Bill Gate's Microsoft empire is pretty big, but there are other attractions in the area as well. Tony took me through a quick cruise of downtown. We passed by the then-imploded Kingdome right off the freeway. Heh heh, neat. A pile of rubble is the best and only way to describe it. Not much to photograph, so you won't see stacks of shattered concrete in any pics. Plans are to build a new football stadium in its place for the Seahawks. The Mariners already have their own Safeco field, located a bit more in the heart of downtown. I got a shot of the side of that on the previous page while we were whizzing by. It's a retractable roof field, since Seattle drizzles everyday, it'd be ridiculous to have a pure open-roof baseball field there.

I learned a lot of useless trivia stuff about Seattle while I was there as well. Not only is the home of Microsoft, but also the home of Nintendo USA. It used to be Squaresoft's US HQ (... of Final Fantasy fame) as well, but they packed and moved down here to L.A..... Seattle also houses Boeing, the big airplane manufacturer for all those commercial jetliners. Eddie Bauer, the clothing manufacturer, calls Seattle home too. Last but not least, I think also UPS is stationed somewhere there as well. Wow, a plethora of companies really dig that area, and I don't blame 'em. The air's 10x fresher than L.A.'s smog infested ratpen. Cooler too. Just slightly waterlogged.

We visited the Museum of Flight on Monday. It holds a lot of classic planes of all sorts, including the smallest one ever built. I sat in it, and it was about the size of a powerwheel. I couldn't fit my legs through completely! There's a replica of the fastest plane ever built to date (well, at least the fastest that the military's willing to disclose): a sleek, black jet aptly dubbed the Blackbird that is capable of reaching more than Mach 3 (2,000 mph)!! Talk about a puke fest... A nice little addition to the side of the museum was a replica of Anakin's Pod Racer from The Phantom Menace. =) Outside is a real life Air Force One jet in which the president and important people fly in. You can go in and check out how it's arranged and stuff. I'll tell you one thing, the movie w/ Harrison Ford made it seem a LOT larger than it really is.

Last but not least we visited the Seattle Center where the Space Needle was located. The entry fee was 10 bucks per person or something. Hella expensive!! Plus the bottom foundation portion was undergoing a facelift, so it looked really butt ugly. We took an express elevator to the top, and past visitors of high buildings like the World Trade Center or the St. Louis arch know that you can feel your ears pop while the elevator ascends rapidly. At the top, half of it was blocked off thanks to the aforementioned remodeling, including the Space Needle restaurant. The only thing left was a small section with souveniors and a Starbucks stand. It's highly recommended that you sip some hot mocha before rounding the outer rim of the top, cuz it's frickin' cold outside thanks to windchill factor. It's like a hurricane. Again, those who have been on top of the WTC in NY know how it feels.

The scenery up there wasn't too bad, though. Damn the greedy bastards that force people to feed the telescope two quarters before usage. What the hell, isn't the outrageous entry fee enough? Not everyone works at MS and drive Porsche's, you know! Anyways, looking out you can see the Pacific, I believe... or was it a big lake? Not sure... cuz there are lots o'lakes up in Washington. If you look hard enough, you can see the border between the U.S. and Canada. Haha, no, just kidding. =) You can see the city well enough though. It's a lot tidier than Los Angeles or New York. Plus not as much traffic.

One last note: the coffee up there is soooo good. If you're a caffine afiacando like yours truly, you'll definitely learn to enjoy the coffee in Seattle. Not just Starbucks. It's probably only the 3rd best coffee maker up there behind Tully's and Seattle's Best Coffee. Sigh... it's been hard adjusting back to sub-par coffee since then. Even if you don't really dig the drink, try the mocha or something anyway. I guarentee you'll love it. =)

That about rounds it up. It wasn't a terribly long trip, but definitely satisfactory. Visit Seattle if you have the chance, but bring an umbrella and hightops with you, cuz chances are it'll be drizzling. Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. As usual, click to enlarge. Feel free to comment on the message board too. How do you guys like the vacation feature? If I don't get enough positive response, I probably won't spend so much time scanning the pics and stuff on my next trip out of town... Enjoy!


That's me inside a real Navy jet cockpit... while my dad looks on.	My dad and uncle in front of a whole load of planes.	Pod Racer from SW:EP1! I didn't know it counted as something w/ flight.


The Space Needle. Due to thumbnail restrictions, I had to horizontal-ize this.	My dad and I at the top. It's very windy up there.	A scenery shot from the top. Telescope usage costs quarters. Damn them.


Easter egg! My new ride, the Autumn Bronze Infiniti G20. Great suspension...	... on that car. Acceleration is fun too! All for less than an Accord or a Camry.

=) Those last two shots are taken on the driveway of my house. I got the car two weeks ago, but only now have the film developed. As stated above, it's an Infiniti G20. Car buffs will note that the G20 was discontinued in '96, but Nissan (Infiniti is Nissan's luxury division) brought it back with an all new design for 2000. This baby's equipped with stone beige colored leather seating with 6-speaker Bose audio, single CD player, power everything and sunroof. Engine's a Dual Overhead Cam (DOHC) 16-Valve 4 cylinder powered with 145 horses at 6K rpm. Parents refused manual transmission, and since it's not tehcnially my car, I had no say in it, so I'm stuck with a 4-speed automatic. Pooh...

Hey, all that for $20,000 flat. I defy you to find a new Camry or an Accord equipped with all that for the same price. =)