Bloggin' from California!
California Baby!!! I'm in my place in Palo Alto that I'm renting out. I couldn't ask for anything more. Everything's great! My roommate's really nice and I almost feel like I'm living in a hotel.
She was out when I got here, but left the spare key hidden in the drain pipe. The place was exactly like the pictures she sent and it's really nice. She furnished my room with a bed and two side tables and lamps. I got sheets, bedding, pillows, linens, and even a bathroom floor mat! Great that I didn't have to deal with all that! She has even offered me her old cell phone, which is still active b/c it was cheaper for her to get her new phone under a family plan.
I managed to pretty much unpack everything in like an hour :). That's a new record for me, considering that I usually just live out of a suitcase. There's tons of closet and cubby space. I think I need to go get some hangers.
Nothing much to complain about the trip here. The Gardiner (big highway) was closed, so the cab driver had to take side streets and then the 400 to get to the airport. Good thing I negotiated the fee beforehand. That's the best way to do it when getting a cab from downtown Toronto to the airport - flag down a cab (don't call one) and then haggle because cab drivers love driving people to the airport b/c they get quite a bit of money. At first he asked for $45, I said $35 (I've gotten $30 before, but usually at the Airport Express stop), he refused, but then accepted $40, which was a steal considering the price it would have been if it was on the meter (b/c of the highway closure).
I still managed to get to the airport an hour and fifteen early. Stupid 50 pound limit on the luggage. Fortunately, my bigger one was only 53 pounds and they let it slide without charging me. They didn't even weigh my "small" one. Customs was pretty smooth even with the whole J-1 visa stuff. The 5.5 hour flight went pretty smooth. I don't know what was going on on that flight though - the last 3 rows on both sides all had kids, it was like they were segregating parties travelling with kids or something. The bad part was that I was in the row just in front of them. Fortunately with my headphones on, their screaming wasn't too bad and I did manage to get some sleep.
The San Francisco airport is pretty big. They've got a nice monorail system going that transports you between the terminals, the train station, and the car rental place.
Nothing really exciting at the car rental place except that they were gonna charge me $75 to return the car to a different location, which is absurd considering that my 2 day car rental (I'm renting the monthly rental from a non-airport location for a better rate) only comes out to like $38. I said that they guy on the phone told me it was $25 (which he did), but I couldn't give a name. The guy was like fine and made it $25. I'll see if I can get this waived when I return it and then get the long term rental.
I got lost getting here - got onto the wrong direction of the highway. It turned out alright though because when backtracking, I found a McDonald's and grabbed some drive through. I was hungry as I hadn't eaten since the morning and the cheap ass airlines don't give out food anymore.
Alright, well it's 4:30 am Toronto time (1:30 here), so I'm pretty tired. Not too sure what
She was out when I got here, but left the spare key hidden in the drain pipe. The place was exactly like the pictures she sent and it's really nice. She furnished my room with a bed and two side tables and lamps. I got sheets, bedding, pillows, linens, and even a bathroom floor mat! Great that I didn't have to deal with all that! She has even offered me her old cell phone, which is still active b/c it was cheaper for her to get her new phone under a family plan.
I managed to pretty much unpack everything in like an hour :). That's a new record for me, considering that I usually just live out of a suitcase. There's tons of closet and cubby space. I think I need to go get some hangers.
Nothing much to complain about the trip here. The Gardiner (big highway) was closed, so the cab driver had to take side streets and then the 400 to get to the airport. Good thing I negotiated the fee beforehand. That's the best way to do it when getting a cab from downtown Toronto to the airport - flag down a cab (don't call one) and then haggle because cab drivers love driving people to the airport b/c they get quite a bit of money. At first he asked for $45, I said $35 (I've gotten $30 before, but usually at the Airport Express stop), he refused, but then accepted $40, which was a steal considering the price it would have been if it was on the meter (b/c of the highway closure).
I still managed to get to the airport an hour and fifteen early. Stupid 50 pound limit on the luggage. Fortunately, my bigger one was only 53 pounds and they let it slide without charging me. They didn't even weigh my "small" one. Customs was pretty smooth even with the whole J-1 visa stuff. The 5.5 hour flight went pretty smooth. I don't know what was going on on that flight though - the last 3 rows on both sides all had kids, it was like they were segregating parties travelling with kids or something. The bad part was that I was in the row just in front of them. Fortunately with my headphones on, their screaming wasn't too bad and I did manage to get some sleep.
The San Francisco airport is pretty big. They've got a nice monorail system going that transports you between the terminals, the train station, and the car rental place.
Nothing really exciting at the car rental place except that they were gonna charge me $75 to return the car to a different location, which is absurd considering that my 2 day car rental (I'm renting the monthly rental from a non-airport location for a better rate) only comes out to like $38. I said that they guy on the phone told me it was $25 (which he did), but I couldn't give a name. The guy was like fine and made it $25. I'll see if I can get this waived when I return it and then get the long term rental.
I got lost getting here - got onto the wrong direction of the highway. It turned out alright though because when backtracking, I found a McDonald's and grabbed some drive through. I was hungry as I hadn't eaten since the morning and the cheap ass airlines don't give out food anymore.
Alright, well it's 4:30 am Toronto time (1:30 here), so I'm pretty tired. Not too sure what
5 Comments:
did you fall asleep while writing that last sentence?
Hahaha, not too sure what happened there...
I guess I just forgot that I hadn't finished writing that sentence and I was spell checking (a).
I meant to say that I'm not too sure what I'm going to be doing today. Probably just some random errands (not too unlike your "errands ;))
Good thing everything went smooth! I just hope when you do return to TO don't end up with El Al ;) See if you can get a me a nice Google T-shirt on your way back. I'll pay.
Sure, what t-shirt size and what colour (black or white)?
Thanks Vince,
I prefer White, Black is second choice. I wear Large (L)for T-shirts
Post a Comment