Thursday, August 14, 2008

Seattle, an Outlook from a Wanderer pt. 2

Woke up about an hour ago, Jason's still passed out on his bed (an improvement from yesterday),and my stomach kind of is feeling funky from eating a microwavable chimichanga... despite that I decided that we should continue from where we left off yesterday.

Seattle, an Outlook from a Wanderer pt. 2
Went to the International District today, and needless to say that Jason and I got kind of sidetracked (or lost, depending on how you can look at it really) and wandered around the underground system for about 10 minutes before we figured out where exactly we were going. I officially have new-found support for the Seattle Public Transportation System, it's truly amazing. That have buses running underground, it's insane! I should've definitely have taken a picture, but compared to everybody else I was already looking pretty out-of-townish... that and my camera was about to die.

After arriving at the International District, we headed over to the Japanese Village of sorts, but really we first went to the Kinokuniya Bookstore, which in my strict belief is HEAVEN. I kid you not, I could've sworn that I died and went to heaven when I entered. It was just amazing... I mean, words alone cannot describe the awesomeness of it all. Only pictures.

Amazingly, this is only "one side" too... I swear there must of been at least 3000 mangas in this area alone (behind this shelf was, amazingly, another shelf the exact same length containing the same number of books). Needless to say, I was very stoked. It was pretty funny too, since I was wearing my infamous "Bai Ren Kan Bu Dong" shirt, and these two cute girls (they looked like they were from the graduating class of '08) came up to me and was like "We like your shirt" and asked me about it. Jason can attest to this, he was standing next to me when this happened. I swear that with all the advertising I give to them, I should get some commission or something. Anyway, I also finally finished getting all 4 CD's with finding the last two for my all-time favorite J-Rock group, ZONE. Woot!

Afterwards we headed to the supermarket area (which is right next to the bookstore) and we found the best thing ever. The picture says it all.

OH YES! A 6-pack of ramune and these extremely awesome pocky! It literally looks like the most expensive Pocky we've ever seen... it was 4 bucks a box, nuts right? You don't get this back in Vegas, not that I have found any yet anyway. lol Anyway, next time I'll upload some photos of Jason's apartment and we'll wing it from there. Till then. ^^-b

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Seattle, an Outlook from a Wanderer

Currently chillin' in Seattle on this nice morning.

Ok, so really I crashed extremely early yesterday and now woke up earlier than I expected. So right now, while Jason's completely knocked out on the couch, I figure it'd be the best time to go and give a brief outlook on what I've come to know as Seattle, Washington. So naturally it's time to present...

Seattle, an Outlook from a Wanderer
The coffee capital of the nation certainly doesn't disappoint, as the first thing I saw when I got off the plain was a Starbucks directly in front of me. Going from the airport to downtown Seattle really is an astonishing sight, as not only do you see a giant water mass in the distance, but also next to it are the two stadiums, home of the Seahawks and Mariners. It really is an incredible view, and for it to only be on the way to downtown... I'm surprised there aren't more traffic jams because of car accidents or something... where the hell are all the tourists?!

... well, turns out they're all in the shopping district of sorts. The place is amazing, and really it reminds me of the streets of Taipei (just not as big). For those of you back in Vegas, it's kind of like an "actual" Town Square feeling (then again, Town Square was supposed to give that feeling off), but since the buildings were taller it was better. The streets are always busy with people walking around, and unlike Las Vegas, public transportation is a big must.

In my two days being in Seattle (thus far), I've learned a few things:
1. The bus system of courtesy works just like in Taiwan.
2. Never walk around alone, as you're more likely a target for money.
3. People in Seattle are really something else... unique in their own way.
4. You don't really have to tip in any place in Seattle, but you'll be thought of as extremely generous if you do...

... ok, so it's only a few, but Jason's showing me the Chinatown area today, so I'll be taking a look at the "other side" of town soon enough.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Hip-Hop Internationals 2008

So, just got back from Hip-Hop Internationals (which, this year, was hosted at Planet Hollywood), and needless to say it was REDICTIFYINGLY AWESOME.

No, seriously, it was insanity. To be able to sit
that close from the stage was truly an experience. We (My brother, sister, sister's friends (Mark and Connie), China, and me) were roughly in the dead center 16 rows back. The choreography was amazing, and naturally, one of my greatest dreams had come to fruition... I got to meet the entire Kaba Modern crew (Indeed, even cooler in real life).

Yes, it was amazing. The Japanese crews were epic (though, perhaps the coolest thing was this boy that was dancing in the Jr. division... the
only guy in all 4 Japanese teams that were in the Finals Competition. I'm sure that in the future he'll become a major pimp... I mean, it's bound to happen. New Zealand's crews were very... violent, in a sense.

Other than that, it was very depressing that other than Flos Angeles & Kaba Modern, the rest of the US teams weren't really that good. Flos' compilation was very unique and had the flair, but lacked anything truly difficult, while Kaba remained true to their style, lots of isolations but nothing spectactular that really wowed like they did in last year's. The Phillipine All-Stars (they won World's this year)
KILLED this year, it was crazy to even comprehend what they did... I swear there was actually 10 of them, cause they kept flying around.

All in all, a
VERY epic day... Afterwards, I bought a DVD, and we (China & me) got seperated from my brother and them, and we got a photo with some of the members of the Japanese team(s).



That guy in the back sort of appeared, it was hilarious cause he kept smiling at me about something after the photo, and it didn't occur to me what it was until I saw the photo. (He's from one of the UK crews, so it was alright). lol

The poppin' & Bboy battles were way more intense, and I'm still wanting to meet the one insane dude at the poppin' battle... every part of his body is like seperated from himself... it was insane. Oh well...

Anyway, I'm sure eventually I'll remind myself to write the AX '08 experience, but really... it doesn't work if I type it out... you literally have to listen to me explain the "pain" of it. ahaha.