Space, Locks and Chocolate

My continuing guest blogger, Hannah. (Editor's words)

The Space Needle

Today we left the hotel around 10:30. We drove to the Space Needle in downtown Seattle. We took an elevator all the way up to the top. The elevator was so fast! We went up to the Sky City restaurant to eat lunch. I noticed that the floor was moving. The floor was moving because you can take a chance to go around all the windows to see the whole view.

The amazing 360 degree view from the top. The weather was perfect! Clear and bright!

The lady let us sit at the window. The view was amazing. I ordered from the kids menu and I got space noodle pasta with a side of fries. The pasta was shaped like the Space Needle. It was so cool to see that. I saw that kids wrote notes on paper and placed them on the window so other people can respond back to them or read them.

Hannah's space needle pasta.

Emily's Octopus dog mac n cheese.

Picture taken inside...

...and outside of the space needle!

After we finished lunch we went outside to look at the view. Then we went to the gift shop and bought 2 bags of space noodle pasta. Then we left and went to the Ballard Locks. We saw 5 boats/kayakers pass through the locks.

The locks allows vessels to move back and forth from one water elevation to another. The water level of Puget Sound is lower than Salmon Bay.

Vessels enter the lock and the gates close behind the vessels. Through gravity, the lock drains the water.

Freshwater of Salmon Bay meets the saltwater of Puget Sound at the locks. Depending on the tides, there can be a 6 to 26 ft difference between fresh and salt water.

When the water pressure is the same on both sides of the gate, the upstream gates open. Vessels exit. The process is reversed for a downstream lockage from Salmon Bay into Puget Sound.

 They raise and lower water levels in the locks as needed to allow vessels to lock through.

It's like an elevator for boats.

The Locks are also a place for the migrating salmon pass through. Mature salmon returning through the fish ladder are returning to the river, stream or hatchery where their journey began 3-5 years ago.

Smolts go with the flow here, tail first.

 These slides (the tubes) help juvenile salmon, called smolts, migrate into Puget Sound from Lake Washington.

When mature, salmon and steelheads leave the sea and work their way back up their spawning ground. The smell of the water flowing into the ocean from the river or stream helps them to find their way.

a steelhead

After that we went to the Theo Chocolate Factory. We took a tour and had to wear blue hair nets. We learned where chocolate came from and how it was made. We went into the factory place and saw people working. It was so so hot. It was like 100 degrees in there.

In Seattle we decided to check out some other things we didn't do there yet. One of which was a chocolate factory tour. Theo Chocolate Factory is located in Seattle. They are the only Fair for Life chocolate company which means from  farming to distribution, every worker gets fair and comparable wages and benefits.

A cacao tree

 They get their beans from three places: Congo (the earthy flavored chocolate) Dominican Republic (the buttery flavored chocolate) and Peru (fruity flavor).

Cacao pods grow from the stem of the tree since its the strongest point on the tree. Pods can grow to be the size of a football.

It takes a few pods to make just one yummy tasting chocolate bar!

A cool creation..

The US Standards of making chocolate are lower than Theo's. US standards for milk chocolate is only 10% of cacao. For dark, it needs only 34%. At Theo, they make their milk chocolate with a minimum of 40% and their dark has 70% cacao. We saw all the machines and the processes that the beans goes through to turn cacao into chocolate. We were able to sample their truffles and caramels and other specialty chocolates.

flying chocolate

After that we went to the gift shop and bought all different kinds of chocolates. Then we drove to a place called Samurai Ramen place. We all got tonkotsu ramen. It was so so yummy.

This was one of the smallest noodle places we ever ate at. It fit around 24 persons max and I sat on a wooden step stool.

 We faced the kitchen and could watch them cook!

No one working here was Japanese either!

The ramen was good!

Then I wanted dessert so we went to the Uwajimaya Market. I got a sugar donut and we also went to the book store. I saw a lot of Rilakkuma stuff there so I got some stuff there. Then we drove to the hotel and went to sleep.

-Mui Mui Blogs

Introducing...

.. a new guest blogger! Hannah hasn't blogged very much but apparently she's got the blogger's itch and has been writing her own posts when on vacation on her Kindle and emails them to us . So I thought why not have her post her thoughts and I'll just add in where needed! I'm sure she'll love your comments too!

We headed to Vancouver to visit some of Matthew's relatives. But instead of flying straight to Vancouver we flew into Seattle and drove the 2.5 hrs across the border. Saves some money on plane tickets. (Editor's Words)

Today we left the house around 10:45. Then we drove to Goong-Goong Po Po's house. Goong-Goong drove us to SF airport. We checked in our big luggage and went through security. We also went to Hudson News to get motion sickness chewable (for kids) medicine. Then we boarded the small Delta plane.

The plane was in line ready to depart. We could see through the plane windows that 5 planes were in line after us. Then this huge plane caught my eye, it was a China Airlines Cargo plane. We were about to take off. The wheels were rolling as fast as a race car. Then we took off. The view was amazing. The flight was about 2 hours. I got ginger ale and pretzels for my snack on the plane.

Then we landed in Seattle,WA. We went to #5 baggage claim to pick up our luggage. Then we took a rental car shuttle to the rental cars. We used the company Alamo. We chose a midsize car which is the color green. It was very clean and fancy. Then we drove to the hotel called Embassy Suites. We checked in to our room which is room #301. We unpacked and got ready to go to the Bellevue shopping center. When we left I got some popcorn and diet coke from the hotel refreshments.

First we went to the restaurant Din Tai Fung. The food was so so good! Then we went shopping at the Bellevue Shopping Mall.We went to all different kinds of shops like Bath and Body Works, camera store, Disney store, Baskin31Robbins, and Made in Washington. Then we drove back to the hotel and went to sleep.

-Mui Mui Blogs

Delectable Tidbits of Food

Din Tai Fung... Food from heaven...I say!  This restaurant only exists in two locations in the States: Washington (Bellevue) and Southern California (Arcadia). The rest are in Asia.

We've been to the one in Arcadia and now we had to go to the one in Bellevue since we were staying here... So we went.. Twice!

In front of the restaurant are these large glass windows showcasing what they make.

Which are mostly steamed dumplings of all kinds! They seem to have a great assembly line going.

DTF was founded in 1974 in Taipei Taiwan specializing in xiao long bao, an authentic Chinese dish of delicately hand-wrapped steamed soup dumplings.  When you bite into one a squirt of delicious hot soup broth comes out so its best to eat the whole thing in your mouth or you'll end up squirting everywhere particularly on your shirt! They actually put a frozen piece of soup in the dumpling before they steam it!

The famous pork filled xiao long bao

Shrimp filled dumplings

Wonton noddle soup

They do serve other goodies...

Shrimp and egg fried rice

Stir fried green beans

Hot and Sour soup

And one of my favorites, real chicken soup

DTF's mascot the 'Dumpling'

Next up... Vancouver British Columbia!

Pike's Place

Pike's Place (aka Fisherman's Wharf of SF) but in Seattle. It's Seattle's touristy Public Market.

Emily, Hannah and Shawna after lunch at Steelhead Diner.

The lobster tails were gigantic!

I immediately thought of my brother-in-law when I saw these clams. He really wanted to eat them for his birthday but could not find them in any Chinese grocery store.

Oysters for my father-in-law... and Hannah was captivated by the live HUGE bugs!

Emily's hand and enormous jumbo shrimp.. yes they were very jumbo!

 Seafood galore ... plus beautiful looking fruits and vegetables..

All the produce looked delicious and very fresh!

The seafood was plentiful. Yes I did have the wild sockeye salmon and it was delicious. We ate at Steelhead Diner and everything was fresh and wonderful.

Hannah's chicken strips with fries

Emily's mac'n'cheese

My wild sockeye salmon on a bed of polenta

Matthew's huge crab cake

The flower bouquets were gorgeous among measure and cheap as dirt. A huge bouquet was only $5 ....an even huger one was $10 and the fragrant flower stands were everywhere and I was so tempted to buy some. But how would I enjoy them? In the hotel room?

At Pike's Place you cannot not visit the GUM Wall. What is that you ask? Well its a wall full of gum.

Matthew put his face as close as he could.

Emily as close as she wanted to get to the wall.

If you are OCD about hygiene this would not be the place for you. Emily would not go more than 10 feet away from the wall. I don't blame her but it was quite interesting and you an still smell the bubble  gum flavors in the air.

We also ate at Mccormick and Schmicks with Kim and Michael H. who moved to the area a year ago. They were integral and irreplaceable servants at our church and are sorely missed. We were so glad to have gotten together with them before we headed to Vancouver.

Next up... DTF