time is the enemy

[currently listening to: children of the revolution - guantanamo bay]

So, Viktor the volvo needs a new radiator and set of brake pads which means I have to shell out $600. Ah well, it's called wear and tear for a second hand card that's a decade old. Yesterday Siavosh, Simon and I finally made it to Seattle in one piece but not without being given a good grilling entering the US border. The fact that none of us were born in Canada kinda set off alarms. We had to be pulled over and be asked a bazillion questions, especially poor Sia since he's from Iran aka "the axis of (OMG) evil". Does the department of homeland security raise the national threat advisory to orange?! When will the status ever turn green? Anyways, I could go on to a whole other discussion about President Mahmoud's remarks as of late regarding the hypocrisy of uranium enrichment but it's too long.

Anyways, while driving down Interstate-5, it felt as though someone slashed through the sky... the rain was coming down like crazy. Thankfully by the time we reached the outskirts of Seattle, there was only clouds, sun and wind. I think what was most impressive was the skyline. It definately looks different from the Vancouver skyline. The collection of buildings and architectual designs was interesting to say the least. We parked the car in downtown somewhere and began our trek to the monorail. We didn't end up taking it because for its price, the cities attractions/features were all pretty walkable.

The space needle was our first destination and we only snapped a couple of shots. To ride on the darned thing costs $14 just to go up and go down, lol. We took some pictures of the science fiction centre down there because they had the weirdest public displays but none of us were too inclined to go inside and investigate. Afterwards, we walked down to the waterfront to check out their market. This was probably the most original and unique places of the entire trip. However, the entire grandeur was exactly like granville island and commercial drive combined. There was one shop that sold antiquities, old propaganda WWI/WWII posters and prints... the smells and sounds of the place took me back to a place which made me feel uncomfortable. Moving up a level, we walked passed a mini mini fish market and saw the very first Starbucks store. After browsing through a few miscelleneous stores, we headed off in the wind in search of Seattle's chinatown. Of all my years of living, this city's chinatown is the most pathetic I've ever seen, lol... it was literally just a single street with a couple of asian travel agencies/hair salons. After more snapshots of the scenery around us and trying to figure out where the hell we were, we headed back towards the downtown core. I stopped to grab a cup of a seattle's best of joe just to say that I did.

Regarding the streets in downtown seattle... all I have to say is that it's DEAD. There's police patrolling everywhere and only a few people roaming around even during peak hours during the day. I guess that's why it made walking around all over the city so traversible. There are only business people walking here and there... I don't know where everyone is. I guess the city is planned so that only the business offices are located in downtown and everyone just lives in the suburbs. I was amazed by the atmosphere... everything just seems so clean and assimilated. It seemed like a novelty to hear a different language other than english. Even restaurants seemed hard to find... they were all located at malls. Oh yeah, that was our last destination, lol. We decided to check out the Macy's and Nordstrom the city had since we've never actually been in them. Never ever have I seen such dead malls. It's not like they were bad shops... we have them here (except for Victoria's secret... the glory of that store is a MYTH). After much lethargic mall roaming, we couldn't stand wasting anymore time. We pretty much saw all of the main attractions of the city, albeit we never really paid to take part in it since it was so darned expensive. The restaurants featured in all the pamphelets were literally on one floor of the mall and were subsequently quiet and sorta depressing, lol.

After some debate, we decided to head back home and get stuck in 8 lane traffic... maybe hit up an outlet store. Being that I'm not quite 21, I wouldn't be allowed to drink or enter a bar or club there wouldn't be any point sticking around. However, I hardly think that the Seattle night life is too exciting. So, off we drove back home. The border officer only asked where we lived (not where we are from) and whether we brought any booze and waived us off. We finished off the evening at Locus in Vancouver, which is the most amazing place ever. I love the atmosphere, eclectic art, food, drinks and service. C'est tres originale! I'm so anti moxies, cactus club, earls, milestones, etc etc now... vancouver is just bursting with the most interesting places to dine and mingle in.

In closing, Seattle was interesting but definately not jaw droppingly amazing. It's made me appreciate Vancouver so much more because there is definately a character. I used to despise downtown especially given all the negativity there. However, I am so wrong. I've fallen in love with the north shore where mountain meets water and there are endless trails to nature. The downtown core is so easily accessible and there's so many multicultural/ atmospheric-vibed places to have a good time in (and I'm not talking about clubbing... club culture in vancouver is so gross - meat factories!). The buildings are always a wonder to look at and there are always new people to meet. I can't wait to move out of richmond.

anyways, bedtime.
buona notte