Posts Tagged Seattle
Ping-pong
It’s been two months since my last post – two very hectic months. Now, on what feels like the longest flight ever, I do have plenty of time. So what has the past months been like?
NYC
In the end of September we traveled over the pond with tickets to Springsteen and E-Street band’s final concerts at Giant Stadium. That my birthday fell in the same week didn’t hurt either… :)
I love New York. Every time I visit I wish I could stay longer. Had a great birthday dinner in Brooklyn with friends, strolled the streets of Manhattan and smiled at the sun up on High Line Park. Enjoyed Central Park as ever, and a rainy day at the Met. Ate very well and a few tall drinks. Had the usual stop, well two, at B&H, but managed to stay away from the big purchases. That said, all in all, we did our best to help the US economy with a healthy shopping spree. It was so great to take full week off in the autumn. Not done that since the late eighties. Scary.
The two concerts were great. Amazing atmosphere. It was nice to experience Bruce in his backyard before the old stadium was torn down. I wouldn’t call myself a hardcore fan, liked his music before the shows, but now I catch myself humming his songs more often than not. Curious that.
Seoul
Arrived home from NYC on a Monday evening, had a quick meeting at the office on Tuesday morning before heading back to the airport and the flight to Seoul with my boss. Three continents in two days, not advisable, not surprisingly it turned into a jet lag rollercoaster. Had a great time though. Met with our Korean partners for a few days. Very busy schedule. Didn’t even find the time to take a single picture before we continued on to Beijing.
Beijing
It had been almost six months since I’d visited our team in Beijing. It was great to be back and to spend some time with them. It was the first time in the office not being directly in charge. A bit weird, but I still think of the studio as one of my babies.
It still amazes me how fast the city develops. Even when I visited more frequently I saw changes. With a half-year break it was just amazing. The area around our studio is completely transformed. Only three years ago I drove over an empty, bumpy field (the taxi made a wrong turn and decided to take a short cut over the grass – which turned out to be more rocks and potholes than anything). Now, at least ten skyscrapers were in construction on the same lot. Luckily, the little green oasis we have around our studios is still there, just surrounded by concrete.
The only bummer with this visit was that I didn’t find the time to visit 798. It was my boss’ first visit to the Far East, so we opted for the usual suspects instead. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Forbidden City ten minutes too late. It closed earlier due to the 60-year celebration. Tiananmen Square was packed with, I would guess, at least 200.000 people. Its on days like that you get an idea of the share number of the Chinese. We did get to see the “Egg”, the music hall, which was a first for me as well and I was very happy that we managed to stop by my favorite café in Houhai for a Tsing Tao. The planned trip to the Great Wall went down the drain too, but we did visit the “bird’s nest” and “water cube” at night.
San Francisco
I spent ten days at home, before flying out again. This time I traveled to the West Coast and San Francisco, another favorite city. The weather was perfect, warm, and sunny. Waking up to a cup of tea at Samovar in Yerba Buena Gardens, having a great Sunday brunch at Mama’s and strolling along the Embarcadero was a great way to start ten busy days. I did of course burn my nose…
Los Angeles
After a few days in the Bay Area we turned south to Los Angeles, to more meetings, dinners and more fun. Good drinks and company at Philippe and Roger Room. Gazing out over the Pacific in spare moments in Santa Monica. A pre-Halloween bash at the Hollywood cemetery was OK, didn’t bring any costumes on our trip which made us stand out quite a bit. So when we the following day were invited to Heidi and Seal’s Halloween party at Voyeur, we had to find something good. I ended up as an undead renaissance something…
Seattle and London
The day after we continued up to Seattle. Stayed at the 1000. Brilliant hotel, you should try next time you visit. I’ll book it again for sure. It was a quick stop in the Pacific Northwest before we headed back east the following day, across the Atlantic to London. I must like cities, because this is another favorite.
Home
Coming back to Oslo was nice, even though November is the saddest month of the year. A joyous time of cold, dark, and wet, occasionally white, quickly turning into wet, cold sleet. After two weeks without much sunlight I found myself back on an airplane, and my first visit to Busan in Korea.
Busan
Speaking at ICON/G-Star, meetings, dinners and walking the show floor. A five-day visit. I managed to squeeze in a free day, on Saturday, taking a taxi to unknown destinations. I like it that way. Stepping out of a cab, not knowing what I’ll see or experience. My trusted friend, Nikon and I on yet another adventure.
I found myself in what I believe is a national coastal park area. All signs are in Korean only and all around me were locals. I saw a group of people walking over to a booth buying tickets. I followed their example, and before I knew it I’m on the kiddy-train. Driving 5km/h along the footpath… It was fun for 300 meters, where I jumped off and walked down to a pebble beach. And to my surprise I see someone I’d wanted to meet since I read an article in National Geographic Magazine years ago; the pearl diving grandmothers. Amazing women.
Stumbling along on the large pebbles I was almost blinded by the brilliant, incredible flat, white sunlight. Enjoying the gentle sound of waves until it was suddenly drowned by the weirdest, kitschy, Korean electro pop music I ever heard. As a perfect score in a Wes Anderson flick it blasted out from a tourist boat on the other side of the beach. What happened next is hard to describe. Standing there listening to that music, shielding my eyes I saw silhouettes of a crowd of old, small, Korean seniors rushing – on slow motion – down a hill to catch the boat. Such a surreal experience, and I loved it.
The walk around the peninsula was quite pleasant. After three hours I continued my journey into the unknown city. Stopped at different markets before heading back to the hotel to pack my bags, and an early night sleep before the long flight home the morning after. Or so I thought. Damn you, jet lag. In bed, wide-awake I counted down the hours till I had to get up. At 5:00 I finally submerged into dreamless sleep, giving me a full hour…
In transit
I’m arriving in Frankfurt in a few hours, just one more flight left before I’m home. The journey will take me 23 hours door to door. Knowing that I don’t sleep on airplanes I figured that by the time I’m diving into bed I will have slept only one out of past 47 hours. I’m so looking forward to get to my bed.
In the 3rd degree
Three cities, E3 and D3,
It’s that time of the year again, well that time of year the past two years to be exact. E3 the former behemoth of the computer gaming / entertainment industry was held in a deflated convention center in downtown LA. It’s really sad, it really is. E3 used to be the show where our industry pulled out all the stops and just flaunted its crazy being. That was until last year, when it was decided to scale down, become professional and boring and just fail… Last year’s show was not good, this year was supposed to be the show where the organizers would get it back on its feet. I don’t know what happened on the way between the two shows but what it ended up being was, oh-my-God so bad, bad, bad! Let’s not spend more time on the misery.
On the good side I was back in LA. First time this year. In fact almost ten months since my last visit. It was good to be back. Found a few new places to eat, most of them good. Had a very nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Silver Lake which I’m certain is more than a little bit crazy after hours. Amazing it’s taken me this long to get to Silver Lake as well. I like it. I will return.
And, I got my hands on my new dear D3. What a camera. Wow, really WOW!!! Can’t wait to share the photos in the time to come.
After almost a week in LA, which despite the poor show turned out the be a good visit with great meetings I flew up to probably the best place on the West Coast, San Francisco. A weekend with grey, cold weather, but I had a good time. And then, after a few days, it was time to travel up north to Seattle.
I don’t know what it is. It’s almost always very nice weather when I visit the Pacific Northwest. I’ve been told over and over that it rains more often than not, but I’ve yet to experience it, and I’ve been up there quite a few times.
Had a few good meetings, met some new people and crossed off the last lines on the shopping list I started on down in LA. Taking advantage of the weak dollar the list is fairly long in preparations for the upcoming vacation. And what a vacation it’s going to be. I now have the appropriate attire, stocked up on high percentage DEET and SPF in the upper segment. The newly acquired D3 with applicable lenses and gigs upon gigs in memory will get a good run for its money. And back home I’ve already stacked up on Malaria tablets. Care to guess where I’m going? Soon you’ll know.
=D
22h25m
Believe me or not. It’s not the shortest visit I’ve had in Seattle. Too short, no question about that, but I’ve stayed shorter then 22 hours and 25 minutes. And back then I flew back and forth from Europe. Not something I’d recommend.
Casual in Seattle
So I’m back in Seattle. It’s good, better than I thought it would be when sitting California, wanting to travel home. Oh yes, I spent last week in Schwarzenegger’s domain. I’ll get back to that in separate blog when I travel back to Los Angeles tomorrow.
Travel log – Seattle
Starbucks. All over the place you find Starbucks. Not a big surprise since the company was established in Seattle a few decades ago, but it really hits you when you walk down the street. They are everywhere. Walk a few minutes down Pine Street and you pass at least six, seven. And the locals know their coffee too. Just walk in a stand next to the counter for a few minutes and you’ll hear the most elaborate coffee orders. Fascinating. It thought I’d try something new and bought the new green tea frappucino. Not a good idea. Yuk.
Night crawlers. You find them everywhere when flickering neon lights replaces the setting sun. I often wander the streets at night in the cities I visit. It’s interesting to see how the streets change when the nights falls. Lonely, brightly lit store windows illuminate the sidewalks and a different breed occupies the street corners. Last night I encountered a bit of action walking down to the sea front. The police jumped a gang of rather scruffy looking individuals and the show that followed, including a bit of spread-eagling was “interesting” mixed with the middle aged obese woman who leaped up and strapped herself to the ambulance trolley while the paramedic team just looked at her in amazement. Self service?
I had, and I believe many with me, an eye and both ears towards Seattle fifteen years ago; the grunge period. I don’t know how many times I’ve played Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Motherlovebone, Temple of the Dog, Green River, Mudhoney, Alice in chains etc, all bands that emerged from the music scene here. I wanted so bad to travel to Seattle and catch a couple of the fabled live acts. Cameron Crowe’s Singles didn’t exactly lessen my appetite. The period is well past, but the music scene is still vibrant. And Pearl Jam’s “Ten” will always be one of my favorite albums.
The space needle, you’ve seen it. If not in real life or photo, you’ve probably seen its distinct form in the Frasier logo. My hotel is not far from the needle. I think I’ll walk down there tonight. Take the elevator and look at the view over the city and Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier is a beautiful mountain. On good days, like this you can see the snow clad top hover over the landscape. Truly magnificent, and I’m sure there is volumes of folklore dedicated to its magnificence.
I’m not sure I mentioned this in my last travel log from here, and even if I did it’s worth mentioning again. What am I thinking of is the houses by and on the sea. All over Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond the shores are packed (but not too close) with houses. I really, really, really want a house by the sea when I grow up.
Lastly I’d like to mention a rare phenomena taking place here right now. Sunshine. The Pacific north west is not exactly know for its beautiful, balmy weather. But I’m lucky (I usually am with the weather when I travel). It’s really nice now. A cloud free sky with a blistering sun giving us temperatures up and over 30 Celsius, that’s close to 90 Fahrenheit for you imperialists out there. Sweet.
*Fade out, humming title song from Frasier…*
Travel log – Seattle
Sitting on the plane to Seattle, in the best seat of the house. God, I love it when another company pays to fly me over. A 10+ hour trip over the Atlantic is a pure joy when you sit on a chair which is as mobile as a Transformer (never really liked that show) and the video screen in front of me has a film library close to my heart.
I’ll write more when I’m on the ground I just had to start this travel log up here in this chair I love. I actually slept from Iceland to well over Greenland, laying flat down. All 193 centimeters of me. Hallelujah.
– One day later –
I like Seattle. and I really like the Pacific north west and I really, really like Vancouver, but that’s across the boarder and I won’t get the chance to go there this time. Flying in over Seattle looking down and it looks like flying in over Oslo. It’s very alike.
A house by the sea. Now that’s a dream. Here there are piles of them. Nice houses with gardens running down to the water. Oh how lucky they are the people who live here. I hope they know it. That said, and I mentioned this in my previous travel log, I’m not that fond of rain. Don’t get me wrong I love to sit inside looking out into the rain – now and then. Not all the time truth to be told. I’ve been to Seattle a few times and it usually rains when I arrive but it clears over night. Same thing this time. We have really nice weather here now.
I’m here on a very short visit. As said, a rather well known company is footing the bill and I’m here for their conference. It’s a great networking event, but a 48 hour stay in place it takes 15-16 hours to travel to – one way – is too short. Therefore I don’t have time to write as much from Seattle as I’d like this time around. I’ll be back soon and I promise I’ll do a better job at the keyboard then. So long!