There are no coincidences...

This past weekend, I spent some time searching for Buddist temples in Seattle. I wasn't really connected to the local Asian community, so my search was really only online.

The results were pretty...Zen like. It seems that only well funded, or Western-like, Buddhist temples have an online presence. I was just looking for some place where I could feel a connection, like the one I had growing up. I knew that I had no chance.

So some friends and I got together yesterday and had dim sum. One particular block outside the Wing Luke Museum was blocked off, making it even harder to find parking on a busy Sunday morning.

It was kinda funny, three people trying to decide what direction to go to find parking is freaking hilarious (I stayed quiet). When a parking space practically right in front of us appeared.

You bet we took it!

So we parked and walked over to the Jade Garden for some yummy dim sum (2 card maximum, with $10 min for credit cards, stupid rules). Then headed to Ambrosia for bubble tea. I had a mango strawberry with tapioca and pudding. It's a funny flavor, but darn tasty :) Someone else got plain almond and something else. On the way back to the car, we stopped at the Wing Luke Museum store and that was actually pretty fun. I was looking at some mah jong jewelry, but nothing called out to me.

I was looking for a gift for my mom, and I needed it to scream "WIN, WIN, WIN!". But the most I got was some garbled gibberish telling me I'm wasting my money and I should stick it in my mattress... or something like that.

So off to the car. As we entered, I noticed that the building we were parked right in front of had it's door open as someone was leaving. That's when I noticed that inside was a huge Buddha altar! The outside was totally non-descript and all the writing (what little there was of it) was in Chinese.

I had found my Buddist temple!

I made a note of the location and vowed to come back the next day.

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So here we are, the next day. It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I knew that buses were going to be hell, so I left especially early and got to work an hour early. My co-worker asked me why I was there so early? I responded that I'd rather come early, than late, due to the reduced bus schedule.

I spent the extra time to plot my route to the temple!

It was located a little less than a mile away. So I could easily walk there on my lunch break.

It was a beautiful day today and the walk actually did me some good.

I didn't let my spirits down, because I had found a temple and do my prayers to my dad!

I got to the temple and found out that it wasn't open. There were no lights on inside!

Since there were no signs indicating open hours, I was pretty much SOL (Shit Outta Luck).

I was down for just a moment at that point.

I truly believe that the universe will provide me with whatever I need, whenever I need it.

I had found a Buddihist temple, right when I needed it. I needed to know that they were around.

I no longer needed to go at this point in time. I can send my prayers to my dad no matter where I am. So I stood there and did just that. I sent out a prayer to him and moved on. It was my lunch time and I was getting hungry!

I was really in the mood for a Vietnamese sandwich (Banh Mi) and found a shop that had vegetarian ham. It was yummy and only cost $1.75!

So I happily made my way back to my office with my sandwich.

Before I entered the building, I just sat outside on the bench and soaked up the sun.


Running on treadmill
Past people, places and things
Do you feel the wind?

AiYahh!