14 October 2008

San Francisco Side Trip

Posted by BaBa under: Travel .

I had a little time in the schedule today since the exhibit hall did not open until late afternoon and there were paid workshops set for the conference. I will not be able to post pictures until I return home.

I got up after a fitful night sleep. I don’t sleep well on the road. I arrived late after the late inbound flight and the buzzer incident both conspired to delay my arrival. To add further delay the luggage was late and I had to rearrange the rental car (they put me in a land yacht). I got switched to Ford Fusion with GPS. The GPS could not find the hotel nor could the Hertz computer so we had to call and get an address. Let’s just say I pulled in exhausted, but unable to sleep.

The room was substandard, trim not painted, baseboard not down and no electrical plugs that would keep the small electronic devices plugged in. The plugs kept tilting out of the socket. Tomorrow, I will get a different room.

I woke up, checked the mail and ate. I looked up the schedule and found it was open and so began to plan my day. I was within 1 hour of San Francisco and found out that there is train from here to there. More importantly, the hotel shuttle will drop me at the CalTran station. I was sold on the idea. I thought it would be good to visit Chinatown. MaMa and I have not been there in 6 years. Out last visit was on the way to Hawaii in 2002 when we stopped in San Francisco on the way over to the islands.

It is a beautiful city and quite picturesque. I have Magoo’s little camera with me and will take a few shots. I hope I can find a few items for Magoo while in the city. He would so love to ride the train in and then sightsee especially if we took a harbor boat ride. There are so many destinations and sights that he will enjoy over the years as we get to take on our adventures.

I am writing on the palm as we travel down the tracks. This is why I have not yet gotten an iPhone as I can type of the portable keyboard and so squeeze in writing whenever I have a chance like on the plane last night. A full computer looses battery charge too quickly and there is not enough space to open it up on the plane when you are squished in to a seat. Maybe the answer is a small computer for these things and an iPhone for other. I am still thinking about this as I wait for the market to sell an iPhone keyboard.

I arrived for a perpetual motion visit to San Francisco. I enjoyed the train ride which was uneventful I then de-trained and boarded a bus to Chinatown. I spent the longest part of my visit shopping in Chinatown. I looked and looked at the different stores. Mostly tourist items and very reminiscent of the items we found in Guangzhou on Shamen Island. However, it was fun just to wander, walk and shop.

I found the fortune cookie factory tucked away in Ross Alleyway,. I bought several bags and munched on the warm tasty cookies that they add to your bag. Around the corner from the fortune cookie shop, I found Sheridan a new outfit. It is black with dragons on it and I know that he will like it. I also picked him ups some t-shirts at $1.88 each.

My other purchases included a jade string bracelet as I kept breaking the silver one that I got in China. I also got a string necklace to replace the silver one that holds my dragon pendant. Finally I bought a card case and an eyeglass case. I then ventured down one of the long hills to McDonald’s and got a snack and most importantly a restroom visit there. The McDonald’s used to be on Grant Avenue in the heart of Chinatown, but they have moved down the street nearer the hotel district.

I had forgotten how hard it is to walk the hills. Going to McDonald’s was easy, but returning back up the hill was arduous. I made it to the top and onto Powell street which is two streets above Grant Ave. I was tuckered out. There I caught a cable car down to the Warf. This is one of the best ways to see the city and fun as well. My former student called while I was on the cable car and we worked out how to have dinner with she and her husband. I arrived at the warf and walked around finishing my shopping by getting MaMa a present. No I can’t write about it as she will read this before I get home.

The views of the bay with Alcatraz, the Golden Gate bridge and the hills with Coit Tower are great and I took a few photos with Magoo’s camera as I walked around today. I finished my quick trip to the warf with the purchase of a loaf of sourdough bread. I then walked up a couple of blocks up the hills and board the 30 bus back to Chinatown. I found once I boarded the bus that it terminates at the Caltran station and so I settled in for the ride back to the train. I boarded the train and called home for a quick chat. I then called and arranged to meet for dinner.

I got off the train and walked a couple of blocks to the pizza place and soon they arrived. We had a very nice dinner and conversation as we waited for the pizza to come. The kitchen takes a while to cook the pizzas, but it is worth the wait. It was nice to catch up with both of them during dinner and to see some familiar faces out here in California. He works for Facebook and so I heard about the company and got some more insights into social networking.

We finished dinner and went around the corner to have gellato for desert. It was a nice ending to a day filled with a little conference work, a quick shopping and sightseeing trip and then dinner with friends and good conversation.

Tomorrow, I have my presentation and will get to visit the exhibitors as well as learn some more new ideas to implement technology in the classroom.

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