Day 2 – Sunday, December 5th, 2004
Yes, that's me in
Yerba Buena Garden!
Day two began with my father and I went out for a walk and a breakfast. We had some bagels and coffee, walked to the nearby small yet beautiful Yerba Buena Garden just in the opposite block and enjoyed our first morning in San Francisco.
From the Garden
overlooking the MOMAThe official registration would only begin in 2pm, so we had plenty of time. We had lunch together with Carol’s family in Sony Metreon, an entertainment center just next to Yerba Buena Garden, and opposite block of SF Marriott. I met for the first time Bruce, Carol’s husband, and the other kids: Jillian, Miranda and Eleanor.
Together in Sony Metreon
(Whops, what's that light
in my face!)
We eagerly waited for the Registration at 2pm. When the time came, a TQ Live staff greeted us, and allowed us to stand in line to get into the room, which hereafter called the Think Tank. The entire TQ Live staffs were there, greeting all the participants. Each attendee was asked for name and then given a conference folder along with a t-shirt and a backpack full of goodies! It contains two ThinkQuest jackets, pin, pen, San Francisco tourist information pack and an Oracle information pack.
The crowd's going to say
"cheese!" - as the winners
photo session began
I was wondering for Willem and Anneke, my other teammates, because I haven’t met them yet at that point. At last, Willem came to where I sat with Carol’s family and I greeted him. It was great meeting him for the first time. Not so long after that, Anneke came through bringing chocolates. Then I also met Dirk-Jan, our nice Dutch coach. The team is now complete! By the way, I gave each of the team members t-shirt with batik motive in it, and for Carol a batik fabric as she requested.
The TQ Live event officially began. Each TQ Live staff introduced themselves. They were wearing black t-shirts, with the square-shaped TQ Live logo in the front. I couldn’t remember all their names, but I noticed quite a few: Amanda McFoley, Derrick (forgive the spelling if wrong), Leo (the Chinese translator), Jomay and ofcourse, Dave Richards.
Short after the welcoming ceremony, we got sraight to team photo session.
The city tour!
The hilly streets of San Francisco
Then, we headed for preparation for a city tour. Each designated age division coordinator proclaimed their calls. “Nineteen and under,” said Derrick, our age coordinator. We were asked to follow a person in groups to reach the buses. When we have all boarded the bus, each coordinator called each name on the list to see if the person was there. After a while, off we went for the awaited city tour!
Whatchadoin', Dad?
I can’t quite remember the guide’s name, but he was really nice and clear. He pointed out interesting spots around the city while the bus driver joked that it’s his first time driving a bus in San Francisco! The guide by the way pointed historic places, spots used in a movie scene (he actually told how a film crew actually painted a fake cable car track to create a brutal scene where cars collided with cable cars, 
Together at the most famous
landmark - Golden Gate Bridge
throwing them off all the way around and how tourists were faked by it!), amazing, beautiful Victorian residences (one of which where Nicolas Cage lived – and also a house used in Mrs. Doubtfire). We went through the Presidio, I think, and that’s where we went through a new complex of buildings which is, the guide said, of George Lucas’s property. The new buildings are supposed to be the center of his animated motion picture productions.
Finally we arrived at the side of the Golden Gate Bridge. That time the sky started to darken, and the wind was chilling so strongly that I couldn’t stand it by only standing. 
The wonderful dinner
(in Embarcadero?)Everyone was having fun and took several photographs. I was stunned as I stared before the bridge. It’s a great bridge, where people jump, tourists flock, traffics cross, lands connected, and pride hold upon. Although it’s not long enough (in fact, the Oakland Bay Bridge is much longer), or Willem, Anneke, Dirk-Jan and their families were not quite amazed by it – they have seen enough big bridges way back in the Netherlands – it’s still an elegant landmark. We spent about half an hour there, before getting back to our buses and heading for dinner.
The dinner that night was great, and we had a great time talking to each others for the first time. The night was a great start for the next couple of days.