Some Seattle Sights

When I posted this slide show I was much too busy enjoying the company of my parents to explain anything in about this slide show. The photos are from Pike Place Market, Wing Luke Asian Art Museum and a few eclectic ones of the ID (International District) thrown in for flavor. I have SO many pictures of the market that I resorted to taking pictures of shop signs as shopping is what it is all about. The Wing Luke Museum had changed a lot since I was last there. For the uninformed, this museum is all about the history of Seattle's Asian community as well as home to some wonderful works of art by local Asian artists. I especially liked the art/historical presentation of letters between immigrants and their families and friends. The letters hang from the ceiling under a sky light in a stairwell and there is a recording of various people reading the letters. The one I listened to was from a woman writing to a man explaining that although she valued the friendship they shared, she was declining his offer of marriage and life in America because her parents were elderly and she was 'the apple of their eye' and could not bear to leave them as their health was in decline. It was very touching. I would like to go back and just sit in that stairwell and listen for a half hour. The fish photos from Liems are lovely but the place is kind of spooky and dingy in it's tucked away location on Maynard St. Alley. For me, the fact that it is only doors from the location of the Wah Mee massacre adds to the spooky, underground atmosphere. We ate Dim Sum at the Jade Garden Restaurant, a restaurant know for this entertaining style of a light and economical Chinese lunch. Waiters and waitresses buzz from the kitchen to the tables with carts loaded with small steamers and plates of food. They entice you to order the food for your table. A party of three is perfect because most of the plates hold three items. Mom and Dad looked a bit overwhelmed; I guess I didn't explain it well enough. But come to think of it, almost every Dim Sum experience I have is overwhelming because the carts are coming at you from the left and the right and the food is unfamiliar (but VERY tasty) and much of the language is unfamiliar too. I'm determined to go back there this summer with Chris and Anna Rae and I will read the descriptions of the food from Wikipedia before we go! I'm not sure what they REALLY thought of the food but I am sure it was a cultural experience they will remember...right down to the cash register which my father thought was disgustingly dirty looking. Good thing mom didn't see that before we ate!