When work trips become fun trips

What's better than flying to Seattle for business? Turning it into a fun weekend vacation! Eric's best friend from Singapore lives in Seattle with his family, and we've been trying to plan a weekend to visit them for years. We finally made it happen. I also got to spend some time with one of my college roommates who lives in SEA with her family.

Andrea and her precious girls



1st stop. Eric can sniff out a Chinatown from miles away. We picked up our rental car and headed straight for the food...


He found the Asian bakery. Vacation or Food Tour of the Northwest? See the happy look on his face?


Fun with giant trolls


The Seattle tourist photo


Thus, no sightings of characters from the Twilight books


Engrish is everywhere.


Folks often tell me, "Eric is always smiling." Well, not when he's tired of having his picture taken. This is his "I'm expected to smile but I d'wanna" look.


Pig sooie





The original. Who'd a thunk they'd come so far?


Saturday Eric and Kwong embarked on a fly fishing trip north of Seattle. This was Eric's first fly-fishing adventure. He was devastated to learn they had to catch and release, but they still had a great time...






And, of course, what trip to the west coast would be complete without one of our favorite weekend activities... Dim Sum. We met up with friends for a feast of all our favorite breakfast/lunch items.
Fun Fact: Some say Dim Sum inspired the whole idea of brunch.

What I enjoy most about Dim Sum:
- the Chrysanthemum (just had an Anne of Green Gables moment) tea
- char siu baau (white fluffy buns filled with BBQ pork)
- dou fu fa (a silky tofu served with a sweet ginger-flavored syrup)
However, the best part of Dim Sum is enjoying it with a group of people. Otherwise you'll fill up on a couple of items and miss the chance to sample all the yummy goodness rolling around on those metal carts.



Yes, the picture below is indeed the foot of a chicken. Deep fried and covered in some kind of sauce as though enjoying a chicken's foot for breakfast is normal & fun. The more I learn of Asian culture I realize they're not so different from folks who grew up in the southern U.S. Those of us born south of the Mason Dixon know the rule well - if you can't deep fry it, spray paint it gold.


Gillian was one of the many friends of Eric who met us for Dim Sum. She's an old family friend who grew up in Singapore and is now living in Seattle. (He seriously knows people everywhere!)


Kwong and Noelle


Carrie and Naomi


On our way out of town we stopped for a tour of underground Seattle. There once was an entire city underneath the streets. The sewage conditions were awful so they built a city on top of a city. This is an old toilet.


Yep, under this sidewalk lies a city. Notice the purple tiles...


This is the view from underneath the purple tiles looking up at the busy streets of downtown Seattle.


Goodbye, Seattle. We enjoyed your rainy city!