Downtown Seattle Part I (Gum Wall, Pike Place, and Olympic Sculpture Park)

Pow!  Yesterday, I used public transportation, my second favorite form of transportation after airplanes (trains are high on the list as well) and made my way in to the heart of Seattle.  The bus ride in and of itself was a lot of fun as was the adventure once arriving in Seattle.  I got off at University Street.  My agenda for the day had been predetermined by weather.  If it was raining SAM (Seattle Art Museum).  If the clouds would hold the water for a bit I'd make my way past Pike Place and down to Olympic Sculpture Park.  The clouds held their water droplets long enough for me to enjoy a few sculptures.  

After Olympic Sculpture Park I made my way back up towards Pike Place seeing as how it was only noon or there abouts.  I stopped at The Pike Brewing Company for lunch and then made my way over to see SAM.  The following pictures are from my adventures down to Olympic Park and then back again, stopping before lunch.  I'll throw up another post later with Part II of the adventure.  Here are a few photos from Downtown Seattle Part I:

(Ferris Wheel, a Seattle icon located in a terrible spot)

(Post Alley, home of the Gum Wall)

 (Gum wall from a distance) 

 (Quite a bit of gum, layers upon layers upon layers of gum)

 (As is tradition, I added gum to the wall, again.  My piece was the long stringy black piece in the middle of this photo.)

(Famous Pike Place Fish Co., home of the FISH philosophy which I remember from my Residential Advisor days)

 (Famous sign from the back)

 (Here is the iconic sign from the front - Public Market Center)

 (Corner of Pike St and Pike Pl)

 (A busker trying to earn his keep)

(A wonderful and colorful array of fruits and veggies from the Farmers' Market)

(Sports Fields and Mount St. Helens in the background)

(PURGE  - not sure what was being purged, perhaps rain)

(Olympic Sculpture Park)

 (And so the sculptures begin - Space Needle in the background)

 (A seagull friend of mine with Alaskan Way in the the background)

 (He even stayed when I took a picture)

 (Artsy shot of the Space Needle through a glass sculpture)

 (Another sculpture.  Olympic Park is sponsored by Seattle Art Museum.)

(Not sure if these runners were apart of the park of just a sculpture in front of a business)

 (Another sculpture from a distance)

(A roller blade wheel with brush on top)

(This guy.  This guy may just be my new hero.  I'm walking out from under the overpass and see this guy rounding the corner.  He paused for a moment and the next thing I knew there was a bright orange disc flying at me.  He was still quite far so I was in no immediate danger the disc landed in front of the roller skate wheel with a brush on top.  I thought nothing of it.  Took a few photos as the man wheeled his possessions towards the sculpture.  He got to a point where he was in line with the Frisbee and stopped his cart.  He walked over, picked up the Frisbee and returned to his cart.  I heard him mutter something and with his might he flung the Frisbee once more.  If you look closely and depending on your eye sight you may just be able to see the orange Frisbee in the middle of the opposite lane close to the white lines almost parallel to the white and red sign.  This, it appears, is how this man keeps himself occupied.  Tossing a Frisbee and then retrieving it only before tossing it again.  I once again found myself slightly jealous.)

 (Jump shot, a little blurry)

 (Jump shot round 2)

 (A shot Elliot Bay)

 (Another sculpture.  I think it was supposed to represent a fish or sea creature of sorts.)

(My favorite sculpture of the day - '&')

(Got to spend a little time on a beach, even though it was a bit cold.  I do enjoy my beach time and smell of salt water, holds a special place in my heart.)

 (A big boat)

 (Different angle of the first sculpture)

 (This is a telephone pole that has been littered with staples)

 (This was as I made my way back to Pike Place - it's an umbrella)

 (Whale fins with maple leafs cut out of it???)

 (Pike Place Market)

(1st Starbucks - not a fan of coffee, but thought I'd take a shot for those of you who are)

(Final shot of the Public market sign from a different angle)

Gyoza Challenge

Last time I visited Seattle Momo jokingly made the comment, 'Oh, I can eat 100 gyozas.'  However, last time, seeing as how she was pregnant with MJ we decided to postpone the gyoza Challenge until my next visit...

100 Gyozas.  2 Hours.  East vs. West.  Japan vs. America.  Momo vs. JC.  The following photos and video were recorded from that epic night.  Fun?  Absolutely!  Would I do it again?  Never.  The 53 gyozas it took to win the competition came up later that night.  I've never eaten so much in my life and plan on never eating that much again.  MJ even had some input, watch the video below to see what he has to say...  

(Gyozas still in the bag.  We got 7 bags with about 30 gyozas in each bag.)

 (Momo and I posing before Joel begins cooking)

(Thankfully Joel was willing to cook, perhaps he was smart enough to realize the impact of attempting to eat 100 gyozas...  I'm not sure.)

(We fried the gyozas in sesame oil and looking back we should have boiled them...  hindsight is 20/20)

 (A sign of respect before the Challenge began)

(The stare down...)

 

(We used pennies to keep track of how many gyozas were consumed.  Joel cooked 20 at a time, 10 for both Momo and myself and when he brought a new plate over he would take a penny away.)

(One of the dipping sauces)

(Momo and MJ)

(I had 2 dipping sauces and was drinking some OJ to try and mix up the taste.  None of the strategies really helped.)

 (For some reason I thought gyozas were smaller.  They're not that small.) 

(MJ looking at me like I'm crazy...)

(Not sure which plate this was on but it makes me sick to look at it now)

(Enjoy the video, it's my favorite part)