In-N-Out Burger
Posted on February 23, 2010 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Our first meal in San Francisco was at In-N-Out Burger. LOL. Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but we had to make do because of our late arrival.
We don’t have an In-N-Out in Wichita, so Brian and I were actually looking forward to trying it. It was actually pretty good, as greasy burgers go. LOL.
Dinner was actually around midnight, Wichita-time. Brian and I both went to work early that day so it was a really long day for us. We were both feeling really goofy. LOL.
In between munching and taking pictures, Jay and Becca filled us in on their first full day in San Francisco. After a full day of cruising the bay and exploring, they were practically locals. LOL.
It was really nice of them to wait for us.
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Arrival in San Francisco
Posted on February 23, 2010 by Ching under Travel.
Jay took this picture of our Super Shuttle van arriving at the hotel. We planned on arriving at the hotel by 8:00 PM and having a late dinner, but we actually didn’t get there until about 10:00 PM or so. Our flight was delayed and then we were asked to check our carry-on, even though there was plenty of room in the overhead bins (Booo!), and then they told us to claim our carry-on at baggage claim instead of plane-side. Brian and I packed light (we only had a single carry-on between the both of us) on purpose so that we could save time by skipping baggage claim.
Neither of us were too happy about having to wait a half hour for our bag to come out. Besides that, baggage claim is upstairs so we had to up there and then had to come right back down for our van pick-up. Besides having to wait for our bag to appear on the luggage carousel, we had to wait for other passengers because the pick-up we arranged is a shared ride ($17 per person or $80 round-trip altogether with gratuity; it would have cost more otherwise). We also got dropped off last so it took a while to get to our hotel. It was nice driving around San Francisco, though. We got to drive by Haight Ashbury and everything. I think it would have faster (not to mention cheaper) to take the BART, which is what Jay and Becca did the day before, but they arrived in the afternoon when it was still daylight whereas we were arriving at night. I really didn’t want to get lost in San Francisco. That would have made for a very bad trip.
I felt bad because we had planned on having dinner. We told Jay and Becca that they didn’t have to wait for us, but they waited up anyway. That was really nice of them. We arrived too late for a nice sit-down dinner so we ended up at In-N-Out Burger, which is right behind our hotel. It was our first meal in San Francisco. LOL.
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Customer Service Champs 2010
Posted on February 22, 2010 by Ching under Reviews, Travel.
L.L. Bean topped Business Week’s 2010 Customer Service Champs list. Not surprisingly, Apple and Nordstrom both made the list. I hear that Nordstrom customer service is legendary. I’ve only had experience shopping with them online, since we don’t have a Nordstrom store in Wichita so I’ve never really experienced shopping in their actual physical, brick-and-mortar store. I’ve heard nothing but good things, though.
Other notables: Four Seasons beat out The Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in the rankings. Barnes & Noble beat out Amazon. Panera and Starbucks both made the list. Ace Hardware beat out True Value. Southwest Airlines barely made the list at #24. I wonder if the lower rank had anything to do with Kevin Smith. Just kidding. I’m sure that had nothing to do with it, as the list was compiled several weeks before with specific methodology — celebrity gripes on Twitter not being one of them.
There were several repeats on the list. This speaks well of the brand. I’m thinking when I have some money and can afford some of these brands, then I’ll be sure to check them out just to see what it’s all about. LOL. There were several regular people brands on the list too, though. Don’t get me wrong.
I was disappointed that my favorite hotel chain, Marriott, didn’t make the list this year. They made it on the 2009 list and I feel they totally deserve being among the Customer Service Champs. I think out of all the mid-range (I could never afford to stay at a Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton. I might be able to stay at a Fairmont if I splurge on occasion.) hotel chains Marriott provides the best customer service.
For example, we’re staying at Courtyard Marriott right now located in Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco. The employees at the concierge desk have been fantastic. They’re not just friendly, but they’re very helpful also. We asked for a recommendation of a good place to eat breakfast the other day. Not only did they tell us where to go or give us directions, Edward at the front desk actually clocked out and walked us over there. They ran out of the Joanie’s business cards (that entitles the bearer to a free fruit plate) so we walked us over there to make sure we got the special deal. While there he picked up some more business cards, too.
Yesterday Brian and I decided that we would go to the California Academy of Sciences. I got directions from Google, which involved taking a MUNI bus and a BART bus. We asked Edward at the desk for his recommendation and he gave us better directions which was much more economical because it didn’t involve having to take a BART bus (we don’t have an unlimited BART pass, our unlimited pass is only for MUNI vehicles — buses, trains, cable cars, etc.). He wrote us really good directions on a map he provided and showed us where our way would have dropped us off and where his way would drop us off. The Google way would have had us walking a longer distance. Doing it the way he recommended would drop us off directly in front of the CAS building. We’d still have to walk, but it was a shorter walk.
While I’m thinking about it, I’m going to have to track down a comment card and write a kudos for Edward before we leave. He has been super nice and helpful throughout our whole stay.
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Chili Cook-Off at Viega
Posted on February 18, 2010 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Nice. It looks like they had a chili cook-off at Viega today and I wasn’t invited. Boooo!
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Mattress Shopping
Posted on February 14, 2010 by Ching under Life.
We had fun mattress shopping at Mattress Firm the other day. I’d never had that much fun shopping for a mattress before. I think drinking three cocktails right before might have helped. (We went there right after leaving Heroes.) LOL.
Gavin enjoyed trying out mattresses, too.
Here’s Brian trying out a different mattress than the one that we got a quote for at the North Rock Road Mattress Firm.
This one is a lot more expensive than the Simmons Beautyrest Gladstone Falls pillow top mattress that we were originally looking at but I thought it felt better.
This one is a Sealy Posturepedic Natural Origins Natural Calm Euro Top mattress. It’s supposed to be “green” because it’s 100% recyclable.
Here’s Cory giving it a try.
Jay being his goofy self…
Brian and Becca in bed together.
Brian and April in bed together.
Brian gets around. LOL.
Jay had a buddy at the New Market Square Mattress Firm and he cut us a deal on the Sealy. I think we got a better mattress overall for only $50 more than we would have paid for the Simmons mattress. I suppose we won’t know for sure if we’ve made the right choice until we’ve actually slept on the new mattress for a week or so. LOL.
We had so much fun mattress shopping, though. If you’re looking to get a new mattress, be sure to check out the Mattress Firm at New Market Square. They sure make mattress shopping a lot less stressful over there.
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