Seattle: December 10, 2008: Flying Fish, Soothed Muscles, and Buttery Roe

I checked into the hotel at 3 p.m. after lunch at the Pike Place Fish Market. This is where they throw fish around and catch it too! I had the clam chowder, which was creamy and hot on a cold day like this one and then had the mixed grill with Pacific Salmon, tiger shrimp and Dungenous crab cakes with a spicy horseradish sauce on top. Mmm so good. After lunch I browsed around the market and then went for my spa treatment at Ummelina spa. I checked in and was escorted to the changing rooms where I changed into cotton pajama-type things and a cotton top and stored all my belongings in a garment bag. I then had to ring a gong to say I was ready to enter the sanctuary. The therapist escorted me into a darkened room with candles and different scents in the air and offered me water with lemon and some herbal tea to soothe me before the treatment. I was in the room with the other people who were getting different treatments and I found I was the only man in there. No sweat. There were some ladies of a certain age getting massages and it was like a girls’ night out, in the middle of the week. A guy came along and gave me a foot soak and foot scrub with bergamot and citrus scented water. That itself did so much to take the stress off my feet.

I was then escorted into the treatment room. I lay on the massage table and was given a choice of oils-bergamot/citrus or the lavender. I chose the bergamot. The massage was great and the therapist worked on all my problem areas like my shoulders and I felt the stress melting away. It was not as rigorous as the massage I had had at the Jiva spa in Goa, but it was deep tissue and I felt like I was flying after the treatment. I then took a 7 jet shower with cucumber scented body wash and it felt like I was wrapped in a glove of hot water. Soooooo good!!!! When I was done I was escorted back into the sanctuary and given a hot pillow to place around my neck, more herbal tea and lemon water and was told I could relax until I was ready to leave. After about 20 minutes, I got dressed and floated back onto 4^th Avenue.

After the spa I didn’t want to eat anything heavy so the concierge recommended Shiro’s sushi. I thought I had had great sushi in San Francisco, but this sushi was out of this world. I had the sushi dinner, which is an assortment of different types of sushi and some sashimi with miso soup and hot sake. The hot sake really hit the spot on a cold, damp day. I had the fatty tuna sushi which tasted like butter and the sushi topped with salmon roe. The salmon roe had the right amount of salt and burst in my mouth in little buttery pops. I got talking to an aerospace engineer for Boeing (of course) sitting next to me and we were comparing the different types and sushi and sake.

I don’t recommend too much sake after a massage because you’re already floating on air and alcohol only makes you feel airborne! I floated and staggered back to the hotel, plopped on the bed, opened up the curtains and fell asleep looking at the Space Needle outside my window.