I spent half of the morning thinking on the frequency technique and came out with 5 experiments that can be conducted with this technique. Not very fantastic though. But at least I would have something to talk about during the discussion tomorrow. If I get to see my sup tomorrow that is. Then I went back to INSA to pay my rent and quite expectedly, the office was closed. It would be closed until the school holidays are over. That was still ok. What was worse was that the mailing service has stopped to. That explains why my letter box is empty. I read the notice and it said that I had to collect my letters at another building 9. So I went to this building 9 and there was another notice saying that I should go to building 1 between 9am to 10am. But I wasn’t sure cos of my poor French. This is very troublesome. Just when I am waiting for the prefecture to send me the letter of notification to collect my resident card. But it isn’t urgent. I could wait after 1st May to collect it when the mailing service is back.
Back in the office, I emailed Ana and asked her to drop me an email once she received the letter of notification. She said she would also find out from her friend how to retrieve our letters. That was nice. But actually I had a few people here to ask also. They were working in IRISA and staying in my block. Will check that out tomorrow. It was lunch time and I decided to join the guys at a restaurant outside the campus. I already mentally prepared myself to spend 10 euros on the lunch. We drove there in 2 cars; Jean-Marie driving me and Laurent and Mr. Giant driving Nico and Seb. Our car arrived first and while waiting for the rest of the guys, I chatted with Jean-Marie. We talked a little about his son who is around 5 months old. And his name is Tanguy (pronounced as Tonghee). I said that when I went to Brest, there was a Tower Tanguy beside the castle and he said yes that’s the same name. It is a typical Breton name. Then he asked me when would I be returning to SG and I said my contract ends in June. He said so is his. I asked him is he going to look for a job in other places and he said no. He would look for one in Rennes because his family is here. He said he isn’t the traveling type of person. Indeed he is a family man despite his “gao xiao”ness. And tomorrow’s soccer game is at 10pm and he wouldn’t be available again. He needs to look after his baby I guess. Good man.
We came to this restaurant but it wasn’t those classy type. Just an average brasserie. But it was filled with people. I asked them what’s good here and Mr. Giant said they would normally order the economic set meal which cost 10.9 euros. It comes with the main dish, a drink, dessert and coffee or tea. And for the main dish, there were pork, fish or pizza. I didn’t want pizza because I probably couldn’t finish it. Neither do I want pork because it is too common. Hence I chose fish because Brittany is famous for seafood. The rest of the guys ordered pork while Laurent and Jean-Marie didn’t order the econ set. They just ordered a pizza each. I should have followed any one of them.
While waiting for the food, I told Nico that he was right in saying that Nantes doesn’t deserve 3 stars. He recommended to me again to go to Vannes which he felt is beautiful. In fact I am having some trouble planning this Saturday’s trip because I had 3 places in mind but didn’t know which one to choose. Vannes is easy to go. Just take the train. The other 2 are harder having to change train and bus. Mr. Giant then said that we are confirmed going to the Forest of Broceliande in one of the weekends in May because Nico’s girlfriend would be transferred to near there in May. Great. I wasn’t forgotten in their plan. After awhile, our food came and my heart broke into pieces instantly when I saw my plate. It was a glass plate; pretty exquisite. On it was a piece of fish with milky sauce over it. At the side was a small portion of carrots and cauliflowers. At another corner was some lettuce. And… that’s all. Yup. That’s all. Mr. Giant, Nico and Seb ordered the pork. They got ugly plates. But on the plate was pork with sauce and lots of rice. Not white rice of course. I have never eaten white rice here before, except the one that I cook myself. Yellow rice but it was super big plate. And when I saw the pizzas for Jean-Marie and Laurent, I said wah piang under my breath. It was one full piece for each of them.
My heart bled when I was cutting that piece of fish which I guess was some kind of ray because of the soft rectangular bones. It was tasty but not super fantastic. The sauce was unique though. I think they put some milk into it. But still it was very small. After the meal, we waited for our desserts to be served. I asked Mr. Giant what does the name of the restaurant “La Comptoir Venitienne” mean. He said Comptoir is Counter. Venitienne meant that probably it originated from Venice. Venice! Don’t tell me I am eating an Italian food! Last time was Spanish and now Italian? When would I get to eat a French cuisine? Then the lady boss came to take our orders for the dessert. She was warm, bubbly and really a social butterfly. Typical kind of lady boss. Always beaming with smile, even joked with me even though she knew I couldn’t speak French. Of course she should be smiling. I just put 10.9 euros into her pocket. The desserts available were lemon pie, apple pie, some chocolate cream, whip cream and many more. In the end I wanted apple pie. Jean-Marie said the apple pie is the reverse. What do you mean by reverse, I asked. He said it is apple with pie. I also asked why isn’t the apple pie called “tart pomme” in French because pomme means apple. Why is it called tart tatang (I can’t spell that tatang). They tried to explain to me but I can’t get what tatang means. Seems like tatang is the person who invented the pie. Then someone said tatang is the sister of the lady boss and that confused me further. Finally Jean-Marie said it is just like Kelogs. Does this answer your question? He asked. Ok. Kelogs is synonymous to cereals. Pampers is to diapers. And Tatang is to apple pie. It was a good answer from him. Same guy who told me that Anne of Brittany is the Britney Spear here.
The dessert came and true enough, it was a thin piece of pie full of apple whatever. It began to make me feel that the lunch was worth it. At least I got to try something different. Fries everyday is quite sickening. Lastly, we had our coffee and then Jean-Marie and Seb were talking about work again. Nico and Mr. Giant were quite pissed because we don’t come out here to eat often. It was a different feeling eating here as compared to eating in campus. More relaxed. You see some businessmen with suits and office ladies around. More classy. But then when the 2 started to talk about work, Nico and Mr. Giant just turned away. And Seb by now had his 6 or 7 cigarettes. And I was sitting beside him. I really didn’t want to have my sweater stained with smoke smell again. The last time this happened was at Jaro’s farewell dinner when I was sitting next to Julien who smoked throughout the night. Today I was wearing the same sweater which I just sent for washing.
It was a long lunch; relaxing but not filling at all. I might join the guys again but definitely not tomorrow. And not so frequent. Maybe next week. The student restaurant would only reopen after next week. In the meantime I guess I would eat at the other student restaurant because I couldn’t afford to eat out everyday. I think Laurent couldn’t afford too so guess he might join me. In the afternoon, hui and I made more progress in our tour plan and made some more bookings. Only 2 more flights left and we are done with the tour plan. No more worries from now. Guess would be able to settle by this week. Then I suggested we stop as I needed to get back to work. I think he needed to do so also. Both of us have to get something done to impress our sups when they get back. I did some analysis of the results I collected so far but was really limited by the Linux spreadsheet function and hence brought the work back to INSA. Later I would use excel to plot the graphs. Sian. Still has to work at night. Towards the end of the day, I saw my cousin online and chatted with her. I rarely see her online. The 2 of us are like twins because we are of the same age and hence very close; or used to be very close. She said she has some problems finding job after graduation. And yesterday while she was at this company for an interview, she met her coursemate (who happens to be my friend too and share the same birthdate with me). She was applying for the same job too! What a small world indeed. But it would be kind of awkward I guess. Because they were quite close in NTU last time. I guess whoever got the job should treat the other girl a meal. But she said both of them were not confident at all. Hope I wouldn’t face such a problem when I graduate next time. Really depressing if you are being rejected again and again. I failed a few interviews before when I was applying for scholarships last time. Really felt like I was unwanted and useless that time. And the market now is so competitive that during her previous interview, my cousin was asked to quote her expected salary. She said $2000 and the employer said she was expecting too much! Then she said $1800 and the employer still gave a too-much look. Wah lao. I think it is time to think of how to start a business.
On my way back to INSA, a car drove towards me and stopped beside me. The driver who was a mother with 2 kids asked me for direction. This time I didn’t immediately said that I couldn’t understand French but instead said “comment?” which meant that I didn’t catch what she said and asking her to repeat. She repeated and I could only catch that she wanted to go to some sports place. Seeing that I looked like a blur fuck, she showed me the address and indeed she wanted to go to some sports complex. I roughly know where it is and pointed the direction to her. Hope she managed to find her way. Back in the room, I watched a VCD which I brought here. “The Gathering”. Lousy show which tries to be scary but is really not. But the female lead was… wooo. Super fantastic good body but with a not so pretty face. Christina Ricci. Wonder what other films she acted in…
Back in the office, I emailed Ana and asked her to drop me an email once she received the letter of notification. She said she would also find out from her friend how to retrieve our letters. That was nice. But actually I had a few people here to ask also. They were working in IRISA and staying in my block. Will check that out tomorrow. It was lunch time and I decided to join the guys at a restaurant outside the campus. I already mentally prepared myself to spend 10 euros on the lunch. We drove there in 2 cars; Jean-Marie driving me and Laurent and Mr. Giant driving Nico and Seb. Our car arrived first and while waiting for the rest of the guys, I chatted with Jean-Marie. We talked a little about his son who is around 5 months old. And his name is Tanguy (pronounced as Tonghee). I said that when I went to Brest, there was a Tower Tanguy beside the castle and he said yes that’s the same name. It is a typical Breton name. Then he asked me when would I be returning to SG and I said my contract ends in June. He said so is his. I asked him is he going to look for a job in other places and he said no. He would look for one in Rennes because his family is here. He said he isn’t the traveling type of person. Indeed he is a family man despite his “gao xiao”ness. And tomorrow’s soccer game is at 10pm and he wouldn’t be available again. He needs to look after his baby I guess. Good man.
We came to this restaurant but it wasn’t those classy type. Just an average brasserie. But it was filled with people. I asked them what’s good here and Mr. Giant said they would normally order the economic set meal which cost 10.9 euros. It comes with the main dish, a drink, dessert and coffee or tea. And for the main dish, there were pork, fish or pizza. I didn’t want pizza because I probably couldn’t finish it. Neither do I want pork because it is too common. Hence I chose fish because Brittany is famous for seafood. The rest of the guys ordered pork while Laurent and Jean-Marie didn’t order the econ set. They just ordered a pizza each. I should have followed any one of them.
While waiting for the food, I told Nico that he was right in saying that Nantes doesn’t deserve 3 stars. He recommended to me again to go to Vannes which he felt is beautiful. In fact I am having some trouble planning this Saturday’s trip because I had 3 places in mind but didn’t know which one to choose. Vannes is easy to go. Just take the train. The other 2 are harder having to change train and bus. Mr. Giant then said that we are confirmed going to the Forest of Broceliande in one of the weekends in May because Nico’s girlfriend would be transferred to near there in May. Great. I wasn’t forgotten in their plan. After awhile, our food came and my heart broke into pieces instantly when I saw my plate. It was a glass plate; pretty exquisite. On it was a piece of fish with milky sauce over it. At the side was a small portion of carrots and cauliflowers. At another corner was some lettuce. And… that’s all. Yup. That’s all. Mr. Giant, Nico and Seb ordered the pork. They got ugly plates. But on the plate was pork with sauce and lots of rice. Not white rice of course. I have never eaten white rice here before, except the one that I cook myself. Yellow rice but it was super big plate. And when I saw the pizzas for Jean-Marie and Laurent, I said wah piang under my breath. It was one full piece for each of them.
My heart bled when I was cutting that piece of fish which I guess was some kind of ray because of the soft rectangular bones. It was tasty but not super fantastic. The sauce was unique though. I think they put some milk into it. But still it was very small. After the meal, we waited for our desserts to be served. I asked Mr. Giant what does the name of the restaurant “La Comptoir Venitienne” mean. He said Comptoir is Counter. Venitienne meant that probably it originated from Venice. Venice! Don’t tell me I am eating an Italian food! Last time was Spanish and now Italian? When would I get to eat a French cuisine? Then the lady boss came to take our orders for the dessert. She was warm, bubbly and really a social butterfly. Typical kind of lady boss. Always beaming with smile, even joked with me even though she knew I couldn’t speak French. Of course she should be smiling. I just put 10.9 euros into her pocket. The desserts available were lemon pie, apple pie, some chocolate cream, whip cream and many more. In the end I wanted apple pie. Jean-Marie said the apple pie is the reverse. What do you mean by reverse, I asked. He said it is apple with pie. I also asked why isn’t the apple pie called “tart pomme” in French because pomme means apple. Why is it called tart tatang (I can’t spell that tatang). They tried to explain to me but I can’t get what tatang means. Seems like tatang is the person who invented the pie. Then someone said tatang is the sister of the lady boss and that confused me further. Finally Jean-Marie said it is just like Kelogs. Does this answer your question? He asked. Ok. Kelogs is synonymous to cereals. Pampers is to diapers. And Tatang is to apple pie. It was a good answer from him. Same guy who told me that Anne of Brittany is the Britney Spear here.
The dessert came and true enough, it was a thin piece of pie full of apple whatever. It began to make me feel that the lunch was worth it. At least I got to try something different. Fries everyday is quite sickening. Lastly, we had our coffee and then Jean-Marie and Seb were talking about work again. Nico and Mr. Giant were quite pissed because we don’t come out here to eat often. It was a different feeling eating here as compared to eating in campus. More relaxed. You see some businessmen with suits and office ladies around. More classy. But then when the 2 started to talk about work, Nico and Mr. Giant just turned away. And Seb by now had his 6 or 7 cigarettes. And I was sitting beside him. I really didn’t want to have my sweater stained with smoke smell again. The last time this happened was at Jaro’s farewell dinner when I was sitting next to Julien who smoked throughout the night. Today I was wearing the same sweater which I just sent for washing.
It was a long lunch; relaxing but not filling at all. I might join the guys again but definitely not tomorrow. And not so frequent. Maybe next week. The student restaurant would only reopen after next week. In the meantime I guess I would eat at the other student restaurant because I couldn’t afford to eat out everyday. I think Laurent couldn’t afford too so guess he might join me. In the afternoon, hui and I made more progress in our tour plan and made some more bookings. Only 2 more flights left and we are done with the tour plan. No more worries from now. Guess would be able to settle by this week. Then I suggested we stop as I needed to get back to work. I think he needed to do so also. Both of us have to get something done to impress our sups when they get back. I did some analysis of the results I collected so far but was really limited by the Linux spreadsheet function and hence brought the work back to INSA. Later I would use excel to plot the graphs. Sian. Still has to work at night. Towards the end of the day, I saw my cousin online and chatted with her. I rarely see her online. The 2 of us are like twins because we are of the same age and hence very close; or used to be very close. She said she has some problems finding job after graduation. And yesterday while she was at this company for an interview, she met her coursemate (who happens to be my friend too and share the same birthdate with me). She was applying for the same job too! What a small world indeed. But it would be kind of awkward I guess. Because they were quite close in NTU last time. I guess whoever got the job should treat the other girl a meal. But she said both of them were not confident at all. Hope I wouldn’t face such a problem when I graduate next time. Really depressing if you are being rejected again and again. I failed a few interviews before when I was applying for scholarships last time. Really felt like I was unwanted and useless that time. And the market now is so competitive that during her previous interview, my cousin was asked to quote her expected salary. She said $2000 and the employer said she was expecting too much! Then she said $1800 and the employer still gave a too-much look. Wah lao. I think it is time to think of how to start a business.
On my way back to INSA, a car drove towards me and stopped beside me. The driver who was a mother with 2 kids asked me for direction. This time I didn’t immediately said that I couldn’t understand French but instead said “comment?” which meant that I didn’t catch what she said and asking her to repeat. She repeated and I could only catch that she wanted to go to some sports place. Seeing that I looked like a blur fuck, she showed me the address and indeed she wanted to go to some sports complex. I roughly know where it is and pointed the direction to her. Hope she managed to find her way. Back in the room, I watched a VCD which I brought here. “The Gathering”. Lousy show which tries to be scary but is really not. But the female lead was… wooo. Super fantastic good body but with a not so pretty face. Christina Ricci. Wonder what other films she acted in…
PS: I just had my hair tied up at the back with a rubber band. A small little tail because it is really long and irritating. But of course I wouldn’t do that to work. Rubber band is too cheapskate.
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