If you were to read ‘things to do in Seattle in one day’ we would probably have ticked nearly all of the boxes! Today was our first day of proper sightseeing fitting in with the tourists so to speak. After spending some time photographing our quirky and retro-stylish new home for the next few days with Kirsten and Danny we set off by foot, saving a few pennies and keeping us fit up and down all those hills. So with trainers on and a backpack (we really did fit in with the sightseers!) we set off toward the International District. It’s not too far from our neighborhood and before long we reached Pioneer Square via the train station. It’s a lovely square with coffee shops, bars and small galleries, naming Davidson Galleries as a nice little space to start.

As it was still fairly early we thought we’d try to Seattle Underground Tour. They are located on 608 First Avenue and will more than likely have a large queue of people making their way inside. The tour starts with an introduction with a fairly humorous guide (called Dave) who gave us some history into how Seattle became as it is. When the tour started the big group was broken down into 3 and we went off with comic Dave for ours. We were guided through the basements of Seattle’s underground, which were once the pavements of New York one story down from street level. This was made possible after a large fire in the early 20th Century, which was a blessing in disguise as the city had originally been built at sea level and wasn’t very favourable for sewage disposal. The tour was made to be fairly amusing and allowed for a story-telling method, the underground itself kind of looks like the basement of buildings though. It was pretty good in all honesty and our wrist band meant we would be able to get a few discounts after wards for food and a trip up the Smith Tower.

Following on from touristy thing number 1 we went to The Seattle Art Museum, this we would recommend. It’s a good space with lots of contemporary and classical art, enough to occupy a whole day if you had the time. It was good to see some of the American contemporary painters such as David Salle and Jasper Johns on display. Along with some interesting installations. So from the art museum to the Pike Place Market, via the sea front. This market is worth seeing, yes it’s touristy but it has a good vibe and atmosphere to the area along with Starbuck’s first coffee shop, street performers, fresh flowers and produce. It is a little like stepping back in time with original signage, cobbled streets and various restaurants and ice-cream parlors.

From Pike Market we walked back along the streets to the Smith Tower, it was now nearly 4pm. Completed in 1914 it was at the time the 4th tallest building in the world and houses an observation deck at the top. We spent around half an hour at the top and the views out to sea, to the Olympic Peninsula and over to Mount Rainer were pretty impressive. We do like a good observational tower!

After perhaps our 7th mile of waking back to our abode we decided to chill out, ate leftovers from the previous night’s Vietnamese food and caught up on the blog.

Seattle Art Museum – Suggested entry fee $15 ($2 off each with a voucher)
Underground Tour – $16 each
Smith Tower – $6.50 (with a dollar off)

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We came across The Hutong earlier in the month when we attended a Christmas event at The International Canadian School of Beijing. They had a stand showcasing some of their events and we picked up a schedule for the month. We’d already attended the Tai Chi class a week ago and booked ourselves onto a Chinese vegetarian cooking class too. Our teachers were Sophie from The Hutong who translated for the main chef; a lady from Inner Mongolia. The food we were taught was from the North that you wouldn’t really get in Beijing unless you were cooking it yourself.

On the menu we had:

Vegetable Kung Po with tofu.
Egg & tomatoe with green peppers,
& mushroom and celery stir fry.

We learned how to use the blocky knives that everyone cooks with over here, the head chef was pretty strict when it came to “The” way to chop carrots, tofu and the like. With the Kung Po dish everything was meant to be the same size so that the cooking time is equal. Some of us were spot on with this…whilst others perhaps a little more experimental!!

When it came to cooking there was a hell of a lot of deep frying going on- eek! Especially with the first two dishes. The tofu was cooked first and then put aside whilst the remaining ingredients were cooked, it then rejoined the dish towards the end with the seasoning. The egg and tomato dish is a classic Chinese meal and this was Dave’s chance to shine! He seasoned the dish very well with more pepper, chili and green peppers! We actually preferred this to the one that was cooked earlier on!! Helen had a go at the mushroom and celery dish, which was more like stirring the wok ingredients whilst the chef adds what’s required!

We didn’t get to do much hands on cooking however we really enjoyed the class and eating the food afterwards. There was a great rice dish which we took down the recipe for, although didn’t actually cook as it was ready to eat with the food. Sophie who works there is a lovely lady too! She had great knowledge about the foods we were cooking and info about why dark mushrooms are good for you in the winter.

After the cooking class we walked to the Drum and Bell Towers. They’re based not to far away from Nanluoguxiang and so we knew where we could go to warm up as it was foggy and bloody cold! The views across the city were limited but it always adds an atmospheric feel to the photos when it’s like that. We reached the towers in time for their drum performance, this too is impressive and a nice change from the norm. It was too cold to stay for very long but we lasted until the end of the performance before heading for some hot tea down the road.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After a good nights sleep, all of 10hrs, we got up at 5am and thought we should use the jet-lag to our advantage. We grabbed breakfast from the hotel; toast, jam and tea, then left in search of the Tsukiji fish market via the underground. This is lesson number one of Tokyo… The underground is owned by two companies. They both own different lines and you can get either an individual or a combined ticket to travel on the whole network. We bought the wrong ticket and needed the station masters help.

Once we had sorted the underground ticket we hopped on and headed for the fish. The market is the largest seafood market in the world and has over 800 businesses all under one roof. It’s a huge place with many dangers. Very busy with not only workers, buyers and sellers but also mini trucks that move with surprising speed and agility. It was a great photo opportunity with live crabs breaded ready for the fryer, beheaded fish heads with quivering fins, and tuna the size of a small car! Industrial saws slice and dice the fresh meat with precision ready to be bought by local shops and restaurants. We had a nice chat with a friendly gent who wanted us to spend as much money as possible in Japan. We duly followed his instructions and purchased some Sashimi from the local market. It was marvelous.

We walked to Ginza which is where lesson two was learnt… In Tokyo almost all the designer / high fashion shops don’t open until 10.30 – 11.30am on a weekday. So with two hours to spare we wandered the streets looking for the Leica Ginza Salon which had a free mini photography exhibition along with a few iconic Leica cameras to make our mouths water (photography geeks). After a morning session of passing through underground shopping centers and the vast numbers of restaurants we went back to the hotel for 40 winks.

Late afternoon saw us take in Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown followed by a not so great bite to eat in a nearby food chain. Cold noodles are not Dave’s favorite dish. A trip up Tokyo tower later, based on the Eiffel Tower, gave some great night-time views across Tokyo along with school-kids, families and some quirky cosplay clad locals.

Finishing the night off with a good old Bagel and hot chocolate followed by a stint at Roppongi’s A971 bar for a cheeky beer we discussed the delights of Japanese culture.

Tomorrow promises a bike ride around the Imperial Palace and the famous Harajuku district. Two days in and we are loving it!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)