ASIDE FROM TOM HANKS AND MEG RYAN.JIMI HENDRIX, KURT COBAIN, BRUCE LEE, ELVIS PRESLEY AND THE BEATLES WILL KEEP YOU SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

When we took the Viator, the tour guide told us to shout: "Elvis is alive!" every time a Monorail passed by.

- MILLET M. MANANQUIL

One of the greatest romcoms of all time, Sleepless was directed by Nora Ephron in 1993 from a screenplay she co-wrote with David Ward and Jeff Arch, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

“Don’t go looking for love. Let love find you.” Arch said this, as if explaining the theme behind the iconic hit movie. “It is about emotional fulfillment. It’s about hope.”

Fans can visit the Sleepless floating home that’s moored on Westlake Avenue, but unfortunately, you can’t go inside, as it is privately owned. However, you can see the stool where Tom Hanks sat inside the Athenian Seafood and Bar in Seattle. The floating home and the resto are part of the Sleepless in Seattle tour available in the city.

Though I am a diehard fan of the late Ephron, I didn’t take this tour. Instead I opted for a four-hour Seattle tour by Viator, as recommended by my friends Freddie and Sony Palileo, a gracious couple who also gave us their own private tour of several iconic sites in Seattle. There I realized we have been over-romanticizing Tom and Meg, and forgetting other celebrities like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Bruce Lee, Elvis Presley and even the Beatles who have a connection to Seattle’s history.

Here are other sites, aside from the floating home in Sleepless, that may keep you pondering and sleepless in Seattle:

THE BAR AT CHIHULY

Seattle is a place that embraces all ethnic groups, hence you can find a variety of world cuisines in their districts like Little Saigon, Japan Town, Chinatown, Manila Town and Korea Town. There are intriguing food places like Tacos for the People, People’s Burger and Voodoo Doughnut. And yes, it’s a literate city with a public library and bookstores such as Twice Sold Tales.