End of holidays
I'm seated in the departure lounge in SFO, waiting to board the plane. The flight's been delayed, no thanks to another winter blast that swept through the northeast coast. It's going to be a rude shock to my system, going back to the cold again. Over the last 9 days, I've been wearing nothing more than a tee shirt and shorts, running around in the sun playing tennis, walking about the streets and sitting in cafes doing my work and reading. And now, I'm waiting to head back to work, school and the cold.
It felt like I was waiting forever for Spring break for this trip and before I knew it, the break is over and I'm waiting to head back to the city. If I had to pick between New York and San Francisco, I'd probably pick San Francisco. I like the cool weather. Not too hot and just cool enough to feel like there's outdoor air-conditioning. Admittedly, there's much less glamor in San Francisco. People here are less bothered about appearances and at the same time, there's much lesser attitude. I like the fact that the weather permits outdoor activities. I like the fact that there are lots to do in the outdoors and you don't have to travel too far for that. I like the fact that people here like to get active and enjoy sports. I like the whole integrative feel of the city. In short, it's a very liveable city which is really great. jin_n_juice said that if he had to pick somewhere in States, he'd pick the Bay area and I can see why now.
After San Francisco, it was down to Palm Springs for the Indian Wells Tennis tournament. We caught the men's semi-finals and the women's final. The entire atmosphere was exhilarating. With frozen margaritas in our hands, it didn't really matter that we were baking in the desert sun. In the day, we played tennis in the public parks with scores of elderly folks. Apparently, Palm Springs is where the active elderly come to retire. They play tennis, walk their dogs, run in the parks, cycle and I think I saw some of them roller-blading. It was very inspiring. In the afternoons, we'd head out to the tennis center and watch matches, eat hot dogs, drink beers and margaritas. I had to resist myself from buying all the Adidas and Nike tennis outfits that I saw. The two of them however went mad crazy tennis shopping, buying rackets, bags, shorts, tee shirts and all. We decided to end the holiday with a pig out session with Mexican food, beer and ice-cream in the hotel, which eventually led to a hysterical laughing and ridiculously rude jokes.
It was a great holiday, definitely one of the highlights of my entire US trip. I'm not sure when I'd get to see the two of them again. Hopefully, they'd do an Asia trip and we can all go out for tennis and pig out sessions. Right now, what I really want though is for my flight to depart soon so that I can get back home.
It felt like I was waiting forever for Spring break for this trip and before I knew it, the break is over and I'm waiting to head back to the city. If I had to pick between New York and San Francisco, I'd probably pick San Francisco. I like the cool weather. Not too hot and just cool enough to feel like there's outdoor air-conditioning. Admittedly, there's much less glamor in San Francisco. People here are less bothered about appearances and at the same time, there's much lesser attitude. I like the fact that the weather permits outdoor activities. I like the fact that there are lots to do in the outdoors and you don't have to travel too far for that. I like the fact that people here like to get active and enjoy sports. I like the whole integrative feel of the city. In short, it's a very liveable city which is really great. jin_n_juice said that if he had to pick somewhere in States, he'd pick the Bay area and I can see why now.
After San Francisco, it was down to Palm Springs for the Indian Wells Tennis tournament. We caught the men's semi-finals and the women's final. The entire atmosphere was exhilarating. With frozen margaritas in our hands, it didn't really matter that we were baking in the desert sun. In the day, we played tennis in the public parks with scores of elderly folks. Apparently, Palm Springs is where the active elderly come to retire. They play tennis, walk their dogs, run in the parks, cycle and I think I saw some of them roller-blading. It was very inspiring. In the afternoons, we'd head out to the tennis center and watch matches, eat hot dogs, drink beers and margaritas. I had to resist myself from buying all the Adidas and Nike tennis outfits that I saw. The two of them however went mad crazy tennis shopping, buying rackets, bags, shorts, tee shirts and all. We decided to end the holiday with a pig out session with Mexican food, beer and ice-cream in the hotel, which eventually led to a hysterical laughing and ridiculously rude jokes.
It was a great holiday, definitely one of the highlights of my entire US trip. I'm not sure when I'd get to see the two of them again. Hopefully, they'd do an Asia trip and we can all go out for tennis and pig out sessions. Right now, what I really want though is for my flight to depart soon so that I can get back home.