photo card reader spoiled..

dun know why..
now i cannot read my photo CF card ...
all the photos were on it...
so i could not post any photos for a while...
will try to update the blog though...

some updates:
1) it is high season for cover-letters and interviews... for oct-jan internships...
2) new term starting next week.. :( very short break...
3) hoping to do better next term.. not very good results...

opps...

i finished exam just last week!!!
slacking ard..
sleeping extra...
watching movies on my new tv and laptop...

hhehe.. ok i trying to have a major update here..
watch out...

my best-est sister!!!

i am so touched today...
my sis went thru alot to help me get a suit here in usa!!!
it is sooooo nice!!!


let me tell u how hard she worked..
i virtually sent her a list of 20 items for treasure hunt!
she had to choose the suit with my bro, gather all those stuff, packed together with the suit..
carry the heavy 8kg package to the post office..
i so touched.. *a single tear rolling down*

SHANNON.. you are the best!!!
(hope you dun mind i publicising your greatness on my blog... haha)

i must wear the same suit and attend her wedding next year! :)

tok abt arbitrage opportunity!!!

BusinessWeek is reporting that iPod Nano cost a great deal of difference in prices all over the world!

hm.. maybe i can start an ebay career on this.. hehe.. SINGAPORE-USA prices diff..

just in case,
ar·bi·trage n.

The purchase of securities on one market for immediate resale on another market in order to profit from a price discrepancy.

Source from The Free Dictionary

such a thing as ABS? american-born singapore?
or shld it still be ABC (american-born chinese)?

why the hell i take photo of a printer?

well that is because i got it for free!!!! free! yes!!! as in free beer!!!

ok.. i just went online (www.freecycle.com) and saw this notice offering a free printer... i emailed the kind lady.. n went down yesterday to collect it! although it was a discountinued product.. but it totally served my needs... nice printout, got scanner and copier features, n free!!! this was probably one of the top end printers when it first came out cos the 3-yrs-old specifications were still quite relevant to my needs...

when i was in central cdc, they had this pass-it-on committee, trying to do the same thing.. but the system here is so much more effective... maybe can suggest to use this as a model.. :)

hopefully, someone offers a car soon! HAHA...

ihouse farewell photo...

last sunday, ihouse committee organised a farewell photo-taking session for all of us! this photo was one of the many taken... spot me!!! hehe . anyway... i photoshoped this photo for some effects.. to see the set of originals, go to www.gamblelounge.com

the crowd gathering in front of I house.. quite a lot of pple.. about 200 bah.. very sunny although it was 6pm liao.. :)

the photographer.. he is the same guy who took our photos for the MFE facebook.. think he is quite professional.. knows how to make pple laugh.. really charming.. see where he is taking the photo from? it is really funny cos cars were passing betw him and us during the shoot.. some even stopped n waved/stared.. haha..

the two other frens from singapore.. De Biao and Cheryl.. they are from NUS on exchange.. quite lucky for them to get this experience in undergrad days..

difference in education systems..

argh.. exam next week... last post before i "hibernate" from my blogging!
there are lots of differences between my undergraduate study and this MFE program.
i could not pinpoint whether the diff are due to country, cultural or program though.. :(

1) exam:
mfe:
- 2 of 3 open book, last one cheat sheet

nus:
- mostly closed book..

2) period b4 exam:
mfe:
- one optional homework, one project to be handed in one week after exam
- lesson till the last day of exam
- lots of internship applications!!! 4 due this week..

nus:
- one or two weeks break b4 exams.. enuff time to read the notes at least twice.. practise like siao..
- projects, homework, internship applications all done way b4 exams..

3) materials
mfe:
- need to read a textbook authored by the prof for essay writing.. 25%.. just added this element TODAY!!! with only one week left.. grr... 170 pages to go..

nus:
- huh? wat textbook?

wah.. it was hot!

i meant spicy hot! just had a dinner with my chinese classmates at a szechun restaurant..
about 25 mins drive from school..
quite good in fact!
heard it is the widely acclaimed chinese restaurant in USA..
even pple in NYC heard of it!

we ordered big bean sprouts, diced chicken with dried chilies, pork intestines pot, and spicy sauce fish.. just right for four of us.. think it is the second time i had rice since arrival.. :P

not so cheap though.. $13 per person.. but it is ok once in a while...
come to think of it.. i had more expensive dinners in singapore! :P

quite an eventful day actually..
Goldman Sachs supposed to select some pple for internship interviews and so on..
the program director, Linda, went to email those selected few only..
and everyone was asking if anyone was chosen..
in the end, Linda had to email everyone the list of candidates to assure them that the selections were done fairly.. and stop everyone from bothering her abt the interviews! haha
this is all because everyone wants GS.. it is like the best company to work for in our line of work..

well.. i did not get selected.. but i could still send in my application to get notice...
dun know.. the pple selected seem to represent a wide range of proficiencies..
could not really work out wat the GS pple criteria were.. given certain high flyers in the class were left out..

anyway.. i will still try for watever companies come along.. dun want to miss a chance to work in Wall Street! :) Jiayou!

did everyone avoid this blog?

... after my last post..
i hope not :)

have been slightly slacking these few days..
as exams drew near.. the assignments lessen...

but i am still busy! now with the preparation for all the internships coming up...
citibank's application is due next week.. so gonna spend a good part of today to complete it..
goldman sachs already selected pple for interviews..
dun think my background will attract GS.. but just hoping!

at the same time, my group supposed to start on a project..
but there is some "issue" which is stopping us from being fully committed...
the thing is we might not be able to work with one person..
sigh.. dun know if it is me or that person...

singapore election...

firstly, i am not an political activist.. i am just practical with this entry by trying to start some comments from my readers!
if any newspaper wants to quote me, please contact for permission first!!! (as if my words so important... hehe)

yah... the leading party won...
i think i said this once before.. i am immune to the outcome..
cos it is the same anyhow..
to me, the most important thing is good economy.. food for everyone.. house for everyone..
stability is pretty boring stuff.. i guess

i do understand we need some derailment in society..
without opposition, where is creativity/vibrancy/innovation?
all these can be done in a moderate way..
more "counter-cultures" are springing up in singapore..
this is something which i can sense in the society fabrics but cannot point out the examples..sorry..
nevertheless.. the govt is definitely loosening its grip i guess..

at the same time, i am pretty glad that the population is showing some backbone by giving WP a good percentage of votes regardless of outcome.. "a battle lost does not meant a war gone"..

was speaking to a few foreign frens .. they felt that singapore is already quite good in
their human right history as compared to some other places (which i will not comment)..
hence, sometimes.. i just feel that some pple just complaining abt singapore govt for the sake of it..

some pple may accuse me of being pro-pap..
i can definitely tell u that i am not pro-pap or pro-wp or anti-pap or anti-wp or watever lah..
i just being realistic here...

let me post a few questions:
1) who shld decide if the actions of the ruling party is right or wrong??? pple or opposition party or foreigners?
2) democracy is by rule of majority.. even if the rule is accused to be coerced.. but how can we tell that it is not coerced, but freedom of choice???
3) even pap goes down to <50% of seats.. wat will happen? will things be better? who dare to guarantee?
4) will the opposition parties become an "iron fist" after gaining a majority? to remain in power?

my last comment is "everything is relative.. nothing is absolute..."

ihouse boat party

oopps.. accidentally took this photo without timer.. hehe.. but tot it will be a attention grabber for my blog.

on fri 5 mar nite, i was happily going to the dining hall for dinner where i met gong peng, a fellow mfe.. despite my best efforts, i was persuaded to attend an annual ihouse event: the boat party..

this party is like a end-of-year party for all the pple who finished their exchanges n studies to have one last gathering before leaving.. supposedly to be happening.. but i did not want to go initially.. cos i tot it will be a very ang-mo thingy.. (i here to study!!!)

so in the very last min.. signed up to have a look-see with gong peng.. not bad.. but i dun know many pple in ihouse.. so it was a bit of just sitting in the corner.. i too lazy to go n mingle.. dun know why... did managed to find out who the remaining singaporeans are in ihouse.. :P

ehehe.. me being my vain self.. trying out the different style.. i wanted to be more casual leh.. but scared it was too attention-seeking.. so opted for the smart pants... dun mind the mess.. i was in a rush ok?!

the three musketeers.. from left: wu yao and gong peng.. both from china.. both very smart.. (or else mfe oso would take them in lah... hehe.. so i oso quite smart to be in mfe..:P) i am the most casual one.. they were all wearing their suits and so on..

the whole bunch of pple gathering outside ihouse.. see so many pple dressed to their eights/nines/tens... :P think make-up and great hairdos must have some special powers which helped the girls to withstand the temp in their gowns..

the view of oakland port.. i think .. :P

the boat! three levels.. bottom is dance floor.. 2nd is dining.. 3rd is the open deck (for those who want to admire the stars and test their resistance to cold).. :P

an qi.. my fren from china.. she intends to study mfe upon grad..

introducing ricky! my fren from hongkong.. he is one of the resident night guard.. think i got his photo during the hongkong coffee hour.. boy.. i look so uncle and da lao ban here..

some couple trying to do ballroom dancing :P they were good!

the small dance floor.. with pple trying to take photos..

yui.. my fren from japan.. she is a front desk residential assistant.. she was the one who danced very well in a previous photo..

trying take a photo with the boat shaking.. can see the bay bridge far away.. on the right is container lifts... just like in singapore..

sarah.. my lovely neighbour on the right of my room.. very nice girl.. always smiles.. one of the "more friendly" angmos :P

ji young... a korean neighbour from 7th floor..

art.. my residental assistant.. i think he is really cool.. he keeps a bike in his room for transport.. (oopps.. i look rather fat :()

the bay bridge from the boat.. we did not reach the golden gate bridge :(... some geography here: this bridge connects berkeley to san francisco.. berkeley is to the east of SF; the golden gate bridge connects sf to some other northern town..

san francisco nightview.. i did not zoom so u can see how far we were from the city..

ok.. four of us from mfe.. the fourth guy is tianyao... see.. we still look so fresh.. actually the party is nothing much.. compared to the clubbing events i went to in singapore.. no enuff drinks here.. no good music (hiphop, & dun know wat mix...) guess this is american clubbing bah..

hehe.. my fren, gong peng, & a japanese lady, yurika... she is on exchange.. going back end of the month..

"post-party" party back in i-house dining hall.. ended before i even arrived.. cos the bus took one load back first.. i was on the 2nd batch.. :(

princeton review for career...

Was looking for my career goals... came across this website and took the test...
appended the results..

		People with red Interests like hands-on / problem solving job responsibilities and professions that involve practical, technical, and objective activities. Red Interests include: building, implementing, organizing, producing, and delegating, which often lead to work in manufacturing, managing, directing, small business owning, and surgery.

		People with yellow styles perform their job responsibilities in a manner that is orderly and planned to meet a known schedule. They prefer to work where things get done with a minimum of interpretation and unexpected change. People with a yellow style tend to be orderly, cautious, structured, loyal, systematic, solitary, methodical, and organized, and usually thrive in a research-oriented, predictable, established, controlled, measurable, orderly environment. You will want to choose a work environment or career path in which your style is welcomed and produces results.

boring week...

ok.. i know i not posting alot of stuff liao.. hm.. will try to find interesting things to write abt.. for this week, abit boring.. nothing much leh..

but i did see this happened... the tree in front of my windows just blossomed with flowers all of the sudden today! took a photo and placed it with my previous photo for comparision.. seems like getting warmer liao..

My new hairstyle! :) nice? short n neat! cut it at chinatown the week before!

massive protests all over the country

bet most of my readers are enjoying their holidays during May Day..
but it is different here.. we still have lessons and something else......
remember wat i said abt liberalism in this city?
well.. this afternoon when i was walking down to the student centre to pick up my bus stamp..
i met a group of immigrants who were protesting against "tighter restrictions on immigration"
luckily it was a rather peaceful protest.. when compared to chicago...

nevertheless, it was interesting to watch this group of pple.. shouting mottos.. encouraging pple to join them.. n drivers honking while passing to support the protest..
guess the car horn does serve a good purpose... :P

however, it was disappointed by the scale of the event.. only 30+ pple.. not like those in other cities.. most probably.. most of the students were not directly by immigration issues.. or they were ignorant of the issues (like me!)..

i will watch out for another protest.. n will bring camera along to capture the 'experience'..

good sunny day for running!

first time i saw in the morning when i woke up at 10am (hehe a bit late..) was the bright sunlight...
it is seldom like this in berkeley since i came... so i grabbed the opportunity to lose five inches off my waist line... hm.. maybe just 0.000001 inch lah..

so off i went running towards an outlet of a local supermarket chain, Safeway, which i knew was somewhere 2km south.. i just wanted to test out how far it was.. n if it was within walking distance..

running here got lots of advantages..
a) the streets were deserted... unlike hdb or normal roads.. always got car or pple..
b) the air feels cleaner in the morning.. dun know where.. maybe cos of the temperature..
c) i dun sweat much! i confirmed i ran loh.. from my aching muscles.. here the humidity was so low.. so sweat just evaporated faster..

given the humidity n the cooler temp... i think i can run farther next time!
ok.. i making a promise here that i will try to run every sunday morning.. barring when it snows, rains, foggy, bad hair day, etc hehe..

ps: a few pple asked me abt soka.. ok.. i have to say that i am just exploring lah.. not joining yet... mainly cos it is quite different from my singaporean buddhism i guess :) .. nevertheless.. i still think soka is a worthly religion to believe in..