Last July, we (me and my son) had a whirlwind visit to the Silicon Valley of California.
If you are visiting San Francisco, a day trip to Silicon Valley is quite an experience for tech enthusiasts like us, local guides. Silicon Valley ranks the thrid in per capita after Swiss Alps and Norway.
We left San Francisco in the morning. We took the Caltrain at King St station. The commuter train serves an important role for people who need to travel to those tech companies to work. There is a carriage just for bikes and scooters. The train has two levels. The seats are reasonably clean. When you look at the stops, there are lots of famous companies out there. You probably saw those names of towns before: Palo Alto, Mountain View, Mountain View and Sunnyvale etc. The plan is to start from San Jose, then travel upwards to Menlo Park. We will take Caltrain from Menlo Park to San Francisco. I did my homework by creating my own maps on Google Maps. I had three layers: general sightseeing, Silicon Valley day trip and shopping. This function of Google Maps has made my trip planning much easier.
Our first stop is The Tech Interactive. It’s a digital educational museum for the old and young. There are a few exhibitions here: Cracking the code, Bio Studio, Innovation in Healthcare, Town planning game etc. Everything is digital. We had a play with the Bio Design Studio - using DNA technology to change the colour of a bacterium. All the posters/signs are bilingual (English and Spanish). The human body displays are quite interesting as well. There is an IMAX theatre here.
Our second stop is the Intel Museum. The display/exhibition is all the history and journey of Intel. From the humble beginnings to the top of the tech world today, Intel is an inspiring story. Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel said Only the Paranoid Survive. The whole experience was informative. and uplifting. Highly recommended!
The next stop is Nvidia. Back in July 2023, Nvidia started heralding the world to an AI new world. The block was clean, nice and tidy. We took some photos outside the office blocks.
Our fourth stop is the Apple Visitor’s Centre at 10600 N Tantau Ave, Cupertino. This is a huge state-of-the-art building with different functionalities. Some said it’s just a huge Apple store. There is actually a cafe at one end. The other side is an AR tour of the Apple campus. Visitors will be given an iPad. There is a huge model of the circular building. The iPad is AR-ready for viewing the building. It was a unique experience. The upper level is a balcony where you can have a glimpse of the actual Apple building in the distance.
The next stop is the famous Computer History Museum. It has a massive collection of vintage computers, components, peripheral and softwares etc. Anything you can think of - you can find it here. It’s like a giant time capsule. From early stage computers to an iPod, the Computer History Museum condenses the rapid and ever-evolving history of IT development. When we look back, we look at the future at the same time. This is highly recommended for all.
We have seen so many photos of the Google Campus. Finally we made it there. It was just like those photos. The dinosaur sculpture, colourful G-bikes, android name sculptures, curious boy etc. Lots of photo opportunities. The visitor’s centre is not open to the public yet at that time.
We also spent some time at Standofrd University. One of the top universities in the whole world. We were totally awed by the majesty and grandure of the campus. The highlights are the Memorial Church and Rodin’s Burghers of Calais sulpture. We took so many photos.
Our last stop is the META office. Once again, we could only take photos outside the buildings and most importantly, the famous sign. It used to be a thumb-up sign. Now it’s the META logo. If you see the other side of the sign, it’s the Sun Computer logo which is a blast from the past.
The whole day trip was totally exciting. We had some first hand experience of those legendary big tech company and their achievement, and most of all, we were so inspired.
