California Update
Time is short, and somewhat costly, but here’s the cryptic Cliff Notes version of the So Far. I’ll try to elaborate later on what I can remember…
Sunday:
- El Camino Real = 300,000 Korean restaurants in about a 15 block stretch.
- REALLY wish “The Metro” hadn’t screwed my reservation. Hotel Layne = Tenderloin = No Fucking Way = new reservation elsewhere.
- Partied with Mike at Pier 23 & Irish Pub. Let’s ask Zebra Girl — What Would Brian Boitano Do? Maybe the Coast Guard knows.
- Apparently Mason & Greary is the “Places to eat at 2AM when you’re shitfaced” District. 24 Hour Thai Joint = My Kinda Town
Monday:
- toured Berkely (town & campus). It’s like a whole town fashioned after Belmont Blvd. Actually the other way around, more likely. Californication of America. Fast Food Nation connection.
- Cafe Gratitude. I’m apparently Warm and Fabulous.
- campus tour guide knew not BSD Unix. I wanna go anyway. Hatch crazy scheme to do college Thorton Mellon style.
- missed the boat to Alcatraz, rescheduled for Thursday. On a related note, I’m really fucking sick of the 40-60 minute drive back & forth from here to Frisco
- tourist cliche time at the Golden Gate, and at some observation tower. Crooked Lombard Street is awesome.
- yes, the O’Farrell IS still around. Not a part of town to whip out camera though. See Tenderloin above.
Tuesday:
- Oh, right. MySQL stuff. engine=NDB: very cool
- reception and parties that were indeed Free As In Beer
- Blue Collar, heavy Latino bar in San Jose. Also, why do we have a hotel safe? To protect The Ultimate Cheeseburger.
Wednesday So Far:
- deep stuff on privacy vs data-mining. Yesterday Mike wondered why Google needed to bother swiping our cards…
- I sorta miss sleep. What was that like again?
to be continued…
Sounds like an awesome time! I’ve never been to that area but I’d love to visit someday (please, no jokes about the obvious, ha!).
Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Oooh. Sorry for not catching the neighborhood on the Layne. Re: the long-ass commute: welcome to life in the Bay Area.
Thanks, yeah Nathan you would definitely love it. Jokes about the obvious aside :)
Kate - no worries on the hotel. I knew the price was too good to be true. And it did look like a pretty nice place, setting the neighborhood aside. And the neighborhood I suppose wasn’t *too* terrible — I’d feel OK walking through there alone if dressed down appropirately, I just wouldn’t advise wearing anything that makes you look like you’ve got money, or doing anything else that paints you as a mark — like dragging a suitcase into a hotel.
I’m really just more upset that I couldn’t get into The Metro, it really looked like exactly the right call.