Go and buy a Scion now

Yesterday (15 Aug) Clare and I met at the far end of Haight Street outside Amoeba Records so we could have a wander round Twin Peaks. Whilst waiting for her I was approached by a PR girl asking if I wanted $15 to spend in Amoeba. All I had to do was test drive the new Scion xD and fill out a 1 page survey about it. Realising that even if she was going to try and sell me something I wouldn't be able to afford it or get it out the country I thought I'd go for it.

When Clare arrived we headed into the car park they'd taken over and signed up for our test drive. A quick once round the block later - I was driving - and we'd almost earned our $15. The survey was aimed at American customers so we left most of it blank and collected our cash AND free t-shirt. To be honest I'd have done it for the free t-shirt alone but I wasn't telling them that.

After our little Scion adventure we tried and failed to go to Twin Peaks. Twin Peaks is just a hill, yes a hill in San Fran, shocking but apparently you can see a 360 degree view of San Fran and the bay. We were on 3 different buses heading in 2 different directions and although we kept going up we didn't seem to get any closer so when the 37 got back to the Castro we cut our losses, had a wander round there instead and went back to the hostel for free dinner. The Castro is the original and still the main gay area in SF, very vibrant with lots of cafes, bars restaurants and 'specialist' boutiques. There are rainbow flags everywhere and I think even Dad would realise he was in a gay bar in this place.

Free dinner was burritos with bean chilli and salad - lovely. The bean chilli was quite surprising actually, a lot nicer than I expected it to be, might give it a try when I get home.

After dinner Clare and I hung around the ballroom with Paul (English guy from the Beer Pong night), Dave (from Colorado) and Bora (Turkish guy) and spent the night having a chat and a laugh. Yet again my limited Turkish came in handy and apparently I'm the first person Bora's ever met to have learnt some Turkish. Don't worry Dad, I got his email address so you can impress him with your Turkish too.