Summer #5: 2 days in Seattle from the Eyes of a Vancouverite

Item #5 on my summer to do list is to take a short trip somewhere nearby.  I went to Seattle.  Why? Well, for one I’ve never been, and more importantly there is this awesome new bus company that sells super cheap tickets. It’s called Bolt Bus. Roundtrip, $15.

Bolt Bus drop off point in Seattle.

They have wifi! If you're lucky you can catch their $1 fares. Sounds sketch but it's not!

From the train station at Science World station, it drops off right outside Chinatown in Downtown Seattle within the free bus zone. (I love that free bus zone. Buses are free to ride in the downtown core!)

No offense Seattle, I’ve always imagined you to be a more boring, less ethnically diverse version of Vancouver. Did it turn out to be? Yes and no. Seattle is a lot like Vancouver but subtly amplified in little ways.  For instance, there are beautiful old buildings like in Gastown and plenty of hipster things around like galleries, thrift stores and cafes… just more. Was it more boring? I’d say it depends how into art you are but it felt less bustling, not that Vancouver is very bustling. Usually.

“What the heck was there to do in Seattle?” I heard that a lot when I came back. Here are some ways you can entertain yourself in Seattle for the weekend:

1.) Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour: Highly recommended and I don’t even like tours. I’d say it was the highlight of my weekend. The history of Seattle itself is hilarious. Lets just say they didn’t anticipate a lot of things. Major plus that the guides are great at telling the story. There is also the “Underworld Tour” which is an “adult version” of the Underground. Didn’t do it but I have high hopes for it given how interesting the one I did was. http://www.undergroundtour.com/

2.) On a Sunday, the Fremont Sunday Market: It’s a little street market selling some interesting snack foods and a whole lot of artsy knick-knacks. Jewellery, furniture, picture frames, lots of mainstream old vinyl. My friend bought a polaroid camera and I got an old teacup. If you like Etsy type stuff this is a nice place to go. Getting there >>

3.) Fremont Troll: If you’re going to the market you might as well go check out this cool sculpture on the way. See Wiki page.

4.) Speaking of sculptures, Olympic Sculpture Park: Nice place by the sea for a walk in the evening.  The art there is pretty and felt just abstract enough to casually enjoy. It is a few blocks west of the free bus zone. To be honest, all of Downtown Seattle is like a sculpture park. Even the bus stops have neat skylights.

5.) Find Bruce Lee’s Grave: It’s just a grave… OF BRUCE LEE. No, it’s really just a normal cemetery. The interesting part is taking the bus there and looking out the windows in awe of how much Seattle is like Vancouver. Especially the residential areas.

6.) Coffee shops and art galleries: Wander around and you’ll find them easily. Try Pioneer Square area. By art galleries I mean those stores that are selling art that look like galleries. No admissions fees and maybe get inspired… or just straight up confused.

7.) If you’re really bored and with another person, do the clock hunt: I was a little scared that Seattle would be incredibly boring so I challenged my travel buddy to a contest. Who can take the most pictures of analog clocks. A bunch of tourism sites said “Seattle is rich in street clocks.” The catch is that you have to take the pictures without your challenger taking the picture too. My clock count: 11. I was aiming for 40.

8.) For nightlife, try Shorty’s: A bar with pinball machines. Need I say more? Speaking of nightlife, it seems like it is always happy hour in some places. Look for happy hour specials in restaurants, it’s a very affordable way to eat.  http://www.yelp.ca/biz/shortys-seattle

Other things to check out: Cheesecake Factory, Chipotle, Nordstrom and other American things we don’t have. Just because we don’t have them. I didn’t see much special about the first Starbucks or Pike Place. Pike Place is really just Granville Island’s market but with more fish and flowers. About the museums in the Space Needle area, I didn’t go in so I can’t say if they’re worth it but the building structures are really cool! Local bands and exhibitions are aplenty, find a paper. Lastly, avoid the financial district on weekends. You look up and the really shiny skyscrapers draw you in but it’s really dead. It’s not Burrard.  I couldn’t even find an open Starbucks.

Downtown Seattle from afar.

Overall, Seattle is a city of nice walks lined with beautiful buildings and random art everywhere. Boy, do I mean everywhere. If you’re stuck in Vancouver this summer and just want to get out but have little time or little money (or both), Seattle is not a bad choice. Be prepared for hills.

Summer To Do List.

Summer of 3rd year is quite possibly my last summer vacation ever. Or at least until I retire or strike it rich. When will I ever get four months of no responsibilities and a casual return to the usual in September again? Maybe if I take more than 4 years to graduate. (Which is likely too actually…)  To try and not regret the following months, I’ve started a list of stuff I want to do before the summer ends.

  1. Dye my hair something not brown:, blonde or red: because someday a wacky hair colour might stand between me and a job
  2. Master parallel parking: I have my N but I still can’t really do this
  3. Drive on the highway (after the parallel parking mastering)
  4. Write a song
  5. Go on a short distance trip: likely Seattle or Banff
  6. Watch a band play live, maybe an indie show would be cool
  7. Watch the new Batman movie
  8. Watch the new Spiderman movie
  9. Watch at least two movies on my IMDB watchlist outside of the two above mentioned movies
  10. Travel somewhere farther away for over a week, or however long I can take work off
  11. Go hiking
  12. Play basketball
  13. Make a creative contribution at work
  14. Read a book
  15. Then read another book
  16. Learn to read and write 100 Chinese characters
  17. Lose 5 pounds, or alternative: get fit

So the items aren’t anything seriously epic, but it’s a start.

There was actually a lot of contemplation done before deciding what to do this summer.  School? Work? Full time or part time? Paid or un-paid? Travel?

Summer of 3rd year is a chance to make sure you graduate in 4 years, if that is your goal. Third year is a great time to get an internship too. What with the fear of an empty resume next spring and the many opportunities to leverage our student status for a real foot in the door somewhere.

I think getting an internship would have been the smarter choice for my future. I ended up disregarding that. I’ve taken summer school every year since grade 8, except grade 12.  I worked/volunteered at the same time for most of those summers.  I don’t regret any of those summers at all, but taking a summer to just be a kid again is the choice I felt I needed to pick.  Many internships are full time all summer long, so travelling for something like two weeks would be out of the question. Maybe I’m just a fool who has fallen to short-sighted temptations. Hope I don’t regret it!

“So what is the whole point of photography?”

asked Rabi in his December 2nd post.

His post suggested some random projects to do and so I did one.  “take photos of your feet at random places”

Well… rather than random places I just took it when I felt the ground looked… not like the normal ground.

I’ve collected these over the course of the past 7 months.  Kind of sad that all this time it is only 25 pictures isn’t it?  Oh well.

All of the feet pictures were taken with my 3.2 mp camera phone.  Of course the pictures were also all (but 1) severely edited in Photoshop.

I’ve loved photography since my friend showed me the glory that is the Polaroid back in grade 6 at a Superstore.  Since then I’ve owned 3.

Pentax Optio:  My first love.  Lost in a two foot drop whist en route to my friend’s hands.

Point and shoots back then still had manual focus as an option. <3

Kodak V503: My reluctant purchase after the Pentax.  Lost to the sea somewhere in China.

I was never very attached this camera.  However, it wasn’t until after it was gone and when I went browsing for a new one that I understood it’s awesomeness.  Point and shoots these days have so little manual features now that they somewhat disappoint me.  (Where is the custom long exposure settings with flash combo!)

The 3rd one, I can’t find a picture but it looks similar to this:

From my friend on my 17th birthday.  I’ve still yet to develop this time capsule.  Actually, I haven’t finished the roll yet either.

I’ve never owned a DSLR and have maybe held one a maximum of 10 times.  I believe I’m missing out somewhere but I’d miss out if I were short a quite a few couple hundred bucks.  (Like how will I pay for my accounting textbook! Jokes…)

Maybe my mother is right that I never stick with anything which is why I never dove very deeply into photography.  That’s ok, cameras have led me to the wonderful world of photoshop and web design and flash, which led to much nerdier things.  (Of which was my high school hobby and I guess I’ve somewhat “moved on,” or is that only a subtle way of saying I’m less consumed by it.) But you know the beauty of education right?  Transferable skills!!!! Ftw.

YOU STORM THAT WALL.

Anyone remember the day in elementary school that came once a year when the whole school is divided into colour teams, eat hot dogs for lunch, covered in sunscreen, cheering your head off and playing games you’ve never heard of before? Aka… sports day?

Is this just a North American thing?

Anyway, Storm the Wall totally brought back memories of sports day though I was only a mere spectator.

My impression of Storm the Wall: It’s INTENSE. Much more than I thought. The wall… it’s huge.

In case you haven’t been near the SUB to see the two giant things, here is a picture of one of them.
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My picture makes the wall look kind of dinky, but it is much more intimidating in person.

I really have to give a round of applause for the participants. Especially the Iron People who did the whole race by themselves and then climbed the wall with only a dangling arm reaching down to them from the top for help. Were there any Super Iron Men? I can’t imagine how someone is supposed to scale a 12 foot wall with just one giant leap at it… unless someone out there is like 8 feet.

Lesson learned about university: You must find the fun yourself.  There are no longer daily PA announcements telling you what is going on this week.

The student life no longer includes that part where you are forced into dressing up in stupid colours, learn chants and do relay races… wait.  There is still Imagine Day.

Too bad the weather is so nice.

Because the Winter Games are melting…

OMG CANADA JUST WON GOLD AGAIN =D

Anyway, surprisingly though, Whistler had a storm! So that should be eventual good news right?

Most of us probably don’t have tickets anyway so lets just party down here.

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^ I went to the Richmond OZone to see FIR.  Pretty sweet.  I hope the crowd in the other concerts will be a little more crazy though.

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^ The torch: located near Pan Pacific at Waterfront.  Full of touristy goodness.

To be honest, at the beginning of the school year I was quite skeptical of the Freshman 15.  We have to walk so much at UBC anyway, how bad could it be?  I didn’t gain 15.  I gained 20. PSYC? No.  I didn’t gain anything but I believe my face looks chubbier than it used to.  It could just be the winter fat storage though.  Either way, I woke up feeling fat so I went for a run.

I sort of miss how high school forces you to do those damned timed runs.

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Question: Can you run on a treadmill?

I can’t stand it.  I have to run in a park or on the street or for some sort of game/sport.  Tracks? No can do.  It bores more more than it tires me.

That’s probably a lie, I can’t run =P

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Note: When running through the forest, beware of patches of mosquitoes flying around.  Avoid running with your mouth open.

I wish every week could be like this.

The first week of school… the first week of the year.  You know where everything is still new, fresh… exciting?  It’s wonderful.  One of my biggest worries in life is that I’m going to fall into a routine.

When you think about your future, do you see a 9-5 desk job?  I used to think, sure, maybe I’ll be satisfied with it as long as I get paid well and get enough time to do enjoyable.  It has a stability and certainty it in which puts away a lot of stress.  However, the more I visualize it the more scared I get of it.  I don’t believe jobs with rigid structures of tasks is a bad thing, but I don’t think it’s for me.

My fingers ran away on me just now.  The point is that I love the first week of school because everyday feels like an adventure.

By the way, happy new year everyone.  Did you make resolutions?

My friends tell me “It’s a new decade.  Now is the time.”

Last year my 3 day short lived resolution was to take a picture that reminds me of something special about that day.  Day 3 came along and nothing inspiring hit me by 12am of the next day so I just gave up.

I didn’t resolute anything for this year but everyday has been pretty interesting this week and I actually did take a picture everyday… so though I didn’t resolute it, I think I might try.  (The wonders of camera phone make this so much more attainable…)

A resolution just came to me… but really it’s more like a lazy way out.  I will (not resolute) but try, to make a post here every (at least) other day.  It’s the internet, vast amounts of storage,  I’m sure it’s fine if I make a few unfocused posts here and there…

So I will now share with you my 1st week of 2nd semester…
(I’m nothing like the talented Rabi, so you’ll have to bare with not so awesome pictures)

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Jan 4: This has become my favorite place to nap.  It’s in the new section of Henry Angus.  Not a soul in a 50 m radius.  Does anyone else think the new Henry Angus is totally ballin’?

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Jan 5: I hate how buttons scream PUSH ME.  Especially when you’re sitting next to them for a whole lecture.   Buttons are usually near the door too… so you can always press them on your way out without anyone shooting you the stink eye…

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Jan 5 #2: Why I will be loving semester 2: I have 2 days where I will go home when it is still light out (as opposed to 1)

One of these is not like the other…. Do you see it?  Poor little Muk Muk is left out of the group and photoshopped into the corner =(

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Jan 6: Exploring Sauder! I’ve always wanted a spiral stair case… The best thing about standard timetables for me, who is quite socially awkward, is that I actually get some classes with the same people and can therefore make friends… like that guy in the picture. (Shhh… he doesn’t know he’s on here)

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Jan 7:  Being somewhere at a different time of day can make you see more even if you go to that same place everyday.  (I never noticed there were train tracks under there.)  Taking different routes to and from school is a good way to see more too.

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Jan 8: Taken on the eerie path towards the Burnaby Public Library.  I should go to the library more often.

Another “project” I’ve taken onto myself is to try something that Rabi suggested in his posts.  To compile pictures of similar things, of which an example he used was your feet.  Since Dec 3 I have taken 9… which I guess isn’t a lot.  But I’m content with my progress.

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Jan 9: My “adventure” today.

2012.

If there was legitimate scientific fact that all the scientists of the world approved of that proved the world is ending in two years…

What would you do?

Would you try to survive it?

If not, what will you do in your last moment?

I watched 2012 on Friday night, not bad.  Come for the CG stay for the “I wonder if they will live… will this end like The Knowing?”

I kind of want to be there when the world ends, just to see how it happens.  But not really, I think I’d like a peaceful, in my sleep of old age, kind of death.  If somehow the world is all messed up and some humans survive, I’d want to be there just to know.  But not really, it’s probably going to be chaos and depressing and maybe worse than the moment when the world “ended”.

My friend said when the world ends he’d take a picture of it.  I thought to myself “what’s the point no one would see it” and then I realized it’s pretty deep.  The world “ends” for everyone eventually, you still do the things you want to do anyway.

Back to the movie,

The CG: Haven’t seen anything like it before, but to be honest it didn’t reach my expectations.  There were moments when it felt more like  cut scenes of games like Final Fantasy, impressive but still had the cartoony feel.

The destruction: There is something about visually stimulating scenes of destruction that I love.   Not the most imaginative stuff but still worth the gander.

The characters: Some quirky ones, but for others it felt like they tried to give them depth only to have it come out kind of forced.

The story: The only interesting thing about this movie was what exactly was the government building that could save some people.  There was a notable scene where… ok no spoilers but there was a scene where it was so well executed that everyone was laughing and clapping at their way of escaping yet another disaster.

So I didn’t say too many good things about 2012 but it wasn’t a bad movie.  It was entertaining and a well spent Friday.

I rate it a $9 out of $12.  (I believe the price was actually $11.95…)

However, for other  mainstream end of the world type movies I would recommend:

For the celebs – Armageddon

For the soul – Deep Impact

For fun – Independence Day

For similar-to-2012-but-better-and-I’m-broke – The Day After Tomorrow

For the faint of heart – Titanic

These kind of movies always make me wonder if I should go be a scientist or a CG artist…

[side note] If you are very critical of movie magic “physics” where for some reason they forgot to account for centripital force, this may not be for you.

On a lighter note…

Midterms. They’re here. Or they will be. Or if for some reason your only midterm was the Chemistry one from last night then you sure are lucky.

Here’s  a cute/funny post I found this forum. It made me smile and then I realized how true it is for me.

Are You This Type of Student?

New School Semester:

After the First Week:

After the Second Week:

Before the Mid-Term Test:

During the Mid-Term Test:

After the Mid-Term Test:

Before the Final Exams:

Once You Get to Know the Final Exam Schedule:

7 Days Before the Final Exam:

6 Days Before the Final Exam:

5 Days Before the Final Exam:

4 Days Before the Final Exam:

3 Days Before the Final Exam:

2 Days Before the Final Exam:

1 Day Before the Final Exam:

The Night Before the Final Exam:

1 Hour Before the Final Exam:

During the Final Exam:

Stepping Out of the Exam Hall:

After the Final Exam, During the Holidays:

<<——————————————————————————

Another fun thing that I just wanted to share:

Arrr… ye should try it. Even yer emails’ll come in pirate.

I am currently:

TGIF.

Choose your own adventure.

(from here? XD)

It is 3:55 Friday afternoon.  You sit down in your seat for your last class of the day. Math. Due to a conference (or something of the sort, you weren’t really paying attention), your teacher has been away all week.  The teacher (whose name also escapes you) who has been subbing is not here yet.

Last night, your actual teacher emailed the class a reminder to hand in the assignment for today.  This is probably the reason why there is a small herd of young adults gathering around the “hand in box”.

The problem is… last Friday, that was the “hand back box”.  Despite your horrible attention span and memory, you remember clearly that the teacher only contemplated the use of the box for hand ins. Besides, will “the sub” know that it is the hand in box?  Should you get off your ass from the far back row in the class to go all the way down and up the stairs, only to possibly have to do it again?

Do you:
a) Hand it in. Hey, if everyone else is doing it.
b) Hold on it. That’s right, be a rebel!
c) Make a friend. Get them to hand it in.
d) Keep weighing the options. (Please refer to option b)
e) Get out of your seat, only to realize you didn’t do all the questions yet.

If you chose a or c (or chose b or d and ended up doing a or c anyways), you are like the large majority of the class.

If none of the options suited you.  Then you are like the 1 or 2 guys in this class who just handed it in and left.

It is now 4:05.  There is no teacher.  You start getting excited because maybe he won’t show. Maybe you will have a whole hour extra of FRIDAY! A girl goes to the front of the class and says that we should all collectively leave at 4:10.

4:08.  You’re just too anxious. You put on your back pack and start heading to the asile. Wait. What about the homework you slaved over?

a) Think about it more.
b) Stop thinking. Leave.

If you chose a, you are 97% of the class.

What if some jerk waits till everyone is gone and takes everyone’s homework? What if no one takes it but only yours is lost in the shuffle?

A boy goes to the front of the class and facilitates a vote.  Whether we all take our homework back or we gather them up and give it to another teacher.

a) Leave it and leave.
b) Take it and go.
c) “maybe the teacher will come…”
d)You forget what you did but you’re out the door. FRIDAY!

(mainly a 50/50 split between a and b, with a few for the rest)

Well, it’s Friday afternoon.  Maybe you’re inside, maybe you’re not. Either way, there was no class in the end.

If you are like the guy in the 3rd row from the back, center, you calculated out how much money you just lost for the class you paid for but didn’t have.

Lesson learned: Decisions cost you those few extra minutes of your day. Not that you didn’t already know that.

If you are like me, you ended up leaving the homework, sat in the sub, ate at Crystal Mall food court, saw friends waiting for the bus and tagged along on their quest for Korean BBQ, saw Megan Fox’s Jennifer’s Body and enjoyed a nice walk in the rain home at 1 am.

[This post was based on true events and people. Any resemblance to real faces, thoughts or decisions may indeed be real.]


Things to do outside the house when you’re broke:

Who isn’t holding back their wallets a bit these days?  Espicially after buying those textbooks.  (Discount Textbooks @ UBC Village FTW!)

So here’s some stuff to do for free and outside of the house:

plan a: crash a friend’s house
plan a2:  crash the furniture store as if you were crashing a friend’s house
plan b: raid your friend’s video game stash
plan b2: raid best buy’s video game stash (aka go play their Rock Band/WII)
plan c: go to the park
plan d: go to the park that you usually don’t go to
plan e: go on the skytrain and ride it to the most interesting sounding name, get off and walk around
plan f: the seawall!

So it’s not the most interesting compilation of things to do.  Really, it’s just what I’ve been doing.  What have you been doing?  I need some inspiration.

plan g: get a job and start a new list of things to do when not broke?

It’s ending.  I’m sure you know what “it” is and have long realized it’s end so I won’t go into the depressing details.  T minus… a small number of days.

As much as these moments are our own, we can never have them back.