Day 03: Prepping for the big day, moving to Santa Clara

Tuesday, Oct 11th 2005 Ah, we had been here for 2 nights. Time flies so fast when you are enjoying it, doesn't it? Today we woke up earlier so we could get the hotel's breakfast. Well, since it was just bread, we decided we wanted more :-). Hence we walked (btw, we didn't really take the suggested Google Map route because we weren't using car) again to the mall, and we again had Panda Express' delicious Oracle Flavored Chicken (ko lo kee). Tips: did you know that you could get a Satellite view if you click the above link, click "Satellite", and zoom it up to maximum?

Since arrived here, I had never been able to get any internet access. Yesterday I said that the hotel's receptionist didn't even have any computer. So whose website was this? Well, for sure, I asked the manager, and they claimed they didn't know. Funny, considering I booked from that website. Maybe I just had no idea how this travel agent thing worked. Anyway, on our way out of the mall, there was a big sign that there was a free hot spot inside the mall. Yay.

My big day would start the next day. It would be held in Marriott, Santa Clara. If I had a car, here's the route that I should take (Google maps is cool, isn't it?). Unfortunately I didn't, so I had to take Caltrain instead. The nearest Caltrain station in San Francisco was at 700 4th St San Francisco, CA 94107. You could see here that it was actually pretty close to our hotel, but I had no idea how to reach there with SF's public bus (MUNI).

Actually you could find and download MUNI's system map here. At some bus stations, you would also find this system map printed. We decided that we'd rather try to find our way first without carrying our luggage. So we checked-out and left our luggage at the receptionist. Riding MUNI was a very pleasant experience. It was pretty much like Singapore's bus system, but these buses were powered by some electric cables above it. Seniors and disabled people were given priority seats in the first few rows of the bus. Interestingly, the bus entry platform could be lowered (hydraulically?) to make it easy for seniors and disabled people to get into the bus. How nice. I was very surprised to learn this at first as I thought we had a flat tyre.

Drivers were also very polite that they would gladly answer any questions you had. I told the driver that I wanted to go to Caltrain station, and since I had no idea where to stop, he would gladly advise me when we had reached the station. Hm, actually this might be overstated. I actually later met one driver who was impolite and seemed angry, which I later found out that his shift had ended and he was mad that the next driver wasn't there to replace him.

Walking around downtown SF was very enjoyable too. Pedestrian definitely had a priority here. City weather was perfect for walking, we didn't feel sweaty walking all-around. Blocks were not too big, so you would enjoy walking. Many shops and tall buildings were all along the road, so pedestrian walks were pretty much covered from direct sun-light. When there was a construction, a temporary roof covering the ped walks would be built so that you didn't need to worry that something might fall off on your head. Oh, and we often heard trucks of the fire dept (mobil pemadam kebakaran) in the city, though we never saw any fire.

After we found our way to the station, we got back to the hotel, picked-up our luggage, and went back to the station. It was aroud 4PM already. Caltrain ran for every half an hour or so. The train was very clean and nice, it also had an upper floor. Oh, if you had a bike, you could bring your bike in. Actually this also applied for bus. Many buses (outside downtown SF) had a special rack in front of it to put a bike in (or you could bring it inside if space permitted).

About an hour later, we arrived at the nice, peaceful, and quiet Santa Clara station. Surprisingly, this was the heart of Silicon Valley, yet we didn't see any tall buildings or crowded traffic, like we imagined existed in big cities. From the station, we caught a bus to the hotel. Actually TC provided a hotel for me in Santa Clara, but I would be sharing the room with Ardian. So we booked the Vagabond hotel for our 5 nights stay in Santa Clara. Btw, you would get a cheaper price if you booked the room via this website. This hotel was definitely way much better than our hotel at SF, and cheaper as well. The room was very spacious and clean, the amenities were also better.

Unlike downtown SF, there were not much to see here. Our hotel was located right next to a big main road. Every few blocks there would be a space dedicated for stores and restaurants. We had pho for our dinner in the nearby Vietnamese restaurant. Somehow there were lots of Vietnamese in this area, even some signs in the bus were written in both English and Vietnamese.

I spent the rest of the night refreshing my memory with the component design that I was going to compete on the next day. I slept sometime around 2AM despite having to wake up early morning tomorrow for my big day. Oh, the hotel also had a free wireless internet so it was really great, the first time we could really go online with Yahoo Messenger and meet our Indonesian friend.