An Aussie In Silicon Valley

SF & The Bay Area seen through foreign eyes. Amusements, surprises, culture shocks, and confirming or denying stereotypes about the USA.

[liz-in-ca]

Cars with weird shit attached to them, Vol. 1

This one is a Chrysler Pacifica

[liz-in-ca]

Spotted this gem in Santa Clara... *Puts on weird foreign accent* A-via-to *satisfied raising of one eyebrow*

[liz-in-ca]

Here is the original Zendesk desk, which hangs in their foyer on Market street. It's inspiring to see the story of these tech success stories - going from a company where everyone can fit around a single desk to a huge international company, with a beautiful office and loads of employees.

[liz-in-ca]

Philz Coffee is a Silicon Valley institution. At all hours the place is buzzing with great startup and technology conversations.

[liz-in-ca]

Robot Mall Cop looks like a Dalek. Spotted at the Stanford Mall.

[liz-in-ca]

Goodies from Indiegogo. Indiegogoodies? Forgot to take photos of their space last night as I was too engrossed in the event. Had some great conversations with staff there, and they are all lovely people, super knowledgable and hyper customer-focused.

[liz-in-ca]

Californian greenie vs. stereotypical 'Murican vehicle choices

[liz-in-ca]

Cute doggies, frolicking on the lawn. Embarcadero, SF

[liz-in-ca]

Light show, Embarcadero, SF. 21st April 2016

[liz-in-ca]

Had the good fortune to see inside the IDEO office this week. They have a beautiful office on the waterfront at pier 28, bay views, original timber pier floor and all. In some places you can see the bay through the cracks between the timber. It's clear that design thinking is not just a buzzword here but a way of life. Thought and care has been put into every element of the organisation. There are tons of thoughtful design features throughout the office, like the floating bike rack, status lights to tell you which bathrooms are free, breakout areas with post it notes and markers, and joyful little decorative elements scattered throughout the spaces.

[liz-in-ca]

West end of Market Street, where two imposing buildings stand sentinel, crushing the flow of lives onto the straight and narrow path which runs the length of the city centre.

[liz-in-ca]

Here are some Donald Trump piñatas to restore your faith in America.

[liz-in-ca]

(650)

I find it peculiar how attached some Americans are to the area code of their phone number - it’s as if a small part of their identity is proudly tied up in those 3 little digits. 

I’ve heard people proudly say “I have the old New York area code in my phone number, and I plan to pass it on to my kids in my will”. The guy at the AT&T store was excited to point out that my husband would be getting the ‘good’ 650 area code for his new phone number.

I purchased a phone number when I moved here, which begins with 213. Apparently this code is actually for downtown LA, and I get asked frequently about why I have an LA phone number. I have thought about changing it, but I decided against it because it provokes such interesting conversation to hear about people’s attitudes to what are to me, just randomly assigned numerals.

[liz-in-ca]

The colours of a typical Bay Area sunset. It's all pastels and deep greens.

[liz-in-ca]

One of my favourite culinary discoveries - strawberry lemonade. It's the best.

[liz-in-ca]

More startup / Silicon Valley themed billboard action

[liz-in-ca]

SF @ night, b+w.