The moment I stepped onto U.S. soil, I was greeted with the wailing of sirens — police or ambulance, same difference — which sent foreboding signals to my instincts. I took a taxi to avoid the lurking shadows in the streets, but it was another stab in the dark when the taxi driver drove in circles while he was on the phone (there is no rule saying that taxi drivers cannot do so, I asked around afterwards). So this is the States, I thought. Just like what we see on television, almost. Only the mafias and guns were missing. As the taxi went around in circles, we drove past groups of shifty-eyed people huddled together, sucking in their cigarettes and holding a beer bottle wrapped in their other fists. Dubious people roamed around the streets with their hands in their pockets of their hoodies, heads covered with condom-head-lookalike beanies, walking to…? And then there were the presumably homeless, with their signature shabby clothes and disheveled hair, dragging a big bag of their belongings, in search of a warm corner to snuggle in for that night. Who, out of all these people, would I have chosen to ask for directions to my hostel?

After about 3 rounds around the same streets, the taxi driver finally got off the phone, and I decided to get off there and then because the leaping meter on the taxi got the better of me. I managed to find Green Tortoise Hostel, but not after having to walk out of the way of groups of drunks. Only to be faced with more drunks at the hostel. There was a party going on at the hostel and I arrived at the end of it, with plenty of nuts (pun intended) scattered on the floor, possibly by someone who, in his drunken stupor, mistook it for confetti? I had to wait to be checked in because they were changing shifts, and was entertained by a drunk old man blabbering incoherently about Korea (he assumed I was Korean). While waiting I bumped into Singaporean guys on a road trip. The NUS shirt gave one of them away. I was invited to join them since I was a fellow Singaporean but their tight schedule for an itinerary appeared to me worse than my school timetable so I didn’t tag along, which was fortunate, for I wouldn’t have had the adventure I had the next day —

Seattle by day is extremely pleasant in contrast with her night seediness, and I had quite a crazy adventure to match up to the city’s uncanny daytime/nighttime difference. After wandering the streets in downtown and taking shots of the Space Needle on my own, I met a man, who was the source of the adventure that followed. Tall, big (-hearted?), and extremely friendly, our conversation revolved around languages and cultures, and I’ve finally met a Canadian who knows that we speak English in Singapore. He can speak several languages, and does a couple of sentences in Cantonese and Mandarin very accurately. He drove us to the Museum of Flight, where we shared my experience of a lifetime. We took a ride on a biplane with an open cockpit, which provided us with a really cool bird’s eye view of Seattle City and a little beyond. The plane ride blew me away (not literally)! The biplane ride costs $160+, of which I paid $50 haha. It was hard taking pictures though, since the propellers were in front of the plane, so whenever I stuck my head out, the skin on my face would move like jelly.

We left the museum at closing time (5pm) and parted ways, but not before he invited me over to his place, claiming he cooks really well and that he rents out his rooms to students for only ten dollars a night. I managed to turn down his offer with phony enthusiasm, saying excitedly how his offer is such a steal but what a pity I’d already paid for my hostel. Should he really have had a different agenda in his mind the whole time, then the setting sun in Seattle really brings out the Mr Hydes. I don’t exude the Asian exoticness — tall, slim, pretty, elegant?– that most Caucasians are known to look for, so I felt he just wanted to be friends? We received many looks throughout our little excursion together though. You know, the kinda look you give when you see a relatively old White man with a considerably young Asian woman girl?

I went back to my 8-bunk female dorm with my story to tell, but everyone else’s life stories were more interesting. There was an Australian girl who’s an exemplary of a been-there-done-that even though she’s only 22. Australians flood hostels all over the world since they just pack and leave home for months to travel. I made friends who can provide free accommodation in various places (yeah, that’s what friends are for!), and basically learnt so much from these fellow bunkers in the hostel.

So it’s official. I’ve officially stepped into the States, I’ve officially hitch-hiked, officially rode on an open cockpit plane, and officially backpacked! And I’m hungering for more…

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Essential Information (what I did):

Getting there (from Vancouver): Amtrak train

Cost: $43 (Vancouver-Seattle), $37 (Seattle-Vancouver). Could have gotten 15% discount if I had booked 3 days in advance with my ISIC (International Student Identity Card), but this was an impulse trip.

Comments: There is only one trip to and from Seattle, departing for Seattle at 6pm daily from the Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, and departing Seattle for Vancouver at 7.40am daily from the Amtrak station at Kings St in Seattle. The view during the train journey is splendid, because for the most part the train travels along the coast. The train timings at sunset and sunrise are perhaps more than coincidental then. The train ride from Vancouver to Seattle isn’t scenic during winter though because you’ll just be riding into darkness.

Accommodation: Green Tortoise Hostel

Cost: $25/night/bed in an 8-bed dorm

Comments: One of the few hostels available in Seattle. Very clean bathrooms, clean beds (complete with curtains for privacy, or to shade you from light if your roommates switch it on while you’re asleep), cramped dorms, free use of computers, wifi, free screening of films, free breakfasts every morning, free dinners on some days, and plenty of friends to make from all over the world.

Places of Interest:

I don’t believe in this anymore. Just explore. There’s no must-sees or must-dos.

(Click on the image to view slideshow)

I wish there was a course called Travel Studies or something. Travel 101. Introduction to Travel. The Philosophy of Travel. Travel and You: Identifying the Sightseer, the Tourist, and the Traveller. Travel Techniques: A Practical Insight to Travelling in the 21st Century.

I leave behind homework and test preparations to indulge in the cascades of the Rocky Mountains; escape mundane classes to take a hike up the Grouse Grind; and while my classmates grapple with term papers this weekend, I shall be sipping my coffee at Original Starbucks (the first Starbucks!) in Seattle.

With my worn 40L backpack on my excited shoulders, I hesitate, but for 3 seconds, before I turn to close the door, while the sharp-edged, crispy-paged textbooks wait patiently on the floor.

The weather the past few days has been like this (left), and the weather today was like this (right):

So I figured, why go to school? Looks like this is the best weather we can get before the impending gloomy winter, so I called up my hiking friend and it was easy persuading her to skip classes with me to climb up the Grouse Grind Trail once again. Heh. I’ve been hungering after that sense of fulfilment.

We climbed slower today though, because the rocks were really slippery from all the rain the past week. It also got dark really quick, and I was quite worried we wouldn’t be able to reach the top before sunset, which pushed me to keep climbing I guess.

This was taken just when I reached the top. So if I took any longer to climb, it might have made my last leg of the journey too dark to clamber.

Vancouver, by sundown.

My hiking friend craved for laksa after the hike, but we arrived at Prima Taste a tad too late for last orders. We met the boss of the place, however, and I hope we made a lasting impression, if not for future discounts, then perhaps as a networking contact.

So we had to make do with tacos.

And we saw two police officers having their break with burritos. Guess what Squarface asked the police officers?

For a photo, of course! Such friendly people, and I guess a foreigner can get away with this kinda request. The male police officer is really formidable.

To watch a movie here you’ve gotta pay CDN$11.95, and your ticket is a piece of receipt paper. Hmm.

And it’s FREE SEATING.

Which poses several problems:

1. You can buy your ticket way early, but end up having to sit at the front because you didn’t join the line-up early enough (don’t we all have better things to do than join the line half an hour before the movie starts).

2. Inconsiderate people deprive you of a good seat because they think their bags deserve them more than you do.

3. Your unable-to-make-decisions friends cannot make up their minds on good seats, and make you move from row to row in order for them to decide.

But I guess the good thing about it is that we can buy our tickets only half an hour before the movie and go right in and get good seats?

And being cheapo Singaporeans students on a tight budget, we sneaked into another theatre for another movie after, and no one cared. I guess many systems here go on trusting-the-general-public’s-integrity basis, so people like us work our way easily into the loopholes.

On another note, I am pleased with the censorship here, or lack thereof. Heh. Nudity scenes come in PG-rated films!

Gosh I am such a geek. I now officially launch my Photos page. *cuts ribbon*

Maybe my pictures from now on will be there (linked to my Flickr account) instead of Squareface’s Shots.

I spent a fair amount of time the whole of yesterday trying to revive my blog. For half a day, my categories were out of place at the top of the blog. For another half of the day, my blog was stuck in the time before I returned from my Rockies trip (before 8 Oct 2007).

I’m glad everything is fine and working now. *phew*

And I’ve managed to upgrade to Wordpress 2.3 manually.

Suddenly I feel I’m quite a techie. haha.

Before you embark on a learning journey that may very well take you through a lifetime, it is imperative that you first undertake the pre-college study — in-depth research of all colleges.

Compare and contrast college information, search for colleges by degree, state, or major type. You may want to choose a college nearest home, furthest from home, or whatever your preference and abilities allow. Some colleges are inclined in the Arts, some in Science & Technology, and others in Commerce or other areas, so you might want to read more into this before you land yourself in a college where you cannot develop your niche.

Scholarship opportunities should be your next consideration, but try not to let it limit you.

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I walked by my mailbox today as usual (it’s on my way to the apartment) and saw that the mailbox had something! Usually, since my mailbox is so high up, all I can see inside the pigeon-hole is white light, but today it was black! Meaning there was something!

Amidst my mail from the bank, there was a note to collect a package from the frontdesk! All the way across the Pacific Ocean from Shanghai! (please pardon all the exclamation marks)

Hmm, it took 2 weeks to get here? And I wonder whether the postage was more costly than the present itself haha. Thanks so much dude! It was a really present surprise! I’m pleased that the frontdesk kindly found my mailbox although the mailbox number (no. 964) was missing from the address heh.

Just to let you see that the gift came in intact, no damage whatsoever, so the bubble envelope works real well, eh?

I love surprise packages like this!! Yes, this is a HUGE HINT to all of you. I’ve already been as shameless as to show you my address in the picture above. No security issues here since I don’t live alone and the address doesn’t reveal where exactly I stay anyway since we only have mailbox numbers. So, good friends, you know what to do yeah?

CG, in exchange of such loveliness, I shall share with you loveliness.

So pretty right? And here’s to maple leaves.

It’s imprinted on the ground ‘coz I think the leaf was stuck there and beaten by rain.

AuthorHouse guides you through the steps of getting your manuscript published and handles all the technical issues of it while you can concentrate on what you do best — write! Publishing with a traditional publisher usually takes a year or longer. AuthorHouse makes sure your book is printed, bound, and ready for worldwide distribution within 4 months of your submission of your manuscript.

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Hey how do you like this new look? A little cramped isn’t it? The sidebar and the posts are way too close together due to the limited width. As it is, finding a suitable template is hard. How will I actually revamp the whole site (I actually have the slightest desire to)? I prefer plain white templates. I guess I’m really boring this way.