**WARNING: Long entry about my recent trip.

I'm back from Seattle, Washington...

Why there? Well.. it was my parents' decision. They've taken us to almost all the places we've wanted to visit outside the country, but we haven't explored many states within the U.S. I've only been to Hawaii, Alaska, and Nevada, with stopovers in Denver, Illinois, and Washington D.C. Due to the wars, threats of danger, SARS, and other unpopular events in the world, and the aforementioned reason, my parents chose Seattle.

So off to Seattle we went:

1) The morning of my flight, I woke up to see that my face and hand/wrist had been attacked brutally by mosquitos (likely culprit). OH NO... Luckily I had just purchased my baby blue A's visor, so I had something to hide underneath. The flight only took two hours, and they went by quickly because I read my newly aquired book, "Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix." We flew over a bunch of mountains; one of which was Mount Shasta. I didn't pay attention to the other names because I was too absorbed in my book.
*On our first day there, we just chilled, relaxed, and had a great dinner at the MARGEAUX, which has the best all-you-can-eat crab legs!!! I am usually too lazy to crack them, but they were good, so I went through a few batches.

2) The next day, I still looked deformed, but oh well, what could I do? I beared it and did some sightseeing with my family. First we ate at MICHELANGELO'S BISTRO, which was quite good. (Oh, if you've noticed, my entries might have heavy focus on restaurants and food... simply because food is one of my passions.)
*Anyway, after satisfying my stomach, I headed over to the PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER, where I played with neat gadgets, science-y stuff, and watched a documentary type thing on roller coasters in the IMAX theatre there. I fell asleep towards the last 20 minutes! I thought the "Thrill Ride" movie would be interesting.. I was wrong. The first 20 seconds was pretty cool though. The Center is worth a visit though...
*After the Center, we headed up 520 feet to the Observation Deck of the SPACE NEEDLE. I looked at the chart of the tallest buildings, and I realized that I had been to a few of them: The Eiffel Tower, The CN Tower, etc. The Space Needle paled in comparison to those two towers. It was a lot shorter and didn't have as spectacular a view as the others. However, it was nice to look out over the city... that Space Needle gives you a fabulous view of Seattle.
*Next we headed over to this Japanese Grill for dinner. The chef cooked at our table/grill, and it was soooo cool. That was my first experience in that type of environment. He was chopping, sauteeing, fileting, swinging, whipping, etc, etc. I feared for my life when the flames burst. He flipped a full bowl of rice at me 360! Nothing fell out!

3) The WOODLAND PARK ZOO was our destination the next day. I saw a jaguar, zebras, a giraffe, small monkies, african wild dogs, elephants, hippos, komodo dragons, pitars, more monkies, lions, just to name a few... I took the most pictures at the zoo. I'd never seen some of the animals they had there, so that was a neat experience. I also ate an Itzakadoozie, which is a very colorful (red, yellow, green, blue) fruity type bar that is about 8" long.
*I finished reading "Harry Potter" that night.

4) We planned the day after for a nice day at the Pier. First we cruised around on the ARGOSY CRUISE. Apparently we passed by the location of MTV Real World: Seattle. It was filmed at Pier 70. We also passed by Safeco Field (home to the Mariners), which has a retractable roof, so they have to play rain or shine and Seahawks Stadium (home of the Seahawks).
*After a lovely tour, we went to THE SEATTLE AQUARIUM where I saw Nemo and Dory from Finding Nemo! I knew it was them even before I saw the sign posted next to them! I also saw lots of interesting fish and the cutest sea otter pup, which swim on their back. He scratched himself, and it received "awwwws" from the crowd that had gathered around him because he was just oh-so-adorable. Those were the highlights of that visit. From the outside, I thought it would be a really small aquarium, but there was actually a lot to see.
*In the IMAX theatre, we watched a short 45 minute movie called "Ultimate X." The film was about "extreme" sports that you'd see at the X Games. There was coverage on street luge, which is one of my favorite games at the arcade, BMX tricks, motorcycle tricks, skateboarding stunts, etc... OUCH and WHOA!

*** I was counting the minutes to go home! ***

5) *We spent the next morning in Chinatown for Dim Sum. I've never seen more Caucasian people than Asian people at a Chinese restaurant before. The food was okay... I was homesick... my fortune cookie said, "You are heading for a land of sunshine." My fortune cookie read my mind.
*After a full meal, we headed over to the MUSEUM OF FLIGHT, which I think is probably the best thing that happened during my visit in Seattle. I toured the Air Force One that Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, and Kennedy were chauffered around in. That was NEAT! This 707 retired in 1997 and had been flying since 1956, I believe. The plane was relatively small. The tour guide said that Pres. Eisenhower was a very simple man, and he just wanted to get the job done. He didn't need a big 'ol fancy plane. I rode in a simulator that mimicked the Desert Storm thing... I don't even know what that thing was called. All the planes in this museum are real and you get to touch almost everything. There were Blue Angels, stealth planes, passenger airlines, etc. You definitely have to check out this if you ever stop by Seattle.

6) The morning/afternoon was spent just chilling around Seattle, mainly our hotel and the airport. I was counting the minutes until I landed back in the Bay Area. I am sooooo happy to be back!

Seattle is a nice city, but 1-2 days of touring around is will suffice. The lifestyle is different- slower, more chill. Downtown looks a lot like San Francisco, but smaller. Life there seems a mix of SF and Monterey. People don't seem to be rushing around as much as they would on the streets of SF. As my brother so eloquently puts it, "Our parents spoil us with foreign and exotic places every year, and this year we go to Seattle... it's no wonder we find it so ... well, not as exciting." I agree completely!