ESEC/FSE 2023

2024-01-04

Preliminaries

I went down to San Francisco for ESEC/FSE 2023, which happened in early December this year. My only recollection of visiting the Bay Area/SF was when I was a small child, so I was pretty excited to go. All-in-all, my impression of SF was much more positive than I had anticipated. I was expecting a microcosm of VC bros and tech, but it turns out I was sorely mistaken.

Getting There

I had learned my lesson about early-morning flights from my travel to and from ICSME this year, so I booked an afternoon flight from Seattle. This turned out to be an amazing experience. Not only did I not have to worry about missing the flight, but I could also get to the airport via light rail and not blow money on a taxi. I got to the airport and past security around an hour before my flight. I was able to do some work before boarding. We were stuck on the tarmac for about an hour before we were able to take off, though. I'm still amazed that a flight to SF from Seattle generally takes around 2.5 hours. For reference, a bus ride up to Vancouver takes longer than that. I guess this just goes to show how fast planes are. The flight was uneventful, and I got some views of the Bay Area (which I didn't have the foresight to take photos of) as we descended.

First Night and Berkeley

SFO feels like a very small airport, and a cursory glance on Google Maps provides more evidence for this claim. That meant I got through security super fast, and was able to meet a friend of mine from the PLSE lab who also happened to be visiting their friends in the Bay Area. I fumbled with getting a transit pass, until I realized that I could load a virtual pass onto my phone (the Clipper Card works on Apple Wallet), and took the BART into the city. I stayed at the Orange Village Hostel, which Mike recommended to his students. I never felt unsafe in the area (probably because I am a man, and don't exactly give off the friendliest vibe when I'm walking about), and I'd definitely stay again. The hostel offered a complimentary breakfast, which I neglected to try during my entire stay because I'd walk over to the conference hotel for early morning coffee.

Anyway, I dropped off my luggage and went out again with my friend. We were going to head to Berkeley, but they wanted to stop by ONE65 for a little snack. They weren't the best pastries I've had, but living in Vancouver has really spoiled me. We took the BART across the bay to Berkeley, where our first stop was my friend's to-go bubble tea place; Asha Tea House. The tea was pretty good and not that sweet (likely because I asked for less sugar), but not enough for an entire meal. We then went to Marugame Udon. It was pretty similar to the quick-serve noodle udon shop I've tried in Seattle (U:Don), but the broth was pretty flavourful; I will never say no to soup. Our next stop was a gelato place named Caravaggio Gelato Lab along Berkeley's north business district, which locals sometimes refer to as Gourmet Ghetto.

Having completed our food pilgrimage, we finally made our way onto Berkeley's campus proper. It was dark, so I didn't get to see a ton of the buildings under sunlight, but it was extremely pretty nonetheless. That said, I think I've been spoiled by the CSE buildings at UW; Soda Hall gave me "sad basement" vibes that I haven't felt since I was last at the UBC CS building. Out of the (few) university campuses I've been to, I feel that Berkeley reminds me of UBC the most. The mishmash of different architectural styles is reminiscent of how UBC is built; glass and steel juxtaposed against wood and brick.

San Francisco

I only have vague memories of visiting SF as a child. Even then, I'm pretty sure we never visited the city proper and just looked at the Golden Gate Bridge. I made more of an effort to walk around and see more of the city as much as I could (which was a bit difficult, there were a lot of things at the conference that I wanted to see!). I did go see the Golden Gate Bridge, which was as photogenic as it could be on a rather cloudy winter day.

Something that really weirded me out about SF is the fact that it wasn't cold enough for a jacket; I could easily have gone around in a t-shirt (realistically, a long-sleeved shirt) and it would have been fine. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, the warm weather in December was just ridiculous; I was wearing Birkenstocks the entire time.

The walk from the hostel to the Golden Gate Bridge was pretty scenic, too

I was pretty surprised at how hilly the walk was, but I guess I was in SF. Again, the sunny weather was extremely disorienting. Other than the Golden Gate, I also walked around SF's Chinatown. SF's Chinatown, unlike Vancouver's, appears to be actually well-frequented and a hotbed of activity. There was the classic row of Chinese traditional medicine stores, along with some fancier restaurants that looked sort of out of place (I ended up going to China Live for my last dinner in SF).

All-in-all, I thought SF was a nice place to visit, and I eventually want to visit again. I did pay 12 dollars for a latte, which caused me immense psychic pain, but you learn and you live.