Seattle, Washington, USA is our destination. We headed out to Seattle with some friends from the exchange programme. There’s a total of 9 of us, so we rented 2 cars. Got a Ford and a Chevrolet. First of all, we had to get used to driving on the right side of the road. Traffic rules in Vancouver are slightly different. A blinking green light indicates that there is a pedestrain crosswalk and drivers have to get ready to stop at anytime when the pedestrain presses the button to cross the road. Also, at a junction whereby there is no traffic light, the right of way belongs to the car which reached the junction first. So that caused a bit of a confusion and the drivers here, they don’t hesitate to shout at you or show you the finger. While most drivers are quite nice, they let you change lane when you signal, there are some not so nice ones….sigh, let’s not talk about them!
So we got the cars a little late and hence set off at around 11plus in the morning from Vancouver. Took us about 45 mins to reach the border between Canada and USA. My regret is that because I was at wheel, I didn’t manage to take a pic of the Peace Arch at the border (which is really nice!). Nic and I were in different cars because the cars were rented in our names and so, initially we hesitated in letting others drive the car….in case anything happens (luckily, everything was okay).
Then at the border, while we let the officers inspect the cars, we had to pass through immigration. You gotta pay USD6 dollars for dunno what fee and then let them scan your fingerprints and take photo of you. Some American officers seem nice, being humourous etc.
Once we pass the customs, its a pretty direct route to Premium Outlets in Seattle, whereby all the shopping action begins. But before we can move on, we gotta pump gas (it’s gas and not petrol here). The guy at the car rental said gas in USA is cheaper than that in Canada. But still, its very expensive!! Then its like 2 hrs drive to Seattle. We reached there at 1plus. By then we were starving. So we went to the foodcourt and decided to get chinese food. That is very expensive as well….for rice and 2 side dish, it costs like USD 7-9plus. That’s the most expensive 菜饭 we ever had!
Then we wasted no time in hitting the shops. The brands here they carry are mainly the American brands (duh!). The stuff here are considered real cheap since they are designer labels. Nicholas got 2 Levi Jeans, each at about USD29.90. He’s got good deals from Polo Ralph too. Its mainly bags galore for Jacklyn – got the best deals from Fossil; the Fossil bag that’s going for over SGD100 costs only USD29.99!! As the meeting time was 6.30, we didn’t have time to go into each and every shop in detail, skimming some shops only from the windows. However, there is a shop which we both like. It sells mainly home decor stuff and real dainty display items.
Then we began the drive back to Vancouver while looking for a place to stop for dinner. We went into a couple of restaurants but backed out before we were seated; dishes were a tad too expensive. So in the end, our choice was good old Burger King. Know what, the fries form the BK here is way better than the BK in S’pore and they don’t have chili sauce though they did offer us Buffalo sauce (some weird tasting sauce).
At the border, we of course said No when asked if our purchase per person exceeded USD400; otherwise we’ll be taxable. The drive on Highway 99 was delightful, with the setting sun (sun sets here at about 9plus at night). So at the end of the day, everyone was happy with their purchases and all wanted to go back and shop again! that’s enough swiping for one day!!
175km (Approx 2 hours excluding waiting time at US border)
