To Pike's Place We Go!

So I'm finally getting around to showing some of the photos I took in Seattle! :) I LOVE Seattle, seriously. It's such a nice place - the people are so friendly (well, I know a lot of an impression of a place is based on luck, because you just need to meet the right sort of people to fall in love with a place; I've been lucky so far!) and there's a great laid back, peace-loving culture...Or so it seems. :) Tell me if you think otherwise. I do happen to really like downtown Seattle because it's near Elliot Bay and there are all these great places to spend the afternoon traipsing around in... And of course, one place I always enjoy going to is Pike's Place Market. For those of you who don't already know, it's a famous public market that's been around since 1907 (thank you, Wiki) and there are lots of well known stalls and restaurants that have been referenced in movies, books and the like. For example, there's this place called Lowell's Restaurant and Bar that was featured in the rom-com Sleepless in Seattle :D and my aunt brought me there once for some great seafood. I'd been to Pike's probably 2 or 3 times before this but you know what, each time it's a different experience (and with a different camera) so I really never get sick of it.


Check out these cute piggy banks! :D The funny dark spots on them are actually surfaces that you can write on with chalk. Man I do think I need to get a piggy bank for myself to remind myself to save everyday. But I can totally imagine myself sleep-opening the piggy bank in the middle of the night while dreaming about a dress or something I'm thinking of getting. ;p I know. Self-control, where have you gone?? Ocarinas! :D You know what, I remember my mum getting my a small blue ocarina once many many years ago and I think it was actually from this market! I seriously remember thinking I could be the next big star in music armed with my cool-ass ocarina since I couldn't play the piano for nuts. But really it's about as hard to play as a recorder and there's a reason why there aren't really any famous Recorder ermmm players. Then comes the food section! :) We tried some of this honey and MAN it was good. Suddenly I'm reminded of the Berenstain Bears who used to have snacks of bread and honey. I'm still really upset that Jan Berenstain (the author) passed away recently. :( Definitely getting those books again for my kids in the future. Left: I had no idea what those were. Fruit logs?? Dried fruit rolled out into those shapes? 
Right: Elephant Garlic! MMM speaking of food, we happened to get some really huge and juicy apples called Pacific Rose Apples. Try to get some if you're there since it's really mainly from the Pacific Northwest.  Oh the colors. :) There's a famous seafood stall called Pike Place Fish that's known for having fishmongers who know how to give good service and have a good time at work - complete with fish-throwing antics. They file orders by throwing fishes to one another and that can be with regards to a HUGE salmon or sth. It's called Pike Place Fish and if you've read the book Fish!, it's actually based on the work culture at this particular stall. They normally have this huge fish head that sits notably on the ice with a sign that says something like Touch Me! or Come Closer! and so when customers go really near the fish, one of the fishmongers on the other end will pull a string that brings the mouth of the fish to a sudden close! And of course the customer freaks and the audience laughs and it's all in good fun. :) Unfortunately this time they didn't have the fish out. AND, another place we went to that was nearby was the ORIGINAL Starbucks cafe! It opened in 1971 and still has the original starbucks logo from the time. Before I forget, meet Krayon! :P This cutie belongs to my friend Jessalynn and her boyfriend who study in California but happened to be able to come to Seattle that very weekend that I was there! So we managed to meet up and they brought him along. Honestly, he attracted SO much attention. Everyone LOVED him. Which brings me to my conclusion that dogs are the same as babies in terms of how they elicit the whole gushing/cooing/"soooooo cuuuuuute" comments from passersby. They are great conversation starters and best of all, the ''parents'' don't mind people taking photos of them. For Krayon, it was really all about his fashionable orange rain booties that made him such a star. And I must admit, he was a really good doggy who hardly barked! BUT the cutest dog was another dog that we happened to meet the day after. >:D PHOTOS SOON! 
 xx