Seattle-Vancouver trip (Day 13)

Louis took 2 days off to make this trip possible and we had a very relaxing time. On Wednesday morning, we took Virgin America Airlines to Seattle and arrived around 11.15am. Had to wait in the cold for the shuttle that would take us to the car rental company.

After getting the car (Chrysler PT Cruiser), we headed straight to Downtown Seattle to find lodgings for that night. Finally decided on Ramada Inn because we had stayed at another of its chain last year. Lodgings here are really expensive so unless you wanna stay at those very dodgy motels (just ask Kelvin Teo), be prepared to fork out more than a hundered bucks per night.

This was our first glimpse of Downtown Seattle!

After settling down, we headed off to see the famous Seattle Space Needle which was a short walk from our hotel. Bought sandwiches from Subway for a late lunch while walking there. It's much better than the Singaporean version.

The view from the top was breath-taking and you could see the entire city. Then we headed to Pike Place Market to find the FIRST STARBUCKS! In this city, coffee has a cult following and I just HAD TO see the place where it all began. Now all that remained was the tiny problem of locating it.

It was evening by then and most of the shops were closing but we pressed on.

The above is a famous shop that sells fish. They throw the fish around when an order is made. Literally throw a slab of fish around. Harharhar...so silly...Finally! The FIRST STARBUCKS!

Bought a cup of coffee before heading back to the hotel for the car and then out to find a place for dinner. Ended up at a haven for book lovers because we weren't too hungry.

The store had wood-panelled floors and shelves that reached almost to the ceiling. Tiny nooks and crannies where bargain books were available. Absolutely delightful! I had to buy a book, of course. Chose one on sale. Books are much cheaper here. Wish I could buy back ALL of them! *sigh*

Had dinner at a Hawaiian-Japanese place - Ohana. Weird mix but it was one of the few decent places open after 9pm and beggars cannot be choosers especially if they're hungry ones.

On the whole, Seattle was ok. Not very exciting compared to New York or even Singapore. The shops close too early.