Deep Experience of Seattle in 2015 – Fifty-Four Days of Study and Travel
Today I just learned something: travel notes published on Ctrip will only be visible to the author after five years, and others will not be able to see them. So I will copy and paste this travel note to republish it.
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The first time I wrote a travel note was to record my trip to Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka in 2015. It wasn't very good and didn't become a featured post. In November of the same year, I was assigned by my company to go to Seattle to study Boeing 777 maintenance. It lasted about fifty-four days, giving me a deep experience of Seattle. In 2011, I was also sent by the company to the Boeing factory in Seattle to oversee the construction of new aircraft, but I only stayed for twenty days. Boeing provided a car for transportation, and I didn't go to many places, only buying some things near where I stayed. This time, there were eighteen of us. Boeing rented three cars through a rental company, and we paid for the gas ourselves. This greatly expanded our range of activities.
Since the stay was long, I won't record it day by day; I'll arrange the content in the order of my trips.
Visa: Official passport. We filled out the DS-160 form online ourselves, and the team leader applied for an interview appointment on our behalf. The visa officer asked some very strange questions: "Are there any homeless people?" and "Are there any people with only elementary school education?"
Airfare: MU583 first flew to Los Angeles, then we transferred to a Delta flight to Seattle. Special note: Flights between China and the US allow two 23kg checked bags, but domestic US flights charge for checked luggage, and it's very expensive unless you have a connecting ticket.
Accommodation: The team leader booked the TownePlace Suites hotel, which consists of townhouse-style buildings. The double room had one king bed and one sofa bed, plus a full kitchen, perfect for long stays. We negotiated with the hotel via email and got the rate down to $70 per day. Personally, I think if you're driving yourself, there's no need to stay in the city center. The hotel we stayed at was very nice, with free breakfast and free dinner three nights a week (even if it's just burgers). It was very convenient to get around, with supermarkets and shopping centers nearby, and we could easily get on the highway by car.
Transportation: Boeing rented three cars for us through a rental company: a Grand Caravan, a Dodge (a lower-spec version of the Grand Caravan), and a Camry. We paid for the gas ourselves.
Communication: I bought phone cards on Taobao, two cards, each valid for one month, activated in two batches.
Meals: On weekdays, we bought ingredients from the supermarket and cooked ourselves. On weekends, we ate out during trips. If we didn't want to cook, the Boeing cafeteria was a good option, though a bit pricey. The nearby Chinese restaurants were also very authentic, especially Old Szechuan, which we visited many times.
November 1, 2015: Departed on MU583! After 12 hours of flying, we arrived in Los Angeles.
Then we went to another terminal to transfer to a Delta flight. US flights are even stingier than domestic Chinese ones; without paying extra, you get the most cramped seats. I ended up sitting in the last corner near the toilet.
Another three hours before we reached Seattle. We took Boeing's shuttle bus to the hotel. Exhausted, I ate some instant noodles I brought and took sleeping pills (based on previous experiences, if I didn't take sleeping pills the first night, I would only sleep four hours). The next morning, I took a quick look at the hotel and then went with students from another company on the bus to the Boeing training center.
Boeing's training center is an open campus without walls. You need a pass to enter the teaching buildings, but the garden is open to stroll. On nice days, many people run there. There were also many geese, and the ground was covered in droppings, cleaned up regularly.
Our classroom. To be honest, it wasn't as good as Airbus's training classrooms. In Airbus classrooms, students work in pairs and have simulators identical to full-motion simulators so they can practice while learning. The hallways had many promotional posters. I learned for the first time that Boeing's first engineer was Chinese Wang Zhu! The signature on the 777 model was from the chief female test pilot, Susanna.
The first day at lunch, I bought a meal at the cafeteria for about $8. Though there was a wide variety, it didn't suit our tastes. Chinese people prefer rice and stir-fry dishes. After that, we cooked extra in the evening and brought leftovers the next day.
When I first went to the US for aircraft supervision, Boeing sent a car every day. The second time was a group tour. This time, Boeing rented three cars from a rental company: a Grand Caravan, a Dodge (actually a lower-spec Grand Caravan), and a Camry. This greatly facilitated our daily travel and was especially useful for weekend trips and shopping. Four colleagues even drove to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving – tough guys! That's a later story. The rental guy saw me taking a photo and posed for me.
The first time we fueled up, a group of grown men couldn't figure it out. Some gas stations wouldn't accept Chinese credit cards, so we had to pay at the counter first. Before leaving China, I got a membership card at SAM'S in Pudong for an annual fee of 150 RMB, which also worked in the US. SAM'S member gas stations had the cheapest gas I saw in the US, at $2.19 per gallon.
Mount Rainier was our first longer-distance trip, taking a full day round trip. Scenery was everywhere along the road. Many people were skiing on the mountain, and we could only make snowballs and throw them at each other.
Once we entered the mountains, there was no cell phone signal at all. Even though China Mobile charges high rates, their base stations are quite good. Our phone cards had 2GB of data per month and unlimited calls.
Premium Outlets is the largest outlet in Seattle. Many Canadians also drive there to shop. It was 50 miles from our hotel. From then on, whenever we had no weekend travel plans, we'd go shopping. You could see Chinese people with big bags everywhere. That was our first shopping haul, just a small part of our total purchases over fifty days.
The teacher took us to the 777 production factory for hands-on learning. Boeing's wide-body aircraft are produced in Everett, and narrow-body in Renton. The Everett factory is the largest building in the world, listed in the Guinness World Records. You can only feel its grandeur when standing in front of it. No photography inside, only outside. If you want to visit, you can join a Boeing tour.
Right next to the hotel was a COSTCO supermarket, cheap and with large quantities. The cucumbers, celery, mixed vegetables, and pork chops we bought lasted us a whole week – we were desperate. Later, we went to a Chinese supermarket to change things up.
Our studies were quite intense. The first exam: someone failed due to carelessness, but they passed the make-up. After that, no one failed again.
The next weekend, we went as a group to Olympic National Park. The mountain roads were closed, so we could only drive around the foothills, but it was worth it to see the coast. On the way back, we passed through Forks, the town where Twilight was filmed. It was very quiet and a bit desolate. We got out, walked a few blocks, then continued back.
Don't think only Airbus has the A380 double-decker. Besides the 747, Boeing had the 377 Stratocruiser, which was double-decked and initially served transpacific routes. Due to high costs, only 56 were built before production stopped.
Take a look at the seafood at the Chinese supermarket.
How can you go to Seattle without visiting Pike Place Market? It has all kinds of stalls, including the first Starbucks, which always has a line. The market has various shops. I highly recommend a yogurt shop – it's delicious. Suggest going on Sunday when street parking is free.
The Space Needle is also a must-see. Since we had many days, we bought annual passes. The views are great both day and night.
Early one morning, we went to Kerry Park to watch the sunrise. The park is on a hill with an excellent view, overlooking the harbor and Mount Rainier in the distance.
Another weekend, we went to the US-Canada border. Without a Canadian visa, we couldn't cross. There was no fence between the two countries; you could walk across or drive through a checkpoint. Still, many border police patrolled.
Snoqualmie Falls is not far from the hotel. One day after class, we went there. It was the dry season, so the water flow wasn't big, but standing close was still impressive.
Finally, the long-awaited Thanksgiving arrived. The US had four days off. Four colleagues left half a day early for Las Vegas. When they returned, they said it snowed heavily on the way, the roads were icy, and the car even slid – very dangerous. On Thanksgiving Day itself, we headed south to Mount St. Helens, then further south to tax-free Portland for shopping. Mount St. Helens is dormant now, beautiful scenery, but the roads were also icy and dangerous. The observation deck was closed, so we could only look from the base.
Leaving Mount St. Helens, we continued south. When we arrived in Portland, we found all stores closed and only homeless people on the streets – the staff also needed a day off. We were dumbfounded. Our plans to buy iPhones and Tiffany jewelry were dashed. I checked online and found an outlet 30 miles further south that opened at 6 PM and was open all night. So we continued south, not wanting to have come for nothing. After waiting four painful hours, we finally entered and shopped like crazy, leaving at midnight. Before leaving the US, we came back again and got the things we wanted.
The Museum of Flight in Seattle is a holy place for aviation enthusiasts. Though a private museum, its exhibits are heavyweight: an A-12 with a D-21 drone, a Concorde, a Boeing 707 Air Force One, a space shuttle. Many retired veterans volunteer as docents. Too bad we went after class; the visit was too short. I'll have to go again if I have the chance.
This was also where Boeing started. The little red building is now part of the museum.
Concorde: the fastest commercial aircraft in the world. One crashed because a bolt dropped on the runway punctured a tire, causing it to burst. Soon after, all were retired.
Boeing 707 Air Force One: Nixon flew on it to China.
Across the street is the space pavilion, with a space shuttle training simulator.
University of Washington: an Ivy League school with a long history, producing several Nobel laureates. Its library was the filming location for the Harry Potter dining hall. Since we were there, we had to pose for photos.
I never drink coffee because it makes my stomach ache, not even tea. Plain water is my best drink. But since I was at UW, I had my first cup of Starbucks coffee there – and my stomach ached all day.
Bruce Lee's grave: the martial arts legend rests here, with his son, who also died unexpectedly, beside him. The grave faces the water with a hill behind – definitely good feng shui.
Pike Place Market is a very interesting place. Whenever we had free time, we'd go for a stroll. We discovered a flea market.
On the last day of Thanksgiving, we drove around Mercer Island and the Medina town, both wealthy neighborhoods. Houses face the lake, each with its own yacht dock. We could only look from outside. I checked Bill Gates' house number, but there was none on the actual street – it was skipped.
While peeping at someone's house, two dogs suddenly rushed out of a car and chased us. We ran for our lives in terror.
I always wanted to buy a top-tier outdoor brand Arc'teryx jacket, but when I saw the price, I gave up.
Christmas was approaching. Kids were taking photos with Santa.
Under the Space Needle, there are several museums and cultural centers. The Chihuly Glass Museum is a great place, with a style completely different from the Shanghai Glass Museum.
Shanghai Zoo is packed on weekends, traffic jam on Hongqiao Road, but Seattle Zoo is remarkably quiet. It has many rare animals, and I even saw the legendary Komodo dragon.
Downtown Seattle is actually built on top of the old city. There's a special tour: the Underground Tour.
One day at the training center cafeteria, they laid out a big spread – probably a pre-Christmas dinner. We could only continue microwaving yesterday's leftovers.
The CRAB POT is a famous seafood place in Seattle. People started queuing before 11 AM before it even opened. Americans basically just steam all ingredients together and serve them, letting the natural flavors shine.
At the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, two decommissioned aircraft carriers are moored: the USS Independence and the USS Kitty Hawk. They used to be open to the public on certain days, but now they are closed. We could only look from afar. I've been on the Kiev in Tianjin and the Minsk in Shenzhen, but for a US carrier, I'll have to go to San Diego to see the Midway.
Nearby, there was a decommissioned destroyer open for boarding. It was cold, so only six of us visited – we had the whole ship to ourselves!
Nearby is a small naval museum. Though small, it had plenty to see.
Speaking of Seattle, you can't leave out Microsoft. The Microsoft store only sells derivative products; core digital products are only sold to employees.
