Filipino American Artists Network

Everybody knows it always rain in Seattle and that’s where the Starbucks was born. There’s really more to Seattle than that. Even spending only 3 days and 2 nights already imprinted a different kind of impression what the city is all about. Everytime I’m in a different town or city, I really want to do something adventurous but I didn’t pretty much have time for that since I brought work with me. So, I was soaking up the art scene in Seattle and get to know a little bit of the city.

On my first day I was just working but we had lunch at Shilla Restaurant in downtown Seattle just beside our hotel. It serves Korean and Japanese cuisine and we just ordered rock n roll and bulgogi. The food was great and with all the appetizers that they served, it was enough for two people. After I was finished with my work, we had a late dinner at Typhoon. It’s like Denny’s but more of a grunge style setting which was really interesting.

We headed to the Seattle Center first thing in the morning on our second day and experienced a breathtaking 360 degrees view of Seattle at the top of Space Needle. The Seattle Center was just a conglomeration of amazing architecture. I just couldn’t get enough of it. It was really fun making music at the Experience Music Project. We waited for a few minutes for a cubicle where my hubby played the piano and we ended up recording our own rock concert.

We had a late lunch at Pike Place Market which is a Seattle institution. It started in 1907 and become something rare in urban America; a popular destination for both locals and tourists. The reason is simple: food. Fish, fruit, produce and street food thrive here. All summer long the locals grumble about the crowds and the tourists drive through the middle of the market, but people keep coming back. Chain stores aren’t allowed, though Starbucks got its start here. We visited Starbucks for coffee, of course — and you’ll see flashes of camera occurring every five seconds. That includes mine! LOL. I bought shirts and a bag of Pike Place Starbucks Coffee for souveneirs and headed to Lowell’s Restaurant and Bar, “the living room of the market.” The servings are generous and staff are really friendly and the best thing is the three floors of water views while you’re having a fresh and delicious meal. After that, we walked off what we ate by browsing the market and the surrounding areas and sprinted towards the Seattle Art Museum. But we were late. It closed at 5:30 pm and I just looked through the glass and trying to peek some work of art. At least, I was able to see the Hammering Man sculpture which was towering over the pedestrians outside the entrance of the museum.

After that, we headed to the waterfront and rode Elliot’s Water Taxi. It’s a Water Taxi service across Seattle’s Elliott Bay which operates seven days a week, between Pier 55 at the foot of Spring Street on the downtown Seattle waterfront and Seacrest dock in West Seattle. The crossing time between Pier 55 and Seacrest is approximately 12 minutes. It was a fun ride which only cost about $6 for a roundtrip and it is even better if you manage to get a ride during sunset which we did and you’ll get to see the city from the other side of the bay. I was craving for some Chinese food so we went to International District which is like their Asian little town. A Filipino store, Chinese and Japanese restaurants exists side by side and we had dinner at the Shanghai Garden Restaurant. The Chinatown here wasn’t as big as San Francisco or Los Angeles, though.

On our last day, we went to Olympic Scupture Park which displays a stunning array of sculpture and that inhabits 9 acres of free and open space for art on Seattle’s waterfront. We had a nice stroll along the park while drinking the views across the bay.

After that, I just couldn’t resist visiting the Fremont District which is known to be the “quirkiest neighborhood in Seattle.” It’s sometimes referred to as “The People’s Republic of Fremont,” and at one time a center of the counterculture. We got ourselves a do-it-yourself, walking tour of the district. We dropped by at Postmark Gelato for a scoop of gelato while we stroll the neighborhood. Among the famous and controversial sculptures we saw was a statue of Lenin salvaged from Slovakia by a local art lover who was teaching in the area at the time. After the 1989 fall of the Communist government, he brought the statue to Fremont with money raised through a mortgage on his house. In addition to Lenin is the Fremont Troll, an 18-foot tall concrete sculpture of a troll crushing a Volkswagen Beetle in its left hand, created in 1990 and situated under the north end of the Aurora Bridge.

The street running under the bridge and ending at the Troll was renamed Troll Avenue N. in 2005. Other landmarks include an old rocket fuselage and the outdoor sculpture Waiting for the Interurban. Since the late 1990s, some Fremont residents have been referring to their neighborhood as “The Center of the Universe” which also appears on a large “Welcome” sign. Before we headed to another destination, this turkish little shop caught my eye. They were selling summer dresses that are one of a kind in a sense that no two dresses have the same fabric design. I just have to have one. LOL.

We drove about 30 minutes east of 90 freeway going to Snoqualmie Falls, at last and do some hiking. It is one of Washington’s most popular scenic attractions, but is perhaps best known internationally for its appearance in the cult television series, “Twin Peaks” which was partially filmed here. At the Falls, you will find a two-acre park, hiking trail, observation deck, gift shop, and the famous 270 foot waterfall. The rain forest was temperate on the way down, with a few moss covered trees, giant ferns, and a few places to step off the trail and rest, or enjoy the scenery. Heavy foot traffic made it pretty unlikely to see any wildlife; this was mainly a scenic hike. The park does not allow pets. We had lunch at the Salish Lodge and Spa which overlooked the falls. The food at the Attic Bistro was quite pricey but it was delicious. I just loved their Smoked Salmon Chowder.

Before we left Seattle, I really wanted to visit the Museum of Glass so we headed south towards Tacoma, WA. It was fun watching the artists in action creating art in one of the areas called the Hot Shop. It was my favorite area so I was just clicking my camera away. The museum was currently featuring Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect. He is one of the world’s most eminent living glass artists, and was born on the island of the centuries-old center for Venetian glassmaking, Murano. He later worked as master glassblower and designer at other glass studios and also worked on his own. According to Susanne K. Frantz, former curator of 20th-century glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, “Lino Tagliapietra is one of the few glassmakers who can successfully transmit his own sensitivity and intellect into an inanimate object. That is what makes us respond so powerfully to his work and what makes him an artist. His vessels and sculptures, which often incorporate filigree decoration, are on a technical level equal to the finest achievements of historic Venetian glassmaking.”

Purchasing the “Rings of Saturn,” Celestial Series by Glass Eye Studio was a nice way to wrap up our Seattle trip.