PAX Food and Tourist Guide

 

Happy Friday little bots. While I may not be at PAX Prime this year, I still wanted to do a little guide for those who are attending. This is mostly for where to get food, slip away from the crowds, and where to unwind other than your hotel room.

Breakfast:

If you don’t want to eat from your hotel's complimentary breakfast, there are vast options for you to go out to eat. Remember a good meal before you head into the convention will keep you alert and energized all day. Here are a few suggestions on where to go:

Seatown: Tom Douglas is one of the top chefs in Seattle, he owns many restaurants and I would suggest you should try at least one before you leave town. Seatown has a great basic and some so basic breakfast options. Located on the edge of Pike's Market, the prices are great, the food is good, and you can swing threw the market after wards to pick up some snack to eat while at PAX.

Sun Liquor : Want to get away from the crowds? Head up to Capitol Hill

Saturday or Sunday to try Sun Liquor's brunch. Set in a local distillery where they make gin and vodka, it is one of the only distilleries in the country to also serves as a bar & restaurant. If you are old enough try some of their sprites they make in house. The best part, all brunch items are under 10 bucks!

5 point cafe: Set in Belltown just a block away from the Seattle Center lies the 5 Point Cafe. This 85 year old bar is the perfect fix for your greasy spoon food. Open 24 hours a day, you can get breakfast any time you want. This is a great place to cure your hang over the night before.

Where to grab food for later that day:

It is essential to have snacks on hand while at the convention. You don’t want your stomach to be growling while waiting in line or in a panel. Pike Place Market if you go early in the morning is great place to get fresh fruits and veggies to snack on, the key is to go early before the big crowds come. There is also City Target just up the street from Pike's Market where you can grab your usual junk food must haves. But say you want a good sandwich for later that day, stop by Dahlia Bakery to grab food on the go. Not many people will be there and the line goes pretty fast. Another option is to grab doughnuts for early morning meal or afternoon pickup, the best doughnuts in town is Top Pot doughnuts.

Coffee:

it's everywhere in Seattle, I'm serious, you cant walk 10 feet with out bumming into a coffee shop. You don’t need to go far to find coffee around the convention center. There is the always reliable Starbucks, or if you want to try other options there is the Nordstrom Ebar or Caffe Lardo.

Large Group Dinning:

If you normally have a large group to eat with, it's hard to find a restaurant that will accommodate your group. To combat this is is important to make a reservation at least by 3pm. That way you are not waiting for over 2 hours for a table. Here are a few places to go away from the crowds with your group:

Local 360: This place screams everything Seattle. Fresh local food, and drinks right in the heart of Belltown. This place is great for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Icon Grill: Want something that reminds you of home? Look no further than the Icon Grill; serving Seattle since 1998 with dishes like Mac&Cheese, Fried Chicken, and Prime Rib there is something for everyone on this menu. Like Local 360, you can come here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bonus points for it being a 5 minute walk from the convention center.

Rhein Haus – formerly, Von Trapp's: If you really want to get away from the PAX crowd, head up to Capitol Hill for some great Bavarian food. Walking in you feel like you are going into a beer hall in Germany, the beer is great as is the food and they have 5 indoor bocce ball courts. A great place to relax before another day of PAX.

Ivars: Ivars is Seattle, Seattle is Ivars and we love our acres of clams and chowder. Located on the iconic waterfront on Pier 54 you can not beat the views of the ferry’s coming into port. Great seafood you do not want to miss this little piece of Seattle history.

Unwind/ Where to go:

Now sometime you would like to get away from the convention center and relax for an hour or two. Sometimes you don’t want to sit in a hotel, why not instead go to Pikes Market and go on a Food Tour. See the different side of the market and sample the great foods of the Northwest. Or go to the Seattle Public Library with its unique design both exterior and interior. Normally I would say go ride the monorail to check out the Seattle Center but Bumpershoot is this weekend as well and the crowds over there are ridiculous, DO NOT GO!

If you only have an hour and your feet are killing you, swing into Julep for a relaxing pedicure. Need some comics to read for the trip back home, go to Zanadu Comics they have a large collection of trades and new comics.

Hope this helps you for your trip to PAX or any other convention taking place in Seattle. If you are attending this weekend have fun and be safe. See Monday for a weekly update.

See you on the other side

Bug Bites Everywhere!

I'm melting little bots. I'm becoming a puddle of flesh and sweat. To it is suppose to get up to 90 something today and if you know me at all I hate the heat. Fans are blasting on high right now, the windows a re closed to keep the heat out, and the cat don’t look like they have heat stork so I should be good until the thunder storm hits tomorrow. Until that happens I'm not going to do anything strenuous or cook anything in my apartment.

So last week I had to do adult things... managing stocks. The details are so boring I was even falling asleep, but hopefully now I can have my stocks make me money instead of staying at one level. I seriously need a retirement fund that is huge so I can retire at 60 and not 80.

Also last week I ran away to my parents house and had the most amazing meal. We all went to Pikes Market and at at a french restaurant called Maximilien. We sat outside, the view of the ferrys And West Seattle couldn’t be beat. The food was wonderful, well seasoned, and not to heavy for a warm day. The down side for me to go there every week is the pricy. At the end of the meal the bill for 3 people was well over $200, but we did have cocktails, 3 course meal, and a bottle of wine. I would go back for a special occasion or if I saved up some money.

While at my parents house my sister and her family came down for a visit. It's so weird to see children growing up. Last time I saw them was 4 months ago and from that to now they have all grown so much, one of them is almost as tall as my mom. It creeps me the fuck out. Aside form that It was a pretty relaxing weekend aside from all the bug bits that I revived. My legs look as though they have some weird disease on them. So I left Sunday morning to return to the city where the bugs don’t bite me.

So not much happened this past week, skipped seeing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie due to the fact that I do not want my childhood to be ruined. I'm getting my costume ready for a friends party that is 80s-90s themed. With a simple costume I kinda wish I was going at least another convention so I could make an awesome costume. But I have to save money and properly plan out my costumes for Emerald City Comic Con. On that note of cosplay, wanted to show you a video of what cosplayers need to stop doing, and it is not what you think. Have a great week little bots and fingers crossed I don’t turn into a puddle of human flesh.

See you on the other side

We Are the Champions!

            Seahawks Won!!! While many of you may not care, I do and I’m loving it.  This has been 30+ years in the making, and about damn time.   Living in the city I thought there would be more rowdy fans charging up and down the streets, but for the most part there was little damage in the street of Seattle and where I live everyone quieted down around 11:30.

            This past week was uneventful.  I returned home from California after my grandfather’s 100^th birthday.  I had a final meeting with the director on the short documentary film I worked on and got paid.  Final I went to a supper bowl party held by a Broncos fan.  It was funny to watch the game with one broncos fan and the rest were Seahawks.  As true Seahawk fans, we were loud and proud. 

            This week, I am figuring out a couple of Party Wednesday themes for you bots.  Also I will be going to a giant game day/night were we all will be playing board games and magic!  To make up for the weird updates and lack of party blogs here is what I am planning on cosplaying   as for Emerald City Comic Con:

It’s Rock Wonder Woman by Charles Holbert Jr. and Bombshell Wonder Woman by Ant Lucia. 

            Catch you all Friday for a rant or something random blog.

           

            See you on the other side

Colorful Rainbows and Heat Waves

            I hate the heat. 

            Always have, always will.

           

            This past week Mother Nature decided to turn our already hot apartment into a sauna.  Being street level you would think that out apartments would be cool, but no that is not the case.  There isn’t a crass breeze to help so now we are forced to close everything up, not use the stove or oven, and make a make shift air-conditioning unit using a fan and ice.

           

Getto Style

            But all was not lost I had lunch with my father when he came in from Peru at 1000 spirits.  I wouldn’t recommend this place for lunch unless all you want is burgers or salad.  The drinks could be a little stronger for the price you are paying but if you mention this to your waiter they will make sure the bartender doesn’t skimp on the alcohol.

           

            Another good thing this past week was Pride weekend.  I attended the Sunday parade and my friend was supposed to meet me but she bailed her loss on missing out at all the fab.  I did eventually meet

up with some other friends who were a block away from me and we all hung out after wards.

            The parade it’s self was ok, needed more floats, costumes, and condom throwing.  It also lasted a little too long (over 2 ½ hours) but that could be because of the heat. 

            After the parade and activities at the Seattle Center I went home and immediately felt ill.  Between the heat, lack of water, and alcohol I believe I came down with a mild case of heat exhaustion.   Lesson learned drink more water and no alcohol on hot days or long exposure in the sun.

            This coming is America week, sorry Canadians but we are going to show you what pride in your country really look like!  Also that damn game (Defiance) is gone from our shelves and into the hands of someone who has no clue what horrors await them.  Be sure to follow me on twitter for what’s happening in my life.

See you on the other side

I Became a Butterfly and Acquired a Kitten

             Haven’t been tweeting much due to a new addition in our small family, but more on that later.  What I have been doing is making new friendships and rekindling old ones.  I can safely say now I am good on being a social butterfly; now I just have to keep the ball rolling for all the SIFF parties.

            The first part of my week was spending the whole day with my new film buddy (let’s call her Jane).  We meet at the Film happy hour a couple of times and finally got together outside of the event.  Her and her husband are great and can’t wait for our GURPS Campaign to assemble.  What is GURPS well let me just Google it for you: GURPS

            Mid-week I meet up with my talented and creative friend Kiri.  I just thought we were only going to have Brunch but it turned out to be a shopping trip to a wonderful store called Mishu.  I bought a crop jacket and the best/comfortable pants ever.  I would take a picture of them but at the moment they are covered in cat hair.   

            Thursday night I went kitten hunting online.  My man has wanted a new kitten for the past month as a companion for him.  My cat, Neko, only shows affection towards me and after his cat died back in September, he has been longing for a companion.  I found 3 tuxedo kittens in Kitsap County Human Society. 

            On Friday I rushed over to attempt to snatch up one of these kittens.  I was calling them like a mad woman when they finally answered and said they will be at the Petsmart in Silverdale.  After a frantic car ride with my mom we arrived to find out that they were all sold.  My hope was dashed until one of the volunteers said they had another off site adoption in Poulsbo.  We back tracked our way to Poulsbo and they had two left, one all black the other a tuxedo. 

            Both were adorable but the cat that passed away was an all black cat and it would remind him too much of his beloved Salem.  I found out they were not available to take home that due to the black one having an eye infection and they were afraid of the other having it as well.  I still filled out the paper work and that night I got the call she is fine and ready to fully adopt the next day. 

            After the 10 pages of paper work I have the new kitten for my man’s early birthday gift.  I brought her home on Saturday and naturally Neko hated the new kitten, but she will get use to it.  When I presented the new kitten to my man he immediately squealed with joy and thanked me profusely.  Her new name is Tali from Mass Effect, and she fits her name perfectly. 

           

               Coming up this week is movie premier with friends and escaping to my mom’s house for my birthday.  No new party Wednesday this week again, but stay tuned for Friday’s rant.

See you on the other side

Busy Social Calendar

            For once it’s a sunny and beautiful day here in Seattle.  It almost sums up my past week perfectly.  If you recall from my Mondays post last week that I was at my parent’s house.  Not a whole lot happened just did some yard work and went out to an awesome restaurant called Four Swallows in Bainbridge Island.  You can read more about it on my Friday’s blog. 

            I returned in time for film happy hour where I meet the wonderful producer of Imagos films again.  We talk almost the entire evening about games, film, and general geeky thing.  We made a date to have lunch this Wednesday.  I also meet another producer and director who are in the midst of finding another sound designer.  I am going to be courting them at the SIFF gala in the coming weeks.

            Friday rolled around and with it another party.  This time it was for my 3 friend’s birthdays, all of them have a birthday in the same week.  It was great to let lose, drink like a fish, and chat with some old friends.  I am so glad I did not get drunk nor had a hangover the next day.

            Then came Sunday.  I made plans to have lunch with this girl (who is a musician/song writer) I meet last time at Happy Hour.  She invited me to her house for some home made pha thai since she is strapped for money.  Getting to her house was a pain, for whatever reason the bus services suck and if you missed your bus it is an hour wait.  I did manage to arrive around 12:15 and she was still in her pajamas.  She thought we were having dinner but I corrected her and we still had lunch. 

            The food was good and the tea was strong, we had a light conversation about working and that was about it.  Not to say it was dull but I doubt we have very much in common other than music and work related questions.  I think next time it will be coffee at a coffee shop in the Udistrict.

            This coming week is full of social engagements.  As a result I am going to postpone party Wednesday for a couple of weeks due to scheduling and SIFF events. I will be updating on Mondays and Fridays as usual. 

See you on the other side