I was chatting with a classmate yesterday when he said in exasperation that he felt he wasn't in control of his life at this point in time.

It is not difficult to begin to understand the context in which he has said those words. We are students. Apart from those who are sponsored, most of us are jobless and probably in some kind of debt. Some have spouse and kid(s) waiting for them back home. Some are simply high achievers who are used to being in control.

The world has unfolded a depressing side of itself rapidly in the past few months. So fast that one cannot be sure if one even understands the magnitude of the current events. So huge that one gets dizzy just standing in the Common Room watching people make nervous small chat about the latest ding emails.

On top of the torrential rains of economic instability, I wonder about the concept of 'control', and what it means to avoid fretting over issues beyond one's control. Is fretting some kind of fetish?

Last evening, 19 MBAs celebrated the Year of the Ox at Hong Kong Fusion.


It's so cute that most people turned up in red. 'Good Fren' finally found an opportunity to wear his red batik shirt!

Here he is giving a speech... Erm... To get the dinner started, if you know what I mean...

Louise (Sweden) brought her brother, Filip, along! He's a really cheeky little brother!


Hong Kong Fusion did not fail to deliver with its 3 chefs from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia!

Chicken with dried vegs soup!


Chilli crabs in Cambridge?! Is it possible?!


From bottom: Butter-fried prawns (is it possible?!!), steamed fish and roast duck!!


Hong Kong Fusion also prepared a special New Year dish called 恭喜发财 aka Gong Hei Fatt Choy which consisted of black moss, dried mushrooms and goose feet!

I think it was kind of a culture shock for some classmates but they were mostly very polite about it. Here we witness Carlos (Spain) sucking on a goose foot. =)))

Of course, it would not be Lunar New Year without having some pan-fried New Year Cake with egg!!


Ok, time for the real culture shock...

Somehow, throughout dinner, I felt like we were in a campfire or something... Loads of feel good songs and hand-over-shoulder+swaying-from-side-to-side.

In this picture, one can see 'Good Fren' singing at the end of the table, while the rest swayed in harmony. Starting from Junghoon (South Korea), Kristof (Belgium), Chris May (UK), Nadine (Germany), Nadine's boyfriend, Umar, and Erik (US)!!

Everyone at the table sang at least 1 song!!

And Carlos was so funny... He asked me at least twice whether it was rude to be eating while people were singing!! He's so polite!! Goose foot + eating-while-singing must be Double-Culture-Shock for him!


Shelley from China!

Lars (Denmark) loves singing!

Check out the swaying Axel (Germany) on the side!!
This is an omen!!

Erik (US) is 80s, man! Mr Tom Jones!!


Nadine (Germany) was hot in a red top and matching stockings! PHEEEEWEEEEE!!!


David (Hong Kong/Canada) did a super fast Cantonese song! I wish I can do Cantonese at that speed!


Xiaodan (Canada), despite her food poisoning from Barcelona, managed to belt out quite a few songs!!


Ahhhh... Takashi (Japan)!!!!

He's so quiet in class... But when he gets hold of the mike, he became Mr Bon Jovi!! All EMO!! He really rocked the house!!

And somehow 2 very unlikely pairs emerged last night...

Couple #1: Kristof (Belgium) and Chris May (UK)

I mean... Just check out the look in their eyes?!
Kristof told us later that his wife, Veerle, will not believe what he did that night... =P

Couple #2 - Axel (Germany) and Lars (Denmark)

They were rockin' in LURRRRVVEEEE!!!

The girls really wanted to do 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua... But settled for 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' and 'Like A Virgin' instead... We discovered... that Axel loves the latter... Ooooooohh...

From left: Priscilla (Canada), Louise (Sweden) and Nadine (Germany)

The other girl group.

From left: Katie (US), Xiaodan (Canada) & Shelley (China)

While the boyz watched on...

From left: 'Good Fren' (Singapore), Wontak (South Korea), Erik (US), Carlos (Spain), Jayen (Mauritius), Filip (Sweden)

Though we miss Singapore and its CNY festivities... We made up it somehow... with the great food and company we've found in Cambridge!!

'Good Fren' only managed to find 2 decent-looking mandarin oranges from the Singapore/Malaysia shop along Mill Road. (See those 2 on the left) The other 2 on the right are impostor oranges from ASDA.

I cut the "SPRING" character and stuck them onto the oranges while watching X-Men.

Sidetrack: I've been chatting with a blog reader of mine via email recently. She was a junior in St Nicks, but I didn't know her then. She also happens to be good friends with this girl from my Girl Guides patrol. So through her, I got in touch with my little patrol mate via email and I wrote to her and asked her to fall in for morning drills. =)) The blog reader asked me if I'd cut the "SPRING" character in a free-hand manner. The answer is YES. Once you get the hang of it, there is no need for pencil/ruler etc. It's just a series of lines and proportions.

For those who care, it is simply not the same to use ASDA oranges for the Lunar New Year. Oh well... My greatest learning over here so far is to 'make-do'. *shrugz*

'Good Fren' and I were supposed to have a reunion dinner with some Singaporean friends at Ben's place on Sun evening. However, because my swollen eyelids have not subsided (in fact the dryness has spread to the temples, down the side and to the ears) that we decided against going for the dinner. =_=

Instead, 'Good Fren' brought the pot of curry over to Ben's place.

I am hoping I will be well enough for our Lunar New Year dinner at Hong Kong Fusion (HKF) this evening. 'Good Fren' and I negotiated with the owner, Andy, to put together a 25-person Lunar New Year dinner menu. And the real mandarin oranges will be presented to Andy as a gesture of goodwill.

I am amazed at how we have formed a relationship with Andy. While we have also gotten to know the owner of Sesame, the relationship was more transactional. Andy is able to make us feel special with little added touches here and there, without always using monetary discounts. I am usually very sceptical about buzz words such as 'win-win solution' because they usually do not materialise in reality. However, the lack of evidence doesn't prevent me from recognising a win-win solution when there is, in fact, one.

I am excited about the dinner... I just hope my scary eyes will not scare the classmates too much. And I hope my classmates will enjoy the dinner.
.......................................................................

Singov has announced its package to help the economy. If I'm not mistaken, it's the only country that has named the aid package. The 'Resilience Package'. I love it! I wonder who comes up with these names. I can imagine many Singaporeans rolling their eyes at yet another 'Gahmen' initiative, but I kind of like the awkwardness of these announcements. It's really endearing.

The Resilience Package aims to help the individual and the business entity. In our International Business lecture just a few days ago, Prof Nolan was just exploring the theme of States helping businesses within their geographical jurisdiction. Should Singov only help Singapore-owned businesses? What does it mean by 'Singapore-owned'? Does helping Singapore-owned businesses only achieve the aim of stabilising the economy?

From the Singaporean example, the SGD20.5B package is aimed at stabilising the economy, and this is regardless of whether the aid flows to Singaporeans only. This makes an intriguing thought. If part of your house wall has cracked and you think it's because of the earth giving way, do you only injected cement into/re-do the piling under the portion of the wall/earth within your boundary, or explore the extent of earth-collapse with your direct neighbours and/or neighbourhood. There is no right or wrong answer because the extent of damage is invisible to the eye and perhaps even to the consciousness.
.......................................................................

What I did not find endearing in the news recently is how PS Tan Yong Soon was admonished for writing a newspaper article about his family holiday to an expensive french culinary school.

Come on... It's not as if PS Tan was having a rolling good time in Las Vegas/Bangkok with some hot chick(s)/stud(s)?! Or doing an Edison Chen?! Or sun-bathing in the nude with his Israeli girl/boy-friend?! For goodness' sake, he was learning how to cook with his family!

It is no secret that top civil servants are well-paid. So, one should not be surprised at his ability to afford an expensive holiday, car, LV bags, pet, meal, house, vineyard whatever. I remember a TV programme some time ago that showed MM Lee and his family having a nice meal. That attracted major on-/off-line flamings too. But is it unimaginable for a family of that income bracket to be enjoying a chef-prepared meal?

The issue here really is whether a civil servant can publicly and candidly talk about his personal life and its contents. And both the Citizen and the Civil Service seem to have a similar construct of what a top civil servant should/not do. Only PS Tan is not adhering to this construct. The Actor is not sticking to the script which the Producer and the Audience have implicitly agreed upon. Bad Actor! *raps knuckle*

Technically, I do not see how this episode has demonstrated that PS Tan is not aligned with the values and ethos of the Civil Service, when its core values are Integrity, Service and Excellence. Which part of that says that one cannot publicly talk about/blog about/youtube about one's holiday? I'm sure there are much much clearer deviations from those values, than a public write-up on a personal holiday by a civil servant! HA!

If it's the 'sensitivity' argument is what both the Citizen and the Civil Service demand of a top civil servant, that's even worse. Because it's hypocritical to expect one to have to pretend that while one earns a lot but have to actively avoid flaunting it. I'd very much prefer the top civil servants/Ministers to be forthcoming, than to put up a pretence all the time.

There are no Bad Actors in the epoch of Reality TV, only lousy editing.

幸福 comes in a large brown envelope found on the doormat in the morning.


An autographed copy of Mayday's latest album!!




出頭天

作詞：五月天 作曲：五月天



在我的天頂 甘有人會看得見
看到我不甘願這樣過一生
在我的一生 我甘願來相信
每一朵花都有自己的春天
在我的天頂 大雨落不停
也不能改變到我的固執

永遠等待 那一日 咱可以出頭天
人生不怕風浪 只怕自己沒志氣
那一日 咱可以出頭天
我盼望的日子 會真快 來到我身邊

在我的天頂 甘有人在保佑
怎樣我常常摔的頭殼流血
血乾會結痂 失敗也不失志
成功是咱自己看自己得起
飄浪的日子 等待著時機
我不信命運會這麼無情

永遠等待 那一日 咱可以出頭天
人生不怕風浪 只怕自己沒志氣
那一日 咱可以出頭天
我盼望的日子 會真快 來到我身邊

永遠等待 那一日 咱可以出頭天
人生不怕風浪 只怕自己沒志氣
那一日 咱可以出頭天
我盼望的日子 會真快 來到我身邊

永遠等待 那一日 咱可以出頭天
人生不怕風浪 只怕自己沒志氣
那一日 咱可以出頭天
我盼望的日子 會真快 來到我身邊

A recent afternoon in Judge Business School... 'Good Fren' and I were waiting for the elevator when he started to yawn really widely and threatened to fall asleep.

I went,"BABY!!" and started shaking him by the shoulder, in a somewhat feeble attempt to wake him up.

Meanwhile, from the corner of my eye, I saw the Director of the MBA Programme, Dr Runde, grinning from behind a wall. He said very loudly to me,




Just another day at Judge Business School... =)))

My study group has been really on the ball. We have completed both of the first Strategy and Innovation assignments by Saturday!

Last evening, the Senate House along King's Parade literally become the backdrop for the 800-year history of University of Cambridge.

While a slide show of the past 800 years (sort of like those wedding vids except on a bigger budget) went on, church bells rang throughout the city.

A rather sizable crowd gathered and a lady was screaming amidst, exclaiming that she was claustrophobic.


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

We woke up early this morning to have breakfast at Bora's.


And we discovered that Bora (Turkey) and Axel (Germany) have a rather 'special' relationship.


It's a schweet sort of love-hate relationship. The stuff real love is made of.


Sophie-Luise (Germany) and Igor (Russia) also joined us for breakfast.

We had a great breakfast-till-lunchtime conversation, covering various topics ranging from ethics to lecturers to learning to the mismatch of Singaporean females and males to Russian brides in Turkey to difference between Russian brides in Turkey and Chinese/Vietnamese brides in Singapore to where South Russia is.

Breakfast is a really good idea, because after all that good food and conversation, we still had quite a bit of the day left for work!!


In the evening, we met up again at La Margherita along Bridge Street for dinner.


I used to cycle past this window everyday. I love the way the desserts look!


We love each other's company so much that we have to have 2 meals together in a day!!


Axel used my camera and took pics of me.


A toast!

*but I oredi took at least 2 sips from my glass!!*

By the end of dinner, Igor made me a golden paper plane.

I later transformed it into a golden paper boat, of which I forgot to take a pic of... Just like how I forgot to take pics of the food we had! =_=

Nonetheless, I took pics of Igor fiddling with something under the table. *GASP* For at least 2 minutes!!

He was making something for Bora to present to his *ahem* partner.

Bora examining the white paper tulip from Russia.


Bora: Hmmm... What do you think of this, Honey?


Axel: *KISS* Oh... How wonderful! I love it very much!!

I wonder what their wives think of this?

The new week will start tomorrow... Yet another crazy rush and high. WOO HOO!!!

Because 'Good Fren' and I didn't leave Cambridge during the winter break, we planned a short trip to Oxford for Thursday. Somehow, the entourage grew from 'Good Fren' and Blinkymummy to 7 adults + 1 baby!

Here we were outside St Edmund's College, waiting for Ben and family to arrive.

From left: David (Canada/US/Hong Kong), Takashi (Japan), Hasan (Bahrain) and 'Good Fren' (Singapore)

If you can read Japanese (or like to use Google Translate like I do), here is Takashi's blog. He blogs more regularly than I do!! =))

After driving for 90 minutes, we arrived near the Trout Inn. According to the weather forecast, Oxford was supposed to be warmer than Cambridge on that day. It definitely wasn't the case as you can see all struggling to put on their jackets!


Little boy was all wrapped up!


Ben tending to his kid.


We didn't know Hasan at all before this trip.

He looks very serious all the time.

But during the trip, he proved to be really funny, and even attempted to use the word 'lah' in the most Singaporean fashion.

The group making its way from car park to Trout Inn.


The Trout Inn was not very packed when we arrived, but filled up very quickly with a working and retirees crowd very soon after.


While our table was getting put together, we spent some time admiring the view.


Family picture time! Ben, Evan and Sharon from Singapore!


The studying of the menu took some time because there were simply too much good stuff in it!


Somehow Hasan chose a really pink pomergranate drink, and when it arrived, Hasan proclaimed that he was feeling 'sexy'.
We were like?!?!!?!


As you can tell from the pics... The food was very good.



After lunch, the peacock made its appearance for a while.


Making our way back to the cars...


Father and Son


This was our back view for most of the time during the drive.


Arrival in Oxford!!


The stranger in the pic is David's friend, Tee, who's studying at Said Business School and is from Singapore.

Though I do not know him personally, a quick check on Facebook revealed that we have 17 mutual friends, and that he and I used to work for the same organisation but probably at different times. Singapore is too small.

'Good Fren' was acting as the tour guide. It's quite amusing to observe him from a distance.


Having some ice cream at G&D's. YUMMY!!


Somehow a rabbit theme emerged during the Oxford trip.

There are rabbits from Alice's shop.


And this... is a dead rabbit hanging outside the Butcher's in the Covered Market. =_=

Rabbits are better off hanging around in a fairytale, than being furry and cute food in real life. =((

Trigger Happy People!!

Everyone has a camera!

Of course, we had to visit Said Business School, and we ended up doing the 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' a lot.

This is their library/study area.


A cloak room before entering the Lecture Theatre.


A 300-seater lecture theatre


A mail and locker room.


Another lecture theatre


A cafeteria


And a dining hall...


Someone commented that Said Business School felt like a Business School. Someone else commented that it was a result of a purpose-built establishment. I think infrastructure is important, but to a certain extent, it is merely 'form'. That doesn't mean one shouldn't try to keep up with a good form. Just that one needs to be honest about priorities and the pursuit.

Leaving Oxford, we headed for Bicester Village, i.e. some sort of high-end discount outlet.


We had only 1 hour + to shop, and were covering the shops really quickly.




After the shopping, we found an italian joint and had some dinner.


Evan was really happy with these breadsticks.


'Good Fren' and Takashi took a long time trying to decide on their desserts.


Evan, a huge chocolate coin, and Mummy!


Food was tasty...


Desserts were tempting!!


Before we knew it, we were on our way back to Cambridge... Not before we filled up the tanks at Tesco.

I really enjoyed myself despite that the destinations (apart from Bicester Village) were not new to me. Traveling is yet another way of getting to know one another. On top of project work, having dinner and tea etc. =))

Yes... Those super long MBA days have begun...

At 9am, we had Innovation lecture. I got all misty-eyed at the Lt Sims example. Ahhh... Such familiar dynamics of large bureaucracies. To get a new idea across, one has to go to extreme lengths, especially when one is not chosen.

At 12.30pm, I met up with the other 2 student reps to discuss what we are going to do for our class for the Lent Term. It's great working with sharp-minded and clearcut people. Crisp discussions and follow-up actions. I had some lunch time left afterwards, so I hung out with a Korean Oppa. Had a great chat about cultures and the meaning of parenting.

At 2pm, I attended the Strategy lecture, not knowing where 'Good Fren' was! 20 minutes into the lecture, 'Good Fren' appeared from the side entrance. He had been to the local bookstore to buy the Strategy textbook in vain!!

At 6pm, I met up with my new study group to discuss next week's assignments. Because we are new to one another, it felt little awkward, but I think it'll work.

At 7.30pm+, a bunch of us made our way to Teri-Aki for dinner.

If our Japanese classmate endorses this joint, it must be pretty good!

This is a lousy pic, but it'll suffice!

From left: Takashi (Japan), David (Canada/Hong Kong/US), 'Good Fren' (Singapore), Jacqueline (Singapore) and Chia-Yen (Taiwan)

'Good Fren' had to shock our classmates by explaining the concept of 'National Day Goodies' and examples such as 'New Singapore Shares', 'Economic Restructuring Shares', 'Workfare Bonus' etc. They were like... "Singapore sounds like a company!"

I must say, the Singaporean Government is really quite innovative in that sense.

And so is at least one Singaporean in the way he has expressed his love for our leader.

The Cambridge MBA is back in its full glory!!

The day started at 12pm with Careers giving us an update on the employment situation. Yes... It is a really 'interesting' time we exist in these days. Anyone wants to give Blinkymummy a job?!!

Talk ended at around 1pm+. Thought 'Good Fren' and I could head for lunch, but we had some extra-curricular issues to settle. Sometimes, life could be easier if there were fewer human beings around. Co-existence is inefficient.

At 2.05pm, we settled ourselves in LT3 for a Business Law Workshop. Brings back memories of my first year in university. I remember the first year law students trying to explain the definition of harassment to me.

At 3.40pm, 'Good Fren' and I snuck out of the workshop and made our way to the Cambridge Union for a talk. Politics and Financial Meltdown, Obama's first 100 days...

At 6.40pm, we were at the Anchor, having a quick dinner with Ben (Singapore), David (Hong Kong) and Chia-Yen (Taiwan). Somehow, we met a group of classmates at the Anchor. They were getting to know each other as a newly minted study group. Ooooohhhh... Somehow, I ate Chia-Yen's starter without realising. Super paiseh!!! *BLUSH*

At around 7.20pm, David, Chia Yen and I rode back to Judge Business School. David and I are in the same group for our Global Consulting Project and the team was having our inaugural conference call with our client at 8pm. We spent some time fiddling with Skype and our laptops before hooking up.

I must say, I really enjoyed our first teleconference call with the client. There is a certain energy about the group. It's not totally comfortable at this stage, but it's promising.

At around 9.30pm, I extracted 'Good Fren's uber heavy schoolbag from my locker, placed it in my bike basket and rode towards Little Seoul (Korean restaurant) where he was having dinner with a bunch of MBAs. I would have loved to join them, but work is higher on the priority list.

Got back home at around 10.30pm, and started to clear my emails, while 'Good Fren' did his and started on tomorrow's readings.
........................................................

Somehow, my mind was chewing on a couple of keywords while at the Cambridge Union.

Is'Analysis' merely 'Description in finer details established by sophisticated and 'acknowledged' scientific methods?

I am so happy to see this blog up and running.


The Home Team has many intriguing stories to tell. Home Team officers deal with many extreme facets of the Singaporean life, which, if shared appropriately, I think will encourage a more considerate society by raising awareness.

Singapore Police Force has Crimewatch, and now, SCDF has a blog and is on Facebook and Youtube! Great step forward!

I'm sure there will be more.

加油!

It's the weekend after the exams and before the Lent Term starts!

How not to celebrate the occasion with a Global Consulting Project meeting at 1.30pm in the drawing room of our place, then at 3pm for more MBA classmates to join in for tea?


I love this pic!
They were literally sitting around... sipping on tea... having some sweet potato soup... chewing on some crackers... It's like recess time!!


The invite list started off rather modestly...

But along the way... it snowballed... and somehow... about 10% of the MBA class had tea in our drawing that Saturday afternoon?!

The house was exceptionally warm that day... =))

1. Victor (Canada)
2. Lorenz (Switzerland)
3. Peter (US)
4. David (US/Canada/Hong Kong)
5. Zarko (Serbia)
6. Erik (US)
7. Shelley (China)
8. Tibor + Kata (Hungary)
9. Kee (South Korea)
10. Dominic (Switzerland/UK)
11. Igor (Russia)
12. Kristof + Veerle (Belgium)
    
13. Bora (Turkey)
14. Axel (Germany)

Of course the day couldn't have ended with only tea?!

Part of the tea group made our way to our latest favourite haunt...


Bora asked Deepankar (India) along.

Here you see Bora waiting for Deepankar to lock his bike (so schweet!), while I took a quick pic from the upper floor of Hong Kong Fusion!!

I suspect Axel was very happy at dinner...


Group picture!!


Of course... Saturday couldn't have ended with only dinner!!

Igor offered his apartment next!!

Here's Erik trying to look coy in Igor's apartment. I'm not sure why he did it though.


Axel and Deepankar... looking very happy...


Us too...

Little did we know what was coming...

It's a brand new bottle of Russian Standard... =_=


Igor kept coming out from his kitchen with stuff... Filling up the table over 30 minutes...


Suddenly, Igor declared that he 'found' a bottle of honey beer in his fridge?!!

Oh our sneaky Russian classmate!!!

Our first toast... Always start with the drink with the lowest alcohol content... Never reverse the order...

Axel looked a little worried...

Uh oh... Here comes the main dish...


Demonstration from the mastermind...


Deepankar's attempt...


Axel looking very willing...


Erik... He was rolling the thing all over his face!!


This is Igor's German friend, Michael. He must think Cambridge MBAs are a weird bunch.


I mean... Check out Bora?!


And after a while... A spaced-out Blinkymummy and grinning-ever-sober 'Good Fren'!!


And around 1am, we made our way home in the freezing night... with vodka, pickled cucumber, honey beer, cheddar cheese and tomatoes in our tummies. Time for a good sleep!! It's gonna be a crazy ride!!

Q: What does Judge Business School, PhD & a Modelling Agency have in common?

A: Ben Barry



This man, a PhD student at Judge Business School who owns a modelling agency, has received the Canadian Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case Youth Award by making "the most positive impact of anyone I have encountered on women and their self image. Ben is instrumental in affecting a change of societal values of women through both his modelling agency and his research at Judge Business School."

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

What do you think of the above?

I wonder if it would have been the same outcome if a female PhD student, who owns a modelling agency, had written the same stuff.

Also posted on The Judge Business School Women's Blog.

It's a bad omen when you flip through the question sheet of a 3-hour examination and find your online moniker in the first line of the first question in Section B.

Section B, Question 1:

Blinky Mummy Corporation (BMC) is a highly profitable multi-product company...

???

The guy sitting in front of me heard me go,"SHITE!!" rather uncontrollably about 10 secs into the examination upon discovering the abovementioned.

The Corporate Finance lecturer, Dr Dissanaike, (as seen on this blog) has a curious sense of humour! How should one react to something like that?! =)))

After the somewhat demoralising examination, we were invited to Hughs Hall for a lovely dinner prepared by Cheryl-lynn aka Thomas' partner (South Africa).

I suspect they must have known that the exam would have been really tough beforehand. Hence, they offered the wonderful dinner as a 'reward' to soothe my exasperated brain.

'Good Fren' and I were merely sitting around and waiting to be fed.


What an amazing spread of vegetarian foods!!

We got so excited about the dinner that we forgot to take any pics of the hosts!! ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

Here's the comforting dessert we had... I have no idea what it's called... But it was yummy!!

The dinner conversation ranged from Seventh-day Adventist to dilemma between Religion and State, preparation of millet, life choices, Nassim Taleb etc.

Somehow, 2 other MBAs, Panash (UK) and Fahad (Pakistan) walked into the kitchen and the conversation moved onto Harvard MBA, private vs public education, the need for our children to be 'grounded', Noam Chomsky, couples in MBA class (oooooooohhhh!!), giving birth videos on Youtube etc.

I was exhausted by the end of the day...

2 more papers to go before the term starts proper... 加油!

We woke up to a really frosty day...
Check out the white icy stuff on the pavement!

And yeah... I re-decorated my bike basket. Apart from replacing the golden tinsel, I added some colourful things to the rim of gold. I'm pretty sure it can last till Lunar New Year!
WOO HOO!!!

We had a quick lunch at Burger King's in the Grafton before making our way to Judge Business School for revision.

It was snowing when we left the Grafton!!!

Cycling together in the snow... So ROMANTIC!!!

Now that I have learnt why the female protagonist in that Korean drama, Winter Sonata, kept calling her boyfriend, 哥, I was able to call out to 'Good Fren' in its Korean term, OPPA!! It's just like in those episodes... except there is a lot less snow in Cambridge and that I'm not supposed to be calling 'Good Fren' 'OPPA' coz he's younger than me. HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

At 7pm, a bunch of us had dinner at the latest food joint, i.e. Hong Kong Fusion!! =)))

Somehow, the six of us are still in the same stream for the Lent Term. It's destiny!! :O

Given that David, the Hong Konger who has just returned from Hong Kong, thinks the food is good, we concluded that Hong Kong Fusion is good. Very conclusive.

I didn't expect it to be so clinical, but a group of scientists from New York has found the meaning of 'true love'!

Apparently, to 'own' true love when one gets old means having 'intense companionship and sexual liveliness'. For that, the love birds mature into 'swans'. Unfortunately, only 1 in 10 pair of old birds are 'swans'.

I wonder if there had been cases when the scientists scanned the brains of these old birds and found that only a brain lit up, while the partner's remained... grey?! If the participants ask for the results, are the scientists obliged to tell? Will this devastate a two decade long relationship?

Wife: Oh my... *panic* Why didn't your brain light up?!
Husband: I don't know... *secretly thinks to himself: Damn... It must be permanent damage from all that Viagra and porn I've been consuming*
Wife: Honey, do you think we have a problem?
Husband: Of course not!! *holds her wrinkled hand* It's a stupid test! Love is not about chemicals and drugs! Their hypothesis is all screwed up! We've made it together for the past 20 years and had 4 beautiful children... Of course we are in love?!!
Wife: Orrrrhhh!! You're the best, Hun!

This article certainly goes back to the basic definition of 'true love'. As long as one experiences 'intense companionship and sexual liveliness', one has true love.

That's pretty easy to achieve, isn't it?
Once we get to withdraw our CPF, we can buy ourselves really needy 17 year olds, and extract all the limerance our fragile aged bodies can tolerate until our CPF monies or mortal time runs out, whichever comes first. Ahhh... So that's what the CPF is for!!

I wonder how many of those scientists involved have started wondering about their love lives?!

WEDNESDAY

It feels so different... Being able to walk to an MBA party. =)))
Yeah... Hughs Hall is just round the corner!!


There was a pre-party gathering... In one of the kitchens...

With lots of people...

And food...


And REAL GLOGG prepared by our very own lady from Sweden, Louise!

Jacqueline (Singapore) in this pic, asking for more GLOGG!!

This is Axel's wife, Sandra, visiting from Germany.

Soon, the little kitchen got even smaller... too many people, too much wine, too much body heat... =)))

So we walked over to the Hughs Hall MCR... Where Junghoon (Korea) had been waiting...


Hey Junghoon!! Where did you get these pink tights from?!


Loads of food were arranged on the pool table.


I love the instruction.


Axel (Germany) was the DJ. Apparently, he labeled the night's music according to "Chips-eating", "Dancing-Light", "Dancing-Heavy" etc.


Party Party Party!!!


Go (Japan), Kunal (India) and his Guinness.


Andre (New Zealand) was uber energetic throughout the night in that crazy hat of his. You should see his dance moves. They are crazier than the hat.


Still 'Chips-Eating' time... Everyone was catching up...

Mild and orderly...

This, everyone, is the 'Guy Dance'...


And this... is the 'Girl Dance'.

The main difference is that girls dance a lot closer to one another. Guys don't do that... It's really funny if you think about it!! The self consciousness of guys when dancing!! =))

Amongst others, we spotted many couples that night...

Couple #1 - Samir and his wife (India) at the food table.


Couple #2 -Khurram and wife (Pakistan) on the dance floor.


Couple #3 - Stefi and boyfriend (Bulguria/Germany) with the drink(s).


And the best couple of the night award goes to...

Couple #4 - 'Good Fren' & Kunal (Singapore/India) with their colourful power engagement rings!! =)))


About 40 minutes to midnight, many many MBAs were found in the Pfeiffer Room next door.

Resting... and preparing for the countdown...

A bunch of us had a rather intense discussion about the upcoming Global Consulting Project. We were curious to find out if the school would approve a project on pornography with New Media.

Meanwhile, Tibor (Hungary) was nursing his bottles of champagne.


And at MIDNIGHT!!!

I vaguely remember spraying of champagne?!!

This is Anthony, Simon's good friend from Oxford.

Somehow, he borrowed my camera...

So i do not take any responsibility for the pics you see henceforth.

This pic is alright... Anthony, Kristof (Belgium) and Simon (UK)


Erm...



'Good Fren's new scarf... Keeping him warm!


Anthony loves placing the camera on timer mode and the floor!!



OPM (Nigeria) and Tibor's girlfriend!


Andre's wonderful hat!




And my favourite picture of the night!!!

Anthony, Simon (UK), Jayen (Mauritius) and Junghoon (Korea)!!

TUESDAY THURSDAY

The day after the party, I was suffering from dehydration and muscle aches... =_=

I is getting too old... Until the next party!!! =)))

We spent some time cleaning up the place, reading Corporate Finance, and most importantly...

We had Axel and his wife, Sandra, over for the first meal in the new place and of the year!!

They are such a sweet couple!!

And they are such considerate people!!! They even brought their own slippers to be worn in the house!!! How sweet is that?!!!

Look at what they brought us!!!

White sausages, pretzels, sweet mustard, and disposable napkins!!
Just add heated salty water for the complete experience!! =)))

Ok... We bought a melon to be served after dinner, thinking that it had peachy-orange flesh on the inside... But it turned out to be minty green!!

The dinner conversation ranged from books (1984, Black Swan, Farenheit 451 etc), to cross-country skiing, to scouting, to the impact of large corporations' presence in less urbanised areas, military specs and standards of electronic parts etc.

FRIDAY

This morning noon, we had the stuff which Axel and Sandra brought for us for lunch!


Axel instructed for the sausages to be heated up, NOT BOILED, at about 90 degrees celsius in salt water.


MMmmmmm... PUUUUUURRRFECT!!!


I kept the sausage can... as a momento... I hope I can use it as a pen holder or something... =)))
........................................................

I must confess that I am very excited about the new term and new year.

With the highly unstable economic situation looming in the background, and equally unstable job market, I am very curious about how this MBA venture will turn out for us.

Will we find a job in the same location? What happens if we find jobs in different locations? Will we find a job? Will we go back to our old jobs? Will we end up doing something unrelated to our previous jobs and the MBA?!!

There are so many different possible outcomes...

With that tingling sensation in our stomachs, we take yet another step forward into the new year.

加油!