The advantages of flying Qantas

1. You get a great chance to meet new people when you sit in the check in queue from international to domestic for 90 mins
2. You get to practice your diplomacy skills with the unfriendly/unhelpful staff when you ask for an earlier flight
3. Plenty of time to reorganise your luggage and find some new clothes to wear
4. Heaps of time to get changed and eat some food when they rebook your connecting flight 3 hours after it was planned
5. A chance to finish off a couple more levels in that DS game you were engrossed in before you land
6. A great time to stretch those tight legs from the 16 hours in the last plane while your shuffle forward in the queue.
7. Time to enjoy the shopping facilities in the airport because you've got such a long wait for the flight
8. A chance to blog
9. Ample time to charge your ipod that is flat after the flight.  

Training Training and More training

It's day 3 of the training and it's really starting to take it's toll. The 11+ hours each day is starting to get a bit draining and it's getting harder to stick it out. That combined with the late nights networking are going to make it easy to sleep on the way home.

Not much else to report other than that...

Pleasanton.... anything but...

Well it's not really all that bad, a bit of a come down from the sightseeing from the last 2 days though. Today was the start of the training course and it's pretty full on. We're going from pretty much 8:30am until 7:30pm everyday. The course is pretty good, just very long days... also everyone on the course (except me) is staying at the same hotel so I'm a fair bit away from the action... although tonight I did head back to the "course" hotel for dinner (not helped by the lack of restaurant at my hotel).

So onto my few gripes with America.... What is it with Starbucks? Really? There was one IN my hotel in SF and when I walked out the front door I saw another 3. In the hotel here they have thermoses of Starbucks for breakfast (and at the course as well). I don't really know what they serve but it isn't coffee that's for sure.
Also I know why they have a weight problem over here (not that I can point the finger at the moment); 1. the food is... um... well... Let's just say my breakfast selection today was a) an egg pancake wrapped around a cheese slice covered in cheese spread, b) some sort of cake in caramel sauce, c) bagels, d) muffins e) watermelon. And the stuff they put in their "Coffee" is mind boggling... I'll take my camera tomorrow and try and sneak a few snaps.

I had something else really important to say in this post and it seams to escape me at the moment....

Anyway, the people here are great and being the only Australian who isn't from the Vendor (and only 1 of 4 people total not from the vendor) it could have been a little lonely.

It's almost midnight so probably time I signed off for the night and got some sleep for the long day tomorrow.

Oh wait... I remember... We went out for dinner at this really nice Mexican Restaurant and I had a fantastic Mole Poblano which I had to try after the Ominvores Hundred post.

San Francisco, Day 2 - a HUGE DAY

Today I had planned to do some shopping and tour a few other parts of the city. I started off catching the cable car to a few of the other spots around the city. My tip for the cable car is don't wait for it at the change points, every time I was at a change point the lines were really long. If you walk up about a block or two they will pick you up 9 times out of 10 and no queue.

I jumped off at China Town and had a bit of a meander before I jumped on another cable down to fisherman's wharf. Despite just about everywhere being sold out of tickets for Alcatraz, I thought I'd give it one last shot and at least do a cruise. After a fair bit of wandering around I managed to find a street vendor with a spare ticket which was fabulous, the downside of course was that because they were in such high demand I did get a little ripped off and had to buy a ticket for another cruise around the bay. Still, it was less than the $75 I was quoted yesterday and I got the bonus cruise.

Unfortunately this meant a fair bit of time out on the water and... in the sun. The first cruise was pretty good and I ended up with some great views of the bridge (and a chance to play with my fish eye lens). The cruise got back just in enough time to check out the seals and pier 39 before heading to The Rock.

The tour round Alcatraz was fantastic, one of the best audio guides I've ever used. It ended up being over 90 mins long but the time just flies by.

I finally made it out to Pleasanton tonight (about 9pm local time) after catching the last ferry back from the rock and cable car-ing it back to my hotel.

I'm a bit on the tired side so I'm going to leave it there... more photos up as well.

San Francisco, Day 2

It's another beautiful day here, I think I'm going to try and hit the shops today (at least in the middle part). The Sunburn from yesterday won't be much fun if I repeat it today. I didn't bring any sunscreen with me and so far haven't found one I'm not allergic to.

I really wanted to get to Alcatraz today, but the labor day holiday has foiled my plans with tickets really hard to come by. I did have some successful shopping yesterday, highlighted by a trip to BabyGap for some stuff for Paris.

(Un)Fortunately I've only brought small bags and they are pretty packed already so there won't be much room for any really big shopping sprees...

This is my last day in San Francisco proper, tonight (and for the rest of the week) I'm staying out at Pleasanton. Yesterday was fantastic (apart from the sunburn, which is more embarrassing than anything) got to see lots of great sights and pack in quite a few different things yesterday. My favourite though has to be the cable car ride at night. Hanging off the front of the through the lit streets was great.

Ness is keeping me up to date with everything that is going on back home... which is fantastic.

A big day of sight seeing in San Francisco

I tried to pack a lot into today, for one tomorrow is Labor (sic) day so I'm not really sure what is and isn't open and two it was a really beautiful day...

I've updated some more photos and I know I promised to blog but it's late, I'm sunburnt and the jetlag are all too much....

Quick Highlights
Golden Gate Bridge
Union Square
Riding on the outside of a cable car
The Pier
Lombard St
and a fabulous steak dinner at the Urban Tavern.

A few SF Photos...

Just back for a quick camera upload and a snack before I'm off to hit the shops...

Here are some of the snaps... hopefully I'll get a couple of night shots tonight

San Francisco

Landed in San Francisco....

Not much to report really, flight was bumpy but uneventful.. I've checked into my Hotel and am about to head out to take in some sights.

The view from my hotel isn't much... but it's nice to have a view all the same.

On an annoying note.... my phone doesn't work. Not sure if it's the network or the phone but either way I've got no communication other than my laptop.