Australia Edition - Day 1 & 2

 Day 0: 2/10 - Packing

Valerie and I finished work late on Friday and after work we met up with the Tracy and Mountain House folks for dinner at Mountain Mike’s Pizza. As we were leaving dinner, every local cop, sheriff, and CHP officer descended upon the shopping center, having followed 3 suspects from Livermore to Mountain House. It was insane the number of police who showed up. After that, we decided to head home and get some rest before the last big packing push.

Saturday was chaos. I had to stop by 3 different banks and crapped out at two of them trying to set a pin on my credit cards. I had a quick visit with my parents and then headed home. Once home, I cleaned off my desk, tried to pay the taxes, setup my new computer speakers, and made sure Allen could plug his computer into my setup with (hopefully) no hassles. Once that was done, we dropped our ballots off at the MHCSD box, went to Kris and Janelle’s to drop off some Keto bread products that we were hoping would get some good use and had a quick visit. We then headed to Rite Aid to get some toiletries, then to Petsmart for cat litter and cat food, EPL for dinner (note, Texas Roadhouse needs a better parking lot), Safeway for some staples for Allen, and then home for more packing!

I was packed a little after midnight, but Valerie was going until 2. Having completed most of what we needed to do, we went to bed for our last night at home for 3 weeks!

Day 1: 2/11 - Goodbye California!

I got up at 8 and started getting the house “Lorena clean”. Valerie had to finish packing her “carry on” and get her office around. At 11:45, Matt came by to take us to airport (Thanks Matt!). We left a little after noon and Matt had us to the airport in no time at all! Security was breeze and we headed up to the Polaris lounge thanks to our business class tickets. The lounge had a dining room, so we stopped and grabbed lunch. Valerie had a fantastic burger and I had some curried noodles with chicken. Once we finished lunch, we found our seats for the Super Bowl. There was a TV in our area, but there was no sound, so we started watching on the iPad with headphones, but more people came into the area we had setup in and a lounge employee was able to turn on the sound so we watched most of the rest of the game from there.

We had to leave right before the 49ers marched down the field to make it 19-16 and I was frantically trying to watch the end of the game on my phone. Everyone else at SFO had the same idea, so service was terrible and I had to watch the last chief drive on ESPN Gamecast, while calling out plays to Valerie. KC scored the field goal to tie the game while we were boarding and I continued watching the game on screencast until the 49ers were past the 50 on their OT drive at which point I was able to get back onto YouTubeTV. I watched us not get into the end zone (time to address the OLine John!) and then watched KC drive down and score a TD to end the game. While disappointed in the outcome, that was one of the best Superbowls I have ever seen and I don’t think our guys have anything to be ashamed of.

We flew Air New Zealand business class, and they have been knocked a lot for their business class seating. It’s in a “herringbone” pattern which is odd, but I think it allows them to put an extra row or two into their business class accommodations. It doesn’t feel super private, but it was really comfortable. They have fixed ottomans at the end of your seat which is nice, no lowering your footrest for takeoff and landing. Service was excellent, the seat large and comfortable, and lots of things to check out on the infotainment system.

After takeoff, the flight attendants brought warm nuts and smoked salmon and salmon roe on cucumber with tzatziki. I tried the salmon roe, and the tzatziki but left the rest alone. After that, they brought our bread and I had the garlic focaccia which was incredible. It was served with both butter and a little bottle of olive oil. Both ways were delicious, but I think I preferred the butter. For the main course, I had short rib with cooked veggies and gnocchi. Valerie had the short rib as well, but got a salad instead of the roasted veggies. Everything was delicious. Finally for dessert, I got a cheese platter, and Valerie got ice cream, again delicious.

After dinner, the flight attendants came around and gave everyone turndown service. The seats were turned into beds complete with mattresses, sheets, comforters, and full size pillows. I stayed on top of everything because I was hot, but it was super comfortable. I plugged my phone and CPAP in, turned on “Goon” on my iPad, and crashed hard. The excitement and stress of the game, the limited sleep the night prior, and general travel stress put me right out. Valerie did the same.

Day 2: 2/13 - Hello Sydney!

I woke up after 7 solid hours of sleep, the only disruption being from my headphones changing modes from the pressure between my head and the pillow. Nothing like dreaming and being woken up by your earbud screaming “AWARE”, “IMMERSIVE”, “QUIET” as it cycles through its noise cancelling modes.

I stayed in bed for about 30 minutes, reading on my phone, and then the flight attendants came around and asked if I wanted to change my bed back to a seat. They did so, and then quickly came around asking about breakfast. I ordered the overnight oats with some fruit. It was insanely delicious. Valerie had waffles? This was first breakfast. After breakfast, we had about 30 minutes before we started our descent into Auckland. The longest stretch of flying I had ever done was the easiest flight I had ever done.

We arrived in Auckland rested, and ready to carry on. We had to pass through customs to get into the international terminal and I got my batteries taken away. Apparently you can’t have loose batteries in your bag, they have to be in your devices or in the retail packaging. Valerie got pulled aside to have additional screening, getting her bags and hands wiped for explosives and firearm detection. Once through customs, we headed to the Air NZ lounge. 

This lounge was not as nice as the Polaris lounge at SFO, but it was quite comfortable. It was really quiet when we got there and really busy when we left. They had bathrooms with showers, a buffet, and ample seating. Valerie and I took advantage of the bathrooms, not to shower, but to brush our teeth, and clean up a little. Valerie had an adventure in the bathroom, but that is not my story to tell. After a 2 hour layover, we headed to our gate to catch the last leg of our flight to Sydney.

The flight from Auckland to Sydney was super easy as well. We had really good weather, so the flight was only 2.5 hours. We were seated in business class again with the same layout. While waiting to taxi, we ordered second breakfast. I again ordered the overnight oats, and also got a frittata. We took off and once we hit cruising altitude, second breakfast arrived. Overnight oats were excellent, and the frittata was good. I don’t like eggs, but this was mostly veggies with eggs combining things. It came with 2 thick cut slices of excellent bacon, spinach, and tomatoes. An excellent breakfast. I also had an apple and pear smoothy, also fantastic. 

When breakfast was done, we had 30 minutes to play around and we started our descent into Sydney. Flight landed, and we were off the plane in no time at all. 

Customs was a breeze. They have these machines you queue at that scans your passport and asks you a few questions. Once that is done, you get a printed ticket and head to the next area. You insert your ticket and they take your picture with facial recognition software to confirm your identity. It’s all unmanned and takes 15 second per person. Once through the facial recognition, you pick up your luggage (skipped this step, carry-on for the win!) and then get in line to have a final check of your declarations and ticket. Once that is done, you are in Australia!

We headed into the arrivals section of the airport and talked about our options for getting to the hotel. We decided to take the subway. We’ve found that while exploring a new place, using public transportation is the best way to become familiar with that city. We got on the T8 and headed to the CBD (Central Business District). The subway ride was super easy (tap your contactless payment to get on, tap to get off) and after a 15 minute subway ride we were at St. James station. We headed out toward Queen Elizabeth St and found ourselves at what looks like Market St in San Francisco. Lots of high rise buildings, busy streets, but no meth, no needles, and no homeless. Amazing!

After exiting the subway station, we made our first mistake of the trip. We decided to walk the “12 minutes” to our hotel. The walk would have been lovely had we not been wearing clothes for Bay Area winter in 85F heat, with heavy compression socks, and carrying significant weight on our backs and in our luggage. It was hot and heavy and both of us were shortly overheating. We found a bank on our way and got some cash which gave us a nice break, and we stopped once to get a breather before walking the last 3 city blocks to the hotel. One of the best feelings was walking into the lobby of the hotel. There is no power, no pleasure, no exquisite sin greater than central air. 

We were very early to our hotel. We got there just before noon and check-in wasn’t until 3. We had requested early check-in, but that is never guaranteed. We went to check-in and our room wasn’t ready and was told it would be at least an hour and they would email us when the room was ready, but we completed all the other check-in steps so we would be able to go straight to our rooms. We sat down and 5 minutes after we sat down, I got an email our room was ready. We went back to the front desk, got our keys and headed up to our room. 

Valerie has long waxed poetic about how great a feeling it is to take her bra off at the end of the day. I don’t have such issues, but I now understand what she means. The first thing I did when I got to the room was to take off the heavy compression socks I had been wearing for the last 2 days. It was heavenly to let my feet breathe. The socks did an incredible job making sure my feet didn’t swell, making sure I don’t get DVT, etc and I am thankful for that, but they can rot in hell for how hot they were and the pain in my calf where the compression sock ended. That area still hurts to touch.

After removing our heavy winter clothes, it was time to hit the shower. We both washed the travel stink off us and felt so much better in lighter summer clothing and refreshed from the shower. We hung out in the room for a bit before deciding what we wanted to do. We ended up deciding to walk the almost 1.75 miles to Chinatown where a well known food court is. Google Maps said it was a 12 minute walk; Google Maps is liar! There were foods from all over Asia there, but we decided on Korean. I had Jajangmyun (Korean noodles with ground pork in a black bean sauce) and Valerie got the bulgogi. Both super delicious!

By the time we had finished eating, it was 4pm (9pm at home). We had thought about heading to Darling Harbor since it was a slight detour on our way back to the hotel, but we were both exhausted and decided to stop by a convenience store for some waters, head back to the hotel and order room service for dinner. We found a 7-11 on the way back and stopped in. They had lychee and passion fruit flavored slurpees in addition to cola, and raspberry. They also had new flavors of Powerade Zero. We grabbed a couple of bottles of water and a couple of bottles of Powerade and walked the rest of the way to the hotel. 

We both agreed, no sleeping before 9:00pm, so we put the first Hobbit movie on the TV and tried our best not to fall asleep. We were mostly successful. Around 7:30, we ordered room service. I got a green curry chicken with eggplant, baby corn, and bell peppers while Valerie got a cheeseburger and fries. Mine was absolutely delicious and Valerie’s was excellent as well. The fries didn’t come with ketchup though, it came with a tomato sauce. The tomato sauce wasn’t as sweet as our ketchup, more savory and maybe had some worcestershire in it. Not sure, but really good. By the time we finished eating, it was right around 9:00pm and we were spent. I plugged in my CPAP and passed out. It was a good night of sleep, but I woke up around 4:30, kind of going back to sleep for a couple of hours. 

I had set my alarm for 7:00am as our company meeting was happening today and I knew I was receiving a DARE award. My boss had wanted me to attend to hear his speech and for me to say thank you. I had known I was winning for a week, but the gravity of it hit me while he was speaking. After he presented, I rambled some comments, not really sure what I said other than thank you. After my boss went, my pre-recorded speech played for my resource who won as well, and he was visibly emotional on the call. I can say that presenting this award to a member of my team is one of the highlights of my career. 

After that, I spent the rest of the morning responding to people saying congratulations, I sent some thank you emails to the people who had mentored me over the last 17.5 years at Model N and then wrote this. Valerie is still asleep beside me. It’s after 11 and we need to go find something to do! Maybe slightly less walking today? Probably not though.

Love you all so much! I’ll check back in with you all tomorrow!