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Diary From the Attic

A Day of Food Adventure

Okay, today I feel a lot better.  I didn’t approach CC just because she has offended me yesterday.  She was very direct and I shall be better in listening to criticism.

Lunch time, Balquais suggested going to one of the oldest Japanese restaurant in Jakarta.  Getting there was really tough as the driver didn’t know where was the place we were referring to.  I still remember it was Chikini IV.

The food was quite cheap.  And because I was so warm and friendly, the waitresses all laughed at me.  They are nice people.  Then we went to AC Jakarta.  Quite an impressive office (very new).

At night?  Well, had a Chinese meal (very cheap beer, so far) and had a (terrible) dessert at Fashion Café.  They claimed that one will be open in Singapore next year.  We shall see.  The food is quite bad tough.

Went to gym again and accompany Balquais back to BUN and get her organiser (tomorrow needs to get up and go Bali).  She was so happy when I said there is no problem at all.

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Diary From the Attic

In the End, Hamlet Died

Got up quite late and went to my favourite cinema and bought a ticket for the show “Hamlet”.  Dashed to my favourite restaurant (Japanese) and they opened it earlier especially for me.

Arrived just on time for the show and got a really lousy seat.  Anyway it wasn’t that bad.  Knowing the show would last for four hours, I came well mentally prepared.

A very good show indeed.  The third Shakespeare show.  And why do they always want to produce a tragic piece?  I have no idea.  In the end, Hamlet died.

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Diary From the Attic

Jackpot Machine

Jackpot Machine can be thought as a happiness machine.  Putting coins in the machine can be thought as all the pain and unhappiness.  What happens is you keep on suffering hoping that some great rewards shall arrive.  But how many of us can win in the end?

Spent the whole morning calling up people.  Called up Jenny and got my date of arriving at Jakarta fixed.  Called up Ginger and has my flight detail booked.  Have to pay a lot more as there is no more seat available.  Called up Mum and told her my schedule.  Finally called up Toby and had a good chat.

In the afternoon, went over to BNP and had a training there.  Version 5 seems more sophisticated then the SocGen version.  Had a long coffee break with Alvin in one of the café nearby.  The last time we did it was in Singapore.

I had this craving for Japanese food.  Don’t know why.

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Diary From the Attic

I Will Survive

Totally ridicules!  If not for Francis’s phone call and the room service phone call, I would have slept until God knows when.  Finally I woke up at seven pm.  Had a long hot shower and rushed off to my favourite Japanese restaurant.  One thing good about going to the same restaurant all the time is that they treat you really good.  Extra sushi and free cup of tea.

And the next thing was rush to watch a movie.  Wanted to watch the “5th Element” by Bruce Willis but it was full. So I watched “Shine”.  Very touching movie.  With the ticket voucher given (lent) by Aurore, I’ve got a really cheap bargain.

Annie’s email is always so practical and always reminds me of the cruel reality.  She even suggested that I shall stay in YMCA instead.  Alright, this is when the reality bites.  I shall survive.  I will survive.

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Diary From the Attic

Killing Time

I couldn’t really sleep last night.  Gone to bed at 10:30 pm and woke up at 2:30 am.  And I couldn’t go back to sleep.  Got up, obsessed with my coming broadcast and tried to go back to sleep at six.  Couldn’t.  Hence ordered breakfast.

Eventually, woke up at noon.  Nice sunshine today.  Desperate to go out and bathed in the sun.  Contemplating whether to call the BNP guys or not but I didn’t.

Sunglasses on, I went done to Châtelet-Les-Halles and decided to watch “Blood and Wine”.  Took the same route as Claude took me to 2 days ago.  Had lunch at one very nice bar.  Actually planned to watch the show at six in the afternoon but I couldn’t wait no more.  Just too much time.  Hence watched it at four instead.

Very good show.  It’s Jack Nicholson.  Went to Virgin store and walked aimlessly at the busy street of Champs-Elysees.  In the end, decided to go back to Châtelet and had my Japanese food.

Been thinking of my future house all the time.  Suddenly I remember one of the reason of coming back to Paris was to be able save some money for my future home (+ decorations and so on).  Shame that things do not always work out the way they suppose to be.

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Diary From the Attic

25 More Man-days in Paris

Monday, status report again.  This time, I think I am quite nasty towards the Function Team as I am really not happy about the reliability SIR.  Guess they got the message.  Damn me.  I should have some self-control but I think there has been too much stress, especially between the Technical and Function Team.  And I am somehow swallowed into this whirlpool.

Had a heart to heart chat with Mohamed after work and found that he has found 2 contracts.  Good for him.  One is to develop compiler and linker for object orientated programming for AS4000.  Bizarre!  Another is project management for Electronic Documentation.

Had a nice Japanese food again.  This time, the staffs know me and gave me quite a huge portion.  The beauty of this is to be able to converse in Cantonese.

Somehow tonight, I kind of dreaming that JP will write me an email as ask if she can come back to my arm again.  I still cannot forget, can I?

25 more man days in Paris and I am gone.  Time passes, isn’t it?

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Diary From the Attic

Saying Bye Bye to All My Sadness, Okay?

Last day of the month.  Hopefully a new beginning for me.

Got up late (11:30) and packed up as today was supposed to be the last day of my holiday.  And the most annoying thing was that the weather was so good.  It was so sunny.

I had a homemade lunch and left the hotel after one.  Waited for the train to depart for 2 ½ hours.  What’s new?  I was so glad that I returned to Paris.  Kind of really miss the luxury lifestyle.

I was craving for Japanese food and guess what, I found the one I wanted in the Paris Center.  In the end I found that the “owners” actually speak Cantonese.  Really thought they are Japanese.  In fact, they came from Macau 12 years ago.  Isn’t that amazing?

And in time to watch the movie “Donnie Brasco”.  When I ordered the ticket, I spoke in French and that guy said something in French.  Of course I didn’t understand.  In the end, I found that he wanted to ask if I am a student.  Am I look that young?

The show was great.  After all, it was Al Pacino.  My all time favorite star on Earth.  I understood the show “perfectly” until the end.  The ending was in text and it was all in French.  Kind of very annoying.  Must ask Aurore tomorrow morning as she watched the show (because of Johnny Depp).

During this trip, I have learnt something but it is too late now to talk about it.  Will write more later on.

Say bye bye to all my sadness, okay?

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From the Attic I See I Write

Of Nuclear Transfer and Transgene Technologies

Been a very tiring day (last night’s party) and didn’t really work for the whole day.  Meeting here and meeting there.  Politics and gossips and so on.  Enhancement and bug talk.  You name it.  Lunch time rushed down to “New Men” and collected my pair of trousers.   Japanese for dinner.  What else?  Brought a pair of sport shoes and I am ready to go for my holiday.  One more thing, finally had my haircut appointment.  Still no news from JP.  Probably she has forgotten me.  Wanted to dial in Lotus Notes but the server in Paris does not respond.

Check this out.  The Nuclear Transfer Technology.

The technique involves several steps.  First, the donor cells are grown under special conditions in culture.  In this way the number of cells can be increased by several orders of magnitude.  It is also possible to make genetic modifications and to select just those cells in which the desired modification has occurred and multiply these up.  These cells are then fused with an unfertilized egg from which the introduced nucleus can lead to the formation of an embryo.  The embryos are then transplanted into sheep and lambs are born naturally.

  1. Cells of donor embryo are separated
  2. Chromosomes are removed from the unfertilized egg
  3. Donor cell is place next to oocyte and fused it with an electric current
  4. Embryo develops as though a newly fertilized egg

Check this out as well.  The Transgene Technology

Transgenic technology is the introduction of a gene(s) from one species into the DNA of another.  In the current methods for production of transgenic animals, the gene of interest is introduced into a fertilised egg and becomes integrated into the host DNA.  The gene is linked to a piece of DNA, called the promoter, which makes it active only in certain parts of the transgenic animal.  In PPL Therapeutics’ case, genes encoding human proteins are expressed so that the protein is produced in the animal’s milk.  Because the protein is produced only in the milk, the animal is normal and healthy.