Seattle Two Days Trip

26th March, Saturday. I went to Seattle for a short weekend trip. Initially I plan to go there in April, but a new ‘geek’ who came from Israel invited me to go along with him, so I promised. He is my new colleague from Israel, came here for around 1 month only for some project convergence efforts. He is really funny, talkative, and crazy guy. Well, maybe that’s what an Israeli should be, direct, and somehow ‘rude’. 😛 Anyway, both of us didn’t plan much, Friday said “go!” then Saturday morning, he came to pick me up then we went together.

三月二十六日，星期六。我去了西雅圖，遊玩了短短的兩天一夜。本來也沒打算這麼快就到那裡去的，但是有位來自以色列的同事邀請我一起去，有個伴，就倆人一起去了。這位同事是以色列的猶太人，為人還蠻直接，坦率，也可以說是蠻粗狂的。哈哈，不過也因為這樣而讓人不覺得悶。

From Hillsboro to Seattle is around 3 hours drive. First destination, we targeted the famous landmark of Seattle, the Space Needle. The picture above was taken on the Space Needle. Really scenic view up there, you can walk around the tower in 360 and enjoy the whole city view up there. Too bad that day it closes at 6pm, or else we should be able to go there again at night for a nice night view. :/

從我家到西雅圖，大概需要三個小時的車程。我們的第一個目的地，就是西雅圖著名的地標：太空針，在那裡可以欣賞到很壯觀的城市全景。很可惜的是那天不懂為何六點就關了，所以沒辦法在入夜後再上去欣賞夜景。

Next, we continue with the EMP|SFM just beside the Space Needle. EMP|SFM, is actually a museum founded by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, in year 2000. There are many interesting stuff to see and learn in the museum. If you like music, you’ll love this place. Too bad my ‘geek’ colleague is not a music lover, so he kind of found it boring and left there after awhile.

過後，我們就直接到另一個景點，就是“體驗音樂企劃”的博物館。在裡面有許多的音樂歷史，音樂創作人的史記，事蹟和物品，還有形形色色不同的地方讓人了解和體驗音樂。如果你是喜歡音樂的話，你肯定會喜歡這裡，可惜我那同事不懂欣賞音樂，所以我們也沒逗留太久就走了。

After the museum visit, it was almost 6pm. We simply walked around to find a cheap hotel and checked in for the night. The hotel name is “Baroness Hotel“. There are several interesting stuff about this hotel. First, it is just opposite to a hospital. We asked the receptionist whether the hotel provides breakfast, he politely replied that no, but we can actually take our breakfast at the hospital which is just across the road. Well, of course I am OK with that, but my ‘geek’ colleague just can’t accept it. He felt that he’ll be sick after dining in a hospital. What a geek. 😛 Second, the elevator of the hotel is indeed an antique! Hardly can see this kind of elevator already, some more in a hotel!

看了博物館後，差不多也將近六點晚上了。我們就在周圍找了間蠻便宜的酒店下榻了。這酒店有幾點還蠻特別的：第一，地點非常靠近醫院，根本就是在醫院對面而已。我們問那裡的招待員，酒店是否有包早餐？他還蠻有禮貌的回答沒有，然後還告訴我們其實可以到對面的醫院的食堂去吃早餐。我當然沒問題啦，就是我那以色列的同事覺得超怪，他覺得進醫院吃東西是很不對勁的，隨時會生病出來，真的蠻好笑。第二，這酒店的電梯根本就是古董！現在已經很少能夠看到這樣用手推開門方式的電梯了，更何況是在一間根本就不搭的酒店！

Anyway, after checked in, we went to a Japanese restaurant for our dinner. Then only I know that Jews can’t simply take any meal. They have a lot of ‘restrictions’ on taking in food, one would be: they cannot eat any meal that contains combinations of meat / processed parts that came from the same animal, eg: beef burger with cheese (both beef and cheese are from cow). In these 2 days, I learnt a lot of Jews culture and history, as well as the Hebrew. 😉 After the dinner, we were strolling around the city for hours, enjoying the city’s night.

我們處理好酒店下榻的手續，安頓好後，就去了附近的日本餐廳享用晚餐。在那時我才知道原來我這同事吃東西還蠻不“方便”的。因為他是猶太人，所以吃東西都會有很多的禁忌。他們不吃豬肉，也不能夠吃那些有混合式的雙料食物，比如芝士牛肉漢堡，由於芝士是牛奶做的，而牛肉也是牛身上的，混合兩種的話，他們是不能夠吃的，他們只可以單單吃牛肉，或者芝士，深奧吧，哈哈。我還從他身上聽了蠻多的猶太人歷史和故事，尤其是他們國家的風俗和問題，當然也學了一點點的希伯來語，嘻嘻。晚餐過後，我們也在城市中散步漫遊，享受冷風習習的大城市之夜。

The second morning, I woke up early and went to the hospital: “Virginia Mason Hospital” for my breakfast. Nice hospital with nice cafeteria, the food are not bad though, and it’s cheap, $3 for a set of medium coffee, strawberry waffle and scramble eggs. 😉

第二天早上，由於我的同事不能接受在醫院進食，我就獨自到了這醫院去享用我的早餐。醫院還蠻新的，食堂也很美，食物也不錯，最贊的是東西不會貴，三美元就有一杯的咖啡，一盤散蛋和一個Waffle，不錯了啦。

After the breakfast, we continue our exploration to another famous attraction in Seattle, the Pike Place Market. Saw this cool old man playing his ‘guitar’, really pro. Like the music.

吃了早餐，我們就到了西雅圖的另外一個著名景點：巴殺。還真的人山人海，東西也蠻多的。最有趣就是看到這位大叔，在街頭很有勁的表演他的吉他樂曲，真的很不錯，音樂還蠻好聽的。

Of course we won’t miss the 1st ever Starbuck Coffee shop that just opposite of it. Nothing really fancy about the coffee, just simple and old. Didn’t you notice that the logo is a bit different? 😉

當然，在西雅圖絕對不能夠錯過，全世界第一間，在這裡的“屎大把”（這樣的翻譯太絕了）咖啡店了。咖啡店也沒什麼真正特別啦，就簡單和陳舊的感覺咯。哦，對了這第一間的咖啡店，如果你注意看它的logo，就會發現不一樣哦。

After that, we went to the Seattle Aquarium. Not really that big as expected, and inside got nothing really fancy also, kind of disappointed. Then, we continue to the next exciting tour on a small cruise, the Argosy Cruise. Really nice, can see the Seattle skyline from the sea. Enjoying the freezing sea breeze as well. 😛

接下來我們就去了西雅圖的水族館。沒有想像中的大，也沒什麼特別，有點失望。過後我們就一路走下去到碼頭乘搭遊輪。這遊輪還真不錯，可以看到整個西雅圖的海岸線，還有講解員一面解釋每個西雅圖城市裡的建築物特點。在上面看著海，享受著冷颼颼的海風，蠻不錯的。

Well, after the harbour tour, we dine in at the Red Robin, which is just next to the harbour. Nice meal they have, especially you can ‘refill’ your fries bottomlessly, but too bad I was not feeling well after the tour, can’t eat much, really wasted. >.< 下船後，我們就在附近的快餐店吃晚餐。這快餐店最贊的地方就是可以無限量享用它的薯條！可惜我有點不舒服，吃不了多少，真的很可惜。 [gallery size="medium" template="file-gallery" columns="5" exclude="1046,1045,1044,1043,1042,1041,1040,1039,1038,1037,1036,1035,1034,1033,1032,1031,1030,1029,1028,1027,1026,1025,1024,1023,1022,1021,1020,1019,1018,1017,1016,1015,1014,1013,1012,1011,1061,1060,1059,1058,1057,1056,1055,1054,1053,1052,1051,1050,1049,1068,1069"] It was almost 5pm and we decided to end our trip for the day, since we still need to drive back for 3 hours. The rain was like never stop when we walked back to take our car. Really tired when reached home, though I didn't drive, but it was a nice trip. 🙂 我們吃完後也差不多要五點了，我們還要預算3個小時的車程，所以就決定結束這次的西雅圖之旅了。我們一路去拿車的時候還一路下著雨，時大時小，雖然我沒駕車，也真的蠻累的，但是也蠻好玩啦，嘻嘻。