I flew to SFO from SHA through LAX, good to bring the Kindle and order some coffee on the plane
Spent the weekend in San Francisco, I’ve visited the city before in 2009 but didn’t have much time then. So when I heard I had some business meetings during the week, I made sure to include the weekend for some sightseeing. The flight from Shanghai to San Francisco takes about 15 hours. Due to the time difference, we landed at exactly the same date/time as we left. Therefore I aimed to stay awake during the flight and read as much as I could, to fall asleep in the hotel instantly to avoid jetlag.
In my beautiful shanghai marathon gear. Picture was coincidentally taken by a Shanghaines
Before I realized it, I had to return to the hotel to freshen up for my meeting with Maggie and Josh (working for Zynga and Pixar), who introduced me to a fine Mexican restaurant. Nice to hear about their life in San Francisco, hope to receive them here some time too.
In the early morning, I went for a run from Union square to Embarcadero. I snapped some pictures with my phone. I was aiming for a small run but enjoyed the weather and sceneries so much that I kept adding blocks to my trial, I ran well over 10km before I knew it.
Kindly received by Maggie and Josua, while fighting jetlag
During the afternoon, I explored more touristic spots and for dinner I enjoyed in-n-out burger, their fries and burgers are particularly great. In the evening I was supposed to go to a party, but happened to walk by a little theater on Bush street. I asked the guy at the door what was going on today, and before I knew it I had a front row ticket for a fraction of the original price. The story was called ‘death of a salesman’, the story was set in various points in time (actors kept changing clothing according to the 60’s etc) and featured the story of how one bad decision can influence your entire life..
entire cast on stage
On Sunday, I took a tour to Napa Valley. Napa is one of the most famous wine valleys in the United States. Napa was put on the map in a 1997 Bourdeaux blind wine tasting, when the French jury voted Mondavi’s Californian wine to be the winner, they actually wanted to do redo the competition. Napa’s ground price increased 10 fold instantly…
Sunday morning, took the bus to Napa valley. View from Oakland Bay bridge
I knew about the area because of Marc who showed that particular story in a movie called ‘bottle shock‘, I can highly recommend it… I also watched a documentary last winter about this particular character.
Had to get up in the early morning to take the tour bus out of town. It was nice to drive by Oakland, Berkeley and other famous area’s in the bay area. Nice to see the countless vineyards as well.
Just a small drive later, you drive in France-like sceneries
10 AM, time for a local grown 2008 Estate Chardonnay
The day consisted of visiting three vineyards, a process in the hot sun between the grapes. Very nice experience, met a lot of interesting people from all outskirts of the US.
Already empty? They didn’t fill the glasses completely though…
I arrived back in San Francisco around 4PM. I didn’t realize the gay pride weekend was going on with a huge parade and party at the Civic center. So I checked that one out as well. San Francisco is particularly liberal (drugs and sexual views), this event has become so huge that it’s considered commercial. The audience varied from transsexuals to gays to straight people, all just dancing and having fun.
‘intimate’ setting during the pride parade
SF Civic center… Great location for a party
The music is pretty much international. The small stages featured house music which would also be played at events like Loveparade in Europe. The main stage featured rock music and some national level pop artists. Then the weekend was over, Xander arrived in town as well so we met up at the airport and
Highway 101, left lane is carpool only. Free road for us! (the sign reads ‘buses and carpools only’
we headed down to Silicon Valley. We resided mostly in places like Palo Alto and the likes. We drove down the 101 highway and noticed that that the left lane was for carpool only. Since most people drove by themselves, and had to drive on the right, we didn’t realize at once that the left lane was ours! Very good initiative. A quick visit to the famous Apple store which Steve Jobs always visited. I was looking to buy a new laptop and was helped by the lady on the left. Considering her age, I was surprised to hear her technical know how.
At Menlo Park Apple
The best thing about California is clearly the weather and the hard working mentality. It’s not ofter to see that combination. We had great weather all week, this picture I took from our hotel. (view to Oakland and San Francisco)