Quick Trip to Bellevue, Washington

I had a quick trip at the Corporate Office of my former client, Expedia in Bellevue, Washington to have a meet and greet with the CEO. It’s a 60 km drive from Tacoma to Bellevue. This is a rapidly growing city in the East side region of King County, Washington and long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle. The mood of the place (when we were there) was like the Forks of the Twilight movie, 2 hours away from Bellevue.

I’ve heard that they have a new building located downtown of the city (Expedia Building). And it’s a bigger, a 20-story, 414,964-square-foot office tower, finished last 2008. Twas a nice visit to this city!

– Bellevue, Washington was visited last January 2007

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”

Trip to Tacoma, Washington

I was blessed to be selected as a representative for all Supervisors to be sent to Tacoma, Washington for a visit to our client Expedia. This was when I was still working with People Support way back 2007. This was together with other selected employees, one manager and one agent, flying and meeting them together for the first time as well. And so, I met Gemini (manager) and Kristine (agent) and we all went to the US for the first time.

With two connecting flights, one in Nagoya, Japan and one in San Francisco, California, we arrived in Seattle Airport midnight and it was freezing cold. Our shuttle service was waiting for us and brought us to our hotel. We checked in immediately and happy to know that we have our own separate room at Courtyard Tacoma Downtown Hotel. Expedia’s Tacoma center was located there, and is just a walking distance from the hotel.

Tacoma is a Business district in Washington, so it’s alive in the day and like a ghost town in the evening. But since we are curious about the place, we strolled around on our first night and tried to see what’s there in that city. And so to find out, there was really nothing but closed establishments. Haha. Good thing the following day, one Expedia employee was good enough to give us a tour in the city when all was open and people were present in the streets.

On this trip, I built a very good friendship with Kristine. We’re the ones who usually hang out after visit at work. We did swimming at the hotel, ate breakfast at Starbucks, roam around the city for some picture taking and some times, just watch TV inside one of our rooms and share stories of each other.

Along the way, we have met good people and became friends too with them and helped us kill boredom at night. We met Lindsay and Matt, who are employees of Expedia. They are the coolest people ever! They brought us to good places to eat, and sometimes pay for our bills. They brought us to a movie house, to a club, to comic store, to a karaoke bar, to a mall, to a shopping center, and even to Seattle and introduce to their friends. They are the nicest people I met there.

I thought I’m gonna be super bored during my first day because of the dead city at night. But good thing there was Kristine and met other great people who made my stay in Tacoma a memorable experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Oh, and that includes the Filipino employee at the Hotel Concierge who helped us with directions and gave many tips during our stay in that city.

– Tacoma, Washington visited last January 2007

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”