of any
crab. Then Kelly pulled up the cage by the star- board side and Wow, there is one crab inside. After Tom measured it
with the sizing tool, it was declared a catch! Then the patience ran thin, after about 20 min, Teddy pulled up his cage
and there were 4 in the cage! One was so small that it fell out of the cage while the cage was pulled up. Among the three
remaining inside, one was a female and had to be returned to the sea. The number of catch increased to 3.
    Tom set his fishing line into the water while the rest of the gang cheered and exchanged ideas on how the crabs should
be prepared for the dinner table. As soon as a cage was pulled up containing the fourth catch, the fishing line suddenly
was whisked away --- there must be a big salmon! Tom was fighting hard and seemed to lose the battle as whatever on
the other end of the line was pulling really hard. Then a voice heard "what is that big thing?". Everyone looked up and
saw a black flipper above the water -- it's a sea lion!!! After about 5 min of battling with the sealion, the fish line busted
and it seemed the sea lion had won the battle. Part of the action was caught on video. Now, another record for the passenger of DanaII.
For the entire afternoon, all hoped to have a salmon catch while at the same time pulling up the two cages collecting their
crabs. Many small and female crabs were returned to sea. Captain Tom set the 5pm as anchor pull up time.
       The gang had so much fun that not until 6pm, the anchor was finally pulled up and DanaII headed back to Astoria. All
settled for a catch of seven crabs and the fun battling with the sea lion. The boat docked right around sunset. As soon as the
hookup lines were plugged in, the ladies started the crab preparation while Teddy and Kelly checked into their rooms
at the Red Lion Inn. Afterwards, they drove to a nearby supermarket for grocery shopping. Upon returning from grocery shopping, the ladies and Captain Tom were already enjoying the tasty fresh crab -- party's on! Catherine and Bernadette
spend about an hour de-shelling the remaining two crabs. The two crabs would be for the two guests who could not make it.
After dinner, all enjoyed the tasty Tiramisu prepared by Catherine imported from Vancouver. Tom and Bernadette
enjoyed the dinner with extra joy -- more good news to cheer about -- the Oregon Ducks upset the No. 2/3
Michigan 31-27. When Kelly & Salina are in town, not just the bad weather takes a break, the local sports
team also fights with high spirit :-) Remeber the Vancouver Cannucks won Game5 of the NHL playoff? Well, you know
what happened to the team after Kelly & Salina left Vancouver.
    It's past 10:30pm, the Tam's and Chang's retired to their hotel rooms while the Chow's camped on board.

Day 3 (21 Sep 03)

Astoria to Lake Oswego Boat Cruise
    After the Tam's and the Chang's enjoyed their breakfast in Kelly/Salina's room, they headed to the boat. Tom had already
prepared the boat for the cruise home.
    The two S.I.T.'s (Teddy and Kelly) were promoted to deck and cabin assistants on this day. They were busy helping on the
refueling and miscellaneous tasks at the dock's service station. After the fuel tanks were filled and the sewage
dumped out, DanaII slowed pulled out of Astoria marina and headed east towards Portland. The weather could
not have been better -- the water was so calm that a passenger would not feel s/he is on a boat, no exaggeration!
Even Captain Tom commented multiple times that he had never enjoyed such a calm and beautiful cruise in
his 10+ year boat experience. All were glad that Captain Tom just smiled at the weatherman and did not
take his forecast too seriously. Otherwise, all the guests would be sitting on Tom's backyard deck and
eatting McDonalds hamburgers/fries for lunch.
    After the boat turned east, passed couple buoys which the gang visited last time in May, the sealions still
call them home. Salina caught on video that one sealion in water was begging to have a place on the buoy.
However, the 3 sealions on the buoy just ignored the begger's call. One sealion even tried to block the poor
sealion in water from landing onto the buoy -- they are like humans, don't know how to spell "sharing".
    It was certainly a beautiful day for boat cruise. The guests enjoyed the scenery along the Columbia river.
Soon, Catherine and Kelly were busy preparing lunch. Bernadette was busy handling the crab-meat sandwiches
(w/ choice of condiments: cucumbers/lettuce/tomatoes/sliced hard-boiled eggs and dressings: butter/mayonnaise/
deli mustard). Yum Yum ... all enjoyed the delicious crab-meat. Kelly was so hungry that he had two sandwiches.
Kelly prepared a special sandwich for Captain Tom (w/o mustard and cucumbers) and hand delivered
to the Captain's seat. He sure knows how to please the captain in moving up his advancement ladder. That sure
worked: Captain Tom let Kelly be the pilot in command for the next hour and fifteen minutes. This time, Kelly
took advantage of the hi-tech GPS and left the navigation maps on the floor. Captain Tom also opened both
front windows so all could enjoy the thrill.
    Teddy and Catherine then took turn at the control wheel for sometime; both enjoyed the pleasure of being
the captain of the boat. The guests continued to learn about marine life and river cruise experience from Tom
the rest of the afternoon while DanaII cruised on the Columbia River.
    The boat docked at St. Helens at 4:55pm, just in time before the service station there closed. The wind started
to pick up and the water was very choppy. After a quick refuel stop, DanaII continued her way toward Portland.
The water was quite calm after leaving St. Helens.
    A little bit past 6pm, DanaII left the Columbia River and turned upstream of the Willamette River. After passing
under the St. Johns Bridge, the boat entered the City of Portland. Tom told us a funny story about the Port of Portland;
the usual how a government spent tax payers money but accomplished nothing. Then the Fremont Bridge and
the Portland downtown skylines came into view. All watched the sunset while DanaII cruises by downtown Portland
under many bridges. It was total darkness by the time DanaII cruised under the Sellwood Bridge. Tom pointed
to both banks of the river where many fabulous mansions are standing. They all belong to local successful
businessman and celebrities. Salina was asking if any of the rich and famous are looking for housekeepers.
Captain Tom throttled back the engine for the last several miles before approaching the marina located behind
his backyard. The two S.I.T.'s got busy again to help the docking. Without a hitch, DanaII docked at her
"home" spot in less than five minutes. The two S.I.T.'s complimenting each other that they had graduated
from their boot camp.
    The Tam's and Chang's helped carried all the stuff from the boat to Tom's house while the Chow's were
finishing up the tear down and cleanup of the boat. It sure was a long and hard climb up the hill. It had been a
long day and all seemed out of shape. By the time they made to the house, they rested in the driveway waiting
for the Chow's to open the door.
    Then the gang split up into two groups and drove two cars to downtown Portland for dinner. The gang enjoyed
a delicious Chinese dinner at their favorite Golden Ocean Restaurant on 82nd Avenue.
    The Chang's packed their bags and retired to their bedroom around 11:30pm. Tom and Teddy were still up
catching up on their emails.

Day 4 (22 Sep 03)

Homeward Bound
After a brief breakfast, the Chang's waved goodbye and thanked the host for their hospitality. Tom dropped
off the Chang's at PDX around 8:45am. No traffic was encountered on the way along I-205. The Chang's
landed safely at SFO around 10:40am, and made it home shortly after noon. After swallowing a bowl of
instant noodle, Salina headed to her 1pm class.
The Tam's arrived their Vancouver home shortly after 10pm. Bernadette drove them to pick up their van
parked at the Astoria marina. The Tam's contributed some $$ to the local Oregon economy before heading
north.

Postscript:
THANK YOU Tom & Bernadette!
By now, the Tam's and Chang's are speechless about the trip: what else can they say other than repeating
"thank you" after "thanks Tom/Bernadette". May be Teddy will provide a friendly advice to Anthony & Pat
not to miss the boat cruise next time. Kelly had so much fun that after the trip, he tried to convince Tom
not to sell his boat. Or sell his current boat but buy a bigger one!

More Pictures!
Want more pictures? Here are those taken by Tom and Bernadette.