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A little sadness is creeping in today as I realize our adventure is coming to a close. However there's still plenty of excitement for our upcoming and unknown adventures in the big city. It's a little sad, but despite having grown fairly near to seattle, I've not explored it much or even tried out the nightlife! We made contact with our friend Amaya who we know from Salsa lessons in Los Alamos and has recently moved to seattle. We hope she's going to have the 411 on salsa in Seattle this night. I did some homework last night and know of a couple spots just in case.
After some final packing, Seish is ready. 5 bottles of fine wine in a box and backpack stuffed to the brim, we load the car and head to the Edmonds ferry, leaving form Kingston. It's a beautiful day and the sun is smiling again on our last full day. Time estimates are exactly that - estimates, rough, inaccurate. Sometimes they are too long, sometimes too short. This time, it's definitely on the short side - practically falling off! It's good to arrive at the ferry landing a healthy 15 minutes early, and some would say that's cutting it close. With the estimated travel time from PA to Kingston, we started to see that we would cut it really close. Some anxiety began to fill the car as we start passing cars and sneaking in past long yellows. With the clock counting down, the distance to the ferry from the "Entering Kingston" sign became painfully long. After having to wait for our obligatory slow car and long light and watching the clock reach mere seconds before departure time I was completely certain we would have to wait for the next ferry. When we arrived nearly 5 minutes late, we could see the ferry still sitting at the terminal in front of a completely empty parking lot. "Can we make this one", I asked the ticket seller. "Dunno, it's too close to call". We paid in haste and sprinted towards the ferry, following a group of motorcycles. Astonished, we were waved onto the ferry as the yellow-vested attendants pulled the safety rope behind us. Wow. I don't think it was possible to cut that any closer if we tried. Exhilarated by the success our razor sharp timing skills, we rushed up to the passenger deck to enjoy the salty sea air.
In a small feat of bravery I talked up a nice looking lady using the classic "do you know any good sushi restaurants" line. She actually had a great recommendation, but I wasn't able to interest her in salsa dancing. Oh well, doesn't hurt to try. ;)
Seish had heard of the REI flagship store in Seattle and wanted to visit. As it's in clear view of I-5 we found it no trouble and proceeded into it's gritty, trendy metal and wood grandeur. Naturally, like every time I head into an outdoor store, I buy, and this was no exception. Small fuel bottle, Maglite LED conversion kit, and Swedish flint firestarter. Good run. I met a woman at the checkout who was extremely excited about her new Chaco sandals. She said they were even better using "free" money. This peaked my curiosity. After asking, she told me that her company pays her money for every day that she doesn't use her car to get to work. WOW - how cool is that?!?! I'm not sure how that money is provided for, but it's a pretty cool incentive to carpool, ride a bike, or walk to work. Not only is saving gas worth a cleaner environment, it's also worth a new pair of Chacos!
After talking about dinner, we decided that Korean was the choice tonight. Not knowing where any Korean restaurants are, we decided that asking people at a huge asian market would certainly reveal a location or two. With a quick call to his mom, Seish got the address of the Uwajimaya (http://www.uwajimaya.com/sea/) asian market. We quickly found our way there and began to seek people who seemed likely holders of the desired information. To our dismay, none of the 5 people we had directly sought out could help. The Asian people here obviously didn't like Korean food! Despite this apparent lack of success, Seish's eyes were popping out of his head with excitement over all the rare asian goods that I'm sure reheated some warm childhood feelings. As we strolled back and forth along the isles of exotic foods, we seemed to be exactly mirroring the path of two enamored girlfriends. After our 5th pass, I figured we might be passing these girls for a reason. I made some simple joke about this resulting in a small chuckle and a cautions but expectant expression. I just directly asked them if then new of any Korean restaurants in town. Indeed they were the right people to ask. They had the info and were soon asking Seish what kind of Korean restaurant he wanted. After one of the girls made a quick cell-phone call to her mother for precise (somewhat) directions, we were set. Persistence pays.
We did not find the place as easily as we had hoped. A "you can't miss it" sign ended up being in very small letter amongst many others and we had to look a bit to find it. But once we found it it was great! It was the first time I had seen a Korean style barbecue. Each table had it's own small grill in the center with a smoke-hood. Evidently you could get it going and cook the meals yourself - part of me wonders why the restaurant then, but it sounds fun. We didn't partake - perhaps next time. We went with chefs in the back cooking our food for us. Another fun surprise was the automatic serving of many small bowls of appetizers before the meal. It's tradition to have complimentary tastes of a variety of snaks - kimchee, pickled cabbage, nuts, and many more so bizarre I can't remember. The third excitement was taking smoking/boiling/frying hot dishes in stoneware to the table. When we recieved our meals, Seish's soup was at a rolling boil and my noodle dish was crackling and steaming.
After a great dinner, and a new cultural experience (for me) we were ready to hit the dance floors. Since we hadn't heard from Amaya yet, we decided to go with the backup I had found on the net. We arrived early and had a chance to look for that Sushi restaurant the woman on the ferry suggested since the Salsa venue was on the same street. The restaurant indeed looked like a good recommendation. It was a small, friendly restaurant where there were many Japanese and lot's of people who seemed to know each other. It's definitely worth a shot next time.
The salsa lesson was basic, but the instructor was fun and we got to know some of the ladies - always good when you don't know the community. We had a great time, but I got too hung up on one charming woman and crashed when I learned she had a boyfriend - I guess Brazilians are too much for me! Seish was having a blast and very much enjoyed dancing with the instructor.
After a few phone calls with Amaya, we realized our paths would not cross as she was intent on staying at a bar with no dancing, and we were having a great time where we were. Oh well, we had fun, and Siesh had an early morning planned. In all, our few hours in Seattle were pretty actions packed and made great memories.
-jesse
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