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An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

alexeymk.com

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Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

#21

Post by hugh3 »

wickedchicken wrote: post #19
AlexeyMK wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah - I really wanted to make it out to Berkeley but haven't had a chance. What are the places worth checking out? I'll add them.

The 20+ independent coffee shops with ample seating and free wifi. E-mail me (website in profile info) and I can show you around if you'll still be here. Tell Eric A. I said hi.

Ehh, the only actual good coffee in Berkeley is Philz. Oh, and Mokka, but that's far from campus. Oh yeah, and Local 123, but that's even further from campus and overpriced. Guerilla should in theory have good coffee but their service is kinda rude. Brewed Awakenings, where you're most likely to run into mathematicians, has awful coffee. Sonoma is alright. And... that's all I can think of, off the top of my head.

I worry these coffee shops might be getting oversold here, though. If you do run into a mathematician he'll be too busy thinking about mathematics to talk to you. :)

Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

#24

Post by gregable »

I'm not an intern. I've lived in the Bay Area for 6 yrs. If you have a summer, aren't from the area, and want to spend a little time doing some stuff outdoors, here's what I'd add:

- Go walk around a old growth Redwood grove. It's peaceful, impressive, and gives you an interesting perspective. Big Basin is the most accessible: From 101, take the Lawrence Expwy exit and just head south for a long while. There is a great little .5 mile "trail" with some of the most impressive trees.

- Drive down to the Big Sur area. It's about 2hrs drive from the Mtn View area, so a day trip. The drive is the highlight, but check out McWay falls (flat 0.3 mi hike) and Pfeiffer Beach (purple sand, natural arch with waves/sunset coming through). Pfeiffer Beaches turnoff is unmarked, so research in advance.

- Tour Alcatraz. Plan this at least a week in advance though.

- Rent a kayak and spend an afternoon on Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay. No experience necessary. Kayaking right past sea lions and otters is guaranteed. Visit Phil's Fish Market next door in Moss Landing when done.

- Visit Yosemite valley. You can generally get a tent cabin in Curry Village with almost no lead time for a reasonable price. Yosemite Valley is crowded but truly iconic.

Other than Yosemite, all of these are easy day trips.

Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

#26

Post by rohitnair »

I'm almost done with my internship here in San Francisco, and it's been a great experience. I've heard people like Steve Souders and Brendan Eich speak and I spent a night hacking at the Computer History Museum (thanks to Mozilla) amongst other things. I found meetup.com, sftechtalks.com and the several tech related meetup groups to be a great resource as well. Attend them for the talks and as a bonus, get free food and drinks (mostly pizza just like in college) and goodies as well! Live life like a true (cheap) grad student!

Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

#27

Post by SkyMarshal »

BrandonM wrote: post #16
whyenot wrote: post #5

One really nice thing about VTA light rail is that they have wifi now. It's still really slow, but that has helped tremendously. Also, if you are interning somewhere to the south, such as San Jose, there is now an express light rail line starting at the Santa Teresa station during commute times that is pretty speedy.

Protip: T-mobile has one of the more reasonable data policies. If you're somewhere with no WiFi, you just plug your phone (in my case, a MyTouch 4G) into your laptop and set it to tethering mode. After hitting your cap (200MB, 1GB, or 2GB), your connection slows down but is still quite usable. No overage charges, no kill switch (but alas, slow video). Likewise, when you are somewhere with WiFi but no cell phone signa…

/second T-mobile for those reasons, Just another reason to oppose the ATT merger attempt. No doubt ATT will ruin all that if they get their grubby hands on TMo.

Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

#28

Post by jesseendahl »

eam wrote: post #13

You mentioned mission burritos, by any chance did you stop at El Farolito (Mission/24th), love that place!

I have to say, I agree—-nothing beats El Farolito. And I've tried a lot of places in the Mission. Yelp agrees: http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-farolito-san-francisco-2

Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

#29

Post by sachinag »

AlexeyMK wrote: post #17
eam wrote: post #13

You mentioned mission burritos, by any chance did you stop at El Farolito (Mission/24th), love that place!

Hell yeah. Also, Cancun on 19th and mission.

Cancun also has an outpost on Market and 6th if you don't want to be drunk or make a special trip to the Mission.

Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area

#30

Post by erikpukinskis »

hugh3 wrote: post #21
wickedchicken wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 20+ independent coffee shops with ample seating and free wifi. E-mail me (website in profile info) and I can show you around if you'll still be here. Tell Eric A. I said hi.

Ehh, the only actual good coffee in Berkeley is Philz. Oh, and Mokka, but that's far from campus. Oh yeah, and Local 123, but that's even further from campus and overpriced. Guerilla should in theory have good coffee but their service is kinda rude. Brewed Awakenings, where you're most likely to run into mathematicians, has awful coffee. Sonoma is alright. And... that's all I can think of, off the top of my head. I w…

Not technically a Mathematician, but Richard Feynman chatted with random people at coffee shops or the like. Guaranteed.
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