Curtis had 2 meetings back to back at the start of the day.
He had another orientation to start the day and then a brief team meeting after that.
Once that was done, Curtis spent most of the day doing tickets but also paid quite a bit of attention to what was happening in the Capitol in the US. Absolutely crazy!
Kim’s Day
Kim had another busy morning of odd tasks that she completed. One big win was to finish the job description and posting for a new role. She also managed to get information read and research done for a few meetings during the day.
Just after midday Kim had a team meeting where they went over some of the information Kim put together and made some good plans for guidelines and documentation. Straight after that meeting Kim hosted the social call. She planned nothing and everyone just had a great chat and catch up, it was really lovely.
Kim was meant to have another team meeting in rhe afternoon, but that got moved to the following day so Kim decided to head to the post office to post some letters.
When she got home Kim looked over applications and started some research on a HR project. She also had another call with her teammate and they both took a look at applications and had a chat about other work stuff. To finish the day Kim reached out to a few companies for the HR project.
Evening
Kim got some tips from someone at work about how to improve our dinner we made yesterday, and we had leftovers, so we managed to improve it and it was delightful! Lemon and some extra herbs did the trick.
We watched a bit of TV and played games for the evening but we were very tired today!
We slept in until 11:45 this morning, partially by accident but also it was lovely to get some sleep.
We had our breakfast, showered and finally headed out at around 13:30.
2 Buses
We got onto the bus and had to change at downtown onto a bus taking us further north.
We got up to an area called Fremont and walked towards the Gas Works Park.
Gas Works Park
The gas works park is a park which contains a former coal gasification plant.
The style looks very ‘steampunk’ and it is a really awesome thing to look at. This place was used from 1906-1956 and still looks great for its age! This is actually the old remaining coal gasification plant in the US!
There were 2 floors to the store and we actually really enjoyed ourselves, considering we were a little sceptical.
Kim Playing The 1960 Machine
Oldest Chinese Restaurant
We asked for good food suggestions at the pinball place and were told that the oldest Chinese restaurant in Seattle was around the corner. That sold it for us, so off we went!
We got to Tai Tung and instantly noticed how old it looked, but in a good way! It has been open since 1935 and it has incredible character. It was also Bruce Lee’s favourite restaurant in Seattle!
We sat and were given a pot of Tea, water and then later, free cabbage soup!
We ordered beef chow mein, sweet & sour pork as well as some rice.
The food was pretty good, actually! The chow mein was delicious, with incredible beef in it. The pork inside the batter was good, but the batter was a little odd and the sauce a bit too sweet.
We were also recommended an underground tour of Seattle.
We walked from the breakfast place down to Pioneer Square, where there is the entrance for the underground tour.
We were first sat in a room where we listened to our guide talk about the history of the city and its founders.
After we had a 15 minute listen, we were walked around various points under the city, told stories regarding the great fire of Seattle (which burned the city down) and how all the original buildings are actually underground now as they were built below sea level, before the fire.
An Old Toilet. Due To The Tide, The Would Often Become Geysers!
An Old Sink
Our guide was very funny and informative. We were able to learn a lot about how Seattle was, the ‘villain’ and the founder of Seattle, all told in an interesting, funny way.
The tour took about 1 hour, over several buildings and down many tunnels.
Afterwards, we were speaking with the guide and she said there was a good place to get doughnuts and so we took her up on her suggestion and visited general porpoise.
We got a doughnut each. Curtis got a lemon curd doughnut and Kim got a chocolate marshmallow doughnut.
Curtis got a cappucino, and Kim had a hot chocolate with our doughnuts. The drinks were great and the doughnuts weren’t bad either!
First thing’s first – something we forgot to mention yesterday – Curtis now also has his Canadian work visa, so we can confirm that we plan to work in Canada in the near future!
Now – onward to today;
Off Into The City
We took the bus to the city this morning, but only had a $5 note. Kim was given a ticket which still had time on it, so only Curtis needed a ticket.
Curtis put the $5 note in the machine, expecting change, but the driver informed him that change is not given on buses in Seattle! This didn’t really bother us too much, but now we know.
When we got off the bus, the driver called us over and gave us 2 tickets to be used any time up to 18:00 as he felt bad that we put too much money in. He didn’t have to do that, but it was incredibly kind that he did!
SIM Shopping
We need to get a US SIM as we will be in the country for a bit of time, so we walked around places trying to find one.
We had seen the perfect thing at the supermarket yesterday, but didn’t want to just take the first thing we saw, so decided to browse.
Whilst we looked, we found nothing better, so decided we’d head to the supermarket later and get the one we saw.
Victrola Coffee
We had seen a coffee shop named Victrola a few times and it was full each time, so it must have been good! We decided we would check it out.
The coffees were mostly one size, which wasn’t a great start for us, so much so that Curtis panicked a little and ordered the house coffee instead of espresso.
The house coffee wasn’t great, but Kim had a mocha which seemed to get better over time.
We found some of the staff a little standoff-ish too, which wasn’t pleasant.
Interestingly there was also an Amazon office within the same building as this coffee shop.
Kim’s surprise was planned to be a tour of the Amazon headquarters. Unfortunately, it’s a very full tour and is usually booked for months in advance, so Kim had put us both onto the waiting list.
We walked to the Amazon HQ and asked the question as to if we had been accepted or not.
Unfortunately, we were not accepted and it is still full, so we were unable to do the tour. That being said, we have signed up for Thursday’s waiting list, so fingers crossed!
Spheres
We were still able to go into the Amazon Spheres, which were built fairly recently primarily as an alternative workspace for Amazon employees, but also as a living plant biome.
We could only explore the bottom floor, which explains all about how it was built, why it was built, the challenges and the people within. It was pretty cool to see!
Tacos
We left here and walked about 25 minutes to get tacos! Our host told us last night about a great, cheap, taco place so we grabbed some as a snack.
We each got a house taco (pork, salsa & pineapple) and we shared a steak taco.
The pork were by far the best. absolutely delicious, and the steak was just ok.
We went for a walk around volunteer park, which is a large park of woodlands. There isn’t much there, but it was a nice walk to relax. We saw a lot of squirrels and some were daring enough to come close. Kim tried to hand one a pinecone and freaked out!
We walked around for a bit more and then stumbled across a giant former water tower.
Water Tower
This water tower is huge and is now an observation deck.
We were able to climb the stairs to the top and get a 360° view of the city (and all the rain clouds!).
Different Bus
We took a different bus home after stopping by at something we will be doing tomorrow to ensure we are booked in.
We walked to a bus stop and caught a different bus number so we could go a bit off course and get directly to the supermarket near our apartment, rather than having to walk from home.
We got the SIM and other things we needed from the store and walked back home.
Stir Fry
We got home and Kim whipped up a pork stir fry, which was incredible.
We ate a lot, but it was worth the fullness!
We watched some TV and then went to bed. Got to be up early tomorrow!
We were going to take a bus to the city, but we only had a $100 note, so we decided to walk instead. It wasn’t very warm today, but it also wasn’t cold or raining so we didn’t mind the 40 minute walk.
International Centre
We walked through the international centre, which is Chinatown, Japantown & the Vietnamese area. This was great and there also seemed to be a lot of great looking restaurants!
UPS waterfall
Our first stop was brief, but was fairly interesting.
This was a waterfall which was used to commemorate and celebrate the UPS staff and founder.
This is a Japanese style garden and is also the original office of the UPS.
Pioneer Square
Right by the waterfall was Poineer Square which we accidentally stumbled across.
This area has games, like table tennis, and also a memorial to all firefighters from Seattle that have lost their lives.
Ye Olde Curiosity shop
We went from here towards the waterfront and then stopped at Ye Olde Curiosity shop. This is a shop which has been around since 1899 but has moved several times.
This is a gift shop, but also has a lot of interesting, rare, items in, such as (apparently) real preserved dead bodies and more like that.
Kim Tried On Some Really…Interesting…Glasses
Walked along waterfront
We walked along the waterfront some more, just to see what was there. There was a lot of seafood restaurants but it was an interesting walk.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery
We walked from the waterfront up to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery.
This is where coffee beans are roasted, as well as a self guided tour, coffee only available at this location is served as well aa mixologists and staff that know a lot about coffee!
We started by being given a map and going to the first area where they roast coffee. Just 9 feet away, we watched the coffee get roasted and then it all poared out and smelled incredible!
We were given some freshly roasted beans to smell and taste!
These smelled incredible, but didn’t taste to good like this!
We got a flight ofcoffee to try, which was 8oz of 3 different coffees.
We had one from Kenya, one Columbian coffee and one which is only roasted at this location from Guatemala.
Kim isn’t a big coffee drinker, so Curtis drank most of it!
The Kenyan coffee had a great flavour but was fairly bitter. The Columbian was the easiest to drink and the Guatemalan coffee had a crazy flavour of black cherry and plum, which it really did, and was a little overpowering.
Curtis didn’t feel great after drinking so much rich coffee at once, but it was an awesome experience!
We got back to the apartment and Curtis watched hockey.
After hockey, we went to the supermarket to get a few things we needed as well as dinner for the next few days.
We got back and had steak ready to cook, which we purchased a couple of days ago.
This was a new york strip steak and it was large and incredible.
Curtis seasoned the steak very well and Kim cooked it perfectly, with the help of meat thermometers. The meat was incredibly tender and the accompaniment of the expertly cooked potatoes and delicious onion and mushroom gravy made it a heavenly meal!
Host Chat
We sat and had a chat with our host for a while as he came in whilst we were cooking.
Once we were done with the chatting, we washed up and then went to bed to watch a bit of TV.
Tomorrow…
Kim has a surprise for Curtis tomorrow, so he doesn’t know what’s going to be happening!
We went down to the city for a walk around, as well as some things we had planned.
Firstly, we left the house and waited at the bus stop for the bus to arrive. Whilst waiting for the bus, a lovely lady gave us a box of Sugar Babies, an American candy, as she said we have to try them. We can confirm, they are delicious!
The bus was late and, when we got on, we had our $2.75 each ready.
The bus driver was kind enough to give us tickets for free!
Wrong Starbucks
We first went to Starbucks as the first Starbucks was opened in Seattle!
We didn’t think it was much different, other than the logo.
Curtis had a nitro cold brew, which he’s been wanting to try for a while. Kim had a cloud caramel macchiato.
The nitro cold brew looked like a Guinness, but tasted just like coffee that has gone cold. Kim’s caramel macchiato was good, though!
We later realised we had gone to the WRONG Starbucks and the first one was actually down the street, right where all the people were queuing. Guess we’l be heading there tomorrow.
Gum Wall
We walked down a side street and saw a wall completely covered in chewing gum. This wall is world famous and, for some odd and disgusting reason, people stick their chewing gum on the wall and people come along and take photos of it. That being said, here is a photo;
We wandered around a bit more and then found a bus stop to catch a bus home.
Our ticket was valid still so we were still able to ride for free!
We got back to the apartment and Curtis watched the Leafs game whilst Kim did some laundry.
Food Run
After the game, we went to get something for the next few dinners from the supermarket. We met some really nice people at the store, too, which was lovely.
Thai Green Curry
We decided on Thai green curry for dinner, so we made that when we arrived home.
Dinner was delicious! We then watched some TV before heading to bed as we have another fun filled day tomorrow!
We were up early to get ready, pack up and eat breakfast.
We bought cinnamon buns from the supermarket yesterday to have for breakfast along with the remainder of our orange juice.
Once we got packed up and showered, we checked out of our apartment and walked to the bus station.
Awesome Building
The bus/train station is Pacific Central Station. This is an amazing old building, with beautiful ceilings and the architecture is incredible, both inside and out.
Subway & Coffee
We had time to kill, so we were resourceful and went to Subway to get a sandwich for our bus ride and Curtis went to Starbucks for a coffee.
We got back to the bus station and stopped there for a while whilst we waited for the bus.
The bus arrived and on we got, ready for our 5.5 hour journey!
The Border
About 2 hours in to our trip, we stopped at the US border and went through customs.
We got our bags searched, randomly, which is always nerve wracking, even though you know you have nothing!
We jumped back onto the bus and continued on through some really awesone towns.
Arrival in Seattle
We arrived in Seattle and had to figure out our route to our apartment.
We walked a, less desirable, way and it felt a little intimidating, but we were all good!
We eventually got there and it was actually in a great neighbourhood and was very lovely.
We got ourselves in and we have a beautiful room as well as a shared bathroom, but that is lovely too! It’s in a 3 storey apartment and we are currently just sharing with the people that live here, so this bathroom is just ours for now.
Walking Around
We wanted a walk so walked for 20 minutes or so to get to the supermarket, where we saw McDonald’s so we knew what we were eating!
We got what we needed from the supermarket and then grabbed our food.
We strolled back to the apartment and were really ready to chill out.
We have some fun stuff planned for the next week here in Seattle!
We hadn’t seen much about this film, so it was more just to kill time.
It was alright, but nothing to write about (literally!).
Amazing Lunch
We still had about an hour to kill before getting the train, so we went for some lunch.
We heard about a place nearby which is meant to be fantastic, but when we got there it was busy and they only had the bar area for food, which was a little cramped.
Luckily, they told us about another place just down the road which is where we went.
This place was called Cheryl’s and they had a lot of options.
Curtis ate an eggs benedict and Kim had a croque madam.
This food came with a side of a cheesy/oniony/potato combination, which tasted just like a cheese and onion pasty. Weirdly, this was topped with cornflakes.
The food was great and the staff were great also. We couldn’t have had a better last day in Portland!
Airport
We got a train to the airport which took about 40 minutes, and it was a quiet train, too.
We got to the airport and used the machine to check in. This printed something saying we would get our seat assigned at the gate, which worried us a little.
We were flying with Delta, so we went to their desk to ask about this, but they said that is normal for the cheap ticket we have purchased.
We sat and relaxed by the gate for an hour or two and then just before boarding we got our seats which were, luckily, next to each other.
Flight #1 – Portland > Seattle
Our flight was easy and fast once we got on it.
We were sat right at the back and had some good leg room.
Airport Antics
We landed in Seattle and had to take the plane train to the S gates.
We got to the correct gate and realised there was nothing nearby, so we went back on the train to B gates so we could grab a drink from Starbucks.
We got our drink and went back to S so we could go to our gate.
We got to our gate and then it said it was now in an A gate, so we got back onto the train and got to the A gate.
As soon as we got comfortable, we realisedthe gate has moved again, so back on the train we went and this time to a B gate.
We got to the B gate and finally boarded the flight!
Flight #2 – Seattle > Victoria
We realised we had comfort plus seats, which was great! We got to board first, had a charging port at our chairs, more leg room and a comfortable chair.
We had a fun time listening to a couple of passengers debate behind us, which helped pass the time!
Victoria
We landed in Victoria and once getting through immigration, we got the transfer bus we booked to the city. Our driver was very funny, cracking multiple jokes and funny lines.
We walked from the bus stop to a hotel which Linda kindly booked for us to stay at for a few nights!
We got in and then went to get a bit of McDonald’s as we were feeling a little hungry.
We got back to the room, exhausted, and went to bed.
It was an early morning start for us, getting the remaining items packed and getting ready.
We skipped breakfast, showered, said goodbye to Linda and walked down to the central bus station to await our bus.
We went to the cafe there and got a cappuccino each. The bus arrived shorty after to take us to the airport.
Flight 1 – Victoria > Seattle
Breakfast
We arrived hassle free at the airport and got checked in.
We went right to Tim Hortons to try out the breakfast. We had a farmer’s wrap each, which was just ‘meh’.
Security
After we relaxed for a bit, we breezed through security, though we did both get ‘randomly’ selected and put through the machine, but of course we had nothing. They also checked out one of our bags!
Waiting
Once we were through security, there was nothing to do but wait. We sat an waited for a few hours and then our plane was delayed for a little, but nothing drastic.
The Flight
We flew with Alaska Airlines, who we have not flown with before so were a little unsure.
The flight itself was great. The plane was tiny, with two chairs on each side of the aisle!
Our Tiny Plane
We had no problems on the flight and, as it was only 25 minutes, we were up in the air and back down again in a flash!
Flight 2 – Seattle > Portland
Customs/Immigration
After landing in Seattle, we had a couple of hours before we had to get on our next plane.
We went through customs/immigration easily and the officer there was incredibly friendly and nice.
Security #2
After that, we had to go through security before transferring and, of course, one of our bags got checked again…
Plane Train
We hopped on the ‘plane train’ to the correct terminal, got a Starbucks coffee, and waited for our flight.
The Flight
This flight was very busy, but it was fairly painless. We did also get a free alcoholic drink, even though it was only a 45 minute flight! Curtis got a beer and Kim a wine, but we had to drink it by the time they came round to get the rubbish!
We walked around Portland for a bit, not doing anything in particular, just walking around at night.
We got back and just chilled, watching some TV and catching up on things we haven’t watched. We have also been planning what we will be doing in Portland as we planned to come here for a concert but it was cancelled!
Fish Stalls
Mr & Mrs Hale 