Operational Excellence Training Day 5, Shopping and Exploration

Most of the time during our 5th day of Operational Excellence Training was alloted for completion of requirements for the participants. Luckily I already passed and completed the everything so I was able to spend most of the day roaming around instead.

My colleague Johnny left that day so I had the room again all by myself until the day after but before he headed to the airport, we had our photo taken together first.


The rest of that day I was bound to Renton connecting via Bellevue. While waiting for the bus to Renton, I looked around the transit center and saw the Bellevue City Hall.


The first thing I saw when we came to Renton were the factory facilities of Boeing. Apparently, new-generation 737 series airplanes are built inside these buildings at that time.


Several blocks away from the building pictured above is The Boeing Store located along Park Avenue in Renton, WA.


As an aviation fanatic, I went inside to scout for some take-home items. I got a couple of shirts and some souvenirs for myself. If they weren't very pricey I could have bought a lot of cute stuffs which I really don't have use of.


A couple of blocks away is Fry's Electronics, one of the largest electronics store I've ever been to. I always refer to this store as the "Disneyland for geeks".


I went inside Fry's without a plan of buying anything. An hour and a half later, I went out carrying with me a new portable HDD (500GB), a pair of walkie-talkies and some small items. A very sinful place indeed!


Just across Fry's is Target.


I went inside target to buy a couple of boxes of Airheads, one for me and another for my brother. Now I had months of stock of one of my favorite fruity candies! I always try to go to big grocery stores like Target, K-Mar or Safeway whenever I'm in the US to stock up my fruity candy inventory at home.


Further away is an outlet of Ross Dress for Less, a surplus store selling branded items for a low-price. Items were not displayed like your usual boutique or signature shop but iyou are patient enough to browse around, you may be able to find a lot of stuff that suits your taste here.


I had a late lunch that day at a nearby Panda Express. Panda Express is one of the "value for money" fast food in the US for me that suits my Asian taste.


inside the fast food restaurant


I usually order their two entree plate where I get to choose two viands (their famous orange chicken and another viand) and opted for chow mein (noodles) as a side. I also got the largest cup of soda drink with it so I can take it with me after. The large drink came with free sweet crackers and was given the usual fortune cookie after.


I immediately headed back to Redmond afterwards. My bus connected me via the transit center inside Microsoft campus and I just called for a company shuttle to take me to Redmond Town Center.


Just minutes after I went back to the hotel, I decided to go and roam the west side of Seattle along Alki Beach on my last night in the city. On the way to West Seattle, we have passed by a lot of port facilities and container terminals.


view of Seattle skyline from the park in Alki beach


"flower houses" in Alki


Seattle skyline late in the afternoon


I grew tired walking and decided to eat at a nearby Alki Crab & Fish Co. restaurant instead of heading back to downtown for dinner.


inside the restaurant


I had an order of combination platter containing halibut fish, clam strips, calamari rings, prawns and fries together with soda.


In front of the restaurant is the port where I can ride a water taxi from West Seattle to Downtown Seattle that would cross Elliott Bay for 12 minutes.


Sightseer


Seattle skyline pre-dark


Seattle skyline at dark


It was a time well-spent for my last day in the city. Early the next day I will be heading to the airport again bound for home but with a quick side trip.

Operational Excellence Training Day 4, Anderson Park and Joey's Grill & Lounge

All formal in-classroom trainings were capped off during the fourth day. It all started with my usual breakfast in Residence Inn Redmond. No offense to them, but I really wished there was more variety to the daily offerings other than waffles, potatoes and breakfast patties of which I started to grew tired of the taste.


With a colleague counterpart in Indonesia, we went back to The Commons for lunch, same place where we had our attendee party during TechReady 9 the prior week.


Still craving for an Asian taste, I had a rice topping of stir-fried pork and spring rolls for lunch and coconut juice for drinks.


The training ended well and everyone was relieved and excited to have free time for ourselves and head back home soon. Our last plan for the day is to have dinner as a celebration in the nearby city of Bellevue but I got the chance to roam around the area of Redmond Town Center first before boarding the bus. I came across Anderson Park and breezed by to see the place. I usually pass by this place at night I haven't seen people actually relaxing and playing here until that moment.


There were two log cabins constructed in 1938 in the park that are preserved and recently restored to its full glory, the Fullard House and Adair House.


Adair House


Fullard House


I boarded a bus minutes later and then alighted in Bellevue Transit Center. As usual, the Metro King County's Trip Planner helped a lot in my timing and scheduling.


Walking towards where we'll have our class get-together, this restaurant caught my attention because of it's name - "What The Pho?".


We had our dinner that night at Joey's Grill & Lounge in Bellevue Place.


Nice and cozy place I should say, but it's so jam-packed that we had to wait for more than an hour to get seated and be separated from the others on another table.


Raspberry Lemonade


Cranberry Almond Salmon. Just the right taste for me and just the right size of serving.


Molten Lava Chocolate Souffle. Tempting, delicious and sinful! :P