Sightseeing – Page 15

2016 Summer Getaway | Day 2

August 11, 2016 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

When we were about to head out the door for breakfast, Scruffy asked me which place we had agreed on. After walking for a good few minutes, I realized I told him the wrong one. We walked back to the one we originally wanted to go to which was literally down the street from where we were staying. Whoops.

Moore Coffee Shop
1930 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 883-7044
http://moorecoffeeshop.com

The Hazelnut Latte was originally mine but he found his Nutella Latte too sweet, masking the coffee flavour so we ended up switching.

I snapped this picture in my story asking people if the Nutella Latte was a monkey or an onion face. And one of the responses I got was hilarious.

Rosanna coincidentally had the same dilemma. What’s even funnier is that she wrote potato when she meant onion and excused herself because she might be drunk already.

He chose a sweet approach of Strawberry Blueberry Shortcake Waffle which was airy and crispy. I stole a lot of his delicious blueberries. Mmm …

I was a little hesitant to order the Monte Cristo Waffle because the cheese scared me a bit. But I’m glad I did because it was delicious, savory waffle to counter Scruffy’s sweet one.

I secretly wished we went back the next day for some more waffles.

As we were walking, we saw another weed shop but this one looked simpler on the outside to where you could think it’s a fitness place.

Have a Heart | Seattle, Washington | Mural with Mellie Dee & Scruffy

Scruffy & I in front of the mural

We saw a giant mural of a rolled up joint and the bouncer told us that many people come in to snap a picture with it and we could do the same if we wanted to … so we did. Thanks, Bouncer Dude!

Seattle Aquarium
1483 Alaskan Way
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 386-4300
http://seattleaquarium.org

One of the main things Scruffy wanted to do was to go to the Seattle Aquarium and so we did! There were a lot of people there that day. Kids were running wild everywhere you turned which made it difficult to get around and see things.

It was pretty neat to see so many different species that live in the ocean especially the otters. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in any other aquariums I’ve been too. I can watch them tumble around for hours if I could.

I even found Nemo searching for his daddy.

Scruffy & his telescope

After a long while at the aquarium, we put a quarter in a telescope. He spent his time on that thing, mostly looking at the mountains. I wish we had time to go over to there and hike. Sigh … one day.

We were going to sit by a bar with a Space Needle view but somehow ended back up at the Public Market Center. Luckily enough, we ran into the

Gum Wall
1428 Post Alley
Seattle, Washington 98101

I felt unclean being in that unsanitary alley but loved looking at all the different graffiti. Scruffy kept rushing me though since we wanted to hit many sushi happy hours.

When we got back to our AirBnB, this little marijuana leaf was sitting on the hallway floor. It’s so legal that you actually get to see the leaves?!

We then took an Uber to our next destination and it wasn’t until way after that we realized that we didn’t stick our own gum on the wall.

Flying Fish
300 Westlake Ave N
Seattle, Washington 98109
(206) 728-8595
http://flyingfishseattle.com

We ordered six Fresh Oyster on Half Shell | $1 and six Large Green Mussels on Half Shell | $0.88. They had rules to where you have to order a minimum of six per order of each type with a limit of two dozen of each type per person.

They were both equally delicious, but I’ve never had mussels prepared this way so it drew me in more. Scruffy on the other hand loved the oysters more.

These are by far one of the best Truffle Fries [French truffle sea salt] | $6 I’ve ever eaten and Scruffy was nice enough to let me eat a majority of them.

When it came time to decide if we wanted to order more food, especially since we were going to other sushi places, I contemplated really hard on ordering more fries.

But we stuck with oysters because you can’t get such amazingness down south like that.

As we were walking to our next destination, we were able to see the Space Needle from afar. It was then that Scruffy decided going there might actually be worthwhile to look out into the horizon so we decided after all of our sushi eating, we would head out there to see if we can get tickets.

Umi Sake House
2230 1st Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 374-8717
http://umisakehouse.com

Free | Edamame is the best edamame but we didn’t want to fill up on them so we only ate a few of these bad boys.

We ordered a Beer and Sake. It’s fancier up here to where they aren’t big fans of sake bombs so we literally took sake shots and downed the beer as a chaser. Not the same but it was still fun.

He would only let me order one Tuna Sashimi | $8 order to try and see if it’s good and boy was it good! Keep in mind these are happy hour prices.

Look how thick the slices are! Back home they would cut them really thin and make us pay $10! And oh my goodness … they melt in your mouth! I could eat this every day!

He was craving Calamari, which is weird to me that anyone would be craving that but he got what he wanted. After eating the sashimi, all I could think about was that and craved only that so he had to finish the majority up himself.

He also really wanted a Spider Roll which was only okay. I mean, why you would get anything else but raw fish at this restaurant is beyond me!

He finally agreed and let me order Albacore Sashimi and Salmon Sashimi both $8/type. He liked the albacore more whereas I liked the salmon more. But we both agreed the tuna was the best. Just looking at this while I write this post makes my mouth water.

We went back to our AirBnB to change and put down our backpack since we had time until our reservations. Everywhere you turn, there’s graffiti and it’s actually kind of relaxing to see.

Shiro’s
2401 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 443-9844
http://shiros.com

They didn’t have happy hour but it was one of the top places for sushi so Scruffy made reservations here which I’m thankful for because it was SO FREAKING GOOD! And because when we looked out the window, we saw a lot of people waiting to get in due to the fact that it is a small location.

We ordered more Beer and Sake shot and chaser style. I loved that their little cups have their logo on it!

I was surprised that Scruffy actually liked the Rainbow Poke [Assortment of seafood with our original sauce] | $9.50. Poke, forever.

Geso Kara-age [deep fried squid legs] | $6.50 weren’t as big of a hit. He’s not a big fan of chewy things and the batter was just okay.

He ordered a King Crab Nigiri while I got a Sea Eel Nigiri and a Zuke Tuna Nigiri. Oh my goodness. The Zuke Tuna was amazing! It was my first time and sigh … take me back please.

I kept seeing people have fried shrimp heads and was curious because it wasn’t on the menu. We asked the waiter and he said it came with the Sweet Shrimp Nigiri. Two orders please!

Best. Thing. Ever. I’ve never had sweet shrimp and now all I want to do is eat it! The fried shrimp heads kind of freaked Scruffy out and kind of cringed when I ate the entire thing, eyeballs and all. But I love the fact that he’ll try anything once so I shared the non-eyeball part of it with him and he wasn’t a fan. Sigh … what a waste.

We walked over to the Space Needle to buy tickets but since we were late in purchasing, we had to book a later time which meant we had to wait.

Sport Restaurant & Bar
140 4th Ave N #130
Seattle, Washington 98109
(206) 404-7767
http://sportrestaurant.com

We walked over here for a beer while I sipped on water. I didn’t want to fill up on beer if we had a chance of eating yummy goodness!

My old friend, Carla, saw my Snapchat of the Ferris wheel and asked to meet up since she and Andrew, her husband, now lives in Seattle. We use to all hang out back in college, then Carla and I did one-on-ones after college.

Blue Water Taco Grill
515 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle, Washington 98119
(206) 352-2407
http://bluewatertacogrill.com/

We agreed to meet up at the Armory, a Children’s Museum downstairs with different restaurants upstairs. When we got there, a lot of the places were closing and this was the only one opened. The boys grabbed a beer, Carla a margarita, and me water and we caught up and talked about random things until our 9:30 PM Space Needle appointment.

Space Needle
400 Broad St.
Seattle, Washington 98109
(206) 905-2100
http://spaceneedle.com

We were a little bummed we didn’t get to see it when the sky was lit but loved the wonderful burning sky. These pictures do not do it justice. He and I joked a lot throughout the trip whenever we see wonderful landscape that Bob Ross did a great job. haha

We stayed up there for a really long time … mostly taking in the view and trying to figure out how to take a picture of the background with us in it. There was a lot of fails and a okay-I-give-up-this-is-good-enough photo.

Some Random Bar
2604 1st Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
http://somerandombar.com

We were in search of food, like always. Scruffy ordered a beer and we realized their kitchen has just closed. But I still recommend this bar a lot. The lady that we spoke to was very nice especially when we asked if there were any bars around here with food and made conversation with us. She pointed us to our next and last destination of the night.

Buckley’s
2331 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 588-8879
http://buckleysseattle.com

Buckley’s Thai Sesame Ribs (3) [with sweet Thai chili sauce] | $6 was one of Scruffy’s most delicious food he’s had here, which to me is sad because they weren’t good at all. It was featured on Food Network’s “Best Bar Food” so, maybe my taste buds suck or maybe I have higher taste than bar food. haha

Tater Tots [with chipotle ranch; garlic optional] | $4 was one of the best things ever. We definitely did the garlic option and they did not skimp out on that. I kept trying to shove more garlic with his bites so our breaths would be equally disgusting.

Blackened Chicken Tacos (2) [with flour tortilla, pico de gallo, lettuce, shredded cheese, chipotle ranch on the side] | $6 was a local favourite but it wasn’t ours. We tried out best to down them because it was dry and not appetizing. Seattle locals, please come visit Houston for chicken tacos. They won’t disappoint like these did.

He loved the ribs so much, he ordered a second plate and made me help him eat them. And when we left the place, he took a billion pictures on his phone of the place because he wanted to remember the place where he got one of the best dishes he’s eaten.

Sigh … that boy.

We headed back to our AirBnB and called it a night since we had a long drive ahead of us the next day.

2016 Summer Getaway | Day 1

August 9, 2016 by Mellie Dee 4 Comments

On Tuesday, the 26th, Scruffy came to my house for dinner and to pick me up so I can sleep over since our flight was at 7:30 AM and his house was closer. The rain kept pouring down so we were worried about delays.

We woke up ~~bright and~~ early and tried our best to keep the noise down since everyone was still asleep. New place, new adventures, new memories. We were tired but excited about what’s to come.

He says that every time he flies early, he gets a taco from Pappasito’s so once we got through security, breakfast was served.

Two barbacoa, egg and cheese tacos, please.

Since rules state to come two hours before liftoff, we had a bit of waiting to do. Luckily, nature worked with us and made sure our departure was on time.

Me & Scruffy on our aircraft

While on the aircraft we tried to sleep, plan dinner, and got frustrated that we could not stream any of the shows we wanted to watch after paying eight dollars for WiFi. Ugh, waste. Thank goodness for previously loaded games on my iPad while Scruffy watched live telly on his iPhone.

We finally saw Mount Rainer (?) out of our window which meant we have arrived in Seattle!

Snow-capped mountains, I want to climb you.

Once we landed and retrieved our luggage, we called for an Uber. Uber at the Seattle airport is on point. Organized with designated places for pick up and drop off!

Our Uber driver dropped us off at our AirBnB, a super old building which made us felt as if we’d fall through the ground. They even have an old elevator system where it uses a hinged door and gate – creepy.

Our windows were all nailed shut from the outside which makes me wonder what happens during an emergency. One of our windows had a crack with a tube coming out for air conditioning.

We ran into a weed shop, Herban Legend, on the way to Pike Place Market. It still boggles my mind that weed is legal in some states.

Pike Place Market was filled with people. We totally forgot it was touristy, summer time which meant long lines everywhere.

We went to look at the ocean view and it was surprising how many people were just sitting there enjoying the sun.

A man stole bottles of Jack Daniel’s under his jacket, dropping them all to the floor when the cops caught him while another kid was sitting smoking pot.

As we searched for the famous chowder place, we got stuck inside the Public Market. There were little shops where artists sell their work on one end like jewlery and paintings.

On the other end were little food stands and the seafood market. The seafood was huge! I am jealous of everyone who gets this goodness all day, every day.

The chowder place was packed with a full line so we ended up at

Rub With Love Shack
2010 Western Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 436-0390
http://rubwithloveshack.com

Braised Pork Sandwich [pork rub, slow-cooked pork, roasted garlic aioli, swiss, pickled red oinion, romaine lettuce] | $10.50

We’re from Texas and should have known better and knew it was a mistake right when we saw it. We shared it and couldn’t even finish it since it was making us feel sick.

We walked around for a bit and somehow ended up at

The Fishermans Restaurant and Bar
1301 Alaskan Way
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 623-3500
http://thefishermansrestaurant.com

Scruffy ordered a beer and was given free Bread and Butter. Sourdough is his least favourite so he tried his best to eat a bit of it.

I ended up getting a Clam Chowder [Northwest recipe featuring hearty clams, tender vegetables, and sweet cream] | $6/cup

Clam chowder is one of my favourite soups in the world so I was in heaven.

Seattle Great Wheel
1301 Alaskan Way
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 623-8607
http://seattlegreatwheel.com

Since the Ferris wheel was right next to us, we decided to ride it for $14.90/person.

We were told we would go around three times but it ended up being a good six or so turns.

We didn’t complain though since we were able to snap some great pictures.

Look at this cool guy.

We walked around some stores before Scruffy saw the penny machine and got super excited. We ended up making a Space Needle one. Speaking of which, I still have and need to give it to him.

As we were walking, we saw this beautiful sight. I wouldn’t mind seeing this every day. Sigh. Take me back, please.

Ashy loves antiques so we walked into one to check it out. I was surprised to find vintage Playboys on sale! The ladies look like they were drawn.

We walked back to our AirBnb, changed for a fancy night, called an uber, and ended up at the

Ballard Beer Company
2050 NW Market St.
Seattle, Washington 98107
(206) 783-0179
http://ballardbeercompany.com

Scruffy & I with THE best grapefruit beer EVER

I got the Postdoc Grapefruit Kolsch and he got the Burdick IPA.

The grapefruit beer reminds me of grapefruit juice and I surprisingly loved it! I wish I could ship some back home. So light and refreshing.

We decided to hop to a bar that had appetizers since we were both hungry and ended up at

Kangaroo & Kiwi Pub
2026 NW Market St.
Seattle, Washington 98107
(206) 297-0507
http://kangarooandkiwi.com

I thought it was pretty cool that it’s from an old public library but sad that it means libraries are going out of style.

He ordered a beer and we both shared an Uluru Nachos [corn tortilla chips, melted cheese, black beans, jalapenos, guacamole, sour cream, & salsa fresca] | $5

We made them Aussie Style [top nachos with authentic Aussie-style seasoned ground beef] | $3.

We finally called an uber to take us to our dinner reservations at

Ray’s Boathouse
6049 Seaview Ave NW
Seattle, Washington 98107
(206) 789-3770
http://rays.com

Bread and Butter | free

Scruffy finished it all up. Him and his love for bread …

Puget Sound Mediterranean Mussels [smoked onion butter, herbs, red pepper] | $15

It was a Thai curry type sauce. Mmm … This was easily our favourite dish out of everything we ate at the restaurant. Scruffy even dipped his bread in the sauce because it was just that good.

Seafood Fregola Sarda Pasta [toasted pasta, Penn Cove mussels, Manila clams, Uli’s chorizo, salmon, whitefish, light cream, marinara sauce] | $26

We were both not a fan of this dish. Scruffy’s description is that it tasted like dog food. It was a big let down because fregola isn’t the type of pasta I thought it’ll be. And I agreed it didn’t taste well. I made sure to eat all the seafood though.

Dungeness Crab Cakes [summer squash + zucchini, jasmine rice, herbed lemon yogurt, red pepper coulis] | half $16

He ordered the half which was just right for him since we had nachos and appetizers beforehand and had already decided for light snacking later in the night. He liked his dish enough to finish the crab cakes.

After dinner, we took in the wonderful view while we waited for our Uber. Sigh, perfection … even though dinner wasn’t exactly perfect.

This place, though fancy, didn’t meet my expectations and since then, he and I decided to jump around restaurants and pick something small from each one to try out.

We were dropped off at our AirBnb to change into comfy clothes and pulled up Pokemon Go. Seattle is PokeStop city, guys!

As Scruffy looked up some bars around us with happy hour oysters we noticed that Yelp! had added a filter for “PokeStop Nearby.” All I can say is, wow …

Queen City Grill
2201 1st Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 443-0975
http://queencitygrill.com

This place showed up on Yelp! for happy hour oysters. It did disturb me a bit that there wasn’t much people around but we proceeded to order.

He ordered a Hefeweizen while I ordered a Bellini [peach puree married with bubbles] | $8

Six Oysters on the Half Shell | $2.25 each

We could taste the shell on some of them so he wasn’t a big fan of it.

Prawn Cocktail [chilled prawns with a classic cocktail sauce] | $7

Prawn is a different meaning up here, I guess, since it was more like little shrimp. Nothing too special.

We jumped ship to

Rabbit Hole
2222 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 956-4653
http://rabbitholeseattle.com

where he ordered a beer and we played two rounds of skeeball where we both won once and called it quits and moved over to

Wakefield Bar
2318 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 770-7824
http://wakefieldbar.com

They didn’t have any food though so we quickly left and oddly bumped into my old college friend, Patrick, on the street. He lived a few buildings down! Small world. I hadn’t seen him in over four years.

Rocco’s
2228 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 448-2625
http://roccosseattle.com

We stopped here for to-go orders of pizza slices and headed back to his apartment for a quick catch up.

Pizza is always the best late night drunk food regardless of where you live.

Scruffy got a regular pepperoni while I opted for the veggie one. His definetly tasted better than mine but I enjoyed mine nonetheless. I wanted another slice the next night and I don’t even love pizza!

I’ve never tried watermelon wheat beer until that day. It tasted like a light watermelon juice.

After catching up, Scruffy and I bid our farewells and headed back to our AirBnB to recharge for the next day.

Pretty eventful first day if I do say so myself.

2016 Summer Getaway | Take Me Back

August 2, 2016 by Mellie Dee 1 Comment

Hi world! Scruffy and I are officially back to reality. We went into work today (I worked half at home after taking Dad to the doctor) and we were both so tired. I wish we were still living the good life up in that good weather eating that good seafood.

I took so many pictures that I know for a fact Scruffy was annoyed. I am one of those people who takes a picture of EVERY. SINGLE. THING. because memories. Here’s a picture to tide you over until I have a chance for a recap.

We found this little leaf in the hallway of our AirBnB in Seattle. I’m told it’s a marijuana leaf. I’ve never seen one before so I’ll believe what I’m told and since it’s legal in Seattle and Vancouver, they’re apparently everywhere.

Until next time,

2016 Summer Getaway

June 30, 2016 by Mellie Dee 4 Comments

Seattle, Washington Skyline
via

Scruffy and I have always discussed going on a trip out of Texas in the past and in less than a couple of days, flights, lodging, and transportation were all booked for the end of July for Seattle and Vancouver.

I cannot wait to get out of this humid Texas weather and into more cooling temperatures. I’m certain after visiting, I’ll be wanting to move like I did when I visited Portland a couple of years back. Sigh … my family picked the wrong place to live.

All we have left to plan are places to eat, attractions to see, and things to do. We have both never been to these places before, so it’ll be an interesting, new experience for us both. I cannot wait until the day comes … that is if we don’t kill one another trying to figure everything out.

Vancouver, Canada Skyline
via

2015 Asia Trip | Day 16

November 15, 2015 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

Hola World! I’ve finally been back since Friday night and have been so lazy. I’ve played with the poopies nonstop, unpacked everything but my clothes, picked up my parents from the airport for their return, and bought a bajillion stickers on Etsy. That’s pretty much it. Eight work days until it’s Thanksgiving break! Eeeps! Which also means Amanda’s and Brent’s wedding day is approaching fast!

On our last day I waited for Sissy and BIL to arrive to PoPo’s from their hotel and for Mum and Kathy to return from getting B’s Hong Kong ID. During that time, I got ready and planned out my meals for the upcoming week. When everyone got back Kathy and I went to 759 to buy some weird snacks to bring back to people as souvenirs and Sissy, BIL, and the parents went to SaSa to buy beauty products. Kathy and I joined her after we were finished and we all went crazy on buying face masks. I wish certain were cheaper here like they are in Hong Kong. Face masks and stickers being two things on my list …

We went to Shanghai PoPo for brunch of soup dumplings and noodle soups. Freaking delicious last meal in Hong Kong.

Afterward we went back to PoPo’s to pack what we just bought and Rachel came over with treats from her trip. We said our goodbyes. It gets hard saying bye to PoPo since she’s getting older. :/ Rachel rode with us to the airport where we checked in and did some more shopping in the airport. One of the stores had a everything in the store is $12 HKD type deal. More stickers were bought. Sigh … jealous. After Rachel was with us for a good hour, we said our goodbyes to her and went through customs where Sissy, BIL, and I waited for our flight. A little delayed but wasn’t too big a deal. We were all on the plane waiting for takeoff that everyone fell asleep.

By the time we were in flight, we were served a meal. Asians always want to make sure you’re full. Bahaha I felt bad for BIL because it was fish and he is not a big fan of fish. But he said this one wasn’t fishy … I guess because he was very hungry. Everyone mostly slept and soon enough we were in Taiwan. I watched Chinese soaps on my phone while we waited.

Upon boarding our flight to Houston, we saw Sanrio everywhere. On the pillows and on the screens. Even our utensils were Hello Kitty-fied. Sissy was certain we were on the Sanrio aircraft. Liftoff was on time, luckily. I started the Helios movie which is a Hong Kong movie. It was crazy because there was a total of 4 to 5 different languages spoken. 1/3 of the time I had to look at the screen to read what was going on. Nonetheless, a good movie.

After a good forty minutes we were served our first meal of chicken and macaroni. Wasn’t bad. They even had a Hello Kitty strawberry chocolate on the dessert. I just ate that while Sissy pigged on the cake. After finishing Helios, I went to sleep. BIL and I were so asleep that we missed our snack of sandwiches. After what happened with our first time getting a sandwich on the flight there, we didn’t really care though we were very hungry. Sissy got her veggie sandwich and she said it was nasty so … we didn’t miss much.

I slept a lot on the flight and when I finally couldn’t sleep anymore, I started the SPL2 movie. Another Hong Kong movie. This one had 3 different languages. Also another great movie. I wish I was able to watch these Hong Kong movies more over here in America. During this time we had our last flight meal of congee with seafood. Also another boo for BIL because he’s not 100% into seafood and definitely dislike mushrooms. We also got some kind of salad but it smelled like crap and tasted even worse. Regardless, we were happy we were almost home. I couldn’t wait to see Rizzo and Rocky and June had bought Wing Stop for us upon coming home. Happy heart, happy tummy.

I can’t wait to go back again. Hopefully to visit either Korea or Japan. And I got promises that Rachel, Vincent, and Kathy will come and visit us. I can’t wait to show them this part of our world. Our turn to take them everywhere.

Promise the 12 days I didn’t put up pictures will be up soon. Until next time,