Touchdown
28/03/2004
Here in Sunnyvale
After a damn long flight. This conference had better be worth it. Temperature is really nice, it’s around 12-15 degrees celsius. Tomorrow looks nice and warm.
The plane ride
The 3.5 hours to Hong Kong passed by quickly enough, I didn’t even get to finish Love Actually (which by the way, is a really funny movie). What annoys me is that the overhead compartments are so high, I can hardly reach it. And those uselessly skinny stewardesses in their manicured hands and perfect hair always look around at other people when I ask them to give me a hand with putting the hand luggage in there. And some poor guy sitting around the area will feel bad for me and do it.
The long and winding queues
At US immigration and customs was unbelievable. I would’ve taken a photo, but I didn’t want to come off looking suspicious. They’re already so touchy about everything. It took me 45 minutes to get out of immigration (for just 2 minutes for the guy to stamp my passport), and another 20 minutes to get out of customs. It was unbelievable, the sheer number of people and the number of stops and checks they had.
Anyway, after dinner (with some of KF’s family) I caught a ride back to Sunnyvale, and got all set up. The room is kind of nice and large (king sized bed!). Suitably comfortable, but not something I’d expect from a Sheraton. There’s no minibar (no fridge), no safe. But on the other hand, I’ve a room that overlooks the pool.
Check out the pool view
That’s my work area. It’s quite pleasant.
High speed internet connection is available for $9.95 for 24 hours. Skype has worked out really well – conference mode is great for rowdy chats. Been using it to chat with friends.
Ok time to wind down from all the days activities. The office is close enough to the office for me to walk there, but I’ll take the shuttle tomorrow and see how it goes from there.
