Category Archives: Art

Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle

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305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109

Hours:
Sunday – Thursday: 11am – 8pm
Friday & Saturday: 10am – 8pm

GENERAL ADMISSION *Tickets purchased at the door are $1 more than below stated prices.
Ages 13-64 $19
Senior Ages 65+ $17
Youth Ages 4-12 $12
Child 3 and Under Free

So I had seen several of my friends post photos from Chihuly on Facebook and was amazed each time I saw them. I knew that the next time I went to Seattle, it was a must-go attraction. Unfortunately, for Sheepie who hadn’t seen any photos needed some convincing from me that the $20 admission was going to be worth it. I even said I would go alone and he could wander around outside. LOL. It turns out that he was pretty amazed and loved the place – and he’s a hard to impress guy.

As you can see, lots of great, colourful glass – fantastic for taking photos (but don’t forget to admire them with your own eyes too!). I’d never seen anything like it with glass – the use of colours, light and the scale! Each room you walked into never failed to amaze you.

If you have time, there is a small theatre that shows a film of how the glass are made, including interviews with Chihuly himself.

The exhibit does not end just indoors. Go out into the ‘garden’ to see the glass pieces integrated into the environment. With the lit Space Needle in the background, it’s a beautiful and awing experience.

A must see in Seattle!!!

Entrance to Chihuly

So pretty!!

Amazing craftmanship!

Nothing like it elsewhere… Take home your own Chihuly glass! Ummm…if you have $5000 each for these small approx 10 inches glass work.

Hip Hop at Urban Beat Dance

Located in the heart of downtown, it’s a small dance studio that shares the building with another dance studio. Urban Beat is on the second floor – don’t get confused!

You can sign up for hip hop lessons (usually 7 classes, 1 hour long each) online, but you can’t pay over the internet. In fact, it’s only cash only! It comes to $92 with tax, and no receipt either! Not sure what’s happening on the business side of things there, but that’s not my business I guess.

It’s kind of disorganized. You come up the stairs to the second floor. There are no signs or directions for new students. I remember that I was confused the first time I had went (which was over 6 years ago). Although, back then, I remember them setting up a table so you could sign in and pay. This time, it was pay and sign up as you went through the door.

It had been years since I took dance lessons, due to school, work and health reasons. I had been wanting to come back, but it just didn’t work out till now.

The first half of the class is exercise. Stretching and building up strength. I had been worried that I would be so out of shape or wouldn’t be able to follow due to health issues, but was surprised that although I had some trouble following, it seemed I was in much better shape than those who looked like they were in their late teens to early twenties.

The great thing about hip hop classes at Urban Beat is that they teach 2 classes per week. Once you register/pay for one, you can go to the other one for no additional cost. No other dance studio does this! I use to do this to get more practice and a good workout. Tuesday classes are 6:30-7:30pm, while the Thursday one is from 6pm-7pm. Unfortunately, I’m not able to make the Thurs one since I wont make it in time from work…

The instructors are great. Super friendly and energetic. Very patient so don’t hesitate to ask questions! The studio is a bit run down, but for the price and quality of lessons, it’s a great deal.

Charlie’s Chocolate Factory

Do you love chocolate? If you do, then this is one place any chocolate lover must check out! The retail store has hundreds of chocolate in all shapes and sizes. For those who are into making their own chocolate, they sell their own molds ($2-3 each) or used ones (which are used by professionals) for a bargain price of $25 (usually costs $50 for new ones).

Charlie! the man who runs Charlie’s Chocolate Factory!

Lots of chocolate!! Molds on the shelf for purchase

Chocolate river! It really flows!

You can also buy a 5kg Callebaut chocolate bar for $70. It’s huge! But very good quality.

I’m actually not a huge fan of chocolate. I don’t hate it or anything, but I don’t crave them. I did use to eat cheap chocolates when I was growing up (Hershey’s, Coffee Crisp, Smarties and so on). As my taste buds grew pickier, my favourite became Lindor. Upon doing a chocolate ‘tasting’ with my friend who’s gotten into chocolate making, I was surprised to see some difference in the 3 chocolates we tasted.

Lindt was soft, but almost had this after taste that lingered.
The chocolate from France that was on sale at President’s Choice market had small grains…like compressed sand…definitely low grade. Didn’t really have much of a real chocolate taste…
The Callebaut was creamy and tasted rich. We both agreed it was the best quality.

It is no wonder that my friends who has tried his chocolates say it’s better than the average commercial chocolates out there.

At the store, you’ll even see chocolate flowing through the mountain into a mini model of Charlie’s Chocolate Factory. Very cute, and popular among the kids – and adults

Charlie himself still works at the store. Can’t recall how old he was now, but he’s still young at hard, and working! He was very friendly and helpful. Once he knew that my friend was really into chocolate making, he gave some samples, a book, showed him some machines in the back, and got some inside info on the business.

The other staff are super helpful too. Patient for those who don’t really know much yet.

This is a must for all chocolate lovers! Even if you aren’t, it’s a neat store to check out lots of gift ideas for everyone.

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