A day of exploration...

Crissy Field, San Francisco, CA: my favorite city in the US <3

Grant Park, Chicago, IL:

Day 5 in Seattle

We got brunch at Countryside Cafe, which is close to the airport. It's a pretty small restaurant in a small part of town and a lot of seniors tend to go there. I got Banana rum french toast because it sounded interesting-- but the whole thing basically just tasted like banana syrup lol.

We dropped off my dad at the airport because he flew back home a couple days earlier and then we headed up back to Seattle to check out the Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens. (It costs about $42/person for the combined package. It's a little cheaper if you go early morning or late night but we went during the mid-day).

Chihuly Gardens ------------->

Up in Space needle (only 40 floors)--------------------------->

^^ View from Space needle ^^

We then walked around Myrtle Edwards Park because it was nearby Space needle:

We headed to Kirkland where our hotel was for the night. We decided to get some food early since we had made a sushi reservation super late at night @ around 9:30pm.

^^ or meal at Kirkland Pho House ^^

Dinner time!
Shiro's ------------------------------>

^^ expensive Sushi at Shiro Sushi ^^

There's always a long line at Shiro's sushi. We got a small sushi platter, a dinner combo for $60 and a 17 piece sushi chef's combo for $80.

 We had to wait a little outside the sushi place so I took some pictures outside:

Day 5 is done! One more full day in Seattle! Hope you've been enjoying reading about my trip :)

Seattle Day 6- exploring the Fremont District

We left our hotel in Kirkland and drove back into downtown Seattle, in the Fremont district.
We first drove to Paseo, a Caribbean sandwich restaurant. The subs are really messy. caution: do not eat at the lake, especially on a windy day like we did. It is really messy- good, but sloppy lol. It sounds super romantic to have a picnic by the lake, but not with really sloppy and juicy sandwiches. Maybe light sandwiches like PB&J for a picnic next time?

^^ Fremont district streets, outside of Paseo restaurant ^^

We took the sandwiches on the go and ate them at Gas Works Park, also in Fremont district.

After lunch, we walked around and got a nice view of the lake here.

Gas Works Park ---------------------------------->

^^ Panoramic view from Gas works park-^^

 ^^ Whoops, the couple I accidentally got in the picture actually gives it a nice touch! ^^ 

After the park, we got some tea and mocha at Milstead Co. We stopped by the Fremont troll along the way as well.

Fremont troll ----------------------------------->

After that we decided to head to Golden Gardens Park, which is supposed to be a "real beach" with sand (but really it's a lake). 

Golden Gardens Park ------------------------------>

^^ The water is so nice and cold! I love it! ^^

Our last stop for today: University Village Shopping Center next to the University of Washington.

We took a look and walk around UW Campus as well.

^^ streets near UW: looks so much like Berkeley! ^^

UW Campus --------------------------->

We ate at Din Tai fung in the University Village Center! ----------------->

^^ there was lots of different flavors of Xiao Long Bao & dumplings ^^

^^ I love sesame (芝麻) in everything ^^

AAAANNNDDDD it's a WRAP!!
After dinner, we pretty much went back to our hotel near the airport. The next day we head back home and I'm headed back to Chicago to get my new apartment ready and get prepared to start my second year of optometry school. [I can't believe I'm a 2nd year already!!]

30 day challenge - photograph compilation

On my other blog, I decided to try a 30 day photography challenge, where I would only use the Apple I-phone to take pictures.

I've selected a couple photographs that turned out better in the challenge and compiled it together here.

Some of the pics have been retouched using Photoshop or a photo editor on my phone.

  
Macular Degeneration Disease - my rendition of loss of vision

Food Photography:

Different poses, Different shots

Creative Directing

Photoshop Effect: Gaussian blur effect