Approved and Seattled
November 14th, 2009 by jansen-canariaFive days ago
“…is approved”, the middle-aged stocky lady behind the counter told me at the US Consulate in downtown Vancouver at the end of the interview. She asked me to return on Tuesday. The butterflies I’ve been having since Mike’s application got approved two days earlier has gone. I left the Consul building with a semi-permanent smile, I pinched my arm and reminded myself that some dreams may take a while but they happen in reality.
Yesterday
“Please check your passport outside”, the friendly looking woman said politely for the nth time one visitor after another as she handed me my passport. I scanned its pages and there I found the addition, a US visa. I looked at my fat face on the accompanying picture and compared it with the one in the passport. I felt a bit disgusted by my now round cheeks. I placed the passport carefully on my left chest pocket, guarded it with my life for this will be my key to the the gates of Uncle Sam tomorrow.
November 11, 6am Filipino time
Mike woke up late thinking Marc and Anne will be late too. I was all dressed up by the time Marc has ‘broken in’ to our house (someone has left the door unlocked). Anne, who Mark spoke to on the phone, was ready and waiting for us at their house.
About half an hour later
We are at Anne’s place in Patterson when we realized we don’t have US dollars to pay at the Canada-US border. We made an early emergency morning call to Rico, who wasn’t able to go with us on this trip because his new work permit has not been issued yet. We went back home and the great trip planner/long- hour driver/official photographer handed us the dollar bills that we need.
Around 7am
While in our rented car on our way to the border, Anne and i noticed how many times the driver and the navigator said the vernacular “P” curse to Maggie, in disappointment. If GPS had feelings, I’m sure we are not getting to our destination but finally, a few turns later, we reached a highway.
8am
At the border’s office, Mike asked about what CBP means. These letters are printed in bold yellow on the border police’s caps. Canada Border Police was his guess. Customs and Border Protection, the correct answer as I read each words posted in a wall.
Around 820am
Without a plane ride, a luggage or an airport, I find it hard to believe that we are actually in another country already. Welcome to Seattle, Washington, USA.
Outside Tulalip Resort Casino in Seattle, first landing.
930am
I love big breakfast at McDonald’s, the US version looks almost the same as with the Canadian except for the muffin I think. By the way, it’s my first USD purchase in the US, and using borrowed money. Haha.
I watch what I eat, literally: hashbrown, scrambled eggs, butter, sausage, English muffin.
After that big breakfast
We’re ready to hit the shops at Seattle Premium Outlets. I was excited at first seeing how many shops are found here but my enthusiasm wore off the moment i realized outlet shopping isn’t just for me. It was hard to find my sizes and I couldn’t seem to find anything fancy except for underwear. Plus, I’m not exactly fond of shopping for other people either except for Christmas.
At the Seattle Premium Outlets, shopping!!!
In the end, I only bought: two new pairs of Calvin Klein undies, a coin purse and small perfume bottle and four Nike printed tees. Marc and Mike who were shopping buddies today seemed like they were on a bargain shopping spree and were purchasing like there’s no USD-CAD-PHP conversion involved. When we returned to the car, we found the trunk filled with their shopping bags already. Anne, on the other hand, who finished last was having some regrets for not being able to buy a new coat, a new pair of shoes, a cocktail dress for an upcoming Christmas party or enough watches like she has hoped for.
Around 230pm
After four hours of shopping around the outlet stores, we moved to another shopping area called the University Village. The sight of H&M and Barnes&Noble made me realize that “lunch” could wait a bit more and so I went solo and explored the place. Didn’t find anything fancy at H&M, I guess because I frequent the store often in Vancouver. It was a different story though at Barnes&Noble which is a memorable for me because I have received a few books bought in this bookstore from my friend Sarita when she was assigned in US. The bookstore’s ambience felt like a library that has no tables and chairs but instead has payment counters and price labels. It’s probably the largest bookstore I’ve been to.
My first actual book purchase at Barnes & Noble.
415pm
I found myself back at H&M with Anne, at the fitting room helping her choose a dress for the upcoming formal Christmas party she’ll be attending. Picked her a dress i thought was nice and surprised that she liked it and she bought. My thought bubble says “How come women’s clothes are a lot cheaper than men’s
550pm
Lunch-and-dinner-in-1 happened at Johnny Rockets, a nice American diner located inside the University Village. The waiter who I thought looks like a good looking cartoon character, took our orders one by one: Rocket Single burger and iced tea for me. The burger came with fries and was made rather special when the waiter drew a smiley face out of ketchup on the saucer. I sipped the iced tea and tasted a strong tea flavor with a hint of lemon and the shortage of sweetener.
Every table in the diner has this cute jukebox. We never tried it though.
Lunch-and-dinner-in-1 just makes me smile.
Not my type of iced tea.
After that lunch-and-dinner-in-1
We drove to Seattle downtown, parked and walked in the streets. Finally I felt like a tourist looking at familiar shops I’ve only seen in print or have only heard of but have now come to life. The downtown here seems more busy and alive but lesser safe than in Vancouver, and the fall weather is just almost the same cold one. We passed about three Starbucks Coffee shops before we reached our destination– the very first Starbucks store located at Pike Market Place. After purchasing some memorabilia and waiting for our coffee orders, entertainment was in the form of a clash right inside the store between two different class of vagrants fighting for territory.
At the oldest Starbucks in the world.
Around 7 pm
If you watch Grey’s Anatomy, the picture below would seem familiar to you. It was early in the evening and it started to drizzle when we arrived in Space Needle, perhaps the most popular landmark here in Seattle (rapping~rhyme). Marc and Anne who have gone on the top of the tower on their previous visit asked Mike and I to just go ahead, but I gave them their Christmas gifts in advanced and treated them tickets to see the observation deck once more. Standing more than 500 feet above ground on a rainy evening, I wouldn’t say i had maximized what the16 USD entrance fee. I was acrophobic and we couldn’t even get a decent picture with the Seattle skyline as background.
The Space Needle, standing at 520 feet.
Acrophobia, bad weather, evening equates to bad shot.
About an hour and a half later
We return where we parked our car only to find out that after Marc’s several attempts to open the doors, it just won’t open. Something must have gone wrong with the automatic button keys. We were almost ready to panic and ask for help, me imagining spending the night at Seattle hotel already and being stuck in the US for a day… when Mike remembered where the emergency manual key is. Our heartbeats returned to normal rate, we hopped into the car and we’re ready to go home.
The rest of the evening
There was a long line going to the Canada border and the four of us have already rehearsed what are common answers would be in case the border police asks or doubts that we did too much shopping in Seattle. Luckily, there were only a few, we made it back to Canada and called ourselves “balikbayans”.
5 minutes passed midnight
We reached home safe and called it the end of my first US trip.










