Ryan and I went to the Fry's store in Sunnyvale yesterday. Our original plan was to spend about half an hour there, move on to the DSW store in Milpitas and then to San Francisco - we ended up spending about 6 hours just in Fry's!
To a bumpkin coming from India, Fry's is just incredibly big and has an amazing variety of items. The very idea of being able to take a shopping cart through aisles upon aisles of hardware components and picking up just the right components to build my dream computer would have been enough to make me wet my pants in my days as an avid gamer. I am sure that electronics enthusiasts back home would have a similar feeling if they see how easily they can get all sorts of electronic components and related hardware in this store. Awesome!
If I were younger, I would have filled my cart with all sorts of cool stuff, including the Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics kit. I did not because I realise that I would simply not have the time to play with all that cool stuff and it would therefore just be a waste of money. Sad.
2006-10-23
2006-10-22
San Francisco
I spent the first weekend of my current trip exploring the city of San Francisco, first with VikGup and Pooja and then with Ananth and Surabhi. I will also be going to the city almost every day this weekend and the whole of next week, but I do not expect to have much time that I can spend exploring the city (which is a shame since I have really liked what I have seen of this city so far).
One of the first things that I noticed about this city was its diversity - there are so many people of so many ethnicities that it seems to be about as cosmopolitan as any city can possibly get. The next thing I noticed was the ruckus created by motorcycle riders (mostly riding Harley-Davidsons) almost everywhere. Finally, I really didn't expect the city to be so small!
I was with VikGup and Pooja for some time on the first day and then I walked around The Embarcadero, visited Fisherman's Wharf, Market Street, Chinatown, etc.
The next day with Ananth and Surabhi, I saw the Golden Gate bridge, visited Haight-Ashbury and the Amoeba store, ate at Massawa (an Ethiopian restaurant) on Haight street, indulged in the creations of Ghiradelli, went up the steep roads of Russian Hill and down the hairpin bends of Lombard Street, etc.
A charming city. I wish I were able to explore it properly.
One of the first things that I noticed about this city was its diversity - there are so many people of so many ethnicities that it seems to be about as cosmopolitan as any city can possibly get. The next thing I noticed was the ruckus created by motorcycle riders (mostly riding Harley-Davidsons) almost everywhere. Finally, I really didn't expect the city to be so small!
I was with VikGup and Pooja for some time on the first day and then I walked around The Embarcadero, visited Fisherman's Wharf, Market Street, Chinatown, etc.
The next day with Ananth and Surabhi, I saw the Golden Gate bridge, visited Haight-Ashbury and the Amoeba store, ate at Massawa (an Ethiopian restaurant) on Haight street, indulged in the creations of Ghiradelli, went up the steep roads of Russian Hill and down the hairpin bends of Lombard Street, etc.
A charming city. I wish I were able to explore it properly.
US of A
I have been in the US of A (Redwood City, California) for a little over two weeks now.
This is only my second visit to the US. I was in Edison (New Jersey) for a week about five years ago. For a number of reasons, I was miserable during my stay the last time around. I was suffering from jet lag for much of my stay - I wasn't able to sleep till about 4AM every day, but then had to get up by 7AM to get ready and go to work only to find myself groggy throughout the day. I used to accumulate so much static electricity so rapidly that I used to be shocked by touching almost anything - door knobs, car doors, coffee machines, humans, etc. - and would remain jumpy throughout the day. Even though the hotel that I stayed in was close to my workplace, I couldn't actually walk there and had to always depend on someone to pick me up, take me out for lunch and dinner and drop me back. But for some of my extremely helpful and accommodating colleagues, I would have had a terrible time. Since I stayed for such a short time, I also didn't get to go around and see places.
This time it's much better. My jet lag was less severe and I got over it pretty quickly. The weather is warm and really pleasant most of the time. The hotel that I stay in is a bit further from my workplace compared to the last visit, but there are very nice pedestrian sidewalks and
the path is surrounded by beautiful grass, trees and lakes. There is a supermarket, a bunch of restaurants and other shops very close to the hotel (but for some strange reason, every restaurant and shop in this area closes by 8:30PM - only the supermarket remains open till 11PM). There is good public transportation available here and the nearest Caltrain station (San Carlos) is just about a mile from my hotel. Finally, many of my friends live in this nook of the world, though I've only been able to meet Ananth, Yumpee and VikGup so far.
On the weekends, I've been able to see San Francisco and Las Vegas but both of them merit separate posts.
This is only my second visit to the US. I was in Edison (New Jersey) for a week about five years ago. For a number of reasons, I was miserable during my stay the last time around. I was suffering from jet lag for much of my stay - I wasn't able to sleep till about 4AM every day, but then had to get up by 7AM to get ready and go to work only to find myself groggy throughout the day. I used to accumulate so much static electricity so rapidly that I used to be shocked by touching almost anything - door knobs, car doors, coffee machines, humans, etc. - and would remain jumpy throughout the day. Even though the hotel that I stayed in was close to my workplace, I couldn't actually walk there and had to always depend on someone to pick me up, take me out for lunch and dinner and drop me back. But for some of my extremely helpful and accommodating colleagues, I would have had a terrible time. Since I stayed for such a short time, I also didn't get to go around and see places.
This time it's much better. My jet lag was less severe and I got over it pretty quickly. The weather is warm and really pleasant most of the time. The hotel that I stay in is a bit further from my workplace compared to the last visit, but there are very nice pedestrian sidewalks and
the path is surrounded by beautiful grass, trees and lakes. There is a supermarket, a bunch of restaurants and other shops very close to the hotel (but for some strange reason, every restaurant and shop in this area closes by 8:30PM - only the supermarket remains open till 11PM). There is good public transportation available here and the nearest Caltrain station (San Carlos) is just about a mile from my hotel. Finally, many of my friends live in this nook of the world, though I've only been able to meet Ananth, Yumpee and VikGup so far.
On the weekends, I've been able to see San Francisco and Las Vegas but both of them merit separate posts.
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