Going down under...

Tuesday, 8/10/99

United's Red Carpet Lounge is more spacious than EVA's business/first class lounge, but the service was not as hospitable. One coupon for a free drink from the bar, as compared to an open self-service bar with EVA. No soft drinks, only coffee from a machine. Packaged pretzels instead of a light buffet. Do I sound spoiled? No matter, as I wasn't hungry. And after that joint on the way to the airport, one scotch was all I needed to maintain a nice buzz. I watched fellow passengers come in and settle down -- families, businessmen, etc. -- and wondered what would be more interesting: their real stories, or the ones I began to invent for them as I tried to imagine where they were coming from and going to.

I had given up my idle musings and opened Photoshop to play with the pictures I had scanned earlier, when the boarding announcement came. Scheduled to leave at 11:10 pm, we were in the air by 11:30. The plane was a 747, but it was an older model, without the personal TVs, so the movies were shown on a center screen, no personal selection or choice of timing. And the selection was lame: I mean, I never cared much for David Spade on those phone commercials, and he definitely doesn't have what it takes to carry a movie. The food was plentiful, but I didn't need that. After 14 hours in the air, dawn was brightening the horizon behind us as the lights of the Australian coast appeared. My watch said 1:15 as we touched down in Sydney; that would have been Monday afternoon in California, but it was 6:15 Tuesday morning down under.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, and although I had a nice view coming in, I didn't see any recognizable landmarks. Customs were a breeze, with a friendly inspector chatting me up about Acer and my visit. I retrieved my bags without incident and caught a shuttle to the Airport Sheraton. United has an arrangement with the hotel, allowing business class passengers to stop by for a shower, etc., upon arrival; they offered me a complimentary breakfast as well, but I certainly wasn't hungry, and I was anxious to get to work.

From the hotel I took a cab to Acer. Wouldn't you know it? The taxi driver was Chinese. Mainland, however, not Taiwanese. I gave him the address, and he said something about "Olympic Park." I had no idea what he was talking about, but it seems the Olympics are coming to Sydney next year, and it turns out that the Acer office is located squarely in the middle of the site of the games.

Sydney metropolitan area has a dearth of freeways, so I got an intimate picture of the suburbs as we wound our way on a seemingly circuitous route to Homebush Bay. I knew they drove on the opposite side of the road, but even more disconcerting was the right-side driver's seat. The lanes were also very narrow by US standards, making me quite nervous with large trucks on the left and oncoming traffic uncomfortably close on the right.

The houses were relatively small, and the buildings were overwhelmingly brick with tile roofs. Most of the architecture had an aged feel -- early-mid 20th century? On the commercial streets, the sidewalks were all covered with awnings, with hanging signs marking each establishment (much like the Square in Woodstock in our youth, for those who remember such things). I imagine it's protection for pedestrians in the rainy season.

In spite of the slow surface streets, it took less than an hour to reach Olympic Park. The street was so new, the driver had to stop to check his map. All around stadia and other sports venues are under construction, but Acer sits in a small cluster of office buildings in the middle of the park.

No sooner had I approached the reception desk than I ran into a couple of colleagues, who ushered me, bags and all, directly into the training room. I had a brief chance to meet and greet people before we plunged into a work session.Starting before 9 am, the day dragged on forever, as Ron, Bob, and David had phone conferences with Taiwan at 6 and 7 pm. Even then the day was not over. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped off with some of our Aussie hosts for some beers and few games of pool.

It was 9:30 pm before we got back to our hotel in downtown Sydney, but the wait was worth it! Although it was quite dark (remember, it's winter here), the Sydney skyline is striking at night, with a striking array of relatively tasteful neon adorning modern skyscrapers. Even the huge downtown parking structure is attractive. We passed the maritime museum and monorail and took a brief tour of the downtown streets on our way to the Sheraton on the Park. The hotel is stunning, and I soon found myself in a huge room on the 12th floor with a fantastic view of Hyde Park. I won't bore you by bragging about the posh accommodations, but it certainly took the sting out this exceedingly long day.