Googleplex: A look from the inside
Googleplex was the highlight of our visit in Silicon Valley. The buildings are private for employees and special meetings. However, we had the chance to have a guided tour by Mr. Miroslav Melichar, a software engineer at Google – or even better a Googler, who was there to answer all our questions.
The first thing we noticed, all over the campus, is the G-bikes, bicycles painted in Google’s colors everywhere for their employees and visitors – that’s cool. If you want a ride around the campus, just grab any bike, ride where you want with it, and park it at the next stop for someone else to use. We did not hesitate to use them to explore the Google area.
For Google and Android fans, the Google Merchandise Store is the Alibaba’s cave of Silicon Valley. The store is open to the public and is known as the largest retail store to sell Google-branded apparels and gadgets.
Next beside the store of Google’s headquarters, is a collection of colorful Android statues representing different confectionary codenames of Google’s Android mobile OS versions, such as the Cupcake, the donut and the famous beloved iconic green Android robot.
Not far away from the merchandise store and statues is the Google Visitor Center, open only to employees and their visitors, also the special guests like Heig-vd team.We could play with many Android toys, we jumped in a ball pit and we got the chance to have a walk in Google Maps 3D Earth Simulator. And just before leaving, we took a moment to relax on a chair massage.
The place was magical, it brings back our childhood memories and feelings. If you ever get a chance to go and visit this place, do not miss it.
