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.
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