48 hours of Sat 23rd Dec

What a long and almost pallindromatic day - wake up, eat, take a shower, eat, get on plane, get off plane, get on plane, get off plane, eat, take shower, sleep

Although the security at American airports these days is a little arduous, they do provide some entertainment. At LAX airport you have to take off your shoes and put everything through the x-ray scanners...except dogs and babies. Yes, a young american girl had to be reminded of this. Apparently two days ago a grandmother had to be reminded of this too. Ah my first taste of America...

Holy Crap! Everything is huge.

Curiously, I didn't really feel culture shock going to SE Asia or the Middle East but the USA...Holy Crap! Everything is huge. The cars, the number of lanes on the road, the buildings, the stores, the food servings, the people. I can't stop saying wow. (Vish keeps telling me that this is nothing and I should see Chicago)

Oh yeah, it's not that cold here. It's not under 0C yet, it's only about 40F. Note to self for packing for a cold country next time. Pack what you would where normally, plus a jumper/jacket. 3 layers should do it.

Now down to the good stuff - Seattle.

What a beautiful city. A nature lovers paradise with enough city perzazz to keep the socialites occupied. It reminds me a lot of Stockholm in Sweden actually, particularly the Swedish looking condos across the road from docked boats on Puget Sound. Around 1890 there was a great influx of Swedes to the PNW (Pacific North West). I'd be interested to know what brought them here. Was it because they found landscape close to their homelad with the resources their land was lacking?

Capitol Hill is the area of Seattle where 'interesting sorts' hang out. For a saturday night I was sorely disappointed. Mind you, it was the day before Christmas Eve. I believe the usual fair is punks, goths, college kids out for fun and gay friendly bars.

REI (www.REI.com) I love this store. I want to live in this store. I think I would live in Seattle just for this store. It's like Mountain Designs (outdoors store) on steroids and for half the price!

This is something we need in Oz - NCR make these POS machines that you can sign on when you use your credit card. That is, instead of signing a receipt, you sign the POS machine. I just thought that was cool.

Things I hope to see: * All the cool things around the Space Needle.

Tourist Info: Transiting from LAX to SEA, go from Terminal 6 to 7 which is just upstairs. Phoneboxes at the domestic terminal 68A eat your coins even if there is an engaged dial tone or you don't get the number right.

http://seattle.citysearch.com

Kingfish Cafe 602 19th Ave E (Cross Street: Mercer Street) Seattle, WA 98112 For around $15 you get a fantastic tasting Southern meal at a cosy wood eatery. You can eat at the bar and be entertained by the skilled bartender Stacie.