Trip to Silicon Valley
The 10-hour flight was not something that I looked forward to as I don't like flying at the best of times, I did manage to catch bits of the first two episodes of Lost and the remake of Flight of The Pheonix on the inflight entertainment system, which I thought was ironic.
I was picked up by my friend Heather, I found Silicon Valley itself quite strange. Firstly the light is a lot brighter to the UK and has a blueish tinge. The newness of everything you see around you, its like Milton Keynes or Telford. The real estate is expensive yet all the buildings are low rise, in this day and age Japanese cities built on similar earthquake faults manage to build higher.
The Apple campus in particular looked really non-descript, it was hard to believe that Apple products could spring from such an unpromising looking set of buildings.
Tipping is de rigeur in restaurants (add double the sales tax on to your bill). Prices for things like hotels generally don't quote sales tax.
The 10-hour flight was not something that I looked forward to as I don't like flying at the best of times, I did manage to catch bits of the first two episodes of Lost and the remake of Flight of The Pheonix on the inflight entertainment system, which I thought was ironic.
I was picked up by my friend Heather, I found Silicon Valley itself quite strange. Firstly the light is a lot brighter to the UK and has a blueish tinge. The newness of everything you see around you, its like Milton Keynes or Telford. The real estate is expensive yet all the buildings are low rise, in this day and age Japanese cities built on similar earthquake faults manage to build higher.
The Apple campus in particular looked really non-descript, it was hard to believe that Apple products could spring from such an unpromising looking set of buildings.
Tipping is de rigeur in restaurants (add double the sales tax on to your bill). Prices for things like hotels generally don't quote sales tax.
American cars start ot make sense, when you see the space around them over here the cars look in proportion to their surroundings, Honda Civics look small and mean.
On television the advertisements are strangely compelling to watch, full of perscription drug adverts, consumer finance and the occasional order direct music collection of 50 greatest hymns.
