Tales of Travel in the States

After what seemed like forever, we arrived in San Francisco at 9.30 am. Our 2-hour b reak in Tokyo's Narita airport called for a quick meal and of course, we did not have Yen. Fortunately US $ were OK. Our meal was a Mac. Then it was time to board the next flight and 8 hours later, we were in San Francisco. We had to stay up to adjust to their time and so took a tour to the Golden Gate bridge and some other sights. Dinner was Macs again (sigh) as everything near our hotel was Chinese and we thought let's skip Chinese for a while. No restaurants around so Adrian went out and bought the Macs. Our hotel room was tiny with cardboard walls and floorboards, we think. I fell asleep at 7 watching Seinfeld and so we hit the deck at 8 pm. We heard the housekeeper trying to get in and yelled back "Sleeping!!!!" Ah, it was 1.30 pm and we had slept the sleep of the dead.

So we showered and went to Fisherman's Wharf for 'lunch' at 4 pm - fish and chips for him and a fillet of sole for me. Make that 2 fillets that came; the portions are huge and now sometimes we share. Most people pack back half their meal. It's very wasteful because prices are high and the p0rtions are too huge.

We had a huge culture shock at SFO airport when we checked in for Denver. No United counters etc as we know it. Just long lines for people to self-check in and it's move,move,move. No one told me about this, wait till I see you, TP! We asked for help and got it. Then it was move,move,move to security. "Take off your coat" "Take off your shoes". Ha Ha, when we were through we just sat at Burger King (another fast meal, sigh) in amazement. Smaller aircraft for Denver, and bad turbulence; the pilot said we may not be able to land in Denver as it had snowed in so may have to go on to Alburquerque, New Mexico. Kong simik?? Oh no. Fortunately, the weather eased up enough for us to land. These United pilots are good. The flight attendants.... another whole story. At Denver we were to wait 1 hour to our flight to Tulsa but due to the snow, it was delayed by an hour. Another bumpy ride on a small aircraft and we were there, bedraggled. And off course instead of the hotel car, my new boss was waiting for us. So instead of seeing him the following morning at 9.30 he shifted it to 11.30, for lunch.

The following morning, it rained and rained and the hotel is built on a slope so the water gushed down and I had to wait till I could get into the hotel car. The office is literally 5 minutes away. But there is nothing else around - no shops, no nothing except huge car parks. The hotel has a service that takes you to anywhere within 5 miles (what's that in Km?) so we have been to some nice areas to dine and shop. The Christmas stuff is out and you can really enjoy Christmas here. Today is Halloween and many people including adults are walking ar0und all dressed up. The people in OK are the friendliest I have met; elegant and polite. No trash here, not what we have seen anyway. Adrian is right now watching Ocean's 11; it's 9.00 pm Saturday and we will go down to this stylo-mylo restaurant for dinner which we may share again. Wish there were some small restaurants nearby. The room is very spacious; almost the length of our home.

Tomorrow it's lunch with my boss Alan and his wife; and they will drive us around. The homes here can best be described as stately and beautiful. Monday to Thursday I have a full schedule with different people. Here, they work from 7.30 am till 5.00 pm then have alternate Fridays off.

More news soon.