It didn’t rain one single day we were in Seattle. It drizzled one morning but we were snoozing. We slept until late and still manage to squeeze so many things in our Seattle visit.
It went great.
I’ve been video blogging it on all my medias. It barely gets views. But that’s okay. I like travel blogging. It would be great if it paid me.
It starts with this video:
Instagram.
or TikTok:
And YouTube shorts. Choose your social media poison. Yes. Even Facebook (cringe). Facebook: “Matingas Official.”
I have too many strangers in my Facebook and that shit dates back to 2005. Almost 20 years of online presence. Fuck thattttt.
Seattle.
We arrived late on Thursday and after settling at my primo’s townhouse, we went out for a beer. Figurehead Brewing near their house in Fremont. Amazing.
First beer I tried was a petite saison or a Grisette. It was near perfection. Then I found out they served Japanese food. The chef had a picture with him and Reagan. Fuck Reagan. Impressive. But fuck Reagan. The original MAGA.
Sashimi and sushi rolls were fresh and delicious. The California roll was meh, but toro roll was exactly what I wish for that I had in Tijuana. It was also $7.
Flights were expensive in most places. And they served 5 oz instead of 4. Service was horrible in most places as well. Like they don’t give a fuck. Yet they still want 20-30% tip. And still seemed a tad cheaper than San Diego. And more expensive than Tijuana.
But hey. I’m back in Tijuana and in one weekend, beers got more expensive. The dollar went up (which is technically better for me) but everything just keeps getting more expensive.
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Half of June is already gone. Blogging on a Saturday drinking Seattle coffee from Lighthouse. It’s also near perfection. Tijuana up their coffee game and now can make some great coffee. But Lighthouse offered over twenty types of roasted beans while in TJ I usually get a choice of three.
I have two bachelor party tours to end the month. Not much for the rest of June. Writing. And more writing.
July has a bunch of tours. And writing and more writing. So no need for a real job as of now, but should really get one. And new shirts for sale.
Two bachelor party tours that will take all weekend. Wish me luck. I’m scared. I have another bachelor party tour in July. And… that might be it?! I don’t want to do them anymore and I know my tours can survive without them.
From Tijuana to Seattle. The transition was as smooth as it could go. Packed our shit. Walked to the border. I was nervous about crossing for no fucking reason. Got to the airport on time. We got upgraded to nice seats for no reason except that the dude was really nice (we were right behind first class). I read a book, she played Monument Valley. And in three hours we were in Seattle.
Then at Figurehead Brewing. After that, we went to Pacific Inn to pay tribute to Anthony Bourdain. I’ve been before and I want to go back again. It’s in a way, the Dandy’s of Seattle. No one gave a fuck. It seemed to be all locals.
And ohhh.
The fish and chips. The fantastic fish and chips. I mean, the chips are meh. But the fish… It’s so crispy delicious. Fantastic pairing with the local draft beers. I was drinking and eating in my little paradise. It had only been a couple of hours. It was still daylight past 9 pm.
It’s going to be a hot summer.
Seattle Day 1. Aquarium, Pike’s Place Market, Gum Wall, famous food, Jupiter, Pinball, and More.
We bought tickets to a lot of touristy shit through City Pass to save 47% or some shit like that. It’s worth it. It included a bunch of shit that you will end up reading here. City Pass. Sponsor this shit.
After buying the passes and having a basic breakfast at Primo’s house, we headed downtown to the aquarium. The Stranger’s magazine put it on the list of 99 things to do in Seattle, it suggested to get high as fuck. My natural state. But yeah. Do that.
It’s trippy, it’s cute, it’s fun, it’s not that big… but it’s not that expensive either. A shit ton of kids in the first room and you can touch underwater creatures like starfish, corals, and sea urchins and stuff. Water is fucking freezing.
There is a jellyfish tank, an octopus, weird tanky things with a lady that explains you more. There was a sea lemon or nudibranch and I asked if you could eat it and she said she didn’t know. I just googled the answer. Some humans do eat it in Chile and Alaska described as “chewing an eraser.”
I’ll try it. I like seafood. And Seattle is a seafood city.
After the first room there is your Windows screensaver rooms. A lot of fish and psychedelic colors moving in non-sensical patterns. And you can find Dory and Nemo.
The outside houses the mammals and some birds. An underwater dome to see a ton of fish. More dark tunnels with deep sea creatures. And then it’s done. If you like Animal Planet shit and getting high and going to the aquarium, it’s very worth it. Or if you have kids.
After the aquarium we did classic touristy stuff. The gumwall. It’s bigger and gummier than the last time I saw it. And it has way more tourists. The first time I visited I remember being almost the only one…
I left my last business card that I made years ago gummed to the wall. I wonder if it’s still there, it has Tijuana Adventure’s old logo.
Pike’s Place Market for more classic touristy stuff, the first Starbucks, throwing fish, cutesie stores, and then we met up with Primo’s wife, Laura. She took us to other famous food spots that The Stranger’s also suggested. We ate Mae Sum’s Hom Bow, mac and cheese from Beecher’s (that wasn’t mac but penne), famous Pike’s Place clam chowder, and Rachel’s Ginger Beer.
There was a line for all and it was all worth it. I got fuller than I thought I would. And it wasn’t expensive.
From there, we walked to what would be the description of my perfect bar.
Jupiter.
Location might not be ideal. It’s downtown Seattle and it’s a bit ghetto. But still… amazing bar.
Cool murals everywhere. Stage for live bands. Local craft beer, slushy drinks, and other specials. Pizza that I didn’t try but it looked great. And in the back…. over thirty pinball machines and other videogames.
We met Fernando there, the husband of a friend of mine (Melanie). She read my Tijuana Adventure book then we followed each other on Instagram. And that’s how I ended up in Jupiter. He hooked it up with a couple of free beers and a ton of quarters.
And…
I fucking love pinball.
Always loved it as a kid, but never really played much. In Seattle, they take that shit seriously. There are a shit ton of pinball bars. A standard game is 75¢. Beers are usually around $8. Seattle is a bit pricey, but if you make money, I would be spending $50 every night in a place like that.
From there, we bussed back to Fremont, rested for a bit. And headed out to Big Mario’s pizza. There was a beautiful dog when we got there. Everyone in Seattle has pretty dogs.
We ordered a big pie and got beers in red and black pizza spot for drunks. It’s more of a get a slice and leave type of establishment. Service was fucking shit. It took them over an hour and a half to get the pizza to us. I ordered a Rainier out of curiosity and that was a mistake. It’s worse than a Tecate Light. But the pizza was pretty good and the vibes were chill.
We crossed the street to a bar called The Ice Box arcade. It’s another bar with pinball that feels like it’s someone’s backyard. Not much of a bar but more of they got some drinks in a fridge and a shit ton of pinball. And also a stage. We stayed there for one beer and more pinball and headed home at 11ish.
I played Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 vs my cousin to end the night.
That was day 1. We didn’t have that many days and we did so much. I need breakfast.
I’m also typing this on a new computer that is not new. My iMac died before we left for Seattle. Before it died, my friend Andy offered me his old 2013 iMac. I picked it up before Seattle but it needed to be reset to factory, then it was on old Os… The point is that I did a shit ton of work to get the computer to run. And at the same time, I fixed my old iMac. And now I have two iMacs in working condition. I took the RAM of the old one and crammed it into this one and it runs smoothly. I can just buy more RAM and now I have two working machines.
Breakfast. Then more Seattle.
Seattle Day 2. Space Needle, Dick’s, KEXP, Sculpture Garden, Great Wheel… more.
Goddamn did we do a lot.
First thing we did on Saturday was the Space Needle. I went when I was 25 in 2011. It got a renovation in 2017 with an extra room that I’ve never seen. It has a revolving glass floor. It’s trippy. It’s dope. They also re-did the glass in the exterior and in general it seemed way better than my first visit.
It was a lovely day to go up. We were greeted with a rainbow while waiting in line. It was great to people watch. Lines were long but not bad.
We were happy there. I drank two beers and she drank a wine. We spent more than three hours on the top of the space needle. Time just flew.
After that we went to get some Dick’s. We accidentally found KEXP on the way to get some Dick’s. I got goosebumps when pulling the glass door to the inside. It’s fucking lovely. You can see the DJ. People are just chilling and drinking coffee.
But we needed food. Dick’s. Tasty cheap Dick’s. The In-n-Out of Seattle, but way faster. Simple, cheap, and delicious. I ate two in the span that Nancy ate half. Fries are shit. And they are weird about their condiments.
I could eat Dick’s at anytime. Up there with my favorite fast burger. It might be the best just because of speed and price. Flavor-wise, it’s your traditional shitburger. Childhood burger.
Then we went to KEXP to get a coffee and hang out for a while. The plan was to go to the Museum of Pop that same day, not realizing it closed at 5:00 pm and it was already past 4 pm.
We strolled through the Olympic Statue Garden and chased a rabbit through it. Seattle is a trip.
We decided to do something Nancy really wanted to do, the Great Wheel. The only drama we had during our trip was because of this place. And nothing between us. She lost her ID. More importantly, her VISA.
After ordering a beer and a wine (at $12 and $14) they carded us. They card you everywhere in Seattle. That’s when she realized she couldn’t find her VISA. This was the only wrong moment in the trip.
And after like 5 minutes of looking, she found in the case of her phone. Phew. We got our beer and wine and waited in line for the Great Wheel. Took around 20 minutes. The day was still lovely. And around we went with our drinks in our little booth. It went around 5 times. Two slow and then three quick ones. For $20 each.
It’s not worth it after doing Space Needle. If you go the other way around, or perhaps closer to sunset, it would be cooler. But after the views from Space Needle, the Great Wheel was disappointing.
You get to keep the plastic cups the drinks come in. They are nice shitty souvenir.
We went back around 7ish to hang out with Primo and his wife and to do something I wanted to do. Breweries at Ballard. We went to two: Stoup Brewing and Urban Family.
Stoup was lovely and everything you wish for in a brewery, but the beers were nothing outlandishly great. Their German pilsner was my favorite while hoppy beers were standard. There were a lot of people with cute dogs. They had a vending machine that sold all sorts of beef jerky and cheese. And there appeared to be a seafood restaurant on top, we did not investigate. Again, service was bad.
Just across the street was Urban Family. Preppy white boys were drinking loudly, but inside the place, was weird one color art and you can see the brewery. Their fermentation tanks and mashers were covered in wood, giving it a unique and old look. They had a barrel aged sour at 9% with blood orange and Raspberry called Bourbon Dancer. It reminded me of Madueño’s Oud Bruin. It was very complex. It had notes of raisin and fruits. It was sweet. It was sour. It was delicious. I was the only one in the group that thought it was great. Nancy, Primo and his wife, all thought it was kinda gross.
That was my favorite beer of the trip Bourbon Dancer by Urban Family.
The rest were good but not memorable. They had a slushy beer that Nancy liked but I’ve had better at Kilowatt and Pure in San Diego.
On the way back, we got Ezell’s Famous Chicken. Holy fuck was it delicious.
There was drama in the parking lot like from a 90s movie. Some kids in a big truck were drinking and being overall douches. When they were trying to exit the parking lot, the big truck hit a small car of a nerdy older guy. The truck wanted to leave with a hit and run, but other cars in the parking lot blocked him. Cops were called, but we left before the drama unfolded.
Chicken, more beers, and…
We ended the night playing Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.
Seattle Day 3. Argosy Cruise, MoPOP, Chihuly Sculpture Garden, Thai on 1, Fremont Brewery, Gas Works Park, and more.
Holy fuck did we do a lot. I still have to finish videos about all of this.
Before I forget, this blog post needs a picture. Besides a shit ton of videos, we also took plenty of pictures. And I didn’t even take my camera. I need a new iPhone.
What a cheesy picture. We did a bunch of cheesy stuff. And I loved it. Nancy said she’s never seen me as happy.
I dream of a Seattle life.
Sunday, day 3. We started with the Argosy cruise at 1:30 pm. It’s $39 per adult, but it was included in the City Pass. It’s cruise that fits 500 people but luckily there were less than 100 in the one we got on. They served beers, wine, and food during the cruise. It goes around the Seattle sound while explaining Seattle stuff. It’s worth it and great for pictures.
From there we walked to MoPOP and on the way went by the gum wall and Pike’s Place again. My business card was still gummed to the wall.
Despite looking huge, Museum of Pop Culture is not that big. One giant room called the Church takes 1/5 of the space and it’s huge screen with amazing sound playing music videos. A sculpture of instruments sits in the middle of the museum. Then there are other five rooms in that floor: Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Guitar Room, Pop room, and Indie game room.
The top floor had a jam room where you can grab instruments and go into a practice room similar to a Guitar Center but it’s a museum. There was other shit on the top floor but they told us we needed special passes. The lower floor had a collection of Sci-Fi stuff in a small room. The gift shop and restaurant were also huge.
I was disappointed. It’s an okay museum. It was great to see the Hendrix and Nirvana rooms but it was lackluster. I don’t know what else I expected.
After that we went to the Chihuly Gardens. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just knew it was a glass blowing art installation. I’ve seen that in San Diego. I didn’t I was going to be that great.
It’s fucking fantastic and one of the main highlights of the trip. The art is gigantic and amazing. Massive glassblowing sculptures of all colors hanging like chandeliers or appearing to float in black surfaces followed by a magical garden with more fantastic glassblowing with views of the Space Needle.
All of that was included in the City Pass. Worth it.
For dinner we went to Thai on 1. A lovely older Asian woman received us and sat us by a window overlooking 1st Street. We people and dog watched. Almost every other person was walking their dog.
Thai on 1 was a rare place that had great service. We got the roasted duck curry and the seafood pad Thai (both for $20). Nancy didn’t love the duck, but did love the curry. The pad Thai was excellent though I still think San Diego’s 55 Thai Kitchen is the best I’ve had.
We went back to Fremont and visited the troll again, but this time during daytime. They also have a new garden next to the troll featuring a big turtle and fairy-like settings. With Primo and his wife, we went to Fremont Brewery. They are a low-risk solid brewery. You can find their Lush IPA in many places. The hoppy beers were great. The rest of the beers were standard and somewhat weak. The place was beautiful though. Lush gardens indeed and pretty tables with people and dogs.
After some beers, we walked around Fremont and went through Google and Adobe HQ and headed down to Gas Works Park. It was getting late. Nancy was scared. But I knew what I was doing. After a 20 minute walk in darkness, the park received us with beautiful Seattle views and high schoolers having a party. Oh yeah. Graduation week.
Nevertheless, views were great. Just like my first visit in 2011, except that time I was with strangers from couchsurfing and we were there at around dawn.
Seattle.
Fucking Seattle.
We ended the night playing Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.
Seattle Day 4. Fremont Coffee, Capitol Hill, Volunteer Park, Kedai Makan Malaysian Food, More…
Monday was chill day. CityPass touristy attractions were complete. We did it all. We did a lot. Monday started with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and some shitty chilaquiles that I made.
We visited SeaWolf bakery and got pastries to go: two chocolate croissants, one savory croissant, and a bacon cheddar biscuit. I was disappointed by all. I guess I expected too much from one of Seattle’s leading bakeries. They weren’t bad, but I’ve definitely had better.
Coffee though…
Fuck.
This Vietnamese coffee place called Aroom. Holy fuck. Oh shit. It was like a tiramisu floating in a perfect salty vainilla latte that still lead with coffee. Another highlight of the trip. And that was her coffee. Mine was black sesame latte, and though while it was also fantastic… that salty goodness…
“Sesame Latte: Sesame Cremé, condensed milk, phin dripped Vietnamese coffee. Sweet, creamy, and nutty flavour.
Caphe Muoi/ Salty Coffee: Condensed Milk, Traditional Phin Brewed Vietnamese Coffee, Salty Creme. Rich, creamy, and sweet taste.”
It was so good that we went again the following day.
From there, we went to Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill. It was Laura’s idea. And whoa. Seattle just keeps surprising me with shit. And no matter where you are, you see the Space Needle. It’s a beautiful park with ducks, rabbits, and humans with dogs frolicking. And there’s this observation deck that looks straight up from a video game. The staircase goes round and round forever until you reach the turret-like top with great views of Seattle and the park.
Fuck Seattle. Where does all this magic come from?!
After park time, we went to grab beers at Outer Planet Brewing. Though established in 2014, the brewery was the smallest I saw. It was a small brewery and tap room in the same space. Bags of malt sat under and around the tables were customers drank. The visible tanks were less than 15 BBLs all combined. I wasn’t expecting good.
It was great. Nice sours, great Belgian, and a good IPA. The ESB and English Mild were… uhhh just okay. But a nice surprise brewery addition to the trip.
We met up Melanie and Fernando for dinner in Capitol Hill, their turf. They took us to Kedai Makan a Malaysian restaurant. There was a line to get our table, but service was on the better side (they were busy as fuck).
I knew I was in for a treat when Melanie asked, “do you guys like eating family style?” Oh fuck yeah. Dinner like it should be. Food in the middle, everyone gets to try a bit of everything. I was in. Highlight of the trip.
Always trust your local hosts. We agreed Melanie and Fernando were to choose what to eat in our Malaysian feast. A mix of Indian and South-East Asian of plate after plate came our way. Peanuts with lime leaf and anchovies to snack, Roti Babi and Roti Jala net bread with curry, Rusuk Kedai soy sauce based ribs that fell off the bone, Sayap Ayam Pedas big spicy fried chicken wings with peanuts, and Nasi Biryani with beef rendang my favorite of them all but everything was fantastic as fuck. Even the side salad of greens and pickled cucumbers were to my liking.
They didn’t let me pay my part though I should have. And like a dumbass, I put all the leftovers in one box and took em for myself. I could see Fernando’s face of disgust as I mixed the last rib with the fried chicken and threw more stuff in. I don’t know what I was thinking and I apologize. Sometimes my brain goes into auto drive and thinks “well, I’m not going to waste this food and I must take it.” I didn’t consider that other people also like leftovers and not just me.
But fuck.
First Malaysian meal experience was amazing. It will be very hard to replicate unless I go to Malaysia itself.
Seattle.
Clap. Clap. And clap again.
Tijuana, you ain’t bad. In fact, you are great. But I’m tired of you.
We walked to a nearby bar which I forgot the name but also had pinball. We smoked a joint on the way, but we were to full and tired to drink much more. And it was a Monday. After a drink or two at the bar with pinball and dope murals (like almost every bar), we went back to play Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.
And that’s pretty much how Seattle went.
Seattle Day 5. Coffee and back to Tijuana.
Our flight back was at 3:45 pm. We didn’t have time to do much the following day. We went back to Aroom for that fancy coffee. This time I got the Egg coffee and Nancy got a peach green tea. They were both delicious (the tea was better) but not better than the salty coffee. It will take a long time to find a coffee that will be better than that.
We walked to Lighthouse Roasters for coffee to go. We both got 16 oz of beans for $20. And it’s the coffee that I’m drinking right now. It’s the best coffee I made in my French press but not by much. San Diego coffee tends to be great and Tijuana coffee has been getting better in the past few years. Seattle still beats them. If I had the choice, I would buy this coffee more often than any other place. And for $20… Tis fair.
We took the bus to downtown and the metro to the airport with time to spare. We didn’t get the best seats back but the plane wasn’t full which made it a comfortable ride again. Our Delta screens were working and I watched Anthony Bourdain and old Jeopardy while she watched a shitty Australian movie that whenever I looked over at her screen, there was nudity in a shitty comedic way.
We were back in Tijuana by 8 pm.
That was our Seattle trip.
And I miss it already. There is still so much I want to eat and drink and weird places to discover. So much nature. So many trails. So much oxygen.
Maybe one day I’ll move up there. Doesn’t even have to be Seattle. Spokane, Tacoma, Yakima, or something chill in Washington also works. After the chaos of Tijuana living, my forties might be in the Pacific North West. Or at least I hope for now.
June is halfway gone. I have a bachelor party tour starting this Thursday and ending Monday. I might have a tour before. Then I have another bachelor party tour the following weekend. And other four tours in my schedule.
Before going to Seattle I had two photo gigs that paid me well. I shall be alright. But I still want a real job to upset my 2025 taxes.
I miss Donatella my car. But things are better without her. I always feel like the next chapter of my life is almost here, and in a way… it is. More money. More jobs. Will lead to a new car. More merch. New shirts coming next week. More tours. More everything.
Less drinking. I drink too much.
I still have a shit ton of Seattle TikToks to finish. Over 300 videos somehow edited into one minute shorts of my Seattle vacation. Almost no views. But I like them. Ten years from now, I’ll look at them fondly. If I’m still alive. Or perhaps someone else will.
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