Go karting, Mediterranean, and Hendrix

Last Wednesday Microsoft held another intern event. This time it was go karting, something that Miron had originally proposed and I had been subsequently championing for a month or so. The location was K1 Speed in Redmond. Unfortunately the Redmond location is the smallest of all the K1 Speed tracks, but you did and did not feel that when you were on the tracks.

When you’re on the track and you have the medal at full throttle, the little buggers can fly. They have a slight delay when you’re accelerating from a slow speed, but other than that they’re responsive. The track is relatively short and you can do a single lap through in about 21 seconds, but each race we did was about 10 or 12 laps, so you’re driving around for a fair amount of time.

Since there were so many interns, we didn’t get the chance to do any actual racing. Instead, we were all doing time trials which is really, really boring. Time trials are the one mode I try to avoid at all costs when I play videogames, and videogames are even more interesting than real life! And especially after hearing that the Amazons got to do the relay go kart race, it was even more disappointing. Hey, but free go karting, plus free intern 8GB Zune minis; can’t complain.

My first heat was ridiculously slow. I don’t know whether it was my ineptitude at taking corners, the fact that I wasn’t pushing down fully on the gas or rested my foot too heavily on the brake, or whether it was just my kart, but I ended up getting seventh position of eight riders. Ridiculously poor at a best lap time of 23.80 seconds, when everyone else was pushing 20 seconds or under.

The second heat I was determined to not get shamed. I was the rider in first position, so that helped immensely. After the warm up lap, I pushed the gas all the way down and didn’t look back. I ended up staying in first place the entire race and ended up with a best lap time of 20.76 seconds. I was happy thinking I would be in the top eight riders for the championship round. Unfortunately, the eighth spot was 20.66 seconds. Blast.

In the end, Savio placed second and Bellon placed near the end. I didn’t really recognize anyone else in the line-up. There really isn’t a lot of socializing and mingling at these “social” events due to the large contingent of Waterloo interns, as well as the surprising lack of alcohol (after this particular event, or throughout other events in general). Alcohol makes for loose lips.

The night concluded with a loud and hotly debated conversation ranging a multitude of topics over dinner at Inchin’s Bamboo Garden, a Chinese restaurant with decent food, but at exorbitant prices and measly portions. A standard noodle dish was almost $13 or $14. And their $12 lamb dish was essentially a small bowl size. Unacceptable for someone coming from a city full of Congee Wongs. Oh I could go for some Congee Wong right about now.

The next night, Savio and I tried out this place called Truly Mediterranean after both pulling in late shifts. When I think of Mediterranean food, I think Greek, so it was eye-opening and enlightening to be eating lots of Middle Eastern food. The dish I had was called lamb and spinach sabanekh, which apparently is Lebanese and lacking a picture on the Internet… Their dolma (grape leaves) and hummus were also very tasty, though a little liberal with the lemon juice. Their prices are very reasonable and with a Prime discount of the second entree free, I wouldn’t mind going back there.

Yesterday (today still), I headed to the Experience Music Project (EMP), otherwise known as the giant metallic tumour at the base of the Space Needle. It was designed by Frank Gehry, so it looks like a piece of paper all crumpled up.

The interior of EMP is just as colourful and architecturally impressive as the outside. Currently there is a Hendrix exhibition, here till 2010, or so it seems. There’s also a hallway outlining all the musical influences coming out of the Pacific northwest, including Nirvana, the Kingsmen, Presidents of the United States, etc. There was a guitar gallery of old and new designs and a Sound Lab where they had stations for guitars, basses, drums, and vocals and they taught you the basics of how to play a certain part of famous rock songs. Very interactive and very, very engaging.

In the lobby there was this massive sculpture, entitled, “Roots and Branches”. It’s a massive tree of all types of guitars, with guitars at the top having electronically driven fingers actually playing the guitars. You walk into EMP and you’re greeted by this sight and you just had to take a step back and marvel at the ingenuity and the construction of all the guitars and the sculpture itself.

Unbeknownst to me, my entry into EMP also allowed me entry into the Science Fiction Museum (SFM), or basically Paul Allen’s personal stash. I think the trip to SFM itself was worth it. Walking through all those exhibits, I could point out probably a good 75% or more of the material. It reminded me of a tangible version of all those sci-fi wrap-ups that I used to watch on TLC.

Seeing the actual costumes and props of a Terminator hunter killer, or a Space: Above and Beyond Chig and its arm rifle, or Locutus of Borgs‘ actual facial make-up, or an old-school Cylon, or the Robot from Lost in Space, or much more brought me back to my childhood. Not many people know of the Six Million Dollar Man, and I didn’t see the show, but I at least recognize it. Heck, how many people actually get the reference in that one Simpsons episode where Homer’s trapped on the island where they play real-life chess and he gets chased down by a giant white ball? The Prisoner, anyone? And all the Star Trek memorabilia! If you didn’t notice, I geeked out pretty hard.

The combination of the two places is great bang for the buck, and it’s one of the few museums I would actually consider full price to be worth it, but I’m happy to pay my Prime discount. Glad I can check that off my list. The building itself is worth photographing for a day, and in the short time span we spent loitering outside, I took quite a few more shots. Enjoy.