Seattle Trip

Again, we made another Seattle trip. Main reason is to get those chinese herbs before we head back to Malaysia.
As usual, we bought American Ginseng, Sea cucumber, dried scallop and some groceries like dried mushroom, luo han guo, crysanthemum, mu er etc. The quality of chinese herbs here is really better, especially the american ginseng and dried scallop

And as usual we dropped by Alki beach for a quick walk, showing to it to my friend another view of Seattle from Alki beach. Then since we’re here already, we headed North for Seattle Premium Outlet under Chelsea premium outlets.

It’s HUGE and it has few brands which Woodburn doesn’t have and some of the shops are actaully selling more styles or things. But it come with price There’s sales tax in Washington but no sales tax in Oregon. So, still need to make considerations on those brand already have in OR. Actaully we just went there to have a look. Since I always complained that here is less choice and more expensive compared to what I had last time in Folsom or CA. So, proof is things are more expensive nowadays even in outlets but choices are really more there. Example, Guess handbags, there’s a lot more style there, prices is the same for both places except sales tax.

Dinner, we went for Red Lobster and for sure I ordered the steamed 1 1/4 lbs Maine Lobster for ~$27…. Hmmm, to my dissapointment, I think what I have last time in Folsom (not red lobster), is much better than this is and it’s 2 – 3 lbs i think for the almost same price I don’t remember the shop name, it’s along Folsom Blvd. It’s a full meal again…gaining weight already since the day before this, we went for Korean BBQ in Beaverton and cannot even finish what we ordered! Normally in Malaysia, a set of Korean BBQ will only enough to BBQ once, but here, $15 can BBQ 3 times! I didn’t know the portion, so I ordered Pork belly, marinated chicken and a Tofu kimchi soup with rice! So, we cannot finish the soup and also chicken.

Not satisfied with the red lobster, haha, I went for groceries on Sunday and saw that Winco has lobster tail for $4.+, so I bought 2 and go home steam it myself it’s frozen but it’s exceeded my expectation of frozen lobster tail with $4 per piece …. Easier, next time just buy 5 of the tails to make it ~$20+ and steam it myself at home and enjoyed it!

Seattle Trip

6/6-6/7

2 days 1 night trip to Seattle. It’s about 2 1/2 to 3 hours drive from here to Seattle.

Hotel, we stayed at Days Inn at Downtown for 1 night for ~USD117 (after tax). Sound expensive, but it’s for 4 people in one room. They charge for the extra 2 persons. Reasonable to me, as more people more utilities usage and also they served free breakfast too   This hotel is at 7th street and at the middle of downtown, convenient traveling to places of interest. Car park is USD10 per night. This is the second time I stayed at this hotel. Last time I stayed here was 2-3 years ago. I booked through their own website: www.daysinn.com, sometimes if you booked early, then you can get good rates  

Places we visited at Seattle is: Chinatown,  Alki Beach, Ballard Lock, GasWork Park, Space Needle, Boeing Tour and Pike Place Market.

Chinatown: We went to have lunch there, just simply picked one of the shop with Best in Seattle magazine published at the door .  We then headed to buy (as usual) those herbs. The price I would say pretty similiar with what we saw in San Francisco last time.  We get dried scallops (my beloved), dried mushroom, Hua Qi Sheng etc.

Alki Beach: It’s really a nice beach. First portion we’re looking back to Seattle West. Beautiful view and very relaxing walking along the park. We continued driving along the road and ended up at the beach. The water (exceeded our expectation) was crystal clear blue. Long stretch of beach with a lot picnic, bbqs, volleyball and more activities going on. It’s really a busy beach on a sunny cold day .

Ballard Lock: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/tour/locks.htm. My father just loved it here, as he saw what he read last time in his geography/history on how “ships can climb mountain”! The traffic at the lock is really busy that day. Each time will have at least 3-4 boats/yatches cramped together to go through the locks. There’s fish ladder too. Now it’s not the peak season (forgettenwhat’s the fish season now), but we still able to view few fish swimming there.

Gas Work Park: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?id=293. I feel it’s a bit different than 2 years ago. I remembered last time they didn’t gate it. But standing there still breathtaking, overlooking back to Seattle downtown, and looking at the “drive the duck”.

Space Needle: We walked from Days Inn to Space Needle in the evening. Think it’s about 10mins walk?! Today, they have prom night. So a lot dressed up nicely and have party there Up at the viewing deck, 360 degree look at Seattle. Very nice view especially at night when there’s a lot of lighting around. www.spaceneedle.com. It’s $16/person. If senior citizen (65+), then it’s $14. We left about 10pm.

Pike Place Market: www.pikeplacemarket.org. Very busy market. It’s really something different for my parents. They saw almost everything here (vegetables, fruits, flowers, fish, crafts, clothes etc). Think my dad loves most is the prunes sold there. He said it’s very nice and most important it’s not sweet (unlike in Malaysia) and it’s cheap! He went and buy again just before we left the market. Planning to buy back some for my sister There’s a fish stall there, making a lot of “noisy” Haha, entertainment actaully. A lot people surrounded that stall to watch them “singing”. A very different view from the conventional market. Everything is FRESH and JUMBO here and most important CHEAP (compared M’sia)

Boeing Tour: www.futureofflight.org. It’s $15/person and $14 for senior citizen. We got the ticket when we reached there. We went for the tour to look at 747, 777 and 787. It’s about 1 1/2 hour tour. I would say since we look from the top and not much activity that day, it’s not as interesting as the gallery Gallery we can take photos with these huge engine, pilot place etc. My dad loved it a lot.

Seattle: from Space Needle at night

Seattle: From Gas Work Park

Seattle: From Alki Beach