slycat | Entries tagged with california09

I'm now back home, in fact I got back home around 1:45pm but found myself catching up with email and livejournal once I got in.

Anyway to finish my blog a day account of what I've been up to which is mostly for my own records, after my last post, the UK furs slowly filtered down and I ended up getting a Subway with Kiroo and Deezlberries. After brunch, continued to hang out with the UK furs, saying goodbye to people as they left until our airport shuttle arrived. I was conscious of the fact that there's very little to keep you occupied at San Francisco airport and so wasn't in a hurry to get through security. Our group ended up consisting of Kiroo, Deezlberries, Badgerguy, Durandal, Utlah, Kyyanno and myself. We hung around the area before security, having burgers from the "Burger Joint". After security, Kiroo went off to his own gate as he was on a different flight to the rest of us as we were all on the Virgin flight.

Kyy and Utlah had taken the upgrade to Premium Economy and so were able to fly in luxury while the rest of us were in cattle class. I say that, but it wasn't too bad. Badgerguy had a whole row of 3 seats to himself and Durandal and I were sharing a row of 3, but this meant we had the extra legroom from the empty space inbetween. I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and most of Milk before my PMP's battery died (I swear American electricity doesn't last as long as British electricity!) and then attempted to get some sleep. While I was tired, I found it next to impossible to just drop off. I must have got some sleep though because before I knew it, the cabin lights were back on and we were fast approaching Ireland on the onboard flight map thingy. I was also incredibly dry like I was on the way out, despite drinking a litre of water.

After being spoilt with the beautiful California weather, it was a real shame to come back to the cloudy, dull and rainy UK. I wondered why anyone from California would ever want to visit the UK at this time of year. We disembarked, filtered through passport control and collected our baggage, all happening pretty seamlessly (which I'm sure Durandal appreciated after having his luggage semi lost on the way in). Everyone split off to their own destinations, my one being the Central Bus Station for the National Express. Found the place after making one wrong turning to find that the next coach was in 15 minutes rather than the one in 1hr 15minutes I had a ticket for so I shelled out £6.50 to transfer my ticket and get out sooner. I think next time, I just won't book a coach ticket in advance due to the unpredictable nature of flight arrivals and buy the ticket on the day to save any extra expenditure.

My phone had almost no battery power remaining so I sent a few texts out, one to my Mum saying I was back. She called back to say I could get off at an earlier stop at the University and she would give me a lift home from there. Sadly my battery didn't last that long and so I got off at the University (annoying the driver as he had put my baggage in the Southampton section of the luggage hold) in front of all the students who were in the area. My phone had no power, I didn't know the area and there was no sign of my Mum. So I decided to just make my own way vaguely in what I thought was the right direction as I was feeling rather self conscious being in a University campus with no right for being there. I wondered down a road and didn't recognise anything I saw so I had to bite the bullet and ask for directions. Fortunately the first person I asked was going where I wanted to go and so offered to escort me. Turns out, my flat isn't very far from the University at all and so it only took about 15-20mins to walk home. However with the heavy luggage, my hands were about ready to fall off.

So yeah, now I'm home after a fantastic holiday. My body just wants to sleep having been up for so long but I want to stay awake to help adjust my body clock. I understand meals also help the adjustment too so I'm gonna make me some food!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Portswood, Southampton

Yesterday was notable for the lack of anything I actually did. Due to the late night before, I didn't get out of my room until around 11 by which time most people had had breakfast already. I settled for an overpriced panini which wasn't that good and just hung about the bar area. Ended up going to the Hawaiian Drive Inn later on with Kiroo and Deezlberries which was rather tasty.

By the time we were back, the dead dog party was in full swing with some pretty good music. I decided not to suit due to the hassle of having to get someone to give me a hand into suit so mostly took photos. By the time the dead dog wrapped up at 11 I went off to bed for some well deserved sleep.

I already had my stuff packed so I left my room around 9 this morning, however unlike the past 6 days, it's totally deserted of furries. Mostly just business people wondering in and out of the lobby. I'm just waiting for my fello Brits to go off for some breakfast before getting the airport shuttle to SFO.

Ah well, it's the end of a great con and a fantastic hokiday as a whole. It's always a shame to have to return to normality but I think I've had long enough out here to unwind from the stress of work.

Yesterday was a great day, just a shame it was the last major day of the convention as it seems most of the Americans were back to work today. Had breakfast with my roomies from last year's convention being Stego & Vircoo and had lunch at Subway with the usual British suspects and Dex.

I watched the Critterlympics and took a tonne of photos. Also saw the Furry Night Live which was great apart from the painful 'Special Presentation' of Hawaiian dancing before the main show. People compared them to the legendary belly dancers from a previous con...

After FNL I skipped upstairs for an awesome party, only getting to sleep at 4am. Only had around 4 hours sleep but woke up this morning and got all my stuff packed as I had to check out this morning. I'm not leaving until tomorrow so will be kipping in Smash's room tonight.

Whee, had a great time yesterday. I fursuited not only once, but twice! Firstly in the fursuit parade which I only just made (amazingly it started on time and I got there just after it started) took me a bit to get back into the mindset of a fuzzy kitty but soon got into the flow of things. As with last year, I really didn't know what was going on at the end of the parade but they ended up getting a group photo from a crane and then a weird 3D type photo taken from a moving van. Not too sure how that'll turn out but it should be interesting. In all, Frysco counted 530 fursuits in the parade!

Also got into suit around 1am for the dance that was going on but I managed to wear myself out quickly and again remembering why I want a new suit. The bodysuit isn't a great fit leaving a gap at the back of the neck and the ventilation in the suit is poor. There's a flap of lining inside the head in front of my lip which is loose which is also very irritating. I cut it off using the fursuit repair tools in the fursuit lounge but it didn't do a lot of good. Also the eyes collect condensation so when dancing and the lights flash into the eyes while in a dark room, I pretty much can't see. I really want to get a new suit!

Erm elsewhere I did a lot of hanging arount and socialising. I didn't catch any of the events again apart from some of the comedy show which was OK in parts but when a mime came on I had to leave!

Today's the last major day of the con, the variety show is on tonight which should be good. I'm just waiting for Stego to turn up so we can grab some breakfast.

Yesterday was the first official day of the con even though little more happened than registration and a small dance in the evening. I spent the majority of the day in the bar area bumping into people I knew from the internets and having drinks.

Food wise, I had breakfast at Denny's with Dukefawks, Kenai and Andysquirrel. Lunch with Hunterkitty at Quiznos (after failing to find the Subway), and had a disappointing fish and chip supper at the FC bar.

I'm still recovering from my cold so didn't suit yesterday. I may suit today seeing how I'm feeling but no guarantees yet. I'd love to get a lot of suiting in as it's a lot of fun, but not when you're bogged down with a cold, though I'd hate to miss out on oppertunities. The main lobby area seems to be very warm this year too which makes me think I'd be uncomfortably hot in suit too, but we'll see.

I'm off to have a shower and then find someone to have breakfast with. Cheerio!

Yesterday we decided to get breakfast, check out and have the hotel hold our luggage while we took a trip up to Coit Tower. Sadly the beautiful weather we had been having changed for the worse in the form of the first clouds I had seen all holiday as well as rain. I blame the UK furries coming over that day as they took the weather with them :P

Anyway, the journey to Coit was relatively short, but it was a long way up. Lots of very steep streets up to the tower which also had some more painful stairs to ascend. Fortunately there is a lift for the main height of the tower. Once up, despite the less than perfect weather, I still got some great snaps of the views that Coit tower provides.

Once we decided we had had our fill of the sights, we made our way back to the hotel to grab our luggage and a cab to the Caltrain. The train as OK, it was double decked but not as good as the trains I had travelled on in Germany and Holland but at leats the announcements were in English so I could understand them :). Normally I'm OK with train travel but this time I felt a bit travel sick with nausea, I guess my cold was partly to blame for that.

After the train journey, it was a short free bus ride to the Doubletree hotel for FC09 (which Frysco insisted hadn't started yet despite the abundance of furries and fursuiters). Ended up grabbing lunch with the usual British suspects as well as Smash and Frysco at the restaurant formerly known as Cluck U. I chickened out of the hot wings and opted for a rather tasty BBQ chicken burger.

Back at the hotel, I socialised at the bar, drinking my first alcoholic drinks from the bar (after seeing the prices, I'm not surprised I hadn't drunk there before). As they had the ingredients, I had a 'Niagra' or 'Green' being vodka, blue curaco and red bull :)

Ended up the day getting jealous of everyone microblogging the event to twitter so I got myself signed up. I'm SlyCatUK on there. Not much to write about so far but may well use it as the con progresses.

Today, there's vague plans to go to Dennys followed by a trip to the Computer History Museum while registration takes place. I'll mostly work out what I'm doing as I go tho so I can keep my options open :)

See you around if you're here!

Firstly, I'm pleased to report that my cold seems to be easing off as I had one of my best sleeps last night so far this holiday. Hopefully I can kick it entirely before the con is in full swing.

Anyway, yesterday we had another IHOP breakfast before hopping on a cable car down to the downtown area of San Francisco. Kenai was going to join us so we waited around Powell station for him to arrive. While we did, a local TV news reporter approached us and asked if I wanted to answer some questions in relation to this historic day, etc. Normally, I would have been up for it but I declined as I was still bogged down with cold and didn't think that would make for good viewing.

Anyhoo, Durandal succeeded in getting a baseball glove to go with the souvenir Alcatraz baseball he picked up the day before. My mission to find a specific salt grinder my Dad was after wasn't so successful however. We ended up wandering aroun d thee shops and made a special trip to a shop on 8th street before coming back to Macy's for what can only be described as the poshest cheesecake restaurant around. It was on the top floor of Macy's overlooking Union Square. They did other food too but we were just there for the cheesecake, which was delicious!

After cake we headed back to the hotel for a bit, I really wasn't feeling too great so I pretty much just stayed in bed while the others did a wonder of the Wharf. The fact I got thos extra rest may explain why I feel so much better today.

Today we're off to San Jose for the Doubletree Hotel. We've got to check out of here by noon but there's no rush to get there so I'm not sure what the plans are. I guess we'll make it up as we go :)

Ah, my cold's taken a turn for the worse, I've not really had a good night's sleep since I got here. I feel guilty for my condition cos I'll be disrupting other people's sleep too. I'm getting myself drugged up on Tyenol Severe Cold and NyQuil to try and surpress my symptoms. Hopefully I can shift this damn cold before the con.

Anyway, yesterday's main attraction to tick off was Alcatraz. Sadly the night tours were all booked up so we settled on a normal audio tour. After some delays, Wruf joined us for the trip over and Frysco managed to get there in time for our departure too which was impressive considering the distance he covered. Alcatraz was much the same as last time I went but it was enjoyable to go through it again.

After that, we grabbed food at the Wipeout Grill on Pier 39 where I had far too many fries and a BBQ burger. We decided to save dessert for Ghirardeli Square and so nipped into our hotel for warmer clothes (while others stole our wifi) before heading towards the square.

En Route, we stopped by the International Spy Shop for a browse and were then harassed by a scary Captain Birdseye drunk guy who wanted our cards as we said we didn't have change. We hooked back to the Walgreens where I got some razor blades while the people outside bumped into some german furs off to meet up with BBF and co.

Once we got to the square, we were hurled insults from Captain Birdseye again who seemed to be waiting for us. We ignored him and popped into the ice cream shop for sundaes. I went for the traditional chocolate fudge sundae as recommended by many tourist guides and I was glad I did, very tasty it was :)

Things kinda wound down for me after that, still suffering from my cold, I didn't want to do anything too involved so ended up chilling out with Koebi, Kyy and Utlah at the Sheraton hotel while the others went to a bar in the Castro.

Today, our plans include wandering around the Union Square area and getting some shopping :)

Well I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. I had avoided getting any colds and things from work colleagues over the past few weeks, but now I've definitley got a cold :( I'm taking Tylenol Cold to try ans surpress the symptoms and hopefully shift it before the con. It sucks having con crud before the con!

Anyway, yesterday we met up with Kyy and Utlah at the pre determined time for IHOP where we indulged in endless pancakes and learnt of the pleasures of butter pecan (pronounced in a similar way to buttscratcher from Family Guy). After food, we took a look in the Ripley's Believe It or Not! which had the distinct feeling of something from Sam and Max. I had my reservations about the place beforehand but I'd say it was definitley worth the price, the turning tunnel illusion and the girning mirrors ;)

After that, we just had time to waste and so ended up lounging out the front of the Sheraton until we had to leave for the firing range. However, we did it in style, as there were 6 of us, it made it cost effective to get a limo! was quite a novelty to turn up at a firing range in a limo :) The firing range itself was pretty cool. After about 30 minutes instruction on how to fire a gun and gun safety, we were let lose on the firing range, just like ones you see in the movies. I got quite good after a few goes with the .22 gun. At one point another guy came in to fire his shotgun which sounded a lot louder and more explosive than it does in films or games. Even though we were wearing very effective ear guards, the shotgun still sounded very loud! I only got one injury from the range, which was a sliced thumb from loading the magazine.

Didn't have much else planned for the day so we went to the italian district of San Fran and got some tasty pizza. We ended the day at a loud irish pub which didn't serve great drinks but it was a place to go on a sunday night which didn't have kareoke.

Today, our plans are to tick off as many tourist attractions as possible being Alcatraz, Coit Tower and probably the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, and happy birthday Arakin, sorry you couldn't be here.

Well it's now coming up to 9pm local time as I write this and I'm shattered. Had a great day so far, wondered around the fisherman's wharf area, had an In n Out burger, bought a pound of delicious fudge andgot asked by a creepy guy who worked at Pier 39 for us to bark like a sea lion for him to take a photo of us...

After dumping our fudge at the hotel, we hooked up with Kyy and Utlah for a few drinks at an Irish pub. I started with a 'something which is kinda like red bull' and double vodka which ended up just tasting like a pint of vodka so I switched to lager for my second drink. After that however, Koebi and I felt zonked so are now back in the hotel for some well earnt sleep.

Tommorow we have a vague plan to meet Kyy and Utlah at the IHOP at 09:34:37 (don't ask!) and then going to a firing range in the afternoon. Yet to plan the rest of the day so I guess we'll work it out as we go.