Not Sleepless in Seattle
Last weekend here in Canada we have a long weekend because on Monday was Victoria Day and my cousin Eliza also invited us to meet her in Seattle. So we left Vancouver in the morning but then we got stuck at the border for 2 hours! At the highway they have an electronic board telling people the waiting time at the border, my advice to you... don't trust that board! When we saw it, it says N/A, or Not Available, when we still trying to figure it out, it's too late, the line was at least a mile long and we got stuck since there cars on our rear. It also the same story when we return from Seattle to Vancouver. The electronic board on the other side says the waiting line is <5 minutes, or less than 5 minutes but then the end of the line is exactly under that electronic board which means, it's going to be another 2 hours there! This time we think fast and make a turn to Pacific Crossing, a different border, it definitely was not as bad as the one on I-5. We waited about half an hour.
La La is a very very sweet girl. She is so easy going, sleep a lot, and drink her milk regularly, but there is one thing she is not good at is when she has to sit in the car. I guess because she can't see my face. It's so touching when you know that you mean a world to your baby. You are her world! So I sit at the back with her and I am right, she is a happy baby as long as she can see me! She just smiles, laugh, giggle all the way to Seattle and back to Vancouver! I am still pinching myself on how lucky I am to have her! It's really like a dream comes true!
Alright, I will be brief. On our first day in Seattle we went to have lunch first at a restaurant near our hotel while waiting for Eliza to come back to the hotel because I told her to just go ahead to somewhere since I will be late due to border long waiting line and traffic jammed. Then we check in into our hotel room and rest a little. Soon enough Eliza and her family came to our room. We chatted a little, she also gave me her home made cookies while I totally forget to bring her tempeh that she requested 2 weeks before ....oops...
From hotel, we went to Japanese book store in Uwajimaya ( a big Japanese grocery store that also has a branch in Portland where I used to lived ). We spent a lot time there discussing and buying many recipe books! This is fun when 2 people who are both crazy about recipe books shop together! Plus, Richard was there and he help us in understanding some Chinese and Japanese recipe books since Japanese character is so similar to Chinese's. Okay, so I was wrong when I said 2 people, it should be 3 people who is crazy about cooking shopping for recipe books together. Eliza got baking books while I bought 3 Japanese recipe books, 1 Korean, and 3 Chinese. I would like to buy more, but this is the problem when your collection is already pretty extensive, it's getting harder and harder to find books that offer you something that you don't already have.
Then we just walk to the restaurant next door to have our dinner together. I order Sukiyaki and I ordered Korean Style Hot and Spicy Tuna Poke.
Poke I think is a Hawaiian dish that usually using raw seafood that is marinated with most likely Asian seasoning like soy sauce etc. If you like sushi then you will definitely like poke, it's like sashimi but tastier since they put a lot of stuff in it like soy sauce, chilies, green onions, garlic, ginger and maybe more. One book I like that has poke recipe is written by Sam Choy, a legendary Hawaiian chefs. His recipe books are pretty good. I think I owned all of them. At one time when I use his BBQ recipe, my new neighbour back in Portland came out and asked us what is that heavenly smell that she smell, she is my good friend now.
That night La La fell asleep while we were still eating at that Japanese Restaurant. And when I put her to her crib that is being provided by the hotel, she just slept it through! Oh so sweet! She woke up the next morning just like at home, around 7 AM. She did not move or make any sounds at all that night.
On the second day in Seattle, we went to McDonald for breakfast and from there we went back again to the hotel for swimming. I did not swim off course since I have to take care of Lala and Eliza decided not to swim as well. So only the boys and their fathers swimmed together. They had a blast!
Then since today Eliza has to go back to Portland, she pack all of her belonging and we went straight to then we went to Children Museum.
Children museum is really a fun and educational place for children. Over there, children learn a lot about adult world but in miniature way. They have a place where children can play pretend with music studio recording.
Then they have a radio station too.
A grocery store.
A restaurant.
A theater where they can not only play dress up and then perform, but they also can be the one who change the drop and the lighting or add special effect sounds.
Japanese house, Philippine food store with their transportation, Chinese house, Africa house, and many many more. Even adult like us had lots of fun too!
Around 4 PM, Eliza, Nathan, and Sani said goodbye and they went home to Portland.
Kai Kai and Nathan saying goodbye to each other.
Now, it's just us!
Since we still have time until 6, we went to see Pacific Science Center. The last time we went to Seattle this is where we want to go but at that time for some reason they closed. I think if your kids is at least 7 yrs old, this is the right place for them to explore, and if your kid is around 5 yrs like my son, then I think they will love Children Museum better. But it doesn't mean that they can not have fun in here. It's just you need to explain it to them more. But some cool stuff doesn't need explanation at all. There is a room full of robotic dinosaurs in there for example. Then there is butterflies room where you really have to walk carefully so you won't by accident step on butterfly that is on the ground. And there is a aquarium where children can touch sea cucumber, anemone, etc. And there is a robot that can play tic-tack-toe with you. Pretty cool huh?
From there we went back to hotel because La La is tired and she already fell asleep. So we decide to just head back to our room. Since we are not going anywhere for dinner, I ordered room service for us. I told the man who is going to bring the food up to my room to be extra quiet. He did. So that night we had a feast in our room. I never order room service as much as that night because I did not know that the order is so large!
I ordered fetuccini alfredo with chicken, and bruschetta. Then for Richard I ordered him seafood salad and beer. Kai Kai wants pizza and milk.
It feels so special to order room service! Kai Kai enjoyed it very much, he never been allowed to eat on the bed before!
I am so amaze that La La can sleep on schedule in the hotel and wake up at normal time. I still remember when Kai Kai was 10 months old and we stayed at a hotel, he cried nonstop!
On the third day, we went downstair to have breakfast buffet style. I love buffet! Then I pack everything and we went to EMP. EMP owned by Paul Allen, you know... Bill Gates' partner... Last time we also did not have enough time to visit EMP so I make sure this time we did. It's a pretty cool place for music lovers. This place is amazingly informative about modern music industy. I learn more about different types of electric guitars on this visit that from anywhere else. On the third floor, they even have many recording studio for people who want to produce their own CD and just for the cost of $9.95 for the first CD! That is just amazingly cheap. Especially this is a really working recording studio.
Also inside that building there is a Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame a great place for all of you Stars Wars fans.
Then there is DoubleTake From Monet to Lichtenstein. This is my first experience to be in the same room with so many magnificent paintings and photographs that I can only see on magazine or text book!
DoubleTake: From Monet to Lichtenstein explores this cultural phenomenon by pairing Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings with works by leading 20th-century artists – all from the private collection of Paul Allen. These pairings include Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works from masters such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Dégas and Vincent van Gogh with modern and contemporary works from such artists as Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein.
The paintings that I saw are like these :
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: La Liseuse - 1877
Paul Gauguin: Maternité [II] - 1899
Roy Lichtenstein: The Kiss - 1962
Jan Brueghel the Younger: The Five Senses: Sight - 1625
Pablo Picasso: Quatre Baigneuses - 1921
I mean.. come on... who has never seen these paintings in our text book or magazine perhaps??? And my face is only 10 cm away from these magnificent paintings!!!!
We spent 3 hours there, admiring everything and Kai Kai try all of the musical instruments in that recording place. I saw a Japanese man there, he played all of the instruments with great skills! It was a joy to see musician showing off his skill! He can play the drum really well, the electric guitar, the bass, the keyboard. Everything and he did it with such great skill! Man... I love to see talented people!!!
From EMP, we went home but we made a quick stop at the Outlet Mall because La La is getting restless and she wants us to push the stroller around so she can see things. She doesn't need us to carry her, she is okay with sitting on her stroller. While we were at the EMP she never awake. She just slept through it all.
At home, I just put her on her crib and she is soooo happy to be back to her bed! She kick kick kick, and waving her arms around, do the stretching with smilling and soon, she fell asleep. My precious little angel.
Going to Seattle is really fun, but what make it even better is spending our time together with Eliza, Sani, and Nathan. Family time ROCKS!
La La is a very very sweet girl. She is so easy going, sleep a lot, and drink her milk regularly, but there is one thing she is not good at is when she has to sit in the car. I guess because she can't see my face. It's so touching when you know that you mean a world to your baby. You are her world! So I sit at the back with her and I am right, she is a happy baby as long as she can see me! She just smiles, laugh, giggle all the way to Seattle and back to Vancouver! I am still pinching myself on how lucky I am to have her! It's really like a dream comes true!
Alright, I will be brief. On our first day in Seattle we went to have lunch first at a restaurant near our hotel while waiting for Eliza to come back to the hotel because I told her to just go ahead to somewhere since I will be late due to border long waiting line and traffic jammed. Then we check in into our hotel room and rest a little. Soon enough Eliza and her family came to our room. We chatted a little, she also gave me her home made cookies while I totally forget to bring her tempeh that she requested 2 weeks before ....oops...
From hotel, we went to Japanese book store in Uwajimaya ( a big Japanese grocery store that also has a branch in Portland where I used to lived ). We spent a lot time there discussing and buying many recipe books! This is fun when 2 people who are both crazy about recipe books shop together! Plus, Richard was there and he help us in understanding some Chinese and Japanese recipe books since Japanese character is so similar to Chinese's. Okay, so I was wrong when I said 2 people, it should be 3 people who is crazy about cooking shopping for recipe books together. Eliza got baking books while I bought 3 Japanese recipe books, 1 Korean, and 3 Chinese. I would like to buy more, but this is the problem when your collection is already pretty extensive, it's getting harder and harder to find books that offer you something that you don't already have.
Then we just walk to the restaurant next door to have our dinner together. I order Sukiyaki and I ordered Korean Style Hot and Spicy Tuna Poke.
Poke I think is a Hawaiian dish that usually using raw seafood that is marinated with most likely Asian seasoning like soy sauce etc. If you like sushi then you will definitely like poke, it's like sashimi but tastier since they put a lot of stuff in it like soy sauce, chilies, green onions, garlic, ginger and maybe more. One book I like that has poke recipe is written by Sam Choy, a legendary Hawaiian chefs. His recipe books are pretty good. I think I owned all of them. At one time when I use his BBQ recipe, my new neighbour back in Portland came out and asked us what is that heavenly smell that she smell, she is my good friend now.That night La La fell asleep while we were still eating at that Japanese Restaurant. And when I put her to her crib that is being provided by the hotel, she just slept it through! Oh so sweet! She woke up the next morning just like at home, around 7 AM. She did not move or make any sounds at all that night.
On the second day in Seattle, we went to McDonald for breakfast and from there we went back again to the hotel for swimming. I did not swim off course since I have to take care of Lala and Eliza decided not to swim as well. So only the boys and their fathers swimmed together. They had a blast!
Then since today Eliza has to go back to Portland, she pack all of her belonging and we went straight to then we went to Children Museum.
Children museum is really a fun and educational place for children. Over there, children learn a lot about adult world but in miniature way. They have a place where children can play pretend with music studio recording.
Then they have a radio station too.
A grocery store.
A restaurant.
A theater where they can not only play dress up and then perform, but they also can be the one who change the drop and the lighting or add special effect sounds.
Japanese house, Philippine food store with their transportation, Chinese house, Africa house, and many many more. Even adult like us had lots of fun too!
Around 4 PM, Eliza, Nathan, and Sani said goodbye and they went home to Portland.
Kai Kai and Nathan saying goodbye to each other.
Now, it's just us!
Since we still have time until 6, we went to see Pacific Science Center. The last time we went to Seattle this is where we want to go but at that time for some reason they closed. I think if your kids is at least 7 yrs old, this is the right place for them to explore, and if your kid is around 5 yrs like my son, then I think they will love Children Museum better. But it doesn't mean that they can not have fun in here. It's just you need to explain it to them more. But some cool stuff doesn't need explanation at all. There is a room full of robotic dinosaurs in there for example. Then there is butterflies room where you really have to walk carefully so you won't by accident step on butterfly that is on the ground. And there is a aquarium where children can touch sea cucumber, anemone, etc. And there is a robot that can play tic-tack-toe with you. Pretty cool huh?
From there we went back to hotel because La La is tired and she already fell asleep. So we decide to just head back to our room. Since we are not going anywhere for dinner, I ordered room service for us. I told the man who is going to bring the food up to my room to be extra quiet. He did. So that night we had a feast in our room. I never order room service as much as that night because I did not know that the order is so large!
I ordered fetuccini alfredo with chicken, and bruschetta. Then for Richard I ordered him seafood salad and beer. Kai Kai wants pizza and milk.
It feels so special to order room service! Kai Kai enjoyed it very much, he never been allowed to eat on the bed before!
I am so amaze that La La can sleep on schedule in the hotel and wake up at normal time. I still remember when Kai Kai was 10 months old and we stayed at a hotel, he cried nonstop!
On the third day, we went downstair to have breakfast buffet style. I love buffet! Then I pack everything and we went to EMP. EMP owned by Paul Allen, you know... Bill Gates' partner... Last time we also did not have enough time to visit EMP so I make sure this time we did. It's a pretty cool place for music lovers. This place is amazingly informative about modern music industy. I learn more about different types of electric guitars on this visit that from anywhere else. On the third floor, they even have many recording studio for people who want to produce their own CD and just for the cost of $9.95 for the first CD! That is just amazingly cheap. Especially this is a really working recording studio.
Also inside that building there is a Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame a great place for all of you Stars Wars fans.
Then there is DoubleTake From Monet to Lichtenstein. This is my first experience to be in the same room with so many magnificent paintings and photographs that I can only see on magazine or text book!
DoubleTake: From Monet to Lichtenstein explores this cultural phenomenon by pairing Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings with works by leading 20th-century artists – all from the private collection of Paul Allen. These pairings include Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works from masters such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Dégas and Vincent van Gogh with modern and contemporary works from such artists as Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein.
The paintings that I saw are like these :
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: La Liseuse - 1877
Paul Gauguin: Maternité [II] - 1899
Roy Lichtenstein: The Kiss - 1962
Jan Brueghel the Younger: The Five Senses: Sight - 1625
Pablo Picasso: Quatre Baigneuses - 1921
I mean.. come on... who has never seen these paintings in our text book or magazine perhaps??? And my face is only 10 cm away from these magnificent paintings!!!!
We spent 3 hours there, admiring everything and Kai Kai try all of the musical instruments in that recording place. I saw a Japanese man there, he played all of the instruments with great skills! It was a joy to see musician showing off his skill! He can play the drum really well, the electric guitar, the bass, the keyboard. Everything and he did it with such great skill! Man... I love to see talented people!!!
From EMP, we went home but we made a quick stop at the Outlet Mall because La La is getting restless and she wants us to push the stroller around so she can see things. She doesn't need us to carry her, she is okay with sitting on her stroller. While we were at the EMP she never awake. She just slept through it all.
At home, I just put her on her crib and she is soooo happy to be back to her bed! She kick kick kick, and waving her arms around, do the stretching with smilling and soon, she fell asleep. My precious little angel.
Going to Seattle is really fun, but what make it even better is spending our time together with Eliza, Sani, and Nathan. Family time ROCKS!
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