Menyeberangi Lautan Pasifik

"When I breathed the air, it's as though I've lived through its history. Every turn of the corner, every slab of stone, every shadow cast by the buildings, the city seems to be talking to me."

I must say that some of my perception of Seattle had been formed since my secondary school days when my dance teacher introduced Seattle as a "Art City" to us. I didn't know what else to expect. Then I met Jay while studying in UCDavis, who's from Seattle, telling me about the beautiful islands around Seattle's Elliot Bay. And after the actual Seattle trip, an old uncle on the train told me that the two cities that I should see are San Francisco and Seattle... in his words "cities that will tug at your heart". You know, he's right. Each time I returned from San Francisco, I want to go again. So I was curious how it was like to be in Seattle.

It turned out that Seattle isn't the buskers kind of city most people will naturally link with Art. Leave that to San Francisco or New York to do the job. Seattle has more of the artsy fartsy high brow kind of arts... as some people will call it. Yes, those ballet performances, symphonic concerts, theatres, galleries, those stand ups.

On the ride to our accommodation, I realised that I have arrived at the city where many ideas and entrepreneurship endeavours were born. Boeing, Amazon and Starbucks. As diverse as these companies may be, there were born right here in Seattle. Amazing.

One thing that struck me, especially at the downtown was how the old and new buildings blend in seamlessly. None of the jaggedness you get like in other cities.

A visit to the Experience Music Project (EMP) is a must and that's what Yuting and I did on our very first day. You get to learn about the history of music and they have a section where you can play musical instruments, like the drum, keyboard, guitar and the mixing board. You could even record your own music if you like! And of course, there's a exhibit about Jimi Hendrix, guitar god to some, musical son to Seattle.

We got the combination ticket of EMP and the Science-fiction Museum (SFM), costing $27, saving us $6 if bought individually. The two attractions were linked within the same building, it was convenient just to walk across the walkway. But we didn't know it then so we took a walk around outside the building. Sigh.

They are situated at the Seattle Center, where the Space Needle, Children's Museum and monorail are too. The Space Needle was built in the 60s and the design was supposed to reflect the modern building look in 50 years later (meaning around now lah) but I think that the designer went way ahead of his time. However, Ben, whom we met staying at the Green Tortoise Hostel begged to differ. Someone's complaining that it looked too oldies!

Green Tortoise Hostel was where we stayed. And I must say that I have enjoyed my stay there thoroughly. Highly recommended place to stay =) They have really good brownies for breakfast and you make your own waffles. On different days, you'll find a variety of additional food on the table =) They also have very useful guidesheets along the corridor, one of which I used to walk up Capitol Hill. I almost got up to Bruce Lee's grave! But it was too dark so I came back haha...

The hostel location was really good too and the bonus point was that free dinner was served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The Sunday that we were there, they made really good spaghetti with pasta sauce. haha... I'm using "really good" twice in describing this hostel, but it definitely deserves some good recommendations.

Back to the point about its location... it's right across the street from Pike Place Market, marked in "Rough Guide to USA" as one of the top 32 places to see in the US of A. I found many interesting shops there. They have everything! haha... no kidding, They have coin shops, poster and postcard shops, comic shops, indian shops, spanish shops, magic shops. And within the shops themselves, they have everything else. No two shops are alike. These shops are found on the "Underground" of the market. On the "overground" that's where fresh food can be bought. Along the street, they also have food stalls and flea market type of stalls.

Of course, there's the main attraction along the market street - the first Starbucks Store. Opened in 1971, it was packed when Yuting and I visited it around 3.30pm. It is better to visit it after 5pm (Sunday) or 6pm (other days), before 7.30pm when the market's closed and the store's still opened. We came back at 6.40pm and we finally found space to walk into the store, literally. It's a purely sales store. There're no comfy sofas to sit and lounge. You can get the exclusive Pike Place Blend from here.

The second day we were in Seattle, we checked out Bainbridge Island, the nearest from Pier 52, which was the nearest pier to our hostel. It takes about 35 minutes by ferry. Life on the island seemed peaceful and slow. We took the scenic harbourfront walk from the island jetty to its downtown area. After that, we caught the first bus available (line #90) at 11.15am to Poulsbo. "Little Norway" is its nickname and we were game for some cultural exposures. The town itself was really dainty and did have a quaint european feel. Even the post office has Norwegian words written on it walls. Surprise, a mini Europe tucked in the corner of USA! Yuting really liked the Poulsbo trip. For me, I could retire here... haha

After the island excursion, we signed up for the Underground Tour. With our UCDavis student IDs, we managed to have a $2 discount =) I don't usually explore cities through paid tours but I must say that this one was worth it. I held more curiosity and respect for the city after the tour. There was a huge turnout for the tour, I think about 120 people. The main briefing was conducted in the Doc Maynard Cafe, which was decorated in the 20s, 30s style. The namesake of the cafe itself is that of one of Seattle's founding fathers. After that, we were divided into four groups for the remaining part of the tour, which included underground walks around Pioneer Square, where downtown Seattle was born. I liked, particularly the story of how Seattle had sewage flushing problem, leading them to have undergrounds after a fire in 1889. Yay to the Seattle Spirit! They rebuilt the downtown first before adding soil from the eastern hills... so Seattle ended up having a "underground". Somehow, this feature became useful during the Klondlike gold rush, when gold and money could be stashed in the abundant underground vaults available.

That night, we had the free dinner at the hostel and had a group of nice people sitting at the same table as us. There was Mickey from Myanmar, who's now studying Architecture in Kansas. It turned out that he had studied in Malaysia before coming to the state and his mom is actually working somewhere in Perak! haha... what a small world. His coursemates, Kelly and her boyfriend were also here to enjoy their spring break. Then there was Ben, the American who had spent most of his lifetime nowhere near America =) He's been teaching English in Taiwan for 8 years now. The strangeness was that we all found out that we all (except Mickey) went to Bainbridge that day but we hadn't known each other then.

Later, we went walking around the city. Kelly and her boyfriend went off in search of beer and the rest of us just went to the Space Needle and took night pictures of it. Enroute back to the hostel, we stopped by Triple Door, located at the street behind our hostel. There was a salsa band. Surprise, no cover charge! The floor was already filled with salsaroes showing off their best moves. We kind of stood around watching the action haha... until sleepiness beckoned some of us.

As the Salsa dancers danced the night away, Seattle continued to emanate its charm on me. When I breathed the air, it's as though I've lived through its history. Every turn of the corner, every slab of stone, every shadow cast by the buildings, the city seems to be talking to me. Until now, I still can't decide if I like Seattle or San Francisco more?