Silicon Valley Trip - 2006

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Hi folks,

been very lazy to update since my last trip to HK in dec...actually that was one of those weird trips that i fell really sick after coming back 😞

Perhaps it 's one of those things...too much shopping, too much good food, and lotsa walking 😊

Okay...we'd now at silicon valley - yep - THE PLACE for all IT nerds ...myself included and of course, wee ling (my travelling colleague) - we both "worshiipped" the place where the best, brainest and craziest people on earth are gathered.

Yep..now for some pix...to spice up ur lives...hopefully...we are indeed working real hard...and playing just as hard of course 😊

hey..i was really happy to be driving this super huge KIA suv n moving up n down highway 101...to visit Google@mountain view, Oracle@redwood city, adobe@SF, stanford@palo alto.

cheers!!

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Photos

At the Seoul, airport
guess what we are doing for a time filler - yep..myself a non-art person..actually painting a korean fan to kill time..of course..wee ling did a great job...and mine was done in a hurry..cos i wanted to survey the shops in the airport and c what's up...no prizes for guessing which is mine, which is hers :)

At the Seoul, airport
now..for an upclose look ! hee

at fisherman's wharf
guess who lives our sourdough bread and also the clam chowder?!

a closer look
i never had so much fun since i was a kid...feeding pigeons!!

fresh sea food at the wharf...
there was lobster, crabs, calamari, prawns, clams, oysters galore...but the portions are HUGE!! we bought the fried calamari which costs US$8 and we didn't even finish half of it...

crooked street at Lombard
it was quite an experience driving through the curves on the famed crooked street in SF...esp when the SUV we are driving is super high - wonders if the brakes works esp since it's a KIA *grin* (no offense) n we had so much fun we actually did it twice!

how do u park ur car on a steep slope
for those who have passed their driving eons ago..do u know that u have to park at 90degree to the road when u are on a steep slope?! Lotsa of reminders when u r in SF...it's much like a roller coaster..

chatting with some NUS exchange students
we met about 20 or more NUS exchange students in Silicon valley coming for a welcome nite makan at Mountain View. It really reminded me of the good old days when u r just a undergraduate without a care in the world...they were from PRC, India, Singapore etc...The overseas students are scholars with NUS

Stanford EPGY
we met with the Ray from Stanford EPGY programme and talked shop of course...tie-ups for our school and it was a great session...see the world map behind us :)

with mr lim
mr lim, our contact for Stanford EPGY who faciliated the trip...

oh la lah...we r@Google!
we made it to visit Google! the icon of the nouvelle riche in silicon valley..everything is FOC there..food, billard, laundry, snacks, gym, beach volleyball, shoes mending...with cool cool toilets to complement

oh la lah...we r@Google!
The glass bottled coca cola was among the wide range of beverages provided free by Google for their staff, Wee Ling's brought one home for keepsake.

with the Googlers :)
with chris and emily at the reception...

stanford uni
where garages are not ordinary...the best n most brilliant ideas are born there :)

free haircut at google
the mobile van for the FOC haircut for google staff.. too bad no pictures are allowed to be taken inside the google building so we could have showed you more cool stuff!

@oracle
it was interesting visiting the world's top database company. We got VIP treatment..lots of goodies and lots of takeaway - *grin..not just freebies but also interesting ideas for collaboration - check out their http://think.com which is a FOC website for students to set up webpages...

@oracle
with henry ong, our host, who gave us a very warm welcome..and invited us to a mighty good lunch at the executive dining room.

@oracle
look how warmly we are dressed...it was cold the minute we stepped out of the building

dessert @ oracle
the executive lunch was superb n it ends fabulously with a wonderful chocolate cake :)

working with adobe
we visited megan stewart from adobe and showed her our students' ITE works in school. Adobe is housed in a nice old building in downtown SF. It's an old building that has a brand new touch within...the workstations were nice n cosy..and guess what...we both got our latest 'toy' - studio 8 which makes our dear wee ling extremely happy :)

studio 8
working hard at the travelblog..when i was interrupted to pose for this pix for adobe...hmmm...our greatest gratitude to Megan for the wonderful toy :)

tiffany@SF
this pix is for damien-our colleague who luvs tiffany n things from tiffany*grin

union square@sf
we had lunch@cheese factory at the 7th floor at Macy's - which was a highly popular place - the portions for our lunch was really huge n did i mention the angel cheese cake is really good!!