by ·0 Comments

Wow… I really am stupid, this only just literally happened but it sure does make me feel stupid. I have already had a long week of extra hours and lots of blog work for AirlineReporter but I have stuck with it and soldiered on. My body has been fighting back at me a bit this week as I have been training for the Fly Day 5k at PFAD which is coming up next weekend so add that to the fatigue and things just don’t even work.

Let me fill you in first on what caused this mornings fail. This is my coffee machine:

From Expat Life

Its a Cuisinart Grind and Brew. It’s amazing and it keeps my Coffee addiction going. It not only brews on demand but it will grind the beans first and then dump it into the machine where it will start to brew! It has an on AND off function so it will turn itself on, start the process then turn itself off after a pre determined time. Each night I need to fill it full of coffee beans, a filter and water and then I hit the program button and in the morning it does it’s magic so that when I come back from my run and had a shower, its ready to drink…. Not today though.

Last night I filled it with beans, I put in the filter, I set the program button and I thought all was good. Just went to the coffee machine to get my first cup… No coffee! I knew I had set it, I checked the grinder, yep, it worked. Beans had ground and everything. I had failed to fill it with water 🙁

Now today is not looking good, Grumpy Mal will be in existence till he can get to work and get some coffee since I don’t have time now to get it going and drink it before I need to leave, in fact i’m now running late cause of this blog post…

DAMMIT!

by ·0 Comments

Well what can I say about Portland.  I still love the place. The weather was freaking amazing, the drive down pretty easy (apart from constant traffic till I passed JBLM on the way south but that was to be expected).  I will post a full review of the hotel later this week (as I still have to write it up) but I had a blast of a time either way, and felt like I should share some of the moments from the weekend (and the main photos).

My idea of hitting the streets and having a street food dinner on Saturday night was just an absolute fail.  There wasn’t many places open for dinner and what was open, just didn’t entice at all.  It was all kebabs and burgers but to be honest, I can get that any old place.  So I ended up just getting a bento and eating watching some TV in the room.  But I could not go without some voodoo!  I was there early it seemed as I was only in line like 15 minutes or so.  Last time was a good hour.  But I failed at my doughnut selection.  Not in taste… in size!  Since I had been walking around all evening hunting down street food and since it never ended up i figured, 3 was the appropriate choice.  1 big doughnut, 2 small right?  That equals 2 big doughnuts.  Yep wrong!  Went with a Memphis Mafia as my 3rd doughnut… it was freaking HUGE!!! bigger than the other 2 combined.  Damn tasty though!

The spotting was pretty awesome around the airport with the tip to use the parking structure was spot on.  $3 an hour so a couple of hours wasn’t exactly going to break the bank.  But the one spot that was on the opposite side o the runway, right in front of the touchdown/rotate point… illegal to park in.  But I did anyway.  I didn’t get a ticket but I did get asked to move on.  The guy was really nice about it, he wasn’t a douche or anything so I give him full props for that.

I leave you with a few final thoughts that I had on the way home while driving in the beautiful weather.  As the ram gobbled up the interstate with effortless ease, I was driving past green everywhere, blue sky, mountains around.  I looked in my mirror, I could see Mount St Helens in the rear view mirror or Mt Rainier out the side window.  Snow capped volcanoes dominating my view.  I looked around and thought.. This is my home now?  What the hell!  I don’t want to leave this place.  It just astounds me how amazing the scenery is up here.  Sure the weather can be crazy with cold, rain and grey, but when the weather is good here, the place shines.  Screw it… I don’t want to go home to Aus.  This is my home!

PDX Road Trip

by ·0 Comments

To celebrate my One Year of living in the USA and mainly just because I can, I am heading to Portland in a few hours.  Me and the truck are going on our first solo road trip.  I am taking her down on the I5 tonight all the way into Tax free heaven.

I am looking forward to it as the last time I was in Portland was back in 2011 on my big round the world trip.  This time I will be staying in town at Vintage Plaza hotel.  I status matched over to Kimpton so can’t wait to see what they are doing for me (but more on that in the hotel review next week).

Tomorrow I am heading out to the Evergreen Museum as well out in a different part of Oregon and I do believe I can see Voodoo donuts in my future!

Well time to get back to work and then next stop….. Portland!

by ·1 Comment

Exactly 1 year ago today, VA8 touched down at Los Angeles Airport on Runway 25L.  As we taxied towards Gate 56 in T5 it was truly the beginning of a new adventure for me.  I was onboard that flight and had just left my friends, family and life behind in Australia to begin a new one, a few hours north in Seattle.  Since that move I have to admit it has been a crazy fun filled time.  Life has been a never ending adventure of new friends, new experiences, new food, new people, even new cultures (whoever says there isn’t culture in the USA has no idea).

But how do I feel about the move, especially after my recent trip home.  I have been over here a year now, with a year (or less than) left on my visa, what is ahead of me.  Well first and foremost it’s time to sit down with work and look at my future, because to be honest they have to have a say in it.  Simply because without their sponsorship, I am going home!  But do I wan’t to go home.  Hell No!  I wan’t to stay, I don’t want to go back to Australia.  I want to stay here in the USA and continue the life I have built for myself.

Sure I miss my friends and family back in Australia but that was to be expected right?  I do wish I could transplant some of my friends over here to the USA but there are a few people who are coming to visit so that does me fine I guess.  I get to see my folks in August when they come over to Canada for a number of weeks.  But I will be heading up to visit them in Vancouver for a weekend.  So that covers that side of things, but I am striving to keep making new friends and meeting people when I can.  But I am a shy person by nature and I have been burnt in the past, so its slowly slowly on that front.

Life is still pretty awesome over here in the USA and I wouldn’t trade it for anything… EVER.  If there was a way for me to get my green card easily (other than the lottery or marriage) then I would do it.  Anything to stay here in Seattle!  I love it (Weather and all) and it surely means I am settling in when I see a temperture of 55F (roughly 11c) and think… wow its warm today!   Ahhhh the life in the Pacific North West.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

by ·0 Comments

Now that my Qantas First dream has been fulfilled, what now? Well the end of May i am flying Cathay First Class so no need to get working on that as it was easy. Other than getting myself into the Lufthansa First Class Terminal (which seems like it is going to take some strategic thinking to do that) my one other real desire right now is Singapore Airlines.

I’ve already flown them a couple of times and their business class product both long haul and regional are fantastic. Their long haul seat is practically a First Class Suite. But their actual First Class Suite seems to be the epitome of luxury. Only onboard their A380 so it is fairly exclusive and at one point when first released, cost a fortune.

Now though times have changed and the cost is reasonable. A one way Suites fare between Tokyo and the West Coast of the USA will set you back about 70,000 points. So that’s my aim right now. Working towards that amount of Singapore Airlines Krisflyer points. I managed to get 50,000 points when I got myself an American Express Premier Rewards Gold card, that took a huge chunk away. But now I still have 20000 to go.. What to do?

Well I am taking my first attempt at manufacturered spend, kind of. All the rage in points earning circles right now is using gift card purchases to rack up heaps of points. You buy the gift cards on your credit card and use them like cash or use them to pay off your bills. Cheap easy points. I am doing this kind of thing but not all the way, yet.

The hardest thing about doing this for me is getting the right gift cards and they are hard to come by in Seattle. So i have decided to just do what I can so I am not losing out on anything. Good thing with my Amex is that it is double points on Gas & Grocery. I have a good strategy still with this. Here it is.

Walmart and American Express put out a prepaid card that unlike any others had a bill pay function where you could get them to send a check to pay your bills, then came the ability to writr checks from the card, now resembling more a bank account than a prepaid card the Bluebird is just pretty awesome. You can load up to $1000 a day at Walmart onto your Bluebird card, and I have two Walmarts within 10 minutes of my place.

With a little bit of guidance from Scott at HackMyTrip I now have my process down pat and it means I don’t miss out on any points. My biggest points loss was my rent & utilities. Almost $1000 a month and it just was not possible in the past to use a credit card. New owners came in and they allowed credit card rent payments, but with a $38 fee. Stuff that! I can buy $500 gift cards at QFC or Fred Meyers for $6 a piece, they can have a pin assigned to the card (not all allow this) and I can then load them onto my bluebird at the local Walmart, where I can then write a Bluebird check for my rent. Sounds complicated? It’s not.

I did this for the first time over the weekend and it was easy. My time in Walmart was all of 3 minutes, I shop at Fred Meyer weekly so adding on a gift card to a weekly shop is nothing. The hardest thing is writing the check and walking it to the office.

What does it cost me to do this? Well the cards are $6 a piece so $12 a month plus all up about 10-15 minutes of my time each month. The good thing is that using my amex getd me double the points as I’m buying at a grocery store. 2000 points for 12 aint bad. What’s even better is I can earn grocery points towards fuel discounts at the same time!

Ahh the life of a points junkie. Confusing right?

by ·0 Comments

It is Anzac Day (in Australia at the moment, tomorrow for me) and every year I pay tribute to those who have fallen for their country and gave their life in sacrifice of our freedoms. What is more poignant for me this year as it is my first Anzac Day out of Australia. Normally I would of been shivering in Martin Place at dawn service, getting ready for the march putting on my Grandfathers medals (which I have the miniatures with me mind you). Instead I spent my morning this morning heading into work.

But it doesn’t meant that I don’t feel any different about the day. This day will ALWAYS be about my Grandfather and his brothers. Both his real brothers and his brothers in arms. My Grandfather was a member of the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion during World War 2. He was in that unit along with 2 of his 3 brothers. The 4th brother was also in the war but I believe he was on a headquarters staff (I am sure my cousin Lindy can help me there). All 4 of the Stewart brothers (my mums maiden name) all returned unharmed back to Australia after the war. Amazing achievement when you come to think of it.

So on this day we pay tribute to those who fought and did their part for our freedoms. I find the best way to say it is a quote from “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon. Written in 1914 to commemorate the World War 1 fallen

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

From Anzac Day 2012

by ·0 Comments

Well I have been back for about 2 weeks now, and the trip looking back was damn crazy. I can’t believe I almost missed the wedding ceremony. I mean seriously, the whole reason for going to Australia and I come so close to missing it. That would of been shame that I could not of lived with at all!

Lets look at some of the things in the trip though the good and the bad.

Bad – Long Haul Economy. It’s never good, it always sucks but this flight with VA wasn’t their best but it wasn’t the worst flight I have ever had either. It was “so so”, not really worth talking much about.
Bad – Qantas First Class Suite Windows – My one and only complaint about that Qantas flight was the fact I couldn’t see out the window cause the seat is so far away from the window. I mean seriously if thats the worst thing about an experience like that….. damn!
Bad – Rydges Capital Hill Canberra – Service failures across the board… way to go Rydges.. not going back thats for sure!
Good – Chrysler 300C – Love this car… enough said.
Good Yet Bad – Radisson LAX – They always seem to come through on the upgrades but then they always have failures of some kind. This time it was the bed (though in the times I have stayed there the bed has never worked anyway)
Good – Langham Melbourne – Absolutely Loved this hotel, definately staying at Langhams when I can afford it!
Good – Qantas First Class…. i <3 it. I want to do it again... right now... please! This trip was worth every cent (though I didn't pay for the flight down), the hard earned points (140,000) and the $350 in Fuel surcharges were totally worth it. I still have a bucket load of Qantas points so now that I have that dream flight done, where to look next? I should of earned a good portion of points on this trip from Virgin, however for some reason I am still chasing the Virgin America points. Freaking stupid that I have to do retro claims, it is always the same with Virgin America. Virgin Australia domestic points posted practically the same day, however the long haul flight took almost 3 weeks! Totally not cool Virgin Australia! But all in all I did manage to get my 4 minimum segments, so I am a gold for another 12 months :D All in all I spent an ungodly amount of time in the air, almost 18000 miles travelled, for 4 nights back home in Aus, 3-5 hours with my folks, getting to see my friends and family. Was it worth it? Hell yes!

by ·0 Comments

Introduction
Seattle to Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles to Brisbane
Brisbane to Sydney to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra to Melbourne
Melbourne
Qantas First Lounge Melbourne
Melbourne to Los Angeles
Los Angeles to Seattle
Conclusion

                                                                                                                                                                   

I was off the aircraft shortly after leaving the cockpit and saying my final thanks to the crew. I was disembarking through door 1L on the lower deck (is that L1L or 1LL?) and headed through the crowds of TBIT. Apparently first class don’t get an express pass card in LAX but people connecting do. Even in Economy. well that kind of blows!

I made what felt like an endless journey through the bowels of TBIT from the newer gates all the way through to the crummie older side. The last time I had been through TBIT immigration had been October 2011 when I came over to visit for my job interviews. It hadn’t changed a bit. I was in line maybe 10-15 minutes and I wasn’t grilled nearly as much as when I head to Canada. Next thing I know I am grabbing my bags off the belt and heading to customs to try and explain exactly why I am carrying the nether regions of kangaroos in my luggage.

I did a bit of luggage jiggling once out into the terminal (change of clothes out, trip goodies in) and headed over to T3 where I could check in for my Virgin flight. I had made it through in far better time than expected (1h so far) and figured it may be a chance to get on the earlier seattle flight at 9am. I checked at the check in area and was told it was possible for $25 confirmed or free for stand by. Considering I didn’t want to have to wait around for the bags that I had paid good money for, it was going to be an extra $24 but I would be home hours earlier. What the hell!

Lots of taping and a swipe of my credit card later and I was off to security and for the first time in a week to do the dignity dance. Lines were substantial but not all that bad and in the end I made it from touchdown to lounge in just on 90 minutes. At the entrance to the Virgin Lounge I was reminded of the boarding time and advised flights were not announced and I also got my seat reassigned as I realised it was a middle seat. I had about 10 minutes in the lounge to get changed and get stuff sorted. Which was good but I was starting to feel not so good. Figured I had just eaten a bit to much at breakfast.

I headed down to the gate pretty shortly and there was a boarding call shortly after

Virgin America – VX781
Los Angeles to Seattle
0920-1200
Airbus A319 (N530VA)
Main Cabin Select – Seat 8F

Boarding: 0845 (Gate 38)
Push Back: 0918
Take Off Roll: 0927 (Runway 24L)
Top of Descent: 1135
Touch Down: 1205 (Runway 16R)
Shut Down: 1213 (Gate A4)

Not much to talk about this flight. I board, stashed my gear and then started to zone in and out between consciousness and sickness. We took off back out over the ocean and turned north back over LA and then I don’t really remember much. I remember ordering some lunch (that I was going to stash and eat later anyway) and a bottle of water. I remember taking a bathroom stop cause I was feeling sick as hell and the seat belt sign going on while I was in there, but then by the time I came out it had been switched off again.

Upon approach into Seattle I was just wanting to get off the flight and die, I was not in a good state. So I didn’t hang around in Seattle when we landed. It was a boring quick flight. But that is good right? I grabbed my bags and got over to the car park to get to the shuttle stands, fought with the lift a little and was soon on my way to the car park where my truck awaited and I was home about 30 minutes later. Ready to crawl into a hole and die. That was not a good sign!

by ·2 Comments

Introduction
Seattle to Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles to Brisbane
Brisbane to Sydney to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra to Melbourne
Melbourne
Qantas First Lounge Melbourne
Melbourne to Los Angeles
Los Angeles to Seattle
Conclusion

                                                                                                                                                                   

Qantas Airways – QF93
Melbourne to Los Angeles
0915-0645
Airbus A380 (VH-OKQ)
First Class – Seat 2A

Boarding: 0845 (Gate 9B)
Push Back: 0951
Take Off Roll: 1004 (Runway 16)
Top of Descent: 0620
Touch Down: 0649 (Runway 24R)
Shut Down: 0700 (Gate 134)

I was collected by a Qantas Staff member at the entry to the First Lounge (you don’t normally get this service) and I was escorted through “secondary” screening which was really just checking that I had a passport on me. Kinda pointless since I had to go through 3 previous checks to get to that point. From there I was taken downstairs via the Lift to the boarding area right as they were preboarding some economy families into the back of the whale’s belly (ie the rear of the lower deck of an A380).

I was brought to the boarding door where I was greeted and escorted directly to my seat and from there it was “let the show begin”. First up was an offer for a PDB of my choice… “Perhaps Champagne”. I then broke the news that I didn’t drink, so I took my usual sparkling water and I was informed it would be served with some almonds and olives. These promptly came back while I took heaps of empty cabin shots. Getting all the photos I could use I was all giddy and hadn’t even sat down when my drink came back and then I was offered an amenity kit and pyjamas (even double checking the right size).

I was so excited that without realising people were now coming on board and first was filling up. So I made sure to hop out of the way after stowing my gear. The first thing I like about first on Qantas is the overhead bins. They didn’t exist on Emirates (but then Qantas don’t have a shower so fair is fair) so thats one big difference, but that just meant I could store stuff out of the way and didn’t have it impede on me anywhere. Though there was space under the ottoman if I needed it (which I didn’t really but I stored my backpack here for most of the time).

With the cabin filling I noticed the cockpit was open so one of the other Cabin Crew who was serving my area came around to introduce himself and I did ask if it was possible to visit the cockpit, handed him my business card and figured what the hell. He came back advising that I can’t before departure but upon arrival it would be possible, the captain has my card and will let me know upon arrival. Well it was worth a try, but at least it wasn’t a no, more like a not right now.

As time settled on we got an announcement from the crew advising that we were waiting on 2 missing passengers and once found we could depart, but it was a good thing right now because with the tailwinds we would’ve arrived before the opening of LAX. Woops!! I was happy to wait, hell I would’ve loved a divert, some headwinds… anything to make that experience longer. Guess it wasn’t to be. My drink was refilled and eventually we shut up shop and pushed back just over half an hour late.

We taxied out of Melbourne and i realised the one complaint I have about the Qantas first suite on the A380. I can’t see out the windows! As an avgeek that is a must! O well I still had the Skycam which is located in the Tail. We took off to the south and then took the long way around the city to head towards Sydney and then out over the Pacific towards the USA. I loved the fact that now there was no going back and I was on my way home. I was looking forward to the rest of the flight as the real stuff was going to start.

During climb out I was just playing with things all excited and stuff and without even realising it, the seatbelt sign was off and we were free to move about. The crew came around to hand out the menus (which you can find here) for the flight but I knew what I was going with already. Tasting menu!! Didn’t care what was on it, I was doing it (pending there was nothing like “garlic this garlic that”). So I had a quick look over the menu but there wasn’t so it was an easy choice. I was offered my choice of beverages (going with Diet Coke) and here was my first mistake. When asked if I would like my Hors D’oeuvres (the first course of the tasting menu) with my drink. I said no. What I should’ve said was “not right now”

I settled in to finish off some stuff that I had been working on for the next hour or so and by that time it would be a good lunch time in Melbourne to start the tasting menu (which I was going to take my time at either way). Time flew by, a few drink refills later and the crew reappeared for my lunch. So I asked them to come back in a few minutes to set it all up and I shut down my stuff and packed it away and selected a movie to watch (went with The Aviator, a nice long movie to enjoy).

Then the show began. First up came the Soup course. It was nice and thick but not overly thick and the croutons were a good crunch. When I was part way through I thought for a second… shouldn’t there have been something else. the Hors D’oeuvres!. When the soup was collected I asked about that and then it came to light with the mix up. The crew apologise and we tried to sort out something as a replacement as they had all been taken. So what we came up with was to swap out one of the other menu items as a replacement course. None of the other smaller plates had items left.. damn. So the offer of the calzone or the chicken pot pie.. but they just sounded too big.

My brain came up with an awesome idea. Dessert! Lets have an extra sweet course. it was agreed and it was set up with the extra dessert safely tucked away. We continued on the food journey and next up was the Salad course of Roasted Beetroot & Goats Curd. O yeah, roasted beetroot salad. It was heavenly.

Then came the main course which I had the filet of Beef with a cabbage and potato gratin (or as an aussie would call it fancy potato bake). I had taken the horseradish option for the sauce and it came served with a good size dollop of horseradish cream. The one thing i was worried about was if the beef would be cooked ok and if it would be tender. Push test was ok, I cut it and she was good. Was a bit under medium well, which is more than the way I normally have it, but it was still really good.

With the end of the main course, I decided to take a break for a bit and watch some more of the movie. About half an hour later my cheese plate arrived. Plenty of cheese and more into the belly. I am not a big blue cheese fan so avoided that. I also let the crew know that I would wait about 15 minutes after finishing the cheese for dessert… number 1.

Dessert #1 arrived dead on time, and it was the Honey Cake which was deliciously decadent. It was a nice spongy syrupy cake with a good fig compote on the side. By the time that was finished about 5 minutes after that out came the second dessert

The second dessert was the Chocolate Bread & Butter pudding. When it came out it looked deceptive. It smelt divine, so rich and chocolatey. It looked like it was going to be just all chocolate and very rich. But upon first scoop and bite it was light, fluffy and tasty!! It was definitely not what it seemed.

A coffee was delivered soon after the dessert arrived and I had a choice of some very nice Chocolates to go with it. As I finished up the dessert and it was cleared away and a fresh coffee brought over, It was now almost 2 hours since I started lunch. Wow! It did not feel like that! Lunch complete, work complete. Time to relax. Seat to lounge mode it is!

I finished off the movie and the crew took me on a tour of the aircraft to see the lounge etc We had a good chat about the differences with Emirates and different aircraft (like comparing the noise levels within a 747 or the crew rest on the 380 vs the 787 or 747). I got myself some water to go with a few more chocolates and returned to the seat for another movie.

After a while I got a bit more tired so I asked for the seat to be turned into a bed (and I ducked upstairs to the lounge for a photo (in the hope there was no one in there this time). When I came back the bed was about half way made and I saw the mattress pad they were using. Full Lambswool! Wow… comfy looking! The setup was great and looked mighty comfy.

I settled in trying to get some sleep but it didn’t happen. But I did get some rest, it wasn’t sleep at all but it was better than nothing. I can see why people sleep easily on these flights because it was damn comfy! Eventually though I gave up on that, snuck a cookie from the galley (we were about 4 hours out of LA now and figured time for more movies). I was not even going to try a steak sandwich or anything bigger. I could see why the Singapore and Hong Kong flights only offered a light breakfast before landing with the tasting menu. You wouldn’t need any more food!

Around 2 hours out of LAX I could smell breakfast under way. Bacon can easily permeate the cabin. I had seen the Bircher muesli in the lounge and figured it would be the same recipe. Maybe worth a try over normal muesli. So ordered that along with the pancakes (as I went savoury in the lounge and they didn’t sound all that big) some coffee and a danish as my bakery item. No to big of a breakfast but a good end.

The bircher was good, would’ve preferred a little bit more crunch to offset the softness. The danish was good but the pancakes were the right size for that meal and the pears.. yum! Washed down by plenty more coffee and I was set!

As we slowly started to wake up and get ready for arrival into Los angeles I was really wanting it to just keep going but sadly it couldn’t We came in and started to descend turning for a north arrival right over Randys and In n Out. As we approached the sun was rising beautifully and from the Skycam I could tell we were getting a crosswind as we were crabbing it in. I never would’ve known unless I had the skycam but seeing an A380 crab in the arrival was amazing!

We touched down about 5 minutes late and took a long slow taxi back to TBIT. With that the flight was over 🙁 I would be kicked off back to the land of TSA Hell, dignity loss and nude o’ scopes at every turn. I had waited around for everyone else to head off (I had 5 hours I wasn’t in a hurry) and before I walked out I was invited into the cockpit! Score!

I had a quick chat with the crew, thanked them for a great flight and mentioned the crabbing and was told there was still a 30 kt crosswind at 1000ft. wow.. that was hefty cause I didn’t feel a thing! With a brief photo in the captains seat. I was off into TBIT.

by ·0 Comments

The research continues! Since the weather turned to crap this weekend and cancelled my plans to go tulip photo hunting (though looking outside right now looks pretty good.. damn you weather! So I decided on Saturday morning that I would take another stab at a breakfast spot. I tweeted out to my usual suspects for some recommendations and did a bit of googling. I didn’t feel like eggs so filed away the options suggested to me for next time (got a number of good spots in mind now) and found Portage Bay Cafe.. they sounded like they had some good sweet options (I Do have a sweet tooth remember) so that was settled. They have 3 locations, Ballard, University and South Lake Union (SLU). Since it was Sunday morning I probably should of hit up the University location but with the 520 shut, instead I went to SLU. Figured it would of been quiet.

From Seattle Life 2013

Street parking was a b$%ch to find (and part of me went.. your dumb for even trying) but I found a spot about a block away and walked on over. When I got there it was PACKED! People were jammed in everywhere… (turns out not my best work on some of the photos… sorry)

From Seattle Life 2013

But there is always one thing that helps, being a single person eating alone. You can slot in anywhere, and for me it was like walking in ahead of the masses. As someone was told it was a good 45 minute wait for a table, I was directed to a seat at the side counter… score!

From Seattle Life 2013

Portage Bay Cafe is more like the trendy kind of place with Vegan this, and gluten free that. But no matter what it all looked tasty. I got a coffee pretty much before I took my jacket off which was a half decent sign of service. The menu looked good but I was sticking to the top half of the menu.

From Seattle Life 2013
From Seattle Life 2013

With the top half of the menu you also get access to the “Breakfast Bar” which is really all the stuff you would normally see on the side of most restaurants. So really if you can’t find a topping you do like for your pancakes you can just make up your own. Me… I was going for something tasty 😉 I checked out the “toppings” after ordering and they looked good

From Seattle Life 2013

While ordering I got suckered into a Side of Bacon. Not that I needed it. The wait wasn’t to bad, I had just finished my emails when my breakfast arrived

From Seattle Life 2013

Let’s look at them individually shall we… first up the not so needed side of Pepper Bacon. Good (although not at all as peppery as it could of been), not 100% crispy, but not aussie crappy bacon either. So that wasn’t to bad.

From Seattle Life 2013

But the main show this morning was this:

From Seattle Life 2013

Bananas Foster French Toast! 3 big chunks of Challah dipped in “custard” (ie egg) and then grilled and topped with the most craziest of real caramel sauces. How do I know it was real caramel? The damn stuff was hardening on the plate! It was sooooo good. I grabbed some whipped cream, some flaked almonds (for that crunch) and some berries (Strawberries & Blackberries for some Tartness to offset the sweet) and tucked in!. My god it was good. The bread was as light as a feather so even though they looked huge, they were light and airy in the middle meaning it wasn’t as filling as you would think. Three pieces was the perfect size as it wasn’t to much but it was just enough.

I saw some of the other meals go out while I was eating and they looked good. Although the special (which I never got given a specials menu mind you) Spare Ribs Benedict looked more like a Loco Moco to me, since it came with rice not bread. The service towards the end got a bit shoddy. My coffee was hardly ever refreshed, I was never asked if I was enjoying my meal and at one point a couple moved to the counter to my left (where there was only meant to be one person but they tagged on another spot). I had gotten up to go get some extra whipped cream cause I ran out and before I even came back they were planning to move into my seat… I hadn’t even finished. From that point in I felt like I was being pushed out the door!

All up the food was good. The french toast would be worth the trip back that’s for sure. I would definately skip the bacon though. Price wise all up set me back $23 incl tax & tip, so about average for the preppy places. Definately more of a special occasion place than a “I feel like breakfast out” kind of place. With the amount of people there as well, it would be worth it to come early…. REAL early. I don’t know if the other cafe locations are as busy on a Sunday morning but if they are more busy than that, tables may come at a price. Definately recommended for the sweet tooth!