Triangle Trip

If ever you needed to freshen up at SFO, there’s a solution for you if you are Star Alliance Gold with an international itinerary.  Around the corner from United’s Red Carpet Club (turn right after security in Concourse G), tucked away is Singapore Airline’s Silver Kris Lounge (Level 3), which you can get in if you are Star Alliance Gold and on an international itinerary.  It’s a smaller, cozier lounge than the Red Carpet Club, but the Silver Kris Lounge has one amenity that the Red Carpet Club at SFO lacks: a shower facility.

The shower facility is nothing fancy but it does the job.  Towels are provided at the front desk and the shower facility has generic liquid soap, shampoo, and conditioner.  So you don’t need to be equipped with anything.  And for those with long hair, a blow dryer is also provided.

In addition to having a shower facility, the Silver Kris Lounge has a better snack selection than the neighboring Red Carpet Club and it provides free alcoholic beverages ranging from bottle beers to Johnnie Walker whiskey (unfortunately it’s only Black Label).

The only downside to this lounge is that it’s only open during odd hours, to coincide with Singapore Airlines flights.  During daylight savings, the lounge is open from 10:40am to 2:20pm and then from 9:55pm to 1:25am.  During Pacific Standard Time, it opens from 9am to 12:30pm and then from 8:35pm to 12:05pm.  However, this schedule changes frequently during the year but the general blocks of time are the same.

For your reference, here’s a map of SFO with United gates and lounge information:

United SFO map

Ever been on the road and wanted to check out a restaurant’s menu before actually physically going in?  Of course you could do some research online beforehand but what if you just left the client site or hotel and was looking for a place to eat with decent selection and prices?

Well if you have an iPhone you are in luck!  I recently checked out a new app for the iPhone called Unimenu.  It’s main goal is to be able to look up menus for restaurants in an easy manner.  You can view a restaurant’s location/address, look at what items they offer with prices, and directly call the restaurant from the app.  Additionally, it has some neat features as well.

Let’s say I’m craving some Japanese food in LA.  I can filter by cuisine in LA (it locates the metro area I’m in automatically) and select the “Near Me” button.  It then lists out the closest 10 restaurants near me serving Japanese cuisine, which then I can look at each menu and restaurant information accordingly.

Also, if ever you find yourself ordering from the same restaurant frequently, you can add that restaurant’s menu to your favorites and you’ll always have it handy, even if you don’t get any reception from crappy AT&T (or T-Mobile).

Lastly, I think the most creative feature of the app is the ability to add specific items from a menu or menus to a list, afterwards which you can email out if need be.  This is particular handy if you are ordering for a big group of people: you can just pass around your iPhone and have people select what they want.  Of course, you may want to wipe down your iPhone after you get it back.  One day I hope they come up with an iPhone app that de-sanitizes the phone.

Right now the app supports New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Chicago (the app also allows you to filter by neighborhoods specific to those cities).  I do most of my traveling between New York (city of blinding lights), SF (I left my heart there), LA (California dreamin’), and Chicago (my kind of town) so this app is perfect for me (who’d wanna go anywhere else anyhow?).  They also have a corresponding website at www.unimenu.com for those without iPhones. So for all of you who have ever walked into an unknown restaurant and been caught off guard by the prices or selection of the menu, check this app out.

I have been flying in and out of SFO for several months but have not had to switch flights from the domestic terminals to the International Terminal. There used to be a bus located at the lower level near Gate 72 that takes you from SFO Terminal 3 to the International terminal. That bus is no longer available.

SFO has completed a connection bridge that takes you from Terminal 3 to the International Terminal. You will need to walk from the gates of Terminal 3 to the SFO International Terminal via this bridge. The walk way connecting SFO’s Terminal 3 and the International Terminal is near Gate 75 (shown in the map below). It would have been great if travelers received information information about the new bridge at SFO.

You can also view my other posts on: How to a quickly check into SFO Terminal 3 and a recently updated post on the time and schedule of when the gates are opened.

Safe travels.