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Who doesn't love a little road trip? This past May we planned a road trip along the Pacific North West. Our route took us from Vancouver -> Seattle -> Cannon Beach -> Portland over five days. With the Lemonade and Hamilton soundtracks plugged in, we were ready to go.
Thankfully the line at the Peace Arch Border wasn't long so we got to Seattle in about 2.5 hours. Our first stop for lunch was none other than Jollibee! Yes, Filipinos at heart. It's been way too long since we've had any of that crispy fried chicken and sticky rice. After lunch, we headed to our bed and breakfast, The Bacon Mansion. It's located in Capitol Hill, a quaint place with lots of coffee shops and stores within walking distance. It was a nice place to stay in, although I was disappointed when there was no bacon served for breakfast...

The reason we went to Seattle in the first place was to watch Beyonce's concert. We watched her Mrs. Carter show back in 2013, so it was about time we watched her live again. I've been to a lot of concerts and I gotta say Beyonce is probably one of the best. Her vocals, the set, choreography, her outfits...definitely a must-see artist. 100% worth it.

Apologies to everyone sitting around my sister and I, our horrible vocals were probably a pain to listen to.



While still on a post-Lemonade high the next day, we set out to see what Seattle had to offer. Despite living a few hours north of the city for the past seven years, we had never really explored it. Our first stop was the one and only Seattle Space Needle.

We had a clear 360 view of the city from the top. There's a Space Needle app you can download that has details of the visible landmark and fun facts, so you actually knew what you were looking out at.

Space Needle

Looking for the cast of Grey's Anatomy from the top of the Space Needle

Next stop was right next door: The Chihuly Garden and Glass museum. The tickets we bought were $46, for both the Space Needle and glass museum (you can buy tickets on their website). I had never heard of the museum and didn't know what to expect from it, but when we walked in I was immediately impressed by the exhibits that were made purely of blown glass sculptures.

Chihuly Museum

My favourite exhibit, the Sea Life Tower, standing 10 ft tall

What a sight

The exhibits extend out to the garden

Gorgeous! I've never seen art quite like this. Before we knew it, the morning was over and it was time for lunch! Of course, we went to Pike Place Market for food.






















We chose an open stall, Pike's Pit Bar-B-Que, which was serving delicious pulled pork dishes for about $10. I'd recommend having the pulled pork with potato salad!

Photo creds: Google

Not the most appealing photo, but this is the pulled pork sandwich I got ($9.50)

I wanted to make a stop at the gum wall a few blocks away (it's basically a wall covered with thousands of chewed gum...yup). Unfortunately, we had to head out and get back on the road to drive down to Cannon Beach before it got dark.

Till the next one!

Pam

Can't believe it's been nine months since I've been home. Time seems to fly by really quickly. There usually aren't any big changes when I go back each year so it'll be nice to pick up where I left off. Then again nine months is a long time, so some things might have changed.

I guess we'll see.

If you haven't heard about Hamilton, where have you been?

To be fair I only found out about it when they performed on the Grammys back in February. Since then, it's blown up and it's the hottest ticket in Broadway. Just a quick description for anyone that isn't aware, it's a Broadway show performed through hip-hop/rap music reliving significant moments of the life of one of the founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton (mostly during the American Revolution and getting his financial plan through Congress).

It doesn't sound very convincing BUT IT WORKS. I've literally been obsessed with the soundtrack for the past 4 months. The story line, the music, the lyrics...BRILLIANT. Lin Manuel Miranda, the person who wrote it all and stars as Hamilton, is a genius. Aside from bringing a different style of music to Broadway, the color-blind casting is changing the game.

Of course when I started obsessing over the soundtrack, it was only natural that I dug deeper into the world of Hamilton. I've watched 99% of cast interviews, behind the scenes, and performances that I could find on YouTube. Being a self-proclaimed non-artistic person, I am so fascinated hearing other people talk about their passion for the arts, from the initial concepts to performing on stage. This is one of my favorite interviews of Lin where his passionate and humble personality shines through.

Watch this:


(Props to Emma Watson for being a great interviewer/conversationalist, and just the right amount of fan girl.)

Now go listen to the soundtrack! (It's on Spotify and Apple Music)

♡ Pam

My dinners used to be filled with voices coming from my laptop. Dinner time meant time to catch up on all my YouTube videos. From watching the daily vloggers, to late night talk shows, to make-up tutorials, and whatever other viral video is going around that day, those are the one sided conversations I have at the end of the day.

That's why when my family started flying in one by one, I got really excited. With every additional person, it was like an additional 30 minutes at the dinner table. Without having deadlines and assignments looming over my dinner, I'm finally able to sit back, relax, and enjoy home cooked meals and company once again.

"Sorry, I was having dinner with my family." - a text sent by me at 10:45pm.

This has happened more than a few times when we've been complete as a family. An average dinner takes about 1 hour, but on a good night (which is most nights), we can spend 2.5 to 3 hours at the table. (Unfortunately there is a correlation between the duration we eat and the amount of food consumed.) I think the longest we've ever gone was from 8pm-1am. YES. 1AM. Sitting at the dinner table. That was a special case though. Everything happened from talking, to fighting, to crying, to making up, to laughing, and back to talking. However, even on normal nights my mom has to pause the conversation, and remind us of the time aka that it's getting too late.

Living alone (or with 1 out of 6 family members) has it's perks. The independence (no curfew, taking care of yourseld) and being able to do things at your own pace (CHORES) are probably the top 2 things I like most. But there's nothing like having dinner and filling the room with stories and laughter at the end of the day...and not ones that come from your laptop.