It's not that my boyfriend can't make it this time. I am returning the favor of him travelling alone to Malaysia to see me 2 years ago. But my version is better because I already knew him well and about to meet his family. His version was scarier than mine where - he don't know whether all about me as real as what he had in mind.
Cinta antara dua benua memang interesting. It takes a lot of courage for you to go beyond of your comfort zone in order to pursue your happiness.
There are 194 countries in the world, I choose a man from the most
hatedmisunderstood country in the world after middle east. Not enough with that, his hometown is situated at the end of nothern hemisphere, almost at the end of the world. I had a few stops before I finally got to see him so I decided to have fun while I was alone, travelling long hours flight and shits like time & weather differences, immigration security and luggage check in & out, long transit hours, and many other things that not many girls manage to do for the FIRST TIME. Thank you boo, you just created a very strong - independent - solo -traveler monster.
I had a few stops like Guangzhou, LA and Seattle. LA was the 1st port for my 1st entry to USA. By the time I got my luggage out, it was too late so I spent my 13 hours night in LA just touring the hotel area, talked to my BF on the phone & sleep.
EXTRA INFO:
I don't have to show my return ticket to the immigration officer. Although Im entering USA alone, they didn't ask for how long my stay will be in USA. They did ask about my final destination - ALASKA and made a horrible comment about it. "Nothing to see in Alaska. You will get attack by the bears over there". I guess they don't really keen in promoting The States Tourism or maybe they never been out of LA.
I can't sleep during my journey of 2.5 hours to Seattle. Obviously USA has a beautiful landscape, the best I've seen so far in my entire travelling/ flying experience. So I refused to sleep.
I get to see Lake Tahoe too. Lake Tahoe is the 2nd deepest lake in USA and the 16th in the world. It is so big, the surface stretches from California to Nevada.
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| English: Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As the plane approaching Seattle air space, there, the tip of Mount Rainier welcomes you.
The timing was nice when I landed in Seattle. It was 10.45 in the morning so I have plenty of time before my next flight to Alaska.
Just so you know that it was also my first time to encounter with airport that luggage trolley is not free. You have to pay USD 5 per trolley. So please be grateful that a lot of stuff in Malaysia is still free for public use. So I roll away my luggage without a trolley to the Seattle Airport one and only baggage storage & rental - Ken's.
Exploring Seattle for the first timer, alone like me is not a big issue. Seattle has a good, cheap public transportation that send you straight to downtown from the airport. All I wanted to see is the Space Needle since the "Men in Black". But my BF suggested me to visit Pike's Market as well. So I did.
It cost USD 2.75 per way from Seattle Airport to where the touristy attraction is - Westlake, by taking a Central Link Light Rail. It took me around 40 minutes to reach downtown from the Airport.
The station in Westlake just located under Nordstrom shopping mall and there is another monorail that will send you straight to Space Needle on the 3rd floor of this shopping mall for additional cost of USD 2.75 per way. So you can choose either to do your window shopping first or do the sightseeing once you reached Westlake Train station.
Since I got plenty of time (8 hours to be exact) and HUNGRY so I choose to walk to Pike Market first. So I walked instead of going up to the monorail station to the Seattle Space Needle.
Anyways, here are some pictures I got it during my exploration in downtown Seattle.
Look at that car with Pink Moustache :)
Yellow Cab :)
First thing that I noticed was the fresh cherries and raspberries. I bought some and popped it into my mouth without bother to wash it. I continued with my exploration.
This street is so busy and lively. Street performances are everywhere. Happy faces, sound of birds and music, tourists from all over the world swarming every corner of this market made me forget that this is my 1st time visiting USA and all alone in Seattle.
It's summer now in the west world. I got to see bazillion colorful flowers which is known to be rare & expensive in Malaysia. Some are not even exist in Malaysia except in plastic form. Peonies, Blue and Dark Purple Lilies, Poppies, Tulips and many more!
Handcrafts, Hand made local jewelleries, T-Shirts, Souvenirs, but please bear in mind, this is touristy spot, so it's kinda pricey. Pricey for Touristy.
After so much walking, I got really hungry. And what I tell you, since the market is located at the bay (Elliot Bay) , it serves as a fish market too. They have rows and rows of restaurants that serve fresh & smoked fish along the streets. The smell of the smoked salmon (which happen to be my favorite) tempted me. Although I know Alaska is one of the place I can get the best Salmon in the world during summer, but the smell that I'm smelling in Pike Market made me forget about Alaskan for that moment.
So, I had my 1st USA smoked salmon at Emmett Watson, Seattle.
...and raspberries as my lunch date cum dessert.
Since Im travelling alone, I have very little number of picture of me posing around :( Had to ask some stranger(s) to help me with it. Here is me at Victor Steinbrueck Park which is located at the end of Pike Market.
Continues to my main destination - Seattle Space Needle. I must admit that I asked 3 people for the direction. I don't have city map in hands neither the GPS. As I walked to find my way to the Space Needle, I noticed that there are so many individuals that working for non profit organizations that try to get you to participate with their program & donation. Save the Trees, Save the Children, Save the Planet, and I saw 2 hunks with buff bods walking topless on the streets and only God knows what is the cause they running for. I didn't stop, but I turned my head trice to the topless hunks though :P
A distant looking Space Needle!
After 45 minutes queuing, I finally got the ticket to the observation deck. I paid USD 36 for the Space Needle AND Chihuly Garden & Glass .
Actually, you can buy the entrance ticket online and save your time for the queue. It just, I was not sure what time I could make it to the Space Needle.
Next to the Space Needle, there is an Art Gallery, A Glass Garden that displays the work of Dale Chihuly - an interior design student that brought a blowing glass work to the avant garde level and received many awards with his creativity of mounting, blowing glass's sculptures & monuments. His installations can be seen in Paris, London, Ireland, Mexico and few states in USA like New York, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle.
Here are some showcase by Dale Chihuly at Chihuly Garden & Glass Seattle.
His work of art mainly inspired by nature and sea life creatures
Bright, colorful yet so delicate.
I have thousands of pictures of Dale Chihuly's collections, unfortunately I got to make this post short. Or maybe I will put it out later in the next post.
Enough with art & glass. It's time to go up high!
Standing 184 meter above the ground, once the tallest structure west of Mississippi river, it offers a 360 degrees view of Seattle which is perfect for a quick stop tourist like me. Well, I hate to say this - This is my 2nd time being on the tallest observation deck in a big city alone, and I hate the feeling when I look around where everybody is in group or couplet, enjoying the view, laughing and looking silly. And had to ask around for 1 self portrait snapshot because I don't know when I will be able to visit this place, Seattle, again.
Here is couple of pictures of Seattle I got from the observation deck that day. But I bet the night view is always more magical than day view.
I headed straight back to the airport after the tower. I know I got plenty of time to explore Seattle, but my leg was unable to do the walk anymore.
When I thought I have another 4 hours to fly, the check in counter informed me that my flight (United Airlines) will be delayed until 1am. I was so tired to express my shock, I just blabbered to him that I will sleep on a bench until boarding call. He heard me and suddenly offer to check OTHER FLIGHT which take off earlier so that I don't have to sleep on the bench. Fortunately there was one that take off in 1.5 hours. He brought me all the way to the to Alaska Airlines Business Class check in counter & helped me to check in my luggage, no queue, no extra charge, no fuss. Two minutes later I was at TSA gate, and the officer seemed like didn't notice my existence.I managde to inform my boyfriend via VIBER on this fortunate shortcomings and so everything was smooth as silk.
2.5 hours later, there he is, already waiting for me at Anchorage airport, and so my lonely solo travel ends.
I am one lucky solo Traveler!
