Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago at 6:58 pm. 0 comments
Last Saturday was my birthday and I took the Friday off to give myself a long weekend. I was planning on doing nothing, but one thing led to another and I ended up getting a last minute ticket to San Francisco for Friday morning. Long story short, I did not have any cake on my birthday but I had a lot of delicious food. It was nice to see all the Christmas festivities happening, too. Go to the Flickr set to see what I ate and where I went on my birthday weekend.
Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 12:37 pm. 0 comments
Besides going to class during the day and catching up with work in the evening, I managed to go on a few enjoyable outings while I was in San Francisco. If you have been following my Twitter or Flickr, you can skip this post.
I went to Ghirardelli with Alex and Jeff.
Jeff drove us around to do some sightseeing, but the weather was really so-so…
Lots of interesting stories were told. I learned a lot more about Jeff by the end of the day.
I went to save the Tonga Room
A fellow classmate suggested checking out The Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel, because rumour has it the hotel will be turned into luxury condos, and the symbolic Tiki bar may eventually close. There happened to be a rally (“Save the Tonga Room”) on the same night, so lots of people showed up in funny costumes and drags. I also made a cameo appearance on TV.
I loved The Tonga Room. It’s tacky to the extreme.
I went to see ballad dance at the War Memorial Opera House
That’s something I never thought I would do, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The program consisted of three very different ballad dances: The first one was abstract and plain visual, which I liked the most; the second one had a pretty straightforward storyline; the last one was a LOL comedy, which was a pleasant surprise.
“Purpose of your trip”?
“Training”
“Is it work-related?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you check Personal instead of Business?”
“Uh…because my company didn’t pay for the course.”
“What kind of training is that?”
“Usability.”
“Sorry?”
Going to an usability course doesn’t sound that much different from going to a spiritual conference. Sometimes I think they are encouraging me to lie. In January, on my way back to Vancouver at the Canadian immigration…
“Where did you stay in San Francisco?”
“I stayed at my friend’s apartment.”
“Where does she live?”
“Uh…he lives in the Marina District.”
“What does he do?”
“He is a software engineer.”
“Is it a coincidence that both of you are software engineers?”
“…”
“Where did you meet him? In school?”
I flew from YVR to SFO, and both times (January and March) I was picked for “random” baggage and body search. Getting padded down by the security in front of everyone is not cool. I had to stand in some weird WiiFit yoga position as the lady did her job. You notice they always hire middle-age Asian women for those tasks? That’s because they are not afraid of touching people. They are the same people you should go to when you get your massage or hair removal done.
“You will be away again? Two weeks? What? You going to Japan?”
“San Francisco? Didn’t you just go… like last month?”
“Is SF your new second home now? What happened to Tokyo?”
“Is there another MacWorld?”
I am going to San Francisco this weekend for a two-week CUA (Certified Usability Analyst) training. Instead of explaining what it is and why I am doing it, I present you a photo with Ema hanging upside down.
More Ema photos uploaded to my Flickr, if you are into kawaii overloaded :) .
P.S. Stay tuned to see if I get to meet mighty LX in San Fran!
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 12:21 am. 0 comments
What else did I do in San Fran other than going to Yosemite?
I went to my first but Apple’s last MacWorld. Microsoft was there, Google was there, so were the 10 million companies that make iPhone accessories. I hopped onto the Party/Sightseeing/Open bar double decker sponsored by some iPhone app, then I went to the Museum of Modern Art nearby.
I really enjoyed The California Academy of Sciences. It is an all-in-one science world + space centre + aquarium, but it is not a kiddie land like The Exploratorium or The Aquarium of the Bay.
That implies I went to those two places. I did. I stayed with my friend who lives in Marina, which is a really nice neighbourhood. The Exploratorium is only 5-minutes walk away. Right next to it is The Palace of Fine Arts, which I took a picture of at night with my tripod. The Aquarium of the Bay is conveniently located near Fisherman’s Wharf, where I took the ferry to Alcatraz.
Alcatraz Island is a must-go, more so than the Golden Bridge I would say. Don’t miss the audio tour!
I took pictures of the Golden Bridge from where I stayed. I went underneath it while I was on a sightseeing cruise. Then I thought I gotta walk it, so I did.
Hmm..that’s about it. If you want to see more, go to the Flickr collection. There were a few places I forgot to take pictures of, maybe I will do that next time.
