Journey to San Francisco - part 1

After waiting at the airport for 7-1/2 hours in toronto thanks to connector flight delays to Denver, mechanical problems getting my luggage off the plane I was suppose to take, checking out of customs, then checking back in again on my newly booked direct flight, I finally make it to san francisco..wohoo! ... after getting my luggage, picking up car rental, driving out to downtown SF (thank goodness for GPS...although it did get me lost for bit)...i finally check in to the hotel at 10:00pm (local time - PST). Stomachs growling...no meal on flight...so I get room service...wings and clam chowder..it's alright...lots of wings..I counted 12...imagine eating that at about 11pm at night! finally get to sleep at about 1am.

Skip to Monday...get on conference call at 7:30-8:30am...gotta rush to get to the class by 9am...crap..how do i get to parking garage again...7th floor..great gotta go back up...finally find the car and off i go...of course...GPS can't get signal as i'm leaving the hotel..so i'm driving around for a bit til i get a signal...get lost for a bit..and finally make it to the freeway..wohoo..i'm on my way...thank goodness i'm moving in the opposite direction of traffic so i make it there just on time..9am! Running into the classroom...guy at the check-in desk yells out "hold on there lucy!"..huh how did he know my name?? He shows me around the facility first to get acquainted with cafeteria, washrooms, classroom, etc...i walk into the classroom and realize how he knew my name...i was the ONLY girl in the class! :) so it was obvious from the name tags I was Lucy =) ...small class..9 pple..3 from my IBM team...lecture lecture lecture...blah blah blah...

Skip to monday evening...class finishes at approx 4:30pm...it's kinda raining out..sucks...get back to hotel to change...go to Costco..they didn't have the SD800 camera i wanted to buy..it's only available online says the salesguy..and they had only one floor model of the SD900..sucks!!
So boo..no camera...i'm gonna check best buy tomorrow. Drive around to go to Westgate(?) mall downtown..realize i gotta pay for parking cuz it's downtown..so forget it..i'll leave my car back at the hotel and walk to the mall (5-10 minute walk)...since i'm already paying $40/day for parking at the hotel. The mall is huge!..i counted at least 5 floors...but it's like a big tower..spiral escalators that keep going up...couldn't find anything..no sales..sucks. walk back to hotel..it's dark out by now..about 9pm...walk walk walk...crap...where's the hotel...i'm walking up this hill..San francisco is on a mountain practically..crazy hills everywhere..we're talking 75 degree angle hills..my car rolls back even when i'm driving auto!! ..now i'm walking UP this hill...reach the top..hmmmm...i don't see hotel..i'll ask the bell boy from the another hotel...he tells me i gotta walk DOWN the hill 6 blocks...crap..i walked too far..finally make it back to hotel and i'm sweating now...not b/c it's hot out..it's not...about 11 degrees...but cuz of walking up and down that crazy hill! Good thing i brought my runners!

So..now i'm back..just got some thai take-out at the restaurant across from the hotel...and writing this loonnggg blog..hope you had fun reading it..."Lucy in SanFran"...the journey continues...i realize..this is my first time travelling alone =) It's fun..i can be adventurous...Just spoke to my uncle on the phone...he was wondering if i can extend my stay..he's going to Vegas monday-thursday next week..booo...if only he told me earlier!! ...

6 month update...

I can't believe it's already been six months since I've last updated my blog. Where has the time gone?!? So..how do i fill in 6 months in one paragraph... where do I begin...The summer of 2006 will go down as the road trip shopping summer! Went to Birch Run and Great Lakes Crossing (Michigan) for a 48-hour shopping trip..=) Lou was the best border-crosser ever! Soo sweet and innocent..hehe..she got us through no questions asked. Did we ever need you when we went to Waterloo NY though. Went to CanadaOne in Niagara a few times..thank goodness for the 407. Next up...Grove City!
Too bad summer had to end with me messing up my knee :( diagnosis: torn meniscus in the knee..ouch!...after playing in a long softball tourney, last game of the season, 8 hours after our first game, last inning on the field, I took the softball to my knee, and that was it for me! Thanks for carrying me off the field guys...and too my car too :) Been limping around for the past 7 weeks.. doc says it'll be 3 months before I can get back into any activity again...but my knee is finally getting better, can almost walk normally now thanks to weekly physiotherapy, accupuncture, ancient chinese medicine and qigong. Kinda sucks that I'll likely miss the entire volleyball season and snowboarding season too :( .. unless there's a miracle and I miraculously recover tomorrow... or next month :) Anything is still possible right?? Maybe..just maybe...accupuncture is definitely helping though..if anyone needs a referral, let me know cuz i know a great doc! He says my knee has been improving a lot quicker than he expected...so that's a lil comforting. But enough about that... Yesterday was the official launch of the 'Dinner Club'. One day, Jeff, Will and Lou were eating out after a game and after discovering Lou's 'refined' taste for food and Jeff and Will's love for food =) .. they decided to start the dinner club...splurge on one really nice dinner once a month with good food, wine and friends, instead of going to the same pub 'n grill, pho, pasta bar week after week. So last night, we kicked it off at Reds at the First Canadian Place. Check out my other blog: http://dine-toronto.blogspot.com for updates for the Fine Dining Club.

Good Food Festival

Went to the Good Food Festival at the Toronto International Centre yesterday. Soo much sampling and free food is not necessarily a good thing =) We tried everything from exotic juices, indian spices and chutney, ice cream, pasta, pad thai, Purdy's truffles, soya chicken nuggets - pretty good...tastes just like real, okay, processed chicken! I'm sure I can fool someone at my next pot luck! .. and soo much more. The only thing missing was the wine and alcohol! If only they combined the Wine & Cheese Show with this..it would be great!! Will was happy - got his grocery shopping done for his BBQ..and a free alligator shaped bread too =) It was all definitely worth it! Looking forward to the Sweets Expo at the Convention Centre in May!! If anyone knows of any other interesting upcoming events, festivals, expos, etc. in the T.O. area, let me know!

Dining Out

I eat out...a lot...yet I still have a hard time deciding where to go sometimes. A few places I've discovered in the past week that have really good food (at least to my standards..I'm not that picky..really!) and very reasonable prices. Avenue Bistro - (University Ave., Toronto) - had the spicy chicken sandwich wth mango - excellent! I'd say it's one of the best sandwiches I've had.Sushi Time - (Queen St., Toronto) - they've moved a few doors down from their original location on Queen Street. Looks much better .. more chic and clean...prices remain the same and quality and quantity is pretty good.Sweet Factory - (Mount Pleasant, Toronto) - they've got a wide assortment of delicious cakes, pastries and baked goodies. Everything there is good!!
Of course, I still have my other favorites...Ruth Chris (best steakhouse!..even though I'm not a big steak lover), Hollywood Gelato (best gelato ice cream!...soo many flavours to choose from) ... now I'm making myself hungry. If anyone knows of other good places to dine/eat/snack in T.O., please share!

Wine & Cheese..mmm..

Went to the Toronto Wine & Cheese Show last night...wasn't as great as last year, but lots of drinks nonetheless =) I'm trying to acquire a taste for wine...still like the fruity wines and chilled white wines better though. Raspberry wheat beer was yummy..as was the Strawberry & Cream Vodka twister..mmmmm

It's official!

It's official...I finally own http://www.lucytran.com/! 4.5 years in Comp Sci at UofT, 4 years in IT at Big Blue and I finally, FINALLY claimed my space =) This page will be my space for ranting, raving, and pretty much saying whatever I have to say, whenever I want to say it, and to whomever will listen ;) Not much here yet, but hopefully I'll have time to add more soon.