Seattle: Visit to MoPOP, part one!

If you happen to find yourself in the city of Seattle and feel like you're lacking in necessary immersion into modern pop cultural awareness, appreciation, and knowledge, you might want to add the Museum of Pop Culture to your list of places to visit. The building is hard to miss, as it's a psychedelic mash-up of molten steel, unexpected angles, accents, and edges along with bold pops of color...not to mention the iconic Space Needle peering out or looming over depending on your mood or angle of approach. Our initial arrival was a little frantic, as we forgot the camera in the car in our hurry to catch our ride-share, and had to cancel the original ride and then get back to the car. In the end, I'm grateful that we went back to grab the camera, as it allowed us to capture some seriously awesome shots (in my ever-so-humble opinion) and commemorate our visit. The Marvel exhibit we went to see, specifically, was a limited run and given the cost of admission makes this sort of outing something we reserve for special occasions and not every weekend, so if we had missed our chance to get photos on this visit the chances of going back before our window of opportunity expired were minimal. We had already procrastinated until near the end of the run, so it was now or never! 

MoPOP is well worth visiting any time, though, as there is a multitude of different exhibits - some long term and enduring, other's passing through for a limited show, but all are excellent.  Given our stumbling over the camera and running in circles for a moment, we lost out on precious time and found that we were remiss when the closing time arrived. The employees and volunteers were gracious enough, but when it's time to close it up they'll make sure you're aware! MoPOP is a non-profit founded by Paul Allen in 2000, so many of the people keeping it running are doing so as a kindness due to their own personal passions, so be polite and courteous when visiting.  There's a lot to see and take in, after all, and as I said- the exhibits change often, so if you've visited in the past you'll find new and exciting things to see and experience upon repeated visits, and the additional time can always allow you to delve deeper into the permanent showcases. Seriously, folks, there's a lot to see and do inside this place, so if you're going to be around for a minute you may want to consider investing in a membership.   

Seattle: Capitol Hill: Dino's Tomato Pie

Hello again, my dear blog and any readers who may have found their way here! I know, it's been an age and a half since I'd last written, and for that, I'm truly very sorry. It's been a wild ride here at 710 Headquarters, AKA my life, and I've been dashing all around with hardly any time left to plop my butt down and get to writing. On the upside, I certainly have ample new material to share with everyone! All this roaming in Seattle (and various areas nearby) has afforded me a rapid familiarity with the area, and some incredible sights along the way. Did you know there's a park here with a giant pair of cowboy boots? Apparently! It's especially surprising to spot from your peripheral as you wind your way through unfamiliar streets for the first time. This post, however, is about another location, one in Capitol Hill that we found ourselves standing in front of on a cold, hungry night. It's a little grungy, a little divey, with brilliant buzzing fluorescent red lights beaming through the night, guiding you like a moth to the warmth. 

I tend to spend a fair amount of time in and around Capitol Hill, whether I'm taking in the farmer's market on Broadway, drooling over the restaurants (and often bookmarking ones like Top Pot Doughnuts, Momiji, The Wandering Goose, Dao Tai House, or Bakery Nouveau), there's generally a buzz of activity and lots to see and do. Naturally, parking can be a bit difficult, which is why we tend to favor finding a spot we can leave our vehicle and go about our adventures walking, biking, or using ride-share. On this particular outing, we'd gone all the way down to MoPOP to take in their limited run Marvel exhibition while it was still going on, and then walked our way back up and then along much of Denny Hill. It was during this uphill slog that we happened upon Dino's Tomato Pie, a dimly lit bar and restaurant slinging up round or square pies in a variety of different topping arrangements. Our tummies grumbling in hunger, and our glutes barking, we opted to take a brief load off and refuel. Our timing was fortuitous, as it was happy hour and we were able to grab a couple of cold brews and some garlic knots along with our slices at a reasonable price. Costs in Capitol Hill haven't exactly remained low over the years, so it's always nice to know there's a place to grab a good meal without breaking the bank. If you want to hop in a time machine, I highly recommend checking out their website, which is a shrine to a bygone era in internet aesthetics. So many blinking items and all the scrolling text! The gifs! It's a site to behold, friends. 

You'll have to go up to the bar and flag the attention of one of the employees to place your order, but there's a handy sign to guide you in the darkness. The food was delicious, and we totally enjoyed the dive bar vibe. The crew seemed to have a good banter going, and their menu was pretty extensive, with a lot of different choices for everyone. We kept it simple with our happy hour brewskies, but they had a pretty impressive cocktail menu with some creative offerings if that's more your thing. 

Korea: Revisiting Namsan Seoul Tower

If you're looking for some of the most expansive and stunning views throughout Seoul, a romantic destination to take a dearly beloved one and add to the locks of love, or simply want to get some distance between you and the sea, Namsan Seoul Tower is an excellent destination to choose.  I'd actually visited the tower once before on a prior trip to Seoul, but this time I visited with my friend Carmen and added a lock representing Antho and I to the incredibly crowded walls and barricades that have come to house an insane amount of locks. A lot of love to go around! Supposedly, affixing your padlock to one of the surfaces is meant to "lock-down" your love, and give it a similar sort of longevity and durability going forward. While there are plenty of Youtube videos demonstrating how to break a lock, I can't help but feel a little cheesy at the romanticism of the idea and wanted to contribute my own small gesture towards it. Even if you have visited the tower before yourself, it's always worth taking another trek up the very-steep mountain to see it once more. 

During my previous visit, my digital camera was very very new to me, and I had a difficult time figuring out how to capture the views at night- but this time through, I'm a bit more familiar with how to operate my camera and I'm a lot happier with the results, though I'm rapidly nearing the time when I'll have to bite the bullet and invest in a newer model. Totally worth taking that ridiculously, absurdly steep hike up from the last bus stop to snap these, though, and I'll gladly do it again. Why do they drop you off so much further down the mountain? I certainly don't know, though maybe it has something to do with the deep love for hiking and mountain climbing many of the Korean natives seem to have, or simply a practical measure to keep the busses from going beyond their means...whatever the case, strap on a good pair of walking shoes and get out to the tower! There's so much to see, and it's always evolving in some new, exciting way. Any visitor to Seoul should be remiss to miss out on the stunning sights offered by Namsan tower! Even if you decide not to opt to pay for the additional elevator ride up the tower, you can take in some seriously breath-taking views of South Korea's world-famous city of Seoul. #WORTHIT

Korea: Nostalgic Views in Hwajeong

One of the best parts of living in the little make-shift office turned bedroom I had in Korea was the largely unobscured view offered by the large windows within, offering me a glimpse out onto the city of Hwajeong as the sun rose or faded into the horizon and all the various shades in between. Hwajeong, while not really Seoul proper, is still quite a bustling little suburb and full of life, so I'd often overhear whooping shouts and excited calls from people celebrating below, at all hours of the night. It was fascinating, and often quite beautiful. The trade-off was that occasionally I'd be awoken early on my day off and told that the office was needed for the home owner's work purposes and to, more or less, make myself scarce. These things. In theory, I could have found a small apartment somewhere in Seoul and rented it for cheaper than what I paid for my sometimes less-than-private space, as many of my friends and their cohorts in a different field emphasized, but my living arrangement was already predetermined in a contract that outlined my work requirements and obligations prior to my even arriving to Korea. I'm not bitter about it, though there were times during my stay where I'd get frustrated by feeling trapped in a situation that wasn't always to my benefit. The other rooms in the apartment were rented out on AirBnB for a higher rate than what I was paying, so I was getting a deal, but there were often strangers coming and going outside my bedroom, or an awkward wait for the shared restroom in the morning when several of us had obligations to tend to. Some of the AirBnB guests stayed on for a longer term, and we got to know eachother a little better in the brief encounters in the kitchen or hallways, but some nights I'd find myself answering the door to an exhausted stranger I hadn't been told to expect, a potentially spooky situation depending on the circumstances. I digress. In the end, I'm immensely grateful for having had the opportunity to live and work in such an incredible place as South Korea, and while I certainly wish I'd had more information going in, I'm still very much glad I went. 

Seattle: Gum Wall and Pike's Place at Night

Gumwall color-coordinated thanks to Arrow vape mod

Among the lexicon of places one "must see" while visiting Seattle, especially if it's their virgin visit to the Emerald City, the Gum Wall tends to pop up fairly frequently. This is probably due to a few factors: 1) the gum wall is hidden inside of Pike's Place Market, so if you're already hitting one of the other, arguably larger and more noteworthy "must see" locales, you'll be real close to this one, too and 2) it's exceptionally photogenic, whether it's for your blog (hi there) or your 'Gram. Given these things, you shouldn't exactly be surprised if you find yourself joined by a large, enthusiastic host of others taking photos at the Gum wall. Endlessly photographed, posed in front of, and contributed to, the Gum Wall is a point of fascination, abject horror, collaborative art piece, and local icon. I've gone twice now, though this is the first time I believe I've taken enough photos to really merit a blog post. Antho and I both posed, and were even in some photos together thanks to the kindness of strangers who also wanted their photos taken together. 

Personally, I'm a little skeeved out by the fact that almost every single piece of gum adhered to these surfaces was previously chomped on, hydrated by someone's saliva, and then slapped on to join the collage. Plenty of people visiting at the same time we did were clearly fine, unperturbed by that realization, but you can probably tell from my expression above that I was acutely aware of it. Obviously, the gum wall is a huge tourist destination and there's a reason for that- just, you know, be aware and maybe bring some hand sanitizer for those among us who can't resist touching all the things. While we were pretty tired by this point, we still had a fair bit of walking left to do, and I've included those photos as there's only so many photos I can take of a wall covered in gum before I start to feel a little grossed out. There's plenty of photos in this post, so don't fret- and you can always visit the gum wall yourself if you find yourself in Seattle! It's a little tricky, but there are so many guides out there that I recommend you do your research. Best of luck to you, adventurers!

Seattle: Walking from Capitol Hill towards Pike's Place

Seattle, for all it's many acres of parks and labyrinth of bike lanes and trails, is a bit of a challenge at times when it comes to parking. Some days, you get lucky-maybe that particular day of the week street parking is free, and if you're really lucky it might be unlimited, but generally speaking a two-hour limit in exchange for a free place to park isn't such a bad bargain these days. When free parking is, unfortunately, not an option, you'll have to look towards pay-to-park, whether it's a lot that charges by the hour, a meter you can pay by phone, or a covered garage. In our case, the van is too tall for most of the covered parking garages, so that option is automatically out, and knocks a lot of potential parking spots out of the running. Capitol Hill is a pretty popular neighborhood, with a lot of apartment complexes and homes dotting the narrow streets, so it's often packed. If you're patient, and are willing to shell out a few bucks, however, you can find parking. We managed to secure a spot in this colorful lot, where the van's spot was paid for before safely locked up the vehicle. From here, we ventured out, aiming to get to Pike's Place Market, eventually. It was another nice, sunny day, which is a rare gift this time of year, so we took advantage of it and enjoyed our stroll. There was a lot to take in between the van and the Waterfront, after all; from the Jimi Hendrix statue rocking out on Broadway, to the curious nests of people without homes congregating under a bridge, even some serious demolition work going on, and a Christmas tree to top it all off (this was pre-X-Mas day). It was a pretty serious walk, one that took us all the way down the water's edge and back to Capitol Hill, and by the end of the day we were pretty pooped! It was well worth it, though. Sure, we eventually found a lot closer to Pike's Place that we could have squeezed the van into, but we wouldn't have taken in nearly so many different sights. Sometimes it's better to slow down and take it all in with a stride.  

Reno: Surreal suburbia

Come along and join me for a bite of my favorite muffin, won't you?

All jokes aside, there's a surreal sort of nature to Reno that we discovered during our stay. There's the familiarity, of a city being somewhat akin-to-but-not-quite like our hometown, yet there's the weird throwbacks to the 80's and 90's that linger, giving an age to the city not unlike the crow's feet cracking through the thickly caked on makeup of your diner waitress clinging to decades past. We weren't finished with the city, not yet, as we still had a couple of errands to run while we were still surrounded by some vestige of civilization. On top of the usual things, like getting some snacks, vehicular fluids and checks, there was the shuffling of finances and additional fluids to purchase. Rather than try to keep driving through the dense forest of traffic cones that seemed to crop up once we left the downtown touristy area, we opted to walk to our next destinations. This allowed us the opportunity to appraise an area outside of the main drag, which is always a good idea for getting the true feel of a city beyond its neon-spackled traps.  I suppose I can see why many of my peers opted to go north and settle in Reno, but it's still a little too-close to Vegas for me to feel like I've truly escaped the vortex-like nature of the city...but for those who find this affinity appealing for nostalgic purposes, it's quite the nice touch, I suppose. 

Reno, like many cities favored by millennials, is growing. There are more little artsy-fartsy coffee shops popping up, along with multi-megaplex apartments that offer everything you could ever want or need in a residence, from gyms to pet parks. It's still a little city trying very much to feel like a bigger one, so for people who want that, it's got it in bounds. Reno isn't a bad place, not at all, and there's a lot of things to be said for consistent sunshine and cheap food and booze. Once we'd stretched our legs and tended to our various errands, however, we returned to our vehicles to strive outward and onward. While Reno certainly made for a nice pitstop, we weren't planning to settle here any time soon. 

Reno: Downtown Reno on a grey day

Reno! It's, uh, kind of like going to Las Vegas except the weather's (arguably) better and it's a lot smaller? We didn't spend an obscene amount of time in Reno, unfortunately, so we can't attest to much of the city's greatness beyond it's uncanny similarities to our hometown, down to some of the same casinos (hey, Harrah's and Circus Circus, I'm looking at you),  though the proximity to Northern California and Southern Oregon are also perks and likely attract their own set of regular visitors. Some of the food specials advertised were markedly cheaper than I recall seeing the same basic meal-deals advertised for in Vegas proper ($5.99 prime rib, baby), and that's including Fremont street and the downtown area which are generally viewed as being the more budget-friendly option as far as Vegas goes. Reno, for me, is largely uncharted territory, so I've really only just dusted the surface of what the city and it's essence is. I know that it is, or at least was, a popular college choice for my peers who wanted to get away from home without going so far as to need to a flight or risking having to pay out-of-state tuition or confront that alien and alarming concept of closing-time at a bar. It's north enough of Vegas that it was noticeably cooler outside of our vehicles during the daytime, and we definitely had to add some additional layers to our comfy driving ensembles to confront the weather during our stroll.  

After paying for parking, we just started to kind of wander around the downtown area, though we did have an eventual aim in mind. Antho is a bit familiar with Reno, as he'd lived not-too-far-away in the town of Elko, once upon a time and would visit sporadically. It's not exactly next door to Reno, but it's a shorter drive than it is coming from Vegas, that's for sure! And let's be real here, most of Nevada is wide open desert and there's a lot of driving to be done to get from most cities in the state to the next, or even the nearest big cities. Whether that's a pro or a con is up to you and your preferences on the matter. The area was pretty quiet without much activity during our visit, but it was an overcast weekday so that's probably not something that should elicit alarm. It was nice being able to amble around and take in the sights without feeling imminently hurried. I'd set an alarm on my phone to warn us prior to our parking's expiry, so away we went to explore downtown Reno!  

Vegas: Last day in town

It's always a little bittersweet when you call it and close out your tab in any particular location, knowing you won't be stopping back again any time soon. The city of Las Vegas, for better or worse, has served the designation of being my launch point, my hometown, the old familiar, for the vast majority of my life thus far. I was born somewhere in the city, in a hospital one evening some eons ago, and I graduated elementary to high school within the warm glow of the neon's periphery. A certain pride and obstinance is needed to be among those who remain, the residents of a city that thrives on transients when everyone is always leaving. To dig in deep into the dusty soil and somehow take root takes strong, deep-running arteries that can miraculously find the water from nothing. It's a tough city that will eat the reckless alive if given the chance, so you'd better not give it the chance. Personally, I was never much for gambling, so all the chittering machines with their varied animations never really enticed me much. Sometimes Antho will point out a machine to me as we pass through a casino because of the theme, like a Lord of the Rings themed machine or Ghostbusters one, but I've never actually fed any cash into them. While table games make a little more sense in their appeal, I've never wanted to try my luck playing them much, either, after seeing friends and acquaintances struggle with temptation. Vegas is a great place to visit, but if you're not into the heat, gambling, or fending off perpetual hucksters and sleazy salespeople eager to take advantage of any doe-eyed tourist, there are perhaps better cities to seek out in the name of home. 

And this, folks, was the space we called home for the better part of a year and a half. Antho, myself, all of our tie-dye, the squeakers, and the majority of the rest of our belongings were crammed into that little space. We bought a refrigerator somewhere along the line but given that it was our's we took it when we left. We pretty much left the place in the condition it was originally presented to us in, minus some diatomaceous earth that had been scattered around as pest control prior to our arrival. While it was definitely on the smaller side as we had multiple dressers, bookshelves, a computer desk, cages, a microwave, and more, we made it work and believe it or not it was an upgrade from the living situation I came back to upon returning from Korea. While I won't delve into that dark time, look at that super-efficient studio (my company apartment in Japan was bigger) and know that this was the escape. And now, finally, it's time to strike out for bigger and brighter things!

Naturally, the sky decided to give us all the cotton candy for our last sunset in the city. Right on!

Vegas: Voodoo Zipline at the Rio

 When it comes time to celebrate yet another successful revolution around the sun survived, I like to do things that might instinctively run contrary to that continuous survival, like jumping off of tall buildings while strapped into a rather minimal-seeming-is-this-really-safe-I-mean-how-is-this-even-legal-harness. Many moons ago, I celebrated a birthday by jumping off of the Stratosphere tower and braving their Sky Jump, so it seemed only appropriate to carry on this tradition by jumping off yet another tall building in the city of Las Vegas! For this round, we went to the Rio for their Voodoo Zipline. There also happened to be a Groupon available at the time that let us do the ride and purchase the video package at a pretty good discount, so there were even fewer excuses available to try to justify a way out at the last minute. On the day of, we were concerned about the wind levels, but to our surprise, the ride was still going and seats were available, so it was time to bite the bullet and go for it!

The ride itself is pretty short, but leading up to it you get some spectacular views of the Las Vegas strip to enjoy. I squeezed in as many photos as I comfortably could before we were being beckoned onward, either to get in line for our date with destiny or escorted towards the elevators to go back to the hotel. We were a bit disappointed by not getting a chance to see our ride photos, as a group of girls who'd missed their own viewing chance decided to just go ahead and jump in front of us in line. We decided to try to take some photos while we waited, but then a ride hostess was by our side politely-yet-firmly informing us we needed to keep moving. A shame, I guess...if I had wanted to be brattier, or more assertive, we probably could have done the same as the girls who cut us and commandeered a chance at viewing the photos, but I didn't want to keep that shit-cycle rolling. It's a domino effect, you see? Because we were inconvenienced by their lack of consideration, we would have had to inconvenience others, and it just wasn't worth it to us to further perpetuate that nonsense. We mosied onward and went on to have an excellent meal at Ichiza just up the road. While it might seem a bit of complaining snuck in here, because seriously, fuck those girls, I really had an enjoyable time riding the barely-secured seats of the zip line and I'm glad we went!  

Korea: 홍어회 in화정 or Hongoe in Hwajeong

Throughout my entire stay in South Korea, I lived in the small town of Hwajeong, in Goyang prefecture. It's only a short commute outside of Seoul, about 30 minutes by train in to Anguk area which was without a doubt one of my favorite neighborhoods to spend time in. Hwajeong was a charming little suburb to reside in, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time living there! Not only was it easy (enough) to commute to and from work on the daily, but there were multiple options for shopping, recreation, and dining throughout the area. While your typical suburb in Las Vegas has at least one convenience store nestled in its midst, there's no real guarantee that you'll be able to get to a grocery store on foot, not in any timely manner anyway..this issue is referred to as "food deserts", where fresh foods are less readily available and residents need to commute to have access to amenities. In Hwajeong I could walk 5 minutes and have my pick from several small groceries, multiple convenience stores (of different brands/names) and countless fast or slow food restaurants. Who says that Americas the greatest country in the world? For sheer capitalistic indulgences and opportunity, South Korea certainly seems to have learned from us and upped the ante.   

Another thing South Korea does well, that we don't really do much here, is fermented fish. Tangent much, eh? In the United States, you might find some form of pickled fish hiding in a dusty, forlorn corner of the grocery store's "ethnic" section, but in Korea, there's a famous fermented fish whose name strikes fear into the hearts (and nostrils) of those familiar with it: Hongoe. This funky beast is the result of fermenting skate, those cute little mini-mantas who have the peculiar habit of urinating through their skin. This, naturally, gives the fermented variety of their flesh a distinctly ammonia-heavy odor that even I, a girl whose sense of smell is laughably non-existent, found challenging. To be fair, hongoe is a challenge even for native Koreans who grew up around the stuff. Typically eaten with super-ripe kimchi and sweet milky rice alcohol in the form of makkgeoli, you can also find hongoe prepackaged at some grocery stores. It's much more affordable to buy the prepackaged variety, and so I decided to give it a go, but I have to admit I wasn't able to eat the whole package on my own. The texture of the fish is unusual, too, with a cartilaginous crunch that's hard to compare to anything that hasn't been rotting in its own urine for an extended period of time. 

Even just looking at these photos is giving me olfactory flashbacks. Oof. Enjoy the photos of the pretty view from here out, to hopefully get some of the funk out! You might also enjoy noticing the little bird, who perched atop the tower here. 

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

🐟

XOXO,

NAU