Moments

Toronto eloped with San Francisco and Seattle was born. Well, not really. But the city with its lovely waterfront, clean and polished downtown, rolling hills, liveliness does remind me of those other cities. It's nowhere as crowded as NYC though, er...maybe when NYC is on a vacation. It's definitely a beautiful city, especially when it's not cold and rainy!




Why Sleepless in Seattle?

Justifiably enough, Seattle has the reputation for being the Caffeine capital of the US. Starbucks (or is it Starbuckses/buxi/buxen/etc?) abound all around, every block seems to boast of at least one if not two or more coffee shops. Surprisingly enough, all of them are always full! One would imagine that such a caffeine infused population would naturally be sleepless and neurotic enough to find time for melodramatic romance.

The weather was cold and rainy when I first got here, and it can get a little annoying after a bit. It never really pours out here, you see, the rain just diffuses all around you. Usually most people don't even bother with the umbrellas coz they know that wetness is inevitable.

I shall not, however, let that detract from the gorgeous fall colors that adorn the city right now. Here's a lovely instance on the right, as taken from the convention center where my conference is located. Pine trees of multiple hues live in peaceful coexistence with tall buildings and rushing freeways.

The most famous artifact in Seattle, is the so-called Space Needle, one of those massively tall pointless structures which most Freudian psychoanalysts love to salivate over. I happened to have a view from my 11th floor hotel room, and you can see the day and night-time versions right here. Of course, I shall have the egoistic urge to prove my masculinity and climb to the top of that tower before I leave.

And finally, where there's me, can Salsa be far behind? So my first night here found me, yes, absolutely sleepless (hadn't slept the night before), at a salsa ballroom social at the Century ballroom here close to downtown Seattle. Yes, my friend, I braved the chill and the rain and found my fix there!