Getting Lost In Seattle

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May 25, 2007
Friday

It was a very early flight to Seattle at 6 am. And traffic was bad! Good thing Mar was at the wheels, tried 3 detours, and managed to get us to the airport in the nick of time. Thank God!


Again, we got ourselves booked at unbelievably low rates in Westin Seattle through Bebeth. At $69 per day, a hotel in this fabulous location, is basement bargain! All the posh shops surround the hotel, and we only needed to cross the street to get on the skytram to reach Space Needle. Or go to the other corner to catch a bus. Or walk just a block to dine in Cheesecake Factory. Or shop in Macy’s just off the corner. Or even just get out a door to buy a Mcdo burger and fries.


The room looks even better, newer, than the Bonaventure in LA. What luck! I particularly love their Starbucks coffee in the room. After a hefty dose of dark roast coffee, we left and took the skytram for Space Needle. A $16 ticket to go up the tower and enjoy the panoramic view of the entire city of Seattle and beyond! That’s the Pacific Ocean out there. And there are the cruise terminals viewed from the tower.


From Space Needle, we took a manageable 2km walk towards the pier where we found some of the ferries (to Vancouver, or to Victoria, etc.) and the cruise terminals. We also found the open air sculpture garden exhibit where Tito Boy sat it out with a good cup of coffee (not Starbucks, not Seattle’s best) while Emy and I enjoyed the harbor view. There was a lovely boardwalk as well, and we crossed the street and climbed up towards the famous Pike Place Market, ready for our late lunch.


Remember Sleepless in Seattle, the movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? We all fell in love with that movie…………and we found the Athenian Restaurant where some shots were taken. We had a good lunch there where the menu included halibut sinigang ---- suggesting an innovative Filipino chef working in their kitchen. Before then, we also watched the fish throwing between stalls in the market, and the numerous specimen of sea citizens! Crabs, lobsters, oysters, pacific clams, scallops, halibut, cod, trout, salmon, etc.


The fruits and flower stalls also looked so lovely! This is truly one functioning busy market! And it happens to be the oldest in America. From here, we walked to the original Starbucks restaurant but didn’t sit down for coffee. Instead , we walked around and found quaint stalls, deli and wine shops. This place is not your ordinary American city or town. There is an air of sophistication and culture you just can’t place. Even the Seattle guys seem to speak differently! Was there a trace of Canadian accent there? After all, it’s not too far from Victoria and Vancouver.


Before going home, we stopped by and shopped for a few items at Macy’s. After that, it was “home” in our heavenly Westin beds.

May 26, 2007
Saturday

I was hoping there would be time to do a winery tour or Lake Union tour today, but we decided instead to just stroll around. Tito Boy opted to just walk around the hotel and do some shopping. We found the cheesecake factory and enjoyed our lunch there. Then we took the “free bus ride” around downtown, missed the last stop to get off, and found ourselves on a bus bound for Renton , south of Seattle!!!! Paolo must have panicked upon learning that we are lost. While we girls couldn’t stop laughing at this stupidity, Paolo cried thinking we won’t find ourselves back. That’s when we got serious and studied the bus schedule and decided to get off at the next stop and take the next bus back to Seattle. That meant all of nearly 3 hours, including the waiting time . That cost us a lot of time!


On way back, we split up. Eve and Paolo decided to go back to the Amusement Park beside Space Needle, while Emy and I decided to get off near Pioneer Square, check out the Underground Tours, the oldest restaurant in Seattle, etc. Not much to see there. So we headed back for the hotel and asked directions on how to get to the nearest Catholic Church so we can hear anticipated Sunday’s mass. It turned out the church is right within the Space Needle area so we took the same skytram, texted Evelyn where we are, and heard mass. We went back to the hotel after mass and took takeout food to eat in our hotel room. Ahh, getting lost surely drained our energy!

May 27, 2007
Sunday

While Eve, Boy and Paolo went to hear Sunday mass, Emy and I were busy packing our bags for the Alaskan cruise. We spent the morning packing, and making arrangements with the Princess desk for our cab ride to the cruise terminal.


We breezed through immigration at the Princess Cruise Terminal. We were there early, and we’re glad we decided that way. It was packed by the time we were lined up to get on board the ship. The Princess crew checked out our visas and kept our passports. We were given a cruise card which we were advised we’d use to get on and off the boat, and to make payments with as all bills are charged to that cruise card. Including the mandatory tips of $10 per day!


As I emailed friends, there’s got to be a study on how first-time cruisers spend their first 12 hours on the boat. Gosh, our adrenaline levels were at all time high as we posed and snapped away pictures here and there, even before the ship sailed!!!!! Our cabin with a balcony is really super cool. The cabin is spacious enough ---- a good thing , since I was honestly prepared to accept a small , cramped space they call a cabin. Paolo is so excited over the sun deck, buffet tables, ice cream booth, grilled burgers and hotdog bars, movie theaters, internet café and library all in the boat. As the adults were equally excited too, but tried in vain to compose themselves!


Dinner was in a fine dining outlet where we enjoyed hors d ouvres, a cheese platter, a seafood consommé, shrimp cocktail, steak or prawn thermidore, chocolate soufflé, wine. Yummmmy……… we’d be lucky to get off this ship with only 5 pounds gained! Getting back to the cabin, we let out all our clothes for the next 7 days to hang in our closet. Brownie (Patricia's mascot) was out of my suitcase and comfortably perched on top of the pillow on my bed. Our cabin steward, a Filipino by the name of Bads (short for Badong) or Salvador to others, must have found me weird to be traveling with a stuffed toy dog.


Before the sunset, we sailed out of Seattle. Amazing. 😊

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