Go Sonics

I got a couple of tickets to a Sonics basketball game at the Key Arena (near the Space Needle). It was very exciting since I’ d never been to a game before. They were playing the Houston Rockets and got their asses kicked. Despite that it was a fantastic night out. It’ s a real family event and there’ s so much fun and entertainment throughout the evening.

My favorite moment was when Squatch (a guy dressed up as Bigfoot) sat on a small board on wheels and was shot across the floor by a giant catapult to knock down a giant set of tenpins at the other end of the court.

You had to be there to believe it!

Ichiro!

Yesterday we went to the Safeco Field stadium to watch baseball. The Seattle Mariners were playing the Cleveland Indians. We went with our friends Jose & Priscilla, who are big baseball fans and were able to explain the game to us (which made it a lot more entertaining).

The Safeco Field is “arguably the greatest baseball stadium ever built, from its fan-friendly features to its retractable roof”. There are a lot of similarities between baseball and cricket (and no I don’ t mean that they’ re both boring!). They’ re slow games and it’ s more about strategy and tactics than just making big hits. The star player of the Mariners is a Japanese player called Ichiro Suzuki. He’ s the first Japanese player to sign with a major league club in the US . You can even buy an Ichiro Starbucks card!

Driving Test Again!

Every new resident of Washington state is required to get a WA drivers licence within 30 days of becoming a resident. You have to take a written (computer) test and a driving test. Tamy was able to switch her Puerto Rico licence and only had to take the written test. I had to take both! I took the written test nearly 2 weeks ago and passed with 80%. I was more nervous about the actual driving test. Yes I’ ve been driving for 17 years in the UK , but you pick up so many bad habits along the way and who can reverse around the corner properly anyway!! But it turns out I had nothing to worry about…I got 100%!

Sunny Seattle

We may get 225.5 cloudy days a year in Seattle (can’t remember where I read that), but when it’s sunny, it’ s beautiful. We’re surrounded by lakes and mountains. Despite the traffic (which is supposed to be worse than Los Angeles these days) it is still a lot more relaxing to drive here than in London . The drivers here are so well behaved (well compared to London anyway), people give way as soon as they realize you need to pull in, they hardly ever horn at other cars and everyone here is so chilled out and drives in slow motion – surprising for a city that drinks so much caffeine! I’ m fortunate enough to have a fantastic view from my office and on a nice day like today it can be breathtaking.

Sofrito Rico

We’ ve been in our apartment for just over a week now and slowly it’ s starting to feel like home. We both miss our parents, but fortunately our minds have been pre-occupied with the million things that we need to do now that we’ re here. Today we went to a Puerto Rican restaurant in Ballard with a really nice couple that we met through my work. The food was good, the company was great and Tamy was very happy – to be eating Puerto Rican food with other Puerto Ricans! A nice note to end the weekend on.