Nightlife and Bainbridge

As promised, this post will cover events from Thursday to Saturday.

The work week was uneventful, but next week should be very exciting for project progression.  I am very excited to finally start.

Adventures this week started early.  Thursday night a couple of interns decided to have some fun and play some games at a place called Gameworks.  There were a variety of games, but I spent most of my time on the DDR machine!

Happy Interns playing games!

Version of Rock Band

Getting ready to shoot some bad guys!

Basketball!

Yay!  Slow-motion high five!

The team that beat Gauntlet legend!

After Gameworks, we found ourselves outside the Seattle Convention Center.  It was so picturesque I couldn't help, but pose for a picture.  The convention center reminded me a lot of the Denver Performing Arts Center, maybe they had the same architect!

Staying classy in Seattle!

The next night I went clubbing again, but this time I took pictures!  Some of the interns and I went to Trinity nightclub, voted the number 1 nightclub in Seattle.  It is also the same nightclub I went to last weekend.

Trinity Nightclub!

The ladies!

The gents!

On the dance floor!

Playing the drums in the Bollywood room!

A lot of fun, but definitely tiring!  Saturday was less eventful because of a heavy rain, but in the evening my roommate and a couple of interns went to Bainbridge island.  In order to get to the island we took a ferry.  When we got there, it was around 7:00 pm and almost all of the shops were closed.  It was slightly disappointing, but we stopped by a great sushi restaurant.

The trip back yielded some great shots of the Seattle skyline and then we took the Seattle Monorail home.

Interns and the Seattle Skyline

I'm on a boat!  I'm on a boat!

The town of Winslow on Bainbridge Island.

Proof that I was on the island.

Chirashi, the sashimi dish I ordered at the Japanese Restaurant.

Clockwise from the shrimp: White Tuna, Red Snapper, Albacore, Salmon, Yellowtail,  Tuna, Octopus, and Rice Cake with Flying Fish Roe.

Me and the roommate in front of the Seattle Skyline.  Taken from the ferry.

Seattle Skyline at night.

The Monorail!

Driving the Monorail!

View from the front of the monorail!

Seattle Space Needle at night!

That is all the adventures for now.  Tomorrow I am planning on traveling to Fremont to view the Solstice Festival!

June 12, 2011

Sunday, beautiful Sunday!   Today was a great day to go to the Pike's Place Market.  It was sunny all day, a temperate 65 degrees Fahrenheit (I have to specify units, force of habit.), and only a couple of clouds.

The event of the day was at Pike Place Market!  Home to the world famous fish throwers, an abundance of fresh seafood, delicious fresh fruit, a multitude of trinkets, the original Starbucks, and a pig!

Fish Throwing (also a primary supporting source for my claim of "world famous") :)

Fish throwing in action

The stand for fresh fish!

Don't know the significance of the pig, but "That'll do pig, that'll do."

Fresh bouquets of flowers

A view of the market.

A fresh produce stand!

A view of the street adjacent to the market.  There were a variety of outdoor vendors.

The first Starbucks (*picture taken on June 4)

The first Starbucks is always so crowded, I plan to visit on a weekday when no one is around.  I will take pictures.  After visiting Pike Place Market, my roommate, a fellow coworker, and I walked along the Pudget sound waterfront.  It was very amusing, to see my reaction to a large expanse of water!  Snapped a couple of pictures and then headed home.

The walk along the waterfront.

Under the sea!  No!  It doesn't smell, just holding my breath.

A Coloradoan's obligatory (large body of water) picture.

A statue of some guy who liked to feed seagulls.  Beats me why anyone would willingly feed a seagull.

A retro Seattle squad car.  Someone help me out with the identification.  It is a Plymouth-something.

Tomorrow is a workday, so I probably won't have a new post until the weekend.  Tentative plans for next weekend include: more nightclubs (I will take pictures this time), happy hour, Mt. St. Helens, some hiking, and maybe the pool.  Stay tuned!

June 7-11, 2011

This posting will update everything I have done up to this Saturday.

The rest of the work week was mostly spent reading.  There was a lot of background knowledge that I needed to know and understand; both about the company and my project.  Good news is I have acquired most of the base knowledge and will be able to start my project next week!  I am very excited to start!  I have also been getting acquainted with my co-workers.  They are all very helpful and are very passionate about their work.  This is definitely a very great company to work for both because of the people and the organization.

Now for the weekend adventures! The weekend started early.  Friday evening, I meet up with an intern and her friends at a local nightclub.  First time clubbing and it was a lot of fun!  We ended up at the Trinity nightclub, which included three different dance rooms, with different music genres.  I danced a ton and didn't get back until 0200.

I got 5 hours of sleep and then got up to meet some more interns and a fellow co-worker for Dim Sum.  It was delicious and a lot of fun to introduce new people to Dim Sum!

My roommate, a co-worker, and me in front of the gateway to the Seattle Chinatown

After a delicious Dim Sum meal

Afterwards we went to the shopping district.  It was a lot of fun and also educational.  I did not realize the amount of clothing stores there are in this country!

Clock tower near Chinatown 

The shopping district!

Me and the shopping district!

After shopping, we traveled to a square where I snapped some pictures!  There was also a neat water structure that you could walk through!  Although you could walk though the structure you were not safe from the water (I think it is a design flaw).

The walkway under the water structure!

Me behind a wall of water!  You can make out my yellow polo.

A view from the square.

Inside the water structure.

Big chess pieces!

Tonight, probably going to stay in and get some rest, but stay tuned!  Tomorrow will be a visit to Pike's Place Marketplace!  Going to see thrown fish! :)

June 6, 2011 First Day

Just got back from my first day.  Unfortunately didn't have my camera, so this post is going to be very text heavy.

First day on the job was both exciting and overwhelming.  The day started by getting access badges, a brief introduction to Amgen: its history, mission statement, etc., and ended with a tour of the facilities.  One word to sum up the facilities: amazing.  There was practically everything you needed on site, almost like a small community.  My desk has all the essentials and is located in a a group of desks.  Everybody is very friendly and professional.

After I got acquainted with my boss, my work area, and some of the people within the research group, I attended a mandatory security and safety training.  It had some good information and resources, but I was trying to figure out how training videos could become more engaging and less corny.  I concluded that unless it became a long workshop, there really isn't a way.

Now, I am getting ready to go look at a commuter bicycle.  I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I think that the nature of the work, the work atmosphere, and the people will definitely make it truly enjoyable. 

June 5, 2011

The day before I start work was spent running errands, reviewing key concepts, and (more importantly) exploring the Seattle Center.

The Seattle Center is a area surrounding the prominent and well known Space Needle.

The Space Needle is so prominent that it is even prominent in this blog entry.  :)

The Space Needle was constructed for the World's Fair in 1928.  The structure is 605 feet tall and features an observation deck and a restaurant, which rotates once every hour.  Tickets run $18.50 and include a long wait to get to the top.  Consequently, I didn't go up, not on this trip.

Once me and two other interns finished viewing the splendid needle, we walked around the Seattle Center.  Among the features were the Pacific Science Center and the Sci-fi/Music Experience.

The Pacific Science Center

Picture of the Exterior of the Sci-Fi/Music Experience Building

Another Picture of the exterior of the Sci-Fi/Music Experience Building.

*My roommate and another intern can be viewed in the foreground.

We were able to go into the free portion of the Sci-Fi/Music Experience Building and take pictures.  Inside there was a gift shop and a magnificent amphitheater.

This slightly blurry picture highlights the distinguishing features: Cloth resembling Jellyfish hanging from the ceiling (maybe for acoustic enhancement), Dazzling Purple Lights, and a large screen.

There was also a background that resembled a celebrity award backdrop.

My attempt at posing like a celebrity...not really seeing it.

After the Seattle Center, my group traveled to a Thai restaurant for lunch, where a strange man greeted us.

Strange man, which turned out to be a statue to honor the Native Americans of the Seattle area.

Thus, another day of adventure came to a close.  I am excited about tomorrow and I am looking forward to more weekend adventures.