16 Nov 2008 San Francisco City Tour

Awesome day, awesome weather. A little hazy at the beginning but it cleared up soon. I simply fell in love with the azure, blue sky. 

It was mostly a stay-in-the-bus-and-look-at-the-sights tour, but we did hop off at the Golden Gate Bridge, Twin Peaks and the beach for quick snaps. 

At the Golden Gate Bridge, there was a lonely sailor:

We decided to cheer him up a bit:

Had a great view of the entire San Francisco City up at the Twin Peaks but really caught my interest was this curvy road:

Stopped by the beach as well...

And the famous Victorian houses known as the Painted Ladies (but suaku-me only first heard of it on the tour). It's apparently featured in the TV series "Full House" (which suaku-me thought was a Korean TV drama.)

Government building with gold-plated roof:

Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39. Famous for the lively (albeit noisy) sea-lions...

...and I think that is Alcatraz (former prison) at a distance:

17 Nov 2008 New Hire Orientation

Basically my first day of work which started off with the completion and submission of various official documents and getting my photo ID taken. The facilitators next brought us through what Genentech was all about. The tagline, mission, values, goals, culture, benefits (which I'm not entitled to but doesn't bother me cos hey I'm just glad to be here) etc. Might sound boring the way I list it out here but by the end of today's session, I'm pretty convinced that I'll try my very best to remain in this company heh. The entire session was well-paced and addressed many concerns that new hires will have in mind so two thumbs up Genentech! 

I've got 3.5 more days of orientation here in South San Francisco before leaving for my working location at Oceanside. It's in Southern California, 1.5 hrs away from San Francisco by plane or 8 hrs away by car. Sigh. I definitely want to go to San Francisco again to see more sights and attractions but I'll see how it goes. Oceanside's not affected by the forest fires at Southern California so that's great news. Had my mom worried for awhile there. *Don't worry Mommy!*