Last week was my birthday, making me 22 years young. While, yes, in many people’s eyes I am still young, 21 is a nice idealistic number that most people refer to when describing the best years of your life. So by this logic, I have now surpassed youth and it’s all downhill from here.

My Birthday

I spent my birthday doing very little actually. Valerie bought me loads of stuff, which was really nice. I got lots of home stuff like Ribena, Hob Nobs and Aussie shampoo. I also got a bottle of champagne, which I discovered doesn’t taste the best. But nice gesture anyway.

In the afternoon, we met up with Diogo (friend from Brazil) to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. It was a decent movie, but I expected more from the 3D. It was entertaining and worth going to see, but just a little disappointing.

In the evening, we met up with YaChing, our friend from Taiwan, to go out for dinner. We went to a place on Nob Hill called the Tonga Room, which is a tiki-style bar in the basement of the posh Fairmont Hotel. It’s got lots of Polynesian style decor, and supposedly a decent buffet for $10. That turned out to be only on weekdays (cheers Val). So after a quick drink, we decided on Chinese food. I knew a fantastic little place on Potrero Hill that did great food for quite cheap. Unfortunately, I got the street address wrong and our cab dropped us off about 8 blocks away, and when I called the restaurant it was closing.

No worries, back on the bus to downtown and we ended up eating at probably my favourite restaurant in the whole city - Bucca di Beppo. Huge portions and great Italian food. Definitely one to visit if you ever make it to San Francisco.

The next day, Val and I got up early and took the BART out to Concord. Destination: Waterworld. I always like going to Concord because it always seems to escape the crap weather of SF. Most of the Bay Area was covered in fog and cold wind for the whole week, but Concord lies on the other side of the Oakland Hills and therefore somehow is always sunny. The weather wasn’t overly warm, probably mid 20’s, but was warm enough to require loads of suncream.

Waterworld was fun, a little small but good rides. I did everything in the park, Valerie wimped out on a few. Plus the crappy weather seemed to keep the crowds down a bit so there wasn’t much waiting in line. Maybe 15 minutes at most. Got a little sun, but mostly managed to get away with no burning.

John Mayer Concert

My week passed fairly uneventfully, until this weekend when myself and a few friends met up to go see John Mayer play the Shoreline in Mountain View (which is right across the road from Google). Colbie Caillat was the warm up, who I didn’t particularly care for. I’ve heard her on the radio but have no interest in her music.

We scalped tickets outside the gig, due to Ticketmaster charging more than 50% in charges for their tickets, which is absolutely outrageous. Scalping, although I hate doing it, actually saved us quite a bit of money each. Our seats were on the lawn at the back, which is crowded but perfect for kicking back and enjoying the warm summer night.

The sun went down and Mayer went on stage. It was totally full at the gig, 10,000+ audience. He was fantastic, and man can that guy play a guitar. Ok, sure he sounds a lot like SRV, but he’s got his own style. There were pop hits in there, some funk and best of all, blues. He makes it look so easy, but he totally owns the guitar. In fact, today I went out and bought his last DVD just to hear it again. Top of my playlist at the moment.

This week at work there are two new interns from back home starting and another guy from Turkey joining the IT ‘team’ (which consisted of just me before) so I’ll have my hands busy for the next wee while.