Amazing Canada, USA and Alaska - Our Pre and Post Alaska Cruise Report (Updated!)

Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report . 2012 . September

This post is a follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. In this post, we would like to share our pre and post cruise itinerary. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

From tiny little Singapore in Southeast Asia, we found ourselves having to travel across half of the globe to Vancouver where the Diamond Princess departs for our 10-day Gulf of Alaska cruise-tour.  Not that we minded!

Our vacation started with a 19 hour flight to Los Angeles via Singapore Airlines. It was not our first trip to the United States.  In fact, this is our third USA trip in 2 years!  The cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco were not new to us, but since we making the trip across the Pacific, we took the opportunity to re-visit these beautiful cities again.

We also took the opportunity to visit 2 new cities, Vancouver and Seattle.
  
Vancouver, Canada – a land that we had never stepped foot on before this trip.   It holds so much much beauty and culture that we must come back again soon, for the few days that we spent at Vancouver pre-cruise was not sufficient to explore it in greater depths.

Seattle, USA – the place renowned for its great coffee and which was the birth place of the famous Starbucks chain of coffee houses was a stop-over point for us on the way home to Singapore.

The beauty of this trip was that we got to experience the cultures and beauty of a few different cities, had a relaxing and eye-opening cruise to Alaska where we got to see lots of wildlife, did lots of shopping at and out of Alaska, and had great experience with gourmet food and coffee all within a short but exciting period of 18 days. 

Here's a quick preview of our itinerary.  Stay tuned and bookmark this page as we bring you the details in each article.

Last Updated: 14 August 2013

PRE-CRUISE

Singapore -> Los Angeles via Singapore Airlines

Hotel Review:  Four Points by Sheraton LA International Airport

Los Angeles -> San Francisco via Southwest Airline

Airline Review:  Southwest Airline
Hotel Review: Red Roof Inn San Francisco Airport
San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace
Restaurant Review: Blue Bottle Coffee
Restaurant Review: Hollywood Cafe
Pier 39 and Fisherman Wharf
Alcatraz Visit Part 1 - Exploring Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Visit Part 2 - Cellhouse Audio Tour

Seals resting on Pier 39 (Credits: staysf.com)

Alcatraz Island (Credits:www.baycityguide.com)

San Francisco -> Vancouver via United Airlines

Airline Review: United Airlines
Hotel Review: Days Inn Vancouver Downtown
Vancouver Chinatown Walking Tour
Restaurant Review:  New Town Bakery and Restaurant
Vancouver Cruise Terminal and Gas Town
Granville Island Public Market

Vancouver Gastown (Credits: www.flickriver.com)

Gulf of Alaska Cruise on Diamond Princess

Alaska Cruise Trip - Our Full Story

POST-CRUISE

Fairbanks -> Seattle via Alaska Airlines

Airline Review: Alaska Airline
Hotel Review: Hampton Inn Seattle-Airport
Restaurant Review: Pike Place Chowder
The First Starbucks Store
Pike Place Market
Restaurant Review:  PF Chang’s China Bistro

Restaurant Review:  Jade Garden Restaurant
Seattle Chinatown

Pike Place Market (Credits: seattlephotographs.smugmug.com)

First Starbucks Store (Credits: thekotykreport.blogspot.com)

Seattle -> San Francisco via Alaska Airlines

Airline Review: Alaska Airline
Hotel Review: Red Roof Inn San Francisco Airport again!
Downtown San Francisco
San Francisco Chinatown
Restaurant Review: Oriental Pearl Restaurant
Land’s End Hiking Trail

 San Francisco -> Singapore via Singapore Airlines

This post is a follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

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Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!

Restaurant Review: Jade Garden Restaurant, Seattle

Seattle (Alaska Post Cruise) . 2012 . September 26

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

In the biting cold of the Seattle weather, what better way to warm ourselves up with piping hot Chinese tea and steaming Dim-Sum.  During our walking tour of the International District of Seattle, we chanced upon Jade Garden Restaurant in the Chinatown region and decided to take a lunch break.

Photo of the restaurant from another angle.

The interior of Jade Garden Restaurant looked very much like an old-style Hong Kong dim sum café.  It is quite run-down, but we were glad to see many local Chinese who look like routine customers around.  We came at around 2pm, so the place was already pretty vacant. 

The dim sum push carts, the icon of authentic dim sum restaurants!

The restaurant's menu. We ordered the standard dim sum fare to test it out.

Our dim sum feast for two.  Yummy! Service was fast, but the waitress kept talking to us in Cantonese which we do not understand! Note that there is only one size for each type of dim sum. The brackets (S), (M) and (L) indicate the prices of the dim sum, and not really the portions.

Crab Meat Dumpling (鲜蟹肉饺) - USD $4.65.  This dish was recommended by the push cart lady.   It is the most expensive dish out of the lot, looks fanciful, but its taste falls out of expectations.  Not that it did not taste good, but it just does not taste as good as it looks.  

Steam Jumbo Prawns Dumplings a.k.a. Har-Gow (银耳大虾饺皇) - USD $2.95.  Fresh and huge prawns used here. This was a delightful dish that we enjoyed.

Pork Shui Mai with Chinese Mushroom (蟹子北菇烧卖) - USD $2.65.  It is not easy to make a good quality siew mai, the amount of pork and prawn must be just right and the wanton skin must be steamed to perfection. This dish is done nicely, with a good and balanced mix of meat and prawns.  The prawns used were whole and fresh which adds on to its tastiness.

Steamed BBQ Pork Buns (密汁叉烧包) - USD $2.20 .  Nice fluffy skin on the outside, fragrant on the inside.

Steam Prawns Rice Roll a.k.a. Chee Cheong Fun (鲜虾肠粉) - USD $2.95.  To me, the smoothness of the rice roll and the sauce that it is drenched in is the most important element, and this Jade Garden has done both perfectly!

It seemed that the Mini Sticky Rice in Lotus Wrap (珍珠糯米鸡) is a must-try too based on online reviews.  So do remember to give it a try if you vist Jade Garden in Seattle.

Total Bill works out to around USD $18 inclusive of taxes, which is considered relatively cheap considering the quality of dim sum offered.

Verdict: It had been a most satisfying meal at a low budget.  We are dim sum lovers and this certainly ranks as much above average.  In fact, its standard is well above some Chinese dim sum restaurants in Asia.  We will certainly come back again.

How to Get to Jade Garden Restaurant

The Jade Garden Restaurant is located at the Chinatown International District in Seattle.
 

Althought Chinatown-International District is near to Downtown Seattle, Pike Place Market, and Pioneer Square, we would advise taking the Light Rail system operated by SoundTransit Link Light Rail which stops at International District / Chinatown Station.

Jade Garden Restaurant
424 7th Avenue South
(between Weller St & James St)
Seattle, Washington 98104
206-622-8181

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!

Restaurant Review: P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Seattle

Seattle (Alaska Post Cruise) . 2012 . September 25

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is one of those restaurants where we walked by, felt hungry, saw that the price and menu was alright and decided to walk in on the spur of the moment, without reading any reviews.  It’s a chance that we took, but we were somewhat encouraged by the number of Asian dinners in the restaurant, so it couldn’t be that bad, could it?  Let’s find out...

Ever since we started this blog, the first thing that we do nowadays when we enter a restaurant is to take photos of the menus...:)

P.F. Chang’s has a very nice and relaxed dining environment, but it is just a little too dim! That explains why our menu photos are so dark and blur..If you are interested in visiting the restaurant, you may visit their website where there is a printable online menu.

Selection of Condiments to go with your food. Mustard, chili sauce, and soy sauce.

More condiments. You can also try their Rice Vinegar and Chili Oi. In case you are wondering, the iced water is complimentary too.

 Dim lighting in the restaurant.

We ordered the P.F. Chang’s for Two four-course Prix-Fixe Menu for USD$39.95 (Excluding Tax and gratuity).  You might want to check out the full menu for this set here. The four courses for two persons basically consist of 2 cups of soup, a starter, 2 entrees and a dessert, which you can choose from the menu.

Here comes the food…..

Hot and Sour Soup, with chicken, silken tofu, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and egg.  In Singapore, this will be known as the Sichuan Hot and Sour Soup (Si Chuan Suan La Tang).   We were impressed with this dish, as the level and combination of spiciness and sourness was just right.  There were ample ingredients in the broth, and it is so tasty that one bowl was just not enough. 

Egg-drop Soup, with julienne carrots and green onions. If you can't take spicy or sour stuffs, you might want to go for this instead. This is as tasty as the hot and sour soup minus off the spicyness and sourness. For this $39.95 menu for two, you are entitled to choose 2 soups. We chose one of each as we wanted to try both.
You may choose 2 Egg-drop soups if both you and your partner are not lovers of spicy and sour stuffs.

Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wrap, the restaurant’s signature appetizer.  We simply love this dish.  The chicken is fried to perfection and the lettuce balances out the taste so that what you get is a fragrant, crispy and tasteful chicken topped with great sauce wrapped in a cool, crisp lettuce.  Unforgettable. If you are at P.F. Chang’s, you absolutely must try this! 

Orange Peel Shrimp, tossed with a mild chili sauce and fresh orange peel.  It’s a unique combination of ingredients, even by Asian standards, but we must say, the result is great!  We love the subtle hint of orange peel and it surprisingly complements the taste of the shrimp very well.

Kung Pao Chicken, Chicken breast stir-fried with peanuts, chili peppers and scallions.  We are big fans of Kung Pao Chicken, and this is the kind of dish we would order back in Singapore.   The Kung Pao Chicken here exceeds all expectations and ranks amongst the best we ever had.  

The portions were so big, we could not finish it and had to ask the waiter to pack it for take-away so that we can save our stomach space for the complimentary desserts.

The Great Wall of Chocolate and Tiramisu.  Both yummy!

The total bill comes up to USD$43.75 with tax, which we thought was quite reasonable for the quality and portions of food that we had.

Verdict:   We did not have much expectations for a Chinese restaurant in a western country, but P.F. Chang’s exceeds all expectations.  In fact, the standard, taste and quality of food at P.F. Chang’s is way better than some chain restaurants in Singapore.  At such an affordable price for a hearty meal and a nice dining environment, we will definitely come back again.   It is a must-try if you are in Seattle.

P.F. Chang's China Bistro

Westlake Center
400 Pine St. Suite 136
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 393-0070

Monday-Thursday:    11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Friday:    11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Saturday:    11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Sunday:    11:00 AM to 10:00 PM

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!

Pike Place Public Market, Seattle

Seattle (Alaska Post Cruise) . 2012 . September 25

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

Pike Place Public Market is the one of the most iconic attraction in Seattle.  It is also the oldest continuously-operated market in the United States.  The market started operating on 17 August 1907, making it 106 years old this year!  The market is built at the edge of the Seattle Central Business District, at the edge of a steep hill.

From a distance, it is quite impossible to miss the large Pike Place signage sitting on the roof of the market.

Pike Place Public Market may be popular with the tourists and enjoys a visitorship of 10 million per year, but it started out with as little as eight farmers selling their produce in the beginning. The market is now home to more than 200 businesses, 190 crafts people and about 100 farmers.

Before we continue, here's a map to get some orientation with the area map before we start our walk.. :). Pike Place Chowder is located at the bottom left of the map (along Lower Post Alley). You may want to check out our review here. You should be able to find the first starbucks store along Pike Place to the middle right of the map.

The Pike Place Public Market is renowned for its fresh seafood and produce, so you’ll see plenty of such stalls around.  They’ll even wrap it and box it in airplane-safe containers for you!   

Lots of fresh fishes in the market. The stalls are proud to display signs that they sell 100% sustainable seafood.

Nice meeting the Alaskan King Crab here again right after our trip to Alaska.

World Famous Pike Place Fish

Among the myriad of stalls selling fresh seafood in the market, Pike Place Fish is the one you should look out for.  This world famous store is featured in inspirational books and training videos about team work at the work place and customer satisfaction.  One such video is ‘FiSH!’ which I remembered watching during a corporate retreat.   Pike Place Fish is also used as case studies in business schools and universities.   All over the world, people try to study and emulate the success formula of Pike Place Fish.

If you are at Pike Place Public Market, remember to drop by Pike Place Fish for a few minutes and observe the staff performing their world famous ‘Flying Fish’ stunt.  In fact, I think they throw fish around just for the amusement of tourists. They have a "Fishmonger Theater" on their website where they show live webcams of the actions at their stall. Who know, you might catch them doing the stunt without visiting! :)

Tip: Pike Place Fish is located near to the entrance at the Main Arcade at Pike Place Public Market.

Stalls after stalls of fresh and gleaming seafood, fruits and vegetables. the choices are wide enough to fascinate you.  It’s not hard to understand why Pike Place Public Market is so popular with locals and tourists.

 Not too sure what this is..think it is some dried fruits and vegetables??

The Pike Place Public Market gets its reputation from fresh seafood and produce, but the flowers here are not to be missed too!  Fresh and with vibrant colors, these huge bouquets of flowers starts from only $5 each! Guys, you know what to do.... 

There's a stall selling all kinnds of stuffs from cherries too.

At the Northeast Corner of the Main Arcade is where you find rows of vendors selling all kinds of things imaginable, from souvenirs and artwork to accessories and antiques.   It is hard to describe, but Pike Place Public Market has a feel and a soul of its own, effectively differentiating itself from its counterparts Granville Public Market in Vancouver and Sydney Fish Market.

Spacious walkway to relax and shop at the stalls.

How about getting some beautiful volcanic ash sculptures?

 You could buy your souvenirs to bring back home for friends and colleagues too.

Be sure to have a look at the waterfront and Elliot Bay at Pike Place Public Market.

Pike Place Public Market is not just a place for fabulous selection of fresh produce and street food.  It is also a haven for street-performing artists.  See if you can catch a glimpse of Thomas the Balloon Man at Pike Place Public Market, or Jonny Hahn the Piano Man.  Jonny had been playing on his movable 64-key piano at the market for the past 25 years! His favorite playing spot is at the corner of Pike Place and Pine Street, but it seems that Thomas has taken his spot today! :)

There are plenty of restaurants and eateries in and around the market.  The Chinese pastries and BBQ Pork Buns at Mee Sum Pastry are a must-try!  Unfortunately, we didn’t know that this is a famous store and didn’t try it.

Remember to pay a visit to the original Starbucks Coffee Store at 1912 Pike Place, which is just across the road from the Public Market.

How to Get To Pike Place Public Market

It is relative easy to get to the Pike Place Public Market from Westlake Sound Transit Link Light Rail Station. The walk from the station to the market is only four blocks away from the market. You may also take Metro (Seattle's great public bus system) that will drop you off near the Market on First Avenue or Pine Street.

The following map is the same one that we shared in our original Starbucks store article. The market is just opposite the starbucks store.
 
You may want to go to the Market’s Information booth located on Pike St. about 100 feet in front of the Public Market clock and sign to pick up a map.

Pike Place Public Market

1st and Pike St.
Seattle, WA 98101
Open Daily
Farmers: 9 am – 4 pm
Crafts Market: 10 am – 4 pm
Seafood: 7 am – 6 pm
Market Shops: 10 am – 6 pm
Restaurants: 6 am-2 am; hours vary by restaurant.
http://pikeplacemarket.org/

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!