Trip to downtown San Francisco

A grp photo of all singaporeans in the STRAT program. We are all in genentech's comfy jacket
Walgreens and the muni bus
All of us with our yummy clam chowder
On the way to fisherman wharfs


One of the steep slope in SF
At chinatown

Last weekend was a long trekking trip at downtown.
We walked from Powell stn to Chinatown-fisherman wharfs then bk to market street where powell stn is. The Chinatown is the world oldest . it has existed for 100 over years.. which is why the street is pretty dirty. we had our first Chinese food there. After chinese food, we strolled( in the end)to fisherman wharf to have clam chowder. Finally i satisfied my craving for clam chowder after i tried it at Seattle;s fisherman;s wharf. Cool!

About Genentech

what ya will see from the computer lab building
I was doing my online courses in the computer lab. Got bored of it and took out my camera to capture the fascinating view out of the building. Do ya notice small house up the hilly slope? yeah SF was once a mountainous area
My colleagues
It;s the 2nd week in South San Francisco. Alot of intensive online training and orientation.

Genentech business logo: Business for life.

Just by spending two week here, i learn that everyones who works in Genentech are so proud of being in a life-savings company. The company has their own research team to continuously create new product to save patient's life. Ive heard stories from fellow colleagues abt their friends and relatives who ;s life was dependent on genentech;s products. Rather genentech ;s product saved their life! it;s just amazing that the company is capable of doing that.
Besides, genentech has extremely good welfare and incentives which was why they were the number one US company to work in last year ( google took over this year, gene dipped to 2nd place) One fabulous facility that they have was the gym house. The gym house gives free mineral water bottle and fruits like apples/pear. Besides, there;s free salsa, cardio , palates, hip hop dance classes. The trainers at the gym house was experienced and helpful. One trainer guided me with hamstring workout since i jog alot which dominates my quads. The work out was all totally different from what i have done in sg. the equipments are all brand new.
After gym work out, it was perfect for a steam bath and sauna in the bath room.
When we ready to go, the shuttle from Marriott will pick us up from genentech.
it;s jus too comfortable .. shuttle to pick and bring us to work. Genentech is giving marriott is alot business as there;s always guest from genentech.

i guess i did the right choice to come here. Get to know ppl from diff background. Most of them are PHD or master students. The lead researchers in the lab are mostly renowned scientist in the biotech field.
The campus is located js next to the bay with hills in font. There are 40 over buildings . The campus is so big that ya needa take a shuttle to commute from one building to the other.
Ya could have a beauitful view of the highway and hills. Check out the picture below

My suite in SSF & Sightseeing tour at Down town SanFrancisco

The golden gate bridge. what made the bridge famous is that it;s made of cables and wires.

Downtown SF park
Hilltop view of SF.


My room

Arrival in San Francisco

Finally after months of anticipations, i am in San Francisco now. The weather is perfect with the scorching sun and the chilling temperature. There are alot more things to explore here but what more important is settling in.. first month we are staying in marriot residence inn with one person to a suite. Pretty cosy suite like a mini studio..there will be a company bus that pick us up from inn to the facility and bk to our inn.Complementary breakfast and dinner for the first month, subsequently we will be staying in rented apartments and going to work on our own..foresee that i could be cycling or taking a bus or driving if ive decided to get a car.

Indeed there are alot of stuffs to settle.. opening a bank a/c, get a social security no.. check out apt etc.. but well chill!
Later we are going sightseeing at downtown San Francisco.. It;s a tour organized by the Inn. Looking forward to it. I should jus take a nap first since i;m up at 3am today! Will update this blog with more photos soon!