I enjoyed the time I had in Seattle last week while attending PASS 2006 Sql Server conference. My schedule was full so I didn’t have time to walk around and check out the city. My extremely limited impression of Seattle is positive. For whatever reason, I always have the impression that the Northwest and Northeast areas are more progressive than the rest of the country. Again, based on my very limited experience, nothing I encountered here contradicted to that impression. The pace is probably slower here than New York, Chicago, or LA.

Here are some pictures:

The convention center at night:

Space needle from room 1208 of Roosevelt Hotel:

Little Haier fridge in my hotel room. Haier is a Chinese company. It used to be a joint venture between a Chinese company and a German company. (It may still is.) It hails from Qingdao city, Shandong province, my home province. I’ve seen Haier air-conditioners sold in stores here in Chicago area. Way to go Haier! Another famous product from Qingdao is the Tsingtao beer. Tsingtao is the old way of spelling Qingdao, before Pinyin is adapted.

My Xiamen University buddy and I had a great meal at Szechuan Chef. I am not sure which town the restaurant is at, but it is great. Thanks again Mingfeng for the dinner and great conversation!

The famous fish market at the end of Pike street. I didn’t get a chance to visit it during day time. I figured I would come back to Seattle again someday.

A group of friends in front of the first Starbucks store. I don’t think I have ever bought anything from a Starbucks store, which is a record I try to keep. I have to admit that I have consumed bottled Starbucks Mocha before, bought at a gas station, to keep me alert while driving. To people in this picture, I will email you ways to get the rest of the pictures tomorrow.