Memorial Day Weekend - Seattle in 3 days Part 3/3

Day 3

Can't believe this is the last day already! First thing in the morning, coffee and breakfast! I was debating to try the waffle in Moore Coffee Shop we saw on the first day or try this waffle place called "Sweet Iron" and I decided to try Sweet Iron. (Bad choice) We ordered coffee, the Bacon + maple syrup waffle, and Berry compote + whipped cream waffle. It was mediocre, honestly, it was a little disappointing. (even the coffee!) In order to make it up for this unfortunate experience, we went to another coffee shop called "Storyville Coffee" and they have excellent coffee!! After I got a good cup of coffee, then, we can continue our itinerary. Today, we wanted to explore the Northwest part of Seattle. First destination - Fremont Troll! The Troll was sculpted by 4 local artists, and the goal was to rehabilitate the area under the bridge, which has become a dumping ground and haven for drug dealers. (Information from wikipedia) It was a really cool sculpture and it was huge!! Must have been a very challenging project! Then, we crossed the bridge (right above the troll) to the south lake union, where you can find a lot of historical landmarks around. We found a boat called Lotus, and she was built in 1909, so she is over 100 years old but still beautiful!!! The owner said that the boat is still seaworthy and they take her out every summer! Almost everything inside is original, and there are 3-4 bedrooms in which tourists can reserve and stay. The room looks cute and cozy, might not be a bad idea to stay on the lake next time! We walked around the lake a little bit before heading back to the city. From the park around the lake, you can see the space needle pretty well.

Lunch time!! We are not missing any opportunities to try different restaurant around here! There is a very popular pizza place called "Serious Pie" in the downtown area. There are actually 3 locations for this place, but we chose the one in downtown because of the itinerary. It wasn't too long of a wait, and the pizza was DELICIOUS! Very creative toppings and the crust was so thin, but just thick enough. We ordered the pizza with roasted morels, crawford farms asparagus, and taleggio. The waitress said that each pizza could feed one person, but we just had breakfast not too long ago, so we decided to have a light lunch and just ordered one pizza. (Now that I think about this, maybe I should have ordered 2! It was soooooo good) After lunch, we decided it is the right time to enjoy some art. Next destination - Seattle Art Museum (SAM). You definitely will not miss the SAM, as it has a giant sculpture outside the building. It is a kinetic sculpture, meaning it moves, and it is called the hammering man. Basically, it is a giant man hammering right outside the museum. Hammering Man is a project by Jonathan Borofsky which have been installed in various cities around the world, kinda like the LOVE sculptures around different cities. Interestingly, the Hammering Man rests his arm every year on Labor Day, so don't go on Labor Day if you want to see the moving Hammering Man.

I have learned something shocking!! Maybe you guys have already known, but if you don't, here it is!! Most of the museums' entrance fees are only suggested!!!! Basically you can pay any amount you want! (because they get funding from the government to run the place) They don't usually tell you the price is suggested because they want you to pay for the suggested price, but you can actually pay less than that if you wish. I can't believe I did not know about this all these times!! Well, that being said, I would still suggest that everyone pay the full price to support art!
Different people have different tastes in arts, and the exhibitions they had this time weren't my type of art. But exhibitions change all the time, so check before you go if you are picky like me! Next destination - Ferry ride! It might sound stupid, because we are not trying to get to the other island. All we want is to experience the ferry ride and see the city view from the ferry. We took the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton. It is an hour ferry ride, and you only have to pay for one trip, the return trip is free. We spent a very relaxing time on the ferry, enjoying the breeze and the view. We walked so much these 2 days, (sore feet...) it is kinda nice to sit for a while.
What's for dinner? I made a reservation at an Italian restaurant called "the Pink Door" tonight. The review seems to be very positive and it has different performances every 30 minutes from 6:30 - 8:45 at dinner time. The entrance is literal enough, a pink door! The restaurant has a very charming, homey feeling to it, which I really like. We ordered Tjarin (Pancetta, aspragus, sugar snaps, green garlic & raw egg yolk), the mushroom risotto with parmesan crip and the Cioppino. The Cioppino was okay, the seafood was not as fresh as I thought. But I really like the pasta and the risotto. That is a very nice spring vegetable pasta, and the raw egg yolk gave it a very creamy texture. For the risotto, the waiter said that they made their own mushroom stock, and you can definitely tell! The risotto was cooked right and the parmesan crip was definitely a plus. We ordered 2 desserts, but they were okay. (can't believe I did not get ANY satisfying dessert on this trip!!)

So much for the food. What made this dining experience exceptional is definitely the performances! During our dinner, there were 3 different performances, and I do not know what they are called. It is like pole dancing, but not with a pole. Instead, the female performer was dancing in the air with the hanging ribbon/hoola hoop. They are slightly exotic, but very very nice performances. I just love it. After dinner, we have one last stop before going back to the hotel and pack - Kerry Park!!! Probably one of the best spots to see the city view! (with the Space Needle in it this time) But we decided we needed a coffee after the meal, so we went to this place called "Uptown Espresso". It is in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. (We were going to go to Caffe Fiore, but it was closed) It is a very spacious coffee place in the area if you are looking for a place to study/read a book/chitchat with friends, and most importantly, the coffee was great! Then, we walked to the Kerry Park from the coffee shop, which is not too far of a walk, but it is very uphill. We figured it is probably a good idea after all the food we had the past 3 days.

Perfect timing! It was around 8:30-9pm when we made it there, and it is finally starting to get dark! And the view was spectacular! There is another park I was thinking of going called the "Seacrest Park". It is more like a skyline view instead of this close up view of the city. You can walk along the water, enjoy the sea breeze, and look at the city. Unfortunately, we have a 6am flight to catch tomorrow, so we decided to go back to the hotel and save this for next time. But if you have time, you should definitely go! On a clear day, the day view is very pretty too. On this note, our short 3-day Seattle trip has come to an end (*sob*until next time!). I will definitely come back if I have a chance! Bye Seattle!

*Travel tips* I reserved the rental car from enterprise a couple weeks ago for 4 days and it was around $180. And as you all know, you can cancel a rental car reservation anytime without any cost, so I checked again 2 days before the trip, and I got a new quote for $80! I was like "holy shxt!". And I canceled my last reservation and made a new one. That saved me $100!!!!!! I also checked for the plane tickets to see if there's any last minute deal since the ticket I got happened to be refundable. But I already had the best deal. Something to keep in mind! Always plan the trip ahead of time so that you have more time to look for deals (if the budget is a concern), and never forget to check again before the trip too!

P.S. I promise I will be continuing the South America trip posts!

Memorial Day Weekend - Seattle in 3 days Part 2/3

Day 2

I always love nature. And there are two beautiful national parks close to Seattle, the Olympic National Park and the Mt. Rainier National Park. I had a hard time picking which one to go, and I looked at some reviews, and decided to go with the Olympic National Park. We woke up really early because it is a 2-hour drive to get there from Seattle, and therefore we need coffee!!! The only good coffee place I found that's open at 7am in the morning is actually on the Pike's Place Market called " Le Panier", and the coffee is very good and they are famous for their pastries, so we got some for the road! When we finally arrived at the park, we went on the staircase rapid loop trail. It is a 4-mile trail with lots of trees and water, absolutely gorgeous!

There's a picture of the car we rented for the trip! A convertible 2-seater! They ran out of options by the time we picked up the car, so we ended up with a nice convertible! *bonus* I have been to a lot of national parks around California, Arizona and Utah, but the habitat here is just soooooo different. It is just sooooooooooooooooo green everywhere! Even the branches of the trees are covered with mosses and ferns! The water of the creek is so clear and green that I feel like I can just drink it! (don't ever do that... bad idea) After this gorgeous hike, we were looking for some other hikes, but unfortunately, this part of the park is very segregated from the other parts of the park. There are supposed to be some coastal hikes, beaches hikes, mountain hikes, a variety of different sceneries, but unfortunately, despite our endeavor to try to find it, we got lost and barely made it out of the woods. (A large portion of the roads were unpaved......with holes....) I guess I should have done more research before I came, oh well..... I thought I have been to enough national parks that I would be able to find my way in this one...... Anyways, we went back to the city and decided to visit the Chinatown/International District. Then, we went to downtown Bellevue to have some good Taiwanese food, the place is called "Facing East". That place was just PACKED, but it was worth the wait. There is some authentic Taiwanese street food that is not easy to come by in US, and the food was pretty good.

Last stop before the night ends, we went to the space needle! How can you tell people you have been to Seattle until you have been to the space needle! It was not too bad of a line, and apparently there's early/late bird discount (6-9am, 9-12pm), which in my opinion, is the best time to see the day/night view anyways! The space needle is 600 feet tall, and was built for the 1962 World's Fair, same idea as the Eiffel Tower for the 1889 World's Fair. (a little fun fact moment there) The SkyCity Restaurant is a revolving restaurant at 500 feet at the space needle if you would like to enjoy the city view while you eat. I did not go for it because I don't think the food is worth it. We went up to the top and the city view is awesome! (One thing about this view is that.... the space needle is not in it lol)

Memorial Day Weekend - Seattle in 3 days Part 1/3

I know.... I know.... I should be writing about the South American trip... But, I just went to Seattle this past weekend! And since everything is still fresh in mind, let's take a detour to Seattle, Washington before we head back to South America! The picture above was taken in Kerry Park at night, that is absolutely the best spot to see the city view with the iconic space needle. Beautiful!

So, we left on Friday night after work and came back to LA on a super early flight on Tuesday morning to get back to work on time. That gave us 3 full days to explore the area!

Day 1

What's better than starting the morning with yummy breakfast and coffee! We went to this place called "Tilikum", and the breakfast was absolutely delicious! We had eggs Benedict with falafel instead of typical English muffins, seasonal green hash, and dutch babies (baked pancakes)! It is the first time I've had Dutch babies, and it was G-O-O-D! It is crispy on the outside and so soft inside. I might like that more than regular pancake! (I am going to try to make it) I am telling you, that was a very satisfying breakfast! Then, we walked around the neighborhood a little bit, very clean and very green. There are a lot of cafes, coffee shops nearby, if I were to live here, I would definitely try each one of them out.

There are just too many coffee shops around, and we walked past another one called "Moore Coffee Shop". Time to get another coffee! It is a very cute little coffee shop with waffles!!!!! I love waffles! (But that's just me) If not because we just had a very full breakfast, I would probably go for a waffle. We ordered a latte and a cappuccino, and they are both very good with very adorable latte art. I love individual unique coffee shops, and I can't imagine living in a city without that! I am already falling in love with the city! After coffee, we went to the Pike's Place Market. On the way there, we stumbled across an antique store, which has a very interesting collection of antiques, including old pocket watches, fishing poles, telephone booths, record players, etc. I am not sure if the electronics are still working, but it is definitely a good decor if you are into these kinds of things.

They also have a collection of playboys from the 1950s to 2000s, and I have to say..... it was a lot classier back then! We also saw the aquarium and the pier along the way. It is a cloudy day here in Seattle (as usual I guess), but I have had enough sun in California (I am not bragging), so I am loving the weather here.

Finally, we are at the Pike's Place Market. First, there is the market with fresh seafood, and different market stuff. Besides the farmers' market, there are a bunch of different little stores in the building, like gadget stores, bookstores, vintage stores, etc. There is one photography store called "Reflection on Seattle", and I really like his work. Instead of mundane pictures of Seattle (space needle, Seattle great wheel, the city view, etc.), his photos are all reflections of those icon symbols in puddles of water. Since Seattle has so much rain, that makes it the perfect theme for Seattle photos.
Opposite to the market, there's the FIRST Starbucks ever world history!!!!! Look at the logo, everything was still there! The boobs, the tail, the belly and everything!! I like that logo a lot better than the simplified one right now. I remembered a pictures I found online a while ago, making fun of the Starbucks logo. (shown on the right from google image search)
The Starbucks has a huge line of tourists waiting to taste the coffee from the first Starbucks, but I figured unless the beans are from 1971, the coffee should just taste the same as the regular Starbucks. The street behind the first Starbucks is the Post Alley, which hosts numerous restaurants and bars. Nearby, we found a very interesting bookstore called "left bank books". It has very unique decor and a very atypical selection of books. It also has a lot of chairs and places to sit for people who want a quiet place to read next to this not-so-quiet touristy market. We spent the whole afternoon walking along the pier, the market, and going into all these little stores. It was so much fun! Then, we walked around the downtown a little bit, and I just love the city vibe! There are so many people walking around the street!!! They are not in the car driving around, but walking!!! I guess it is memorial weekend, but still, I love the hustle and bustle of the city life!
I did a lot of research on restaurants that I intended to try, and it seemed like there was a lot of good food here in Seattle! I ended up with a long list of restaurants, but since there were only so many meals in a day.... I had to pick! And tonight, it is the "Barolo"! It is a fancy Italian restaurant. It is located in the downtown/financial district area, so it has a little business meeting vibe. (I have learned from experience that.... it is often not a good sign.... just personal opinion) We did not order any appetizers because none of them looked exceptionally appealing. Instead, we ordered 3 main courses, Rigatoni al Ragu’ d’Agnello (the lamb leg Ragu), Spaghetti alla Carbonara e Zucchine and Branzino con Verdure e Patate (Chilean sea bass). The dinner was good, but that is also the problem.... it is just good.... nothing extraordinary. The menu was uninspired, the combination of the ingredients were very expected..... we did not even order dessert (which is usually my favorite part), because the dessert menu was boring too. The food was good, but this is not a "wow" type of restaurant, and even if I do live in Seattle, definitely won't go there again. But it's just me. I tend to like a bold and creative menu.

Day 1 - Buenos Aires

Speaking of maximizing time, we took a red eye flight on Friday night after work, and our first stop is Buenos Aires, Argentina. We had a layover in Mexico City for a couple hours and we arrived on Saturday night (A direct flight would have been a lot more expensive..... maximizing time with limited budget..... poor student T_T) We decided to stay in a relatively nicer hotel in Buenos Aires called Lennox Hotel. (It's going downhill from there) It is at a very convenient location and very close to a lot of the tourist attractions by foot as well as the subway station.
After we had a good night rest, we woke up early the next day (did not want to waste any time), and we walked around the city. First day of the vacation, first day in a foreign country, everything is so new and exciting and AWESOME. It was a Sunday morning, so the streets were still quiet. I just LOVE the architecture here, everything looks so historical.

Then, we went to San Telmo, which is a oldest "barrio" (neighborhood) in Buenos Aires. This is a very well-preserved area, with cafes, antique stores,  There is a flea market held there every Sunday called Feria De San Pedro Telmo. This is definitely a must-go attraction if you happen to be there on Sunday. Antiques, vintage, handicraft, jewelry, art, street performances, all in one place. I had so much fun picking souvenirs for friends and families. The price is very reasonable with room for bargain. I had a hard time controlling myself not to go too crazy!! I don't want to spend all the money on the first day of the trip!

Anyways. We found a nice historic restaurant for lunch around the area, and the place is called "El Federal". Everything there looks so historical. The tables, the chairs, the tableware, even the people!!! OMG!!! It feels like I went back in time.

Then, we went to La Boca. The early settlers of this neighborhood are thought to be Italian and probably this is the reason this area retains a strong European flavor. If you are a big soccer fan,definitely go to "La Bombonera" ,which is the famous soccer stadium in Argentina. After that. we went to the Caminito, which is a street museums and traditional alleys with colorful houses. This is the place where Juan de Dios Filiberto for its famous tango piece "Caminito". It is a little touristy for my taste, but oh well..... you are in Buenos Aires already, must as well go take a look. There are a lot of street tango performances, and also street vendors that sell tango-related memorabilia. This place is right next to the river Riachuelo, which is very nice to walk around.

This pretty much concludes the first day in Buenos Aires. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by the Plaza de Mayo, Casa Rosada, a couples cathedrals, buildings, memorial sculptures, everything was so pretty!! We couldn't wait for tomorrow!!!!