22 May 2014
How I fell in love with Seattle!
There are places you feel irresistibly attracted to when you look at a map for no reason (or maybe it's just me, I do love maps!), and Seattle was one of these places! I never met a person from Seattle before my trip, nor have I heard anything special about it - except its rainy reputation - but I convinced myself it was worth it to make a stop there on my way between Quebec and California!
Nevertheless, I didn't really want to cut too much of my time in both Quebec and California, so I decided to stay in Seattle for only 3 days. To get there I went on an Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver ... yes, the one that departs at around 6am! And well, it was definitely worth it! The train ride was comfortable, nice and very scenic, and Seattle was just lovely! It was literally love at first sight! It was so intense I actually thought about stopping everything and try finding a job there!
First of all, Seattle doesn't really deserve its bad weather reputation as I had three magnificent days when I was there (end of April). The city is also truly beautiful! Just by turning 180 degrees, you can see the mountains or the sea! Besides, being the capital of the state of Washington, and by far the biggest city in the Northwest, Seattle offers a great range of facilities while still being a pretty small town!
I can also talk wonders about the Pike Place Market, the International District and the EMP Museum among others, but the thing that really made me fall in love with Seattle was the greatness, the kindness and the helpfulness of its people! And it is not just a couple of people, in three days, every single person I have interacted with was just marvelous!
By all means, my three days in Seattle were fantastic! In my search for a potential place to settle down one day, Seattle just climbed to the top 3! Can't wait to be back in this fantastic city!
Nevertheless, I didn't really want to cut too much of my time in both Quebec and California, so I decided to stay in Seattle for only 3 days. To get there I went on an Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver ... yes, the one that departs at around 6am! And well, it was definitely worth it! The train ride was comfortable, nice and very scenic, and Seattle was just lovely! It was literally love at first sight! It was so intense I actually thought about stopping everything and try finding a job there!
First of all, Seattle doesn't really deserve its bad weather reputation as I had three magnificent days when I was there (end of April). The city is also truly beautiful! Just by turning 180 degrees, you can see the mountains or the sea! Besides, being the capital of the state of Washington, and by far the biggest city in the Northwest, Seattle offers a great range of facilities while still being a pretty small town!
I can also talk wonders about the Pike Place Market, the International District and the EMP Museum among others, but the thing that really made me fall in love with Seattle was the greatness, the kindness and the helpfulness of its people! And it is not just a couple of people, in three days, every single person I have interacted with was just marvelous!
By all means, my three days in Seattle were fantastic! In my search for a potential place to settle down one day, Seattle just climbed to the top 3! Can't wait to be back in this fantastic city!
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15 May 2014
Why is the Smoke Shack the best burger I ever had?
Disclaimer: totally NSFV (not safe for vegetarians/vegans)!
Aaah... burgers! Probably the best thing about American cuisine (except maybe pizzas)! Created in 1900 by Louis Lassen in New Haven, Connecticut, burgers are now the icon of fast-food. But burgers are definitely worth more than the typical Big Mac or Whopper! I have eaten burgers on 6 different continents, and experienced some interesting interpretations such as the Nutella Burger from De Brug in Singapore (by the way, check this place out, it's great!) or the Ramen Burger from L&L in the USA.
Even though I have only eaten at fast-food chains and I haven't had the chance to eat at Agadir Burger in Israel, Fergburger in New Zealand, Flippin' Burgers in Sweden, Hamborgarafabrikkan in Iceland or Hamburg in The Netherlands (the top 5 burgers around the world according to Departures), yet, I honestly have to praise the SmokeShack from Shake Shack! It simply is the best (fast-food) burger I ever had so far ... and this is why!
If I would have to make a burger, it would be really close to what the SmokeShack offers! Great ingredients, compared to other fast-food chains, such as delicious Niman Ranch applewood-smoked bacon, incredible ShackSauce (basically a mix of ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard) and amazing chopped cherry pepper, make the SmokeShack really tasty and delicately spicy! My mouth is watering so much right now that I may cause a flooding!
Anyway, if you are a burger lover and you have the chance to be in one of the cities where Shake Shack is, be sure to check it out!
PS: Shake Shack also offers a vegetarian mushroom burger!
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9 May 2014
Why is Chile not ready for the Costanera Center?
New prominent building in the Santiago's skyline, the Gran Torre Santiago, the tallest building in Latin America and second tallest in the Southern Hemisphere with 300 meters, is the symbol of a rich and developed Chile. This giant is part of the fairly impressive Costanera Center, a business and commercial complex that includes a 6-story shopping mall and 4 skyscrapers, including the Gran Torre Santiago. The shopping mall is the largest in South America and has an impressive number of hypermarkets, luxury stores and more than 100 shops.
Once completed, the Costanera Center will have an area of 700,000 m2 and an estimated 240,000 will go to and from it everyday, making an annual estimated gain of $150 million. 7 years after the start of the project, only the shopping mall and the Gran Torre Santiago are finished and the overall cost has already almost doubled to reach $1 billion.
Anyway, Chile is extremely proud of the Costanera Center, has it shows the economical success of the country! Chile is actually the first South American country to be part of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and was ranked as a "high-income economy" by the World Bank. The country is also the ranks first in Latin America in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalisation, economic freedom and low perception of corruption, making it one of the most stable and prosperous nations in the region. This stability helps Chile's continual growth, reaching a GDP growth of 4.1% in 2013.
But despite all these numbers, Chile, like most of the Latin American countries, still suffers from big inequities. Even though the official figures from the government state that 11.0% of the population is below the poverty line, making it the lowest in South America, using the relative yardstick favoured in many European countries, 27% of Chileans would be poor, according to Juan Carlos Feres of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Besides, Chile has the highest Gini ratio in the OECD, peaking up to 0.516 in 2013. The Gini ratio measures the inequity in incomes within a nation, 0 being all the population getting the same income, and 1 being only one person getting all the income.
Therefore, Chile might not be ready for the Costanera Center, a better fit in some crazy Emirates than in a Soith American country that still has to develop in a more equitable way!
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4 May 2014
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