This has been a hard winter in North America. Snow, ice, flurries, sleet… But today I got to enjoy the beach (Waverly beach – Lake Erie, Canada) in a way I had never experienced before: walking over water…. frozen water.
My wife and I were invited to the inaugural cruise for the Norwegian Getaway. A “sister ship” to the Norwegian Breakaway, in which inaugural we cruised last year, this ship is almost exactly identical. We enjoyed fine dining at Le Bistro, Taste, and The Tropicana, cocktails and music at Bliss, and particularly entertainment:
Comedian Ralph Harris at the Headliners Comedy Club Burn the Floor the musical Illusionarium, a pretty good steam-punk themed magic show with dinner Buddy Valastro (Cake Boss) live cake decorating session The return to port and docking gave us a nice view of Manhattan`s skyline, along with the scary view of the Hudson river with big chunks of ice (locals say that was unseen since 1977).
Last week I spent a couple of days working with a colleague at the IBM Innovation Center in La Gaude, France. Brainstorming sessions, beautiful sunsets and sunrises from my hotel room balcony overlooking the Mediterranean at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, a couple of nice dinners (one with my parents at the excellent Le Mesclum the other one with the team at Le Moorea, right in the port of St-Laurent-du-Var) and back to New York.
On Wednesday January 8th I was asked to hold a meeting regarding the potential involvement of my company (Kanteron Systems) in IBM’s Watson. It was a late night meeting, on the 54th floor of the still under construction World Trade Center. The reason why the meeting took place there is because the IBM team was finishing the set up of the next day’s Watson presentation.
What is Watson, you may ask?
We spent this Christmas in Spain (Valencia and Malaga) with family and friends.
When you drive next to the Mediterranean sea to go to the office, and see a breathtaking sunrise while you refill your car`s gas tank, work does not seem such a drag. As usual, the highlight was food. In particular, in Valencia the always superb Samsha Restaurant (probably my favorite in the world, with chef Victor Rodrigo, winner of the Chef of the Year Award in Spain), the surprisingly good tapas of Picoteo de Vicio (thanks for the recommendation, Eugenia), and the dramatically palatial setting of La Embajada.
After a very nice Thanksgiving with my wife`s family in Western New York, I flew directly to Chicago to spend the first week of December exhibiting alongside IBM and Avnet at a trade show called RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) with my friend and coworker Juan. Not only it was great for business, but we also saw some awesome technology (like 3D printing of organs), made friends, and had fun attending a couple parties.
I have been twice at the Madison Square Garden recently. The first time around I was invited, along with my wife, to an NBA New York Knicks vs San Antonio Spurs game. Great seats, we enjoyed the show (since the game was pretty lame). It amazed me how many food stands (from hot dogs to sushi), souvenirs, and paraphernalia stalls there were. Even the popcorn basket had the Knicks logo on it.
