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Landing.

Window seat is best if you're landing in SFO. The view is stunning - it's the ocean beneath you all the way, and if you're not looking at the screen that shows you the view from the front of the plane, you'd think you were landing on water. And suddenly, you're on the runway. Incredible.

SF.

I walked out after collecting my bags, and a fairly old-looking Mexican guy asks if I want a taxi, and I say yes. He starts walking in the direction away from where the 'Taxi' signboard points to, so my ears are automatically pricked in suspicion. We go to the parking lot, and he has a huge car that doesn't have a 'Taxi' board on top. Further suspicion. By this time I think the man realised that he may be losing a customer, so he says something to the effect of his having 2 daughters my age. I didn't ease up, obviously. Still, I went ahead and sat in the cab, and he showed me the receipt he was going to give me. 'Comedy Limo Service' :D Haha, and I was vaguely reassured; I'd heard of this company. The guy didn't have a GPS in the cab. Sigh... in a state close to panic, I changed sim cards (thanks Aditya!) and turned on data. Google maps saved me. :) I gave the guy directions to my apartment in Santa Clara. It took us a little over half an hour to get there, and as it happened, the old Mexican didn't live up to those suspicions. I decided to loosen up a little. He even offered to double back and help me in case I was at the wrong place. It ended well. :)

My Apartment.

No one received me, so I pulled my suitcase along like it was a dog on a leash, and finally found some humans in the place. They weren't friendly or anything, just cordial, and pointed me in the right direction. So I went to my apartment. I walked in with 4 Chinese folks - as it happened, they were my roommates! I'm sharing the apartment with a Chinese couple and the girl's parents are staying here as well. Sweet folks, the parents know no English, and I've had small conversation with the couple so far. :)

By the way, my room is beautiful! Attached balcony with a lovely view of the street, with chill breeze and a big bathroom with vanity mirrors, a bathtub and everything. Plus 2 walk in closets. And a little table, a shelf and a telly. And a bed that's oh-so-comfy!

A lesson in Jetlag.

I'd slept so much on the flight. I'd reached my apartment at 3.30pm and there was the rest of the day to go. I was hungry, and I put my stuff in, decided to take a shower, and head out to eat. Called Gapa, and he was free, so we decided to meet. Went to Premier Pizza and ate a little pizza plus a glass of beer. It started getting cold. We went back to the apartment after lunch, and it was 8pm and bright outside, as if it were 6pm! (I didn't expect THAT.) Anyway, I figured, it was just 8pm, so even though I was feeling slightly sleepy, I thought I'd do some activity based stuff so I could stay awake till at least 9.30 - 10pm. So, Gapa said lets go to my apartment, I'll call a friend, and we'll all go out somewhere. It sounded like a good plan.

As I walked the ten-minute brisk walk, a wave of extreme tiredness enveloped me, as did the "Ah, this is jetlag" realisation. I thought to turn back, but by this time I was slurring and tottering from tiredness, so it seemed like a good idea when Gapa said that his apartment was right there and I should sit for a bit and then he and his friend would drop me back. My apartment was too far behind now, so I decided to just go with it, maybe I'd feel better if I sat down. We got there, I admired the place, sat on the couch, and while he was talking, fell asleep (Sorry Gapa!). So he prodded me awake and told me to sleep inside while he took a swim, and he'd wake me up in a couple of hours and he and his friend would drop me on their way out. I have no idea whether his friend came, and he wasn't able to wake me up a couple of hours later. I woke up at 2.30am with a jolt, found him awake and had a little conversation where I figured I couldn't go back now. I chatted with everyone back home for a bit and then went back to sleep.

Never knew that kind of tiredness before, man!