Eve Ensler: I Am an Emotional Creature

Playwright (The Vagina Monologues, 1996) and VDay founder Eve Ensler sits with author Daniel Handler to talk about issues and share insights on the modern woman. Her views and delivery are intense and discerning. The whole presentation is intelligent, funny and informative. Watch it.

(This video is from FORA.tv, 16 February 2010)

                 

Pike Place, UDub and The Needle (Seattle, 2 of 2)

Pike Place Market was on my list of must-see-again places, so I was happy to have it  included in our itinerary.

Now spread across nine acres, the public market began operations in 1907, as an alternative to growing food prices during the period. It's the oldest of its kind in the US, and is visited by millions of tourists each year.

 

Weaving leisurely through the crowd, I was  reminded of the Greenhills tiangges. The general atmosphere was similar, though it had a distinct charm and smell. I passed by rows and rows of colorful crafts, handmade souvenirs, flowers, fresh fish and fish products, fruits and specialty foods.

One of the pioneer eating hubs that opened in Pike Place Market is Lowell's Restaurant and Bar. Originally a cafeteria, it's now one of the best-kept secrets in the area. Very casual and partly self-service, the restaurant is known for its fresh seafood, hearty breakfast meals and great views of Elliot Bay and Puget Sound.

We tagged along with my niece to the University of Washington. Looking grand and gothic, it's listed as one of the top ranking universities in the world. Small wonder that Seattle itself is the most literate city in the US. 


(In photo: Towering over us is the George Washington statue, within the UDub campus).

(In photo: UDub's Johnson Hall, which houses the Biology and the Earth and Space Sciences departments.)

 

The Space Needle is easily Seattle's most popular symbol. 

Our ride to the top was less than a minute. The elevator operator blurted out some fast (yes, fast indeed) facts about the structure. I managed to catch a few:    ".. built for the 1962 World's Fair.. elevator moving at 10 miles an hour.. Observation Deck is 520 feet, roughly 60 stories high.."


I recently also learned that the Needle is about 1,320 Milky Way bars tall.





I'm thinking of going back to Seattle. Maybe next time for a tour inside the Boeing factory, or a bike ride through one of their hanging bridges. 

Pike Place Market

85 Pike Street

Seattle, WA USA

(206) 682 7454

Lowell's Restaurant and Bar

1519 Pike Place

Seattle, WA USA

(206) 622 2036

University of Washington Information and Visitors Center

GF, Odegaard Undergraduate Library

022 Odegaard

Seattle, WA USA

(206) 543 9198

Space Needle

400 Broad Street

Seattle, WA USA

(206) 905 2100

Grunge, Starbucks and Jimi Hendrix (Seattle, 1 of 2)

My exceptional curiosity about Seattle began only after my first visit there. Coming back to Manila, I wished I had stayed longer to explore more.

 

I visited again last month. This time, it was an exciting mix of reminiscence and discovery of the places I’d already gone to and the new ones I was yet to see. With the perfect spring weather, a handy digicam and my dear sister and her family bringing me around - the Queen City was as alive and lush as I had remembered it to be.

  

The Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum are two permanent exhibits that chronicle the history of pop music and the ideas of science fiction as produced in literature, tv and film. The place teems with valuable memorabilia, interactive rooms and colorful souvenirs.

Founded by philantropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and designed by Frank Gehry, the entire facility partly takes its shape from a shattered electric guitar. (In photo: My grown-up pamangkins posing near the entrance.)

The younger generation and sci-fi fanatics would enjoy the SFM, with its outer space lighting effects and displays of alien costumes, extra-terrestial weapons and spaceship models. It's the first of its kind in the world. 

Though not a trekkie, I was drawn to the Star Trek mini display and remembered when, as a kid, my siblings and I would close off our hallway to create a dark room which was the Enterprise. ''Beam me up!'' were the magic words to make us disappear.

  Music and style owe a big part of their continuing evolution to Seattle. Grunge, also widely known as Seattle Sound - through bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains - originated here. Its influence in fashion today is also marked - think Sienna Miller, Zoe Kravitz and even Bjork.

And then there's the immortal rock-god Jimi Hendrix. Born and buried here.

(In photo: A collection of famous artists' old guitars forms a giant cone at the EPM | SFM lobby.)

  

Famous coffee king Starbucks, whose paper coffee cups have become a definite status symbol to today's yuppies, finds its roots in this city. It opened its very first shop in Pike Place Market in the early seventies. (In photo: The coffee shop today.)

  

Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum (EMP | SFM)

325 5th Avenue North
Seattle, WA USA

Starbucks Seattle
1912 Pike Place
Seattle WA USA

Big Beef in the Big Apple

When I think about NY, I think about (don't laugh, now) premium beef. Blame it on my dad for bringing me to Tad's on my very first visit there. And on my sister too, with whom I once stayed for several months, for making me do the grocery where I always ended up grabbing a chunky slice of US-grade steak in the frozen meats section :P

***

The second branch in NY (first in the Lexington area), Rare Bar and Grill Chelsea - known  for its creative twists on its steak and burger dishes - opened only early this year. We were staying in the hotel where it was located and decided to check it out on our last night in NY. Kobe beef burgers and humongous steaks. And lovable beer.. Burp.

From the hotel lobby, the place didn't look like much - a narrow bar with a few corner tables. But as we were led inside, a staircase tucked at the corner of the bar opened to a spacious dining area with a high ceiling. The en vogue interiors, dramatic lighting and upbeat background music reflected a hip atmosphere (this was, after all, the fashion district).

The Cowboy Ribeye Steak was as big as our dinner plates back home and about more than an inch thick. Served medium as requested, it layed on a bed of truffle spinach risotto and was topped with a slab of bleu cheese. Red wine mushroom sauce came on the side. The meat was so tender and succulent, tasting only as it should without any fancy marinade. The accompaniments blended in well and weren't overpowering.

The restaurant's Rare Classic Burger didn't disappoint either. It was simple yet very tasty, highlighting the tender smoky flavor of the kobe beef. There were several dressings to choose from - I opted for the chipotle aioli, which added a bit of garlicky zing to the dish.

Washing down all that heavenly meat with cold beer almost made me forget that a bottle was $8 plus tax. In casual Manila, that would've bought me about 6 bottles ! Heck, I wasn't picking up the tab, anyway. I succumbed and ordered one more :)

Rare Bar and Grill Chelsea

Inside Fashion 26, a Wyndham Hotel

152 West 26th Street

New York, NY USA

(212) 807-7273