The Big Day

Posted on 2006/11/13 07:37:35 (November 2006).

[Thursday 9th November]
In the afternoon today was the main event for this business trip - the big demo to a whole room full of management types. I decided to take the driving seat, and although I say so myself I think it went rather well - no hitches, no difficult questions (although at least one which was bordering on a bit dumb). This was sort of the culmination of a year's work, and I have to admit it felt rather good.

I decided a bit of a celebration was called for in the evening, and so me and TK headed into the centre of Seattle (we normally spend most of our time in the outskirts of the city around where the office).

We initially planned to get a bus, but whilst waiting at the bus stop we were offered a lift by a very nice Indian guy who dropped us off in the University District. Actually this area was a bit grotty on the grotty side and wasn't particularly mine or TK's cup of tea. So after a quick dinner (at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant, which was OK) we headed into the centre (or downtown as they say in the US) to find some bars.

It was hard work initially - unlike the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, Seattle is a very spread out city, and you can end up having to walk a long way between each bar. We found one place initially - a Hotel bar in fact - which I thought was rather nice, albeit somewhat on the quiet side. Following that we went to the brewpub in Pike Place market - where I'd been on one of my earlier trips to Seattle.

The final venue of the evening was probably the best - we wandered over to the district known as Beltown (?) as we'd been informed there was a bit more in the way of nightlife there. We happened upon a jazz club called Tula's which was really good. They were having a sort of jam session for female vocalists. The bar was really high though - I guess a lot of the performers were semi-professional. Anyway, it was jolly nice - I particularly enjoyed a rendition of "Well You Needn't" - familiar to me as it's one one of my Thelonious Monk albums.

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