![\"\"](\"http:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/IMG_20121108_190408.jpg\" "\\"View")
<\/a>View from The Bar at the End of the Wharf<\/p><\/div>\n
Wednesday officially kicked off the conference. \u00a0The first two days were dedicated to coding on related projects, so we split up into teams and started working. \u00a0We lost a lot of time and productivity that day, though, because by early afternoon the US election results were starting to stream in! \u00a0(Tuesday 8pm in New York = Wednesday noon in Sydney.) \u00a0My team, along with the rest of the office, watched closely and nervously.<\/p>\n
What a relief.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m still having \u201cresidual relief\u201d, although its starting to wear off – i.e. every time I think of the election, I\u2019m overcome with relief. \u00a0In the moment, that Wednesday, we were all so jittery and distracted by it that almost nothing got done. \u00a0I ended up working til about 9:30 that night, to make up for it.<\/p>\n
In case you were wondering: Australians are, by and large, very pro-Obama. \u00a0Check out this poll<\/a>\u00a0for some numbers; in short, though, Australia was the second most pro-Obama country in the world this year (that they surveyed), only behind France. \u00a0I didn\u2019t come across a single Romney supporter in the office; or if I did, they didn\u2019t make their opinion known amongst the overwhelming pro-Obama excitement.<\/p>\n Thursday was our last push to finish our projects, culminating with a little show-and-tell at the end of the day. \u00a0Sorry I can\u2019t say more about what I presented – as you can understand, company secrets. \u00a0We did finish, though, with only minutes to spare, and had a nice little demo to show.<\/p>\n Cider, as part of our scavenger hunt<\/p><\/div>\n That night was the first company-sponsored outing of the conference – and let me tell you, the Google Sydney office is no stranger to spending money. \u00a0A private bus dropped us off at The Bar at the End of the Wharf<\/a>, and our private corner patio had spectacular views of the harbour and the bridge. \u00a0I took advantage of the open bar tab by ordering one of the most expensive cocktails on the menu. \u00a0The food tab was not open, however, as this was just meant to be drinks and appetizers; and since almost all the appetizers were gluten-y good, I walked back to Home Thai for dinner afterward – I couldn\u2019t resist going back. \u00a0I had a duck curry, always one of my favorites, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n Oddly enough, while eating that duck curry, I noticed that something got stuck in my throat – I\u2019m pretty sure it was a seed pod from one of the thai baby eggplants that I love so much. \u00a0I tried to get it out, but with no luck. \u00a0The feel of it got less noticeable as the days went on, but it never disappeared. \u00a0When I got home earlier this week, I had dinner with my parents and my mom took a look to see if she could spot it. \u00a0Sure enough, there it was, a sharp, sizable (2\/3 of an inch long?) seed pod, stuck into one of my tonsils! \u00a0Eeh! \u00a0Once we knew where it was, it was easy to remove. \u00a0Phew!<\/p>\n End of random tangent; back to Sydney. \u00a0Friday was the start of actual conference sessions, which were, well, conference sessions. \u00a0Some were interesting, and some were pretty dull. \u00a0It was a good learning experience for me, though, since it exposed me to some pieces of Maps that I hadn\u2019t worked with before. \u00a0The whole conference, really, was invaluable in that sense; I learned so much more about everything Google Maps \/ Maps API in those few days. \u00a0I… I could rant on about the up-sides of the conference, actually, but I\u2019ll save it.<\/p>\n Strange outdoor lighting – at Argyle<\/p><\/div>\n Friday night featured another company event; after the sessions, we started a scavenger hunt around The Rocks, which ended at Argyle, a pretty swanky restaurant and bar. \u00a0Open bar and food tab, this time. \u00a0The ~40 of us consumed… a lot. \u00a0The highlight order of the night was for six jugs – jugs – of cocktails. \u00a0This was followed later by another order for another six jugs, after the first six had run out. \u00a0And there may have been another jug order after that; I lost count. \u00a0In case it wasn\u2019t obvious from this post or the last, Australians really drink, and us visitors do our best to keep up.<\/p>\n The conference-goers started leaving by around 10, but I hung around with the last stragglers until about 10:30 when, coincidentally enough, Abdulla rocked up with a bunch of his friends! \u00a0Abdulla, though he works in the Sydney office, was not part of the conference (he doesn\u2019t work on Maps). \u00a0I ended up hanging out with Abdulla and company until about 11:30, at which point I forced myself to leave – the conference continued the next morning, Saturday, starting at 9am.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a good thing I was on time that morning, too. \u00a0My session (yes, I hosted a session too) was supposed to happen later that afternoon, but got bumped to the first slot of the day without anyone telling me. \u00a0It was actually a blessing, though, since by 10:30 I\u2019d done the hardest work for the day and was able to relax. \u00a0I drifted through the rest of the work day, to be honest; some of the sessions were interesting, but about half of the ones I went to that day were either boring, or else too far above my head for me to really understand. \u00a0Plus, after stressing about leading that session, I was pretty relieved. \u00a0Sorry I can\u2019t say any more about it =\/.<\/p>\n Watching a drag show with coworkers<\/p><\/div>\n Saturday evening, of course, was yet another Google-sponsored shebang. \u00a0A boat pulled up at the dock next to the office (yes, there is a dock in front of the office), and we all piled on for a dinner cruise on the harbour. \u00a0A good amount of wine (read: three large glasses), and a lot of good conversation with the other conference-goers. \u00a0Another upside of the conference: really getting to talk to people who are much more senior than me, not just about technical things, but as friends. \u00a0Totally priceless. \u00a0In fact, after the cruise was over, some of us kept hanging out, going to a gay bar on Oxford Street to see a drag show! \u00a0The whole thing was pretty awesome.<\/p>\n Sunday was our one weekend day in the middle of the conference, and my last free moment in Sydney. \u00a0I took full advantage: after lunch with some coworkers, I took the ferry out to Manly for some beach time. \u00a0The ocean was still cold (hasn\u2019t quite yet warmed up from winter), but I went in anyway – how could I not? \u00a0Most people were just hanging out on the beach (which I did plenty of too), sunbathing, reading, and playing volleyball. \u00a0Let me just say: Australian guys, playing volleyball, shirtless, on the beach, are a sight to behold.<\/p>\n Once the sun started to set, I took a quick walk out to Shelly Beach and back; I hadn\u2019t been before, and when I saw it in the distance, I had to check it out. \u00a0Clearly more of a local scene; Manly is very touristy but Shelly had a lot more Aussies, as evidenced by the BBQs (cue \u201cthrow a shrimp on the barbie\u201d lines). \u00a0Volleyball players included. \u00a0I got back to the wharf just in time for the ferry back, and after some stomach searching, decided on Korean food for dinner that night. \u00a0I found Sydney\u2019s little K-Town, and ended up at a neat place tucked away in a basement; nothing super exceptional, but it was still pretty good – on par with Korean food in the Bay Area, I\u2019d say.<\/p>\n Manly<\/p><\/div>\n Monday was the last day of the conference, with no activities planned except a few overview talks with some of the more senior attendees. \u00a0I got to present the idea from my conference session, which was pretty neat, and otherwise spent the day doing work on my normal project. \u00a0That night the conference officially wrapped up, with a three-course prix fixe dinner at a French restaurant. \u00a0A couple of us went out to play pool at a pub afterward (the good old Pyrmont Bridge Hotel), after which I (very sadly) went back to the hotel to pack. \u00a0Time\u2019s up. \u00a0I went to the airport first thing the next morning, and a day later was back here in California.<\/p>\n I won\u2019t ramble on too much about the flight experience, like I did last time. \u00a0It was pretty similar: total business class luxury, plenty of alcohol, and no sleep. \u00a0The food involved, however, was better this time. \u00a0In the business class lounge in Auckland, they had a giant, really good, \u201cfree\u201d (with your purchase of an absurd business class ticket) buffet, and fridges full of all the alcohol you can take. \u00a0I had an Isaac\u2019s Cider<\/a>\u00a0– how could I possibly resist – and some chicken curry. \u00a0The gluten-free meal in business class was also better this time – the three dinner courses, including a nut and olive platter, a fancier chicken dish, and a slice of gluten-free chocolate cheesecake (!). \u00a0Pair that with one glass of sparkling wine, two glasses of Pinot Noir, and one glass of a dessert wine, plus some good music, and I was in a great mood – sleep or no sleep.<\/p>\n And that wraps up Sydney! \u00a0I was really, really sad to leave. \u00a0That place does still have a special place in my heart. \u00a0I seem to be on a roll: one visit in 2010, one in 2011, one in 2012; I think I\u2019ll have to get myself back there at some point in 2013, one way or another..<\/p>\n Since then, I\u2019ve been hurrying around back home in somewhat of a daze. \u00a0Normally, after a big trip, it\u2019s nice to get cozy with the usual old routines again, do some work, see friends, spend several days doing nothing special. \u00a0I haven\u2019t really had the chance – there\u2019s no time! \u00a0I\u2019m exhausted, but of course excited too. \u00a0As of now (now being Thursday evening..), I\u2019ve got less than 24 hours before I land in Quito, Ecuador.<\/p>\n Per usual, one last Australia slang factoid:<\/p>\n When Abdulla, his friends, and I were at Argyle on Friday, Abdulla said he wanted to go \u201ctake a squiz at the dance floor\u201d. \u00a0Sounded inappropriate to me. \u00a0Apparently a \u201csquiz\u201d is a \u201clook\u201d, i.e. taking a look at the dance floor.<\/p>\n Next time from South America!<\/p>\n -Izaak Wow, what a busy past week-and-a-half. \u00a0I\u2019m currently in the midst of my strange and exhausting three days back in California, writing this early in the morning (I\u2019ve forced myself onto an early schedule, since I\u2019ll have to get up at 4am tomorrow for my flight to South America). \u00a0So apologies if I\u2019m less coherent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sydney-2012"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286,"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions\/286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/izaakrubin.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
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