It's later so this will be short - I'll describe the detail later. But American's are so over the top! Everything is extreme......
The conference is far bigger than I thought and there are about 12,000 people there. Millions of exhibitors with many giving away collectable pins that you decorate your lanyard with. We have so many! Our bling is silly but fun - although most other people are serious about collecting as many as possible. We are simply collecting stuff to resell to the people who didn't get to ebay live. In fact, I just finished listing all the ebay merchandise we got today, and someone bid on something before I was done! HAHAHAHAHA You can check what sort of things we got at www.ebay.com and click the advanced search button and enter blendy-2 in the seller field and click current auctions.
I took my wheely bag filled with my goody bags to give out (and since Dan and I were wearing our NZ uniforms consisting of a tshirt, hat, lanyard and NZ pins for trading everyone kept coming up to us gushing "Are you from Noo ZEEland?"). The goody bags didn't last too long, and just as well because we needed the space to store our free stuff - even though we were given two extra bags each that we also filled! We even both managed to get a free MP3 player which will be going straight on TradeMe etc when we get back (worth more in NZ we think). We just had to go to some random seminar at the Presidential Suite on the 26th floor of a nearby hotel, with free food and drink and we got the MP3 players!
Anyway I better go to sleep - got another day of stuff-gathering tomorrow. I'm hoping not to be so sick though - American food is awful and I throw up all the time - either that or morning sickness has returned. :(
Friday, June 24, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
A completely cool thing happened today!
I was lying in bed this morning and I felt some weird things in my tummy, and I thought it might be either digestive gurgling or maybe our baby! (apparently from now onwards I should start to feel the baby kicking). So I rolled over to see if the weird feelings moved, and sure enough they did! I felt our active little baby kicking and bashing me from the inside! Hooray! It is so cool. So I lay in bed for an hour or so just feeling the baby moving around thinking how amazing it all was. Dan was fast asleep so he missed out - maybe another time. I can't really feel it when I am walking around or active, but our baby is still small. Its the size of an avacado this week! (from head to bottom, then legs are extra).
Today we left San Francisco and came to San Jose for the ebay conference. We originally thought we'd just catch the train, but apparently it is not easy to do with all our luggage (4 suitcases, mostly filled with free stuff to give away at the conference). So we tried calling lots of shuttle places, but for a place that expects tips for everything , people are pretty unhelpful. In the end our concierge arranged a stretch limo for us (!!!) which was only $5 more than the shuttle so we figured why not. But it turns out the concierge told the driver we were going to the airport, not another hotel - which of course was a totally different fee - but not our fault so we managed to negotiate our way out of it....once the driver finally found our hotel.
The Moorpark is a very flash hotel, much fancier than the moderately crappy Handelry we stayed at in SF. But it's in the middle of nowhere. Why did they build a fancy hotel here??? However there are 30 rooms booked out for ebay people here, so surely we will meet some people soon that we can share some transport to town with. The totally unhelpful guy at the desk tells us the only transportation is to rent a car. Duh.
Anyway, after some moping and complaining, we found the pool with the free internet and got happy again.
Across the road is a Japanese shopping centre so we went there for lunch and to buy some food supplies. It is hilarious - a haven for funny Engrish things. Some of you may recall the carrot and corn candy we had a few years back, well here you can get a whole box of sushi candy! And bento box candy! YUK! We laughed at just about everything in the supermarket because either the name or the description means something completely different or just stupid. Like the pack of 'NEW'. New what?? It turns out it is a jewellery cleaning cloth to make them look like new again... The video section had a Top 7 sign, with 3 items featured on it. I'm not sure they knew what Top 7 meant. And it was all in Japanese, except for the #1 title called "Smap x Smap" .....er...??
And there were all these packs with a funny wooden stick and a feather on the end - "obviously tickle sticks", I tell Dan, "otherwise why would they have so many?" Dan thinks I'm mental (but secretly thinks it is possible i am right) so he asked someone and it turns out they are 'ear cleaners'. Oh. My mistake!
Then we went into a Japanese electronics store and Dan got sick of me pointing out completely strange machines and asking 'what's that for?' when it is so obvious that neither of us in a million years would be able to guess what half the stuff is!
Currently Dan is getting an authentic japanese barber cut - at least they will know how to cut asian hair, hehehe :)
Well, I suppose I should get ready for our ebay party tonight - I get to offload most of our luggage tonight. I had to bring things for people like Watties Tomato Sauce, LOTR magazines, All Blacks jerseys, Maori carvings etc....plus I have at least 20kg of free samples that I made into really cool goody bags to give out to everyone (and promote what I sell).
Today we left San Francisco and came to San Jose for the ebay conference. We originally thought we'd just catch the train, but apparently it is not easy to do with all our luggage (4 suitcases, mostly filled with free stuff to give away at the conference). So we tried calling lots of shuttle places, but for a place that expects tips for everything , people are pretty unhelpful. In the end our concierge arranged a stretch limo for us (!!!) which was only $5 more than the shuttle so we figured why not. But it turns out the concierge told the driver we were going to the airport, not another hotel - which of course was a totally different fee - but not our fault so we managed to negotiate our way out of it....once the driver finally found our hotel.
The Moorpark is a very flash hotel, much fancier than the moderately crappy Handelry we stayed at in SF. But it's in the middle of nowhere. Why did they build a fancy hotel here??? However there are 30 rooms booked out for ebay people here, so surely we will meet some people soon that we can share some transport to town with. The totally unhelpful guy at the desk tells us the only transportation is to rent a car. Duh.
Anyway, after some moping and complaining, we found the pool with the free internet and got happy again.
Across the road is a Japanese shopping centre so we went there for lunch and to buy some food supplies. It is hilarious - a haven for funny Engrish things. Some of you may recall the carrot and corn candy we had a few years back, well here you can get a whole box of sushi candy! And bento box candy! YUK! We laughed at just about everything in the supermarket because either the name or the description means something completely different or just stupid. Like the pack of 'NEW'. New what?? It turns out it is a jewellery cleaning cloth to make them look like new again... The video section had a Top 7 sign, with 3 items featured on it. I'm not sure they knew what Top 7 meant. And it was all in Japanese, except for the #1 title called "Smap x Smap" .....er...??
And there were all these packs with a funny wooden stick and a feather on the end - "obviously tickle sticks", I tell Dan, "otherwise why would they have so many?" Dan thinks I'm mental (but secretly thinks it is possible i am right) so he asked someone and it turns out they are 'ear cleaners'. Oh. My mistake!
Then we went into a Japanese electronics store and Dan got sick of me pointing out completely strange machines and asking 'what's that for?' when it is so obvious that neither of us in a million years would be able to guess what half the stuff is!
Currently Dan is getting an authentic japanese barber cut - at least they will know how to cut asian hair, hehehe :)
Well, I suppose I should get ready for our ebay party tonight - I get to offload most of our luggage tonight. I had to bring things for people like Watties Tomato Sauce, LOTR magazines, All Blacks jerseys, Maori carvings etc....plus I have at least 20kg of free samples that I made into really cool goody bags to give out to everyone (and promote what I sell).
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Shopping Day
Well, we're sitting here in Union Square again, but this time we're tasting the offerings of the (insanely-popular-due-to-location) cafe called Il Caffe - Emporio Rulli at Union Square. It would probably be really good if Belinda or I drank coffee, but Belinda is hacking away slowly at an Apple Strudel and a Mango Green Tea.
We spent the morning shopping, but despite the insane amount of choice here, we didn't really find a lot that jumped out at us. Sure, there are all the big brands here - but I no longer crave after Armani and the like, and everything else (i.e. in our price bracket) is available in Auckland for pretty much the same price.
(blendy) I got to visit shoe heaven! Lots of stores with floors and floors of cool shoes...but with so much choice and most of them being completely impractical, I only ended up getting 2 pairs. I also bought a few clothin items - lucky the long maternity - style tops are still in fshion here so I wont look odd.
I was encouraged to visit the Apple Store by John Ballinger in Akl, and it was fairly cool. A few floors large, with lots of tourists and students making full use of the free internet, plus live seminars and an "Apple Genius" counter for FAQs. Of course, rows and rows of ipod accesories too - but for some reason I still feel like a scrooge and don't want to shell out US$30 for an armband so I can run with my ipod shuffle.
I did however crave after staring at the Nike Free billboards all day long, and bought a pair. They're really comfy, so I HAD to buy them!
Belinda decided to buy some clothes but is also finding it hard to splurge. We've made a good effort though, and she's come away with some new clothes and shoes.
Oh, and Megan really wanted us to visit the Sanrio store for her - a store full of all things Hello Kitty... and not much else. I felt a bit odd taking a photo of the store.
(blendy) the food here is completely wrong. There are no actual ingredients in anythng - when you read the labels its all just chemicals and modified things that might once have been food. Even fresher things like butter and cheese are wrong - they are white to start with! The butter for my toast this morning came on a piece of card and you just scrape this thin white stuff off onto your toast. They are not even sealed - just a whole basket of these bits of butter on cards with a piece of wax paper covering just the top surface. yuk. We had white mozerella on some pizza yesterday - americans have no idea about pizza either. They come with sauce and one topping, and cheese is a topping. We found a place offering vegetable pizza, and it was ok. At least we found a cool place yesterday that was a big fruit stall and I spent US$17 on cherries and GIANT peaches, nectarines and strawberries. Couldn't believe how big they were! Yum!!
So we dread every meal we have to eat.....but last night we found the YUMMIEST sushi place. They make fresh sushi of all interesting kinds and then they put a couple of bits of each small plate and float them around the bar in these cute little wooden boats. You just take the bits you want, and then they count up the plates at the end. It was definitely the BEST sushi ever.....
After deciding we were immune to the weak US sun, we ended up getting quite sunburnt and we look stupid - especially because the wind is cold so we were wearing long pants and hoodys yesterday - so my hands, face and chest are red! DUMB!
Tomorrow we make our way to San Jose for the ebay conference.
We spent the morning shopping, but despite the insane amount of choice here, we didn't really find a lot that jumped out at us. Sure, there are all the big brands here - but I no longer crave after Armani and the like, and everything else (i.e. in our price bracket) is available in Auckland for pretty much the same price.
(blendy) I got to visit shoe heaven! Lots of stores with floors and floors of cool shoes...but with so much choice and most of them being completely impractical, I only ended up getting 2 pairs. I also bought a few clothin items - lucky the long maternity - style tops are still in fshion here so I wont look odd.
I was encouraged to visit the Apple Store by John Ballinger in Akl, and it was fairly cool. A few floors large, with lots of tourists and students making full use of the free internet, plus live seminars and an "Apple Genius" counter for FAQs. Of course, rows and rows of ipod accesories too - but for some reason I still feel like a scrooge and don't want to shell out US$30 for an armband so I can run with my ipod shuffle.
I did however crave after staring at the Nike Free billboards all day long, and bought a pair. They're really comfy, so I HAD to buy them!
Belinda decided to buy some clothes but is also finding it hard to splurge. We've made a good effort though, and she's come away with some new clothes and shoes.
Oh, and Megan really wanted us to visit the Sanrio store for her - a store full of all things Hello Kitty... and not much else. I felt a bit odd taking a photo of the store.
(blendy) the food here is completely wrong. There are no actual ingredients in anythng - when you read the labels its all just chemicals and modified things that might once have been food. Even fresher things like butter and cheese are wrong - they are white to start with! The butter for my toast this morning came on a piece of card and you just scrape this thin white stuff off onto your toast. They are not even sealed - just a whole basket of these bits of butter on cards with a piece of wax paper covering just the top surface. yuk. We had white mozerella on some pizza yesterday - americans have no idea about pizza either. They come with sauce and one topping, and cheese is a topping. We found a place offering vegetable pizza, and it was ok. At least we found a cool place yesterday that was a big fruit stall and I spent US$17 on cherries and GIANT peaches, nectarines and strawberries. Couldn't believe how big they were! Yum!!
So we dread every meal we have to eat.....but last night we found the YUMMIEST sushi place. They make fresh sushi of all interesting kinds and then they put a couple of bits of each small plate and float them around the bar in these cute little wooden boats. You just take the bits you want, and then they count up the plates at the end. It was definitely the BEST sushi ever.....
After deciding we were immune to the weak US sun, we ended up getting quite sunburnt and we look stupid - especially because the wind is cold so we were wearing long pants and hoodys yesterday - so my hands, face and chest are red! DUMB!
Tomorrow we make our way to San Jose for the ebay conference.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Dan says...
(I just posted this to my family... figured I may as well post it up here too! - )
Hey guys,
Belinda and I are here lazing in the sun in front of a monument dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. Its sunny in Union Square, which is a nice big (concrete) park in the middle of the city - surrounded by billboards and big department stores. Macys, Tiffanys, Victoria's Secret, Nike etc. We spent the day doing a tour, and say the outside of alcatraz (can't really be bothered going inside), went under the Golden Gate bridge and just really took it easy. We'll likely go shopping and spend some $$ tomorrow.
Its great to relax after a couple of mental months working... i'm feeling a lot better now that i'm over my jet lag from a normal air new zealand flight (which seem to be getting worse, or i'm just over travelling).
American food is really terrible compared to auckland though. Its amazing how unhealthy all the food options here are. We bought a salad last night, and it was terrible - covered in bacon, cheese and the most unhealthy salad dressing ever! I think belinda and I are gonna go for a mission to find a nice fresh japanese place tonight.
Otherwise, we're having fun here - just enjoying beling on holiday, and the use of FREE internet in the middle of town. FREE! muhahahaha.
Cool - catchya later....
Dan.
Hey guys,
Belinda and I are here lazing in the sun in front of a monument dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. Its sunny in Union Square, which is a nice big (concrete) park in the middle of the city - surrounded by billboards and big department stores. Macys, Tiffanys, Victoria's Secret, Nike etc. We spent the day doing a tour, and say the outside of alcatraz (can't really be bothered going inside), went under the Golden Gate bridge and just really took it easy. We'll likely go shopping and spend some $$ tomorrow.
Its great to relax after a couple of mental months working... i'm feeling a lot better now that i'm over my jet lag from a normal air new zealand flight (which seem to be getting worse, or i'm just over travelling).
American food is really terrible compared to auckland though. Its amazing how unhealthy all the food options here are. We bought a salad last night, and it was terrible - covered in bacon, cheese and the most unhealthy salad dressing ever! I think belinda and I are gonna go for a mission to find a nice fresh japanese place tonight.
Otherwise, we're having fun here - just enjoying beling on holiday, and the use of FREE internet in the middle of town. FREE! muhahahaha.
Cool - catchya later....
Dan.
San Francisco!!
Yay here we are in San Francisco. Had a reasonably good flight over and our hotel is ok. We arrived yesterday afternoon and looked around town, then ate some yukky american food for dinner... their idea of salad is quite different...
Today we went on a tour - we went on a boat tour around the bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge etc, and then a cable car tour around town. It took most of the day with all the waiting around and looking at all the touristy stuff. We have decided we're quite immune to touristy things and it doesn't really interest us. But we took few cool photos :)
Tomorrow we will spend the day shopping!
Today we went on a tour - we went on a boat tour around the bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge etc, and then a cable car tour around town. It took most of the day with all the waiting around and looking at all the touristy stuff. We have decided we're quite immune to touristy things and it doesn't really interest us. But we took few cool photos :)
Tomorrow we will spend the day shopping!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Development 14 weeks update
Head to bottom, your baby's 3 1/2 inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. Her body's growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of her body. (Her legs still have some growing to do, though.) She's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over her body (called lanugo). Her liver starts secreting bile this week, a sign that it's already functioning properly, and her spleen starts contributing to the production of red blood cells. She's also producing and discharging urine into the amniotic fluid, a normal process that she'll keep up until birth. You still can't feel your baby's movements, but her hands and feet (which are now half an inch long) are more flexible and active. Thanks to brain impulses, her little facial muscles are getting a workout as she squints, frowns, and grimaces. She can grasp now, too, and she may be able to suck her thumb.
We have a cute baby hairy lemon with cute little hands and feet! My tummy is expanding quite a lot - every day it seems bigger. The amniotic fluid sac is much larger than the baby, so that is what starts to push everything out. It is getting more uncomfortable lying down in bed since my internal organs are getting pushed out of place. And its only going to get worse! But its very exciting - I'm just over a third of the way there...but can't believe I have to wait as much time as it has already been, TIMES TWO! That's AGES!
We have a cute baby hairy lemon with cute little hands and feet! My tummy is expanding quite a lot - every day it seems bigger. The amniotic fluid sac is much larger than the baby, so that is what starts to push everything out. It is getting more uncomfortable lying down in bed since my internal organs are getting pushed out of place. And its only going to get worse! But its very exciting - I'm just over a third of the way there...but can't believe I have to wait as much time as it has already been, TIMES TWO! That's AGES!
Monday, June 06, 2005
Last week's development
Oops - got too busy and forgot to post Poppy's development for last week.
Your baby is now nearly 3 inches long — about the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs nearly an ounce. If you could hold his hand, you'd notice the tiny, squiggly lines that make up his one-of-a-kind fingerprints. You'd also see his veins and vital organs beneath his tissue-thin skin.
Wow, fingerprints, that's pretty cool.
My tummy has really started to poke out this week. I have to wear longer tops since they ride up over my bump! So its getting exciting now that I am looking more pregnant. Although to most people it probably looks like I've just put on lots of weight (unproportionally though, so maybe I do look pregnant after all). My boobs are starting to swell up too, so will have to get more bras soon!
Yay, and less than 2 weeks until we go to the US! I'm very excited - but not sure what I will be able to wear from my summer wardrobe. Hmmm. But at least for the ebay conference I am sorted - hehe, I've roped Dan into wearing a uniform with me consisting of black New Zealand caps, tshirts and even lanyards! (to hold all the pins we apparently collect and trade during the conference). At least we will stand out and people can come up to us and get free sample bags of things i sell - and hopefully buy full sized products later.
Cool things about going to the ebay conference:
Your baby is now nearly 3 inches long — about the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs nearly an ounce. If you could hold his hand, you'd notice the tiny, squiggly lines that make up his one-of-a-kind fingerprints. You'd also see his veins and vital organs beneath his tissue-thin skin.
Wow, fingerprints, that's pretty cool.
My tummy has really started to poke out this week. I have to wear longer tops since they ride up over my bump! So its getting exciting now that I am looking more pregnant. Although to most people it probably looks like I've just put on lots of weight (unproportionally though, so maybe I do look pregnant after all). My boobs are starting to swell up too, so will have to get more bras soon!
Yay, and less than 2 weeks until we go to the US! I'm very excited - but not sure what I will be able to wear from my summer wardrobe. Hmmm. But at least for the ebay conference I am sorted - hehe, I've roped Dan into wearing a uniform with me consisting of black New Zealand caps, tshirts and even lanyards! (to hold all the pins we apparently collect and trade during the conference). At least we will stand out and people can come up to us and get free sample bags of things i sell - and hopefully buy full sized products later.
Cool things about going to the ebay conference:
- I get to promote all the stuff I sell and hopefully generate heaps more customers
- Our hotel is fancy and has a heated outdoor pool with free internet access at the pool
- They also serve complimentary freshly baked cookies and milk in the lobby at 9pm for a goodnight snack (how cute!)
- Ebay have booked out the Great America amusement park one evening as a private function for everyone, including dinner (not that I can go on many fun rides, but its still cool!)
- The B52's are the entertainment for the last night at the Gala dinner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)