Amanda and I are living in Bangkok, Thailand for the month of March to celebrate our wedding, so the next few episodes of the show will be co-hosted by her and we will be talking about our adventures here in SE Asia and give lots of details of the wedding. Today's show is focused on helping the 100+ people we have traveling around the world to join us here.   

Topics include:  

- What it was like to fly here through Taiwan 

- Flying EVA Airlines 

- Wearing Masks 

- Getting SIM Cards 

- Exchanging Currency 

- Food in Bangkok 

- Tips for traveling  

- Apps you should download

It's our second week in Bangkok, Thailand and it's been a tumultuous week full of very difficult emotions. When we started planning this wedding in Thailand 18 months ago, while knowing we wanted to have our wedding here well before then. In the beginning of February, we had 120 RSVP and traveling guests expected to fly around the world to join us for our week long celebration. At the time of recording, Friday March 13th, 2020, we are down to less than half of those numbers and we expect to have more. A majority of those cancellation have happened in the past 5 days after Trump banned flights from Europe. But we remain in high spirits, we still are so unbelievably grateful for the people who have risked their health to fly across the world to join us here. In this show we talk about some of those emotions and what it's like to be the bride and have our guest list, including most bridesmaids cancel their trip. But today had some positive moments when a few guests, including both sets of parents arrived in Bangkok just in time to settle some of our nerves. Now that we have some family here, we don't feel as anxious as we once did.  Enough of the sad talk, this trip is our wedding and we need to make the best of what we can do with while we are here. So the second half of the video is dedicated to helping those of you traveling to Bangkok, with three (ok, maybe four) words/phrases that will help you communicate. Those phrases are "hello," "thank you," "yes" and "no" along with the appropriate gender identifiers which are important courtesy's in Thai language.

Amanda and I are living in Bangkok, Thailand for the month of March to celebrate our wedding, so the next few episodes of the show will be co-hosted by her and we will be talking about our adventures here in SE Asia and give lots of details of the wedding. 

Today's show is focused on helping the 100+ people we have traveling around the world to join us here.  

 Topics include:  

- What it was like to fly here through Taiwan 

- Flying EVA Airlines 

- Wearing Masks 

- Getting SIM Cards 

- Exchanging Currency 

- Food in Bangkok 

- Tips for traveling  

- Apps you should download

Let us know if you have any topics you'd like covered for the month we are here! 

Welcome back to the show! I had these topics set up for last week, but didn't get a chance to share them. The question in today's show comes from an article in Crosscut asking if new transplants who move to Seattle owe anything to the city? The article was written by Samantha Allen and after moving to Seattle with her wife, she wanted to get more involved with the city and shares a week of activities (source: https://crosscut.com/2020/02/what-does-transplant-owe-seattle?mc_cid=4c11d8d564&mc_eid=98adb54834). I'm very curious to know what other people think of this question. Personally, I go back and forth about it. Being a transplant myself, moving here in 2011, I can understand the difficulty of adjusting to a new place, getting lost in that adjustment, and not contributing much more than your day to day at work. With having this company and constantly promoting business in Seattle, I do feel like I am doing my part, but I'm not sure one does owe Seattle anything. The argument that set me on this path revolves around immigration. My personal feelings are that as long as they are acting out of good will, being friendly, working hard, raising their family and aren't not create anything of negative consequence, then who are we to ask them of anything. If they can create a better life for themselves without learning the language or contributing to the community, I think they are ok. However, I think my opinion changes if those people are then complaining about the city and not taking their own action. After living in Seattle for a year, I would recommend that person to register to vote so they can have a voice, but in terms of them OWING Seattle, I don't think they do. 

Briefly I talked about the brand new Amazon Go Grocery Store which I am excited to try out. I am amazed by the technology involved in the process and am interested to see where that goes.

This week's MEAL OF THE WEEK comes from Beacon Hill's Musang. My pro tip when visiting this inviting home in South Seattle, whatever the special is that day, ORDER IT! https://www.musangseattle.com/

My FEATURED BUSINESS OF THE WEEK is also another Filipino restaurant in Pike Place Market, Oriental Mart. My pro tip here... ask for the "Do You Trust Me Plate." You won't find it on the menu but I promise it will be good. (source: https://www.seattlemet.com/eat-and-drink/2020/02/oriental-mart-is-an-american-classic-according-to-the-james-beard-foundation?mc_cid=8e2cf1caf1&mc_eid=98adb54834)

This week's episode was inspired by a sad anniversary in Seattle and American history. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, our country committed horrible acts against our own citizens by placing over 100,000 people of Japanese heritage, in internment camps all over the west coast. 

 "On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the forced evacuation. Both Seattle Mayor Earl Millikan and Governor Arthur Langlie (1900-1966) declared their support of the removal. " (source: https://www.historylink.org/File/240?mc_cid=8e2cf1caf1&mc_eid=98adb54834)

At the time, there were 9,600 Japanese in King County and a day after the bombing, they started to be investigated, arrested, banned from public services, revoked business license and had bank account frozen. 

These horrible acts are barely a generation away from current Seattleites and I thought it would be fitting to educate myself a little more on what happened and share some of those details with you.

This episodes FEATURED BUSINESS OF THE WEEK is inspired by the theme, Maneki. Maneki is a Japanese Restaurant that has been serving Seattle's International District since 1904. They survived this time of exclusion and continue to honor their traditions and rich history in the area. 

"Ownership of Maneki has changed hands only a few times in its century-long tenure. The longest owners were the Sato family; Tokuji Sato owned Maneki between 1923 and the early 1960s, when he handed ownership over to his daughter, “Shi-chan” Virginia Ichikawa, and her husband Joe. The restaurant is now officially owned by the nonprofit InterIm CDA, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Seattle’s International District." (source: https://crosscut.com/2017/05/maneki-seattle-oldest-sushi-restaurant)

This episodes FEATURED MEAL OF THE WEEK comes from Wallingford's Yoroshiku.  

A big thank you to Wendy Kato for sharing these resources for us on her Facebook page, and being a big supporter of Find Me in Seattle and many more Seattle communities. 

Welcome back to the show, episode 013 of the Find Me in Seattle Podcast. This week the National Council for Home Safety and Security released their list of the SAFEST CITY IN WASHINGTON and we dive into the list. Spoiler Alert! Oak Harbor was named the safest city with a violent crime rate of just above 1 per 1000 residents and a property crime rate below 7 per 1000 residents. Seattle ranked 61 out of 73 cities with a total of 43,298 crimes reported in 2019. Tukwila scored last with a property crime rate of 167 per 1000 residents. (source: https://komonews.com/news/local/new-study-ranks-safest-cities-in-washingtonguess-which-tops-the-list)

The XFL launched last week and our Seattle Dragons got blasted by the DC Defenders. This weekend will be the home opener for our Seattle team and prices vary by a large margin for seats at Century Link Field. There are a few big differences between the NFL and XFL, most notably, the TV broadcast will show the play calls from coach to team in live time. 

The FEATURED MEAL OF THE WEEK comes from Capitol Hill's Carrello (https://carrellorestaurant.com/), a unique Italian inspired menu with a unique dim sum style twist. While waiting for your entrees, carts full of small bite plates walk around the dinning room offering up a-la-carte options for you to snack on. Each item is individually priced. We loved this aspect both as a customer and as a business model. It provided some unique moments to create conversation and share within our party. It also must be a nice way for the business to drive a few extra dollars on each check.

Our FEATURED BUSINESS OF THE WEEK are Seattle's Chinese Restaurants. We have seen too much discrimination based off the recent coronavirus in China, so we want to encourage you to spend your dinner in one of these places this month. Here are some places that will serve you delicious Chinese Food:  Mikes Noodles House, Xi'an Noodles, Uptown China, Dough Zone, Harbor City, Topgun, Jade Garden, Tai Tung, Kau Kau, and Hong Kong Bistro.

Please make sure to subscribe to the podcast or on Youtube, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or visit our website: findmeinseattle.com 

This first week of February came at me quickly. Here's what I'm talking about it today's show:

1) Seattle Shooting suspects captured in Las Vegas

2) I taught a 1 hour class this week on Instagram and I realized in the middle of the class that Insta is so much more complicated than I realized. It really is 3 platforms in one and I do my best to break down those three parts for you.

3) The Most Seattle Exercise Ever by The Evergrey 

4) Meal of the Week comes from Seaplane Kitchen + Bar in Kenmore Washington. I featured their "ON THE FLY - DINNER TO GO" menu which has two options - 8pc Fried Chicken + veggie + salad for $28. OR... 2 pizzas + salad for $39. Also if you purchase a bottle of wine to go, they give you 25% off the bottle. 

5) My Featured Business of the Week is INTENTIONALIST, and in the spirit of Black History Month, they have a list of Seattle' Black-owned business. Intentionalist is a community and website resource to help you be more intentional with your spending. They provide an outlet to learn about minority-owned businesses and the story behind those places. I really appreciate them as a service to our city and I hope you will support them also. Some of the Black-owned businesses that I shout out are Jerk Shack in Belltown, Fats Chicken and Waffles, Poco Wines, The Station, Conscious Eatery, Plum Pantry, and Cafe Chapagne.

You can learn more about me and Find Me in Seattle at our website: findmeinseattle.com 

Welcome back to Episode 011 of the Find Me in Seattle Podcast! Here's todays topics from the news:

In the King County February 2020 election, 1.2 million people will have the opportunity to vote using their smart phones. I have some reservations about the security of our private information and tampering with votes, however, I don't think the mechanism to vote it the major issue with people not voting. Rather it's the time it takes to learn about what you're voting  for. (source: https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798126153/exclusive-seattle-area-voters-to-vote-by-smartphone-in-1st-for-u-s-elections?mc_cid=835b53b822&mc_eid=98adb54834)

Employees of Swedish Medical Hospital are on strike on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday asking for pay increases and major improvements related to safety and time. I don't know enough to take a serious opinion on this topic, but I do believe that the people working in Emergency Rooms and hospitals are extremely important and their health and safety provides them the opportunity to do their job well. We need those people to be taken care of. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/people-dont-have-any-idea-swedish-closing-two-ers-on-monday-in-advance-of-strike/?mc_cid=4f6ed5d932&mc_eid=98adb54834

"Die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain" is a quote from a batman movie, but it unfortunately came true for former Seattle Super Hero Phoenix Jones who was arrested on Jan 11th for selling "Molly" to an undercover police officer. It's sad to see someone who was an icon for citizens here in Seattle has fallen to such a low point. We wish the best for him and his recovery from this situation.   https://komonews.com/news/local/real-life-superhero-phoenix-jones-in-super-trouble-facing-drug-charges

Meal of the Week:

Yum Yum Cafe in SeaTac is a Cantonese restaurant that served us a hot pot that contained crab, shrimp and an entire chicken (including the head). It was an unexpected experience, but a meal I wont forget.

Featured Business of the Week:

Tulalip Casino's Bingo Hall provides 3 hours of entertainment for less than $10 a person. It's become one of my goto activities on cold and rainy winter weekends. 

Lastly, there are rumors the NHL Seattle team will be named the Seattle Kraken! What are your thoughts? 

It's a hard day for me to record the episode. It's been a very strange and emotional week. It started with some family related incidence that turned into both my dad and brother having surgeries from unrelated situations. In the middle of the week, Seattle had 3 shootings in 24 hours, all of which happened within blocks of each other. And on Sunday, Kobe Bryant, one of my idols passed away in a helicopter accident. Today's episode, I am wearing my Kobe Bryan #8 Lakers jersey in his honor. Growing up in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant was my introduction into basketball. He's the reason I first took interest and he's someone I looked up to for the next decade of his career. His final game in the NBA was on my 27th birthday, and all I wanted to do for my birthday that year was watch his last game. His passing is horrible and I'm so sad he left us so early in his life. I'm trying to take some silver lining from this circumstance, because the events earlier in the week had me heated. I wasn't able to record this episode at my regular Friday timeline because of my mixed emotions between family and the reactions from the shootings in the city. I have been frustrated at how quickly we judge, place blame and form opinions on situations we don't know about. Just minutes after the shooting happened downtown, people were placing blame on homelessness, gun laws, police enforcement, drug use, and Uber & Lyft were being criticized for their fees skyrocketing as thousands of people requested rides out of the city. 

We need to find more people to prop up that represent positivity and encourage us to remember we are all human. No matter what side of the fence you are on, we need to look at each other with more respect, patience and empathy. 

This episode is a bit of a rant. I need to be better at not being so judgmental, and evaluating my emotions before I place blame. 

If you need help after these tough situations, please seek help and talk it through. We all have issues as humans, and we all need to work on forgiving each other. 

Episode 009 takes us into the world of steak! My two big highlight of the week revolved around eating steak and meeting cattle ranchers, so it was only fair to bring that as the focus. We will get to those details shortly. 

The episode opens with a recent Seattle Times article "Is Seattle’s booming restaurant scene showing signs of slowing?" by Bethany Jean Clement and her data that shows how retail rents in Seattle have increased by over 30% in the last decade from around $21/sqft to $29/sqft and the impact that is having on the restaurant seen. We've also had an increase of 20% in the total number of food business opening which parallels the +20% increase in population density. All of these factors are adding a ton of pressure on retail and forcing many closures to well established brands. More included on the audio.

Now lets get into the meat of this episode (pun intended). My featured Business of the Week is Country Natural Beef. I met them a few months ago at an influencer event hosted by Whole Foods. The reason I took interest in their company was the fact they had an interesting business model as a Co-Op. CNB is a collection of 80 ranches across the west coast, and collectively they all sell to big retailers like Whole Foods, PCC, and New Seasons. The Co-Op creates a unique partnership between the different ranches in which the smaller producers are given the chance to market and sell to bigger retailers. And the part the ranchers like the most, is they get to keep their independence while being part of a larger organization. 

The cattle ranchers of the CNB are required to spend time at the stores to connect with customers and see their product in stores first hand. However, their experiences have revealed the changing landscape of retail, in which at least 1/4 of all store shoppers are personal shoppers, coming from Amazon or Uber to shop for other people's online orders. This changing dynamic makes in store marketing less effective. So they invited me to speak at their conference and make a video about how they can innovate to reach customers before they buy. Learn more about CNB on their website (LINK).

This week's featured Meal of the Week is from historic Downtown Seattle Metropolitan Grill. I ate their Chateaubriand from their Carved Table Side for Two portion of the menu. The 24oz steak includes classic cliff sauce, parmesan tomato crowns, mushroom caps with potatoes and asparagus with Bearnaise sauce. Check out their Meet at the Met promotion for an incredible buy 2, get 2 deal.