Shopping in Seattle

Setting off to Seattle after crossing the border

I went to Seattle during the long weekend here (Remembrance Day) though I only spent 1.5 days there (Sunday to Monday). The last time I was in Seattle was back in 1998, and surprisingly I still remembered some places :)

I also got to explore new places and it was truly a shopping trip. I have not shopped so much in so long now :p

I went with OT and her friends (mostly Indonesians) and we set off in 3 cars. Immigration officers are always not very friendly, so my way of dealing with them is always to be as pleasant and polite as possible. Don't give them a reason to get nasty with you - you may not get to cross the border otherwise. That always worked and I have never (or so rarely) encountered a blatantly rude officer before. Put yourself in their shoes too. Out in the cold (crossing border via driving means no nice cosy warm building) for hours, and having to deal with all kinds of people (friendly, belligerent, polite, rude, dumb, blur, smart-ass, etc) - not a fun job at all.

Off-topic: I really dislike it when people keep putting others down. It is one thing to be patriotic and loving your country, but another to keep dissing other place/people. When traveling with such people, sometimes I worry they will piss off the immigration officers unintentionally. Be smart about it. Anyway, I feel people should be open-minded and accept other cultures or be understanding about it. Celebrate the differences!

The chicken spinach with peanut sauce dish at Chaiyo Thai Restaurant

Night skyline of Space Needle and Downtown

First Starbucks Store in the entire world

My caramel machiato

Oyster Bar

Three Girls Bakery - I should have ordered the chocolate croissant instead
Doesn't this remind you of Little India? Instead of jasmine garlands, it is chili peppers garlands

View of Post Alley across from Pike Place Market

Pike Place Chowder

Another view of Pike Place Chowder

So where did I go on this trip?

First stop after clearing immigration (and yes, we encountered a grumpy officer who was not happy about the way we gave her our passports - she was screaming at her colleagues complaining about people who did not organize the passports and thus she has to spend 5 mins for each car, and so let the other cars wait - it took us about 1hr plus to reach the officer - and 1 person in our car needed the Immigration Form, so in we trooped into the building to process the immigration - another 30mins wasted) is to the mall - Northgate Mall.

We only spent about an hour in there as it was closed at 7pm. Yes, malls still close early in North America, particularly on Sunday and Monday to Wednesday for smaller or low traffic malls. Then we went to this Thai restaurant called Chaiyo Thai Cuisine which does served pretty decent Thai food. I liked the pad thai, fried kway teow and fried rice and the fried fish and spinach and chicken with peanut sauce. Lol. Basically I liked everything that we ordered. It was surprisingly cheap. 10 dishes shared by 12 of us came up to about US$11 each.

Chaiyo Thai Cuisine

11749 15th Avenue

NE Seattle, WA 98125

Tel: +1 (206) 361-8888

After dinner, we drove to Queen Anne area - the highest named hill in Seattle - to take a look at the downtown skyline. It was pretty, overlooking Elliot Bay and seeing the Space Needle and other highrises. After that, we checked into the hotel - Renaissance Seattle Hotel - which is in downtown Seattle. This hotel is a bit of a disappointment as I had such a wonderful experience at the Renaissance in Orlando, FL. That was a 5 stars hotel - huge and luxurious, with Bath & Body Works toiletries. The Renaissance in Seattle looks so old, construction on the outside caused us to make so many turns as we kept missing the parking garage entrance. The room is tiny, furnishings look very drab and old, the bathroom was not what you would expect from a good hotel chain. Overall, it is very average and looks like a budget hotel to me. (A google turned up reviews whose opinions were the same as mine, plus it is located right next to a busy highway/intersection so can be noisy too).

We decided to explore more of Seattle, so one of the guys met up with his cousin who is studying in Seattle. She brought us to Joeys at Seattle Lake Union area. Lol. I did a google and found out it is the same Joeys in Canada - Joeys Tomato where I had my graduation dinner years ago. Yay, finally a restaurant chain originating from Canada and in Lower Mainland here. I only had a drink - mojito (double shot - very strong!) where the others had desserts. The popular one was the "normal" lava chocolate cake. It has a very nice view of the harbour - many yachts and boats were on sale too.

Joeys

901 Fairview Avenue

North Seattle, WA. 98108-4457

Phone: +1-206-749-JOEY

It was pretty late by the time we went back and slept. Monday was another whirlwind of shopping. We checked out (oh, Renaissance provided complimentary hot chocolate, coffee and tea and left a tray outside our room after giving us a wake-up call) and drove to Pike Place Market. I always love Pike Place. We went to the First Starbucks Shop which is located opposite Pike Place itself. I had a caramel machiato (not watered down like in Vancouver and is only US$2.90 for a tall). The shop is warm and friendly and the cold weather made it perfect to have a nice warm cuppa!

Seattle the Emerald City is famous for at least 3 companies which have impacted the entire world - Microsoft, Boeing (HQ moved to Chicago in 2001) and Starbucks. Other well known companies founded in Seattle are Nordstrom, Eddie Bauer and Amazon.com. Grunge music also originated from Seattle and produced bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

It is at Pike Place Market that I realized I miss the charms of the city. I love the old cobbled stones sidewalks and the old architecture of the buildings. It is also very steep as it is hilly, so one needs to be careful when walking down the street in the rain. I tried this pastry called Crab Rangoon which is like a big wanton filled with crabmeat (imitation crabs) and cream cheese. Delicious! Lol. I didn't realize it is a common appetizer in American Chinese restaurant. Don't you just love Wiki?

It was basically snacking our way at Pike Place :p I also tried the Almond Croissant at one of the bakery store but that was just so-so. I didn't get to the bakery store which I went previously. Now, that has very very good freshly baked goods. Also tried an oyster (US$5.99 for 6 pieces) - very fresh!. And finally the famous clam chowder at Pike Place Chowder which won many awards. We shared the original clam chowder which came served with sourdough buns and oyster crackers. The crackers went very well as it balanced the saltiness of the chowder. The sourdough buns were a bit too sour. I think San Francisco has better sourdough bread.

Pike Place Chowder (Post Alley in Pike Place Market)

1530 Post Alley, Seattle, WA

Phone: +1.206.267.2537

Pike Place is well known for it fresh produce and seafood and other kitschy shops. Many people know Pike Place for the fishmongers who throw the fish to each other every time someone buys one. I just like Pike Place for its charm and I always like going to farmers' market too.

After that, we set off to Nordstrom/Pacific Place at 6th Ave and Pine which is right in downtown. And we parked at the most exorbitant parking lot. US$22 for just 2-3 hours! I spoke to the attendant and found out it was because we parked at the bank (Bank of America)! It was a lesson learnt. Never park at a bank. Only 1 car parked at another place - Pacific Place. Only US$9 or US$11 for 2-3 hours. It can be a challenge if you are new to driving in Seattle as there are many 1 way street. Good thing everything is in grid.

I like how some of the names of the streets are marked on the pavements. My camera died so I didn't get to take many pictures when in Seattle. Surprisingly I didn't really shop in downtown. I only went to Sephora and Coach. Still not a Coach or bag person, so Sephora captured my attention more :p

Lunch was at Cheesecake Factory. It was a long wait as there were 12 of us. In the end we told the server to spilt us into 2 groups of 6. Still, we waited for close to an hour for our tables. To save time, we bought our cheesecakes to go first. I bought 6 slices of different flavors to share with JH and CP back in Vancouver. I still like the place. Nice decor and food and of course the cheesecakes!

Then it was off to Alderwood Mall which is north of Seattle. It is a sprawling huge mall (though still less than 200 stores) with anchor stores of Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears and JC Penney. There is even a theatre nearby. After 2 hours in the mall, I was basically all shopped out. Too tired to want to go to the Seattle Premium Outlets. Lol. So basically I didn't get to go to the factory outlet at all. After a pit stop at a bubble tea place (Vancouver people seemed to love bubble tea!), we set off for the border. We reached the border around 1115pm, and it was about midnight by the time we cleared immigration. Good thing I am a visitor, so there is no limit on my purchase. For residents of Canada, you are only allowed C$50 worth of good when you are away for 24 hours. C$400 worth for 48hours and C$750 for 7 days or longer. Anything above the limit, you will be subjected to taxes. Our car was cleared, but another car they had to pay taxes. Probably because they bought LV and Coach stuff.

For this trip, I basically only shopped at Sephora, Gap, Bath & Body Works, Victoria's Secret and MAC. No bags, no shoes and no clothes.

I just hope that whatever I bought will not be on sale when I go down again in 2 weeks time for Black Friday where things will be on sale. Even cheaper than Boxing Day Sale. It will start from midnight till 7am.