March 25 Google NY invited me to their Google Cloud Platform presentation in their Chelsea offices, 8 blocks away from my apartment.
Besides the interesting new features (here are the videos), and the delicious and healthy lunch buffet, I networked quite a lot, and had a few laughs about the highest concentration of Google Glasses per person I have seen so far. One thing is clear: genomics, which is one of the main things my two companies deal with, and the cloud, are closely related, and they will be even more in the near future.
My wife took me to the amazing and discreet Japanese restaurant Kyo Ya for my birthday last month. What an amazing treat!
The menu were 11 courses that were all incredibly delicious:
“Zatsuki”: Spring Gobo Kara-age with Sansho Salt “Sakizuke”: Silky White Turnip Tofu Uni, Caviar, Umadashi-an “Oshinogi”: Ginger Sticky Mochi Rice Arima Sansho Miso-yaki “Owan”: Hakusai Cabbage Potage Tricolor Saitomo Patato Dango “Zensai”: Watercress Yellow Chive and Grilled Shitake Ohitashi; Oyster Moto-yaki on the Shell; Snow Crab and Yamato Potato Isobe-age; “Noresore” Noodle Like a Fresh Baby Sea Eel; Poached Hotaru Squid with Wakame Seaweed “Otsukuri”: Sashimi of the Day (Chef`s Selection) “Yakimono”: Washu Tajima Beef Hot Stone Grill; Sawara Spanish Mackerel Wakasa-yaki; Green Asparagus, Renkon and Shitake “Nimono”: Clay Potato Soup with Mozzarella Cheese, Ebishinjo, Turnip, Carrot, Wood Ear Mushroom and Poached Quail Egg “Tomezakama”: Braised Baby Octopus, Apple and Broccoli Rabe, Califlower and Kiwi Puree Vinegar “Oshokuji”: Canadian Shishamo and Yaki-daikon Kamadaki Rice, Asari Clam Miso Soup and Pickles Desert: Kyoya “Monaka” Red Bean Sandwich and Soba-cha Sorbet
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).
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?
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.
The other day my wife and I had to put on several layers of warm clothes to leave our apartment.
Then, when we got back home, we saw this online and we could not stop laughing!
