From another world

Just came back from a 7am morning workout. Been ages since I have woken up so early just to workout. Feels good, its especially therapeutic when running at your own pace, with the music blasting in the earphones, a slight morning breeze by the sea and the gentle sun just warming the horizon.

After the run while walking back home, I was in a serene state of mind. It was just across the road where the morning traffic and human crowds outrace each other in their frantic bid to start the day. It seemed that I was looking across from another world.

A great start to a great day=)

I hope I can do this everyday!!

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Interesting Comments and insights

In deference to my previous post on the jerks and geeks, here are a few interesting comments.

" All guys have the potential to stray, you never know lo "

Isn't that a tad too over-generalising? The fact that a handful of cases happening around one does not warrant such a statement. There are many jerks around, I'll give you that. But likewise, there are many bitches around! During days of the army where people trade stories about the rifle, the women and the bookout timings, many a times, we have heard stories of the opposite gender straying, succumbing to temptations etc etc..

Even That does NOT give us guys that liberty to over generalise the behavioural traits of the opposite gender! That statement is inherently wrong, and I personally am able to cite numerous examples to blast that statement right into the space debris of the stratosphere.

From another perspective though, 'having the potential' does make some sense if you nitpick. But that statement would have to change to include Everyone. Afterall, the rallying cry for equality does apply to both sides of the gender, not?

" You know his past what, what makes you think you will change him into a Saint? Chances are, you will just become another statistic "

Woohoo, I can feel the scorn behind every word of that statement. Well, I don't totally disagree. But who knows? Going into a relationship, I guess the basics is that one must level with the other party. Besides, he might be a jerk in the past, but you might just be the 'cure' he needs! On the other hand though, having said that, you do go in with your eyes open, anything goes, you only have yourself to blame. You have been forewarned.

" So free go online, cannot help me with the housework ah?! "

Now that IS a statement I totally disagree, but you see, I need to earn my keep.. Besides, incurring the wrath of the matron of the household is a bad move, regardless of whoever is right.

Pass me the bloody broom.

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A or B?

With my papers over last Wednesday, I managed to catch up with many different groups of friends over the past few days. And invariably, as with all friends, we will gossip about how whoever's doing, his paycheck, her firm, his faculty, her grades etc. Of course, the juiciest bits are usually 'so and so are attached, so and so broke up.'

And so.. here are 2 separate stories about the juicy stuff! Identities are not disclosed for confidential purposes. If you know, you know.

1) A guy broke up with his girlfriend of 3 years just because he wanted a break to see if they are really meant for each other, when in actual fact, he's interested in another girl and might have been jio-ing her le, when he has not totally made a clean break with his girlfriend.

2) A certain person sent presents and a card to a female colleague on job, asking if he can know her better, when he is bloody attached with his girlfriend. That same female colleague is also receiving unwanted advances from another guy who just knows her on msn, but at the same time, is also attached.

Guys, any explanations for this absurd behaviour? This is a totally ridiculous situation! Many times there are numerous promises made in a relationship, and of course broken promises aplenty too. Well that is understandable to a certain extent, but this?! Its betrayal, adultry, torture, mental extortion all rounded into one! If any one of you guys are my friend, you had better not let me hear wind of it. As per my previous post on the punching incident, right now I wouldn't hesitate to give you a right hook if you so darn need some wakeup call.

This type of guys are just scum who needs to be put in line.

On the other hand however, can you blame these guys? Afterall, the girlfriends of these guys went into a relationship with their eyes open. Well, I agree that people and values do change over time, but to put it bluntly, you girls have just made a wrong valuation of the guy you chose then, didn't you?

Lets look at another hypothetical example, this is interesting.

GuyA is a total geek. He believes in a long lasting relationship, and he's so shy that he happened to 'stumble' into only 1 relationship previously, He did not jio her, nor she jio him, it just happened. A big sigh though, due to NS and many factors rolled into one, it finally did not work out after 2 plus years.

GuyB is a flamboyant popular fella with a glib tongue. He changes his partner ever so frequently. He is the heartthrob of a handful of girls, and an eye candy to many more others. He believes in trying out r'ships to find out the right one, so it doesn't matter to him if there are numerous past girls who don't cut it.

Now to the girls reading this out there, who will you choose? GuyA or B? I surmise a resounding exclaim for GuyA. Ponder this for a moment though. In reality, who will be the guy that keeps getting the girls? GuyA is probably gonna be single for a long long time, GuyB is probably gonna be attached for a long long time, albeit with many different girls.

So, is it really wrong for guys to adopt the GuyB mentality? Since being good and true wouldn't bring you anywhere? Whereas being a jerk actually DOES get you somewhere?

P.S. GuyA and GuyB are adopted from true stories. Again in this case, if you know, you know.

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Disappointed with myself

Eh this cannot be the case ah...
WTF WAS I THINKING?!!!

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The easy way out

I need to spend a while getting this out of my system before I can fully concentrate on the task at hand.

It was this afternoon that me and Weiloong have decided that we will get an MC and skip the paper for tomorrow. I guess the severe lack of sleep for the past few days and the thought that today would be another long drawn battle again, made me a relatively easy person to be persuaded to skip 307 tomorrow.

I was very uncomfortable with the idea at first, but with the conditions that I was in then, it was really tempting. And with that, I went back home to nap for a few hours. Its amazing how that few hours of sleep can do yo your brain. It brought back clarity and reasoning. But by then, it was in the evenings, and having wasted your entire afternoon sleeping when you should have been preparing for the papers, it further adds on the inertia to not go ahead with your revision.

Thanks to you, I have realised the folly of my actions. I almost committed a big big mistake by taking the easy way out. What was I thinking?!!

Fion, what would I have done if not for you.

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Fight Club Singapore

The number of entries in my blog seem to increase exponentially during the exams period huh. I'll try to keep this frequency up after the next 4 days, but don't hold your breath though. Who still sits by the computer after their papers?! haha.

Went out with Fion yesterday evening, spending quality time and as usual, chatting on a whole wide range of interesting topics, the highlight of which is.. " What will the Police do if you are punched?"

The 'reasonable man' on the street would have exclaimed a resounding "Catch you lar, DUH!" But surprises ole surprises, what the police would probably do, is to just take down particulars and "Eh kids, don't play play ah!" and vroom back to their HQ in their shiny new Subaru WRX for Bak Chor Mee and another round of PS2. *looks sheepishly at Mr Loo*

HUH? U mean being walloped in the mouth, losing a few front teeth and requiring stitches on a split lip is non-seizable?! I guess the majority of you who are reading this right now, would exhibit cognitive reactions along the lines of WTF?! Or its dialect equivalent, SMLJ?!

Well, on the other hand, if the police were to handle every case of small fist fights and arguments, wouldn't they be overtaxed to the extreme? I guess a fine balance has to be struck as to what warrants immediate action versus an after-action.

Anyway here's the link to the report, amuse yourselves with it!
Will police act if you're punched? It's not so simple

Hmm, I am not saying anything, but Mr Zhang, in any event the "I feel so pekchek that I wana key that fella's car who almost caused an accident in the carpark" situation crops up again, the above link proposes a totally enticing solution to your dilemmas.

And to all the potential victims who might be bullied, Don't worry. To utilise a singlish phrase that's close to heart, "if that fella ch-eng you, ch-eng him back, mian kei kee"

Having said that, I am looking for volunteers in an ensuing experiment. I promise to give just one black eye, split lips and 3 broken front teeth. Takers?

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Travelling

I know I am supposed to be studying, but instead, I am surfing the webby of the places I want to visit in the near/far future!! Starting to day-dream again!! Haha here are some places I'll wana set foot in.. with that bunch of yous, you and of course, you=). Aiyah, you people know yourselves lar ;)

Europe! Woohooo!

The Theatre of Dreams

Istanbul, Turkey

Santorini, Greece

Sognefjord, NorwayAurora Borealis, Norway

So many places, so little cash!!

Plan A: Get a laserjet and start printing the greenback
Plan B: Rob Bedok Bank
Plan C: Get back to Derivatives BF307

I chose: C...

&@#*$%

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Moving on..

Many thanks for the messages of encouragement.

I guess its time to move on.
No one will remember the 1st runners up eh?

Its ok though..

"so, what we got from this entire experience.... is the desire for more. will we be back next yr? of course. will we be better? definitely. will we win? only time will tell." -Yuwei

Well said.

For now though, Life pretty much goes on.

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Lunch at Equinox

So.. we did not get it. We did not even win our category. That honour goes to a SMU team made up of freshies. Well, I am not taking any shine off their glory, they probably put in their fair share of hard work and effort, but I am sure having a professor mentor does help.

On hindsight, I guess it was a fair result. I mean, this is a team of 3 friends who are totally diversified in their courses and even schools, without help from any faculty, participating in a marketing case for the first time, which coincidentally, is a field none of us is in. Its not too bad, isnt it? Self-justification.. A loss is a loss eh? There isnt any sympathy to be gained by crying over spilled milk.

Rushed down after my papers in the morning which ended at 1130, so you can imagine the mad rush to reach in time for lunch at 12 at Equinox. Unsurprisingly, I arrived late at 1220. And i discovered that my teammates had left me to sit alone at another table with strangers! Well i guess they had to fill up the other table. Besides, being the only 2 guys at that table meant it was an easy choice between waiting for me, or sitting with the opposite gender of our age group. Wise choice dudes, I can only lament at the circumstances which led to my late attendance. Damn! I should have screwed the market research paper to reach on time eh?! Nah, I am just kidding.

And so, I was left with a whole bunch of Mastercard senior execs, one of whom was the VP for communications, Mastercard Worldwide, who happened to be one of our judges for the Finals, some bigshot from Wiley, an NUS marketing prof (who ill elaborate further later) and lastly, the winner of the women's category, who's a NUS University Scholar Programme double degree dean lister who's about to go Wharton for a year of exchange. In short, I am like a tropical fish in a sea of sharks, totally out of place.

Well, I have been to a number of business networking sessions and power lunches before, so I guess I am not a total stranger to such a setting where you have to make small talk with execs, many of whom you cant even pronounce their names.. But this totally takes the cake. The topics with which they converse in, the pseudo smiles and fake expressions.

Com' on, you are telling me Ratatouille is a great movie? That the animation for the Bee Movie and Shrek are fantastic? Yes i totally agree that the animation and artwork were indeed marvellous, but I highly doubt if the few who commented actually watched them. Oh such superficial comments, and this, is supposed to be The Business World! I am starting to doubt if this is really my future.

But well, I have gotta admit that I am impressed with the ability to generate topics out of nothing! And mind you, these are the people whose fart probably scares the hell out of their entire down chain.. They are well read, or at least, appear to be.. And coupled with the ability to talk total bullshit in a 'business-like' manner, makes it for an totally 'interesting' observation during lunch.

As a result, I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch, two-timing between those small-talks and observing those idyllic clouds outside the window. The view from the 69th level demands attention! And while i was day-dreaming about the weather phenomenon that Fion had told me about, wondering if I had the fortune to catch it firsthand.. I realised a potentially interesting topic that had been brewing. They are now on the topic of exchange programmes. And true enough, some fella then asked me if NTU has similar exchange programmes, (such engaging qns of high intellect) and I replied well yeah, of course, I am sure all 3 universities here have it.

Dr NUS Marketing strikes.. (imagine a detestable tai-tai here) Rolling her eyes and fiddling with her big-arse diamond ring, she exclaims..

"Well its not just annny exchange programmes, Its the Quall-lity of the programmes"

I was about to retort, "yeah well, isnt that similar to the Quality of the faculty?" When someone realised the potential minefield and deftly switched topics.. ( There is a consensus that NUS business faculty is under-performing in recent years relative to its cousins in NTU or SMU)

WHAT A BIA-TCH!

And then she goes on to comment on students losing their writing abilities, insisting that she still demand her students to write in prose.. yada yada

I was itching to take her on, whats up with her smart-ass remarks?! But it was a wrong situation in the wrong context. Unlike some, Yours truly, though just an undergrad, had the BRAINS to think before shooting off.

Bad results, mediocre food and "excellent" company amongst the elites.. It was the most expensive disgusting lunch I have ever had.

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Tomorrow's the day

Original Team Autosol('n)

Tmr is the results announcement n prize presentation at 12noon,
To say that i am nervous would be an understatement.
Whatever the results, I am grateful=)

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day-dreaming again..

i wan my bike i wan my bike i wan my bike!!
Ok actually, i wan many other things as well=)
Nobody said you can only ask for one thing eh?
Still... I WAN MY BIKE!!!
Enough ranting for now, back to the books..

post autosol'n syndrome

i am supposed to be studying now.. haha e first paper is next tuesday, n im onli about 1/3 done.. its an open book paper, but i haven even completed reading the text once! in short, im screwed!!

haha so.. despite the gravity of the situation, y am i still blogging here? LOL tis is wad we call the post autosol'n syndrome.. u see, one of the reasons for my tardiness in preparing for my papers tis sem has to be attributed to a certain case competition ive juz completed ( refer to my previous entries) it took up a large chunk of our time.. er, 'large' is a wrong word.. it took up almost ALL our time.. especially when its known that we got into the finals=)

well other than that.. deres a slightly significant change in my outlook towards life.. haha its difficult to explain properly, but in summary, ive learnt that deres more to mugging in life.. (which directly translates into an unprecedented level of boh-hiu-ness in my academics.. haha)

that ALMOST explains y im here instead of being in the company of Mr Willian G. Zikmund's Business Research Methods..

u see.. the case thingy brought back many memories that Ive lost in the fabric of time.. spending quality time with buddies, fighting for a common cause, and ACHIEVING something GREAT together.. it is something i value much much more than a sem's grades.. (heres hoping i wont regret when i get my transcript though.. LOL) that probably explains why im spending 1/2 the time daydreaming abt the case results!!

OH yarh.. another thing abt the case.. prize presentation is on tuesday!! lunch and networking session at EQUINOX!! haha tts how cool lah!! how many ppl at our age can say that they have been to a private function at equinox during lunch!! woohooooo!! (yw n mer, go liam keng whenever ure free.. we need all the divine help we can get..hahahaha)

i guess this is another beauty about external competitions.. u get to see and experience things outside the classroom.. yes i agree that doing well in the classroom is your ticket to greater things in the future.. but hey, shldn we live at the moment sometimes? besides, i guess a multi dimensional student is more sought after than an academically inclined nerd? no?

As u probably would have realised, tis dumb post is just a SELF JUSTIFICATION of Y AM I NOT STUDYING RITE NOW!! having said that.. its time to hit the books again.. winning the case but failing a semester isnt such a great prospect afterall.. yawnzzzz