Not allot going on is Seattle

MP3 track of the day - Two Princes - Spin Doctor

Weather: Grey and cloudy but dry and relatively warm

Okay so this is going to be a very quick post as I have done nothing today at all. Well when I say nothing I've been on the internet allot, checked in for my flight for tomorrow and looked at Alaskan cruises to get back to Vancouver Island.

After this I headed out and got my hair cut; the cut wasn't too bad ... not quite as good as my usual barber but not bad at all ... thought it did cost $21.00! (£14.00!). I reckon with my usual good looks, enhanced by my new haircut and tan, the chicks on the Alaskan tour will be bowled over. Oh and if that doesn't cut it (can't see why) then I can fall back on my excellent humour, amazing personality and the modest outlook I have for myself. I had hoped that, as apart of my north American hostelling experience, I might have shared a 4-bed with Angelia Jolie, Rachel Wize and Fergie (from the Black Eyed Peas) but alas, it was not to be ... the closest thing I've come to pulling is a mouse called 'Toby'.

luckily tonight there is a free meal at the hostel so all is relatively good.

Tomorrow I head out to Alaska ... I can't wait

Toodle Pip

P.S. Seriously that is all that I've done today ... a very lazy day with maybe a bit of reading tonight.

Sleepless in Seattle

16th June 2010

MP3 track of the day - Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen

Weather: the morning was wet and dull, but the afternoon and evening was clear and hot

The day started off with a little info finding; firstly I received an email from the 'Aquasox' rounders team saying that tickets were available for tonight's game and that all I needed to do is purchase one at the ground ... result. So I started to plan my day around that.

Looking at the Boening tour, it stated that the factory was on the way to Everette (the Aquasox home town) therefore I thought I could go to the Boening factory, then the game and then back to my hostel ... good plan of attack. The only problem was that the tour was $58.00 (£39.00) which was out of my price range. I therefore got out my trusty netbook and went onto the Boening factories website to find that, the actual Boening ticket price was only $15.00 ... so the tour company was charging almost £30.00 for travel (the same cost for me to get from Vancouver to Seattle).

With this info I then went downstairs and asked reception if I could get from:

• Seattle - Boening Factory


• Boening Factory - Everett Aquasox


• Everett Aquasox - Seattle

Which they said yes; it was a little of 'roundabout way' but I could:

• Catch the #511 to Lynwood and switch to the #313 to the factory


• Take the #313 back to Lynwood and change to the #202 to Everette


• Take the 'night bus' #510 back to Seattle

And all of the above cost $10.25 (£7.00) and that was all the transport for the day, not just to the factory (already saving £22.00). However all this research had taken it's tole on my day and I left my hostel at 11:00am to arrive at the factory at 1:30pm.

I reckon I had around 2 hours 30 minutes at the factory and so I purchased a tour ticket of the factory (90 minutes) and a gallery ticket for $15.00. You couldn't take any electronic device, bag, phone or food with you into the plant so I had to pay a dollar (or what the Americans sometimes call a 'buck') into a 'futuristic locker system' where I stored my phone, MP3 player, bottle of water and most important of all ... a 100g bar of Dairy Milk ... yum (today I had decided not to take my bag and my big camera as you couldn't take photos within the Boeing museum and I didn't fancy carrying my bag around all day).

The museum was cool, there as a Rolls-Royce stand which made me very proud however the tour was the best bit. However before the tour started or tour guide (who was pretty annoying ... too American for me) took us all outside to see the very first flight of one of Boenings Dreamliner planes. Loads of employees were clapping and cheering and our guide was happy as she was an engineer who worked on that particular plane (apparently it should have been on the news as well ... oh and here it is).

The Boeing factory is the biggest building in the world and boy was it big! We first saw the 747's being built and all the assembly lines and gear; then we moved onto the dreamliners with their 'moving assembly lines' (the planes are put on 'crawlers' which move 1 1/2 inches an hour). It's a shame I couldn't take any photos but I could see why (don't want their secrets getting out).

The only thing that worried me was that our tour guide stated that before she joined Boening she had no mechanical experience whatsoever ... however after six weeks within the Boening school she was on the manufacturing line.

6 WEEKS! I might have to fly in that plane ... I want someone with 6 YEARS worth of education. Every time I get on a Boening plane in the future, and something breaks, I will always think of her.

Anyway time was pressing on and so I headed out of the museum and towards the main town of Everette. I arrived there at 5:45pm feeling pretty hungry; so I purchased my ticket (not the cheapest seat I have you know ... I decided to upgrade and pay $11.00, £7.00, for the second best seats in the house ... bit of a price difference between this and formula one tickets!) and then bought a hot dog and sat, in my seat, watching the teams warm up.

American Rounders is okay, but to be honest it's pretty boring. Most of the time is spent with the pitcher throwing to the guy with the mask behind the batter. Occasionally the batsman would hit the ball and do a bit of running (only once did the ball leave the field).

However the interesting thing is what goes on around the game. Firstly the coaches are hilarious; they have all these signs to communicate to their players. At one point one of the coaches was touching his baseball cap 3 times, then stroking his left arm twice before pinching his nose and then clapping once ... I mean how hard can it be to say "... JUST HIT THE THING!..."

Then at the start of the game the American national anthem is sung and I had to stand up. May I remind you that this game was a lower league game (like our 2nd division football) so why they have their national anthem at each game is beyond me ... tried not to laugh.

Then watching the crowd was entertaining; very few people were watching the game as most were chatting, talking on their mobile phones or eating. Some people only stayed an hour or so. The children were running around trying to grab hold of the balls that flew into the stands to keep. Early on in the game one ball looked like it was heading right for my head ... a thought of "...crikey, this could hurt..." came into my head before I leap out of the way. I would have liked to have picked up a ball as a souvenir of my game ... however it was not to be (maybe I'll purchase a ball on eBay ... means I don't have to carry it).

After every teams innings they had a break and something would go on; people would come out of the crowd and there would be hoola-hoop competitions, fishing competitions, socks being thrown into the crowd and ... my favourite ... the mascots trying to get the whole crowd (which consisted of 72 people, a dog and a sheep called Barney) to sing along to 'YMCA' ... what the hell has this got to do with rounders?

However I save the best until last; this was he sponsoring of the game. Everything was sponsored, even all the announcements like:

"... We want you to enjoy your game here so make sure you tie your shoe laces so you don't fall over ... this announcement was brought to you by 'Woods R Us' the only place to by wood for coffins..."

and

"... Odd socks can be a real pain; make sure you check your socks before heading out. This announcement was brought to you by Mr C Lewy of 'clearglass.com' ... need a new windscreen, visit clearglass.com..."

The whole experience was a right laugh and I enjoyed it thoroughly; I have to thank my x-boss, Bob, for suggesting this as it was certainly worth it. I had another hot dog and then left at 10pm to catch my bus. It was a shame I didn't stay to the end and actually I could have done (I got there at 5:45pm ... left at 10pm and saw 9 1/2 innings. I thought there were ten innings when actually there are only nine ... so I missed 1/2 an inning ... but I herd what happened from the bus stop).

Getting back to my dorm at 11pm I quietly walked in and got ready for bed ... only for the two old Chinese women to come in, turn the light on and start chatting ... there are really annoying and they woke me up at 8:00am this morning by, again putting the light on and talking (hence the title). They treat the room like it's their hotel room and it's bugging me ... flaming old people!

So I managed to do the whole day for around $55.00 ... less that the price of the Boening tour.

Toodle Pip!

The stupidest question in the world

MP3 track of the day: United States of Whatever - Liam Lynch

Weather: The morning was cloudy with spots of rain, though it was still hot. In the afternoon the sun came out, the rain stopped, and fluffy white clouds appeared.

Not having the greatest nights sleep I headed down for the breakfast, that was included with my hostel stay (toast ... yum), and then out into Seattle. My first stop was the Pike Place Market, which so happened to be the first place to go in my guidebook and the closest to my hostel. The market was okay, there were loads of fish stalls with hundreds of crabs waiting to be purchased (I actually like crab; had it in a Spanish restaurant). The market had that old, authentic feeling and I liked that. However the main pull was the Starbucks that was located here. This is no normal Starbucks, its the first Starbucks store to open in the world ... yes that's right, Starbucks started in Seattle. I went in and had a hot chocolate (as I don't like coffee) which was minging and came out again. This trip to Starbucks has doubled the times I've been in one and I have never been in one in the UK (can anyone guess the other location? ... it's in my blog somewhere).

When I was in the Starbucks there was a huge group of people, therefore there was a bit of a delay in getting my drink. The cashier, thinking that she had to say something due to me waiting around, decided to ask me a question about the UK ... major mistake:

"... So errr ... in the UK, is it only London that uses the pound?..."

Of course love, the rest of us still barter using livestock and possibly, if you're lucky, the French Frank. She was nice enough, however I could see why she was a cashier in Starbucks.

After this I headed to the Space Needle, the most iconic building within Seattle. The Space Needle was cool, I didn't go up it as I had been up towers in Vancouver and Toronto; however the area around the needle looked like it was closed. I walked around for a bit, found a good water fountain, and then headed back to my hostel.

After a freshen up and a drink I headed along the harbour front; it was okay but the Vancouver and Halifax harbour fronts are much nicer.

After the walk I went right to the southern part of town to find Pioneer Square, (which I went through yesterday ... it's quite nice and old) Chinatown and the baseball stadium.

On approaching, what I thought was, the baseball ground I inquired into tickets only to be told this was the football ground (I did wonder why there were painted 'hawks' all over the 'Seattle Marines Baseball ground') and that the baseball ground was next door. I asked her when the next American football game was on and she said July ... damn.

Once at the actual baseball ground I again enquired into tickets only to be told that the next game was on Friday. I explained that I was leaving on Friday and I really wanted to catch a game before then; the lady went away and found some information on a lower league side, located not too far from Seattle (Everett), that was playing tomorrow ... brilliant, I'll check it out. Before I left, the ticket guy in the booth next to her, looked at my cap and said that he too was a Mclaren fan ... about time the Americans got into a real sport.

I left the ground, pretty chuffed, to find Chinatown. I almost missed the area as it was so small and, to be frank, not allot was going on compared to Vancouver's China town. I have to say that this 'top 10 Seattle' guidebook is either rubbish (as the 5 areas I have visited today we okay, but not great) or there isn't allot in Seattle.

I then got back to my hostel in time to find out that I will be sharing my dorm with two old Chinese ladies that could not speak a word of English. I'm in a bottom bunk bed and one of the Chinese ladies wanted me to let her have my bed and for me to move to a top bunk (not likely grandma ... I like it here). I left them to their Chinese ramblings as I headed down for the free evening meal the hostel was putting on; it turned out to be taco, which was very nice indeed.

Tomorrow I need to find out if I can purchase a ticket for this baseball game (as the online ticket system doesn't seem to be working ... fingers crossed) then, depending on this, I'll plan my day around that.

Toodle Pip!

P.S. Just checking my average and I think it's gone up AGAIN (£52.98). How ... how is this possible, I've been pretty good ... doh!

The Canadians are brilliant

MP3 Track of the Day - America - Razorlight

Weather: Clear blue skies with fluffy clouds ... another perfect day in North America.

Okay let's go back to yesterday evening. I left the hostel around 7:30pm and headed towards the Vancouver Harbour Tower to take some night photos. I was really looking forward to it and I had brought my tri-pod with me for the occasion. It's still light around 8pm and so I headed for something to eat before arriving at the tower.

Once in the tower I saw that there was no one at the reception and the lifts had a notice on them:

"...Harbour Tower closed due to lift maintenance. Any problems please see the security team on level two..."

Damn right there was a problem; I had spent $15.00 on a ticket earlier which I was promised of getting some views of Vancouver City under the cover of darkness. I was pretty annoyed when I reached the security team as I was really looking forward to this. It wasn't the security teams fault, I remained polite but I couldn't hide the furious tone within my own voice. I asked the security team if there was anyone around in charge of the tower so I could get a refund ... no. Is there anything I could do? One of the Security guards asked me if I had been up during the day, however I explained that I purchased the ticket because I really wanted to go up at night to take some photos.

The security guards ummed and arrred and finally one of them said that, if I came back in an hour and a half (10:00pm) they would take me up on a personal tour for 20 minutes or so ... bonus! (note: the lifts were actually working, it's just the tower management decided to close early and put the above notice on the lifts ... good customer care that).

Now, as I was carrying loads of camera equipment, I didn't fancy going onto the streets of Vancouver at night. I therefore decided that I would wait in the tower reception area ... this was a good idea. After about 15 minutes the security guard asked why I wasn't going out and I explained; he then said that if that was the case he could show me another good area to shoot photos of the city from (roof of a car park) as I waited until 10:00pm to get escorted up the tower.

We had a good chat and he was a really nice guy; he came from Alberta and had been in Vancouver for a while ... the only worrying thing was that he carried his own knife with him because he was fed up of having a knife pulled out on him.

Anyway I shot some photos from the car park roof for a while and then headed back to the tower, to then be escorted up the tower. It was amazing; I was the only guy (bar the security guard) up the tower and the views were brilliant (check my flickr account). After around 30 minutes I then went back down the tower and thanked the security guard allot (I was going to email the towers management to say what had happened, but I didn't want to get him into trouble). As I caught the skytram back to the hostel I thought about what had happened. There is no way, within the UK, a security guard would have done that for me (jobs worth) ... I love the Canadian people, they are so helpful and will go out there way to do anything for you ... also what a great way to say goodbye to Canada ... for a little while.

I got back to my hostel and checked for mice before going to bed (no sign to Toby, or his family).

The guy I had shared my dorm with was great; he didn't snore and he was tidy, however he did seem to sleep all the time ... every time I got back from a day out (9pm / 10pm) he was asleep and when I got up at 9am he was still asleep. However today was different and he got up at 6am ... which I was glad about as I woke up at the same time, which meant I had time to have a shower, check through my whole bag (before I went through US immigration) and catch the second half of the Japan vs Cameroon world cup football game (which was dull).

I then left the hostel and caught the coach to Seattle. Before getting on the coach I finished my book (the Canadian War of 1813 ... very good but a heavy read) and a Greyhound security guy asked me what was the England vs USA score; after I told him, he said that he was gutted as he wanted England to beat the USA (loads of Canadians are flying England flags at the moment ... Canada's amazing).

The bus ride was pretty uneventful. When we arrived at US border control we passed lines and lines of lorries wanting to cross the border. I tried to work out that, if there were, say, 100 trucks waiting an average of two hours each then, if each driver is earning £10.00 an hour, the cost of the border control on the North American economy would be £2,000.00 for just the trucks there at that moment. This cost would probably go onto the customer and now I can understand why some food prices might be a little expensive within Canada and why I love the European Union ... having no border controls for trade saves us, within the EU, a fortune. I'm very pro-EU and this was another example of the benefits.

I went through US customs okay (no sightseeing advice this time, but I did get my finger prints taken); back on the coach I read my Seattle guidebook (a top 10 guidebook: not really that impressed with it ... I much prefer the Rough Guides) and I decided that I needed to:

• Purchase an Alaskan guidebook and a novel


• Post my 'Canadian War of 1812' book home


• Get hair cut

The good thing was that there was a book shop, in my guidebook, as an attraction and therefore I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by purchasing my books from that book shop.

I found my hostel and it's really nice, very clean and no mice, but there is an annoying Aussie with very bad language (he's sitting on the floor in front of me trying to be funny, however I think he sounds like an arse!). I put all my stuff in my locker and headed out to the book store!

A 20 minute walk later, only to find the book store went bankrupt two years ago ... oh well. So I headed back to the downtown area of Seattle to find a shopping mall with a huge book store. I purchased a Rough Gide to Alaska and then I had a choice over which novel to purchase. I could play safe and purchase 'The Kite Runner' which I know will be a good read ... or I could go for 'A Feast of Crows' by George R. R. Martin which the book store recommended and I thought, through me purchasing it, it would show my 'riskier' side. I went for the 'A Feast of Crows'; I would like to say that money had nothing to do within ... however this book was half the price and twice as thick as 'The Kite Runner'.

After all this running around it was too late to get my hair cut (and the post offices were shut), so I had something to eat. Just like in Edm0nton, I was waited on my the gayest guy ever, and so I carefully looked around to make sure I hadn't accidentally landed in a gay restaurant ... no, there were chicks here, I was okay.

I then retired to my hostel which is where I am now. Tomorrow I plan to walk around the city and, depending on how my budget is holding up, I might go on a tour around the Boeing factory the day after ... its $60.00 for the day (£40.00). Oh and apparently Microsoft is nearby so I may pay Mr Gates a quick visit and let him know exactly what I think about his 'updates'.

Toodle Pip!