Took the bus to the office today and got there at 8:40am but I didn't need to show up until 9am. Since I had the time, I decided to open an account at First Hawaiian Bank to be able to access my paychecks here. There are no national branches on Hawaii so depositing the paychecks would require me to mail them to my bank otherwise.
I got a little lost on the way to the building since there's actually a building in front of my building and my building is one of two towers behind a courtyard. Luckily still got to work on time and the first thing the receptionist did was give me a really nice lei made from I think fresh purple flowers (orchids, I think?). The view from the lobby is amazing. The office is on the 19th and 29th floors (my office is on the 19th). The view is of the harbor area which was great. My orientation was with one of the directors (partners) of the firm and he spent two hours with me going over procedures and then taking me on a tour of the office. I really appreciated his time. Do other firms do that?
After the initial orientation I was introduced to my awesome office. I'm impressed with the view and the storage space throughout the office. It's really wonderful. All the doors and walls are glass so you can see into the offices and it creates a very open atmosphere.
(My office. You can see the great lei I got on the right side of the table.)
(View from my office)
I then got an administrative orientation like how to work the email, phones, paperwork, etc. The staff was so friendly and helpful, and I even have a legal secretary. This is an interesting thing for me since I was an administrative assistant so I plan on being super sensitive to what work I give her to do for me, but it's also admittedly very exciting.
It was already lunchtime by the time I finished the administrative orientation. Two associates took me out to lunch at Restaurant Epic. We ordered the Kalua pork spring rolls (pictured) and Epic sushi roll for appetizers. Both were very delicious. I had the teriyaki salmon, which was really good. The salmon was very moist, the rice was soft, and the salmon skin was crispy. All in all a great dish. The associates seemed amused and were very patient about the fact that I took pictures of our food before we ate them for the blog.
After lunch I got my first assignment! But it was already pretty late in the day and so I didn't have a chance to work too extensively on it today.
I left work around 6pm and went over to the nearby 24 Hour Fitness to get a gym membership. I am deeply skeptical of 24 Hour Fitness generally (didn't really like it in SF) and this one is super small, but I figured working out before or after work would be good. While I like running by the beach, I think it'll be kind of hot a lot of the times to do that.
I then walked back to the area where I got dropped off from the bus in the morning. But alas, that street had been a one-way street, and I didn't know which street the bus going the other way was going to be on! I had even checked this on Google Maps but in my haste I didn't take note of the new street, just that I had to walk in the same direction. I eventually doubled back and found the street I thought the same bus would pick me up from, but then I had to go to the bathroom! So I went back to my building to use the restroom since all the restaurants and coffee shops had shut down by then. My feet were getting a little tired so I walked to another bus stop where I knew a bus was coming eventually, but this route require that I transfer at Ala Moana Shopping Center which I did. All in all, I didn't get home until like 7:45pm. Whoops. I'm not doing too hot on the whole commuting thing so far, but at least I now have a bus pass so I can afford to make mistakes and take inefficient routes. This will no doubt happen again until I memorize bus routes.
Back at home it was left over Blazin' Steaks with froze beans and fresh pineapple for dinner. And I watched the movie Couples Retreat online and I continue to work on the list of places I'd like to eat at. I've got the beginnings of a Google Spreadsheet of places and I'll add all the places I've been soon.
Aww! I'm sure you'll know your way around in no time. :) The food and office look amazing!
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