college olive: Gold Coast Day 6

Today, a sizable group of us went to Googleplex for lunch and a tour!

Close to Google was the Facebook headquarters, which were huge.

Google bikes.

On the lawn there were many different statues, some alluding to android, others were busts of people (no idea who this guy is)...

Cousin

Similarly to Pixar, the amount of resources available to employees were luxurious and a bit excessive. Here is a garden - you can see lounge chairs to the left.

My uncle and our fantastic guide, an employee of Google. She works in finances at an undisclosed location (top secret!). We peppered her with questions and she gave us some interesting insights into Google and Youtube.

Robot statues.

Cutie!

This building was the main area for tourists and included a telephone booth and a google maps exhibit.

Cousins viewing the Taj Mahal.

We went to the Google cafeteria. Once you get into the building (you have to have an employee card), you don't have to pay for any of the food - you just take what you want.

There was all different types of food imaginable. Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Japanese... It was really good food, too!

My plate: Greek-style quinoa, Caprice salad, zuchini, watermelon, berries, and an orange-infused drink.

Dad's plate included sushi and tuna salad.

Not sure about the story behind this dino, but apparently people like to take pictures of it?

A little hard to see, but this is one of those pools that shoots a jet of water so you get a good workout without taking up much space.

So I saw this computer screen that was flashing images of the most famous people of the world posing with this guy called Meng. I had no idea who he was - maybe number three in command? Ends up that he was an engineer who started greeting visitors to google, and somehow ended up starting his own meme. Now everyone wants a picture with Meng and being a greeter is one of his official duties.

Playing around with a giant iphone.

Whiteboard messages

Google employees

The haircut bus. Need I say more? One of my uncles got a hair cut there... turned out pretty well.

So Googleplex was pretty amazing - it's designed so you could live there! Needless to day they're doing some amazing work as well.

After, my cousin G and I met up with Uncle Mike and my brother and we went to Cataract Trail in Marin Counting. It was amazing!

Looks a little like Mt. Shasta area.

Uncle Mike and G.

The hike was pretty much all stairs, all uphill. Uncle Mike is in amazing shape along with G, so my brother and I were huffing and puffing quite a bit.

Smile through the pain, brother.

This is what I love about California -- you don't have to travel far to see unparalleled beauty and go on amazing outdoor adventures.

The water was deliciously cold. Uncle Mike decided to jump into the pool. My brother was pretty nervous for him since it was shallow, but Uncle Mike is an adventurer so he did it anyway.