Adelaide
Arrival in Adelaide was tons of fun, with the Adelaide Airport bears in attendance on the runway as we taxied in, a proper welcoming committee land-side, and then returning back air-side (which is apparently allowed in Adelaide), a full on welcoming party with more dignitaries, food, speeches, and balloon arches, not to mention a money cyclone booth. To everyone's pleasant surprise, Yana, the United Airlines Premium Services agent who has taken good care of so many of us in Singapore, was also present for our arrival, along with several of her colleagues.
We didn't actually get to see the return flight festivities as that was still a few hours off, but we got to see just about everything else, which was quite fun. The Aussie obsession with donuts for inaugural flights perplexes me, but this time they at least used Krispy Kreme, which was much better than whatever they served at the Brisbane inaugurals.
Somewhere in there was an elaborately decorated cake to celebrate, done in a ADL-SFO theme, classic Frog Cakes, and a surprisingly quick and efficient bus ride to the hotel. Joyce from United recommended Adelaide Central Market for lunch, and it most definitely met expectations. Chose Marino's for their excellent porchetta sandwich, although I was less sure what to make of Dough for their sourdough rolls. The produce looked good but being in a hotel I don't think any of us bought any (and what would we do with a gigantic head of cabbage if we did???). Somewhere in there was a nice run through all the green space in central Adelaide, and the weather, while sunny, was as close to perfect as we could ask for.
There was noise of an official after-party, but nothing materialized of it, and after a very long day we ended up mostly hanging out at the hotel lounge. The Adelaide Marriott is pretty nice for a Marriott, the lounge spread isn't exactly a meal, but it was close enough that I don't think anyone was able to overcome inertia and go out for a proper dinner, especially not with such an early wake-up call the next day.