As I nervously await the judgement of the United States on whether they will allow me to pay my taxes to them, Sonam and I continued our travels. This began with a flight to San Francisco, firstly to check out the hustle and bustle of this exciting city, see some of the sights that came with that, see some friends at Berkely, and mostly to check out if it's really somewhere where Sonam and I could settle down.
With San francisco still being about the size of the South of England, we decided to rent a car, but in an effort to be economical, we downgraded from the Mustang to a smaller, older Nissan Versa, a car more suited to the trampy style I'd grown accustomed to in the UK. It was probably the first time I realised I was now in the 'spoilt' category in the car department; as I pressed on the accelerator for the first time, unlike the roar I'd gotten used to, it was a bit more like a wet fart. Anyway, snobbery aside, before we proceeded to explore the run-down streets of SF, we drove to Mountain View, a town known for everything but the view really, but more because it lays home to Google and Linkedin's headquarters. I can't quite figure out why its there, other than some sort of tax beneficial reason, because its a) ages away from the city and b) has literally nothing else to do there as far as I can tell, other than the odd spot of golf, or just watching a bunch of techies driving around on those google bikes you see in the film 'Internship'. There isn't even a good cafe or restaurant, really, at least as far as I could tell - presumably because, based on Sonam's day there, they have full on canteens with an insane amount of variety and choice, and its all FREEE. Sure, they pay you less than some jobs, but I guess if its perks you're looking for, its perks galore. Free doctors on site, free food, free travel, great benefits when you have kids; essentially a wet dream for the corporate job people. All sound like good reasons for Sonam to work there, especially if I'm going to stay in the ever-volatile job that I'm going to be in again (fingers crossed)! Anyhow, I chose to not really bother with exploring offices, dropped Sonam off and ventured to the nearest Golf course. Aside from sucking majorly at golf, I also stood out like a sore thumb because I was surrounded by what seemed like retired or very wealth executives, who were talking mostly about their stock investments, where they were going to be playing their next golf tournament, what watch were they looking to buy themselves for christmas etc. It was funny, I felt once again like I was operating in a completely different world to these people, and although they were about 30 years ahead of the curve than me, I hope my curve leads into a slightly different direction. Well, except the golf, I wouldn't mind getting as good as those guys..
The next day, after a jog around the Berkeley Campus, we drove into SF city, and drove over the Golden Gate bridge. It was a beautiful day out, and we got some lovely pictures, especially from the pier near Fort Point. There were a load of Chinese men and women, presumably working for local restaurants, fishing away, pulling in fish by the bucket load, and celebrating loudly each time. They didn't however like getting photographed, as I found out when trying to take an artsy picture (see below). He yelled something aggressive at me, and I couldn't figure out what, but he was waving his arm at me and said something about "Fuck". Also, it didn't help he had approximately three teeth in total, making me stare longer. Oh well, it was time to move on anyway, and we spent the evening in Fisherman's wharf; a kind of touristy, but charming hub of restaurants and chains, along with a bunch of randomers in the street hoping to get paid for doing things that were really adding nothing to anyone's life. For example, the guy playing steel drums over some music that was fine on its own, and the guy 50 metres down the road doing exactly the same. Given I had seen zero steel drums while I've been in California, why didn't the second guy who came with his steel drums just go to ANY other tourist spot? Very odd. Also, there was a guy standing in the cold dressed as a dog, and making his two puppies stand there with him, while he just shouted "any money for the dog?". Again, very odd.
With San francisco still being about the size of the South of England, we decided to rent a car, but in an effort to be economical, we downgraded from the Mustang to a smaller, older Nissan Versa, a car more suited to the trampy style I'd grown accustomed to in the UK. It was probably the first time I realised I was now in the 'spoilt' category in the car department; as I pressed on the accelerator for the first time, unlike the roar I'd gotten used to, it was a bit more like a wet fart. Anyway, snobbery aside, before we proceeded to explore the run-down streets of SF, we drove to Mountain View, a town known for everything but the view really, but more because it lays home to Google and Linkedin's headquarters. I can't quite figure out why its there, other than some sort of tax beneficial reason, because its a) ages away from the city and b) has literally nothing else to do there as far as I can tell, other than the odd spot of golf, or just watching a bunch of techies driving around on those google bikes you see in the film 'Internship'. There isn't even a good cafe or restaurant, really, at least as far as I could tell - presumably because, based on Sonam's day there, they have full on canteens with an insane amount of variety and choice, and its all FREEE. Sure, they pay you less than some jobs, but I guess if its perks you're looking for, its perks galore. Free doctors on site, free food, free travel, great benefits when you have kids; essentially a wet dream for the corporate job people. All sound like good reasons for Sonam to work there, especially if I'm going to stay in the ever-volatile job that I'm going to be in again (fingers crossed)! Anyhow, I chose to not really bother with exploring offices, dropped Sonam off and ventured to the nearest Golf course. Aside from sucking majorly at golf, I also stood out like a sore thumb because I was surrounded by what seemed like retired or very wealth executives, who were talking mostly about their stock investments, where they were going to be playing their next golf tournament, what watch were they looking to buy themselves for christmas etc. It was funny, I felt once again like I was operating in a completely different world to these people, and although they were about 30 years ahead of the curve than me, I hope my curve leads into a slightly different direction. Well, except the golf, I wouldn't mind getting as good as those guys..
The next day, after a jog around the Berkeley Campus, we drove into SF city, and drove over the Golden Gate bridge. It was a beautiful day out, and we got some lovely pictures, especially from the pier near Fort Point. There were a load of Chinese men and women, presumably working for local restaurants, fishing away, pulling in fish by the bucket load, and celebrating loudly each time. They didn't however like getting photographed, as I found out when trying to take an artsy picture (see below). He yelled something aggressive at me, and I couldn't figure out what, but he was waving his arm at me and said something about "Fuck". Also, it didn't help he had approximately three teeth in total, making me stare longer. Oh well, it was time to move on anyway, and we spent the evening in Fisherman's wharf; a kind of touristy, but charming hub of restaurants and chains, along with a bunch of randomers in the street hoping to get paid for doing things that were really adding nothing to anyone's life. For example, the guy playing steel drums over some music that was fine on its own, and the guy 50 metres down the road doing exactly the same. Given I had seen zero steel drums while I've been in California, why didn't the second guy who came with his steel drums just go to ANY other tourist spot? Very odd. Also, there was a guy standing in the cold dressed as a dog, and making his two puppies stand there with him, while he just shouted "any money for the dog?". Again, very odd.
(Artsy sweary guy)
Berkeley was a great little town, if a little too studenty. And for a place that was studenty, there didn't seem to be anything open after about 10pm. But still, very beautiful all the same, and you really got a feel for being surrounded by academia. Also, while on my run, I stumbled across one of these:
It was a little Library effectively allowing people to pick up and drop off books as they please, for free. I think they should do that everywhere. Maybe it will encourage people to become more literate (Ok, I can't talk with my poor vocab and grammar, but still), and hopefully they'll stop saying "Literally" with everything, something that seems very common since I've been in America. "I'm literally dead" doesn't mean anything (well, anything possible at least). Nor is it OK to say "I didn't do nothing" whilst giving evidence in court. I feel strongly you should probably at least go to jail for a few days just for saying that. Ha, anyway, language snootiness aside, I just thought that was a wonderful idea, with so little downside.
The next day, we took our now trusted Versa and went east, in search of Napa valley where we were meeting my cousin and uncle who I haven't seen in 10 years. My cousin has had a baby, who is now a two year old little terror, but possibly the cutest kid I've seen in a while. All in all, a lovely reunion, set in one of the most blissful settings I have been lucky enough to sit in. I wish I knew more about wine while I was sat there, but oh well, I had a great time nibbling on cheese while sampling the different types, looking for the flavours described on the label, but really only grasping broad things like 'dry', 'smooth', 'sweet' etc. After a night in Sacramento with them at their beautiful home, we set off back to LA after possibly one of the biggest 'brunchiners' known to man.
All in all, San Fran, run down and full of the homeless as it was, was an unforgettable trip, partly because of the location and the buzz of being in another proper city, but mostly because of the generosity and kindness of the people we stayed with, from Sonam's friends in Berkeley to my family in Sacramento.
Back in LA now, we have decide to stay put for a couple of weeks, mostly because we have people visiting; one of our friends from Berkeley this weekend, followed by Sonam's parents the following week. Very much looking forward to it! This weekend, I'm hoping to go shooting finally with Simon, so hopefully one more thing off the bucket list, and the fact I'll be in one place for a little while means I can work on a couple of other ones that are a bit harder to do. Namely, volunteer work, and trying out a new, more 'real' job for a little bit. Also, hoping to be back in the eating healthy/exercising loop again, as we naturally drop out of it every time we go away. So, today was SoulCycle, the over-exuberant spin class. As expected, it was still full of woohooing, rhetorical questions and cheering, but I think it genuinely does the job in terms of getting you motivated, and pushing you to a decent level you'd probably struggle getting to on your own.
One thing I'll sign off on is something I've noticed the past few days, firstly being in the student town of Berkeley, and then being on UCLA campus today with Sonam, but it genuinely is getting to a weird point how attached to their phones people are. Every student I saw was on their phone, even those hanging out with other people, mostly scrolling, texting, whatever it is. Maybe it's work related, who knows, and I know I am encroaching dangerous ground here; Sonam is always telling me I'm on my phone (although I can't really explain why considering I really don't keep in touch with that many people), I have an Instagram account, have recently become active on Facebook again, and am obviously writing this blog. So a rant about people being vain and living their life in public, however true, I'm almost as guilty as anyone there. But, I will say that I think it's just a worrying way to grow up, where interaction face to face is not normal, where hanging out with someone in person doesn't mean putting your phone away, where witnessing a magnificent new sight is all about capturing the perfect Instagram picture, or Vine, or Facebook profile picture, and then measuring it's success by the number of likes instead of by the beauty that is around. Anyway, for me, all of these tools are a great way of cataloguing our moments, essentially creating a simple to use, interactive diary to flick back to and relive these days when we are 75. But we can, and are going too far, and a little restraint can go a long way. Anyway, all it has really done is confirm that I am going to have my 4 day blackout, in December when the visa stuff is sorted. I think its important to do so occasionally, to help find that balance to an otherwise addictive way of life, and a chance to experience the true joy of why we are somewhere, why we bothered to fly all the way round the world to get away, and to not get sucked back in.
Annnyyway, I hope to follow with another update soon, hopefully with more about what it's actually like to live here in LA, something we haven't really done for the time we've been on the west coast.
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