Yet another recap entry for the week...

THURSDAY

Woke up to a dreary Thursday morning... and drilling... =_=


You see those tiny spiky things on the horizon?

That's where the town centre is...
I have to cycle for 20 minutes to get there... =_=

We had our last session of Accounting.
Dr Barker planned for a little interactive quiz towards the end of the lecture. It was our Stream vs Stream 1. And of course... WE DID BETTER!! =)))

I thought it was a useful and engaging method of refreshing the lecture content. It definitely ended Accounting on a high note. Very clever indeed!

Somehow, after Accounting, 'Good Fren' ended up chatting with 2 Englishmen in class about career options. Our tummies complained and we found ourselves at some organic cafe on Regent Street shortly after.


I had this thing called Hog Roast on Bap.

It's mighty tasty!!

Rupert was so kind. He bought me a Gingerbread Boy.


But alas...

It was only to have the opportunity to destroy him!

And to top it off... 'Good Fren' kept pressing his buttons?!
These sick sick people I study with!!

The poor Gingerbread Boy!!


On our way home, 'Good Fren' popped into Sainsbury while I waited outside for about 15 minutes. Eventually, he emerged with these bananas that are too cute not to be blogged about.

Adult Bananas and Baby Bananas!
It's a Fruit Zoo! And they look perfect against the backdrop!

FRIDAY

You see those quads above the knee caps?

They were not there when I got here in mid-Sep 08.
For that matter, they have not been visible since... my JC days... That's like 15 years ago!!
Too much cycling!! These days, I don't even get muscle aches anymore! YIKES!!

At a briefing for the Global Consulting Project, Eli (Israel) rightly noticed that there was a female enclave in the LT?! Doube YIKES!! What's happening?!


Francesco (Italy) has been rounding up people to go for the Media SIG meeting at Friday noon.

Dr Hadida gave a most engaging introduction to her research interests (e.g. strategy, media and much much more) and herself.

It was one of those rare conversations to have with an academic in a relaxed manner. I think we rush around so much that rushing becomes reified, i.e. we feel an irrational guilt for not being busy/rushing. I have observed that in a few classmates.

And the turnout was really good that day!

We should do this more often. Explore the world of knowledge. Take time to think. Take time to wonder.

All that proved to be very exhausting.

So, 'Good Fren' and I went to an Italian place at Market Square for lunch. Somehow, I was in an ultra relaxed mode that day, because despite knowing that we had to (1) have a difficult conversation with our college bursar on the accommodation problem and (2) collect our Business Modelling test papers (to be completed over the weekend) that afternoon, I knew the weekend was gonna be less crazy than the previous few.

Someone anonymous commented on the blog that 'Good Fren' always had his nose up in the air in pictures, and suggested that it has something to do with him being in Cambridge.

YEAH... I guess as much too...

People here all walk around with their noses up in the air... O_o

The food was surprisingly good.

So unbelieveably good that 'Good Fren' asked me if I felt like a tourist.

SATURDAY

We woke up to yet another dreary morning, and made our way to yet another flat-viewing. At least it wasn't raining.

This flat is in the same block as Igor's! Lovely!!
Unfortunately, the person-in-charge didn't turn up!
This other Chinese couple was waiting in vain too.

Oh well... We're kind of used to such incidents here by now... =_=

Still in very good spirits... We had a rather good lunch along the river.


At Saint George...


A lovely establishment...


Calm...


By the river...


'Good Fren' had a steak while I had some ham and eggs.

It's enjoyable, until some boat club kids invaded the space and started talking really loudly. =_=

Time to finish up and head home...
Goodbye, Peaceful River!


At 6.30pm, we layered up and headed for Teri-Aki. Or is it Aki-Teri??

We were so confused...

'Good Fren' was studying the menu... Very intently...
See? He was biting his lip!


We had dinner with Erik (US) and his wife, Clarie, who is visiting this weekend.


Stole this pic from Clarie's facebook...

I've been stalking Clarie's facebook pics coz she comes from a family of good-lookers. Her mother is HAWT!!

The food at Teri-Aki was ok in general, but the gyozas were so wrong!!

I mean... Gyozas are not meant to be deep-fried?! HALLO?!!
Steamed-pan-fried, hokay?!

After dinner, we attempted to get some waffles at the Grand Arcade, but the shop was closed.

Wondering around, wondering around...

We ended up at Friday's Italian place, and sat outside in near zero cold for some cake/pastry and (ice) cream?!

Great chats we had... We may end up going to SF for XMAS...
That is after we have settled the assignments, accommodations etc. =_=
...................................................

Amidst all that eating as the above may inevitably suggest, recent world events have hit hard.

Our world has been reduced.
Not only in terms of the world economy, but in terms of space/buffers between/amongst individuals and events.

Over the past couple of days, our MBA director has gotten himself stuck in Bangkok amidst the airport protest, and a 28 year old Singaporean lawyer has gotten killed in Mumbai amidst a terrorist attack.

It is no longer convenient to reduce a world event to a mere news report and/or to distance oneself from its impact.

But does this mean we will care more as individuals about tragedies a thousand miles away?

If we do care, what do we do? What does it mean?

Related questions: What does/can your government do for you if you are held hostage in another country? Should your government negotiate with terrorists to save you? Is negotation the same as 'giving in'?

Another related train of thoughts: I remember during a particular Marketing lecture, we were asked to work in groups to identify main factors affecting a consumer's decision in choosing a hotel on a business trip. Many suggestions were tossed up in the group, e.g. location, cleanliness, comfort, service etc. My contribution was 'Security'. And I guess most people still view it as a secondary concern.

Suppliers react to demand and regulations. If the authorities do not specify security measures for hotels, then only the consumers can influence the market in any significant and fruitful manner. Unless of course, someone starts a 'hotel-security awareness group'... Something like a breast-cancer awareness group... whatever... Not sure whether that means anything anyway...

If hotels, conventions centres, shopping centres are willing to provide sofas/benches/toilets/air-conditioning to improve your experience, shouldn't 'enhancing security' be one of the 'must-haves' too? Especially in the contexts of today... in major cities... in highly visible establishments?

The Death of One is a Tragedy,
but the Death of a Million is just a Statistic.

Mao (China) in my CVP team has been pursuing a really tough question for the past 2 meetings:


I couldn't find a synonym within my limited Mandarin vocabulary.

But our team has been most helpful. Jaques (South Africa) attempted to give a somewhat sociological explanation of the context in which geeks exist. Atul (India) kept surfing the Net for pictures of geeks. I just took a video of the process, kept laughing, and complicated the question by asking,"What's the difference between a Geek and a Nerd? Is Bill Gates a Geek God? What do you call a female Geek?"

Meanwhile, Rupert gave us a rather accurate depiction...

I'll try to upload our conversation later... It's really funny...

Just in case Mao is reading this, Babelfish translates the subject terms as follows:

Geek = 怪杰
Nerd = 书呆子


On a more serious note...

We set a world record last night at Sesame!! =)))


Sesame's depth is getting too shallow for the MBAs.


We had 4.5 tables in a row this time and it wasn't enough to accommodate all comfortably.

Because 22 of us turned up!! That's 15% of the class!!
The last record was 10%.

1. Sumeet (India/UK)
2. Adrian (Germany)
   
3. Dominic (Switzerland/UK)
   
4. Axel (Germany)
   
5. Xiaodan (Canada)
   
6. Thomas (South Africa)
   
7. David (Fung) (Hong Kong/Canada)
   
8. Ken (Japan)
   
9. Carlos (Spain)
   
10. Tibor (Hungary)
    
11. Ketil (Norway)
    
12. Aymen (Bahrain)
    
13. David (Xing) (China/US)
    
14. Rupert (UK)
    
15. Priscilla (Canada)
    
16. John (India)
    
17. Gbolade (Nigeria)
    
18. Rachel (China)
    
19. Jaques (South Africa)
    
20. Panash (India/UK)
    
21. Blinkymummy (Singapore)
    
22. 'Good Fren' (Singapore)
    

This session was inspired by Axel because he kept complaining that we have been going to Sesame without him!

He was very happy last evening!

Sometimes, I attempt to fast-forward time and imagine what I will remember most about the MBA.

I'm pretty sure these Sesame dinners will be most memorable.

How many MBAs does it take to settle the bill?!


Halfway through it, Adrian went bonkers...

I'm pretty sure there's something in the food.

I mean... Look at this!!

=)))

At at 12.30am, David was telling me over email that he was still stuffed!

'Good Fren' and I had our first face-to-face interview yesterday. I walked out of the interviews feeling rather confused. Both interviews ran into extra time. It was exhausting, especially when the interviews were sandwiched in-between classes.

Camaraderie engulfed the interviewees warmly. People in the earlier interview slots did not hesitate to share their experiences with those scheduled for the later, even though some were gunning for the same positions. Before the interview, some classmates would help the interviewees by reminding them of current issues related to the interviewing employer.

I was totally zonked out by the end of the day. But somehow, I felt rather satisfied. The little voice in my head went,"You wanted the MBA, right? This is what it's about!"
YAY! GIMME MORE!!

So, for dinner, we treated ourselves to Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), and convinced 2 great companions to come along!

Earlier, David (US) sent out a useful email on great food deals, which included a one-for-one burger deal at GBK!
Food collaboration is highly visible and essential in the MBA.

Carlos (Spain) and Kunal (India) placing the orders.

Carlos was very intense while punching the card pin coz after the first couple of tries, he realised that it was a new card that required the new pin. =))

Meanwhile, 'Good Fren' posed away in his suit.

Aiyah... This pic doesn't capture his tie.
He was wearing this tie from his last posting. It's kind of nostalgic and symbolic. To spell it clearly: His previous work (i.e. tie) experience has helped to bolster/complete his chances for the job interview.

WAAAAAHHHHH... The food has arrived!!!


How can we not enjoy ourselves in the company of such great people and food?!

And we somehow ended up talking about the following:

1. The construct and cost of diamond rings
2. The cost of mail-order brides (Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese etc)
3. Marriage and divorce (causes, objectives, forms, meaning, rates etc)
4. Languages
   
5. GMAT (HUH?! WTF?!!)

[Pictures taken with 'Good Fren's phone coz I left my digicam and bag in JBS.]

My schedule for the day turned out to be rather... fragmented.

I sat in for the last half of Stream 1's Organisational Behaviour, organised our CVP meeting with the client during lunch-time, then sat in for the first half of Stream 2's Organisational Behaviour, before heading to Careers for a practice interview session at 4pm. By that time, the Common Room was so crowded... We had some potential MBAs visiting... Wow... Weren't we were 'just visiting' a few months ago?!!

So, OB class today for me was like watching one of those movies... where they'd show you the future before coming up with the past at a later date. Geez... And somehow, it made a lot of sense to me.

Navigating the MBA is all about constraints-management. While I would love to and had planned to follow 'Good Fren' to the barber's (for picture-taking/blogging mah!), we simply do not have the luxury to. So, we practised Division of Labour.

Guess who took these pictures?! =))

'Good Fren' went to Mr Polito's Barbers Shop along Silver Street for a haircut this afternoon.

FWAH... Check out 'Good Fren's framing of the pictures...

He somehow has this formula in his head,
i.e. Diagonal Framing = Good Framing?!


Yeah... Whatever... But I must say that the subject matters of his shots are really quite textured. Not bad at all...

This is 'Good Fren' before his haircut, with the next-chair barber sticking out from his left shoulder.

This is 'Good Fren' 30 minutes later and GBP13 poorer.

No rinsing... No head massage...
WE MISS JONATHAN & NEXT!!!

Because I have ODed on cooking and 'Good Fren' on doing the dishes over the weekend, we decided to have our dinner at the Cambridge Chop House.

'Good Fren' had the Sea bass, while I had the Pork Chop.
Surprisingly yummy!! =)))

If I were to ever own my own shop, it'd look something like this...


With huge windows... Looking out to some really old buildings...


Another satisfied customer...

Ahhh... Finally... I have a little bit of time to satisfy my blogging urges!!!

THURSDAY
I shall start from Thursday.

I met Mao at the bicycle stand outside Judge Business School and pedaled our way to our client's office. South Cambridge has some really nice developments going on, I must say.

FRIDAY
A most frustrating day.
My (pretty) bicycle decided to give up on me... The 4th time in 6 weeks.

It was a surreal moment. I had gone off first, leaving 'Good Fren' behind in the flat, thinking that I could get to school first, get the notes and set things up for a great business modeling lecture. Then, that familiar clacking sound came from the gears, and the chain came off big time. The spring thing that keeps the tension seemed to be displaced. There I was... all freshly showered... sticking my fingers with dried leaves as weak protection from the grease into the stubborn gears and chain... All just 10m from the bike stand at the bottom of our dingy flat. =_=

Concerned with the reaction from the bike shop owner, 'Good Fren' decided that we would miss part of the lecture and go to the bike shop together.

And it worked... I exchanged my pretty bike for a not-so-pretty one... But I made sure that my basket with the lovely Poundland tinsel got transferred. I wouldn't be able to recognise my bike without my tinselled basket!

By the evening, we were uber tired...
So, as with all tired MBAs... We had a drink (some had two... or three... or four...) at Brown's.

It's actually a very civilised spot in Cambridge.

Not shown in the picture, but our Business Modeling lecturer and TA were there too! If learning Business Modeling was tough, I'm pretty sure teaching is tougher!

I stood from afar and took a pic of this table of MBAs. They were apparently in a passionate discussion on politics...

I should have taken a pic of Erik. He said he had to join us at Brown's after he collected his Business Modeling assignment. I'm sure we will feel the same this coming Friday. =)))

SATURDAY
We slept in a little and woke up around 10am.
Sleeping is such a luxury.

We had a schedule planned out for the day and were about to carry it out when Axel called. He had wanted to go to Sesame. (Ok, something is not right... Axel and Sesame don't seem to go hand-in-hand. Everytime we ask him, he's not available.) And this time, we said no coz our plan looked rather packed.

Then somehow, we felt bad about it, and called him back 5 minutes after. To try to squeeze in a 90 minute Sesame lunch between going to Sainsbury for major supplies and flat-viewing at 3.15pm. Yes... Our schedule is so packed that we count in minutes. =_=

In the end... We arranged with Axel to go to Sesame this Wednesday at 7pm. So if you are interested, please drop me an email.

Flat viewing is always an adventure. We pedaled to Fitzwilliam Road (nowhere near Fitzwilliam College) and wowed at the new estates mushrooming in the vicinity. Dreamt a little about placing a deposit for a new unit... And of course... viewed the flat for lease. It's a cosy and somewhat grungy place. I like it. I think one of the existing tenants is a musician or something. Reminds me of my distant past. However, the kitchen is a little ill-equipped for our hosting endeavours. And it's opposite a huge construction site.

One task down, more to go... We quickly made our way to the Singaporean/Malaysian shop along Mill Road to buy some veges etc... Stuff we cannot get at Sainsbury. Said a big HELLO! to the shop owners, who by now have established that one of 'Good Fren's indirect bosses, and a former colleague of mine, is a distant cousin. How small can Singapore get?! I mean... this guy left Singapore almost 40 years ago leh!!

After Mill Road, we decided to take a look at this other flat which we are seriously considering and 'Good Fren' had earlier visited, but I hadn't. As we were approaching the unit, we saw a familiar guy pushing a supermarket trolley out of the main door. OMIGOD! It's NIYAZI! Our grinning Business Stats/Modeling TA!! He stays just next to the unit we are looking at! We should move in before the Biz Modeling test, shouldn't we?!!

Soon, the sun gave up on this bit of the Earth. Because we didn't bring our lights, we were pedaling really fast!!

Once we got back, we started to prep the flat and food for our world record, i.e. "Dinner for 7 in Dingy Flat 42"!

On our guest list that night were (from left): Carlos (Spain), Tiina (Carlos' chick from Finland), Stefi (Bulgaria) and Bora (Turkey).

Gbolade (Nigeria) came about an hour later... Frozen... Because he was only wearing this shirt and a sweatshirt?!


It was a rather crazy night...
We started at 6.30pm and ended around 1.30am?!! That's like 7 hours?! 2 full lectures?!

How many MBAs does it take to open a bottle of wine?! =))

Our conversation topic list was so long... We spoke about Religion, Russia, Parenthood, Responsibility of Child Up-Bringing, a Child's Responsibility towards his Parents, Bora's Cowboy boots and much much more...

Gbolade, 'Good Fren' and 'Carlos' were describing punishment they had received in their childhood, and Bora, i.e. the father-to-be-in-June, was taking notes. Bora especially fancies Gbolade's input on the 'Stool Down', i.e. the child bends at the waist, with a finger touching the floor and a foot off the ground. I suspect Carlos enjoys the bamboo treatment as described by 'Good Fren' coz the former mentioned it quite a few times throughout the night.

As usual, everyone kept laughing.
Some blame the company, some blame the food... =)))

SUNDAY
'Good Fren' woke up this morning for a Skype conference call with his CVP mates, while I attempted to shake off last night's chattering.

Prepared a simple for meal to welcome our Russian friends, Igor and his wife, Julia.

The food was secondary. There were 2 distinct objectives of this lunch, i.e. for Igor to try 'Good Fren' black tie, and for 'Good Fren' to run through some interview techniques with Igor. In about 150 minutes, we were done.

We quickly grabbed the next 100 minutes to catch up with some work, before heading for St Edmund's College to meet up with our 'weekend hobbist' group. =))

From left: Manasij, John, Pady & Kunal (India)

I made a pot of Singaporean Chicken Curry, stuffed it in 2 plastic bags, placed it in the bike basket and made it to St Edmund's College without spilling too much of it. =)))

And it was still hot!!
Tasted perfect with some Sainsbury french loaves provided by the host, Manasij!

The group was so cute... They told me it tasted like home?!!

By the time we got home, it's 10pm.
Sigh... yet another day has passed.
Another week is approaching...

I wonder when I will find time to blog again.

I can't believe this!!
I'm so busy this weekend!!

Updates and pics coming soon... Please be patient!!

Check it out!!

Is it Christmas oredi?!!

Right in the middle of Parker's Piece.

Can't wait to go (watch) ice-skating and have some beer!!
WOO HOO!!

I made some boiled barley, gingko nut, lotus seed and bean curd skin dessert and brought it to school in a Lock Lock container today. Distributed it to a few people at tea time. Dominic (Switzerland/UK) thought the barley was FISH EYES?!!! He really has some pre-concieved notion that Chinese foods are usually made using 'exotic parts' eh?!

After tea, we played a game during Management Practice.
We were meant to complete a task without speaking/writing to one another.

From left: Sachin (hands only) (India), Patrick (US) and Kristof (Belgium).

Check out how intense my group was!

From left: Nageswar (India) and Carlos (Spain)

Hee Hee Hee... Kristof trying to stop himself from speaking!


FWAH... Check out how serious the other group was!

From left: 'Good Fren' (Singapore), Go (Japan) and Janet (Canada)

Right after Management Practice, the student reps and the President of the CBSC had a lunch meeting. We attempted to clarify our roles and map out our efforts for what's left of this term and more.

After that, I went for a Real Estate SIG meeting. Soon, it was 2pm and some had to go for their 'group therapy' session under Management Practice, while I hung around on the 6th floor and waited for my CVP team.

We made quite a bit of progress in just 2 hours, before going for our 'group therapy' session which turned out to be really intriguing. One has to go through Management Practice to understand how this course works. It is designed for to raise self-awareness. It is meant to be uncomfortable. Challenge personal assumptions and the ego. Some may find it boring/not useful because something not taught in the conventional scientific manner may seem superfluous. That is absolutely confusing function with form. I think it is even more important to immerse souls who find these 'soft' subjects unsettling in the latter. Like my Russian friend says,


The last official event on programme was a recruitment talk. By that time, it was pitch dark, and the cold had seeped cruelly into the building. Brrrrr...

We need some reward for this tough day!!

So... With a glass of post-talk wine in our system, a group of us made our way to ... where else but SESAME for dinner!! =)))

This is my first and only time... yet... this week... I am still in control... of my Sesame urges!! Not bad at all... =))

At first, I thought the group was going to be 10 (max).

Then somehow, it grew by another 50% as more people were 'snowballed' along the way...

Imagine this: 10% of the MBA class was at Sesame tonight!!

1. Deepankar (India) aka Mr Paris Hilton [I'm so dead for blogging this... again...!!]
2. George (Cyprus)
3. Erik (US)
4. Jung Hoon (Korea)
5. Indre (Lithuania)
6. Xiaodan (Canada)
7. 'Good Fren' (Singapore)
8. Blinkymummy (Singapore)
9. Ryan (China)
10. Rachel (China)
11. Kee-Sup (Korea)
12. Ketil (Norway)
13. Wontak (Korea)
14. Nageswar (India)
15. Bora (Turkey)
    

Not bad at all, Nageswar!! Nice chopstick stance!

The conversations were really loud and spanning across the long table... But when the food arrived, everyone got really focused!

MBAs are a hungry lot!

And we spotted a moment of tenderness between Bora and Deepankar.

Bora was trying to feed Deepankar some chicken!!
AAwwwwww... So SCHWEEEEEEET!! =)))

The meal was really satisfying. Everyone walked away with a smile.
I felt very happy.

In-between Organisational Behaviour and Business Modelling, my CVP team met up with our client during lunchtime. I'm getting the hang of this arrangement. Developing the project mid-week and on the weekend, then updating the client on Mondays.

After the meeting, I had about 10 minutes to grab some food. Bought a ham sandwich and some tea from the cafe and sat on a table because that was the only available 'seat'. I watched a CVP team go through a rather heated discussion. Everyone looked very serious. Other people were having their lunches, checking emails, chatting etc. The Common Room was full of activities. And I was in the middle of it all, chewing on my french loaf. Just a few months ago, I was here, in my suit, trying to navigate this 'MBA space' clumsily. It feels like light years ago!

Towards the end of Business Modelling, I felt a little faint and had to rest for a while before making our way to the University Arms Hotel for a recruitment talk. It's probably due to (i) lack of ventilation in the stuffy LT, and (ii) lack of (proper) food. It's kind of like blacking out in Zouk, i.e. too many people, too much excitement (Business Modelling leh!! Everyone was excited!) and too little oxygen... Luckily, I am reading the MBA with my partner who bought a bar of chocolate and some soda for me upon my pale-faced request. =))

In about 15 minutes, I was better. Together with David and Manasij, we made our way to the HSBC recruitment talk.

Apparently, in one evening, there were at least 3 events to choose from:

1. Talk by CEO of Skype
2. Recruitment event by HSBC
3. Recruitment event by IBM

Because we arrived early, we grabbed the opportunity to speak with the organisers. I thought we left the event with a very good impression of HSBC. And believe me... We have been to many many recruitment talks...

Because we were speaking to a lady from Malaysia, we kept talking about food afterwards. Eventually, we ended up across the road from University Arms, i.e. at Charlie Chan!!

We ordered wanton mee, seafood horfun, some kailan and Chinese tea.

The ingredients were very fresh, but the taste was average.

At GBP11 per person, it's not good value for money at all. We could get a full meal at Sesame for that price anytime! Who wants to join us for the next Sesame trip?!

On the topic of food...

I got a little organised about the dinners at our place.
Downloaded a class list on excel spreadsheet and began to tick off those we have already hosted. Suppose we could tag each classmate by study streams, study groups, nationalities, college, whether they have been hosted by us etc. We can then use the excel add-ins to generate a random combination for each dinner session. In this way, I will not have to crack my head to try to ensure that the guests in each dinner list are relatively unrelated?!

I must be mad... Business Modelling is invading my sanity!!

Trivia of the day #1:
Somehow... Within 2 months, we have hosted every person with the surname 李 (Li or Lee) in class?!! What are the odds of that when I claim that the list has been random so far?!! I must say, with a 99% confidence interval, that I am (sub/un)consciously biased!!!

Trivia of the day #2:
I have named these dinners.


=)))

Last night, 'Good Fren' put on a brave front and headed for Igor's.

He came back around 3am?!!
Apparently, they finished the bottle of vodka!! *fainted*

This morning, even though I didn't go to Igor's, I was late for my CVP meeting. To punish me further, I had to cycle in the rain. =_=

I want my 小白! This is too much cycling for this lifetime and the next!!

Trivia of the day: Every time I wear my dungarees, it rains.
It's co-related, but is it causal?!

After the 3-hour meeting, I rang up 'Good Fren' because (i) we needed lunch and (ii) we needed to stock up the fridge. While 'Good Fren' made his way to town, I wondered around in Judge Business School, admiring the building and appreciating its unfamiliar calmness. Then took a half-slow-ride-and-half-stroll to meet him.

The Market Square was filled with people. Some children were singing on a temporary stage. I wanted to a pic of them but my hands were full. =_=

Parked my bike near Sainsbury and waited outside STA. Indulged in my teenagehood favourite pastime for 15 minutes, i.e. staring at people, before my phone rang.

'Good Fren' and I went to Dining Out Coffee House.


This shot looks familiar eh?

Coz you have seen it before!!

This is what 'Good Fren' looked like on 30 Sep 08!!

Spot the difference!!

Just a few weeks in Cambridge...

Makes one cry... HAHAHAHAHA!!!

'Good Fren' needs a haircut, but we haven't been able to find a slot when both of us are available. Not because I care about how the way his hair will look afterwards, but because I wanna take a pic of him in a traditional barber's chair!! I think he ought to get the traditional cream shave too!! The whole works!! WOO HOO!!!

After lunch, we ran into Igor and Julia (Russia) in the streets as we were making our way to Sainsbury. What a small town Cambridge is! =))

As we were loading our basket in Sainsbury, we ran into Saurabh + wife (India), then Kunal (India) ( who we were meant to meet up with an hour later)!!
What a small town Cambridge is! *AGAIN*

The ride back was not as painful as I'd imagined it to be...
Oh... That's because 'Good Fren' took most of the heavy stuff. =P

I felt very satisfied as I closed the stuffed fridge door and thought about what I was gonna make over the next few days.
'Good Fren' then reminded me that we were late for our afternoon appointment.

And so, we were on our bicycles again. *pant pant*

After about 20 minutes, we reached a nice little neighbourhood.


Where some of our classmates have gathered voluntarily to learn from one another.

The afternoon was very enjoyable as we were steeped in collaboration. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

As the sun disappeared, our session ended with a game of foosball.

I like watching people in different contexts because then I get reminded that most people are multi-faceted.

I don't think there is a better way to announce this...

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A group of 6. Here are Manasij (India) and Deepankar (India).

If you recall, this is 4th time in 1 week... =P

However, it wasn't my idea this time round. It was Mr I-have-a-Paris-Hilton-watch's idea. Btw, if you notice in the picture above, Deepankar has stopped wearing the PH watch since my last entry. =)))

George (Cyprus) and David (Hong Kong)

As you can tell from George's expression, there was some heavy-duty discussion going on at that round table by the window in Sesame. I'm sure we will come back to this table a few years later and reminisce.

We covered the following topics in about 1.5 hours:

1. I wondered aloud about the recent reshuffling of global banking powers. Which banks are likely to emerge as the new leaders in the next decade?
2. David asked about the caste system in India. George asked if there was a similar way of categorising people in China.
   
3. I asked David what the world's most famous Architecture school was and if there was any famous Chinese architect, i.e. trained in China, and not I.M. Pei. We couldn't think of any and wondered why.
   
4. Manasij highlighted the motion of the varsity debate: "This house supports the use of Sharia law in the UK". We debated on what it meant to introduce another set of laws.
   
5. Somehow, a heated debate on Israel, the US & Palestine fired up between Deepankar and George.
   
6. George asked 'Good Fren' and me about Chinese & Taiwanese.
   

I like the conversation very much, and declared that we ought to make it a Saturday lunch ritual.

After that, I pedaled away gleefully and made my way to H&M, leaving 'Good Fren' to his own device. =)))

I hate to say this... But I seriously felt a little relieved after the 2-hour shopping at H&M and Next.
RRRRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!

Bought some tops, 2 coats, a scarf and a cap from the women's section of both stores. I realise that I have been dressing in a rather gender-neutral manner. Usually, T-shirt + Hoodie + my Lafuma jacket + jeans + sneakers. If I had short hair, I could pass off as a boy. Like 'Good Fren's gay partner or something...

On the topic of gender, all females in class are part of the Women in Leadership Special Interest Group. There is an email list thing going on, and somehow I was excluded from it for a while because my email address got mixed with Erik's. So, once I got back into the group, I decided to stir things a little by emailing to all and asking them what they thought of commercial surrogacy as a solution to modern life. No one has replied since. They must think I am some kind of off-frequency weirdo. But I shall attempt to integrate by putting on some female-ish clothes on Monday.

Somehow, this Saturday is a complete deja vu.
While I am typing this entry, Igor calls up and invites us over once again?!

AAAAAHHHH!!! The Russian Vodka!!

Igor claims that he will be serving tea... But I don't believe him!!
I can imagine him saying again,


Unfortunately, I will not be going to Igor's tonight because I have a CVP meeting at 9am tomorrow. I wish 'Good Fren' and Igor's guests the best of luck. =))

As we didn't have a morning class today, 'Good Fren' and I slept in. Ahhhh... What an indulgence...

Unfortunately, the housekeeping rep came by around 9am to finalise the flat inventory. That's when we solved the mystery of our extremely chilly bathroom. Apparently, we are meant to have a fitted heater in it, but all that's left is a patch of bald paint on the wall. =_=

After that, 'Good Fren' literally fell back in bed, while I attempted to kickstart my day with a jolt of Earl Grey caffeine. After some nagging, 'Good Fren' and I headed for the University Library and the Squire Law Library to do some research for my (not his) CVP. =P

I love the library. I love the smell of aged books and glue.
I wish I had taken some pics... But I'm pretty sure I will do it the next time.

'Good Fren' made a great observation.
Who needs to go away for the winter hols, when one has the world's knowledge just 10 minutes away from Churchill College?!

We chewed on some sandwiches from the Squire Law Library before making our way to Judge Business School for Business Modelling.

Here you see Jaques and our guest team mate, Ketil, working on decision trees using Excel.


While Rupert used what he called "the 14th century method", i.e. the human brain, some paper and a good marker. Oh... the calculator totally spoils the theme... Dun mind it... It's just a paper weight...

Somehow, we arrived at similar answers in similar time via both methods. So... What does that say about either methods?!

After class, we hung around a little for the McKinsey Case Study Session where 3 consultants (former Cambridge MBAs) generously spent their Friday evenings guiding us through case studies.

Here's the ridiculous situation 'Good Fren' and I got ourselves into for the evening. Earlier in the week, Dominic extended an invitation to us for dinner at his place on Friday. 'Good Fren' checked his PDA phone and announced that we were available. Subsequently, we realised the clash between the dinner and the McKinsey session. However, we didn't have the cow sense to reschedule the dinner with Dominic. Instead we stupidly told him that we would be a little late for dinner.

In the end, we left the session halfway, got into a cab, and made it to Dominic's place real late. Like 8pm. =_=

Dom and Dania have a really cosy place. I was so jealous. It's a civilised home with real furniture, candles, and the nice welcome-home smell.


Dinner (they called it 'supper' over here) is ready!!


While 'Good Fren' and Dania watched music videos...

I explored the kitchen.

Dominic MADE this little condiment/spice rack!!

I asked Dom why he had more than 1 chopping board, and he told me that each one was for a different food, i.e raw veges and meat would go on different boards to prevent contamination. Ahhhh...

Ohhh... Look at this...
It's the perfect homely picture!


Dom told me that 'Frigo' is 'Fridge' in French.

But I don't get why he had labelled the fridge in French.

And on the other part of the fridge, I found 2 monkeys. =)))

I miss my monkey collection back home. =((

Now, World... Please pay attention to Dominic.
He's gonna make some custard!!


But first... do allow him some time to read the instructions. =)))


Not bad eh... Everything comes in a can these days... Even a perfect life... Just add water and some heat.

"Easy to open and reseal"

Dominic stirs...


Oh look! A Whisk!!


Dom said to pour the hot milk into the mixture... then to pour everything back in the saucepan.

I wonder why he couldn't have added the mixture to the boiling milk in the first place?!

I tried some whisking too...


Here comes the apple strudel and Dominic in gloves?!!!
HOT HOT!! The strudel, I mean...


Dania sorting out the strudel and custard...


I tell you... These things are killers.
The pastry was crispy, the apple was sweet and the custard wasn't lumpy. =))

By the end of the evening, I was so full that I wanted to fall asleep.

I still feel very bad about the evening...
We will make it up to Dom and Dania by inviting them to our dingy flat for a Singaporean meal soon.

I can't believe it's Thursday... AGAIN?!! Didn't we just have a Thursday... a couple of days ago??

Since Sunday, I've been to Sesame twice with 2 different groups of people!! I think the lady boss is very happy! =))

On Tuesday, I went went with David (Hong Kong), Manasij (India), Thomas (South Africa) and 'Good Fren'. Then on Wednesday, I went with Wontak (Korea), Atrai (India), Kunal (India), Ketil (Norway) and John (India). Apparently, Manasij couldn't sleep well on Tuesday night because he had been chewing on the black peppercorns from the spicy dish! =))

Ok, Thurday started with me rushing to a 9am CVP meeting, while 'Good Fren's group met an hour later. After a 3-hour discussion, I found 'Good Fren' in some part of Judge Business School with my mobiles. In my hurry, I had forgotten to bring them along. Oh... What will I do without my partner?! HO HO HO... =))

We had a simple lunch in the common room. Nick (the British Biologist) joined us, and we had a chat about working, studying and living in Cambridge. It's useful to hear it from the horse's mouth.

The Marketing lecture was full of equations today!
Using a case study on Outward Bound School (OBS), Dr Prabhu asked what the business of OBS was similar to, and I replied,"Business School!" I was just exclaiming to 'Good Fren' a couple of weeks ago when my muscles were aching from the cycling strain that the MBA experience was like our good old camping days, where everyone was energetic, positive and involved in loads of (physical) activities. The muscle aches and exhaustion felt painfully familiar.

The evening was yet another dilemma. We had the following THREE?! events to choose from:

1. A McKinsey & Company Recruitment Talk (Ohhhh...)
2. A Varsity Debate: "This house supports the use of Sharia law in the UK", >> Cambridge vs Oxford (Ahem...)
3. A screening and discussion on "WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE" (Waaaahhhh...)
   

We ended up going for the McKinsey, then the Wal-Mart.

The crowd at the Wal-Mart screening.


Wontak attempting to shoot me before I did to him.
Obviously, he hasn't had enough practice with his digicam. =P


The commentator is a PhD student with Judge Business School.

I personally believe... that the film was highly skewed in its portrayal. There was no context apart from an artificially constructed world with the great evil Wal-Mart.

Regardless of the objectivity (or lack) of the film, we were reminded of the theme of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and how far such a movement can go. Seems to me that CSR is currently rather arbitrary. Many are grappling with its objectives, measurement and real value, without which would render CSR no more than rhetoric.

I love how people react to scenes of labour exploitation and displaced lives, when such 'injustices' are merely the foundation of capitalism that has privileged us to gather in a room in Cambridge only to gasp at its ludicrousness.

After the film, we exploited one another by re-arranging the furniture. =))

'Good Fren' confessed to me afterwards that though the film was bashing Wal-Mart, in the spirit of the job-hunting season, he wondered amidst the screening if Wal-Mart was recruiting MBAs. I then confessed that I thought of the same thing too!
YHEW! This 'group-think' thing has to stop!!

In a sick way, I love our ride back to college because it is the only time when we can have a proper discussion. Yes... It sounds ridiculous, but it's true. We update each other a lot while pedaling along Grange Road. Exchanging adventures and views of the day. I cherish these moments, because once we got back to Churchill, there would always be something pressing to attend to.

Staying together doesn't mean we would be communicating with each other without a hitch.

'Good Fren' woke me up at 8.30am this morning.


Organisational Behaviour was at 9am, and I was a 20-minute shower + 10-minute mucking around + 20-minute pedal ride away from Judge Business School!!

I jumped out of bed while 'Good Fren' slipped deeper under the duvet?!

As if being late was not bad enough, it was raining!! =_=

And so... We shared a little umbrella, took a slow walk to Churchill College (main building) and had croissants for breakfast, before taking the bus to town.

Sitting in what's left of the Organisational Behaviour lecture made me regret the late morning, and wondered about these accelerated courses. How can one appreciate the analogy of a 'script' without at least reading a couple of chapters by Goffman? Or savour the concept of 'transference' and 'counter-transference' 10 minutes before lunch time?! I want more!! More!! This is like giving out bite-size samples! I wanna buy the entire album!! RRROOOAAARRR!!!

My study group had a lunch meeting with the client. I enjoy these discussions with the client. It is always enjoyable to learn from someone who is keen to share. I wish we had more time and some alcohol.

Without lunch, I made my way to the Business Modelling lecture and sat beside 'Good Fren' with a growling stomach. =)) Eventually I bought a sandwich at around 4pm.

Something about the rest of the day has set me thinking...

You see... This... being Cambridge... had a million events happening at the same time. Just this evening alone, 'Good Fren' and I had to choose from the following list:

1. A Goldman Sachs Networking event (Ahhh... Perhaps some work opportunities in the Finance sector?)
2. A Monitor Group talk (A large consulting group... which we are very keen on...)
3. Cambridge Business Lecture, featuring Tim Campbell aka winner of the Apprentice and founder of the Bright Ideas Trust and 'Venture Philanthropist' as he likes to call himself
   

Of course... The reality TV star stole the evening...

We WALKED for 20 minutes from Judge Business School to Robinson College to listen to this disciplined and driven individual talk about his life experiences.

Saturday turned out to be a multi-cultural gastronomical experience (with some work done). =))

But before we pedaled away into Saturday proper, let's take a pic just beside our block of flats.

Lo and behold!
My little bicycle with some festive decor on the rim of the basket. I hope they last till the new year! If not, I'll just go back to Poundland for somemore...

At around 11.45am, I texted a few random classmates to inform them that 'Good Fren' and I would be going to Sesame for some Chinese lunch. I remember quite a few of them had earlier expressed their interest in Sesame.

Some didn't reply (maybe I got their numbers wrong) and at least 2 were ill. I was ill for most of the week as well. Thought I was alone. GET WELL SOON, people!!

Deepankar replied. So we met him at a junction nearby and proceeded to Sesame.


Ahhh... Look at that... Words are simply not enough.


Btw, I discovered that Deepankar wears a PARIS HILTON watch?!!

Uh huh... I'm not kidding... I repeat...


As usual, having a meal together means getting to know one another better. I asked Deepankar for his views on match-making, the usual "if your mother and wife fall into the water, and you can only save one while the other drowns, who would you save?" etc.

By the end of the meal, Deepankar declared that he would never consider a sociologist nor an anthropologist as a life partner... Nonetheless, I believe he secretly enjoys such challenges... =))

After lunch, we headed to Judge Business School where I had a CVP meeting, while 'Good Fren' hung around and did his stuff.

My team had an assumption-clarification session.

Rupert then helped the team to think through our subject matter by using something like a mind-map.

Colourful thoughts!

After a 4-hour session, we were done for the day. Each being clear about current tasks and next steps.

I then met up with 'Good Fren', David and Takashi at the lobby, before heading for the Varsity Restaurant for some Cypriot food with George and Manasij.

Because the restaurant is highly popular, we waited for about 30 minutes before we could get a table. Manasij had called earlier to book a table but in vain!

While waiting, I took some random pics.


George suggested that we ought to have the Meze.

As you can see, we were stuffed by the end of the night.


But we were greedy... And ordered dessert!!


From left: Takashi (Japan), David (Hong Kong), Me (Singapore), 'Good Fren' (Singapore), George (Cyprus) and Manasij (India)

The 4 guys are from St Edmunds College, just a stone's throw away from where we stay.

Somehow we ended up talking quite a bit about Japanese culture. I told Takashi that I like the way some female Japanese singers sang in low voices and asked him about enka. Teresa Teng used to sing in this style too. And by the end of the night, Takashi sent us this video of the most popular enka singer in Japan.


One would think that the night ended after the dinner...
But no... We had another appointment!

Igor from Russia met us at Sainsbury Central and brought us to his wonderful apartment by the river for drinks and chats.

I was so jealous of his apartment!! It's modern, clean and affordable!

Igor and his wife, Julie.

This pair of newly-weds bumped into each other and started chatting along some corridor while they were pursuing their PhDs in Moscow.

They prepared a lot of stuff for our enjoyment.
And most obviously, Russian Vodka!!

Igor kept holding the vodka and saying,


Erm... Yeah right, Igor!!
Look at that thing... It's a clear sinister liquid waiting to take over my consciousness... Whatever's left of it...

Igor demonstrated how it ought to be consumed:

Step 1: Breathe out
Step 2 (Optional): Roll the glass across the cheek
Step 3: Swallow the clear liquid
Step 4 (Optional): Do not breathe in if you do not wish to taste the vodka
Step 5: Chew on a pickled cucumber

For the record, 'Good Fren' attempted 1 shot of the Russian Vodka.

He turned red soon after, but we must say his Asian Flush Syndrome-affected system took the vodka rather well. He didn't turn purple at all! 'Good Fren' has finally found his poison!! =)))

Of course, being in the company of 2 Russians, I had to ask about Stalin's rule, 5-year plans, Putin, learnt how to pronounce 'Medvedev', religion etc. Regardless of what I've read on Russia, nothing can beat hearing views from the source.

After a while, I felt the ZZzzzz monster taking over... We had an at least 20-minute ride home. We thanked the hosts for the wonderful night, and peddled towards Churchill College in the still of the Cambridge night.

Yet another week... whizzed past me... I've learnt much about the mutants this week.

I watched a couple trying to control their superpowers, and others attempting to demonstrate their underdeveloped powers.

Kevin insisted on giving me a demo of his unique superpower in class this week!

He eats this disgusting dessert that is sold in the Common Room.
Some rice in yoghurt with green apple?!
That's like having durians with dark soya sauce and ground black pepper?!! YHEW!

The most important event of the week was the CVP day on Thursday. All the project clients came to Judge Business School for the signing of the PID.


Our client is a pair of lawyers.


And due to facility-constraint, they had to hang their coat and scarf on the indoor tree!

Judge Business School is growing so fast! Soon, it will outgrow its existing premises.

On the topic of premises, 'Good Fren' and I have been looking for an alternative place to stay because (i) a couple of kids in our block just wouldn't shut up and the block rep (who is not a student, but the spouse of a student??) very curtly told us to live with it, and (ii) part of the block has just started undergoing refurbishment, i.e. hacking, drilling etc. This project will be completed by Yr 2010, i.e. after our graduation. =_=

The alternatives on our list are looking rather expensive, i.e. an increase of 60% in costs. I am beginning to wonder whether a 60% increase in living expenses is worth more than a 800m walk to the library in the coldest and rainiest days of winter. =_=

Ahhhh... That familiar feeling... of being... a student...

Distance is also added to the list of inconveniences.
You know how students in Cambridge can proudly proclaim that they were rowing for sport in Cambridge?


Our claim on the CV would be

Interests : Cycling from Churchill College to Judge Business School. Record time ~ 14 mins 56 secs

=_=

Some classmates have been very sympathetic towards our situation. Usha offered to help us check with her sources, while Rupert gave us the number to the agent he used.

Here you see Dominic attempting to draw a map. An illustration of his housing advice.


He took a really long time!! Rupert had walked away!!

Dom: Now... This is Mills Road... So... this is...
BM: Are we there yet?!
Dom: This is all from memory, ok! It's difficult...
BM: Are we there yet?!
Dom: Do you want to go talk to someone else?
BM: Are we there yet?!

Ooooohhh... Check out Dominic's masterpiece!
He even highlighted the river using my blue highlighter!


After all that, we all need a beer.

This is Liz from Australia with the beers.
This picture reminds me of lighter and more carefree times.

DBS is going to cut 900 jobs. Who saw that coming?

I'm not so sure about this...


I thought we ought to get the first principles, i.e. road safety, right before moving onto making cycling more convenient. It is not clear whether pedal cyclists ought to stay on the road or the walkway. There is no satisfactory answer to my earlier question:


If the answer is yes, then my next question is:


Because the need to be well-versed in road rules does not apply for a group of road users, while it is mandatory for the other group. Since the knowledge of road safety is not imperative for road users, perhaps the driver's licence ought to be revamped, i.e. become a Vehicle Operating licence by removing the road safety portion.

I wonder about this everyday on my way to school as I pedal along the streets of Cambridge, negotiating with the vehicular traffic about 15 cm away from my elbow. There are people who do not have a driving licence, pedaling away on bicycles on the same roads everyday. The difference between Cambridge and Singapore is that the roads are much narrower, and so traffic speeds are much slower.

Hence, without explcit and/or accessible* rules/training/licensing for pedal cyclists in Singapore, it must be alright for one to pedal his bicycle (or better still, a group of cyclists) at a leisurely pace along the major arterial roads. The speed limits of these multi-lane roads are usually up to 80KMH.

And after a few high profile fatalities, perhaps a "Pedal Safely" Campaign will be launched at the grassroots level.

*Apparently, there are many rules applicable to pedal cyclists (subsidary legislation under Road Traffic Act). Unlike the primary statutes, these rules are not published online.

Now... How is the pedal cyclist supposed to learn the rules when he has no access to it?

Even if the rules were made available, more practically, how is a non-English-reading cyclist supposed to learn the rules?

I can't believe that Axel's brother (whom I have not met) complained to Axel that I have not been updating my blog!

Apparently, quite a few classmates have refered their friends and family to my blog for updates on their MBA experience.

And some spouses have been using this blog to keep up with their partners' day.

听了他们最新的专辑
我可不是真正的快乐

这两首还可以
《你不是真正的快乐》 与 《夜访吸血鬼》

后者 东洋味好重！

心痛的声音 可以唱多少个日子
十年了吧？

就算是我老土吧
猴子还我
再还我 真正的五月天
.................................................................

《夜訪吸血鬼》
作詞：阿信
作曲：冠佑

滿懷憂傷卻流不出淚 極度的疲憊卻不能入睡
只能夠日日夜夜 然後又日日夜夜 無盡的日日夜夜 永遠的深陷在人間

我是蝙蝠卻不能飛 困在日復一日的街 無止盡的狩獵 彷彿一種天譴
夜色就是我的披肩 日出就是我的風險 舞池裡的狂顛 是我宿命制約
上帝遺棄我們 卻又要給 黯淡的月 照亮世界 要我們無盡又無情的繁衍
看愛過的人 一一告別 做過的夢 一一凋謝 只留下我獨自殘喘的千年

無法揮舞天使的純潔 也無法擁有魔鬼的果決
只有像每個人類 貪嗔痴傻和愚昧 找尋著體溫和血 找尋著同類
滿懷憂傷卻流不出淚 極度的疲憊卻不能入睡
只能夠日日夜夜 然後又日日夜夜 無盡的日日夜夜 永遠的深陷在人間

飢餓是最好的調味 孤獨是最強的催眠 瘋狂找一雙唇 能夠當我酒杯
早就對這一切厭倦 也曾憤怒喝下聖水 卻又無助醒在 下個漫長黑夜
青春遺忘我們 卻又要給 回憶的美 就像玫瑰 要餘生流血又流淚的受虐
看鏡中的臉 慢慢枯萎 高舉的拳 漸漸粉碎 只留下了無限唏噓的相片

無法揮舞天使的純潔 也無法擁有魔鬼的果決
只有像每個人類 貪嗔痴傻和愚昧 找尋著體溫和血 找尋著同類
滿懷憂傷卻流不出淚 極度的疲憊卻不能入睡
只能夠日日夜夜 然後又日日夜夜 無盡的日日夜夜 永遠的深陷在人間

無法揮舞天使的純潔 也無法擁有魔鬼的果決
只有像每個人類 貪嗔痴傻和愚昧 找尋著體溫和血 找尋著同類
滿懷憂傷卻流不出淚 極度的疲憊卻不能入睡
只能夠日日夜夜 然後又日日夜夜 無盡的日日夜夜 永遠的深陷在人間

一個又一個孤單的千年 只能夠日日夜夜 然後又日日夜夜 無盡的日日夜夜
我不能飛

Usually on Monday mornings, we will get many similar questions.


Well... Our weekend was kinda... packed... The MBA doesn't recognise the sanctity of weekends like the real world does. The MBA experience simply stakes its claim on all days of the week.

SATURDAY

I fixed an extra basket to the back of my bike and we cycled to the Singaporean shop along Mill Road, where we bought a carton of instant noodles, some porcelain bowls, a sack of rice, and loads of ingredients.

The shop owners are a lovely pair. The uncle is Singaporean. The auntie is, we think, Malaysian. They have been Cambridge for almost 40 years. Auntie saw me sniffing and gave me advice on how to keep warm. She said in that way, there was little chance that I would fall ill.

Auntie: You must cover your neck with a scarf and wear hat. You see... I wear a hat... I wear many layers. Like that you will not fall sick... You see... Uncle hasn't been sick for the past 40 years...
BM: Because he has you mah! He's very lucky hor!
Auntie: Yeah lor... He's very lucky! He knows!
BM: Uncle! You got hear or not?! You are very lucky leh!

And Uncle was grinning away. =)))

Just then... Auntie started to ask about my age... (she has a daughter my age who's staying in London)... then... HOW I OUGHT TO HAVE A BABY SOON?!

Wah lau... To think I have traveled thousands of miles... away from my mother and her enthusiastic sisters... Only to find an Auntie with same permed hair along Mill Road to remind me of the exact same life issue. Win oredi...

We then made our way to Sainsbury's. I was balancing the precious sack of rice in the back basket and the carton of instant noodles in the front, while 'Good Fren' had 2 huge heavy plastic bags dangling on each handlebar. The Asian groceries juxtaposed against the cycling in Cambridge was a perfect 《甜蜜蜜》 moment. And yes... I was humming the song all the way from Mill Road to Sainsbury's.


That evening, we had 3 guests over for dinner. Apart from bottles of alcohol and chelsea buns for desserts, they also brought us some really nice gifts.

Yes... A smoking pipe and some lilies...
You need to ask Zarko about the pipe...

We attempted to play host by cooking up a meal of Sambal Prawns, Singapore Chicken Curry, Stirred-fried pork and some Pak Choy.

Aiyoh... Dinner at our place is really not a grand affair!!
We serve the food in the pots right off the stove!! And they are not even in Corning Ware?! =))

Anyway... We were really glad that they made it to dinner, and were especially grateful because it was raining rather hard that night. And we spoke about everything under the not-so-forthcoming sun. From National Service to (Ostensible) Overseas Chinese Values to Malaria to Caning to Weddings to Suzhou Industrial Park etc.

From left: OPM (Nigeria), Priscilla (Canada) & Zarko (Serbia)

Zarko said he was falling asleep after dinner because of the food. I think it's the curry! =)))

The physical constraints of our tiny flat are getting in the way of our socialisation mission. A few days ago, Axel heard from Priscilla that she had been invited to dinner, and asked me why she was given priority?! Uh Oh!!

Yikes... This is indeed a sensitive situation...

There are more than 140 classmates. If our flat can only accommodate 3 at a time, it means we would require to run the session about 50 times?! I don't even think we have that many weekends left in the MBA?!! And on top of that, we also attempt to create a 'mix' of guest who ideally are not familiar with one another. How like that?!! I think we need a team of consultants to resolve the situation... urgently!!

SUNDAY

Sunday was spent in Judge Business School with my team, i.e. Study Group 29.

We were making up for lost time because our first CVP didn't materialise, and were trying to cover group assignments for Finance, Marketing and Accounting all in one day!

Here is Jaques posing for my camera. I think he has gotten rather natural in front of my camera. =)

The number of people one meets in Judge Business School (JBS) on a Sunday is amazing. David (Fung) even brought his visiting relatives for a walk in JBS. His middle-age uncle told us to 'hang loose'! =))

'Good Fren' and his team were only about 5 metres away from my team. I wonder if that would mean that we did spend Sunday together? =))

We finally made our way home at around 7pm+. We worked out some job applications, while I made a simple dinner for the hungry partner. We then attempted as much of the readings for tomorrow as possible before our bodies gave in to exhaustion.

With all that cycling, rushing around, and lack of tasty ready-cooked food options, 'Good Fren' and I have lost some weight since we got here less than 2 months ago. The MBA experience turns out to be rather physically demanding for my set of sedentary Singaporean bones. I'll have to take a pic of my quads which have become rather obvious eversince I got my bicycle. I haven't seen them since my undergraduate days?!

MONDAY

This morning started with that familiar feeling that we had not rested enough over the weekend. DUH?!

We had Organisational Behaviour in the morning while my stomach growled extremely loudly. I ended up having some soup and bread for lunch, and helping Atrai to go through her job application essays.

Then Business Modelling in the afternoon. Somehow, I kept thinking about Nassim Taleb's Fooled by Randomness and the Black Swan for the entire afternoon, and attempted to convince Axel to read them.

Some time in there, we chatted with the Executive Director, Karen Siegfried, outside her office as we were taking a detour from LT1. She was telling us how she could understand why we miss our cats because she has a 6-month old kitten that would pat her face sometimes. She also mentioned that she would feel hungry when she read my blog before meals. =)))

After class, we attend a recruitment talk, chatted with the recruiters, and hung around in school till past 8pm. It was drizzling when we rode back to Churchill College. Fortunately, it was not freezing cold.

Once back in the flat, we bounced into partnership action. 'Good Fren' unpacked our bags and set up the laptops, while I made a quick dinner.

As I blog, 'Good Fren' is ironing my suit and shirt for my team's meeting with the CVP client tomorrow. I suck at ironing, ok! I prefer cooking, doing the laundry and vacuuming. =))

So, Judge Business School had its Halloween Party last night at the University Arms Hotel. We were told to dress up scary.

Zohra sent out this just before the party. HAHAHAHA!!!



So, after cycling for 20 minutes in the freezing wind, we arrived at a pretty flashy affair.


The turnout was fantastic!


Many brought their family along...

David and his wife dressed up as the Cowboy and the little Red Indian. =))


Pady and his Son.
So cute! I wanna put him (the son, not Pady) in my pocket!!


Ken and his wife. Check out the knife through his head!!


Muhammed & his Harry Potter Son.

Muhammed's wife added me on Facebook yesterday and told me that she had been reading my blog to keep abreast of what her husband was doing in school!! My blog is so useful... =)))

Toshi and his family. Picture-perfect!

Once, 'Good Fren' and I were walking along Trumpington when we saw Toshi's wife, we then exclaimed to her,"Hello Mrs Toshi!" She must think we are mad.

OPM and his wife are such a classic pair!!

Apparently, she reads my blog quite a bit and knows more about Blinkymummy and 'Good Fren' than OPM does!!!

Our friendly Korean neighbours, i.e. Hyunsik & Hyojin.

Dun ask me who the weirdo on the right is... =)))

Were these Frederic and his wife?!

I was told... much later... that she's not Fredericis wife!
She's Stefi!!! =)))

And these two are Sarit and her partner?!


As with any other Halloween party, there are usually 3 big categories of costumes:

(A) The Scary
(B) The Other Themes - which sometimes can be scarier than The Scary
(C) The "WTF are you supposed to be?!!"

And personally, I have added another category:

(D) The "WTF was that?!!"

So, let's see what we've managed to gather last night.

(A) THE SCARY

Victor and his scary little buddy with a heavy head.


George. He looks scary... Will have to reconsider our Cypriot dinner appointment.


Jonathan was "V" or Guy Fawkes?!


Dom & Chris


Wontak. The little red horns made him look more kawaii than scary... Sorry, Wontak... Not scary!!


Jaques & Panesh

I must say Jaques looks very pretty in lipstick... =))
And Panash was complaining that his costume was too thick!

FWAH!!! Gbloade!!

Now this IS SCARY!!!

(B) THE OTHER THEMES

Shy Louise and George, the huge Bunny!!


Kevin aka Sherlock Holmes and Patrick... erm... the Golfer...


Ok, Carlos is really hilarious. You have to see him in action. I cannot begin to explain it.

Ok... I'll try...
I was pointing my camera and gun (you will see it in the next pic) at him, when he took out his tiny gun, resigned at its lack of size, then gave me the above picture. =)))

Here you see Nageswar pointing my gun at Bill, the Bob Marley wannabe.


Barclay with the President of CBSC, Fabiana.


Of course, Peter, the Tooth Fairy... with some red wine stain on his t-shirt and a cigar in his mouth.


Erik decided to come as the Twitcher, because of his CVP. He is so getting into his role. He was going around all night asking people to draw him a bird in his little notebook. Julia was trying her best. I drew him a drumstick and labelled it 'KFC'. =))

Initially, we thought Erik was a cowboy, coz he's from the US mah!! We must lay off the stereotypes!

Priya!! I like the club and the outfit! Very 'power woman'!!

Priya told us that she got her husband to read that THE TIMES article. =))

(C) The "WTF are you supposed to be?!"

First up... Our lousy get-up...

Erm... I was supposed to the the Policewoman, while 'Good Fren' was the Illegal Ninja. Geddit?! Geddit?! =_=

That's Rachel on the right. I think she's cute, with a really sweet voice...

I get that Meghann is Snow White and Peter is the Tooth Fairy... But what's Rupert supposed to be?!! Some kind of mythical creature?


Louise... as seen earlier with George the Huhe Bunny and hiding behind a glass... What's she supposed to?!


Ok... This is a strange one... Apparently, Axel drew on this white thing so that he would look like a skeleton. He even googled it so that he got the sketching right.

However, halfway through the night, he started to proclaim that he was now a SPERM?!!

If you can avoid being distracted by Hello Kitty, you will notice that the bottom half of Kaoru's outfit is really some kind of ninja/samurai, complete with a sword on his left hip.


(D) The "WTF was that?!!"

Erm... Here you can see for yourself...
We have Jaques and Gblolade. But WTF is under that mask?!

Erm... The one in the dark blue/purple head thing... is 'Good Fren's attempt at being a ninja. =_=

And seriously... WTF is this?!!


I dun remember taking this pic.
It looks like a murder scene taking place!

.........................................................

Ok, here comes the real MBA bit...
I was on my bike... cycling and rushing through a million thoughts about the MBA and its (dis)contents, when I said to 'Good Fren',