Seattle: Day 5

Yesterday, I left the hostel around 9:30 AM and walked to the Seattle Ferry Terminal. The place was under renovation and it took me awhile to find the entrance. The fare was $9.45 to Bainbridge Island and the return trip was free. I got on the 10:40 ferry and the view from the ferry looking toward Seattle was magnificent. With the wind blowing and the perfect temperature, I enjoyed the 40 minute ride along with many other passengers.

View of Seattle from the ferry

I didn’t know what to do on Bainbridge Island so I walked a loop, taking Ferncliff Ave to High School Rd, then coming back on Madison Ave. I stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch and had a spicy McChicken and a McDouble. This was my first fast food meal of the trip.

There wasn’t much to see since I didn’t have a car. Downtown is a section on Winslow Way and is full of shops and restaurants. I stopped briefly to enjoy a young busker playing the banjo. He could be the youngest busker I'd meet on this trip.

The young busker

I didn’t want to do anything else on the island so I caught the 1:20 PM ferry back to Seattle.

Seattle has one of the best looking libraries. It was designed by the famous architect Rem Koolhaas. I decided to visit there and browse its computer programming books.

Seattle Central Library

Inside the library

The library is futuristic and spacious. I love a city that has a great library. It tells something about the culture of its people. Surprisingly, when I was in the bathroom there was a syringe deposit box. I guess there are many homeless people shooting up in the library? I’m not sure.

I saw many computer programming books in the library’s collection. They are the gateway to becoming a software developer if you are patient and smart enough to learn.

After visiting the library, I walked back to the hostel and rested. Around 5:30 PM, I decided to have some noodles at Dong Thap Noodles in the Little Saigon region near Jackson St and 12th Ave of the Chinatown/International District.

There were so many homeless people in that area. I’m not afraid of the homeless because they have never done any harm to me. I’m more afraid of men in suits, especially the bankers, who screw the world with their greed.

At the restaurant, I had a large bowl of Bun Bo Hue house special. It’s a bowl of spicy noodle soup with different types of meat. To me, the meal had quantity, but not much quality.

A large bowl of Bun Bo Hue

For the rest of day I chilled at the hostel. I wanted to change my July 24 airplane ticket from Kailua-Kona to Hilo so that I’ll go to Kailua-Kona then Hilo then fly from Hilo to Honolulu rather than coming back to Kailua-Kona for the flight to Honolulu. That was my planning mistake.

When I called Hawaiian Airlines they were having some technical difficulties so I wasn’t able to change the origin airport.

The afternoon was hot in the dorm room, as it was in the previous days since the room faced west. I ended up going to sleep around 9 PM again.

This morning, I woke up a little before 7 AM. This time, I didn’t eat my usual dim sum breakfast. The large bowl of spicy noodles from last night was too filling.

Today, I’ll be taking the 5:40 PM flight from Seattle to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. I don’t know what else to do today, but I did read about the Chapel of St. Ignatius on my Wikivoyage travel app. The chapel was designed by another famous architect, Steven Holl. It’s only about a 30 minute walk to the chapel on the Seattle University campus, so I took a trek there around 8 AM.

The chapel looked cool on the outside, but I wasn’t able to go in. The sign on the door stated that due to a recent vandalism the chapel is closed. This is the second time something got vandalized on my trip. First, it was the Wishing Tree, now this. To vandalize something spiritual and religious, the perpetrators will most likely have some bad karma coming to them. Disappointed, I walked back to the hostel.

Chapel of St. Ignatius

I changed my origin airport to Hilo without any fees after chatting with an Hawaiian Airlines representative. After taking a shower, I gathered my things and checked out of the hostel around 10:30. I’m not sure what I want to do for the rest of the time before I take the Link light rail around 3 PM to the airport. I thought about seeing the Wing Luke Museum, which is a museum in Chinatown that’s dedicated to the Asian Pacific American experience, but I’m not sure.

Right now, I’m at the library in Chinatown writing up this post. I  will grab my last meal here in Chinatown before I take the light rail.