Monday, April 12, 2004

Easter weekend in Seattle

...waking up at 5:02 on friday morning (wondering why the 2 looked so much like a 5 on the cable box clock) confused me even further when I woke a very shocked Bruce for our 6:30am flight. GAWD! We both stood at our respective walk-in closets in a daze throwing random (unmatching stuff) into our backpacks. Yes, we were super late and no we were not packed!

Amazingly, we made the flight despite the 25 mins mad dash to the airport. No no, I was not driving; so the rest of the Memphian drivers were not at risk.

In the midst of the flight, I realized we were actually on our way to Seattle NOT TOKYO. Yeesh... talk about a rude awakening! I'd packed for hot hot weather... not the pacific northwest in early April. Fortunately, it turned out to be a blessing (arrgh, and I thought I could have gotten a nice coat out of this mistake hahaha). Seattle was beautifully clear (we could see Mt. Rainier!) , breezy and sunny at all times at 70 degrees farenheit. It was nice walking around the city and not having to sweat. My kind of weather... although some cloud would have been nice too! Yes, you all know how I LOVE cloudy days...

Seattle was awesome. My very unmatching and unstylish outfits I'd packed (in my half-awake mode) made me fit right in with the locals (don't think I looked butch enough however hahaha) and of course my rather unattractive but so comfortable 'Born' shoes helped.

It was nice to spend an evening with the Schultze's and listen to all the updates of the god-children's lives. Great kids! William is now taller then me... and Emily is a serious beauty at 14 and 5'9". Oh, and their new house is awesome! We also got to meet Chloe, the new pet dog.

Top Looks/Laughs:

1. The look on Bruce's face when I told him to throw the blanket we got on the plane onto the floor and he thought I'd told him to throw his trash onto the floor. Talk about an annoyed plus disgusted plus a what-are-you-a-barbarian-look he gave me hahahaha!

2. My big faux pas forgetting that we were in very politically correct Seattle, I shocked and almost made the sales girl (or whatever they're called in that neck of the woods) cry when I told Bruce that the yellow pair of shoes he was trying on would match his very yellow wife. Talk about a look of disbelief on her. Made us laugh though. Okay, made me laugh.

3. The look on both our faces trying so hard not to laugh out loud when we saw an Indian man (from India, the ones with the dot, not the casino-owning-kind) about 75 years old standing at the bus-stop with a VERY small SpongeBob SquarePants rolling backpack, almost too short for him to pull.

4. When a man came up the bus with a garbage bag filled with non-garbagey stuff. Reminded us of Bruce's ingenuity (well, that's his claim at least) back in his working days in Tokyo when he used to pack his laptop in a garbage bag to go to work everyday. I rest my case.

I'm sure I'd think of more later...

RESTAURANTS:

Nishino's was AWESOME! We did the omakase dinner for the both of us and ordered the uni and the madison roll. I now understand why Americans think they don't like uni... nevertheless, it was really really good new Japanese cuisine. The best crab cakes I have ever had... the combinations of flavors these guys come out with is unbelievable. Made my eyes roll back with every bite I took. Definitely a recommendation. Plus Bruce was able to get a quick reunion with Mr and Mrs Nishino, and they actually remembered him much like the guy at the shoe store where we almost made the girl cry... so he was happy.

Lunch at Shultzy's Sausage was awesome too! I had a yummy Dr Bubba Burger (named after Bruce's dad) and the best crunchy fries in the world - and you all know I've had some serious fries. Bruce had some gumbo and hmmm, I guess i was so into my own meal I forget what he was having. But I do know it was really good!

A quick oyster run at Emmitt Watson's oyster bar was so-so. A typical hole in the wall kind of place... dirty, nonchanlant kind of service and oysters that were okay. Of course, I'm being unfair as to comparing to the eons of oysters that we down in New Orleans and Australia. Still, you can't pay me to go back there.

I missed my deep fried gizzards at Pike's place market this time... but we did manage to get our beef curry hum bao. YUM! We also got some very sweet and delicious muscat grapes, some naval oranges and red and yellow pairs that were in season. Can't wait to return to Seattle in the Summer when we can get some of those oh-my-gawd-peaches.