The Benedict Issue

I can't, I can't...!

2009-04-22T01:05:00.003+10:00

No this isn't a bitch fit shouting I can't do this and that. But I just can't wait till October when the movie adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are premieres.

As noted previously in my blog, last year I couldn't wait for Watchmen as well. It proved not disappointing at all, but I reckoned the conclusion of the story actually felt more epic reading than watching it.

On another note, as had once been mentioned in this blog about the same series, I thought some outstanding stuff has been happening in Britain's Got Talent. Props.

They Make Their Hearts Small

2009-01-24T23:03:00.003+11:00

Just an anal update before the Chinese New Year.

Back to the gym today (some Fitness First in KL), one difference that struck me was the dumbbells' weight unit. It's finally in metrics. I mean c'mon, we were once a British colony, not American's.

Now those people can't say they're lifting 60 (lbs.) anymore 'coz it's only 27.5 (kg) now. But it reminds me of times back in uni.

Pretty anal, wasn't it?

Happy Chinese New Year!

Sticky Up There, Uncle

2008-11-22T04:38:00.003+11:00

Back more than one year ago, any new post written right about this hour on a weekend was possibly a not-so-sobre one. I'm domesticated not because I'm affected by the economy, but by my own age.

My topic this time relates to a phenomenon that I had (unfortunate enough) to witness, however.

In July, oil price peaked at $147. Technically speaking (you can skip this) that of course refers to price per barrel for futures with delivery the next month from that date quoted.

At time of writing, oil price has retraced almost two thirds of that level, now standing at less than $50 per barrel. Now those are just statistics. But not merely statistics. They created hoo-hahs everywhere. First with the government cutting its subsidies on oil, then a flurry of cost and price issues hurting us, the consumers, hard. Here is my experience.

I once frequented this uncle's stall for lunch almost every weekday. He had the stuff I wanted and his prices were reasonable. My diet was still strict (relatively) then, which made me not only sticking to a regime, but to a provider that consistently had what I needed.

On one occasion, prior to announcing the price he was gonna charge me for my lunchbox, he said, hey look, it's gonna be expensive this time around. I said alright. He charged me 8 bucks, but returned 3 bucks as change when I handed him 10.

Subsequent lunches were fine. Reasonably fine.

Then came this second time that he disclaimed the hike in price again prior to accepting my note. I smiled and accepted that, for I should at least try to emphatise his position a little. But why should I? This time around, he thought he had to justify the hike. He told me the story of prices of poultry rising. Fine. But when I heard him saying that he would cut back his prices when prices of poultry come down, that put me straight into doubt. That kinda doubt resembling that beep in the radar when you detect bullshit.

After raising prices, who would really cut them?

Well my point is, prices are sticky downward. Or sticky up there. Bus operators now even demand a raise in fare despite the worsening oil position.

My solution? I just hope I'd be one of those successful speculators that would earn more than enough to survive should there be another rally/plunge of any sort in the market. Be it commodities, forex, etc. Because speculation is what it was all about. Fuck the China-India fundamental explanations. Look what the naivety has brought upon us.

Birthday Gift

2008-11-20T02:16:00.006+11:00

Watchmen is probably, well, one of the only 2 and a half graphic novels that I've read. Still can't help but to say the trailer looks epic (with a Smashing Pumpkins soundtrack). You'll probably appreciate more if you read the graphic novel though:

The Dark Bailout

2008-10-05T15:31:00.001+11:00

For those of you who followed the $700bn bailout plan and watched The Dark Knight.

Religion and Personal Agenda

2008-08-31T14:07:00.002+10:00

I grew up going to the church almost every Sunday. Enough for anyone to quote the Bible or religion when trying to influence my decisions. Against or for, but usually the former.

The problem, though, is the selective quoting from such a source. Completely neglecting "the word of God" when they are happy doing what they are. But only quoting from such a source when they have personal agendas. Reminding you that the countless hours you spent in church every God-blessed (or damned) Sunday mornings taught you that and people there would agree the same.

Enough with this bull. I've been good enough a fellow church-goer to thank God when good things happen, and not to blame Him when bad things do. But I now find life much easier without religion. I have seen enough to spot hypocrites.

If I need examples, I will find through secular means. If such a person happens to be from a certain religion, I will respect that.

But in the meantime, I don't see a point of "abstaining" and all just to preserve myself a seat (room, suite, etc.) in this place called Heaven, when the existence of such a place is not merely subjective, it cannot be proved and most importantly too restraining to the point that there is not much purpose of life on earth if I were to believe and submit.

A pair of the world's biggest religions were established at almost the same period in world history. Religion then suited the citizen's everyday life as a divine guidance of sorts. In fact, humanity and stability could hardly been imagined to exist at all without this divine teaching.

Life and the world has progressed enough and we're fortunate enough to be born at this small dot in the world history timeline, that I (at least) should focus and appreciate more worldly things and live my own liberal life. Free from people quoting from "divine" scriptures when they themselves cannot prove the existence of God and Heaven but only able to prove themselves to be the worst examples even among the so-called Atheists.

Camper

2008-08-29T02:52:00.002+10:00

Done with my 2nd rotation (after a short 3-month stint).

My right earphone just died on me after about 2 faithful years.

Doubling my weekend by taking a day's leave, to be followed by a public holiday on Monday.

2 minutes since I paused and thought about what else to write. Guess this ends here then.

The Dictator

2008-08-15T14:02:00.002+10:00

In the last post I mentioned two quotes from songs that I find quite impactful.

"The death of one is a tragedy, but the death of millions is just a statistic"
was quoted in Marilyn Manson's Fight Song, but it was first uttered by Joseph Stalin.

Olding

2008-06-22T14:10:00.004+10:00

3 weeks since I've started my 2nd rotation, after 2 wholesome months of classroom training.

Now, nothing beats Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III.

I don't know if it's even morbid, but these two lines (off songs) that made a deep impression in me have a word in common: tragedy.

from Tie My Hands - Lil Wayne ft Robin Thicke:
"yeah, Some say tragedy is hard to get over
But some time that tragedy means its over, soulja"

from Fight Song - Marilyn Manson:
"The death of one is a tragedy
But the death of millions is just a statistic"

Our Slow Transition

2008-04-20T13:52:00.002+10:00

In the last update, I was only 2 weeks into my current job. It's been 2 months since I started working now and, having finished our first rotation, we're in our classroom session.

Ironically but fortunately, we're not acting our age: we really behave more like a bunch of high school adolescents. It's contrary to what I've said in the last post, but I'm glad it is.

Came back from a camp yesterday only to realize all the cash in my wallet was stolen in the resort. But life went on of course, with Saturday drinking, this time with my fellow colleagues. It reminds me of how I lost my bike in Melbourne but still went on to do some shopping, not bothering to file a police report first. It was a little therapeutic.

What's making me uncomfortable, though, is the fact that this post looks more like a journal entry than something random like previous ones, slowly shifting this whole thing into your stereotype of juvenile journals rather than a readable one.

By the way, fuck that shit.

Hello Uncle

2008-03-17T02:25:00.003+11:00

My fourth week into working adulthood now and I am feeling really old already, notwithstanding having much older people around me. Perhaps these are the signs (well, maybe symptoms):

- inability to sleep for more than 9 hours: only able to get that max after a night of good drinking
- taste for music reverts back to pop: Leona Lewis rocks
- feeling the urge to throw up despite of being 56 reps behind Men's Health Bodyweight 350: even the link is taken from the "No More Fat Dad" blog
- immaculate punctuation in emails: 1 month ago, I don't remember doing that
- whiskey+water, rather: because, afterall, it's more uncle

You There

2008-02-14T15:20:00.003+11:00

The following clip you are about to watch is an irony in itself. A French singing in English about an island in Spain.

The point this video is up here though, is, she's NOT the most beautiful woman in the world. But her movements make her so much closer to that.

Props to this French, Alizee:

Irony x2

2008-01-26T05:59:00.000+11:00

1. Finally, I've got a job. Its pay is pretty decent, one which I'm more than happy to start my career with. But I know that day when the good news come, I will have to make an appointment with the dentist for a lower wisdom tooth extraction.

2. I was watching a Bausch & Lomb advert on TV the other day. Its theme was Live Life Comfortably, if I'm not mistaken. It featured scenes with 'firsts' in them, e.g. first date, first etc etc. And yes, I saw "first wisdom tooth" as well. I laughed out loud (oh yeah... LOL literally) when I saw that. Then the camera changed its focus to the dentist in the advert. It was my dad.

Ties That Do Not Bind?

2008-01-23T04:53:00.000+11:00

The reason why I actually bothered looking at this article was its title. I read the whole text with a smirk. Only to realize that it was actually written by DiGi.Com's CEO, Morten Lundal.

Read it here.

To give you an idea without reading it though, it started off with:
"I THINK the day will come when a boy will see a picture from our days and point to the tie and ask his daddy (or mommy), “What is that?”

The parent will answer something like this: “It’s a clothing habit that was prevalent for 200 years or so, especially for men in politics and business. "

And developed into:
""Why spend time on the role of the tie?” you might now understandably ask. Well, to me a tie symbolises two things. First, it symbolises an artificial distance we create between individuals and also between people’s home and work-lives.

We take on a certain persona when we leave for work. Not only do we dress differently for rather hard-to-understand reasons, but we also talk differently, behave differently, and think differently than we do as “private people.”

A tie suggests formalism and a reliance on hierarchy that I don’t think is good for either the business or for the individual.

It also symbolises a thoughtlessness - a failure to challenge the most basic current assumptions. We simply take on (literally around our necks, in this case) something previously defined as “normal”, never taking the time to re-think its relevance to us (or to our customers, our employees, our societies?) today. "

So what came to my mind when I finished reading this? Maybe he had nothing better to write about. Maybe should he write about more serious things like his business, he'd risk letting out some information better kept private. So he wrote under the header 'Managing Mindset'.

Now, how ridiculous is that? Can you imagine Wall Street bankers without the tie? And why attack the tie alone? Honestly, does wearing heels/loafers or even pants with a belt feels that good? I think not. So why not attack the whole 'formal' uniform altogether?

If it's so artificial, it doesn't start with the tie. Tie was invented to compliment the shirt and trousers. If everything has to be so comfortable and 'thoughtful', why not just wear pajamas to work? Why not wear pajamas to talk a deal?

Precisely because people who invented it in the first place wanted this 'artificial' separation of our private lives from the 'commercial'! Do you think people should really socialize and talk deals the way they talk to our family? Well perhaps the answer is yes, depending on what industry that you are looking at.

If you think DiGi people shouldn't be wearing ties, at least not now but 200 years down the road, that's totally fine. Fashion trends tend to be fads, but the fashion industry itself has just revived ties, so much so people put them on in their 'casual' attire. Why? Fashion is about self-expression. And far from 'artificiality', ties add another dimension of self-expression to our formal attire.

Would our kids really be asking their parents, 200 years from now, what are ties? I think then they'd still be wearing them to school. Because it helps in reminding them of that touch of 'formality' that we will nonetheless sustain, for the better.

Damn Well

2008-01-08T17:57:00.000+11:00

When I was applying for a job in a developed country, they stressed equal opportunity for everyone. It was totally within your choice to fill in fields like Gender, Ethnic, and even Disabilities. Asking for people's religious view was unheard of.

But guess what? Here in Malaysia, you can hardly pass a form without filling in your Religion and Ethnic. And guess what? One is even required to fill in those fields when applying for a broadband connection! And what the fuck do my religious view and ethnicity have to do with... internet connection?

But then again, a picture of mine and my profile are just there at the upper right corner of this page. I'd better shut up soon before they find me.

Daft Punk - Alive 2007

2007-12-28T01:00:00.000+11:00

Steal, download, or buy this CD. Don't quote me for whichever means you choose. You get the idea: everyone should own a copy of this masterpiece, where all the best Daft Punk tracks are combined into one single explosive live CD. You'll never regret it.

Yet Again...

2007-12-24T01:04:00.000+11:00

Another complain post. Weather is really fucking me up. Even mere t-shirt and shorts make me sweat like a pig. I told myself it'll take getting used to but looks like it's taking ages.

On the brighter side, I've just visited Pavilion and Gardens, two new and much talked about shopping complexes. I have to say the former makes one of the very few good reasons to stay in KL. I've already heard Mooks is available locally, but was rather surprised to find Industrie, Swear, Aldo, etc. It was also good to see a standalone XDYE shop.

Well, enough of vain shit. It's only about 26 hours to X'mas now. To my few but treasured readers, have a fantastic Christmas! Hope it'll be one of your best. Please party hard!

I need...

2007-12-21T03:54:00.000+11:00

... a job. Because graduation means straight down to unemployment for me.

... more meat. I'm back to rice and sugar land.

... a car. Public transport systems are too isolated. For a discussion, see the first post of this blog!

... more cash. Who wouldn't.

... better weather. Impossible.

Today...

2007-12-08T03:33:00.000+11:00

... I confirmed my graduation. Results weren't anything to celebrate about (in fact the worst ever), but at least I passed everything.

... I brought my parents around the city. They discovered Reject Shop. They went berserk.

... I discovered resistance tubes. I almost went berserk too.

... I chomped pancakes in Pancake Parlour. Had a talk with the manager and he offered some tips for cooking good pancakes "when your mates come over". Conversation ended with a "good luck".

... is my last day working at Platform One. Nothing too exciting or sentimental.

Now The Beauty

2007-12-02T03:49:00.000+11:00

Looks like China isn't just growing economically. Miss China won Miss World, too.

Birthdays

2007-11-29T16:11:00.001+11:00

As far as I could remember, the only celebrity who shares the same birthday as I is Shaquille O'Neal (day and month only of course, not year).

Got a little bored today and I found out that Alan Greenspan (economist and former chairman of Federal Reserve) and Michelangelo (Renaissance artist) were also born on 6th of March.

On the same date in 1899, Aspirin was registered as a trademark by Bayer. Every year, Ghana celebrates its independence on the same date.

Click here for more or to find out about yours.

Thank Apple

2007-11-28T04:23:00.000+11:00

Without Mac's compelling graphical interface, I suppose today's Windows wouldn't look as good (but of course, I have to add, never as good the Macs).

Quoting from Wall Street Journal's article,
"Verizon Wireless said it will allow consumers to use any compatible cellphone on its network and allow open access to the Web and third-party applications, reversing its longstanding policy."

The reason why Steve Jobs let AT&T become the sole service provider for iPhone was because the latter gave Apple all the freedom to innovate, whereas other service providers usually impose heaps of restrictions on mobile phone manufacturers. That's probably why rarely someone is totally happy about their mobile's functionalities.

With the iPhone now open to third party developments, other operators now follow suit to allow for third party innovations too. It's a spillover effect. Thanks to Apple for its iPhone, we can expect to see better phones (not only iPhone) to become better in the near future.

Once (and continually) we thank Apple for those sweet looking stuff, now we ought to thank them for these functionality spillover.

Daft

2007-11-28T02:37:00.000+11:00

From Daft Punk hands to Daft Punk bodies: (although not as original as the former, props to the virtually blindfolded sync)

He Who Doesn't Like It Stable

2007-11-21T01:30:00.000+11:00

It's as if every night I find something disagreeable in some news section or blog. Today, I found an author who thinks it's no big deal and that "it just wouldn't matter all that much" that Iran (and other countries, oil-producing or not) were to price oil relative to a basket of currencies rather than just USD.

According to Justin Fox, the author, this may only result in smoothing (of volatility) of oil prices. And that it won't drastically change the world nor affect the damn USD.

Follow the link below to read my comment (the 2nd one):
http://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/2007/11/what_if_they_stopped_pricing_o_1.html
It concerns how he thinks if a certain product/commodity were to be priced relative to a basket of things would confuse consumers due to complex conversion issues. What? Do inflation (an index) confuse you guys? Can't retailers simply multiply the index by the base figure to publish prices in local currencies?

With such columnists around, I wouldn't be surprised when finally comes the day you realize how unsustainable the country's deficit is and eventually the dollar go tumbling again. Well, who knows then Iran will say it won't matter much. Chances are they will because they have already taken the precautions, like the current idea.

Shut Up Already

2007-11-20T02:48:00.001+11:00

Quoting from an article in WSJ regarding Beijing authority's decision to freeze bank lending till end of the year (at least):

"Instead of trying to target lending levels, economists say China could try to damp credit expansion by pushing up interest rates and letting the yuan appreciate against the U.S. dollar, since both adjustments would make borrowers and lenders think twice before committing to projects. U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, regularly deliver such a message, saying a more market-oriented financial system is in Beijing's own interests."

I think, why not leave China alone? Hasn't China already upped interest rates and still see haphazard growth in the markets that could be potentially unsustainable?

Haven't we seen that by letting you free capitalist give out loans to anybody and everybody finally take its toll in your recent and ONGOING crash of the mortgage lending market?

Do you want them to up interest rates so high as to have the same effect and let the yuan appreciate? Do you even know what are the consequences? The long-term lost in market share in exporting industries? Did you know that sucks?

Chinese do things differently for fuck sake. Please THINK before giving your usual free-market-and-monetary-policy-are-the-shit commentary. It's too predictable, amateurish and textbook-ish. But most dangerously, it can be misleading.

Stiff Upper Lip

2007-11-15T00:42:00.000+11:00

Yesterday, friends asked what happened to my lips. Well it's been like that for the past 1 and a half weeks already but they haven't seen me for quite a bit and noticed my lips seem Jay Z-thick. It looked burned and almost scaly.

Today, friends asked what happened to my lips. It's amazing how an overnight application of this papaw ointment alleviated the condition so drastically.

P.S. If you are unfamiliar with the term, papaw = papaya.

Departures

2007-11-03T03:15:00.000+11:00

Although I've worked in this club on Fridays for not too long, although not having any strong emotional attachments yet, it's still kinda sad to see the staff leaving one by one. Actually, three left at once last week. And this week, a bouncer who's been at this job for 9 years.

I guess they are just sort of over this stepping stone. They have probably earned a day job hard enough and had prefer to focus.

While the old ones go, at least we could look at the bright side of new people coming in. But new ones don't always stay too long. That's what will make you miss the old people.

And down the road in less than 2 months from now is my graduation. I.e. time to say goodbye to fellow course mates. It's hard to leave. I'm a bit sentimental but friends say it's easier if I see it as a new beginning.

A new beginning it is then.

Well, all the best guys. Till we meet again.

It's a little depressing, but...

2007-11-01T23:43:00.000+11:00

It's SWOT vac (Study Without Teaching vacation), the time when University of Melbourne's students have a week off to study for exams.

It's a little depressing because everyone is so busy studying. Well, given that it's most of my friends' last semester (including myself), there's no reason to fuck around.

This whole week all I got was a little retail therapy in DFO and that's about it. The rest was spent at home studying, studying, and studying. There isn't even gymming because I'm taking a break from the recent cycle (just the regime, no roids).

It just makes me wanna get through this semester as quickly as possible, so that I could start working soon. Somehow the idea of earning my own money, full time, fascinates me. And the idea of shopping for working clothes. And soon time to get a car.

But it's weird. I'm working soon yet this blog still sounds a little juvenile.

Things that...

2007-10-24T21:44:00.000+10:00

Today, after a 9am-5pm day in the uni, I caught a tram back at around 5.45pm. While the tram wasn't entirely quiet, the most audible noise came from this little Chinese child.

His mom was holding this small Chinese reading book, and she was reciting and repeating lines after lines for this kid to follow. At one point I even saw her counting down 5 with her fingers, the number of times the kid was supposed to recite a line, until perfection.

When they were done, the mother put the book back into his bright-colored backpack. As if he hadn't had enough, he took that book back and gave it to his mother again. Before asking his mother to give him more practice, he even browsed through the book looking for a particular section.

While the mother wasn't that sort who was looking for attention, she wasn't too afraid of attention as well. And while he wasn't 100% keen, he wasn't 100% reluctant.

This is true Chinese values in action. They might not like what they are doing, but we strongly believe in our ways, especially in cultivating discipline in children.

I'm not being a racist. If you look at United States' statistics, increasingly, Asian kids take up a big proportion of top performing students. The Asian way hasn't changed that much. It's just the rest of you. But I'm not even saying your culture is deteriorating. But if someone else is catching up (or perhaps going past you) at such a pace, a little retrospection wouldn't hurt.

What were the chances?

2007-10-21T18:56:00.000+10:00

Today, I was at Ksubi's last day of sale in Docklands. It was in one of those sheds and I as always, had my iPod along.

Halfway trying out a pair of jeans in a shabby mass fitting room, my iPod fell into a hole just nice to fit your fingers. But it slid down, lying flat under a concrete ground and the gap was too thick for any fingers to reach.

According to the security, when water level rises, it will probably float it to the ocean. There, I hope, my beloved companion will find peace.

A...

2007-10-20T04:25:00.000+10:00

... drunk update is good from time to time.

But an empty one ain't cool.

To you know who, yes, we smell very good together!

I'm Smiling, Not Laughing!

2007-10-19T00:49:00.000+10:00

It wasn't such a nice day today. Woke up late, turned up to class without paper to write nor the questions for the tutorial. Was totally blank. Then body was so lethargic I did 2 sets of squats and that's it for legs.

Over this year I witnessed some old friends or friends of friends' getting married. I don't know them well, but some couples either look like they're getting a shottie marriage or they're just too premature for a wedding. Or should I say, a marriage. I was either laughing or apathetic when I learned about them.

Besides my brother's proposal, for the first time, I was totally smiling (not laughing) when I learned that two friends of mine are getting married! In Facebook, it was so awesome to see their happy post-prososal faces holding a ring in Shanghai. What a nice end to an odd day...

Today... (again, the bored and boring title)

2007-10-18T02:23:00.000+10:00

... I rediscovered streaming radio online. This time around I was listening to Hitz.fm and Mix.fm, two channels I grew up with but never quite grow out of. Both of them remind me of the times, well, growing up! Very nostalgic. The oldest memory it conjured was my purchasing of Prodigy's Fat of the Land album (in cassette!) when I was 11, after Hitz introduced Prodigy's Breathe and Firestarter. The latest memory was me driving in a lonely car last summer, stuck in the rush hour traffic after work in the gloomy and sometimes rainy skies.

... I received a confirmation that my graduation date has been allowed to be brought forward. It took some trouble for my parents to email those itineraries over due to public holidays back home, but fortunately the Graduation Union decided to let me change the date, for if not, I and my parents will be flying back even before the allocated date! (That, of course, is due to air ticketing difficulties).

... I realized that I'm getting a little out-dated with what's happening in the finance world once again. I was applying for some jobs and there are fields that I can't even figure what to write. Let alone if I ever get interviewed and bombarded by some insane questions. Well, on the same note, well done to India for being able mitigate the market panic so well! 3 well's in one sentence. Fuck it, I'm too lazy to edit.

Food...

2007-10-11T02:13:00.000+10:00

I guess this would be the first entry I have regarding food.

Wednesday is a very long day for me. Typically it spans 7.30am to 3.00am and it's an off-day for training (I wanna enjoy my 4-hour break). Here's roughly what I had for the day, trying to keep up with my regular 3-hourly meals:

8.00am: oatmeal + eggs
11.30am: high protein low carbs bar + NutriGrain bar
1.30pm: salmon sushi + chicken teriyaki sushi + some stuffed sushi
4.15pm: mass shake (50/50 protein/carbs)
7.45pm: diced lamb + spaghetti
12.00am: chicken with cheese + pita bread
2.45am: protein milk shake

and good night! Woohoo!

Dear Fans of Dru Hill (and on how to become a count or duke)

2007-10-07T23:34:00.000+10:00

Scola (from Dru Hill) will be performing live in Platform One on Fri 26th October. Check this flyer out. I shall see you at the second door!

And oh, I didn't know that there are some organizations in this world that could actually make you a count or duke if you wish so! Guess what, multilevel marketing has such features built in their membership structures. Put in a certain (high, of course) level of investment in and voila, you become a count!

Ingenious! Another self-esteem aid there! Or should I say a band-aid, because they won't let you hold such titles once you leave the organization.

End of Holiday

2007-09-29T04:21:00.000+10:00

Yeah, here it is again, the end of mid-term break. Haven't done too much studies nor readings. But I had quite alot of fun just hanging out and shopping.

Just came back from work @ Platform One Soultrain's 2nd anniversary, themed 'Playboy Mansion'. It was quite different from the last time I've worked there, this time there being a whole lot more people. And since they changed the main room to play house, the beats kept me more awake than did RnB music previously.

I guess it's quite a smart move of Soultrain Fridays to switch to house in the main room because there aren't many Asian nights out there playing house. And for those who prefer RnB they've now moved to the smaller room, which apparently is more packed. But I guess it's better to be packed in RnB music than house music.

Last Wednesday I was also working at this once-off Indonesian night. It was alright. Friends were there and I was able to enjoy a short after-work party in the club and supper at maccas.

How...?

2007-09-20T03:36:00.000+10:00

1) Magazine subscriptions in US are already so ridiculously cheap. And recently I've got an email from Amazon offering an instant rebate of $10 when you subscribe to 2 magazines. E.g. if you subscribe to Men's Health for $24.94 a year, throw in GQ's subscription for another $12. After your $10 rebate, that's like adding GQ for only 2 bucks! To give an even cheaper example, subscribe to GQ and Esquire for $12 and $8 respectively and get your 10 bucks off, that's a 50% discount. Nobody's complaining. But why don't we get such prices elsewhere in the world?

2) Luciano Pavarotti, the great tenor, passed away earlier this month. And this Monday, Colin McRae, a Brit rally legend, died after crashing a chopper he was piloting near his home. Rest in peace.

Today...

2007-09-15T03:38:00.000+10:00

... was my first time sprinting after ages, since high school. It felt good. But I was rather slow of course. A friend said my strides could have been longer and I wasn't really pushing. That'll take a little time.

... was my first night working in a club (2 minutes walk from my place), as a second door guy (i.e. that guy who collects tickets). Made a couple of new friends, but I don't think I did a terribly satisfying job. Confused patrons (who didn't know if they had to pay) who just walked in straight had me confused as well. And that new environment + new people combo had me, as usual, a little quiet and reserved. Hopefully it gets better the next time.

But all in all, who's complaining for such a good day? It's also the start of a 2-week mid-semester break!

Rest in Peace, Legend

2007-09-11T21:52:00.000+10:00

I guess I'm pretty outdated, not knowing that Luciano Pavarotti has passed away on September 6, 2007.

Rest in peace.

Some Updates

2007-09-06T00:27:00.000+10:00

Today, during my 4-hour break, I went home because I needed to get something out of my freezer to defrost. Later I went shopping with a couple. What a cockblocker. When it was time to go back to uni, guess what, a bunch of protesting idiots were doing a sitting on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets, disabling all the trams to go any further. I wasn't very pleased at all. They wanna stop wars, they wanna stop Bush. I understand the former. Who needs a war? But the latter, I'll never. Isn't Bush gonna step down next year already? Which leads to the next point.

This week is again that fucking annoying time of the year when Student Union wannabes run and campaign for positions. We've got the 'fun' ones that wish to subsidize all textbooks that cost over $50. How realistic. Then we've got the never giving up Left Unionists. The name I think tells alot about their ignorance. Left, left to whatever the status quo. When will they ever be happy? A bunch of lifeless fucktards. Same thought I had when I stepped down of the tram today.

And so, back to myself. On Monday I had a trainer who keenly designed me a new program. And a new workout 'style' on top of that (no breathing when lifting, long rests, etc.). I needn't pay anything because he was a friend. But nonetheless there was a price to pay. I was dragged into a multi-level marketing talk.

Which explains why, tonight, one of my assignments is to figure out how to turn down a friend/trainer politely and still keep that friendship. Ideally, I would wanna say, "I really don't see myself doing what your doing now", which doubles as perhaps an awakener to him as well. But I'd keep that one till I couldn't keep it no more.

You'll hate how single-minded they are and how much they stress keywords that are only weakly defined. An example: passive income. Income when you sleep, like how one demonstrated on the stage. He lied down flat, rolled around and said, "this is how you make money". But by having to do all these talks, dragging people to talks, pestering friends and family, being annoying, exhibiting ignorance, etc. I don't know how that is possibly passive. That's a huge non-monetary price. On top of that, another gym buddy SMSed me the night before and asked for my e-mail address, and I saw him at the same talk on that night. Lucky me, a friend had already alerted me regarding his MLM interests. But dear audience, passive income or not, there's one huge price you have to pay: relationships. Ever realized why people in MLM schemes are so clicky? They need each other. Because they don't have much outside. And the guys there always said "think outside the box" (which is of course, only a way to make them sound intelligent and nice), but hey, you'll be living inside a forest in an isolated island.

And what a ridiculous thing to say that people who live in big luxurious houses with pools, etc. don't live happily and have constant headaches and high levels of stress.

It's a wonder how these people got brainwashed. Maybe it's neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) at work, I don't know. But if that's the case, maybe thanks to my minor exposures to how these stuff works, I reminded and allowed myself to be a little distracted from time to time and asked questions in my mind that required negative answers (a no). Sounds silly, but that's the way it works.

Anyway, happy networking. But business talk down right my asshole.

Dear American Press,

2007-08-27T21:32:00.000+10:00

When I was reading the previous issue of The Economist today, I stumbled upon some news in the Business This Week section, stating that some of Mattel's toys were recalled due to "impermissible levels of lead" in its toy cars and "potential safety risks" in up to 18.2m toys containing small magnet pieces. On the same note, Nokia identified a dodgy batch of 46m batteries supplied by a Japanese firm (but made somewhere else).

What struck me was, they made sure they highlighted the point that they were all made in China. And I also recalled some comic strips in Conde Nast's Portfolio website regarding the same issue of Made in China. They had a whole gallery of them.

To Americans, I'm sure this is nothing new already.

To me, I can imagine how naive but convenient it is for you Americans to claim such things.

First of all, let's not do stats, but just a simple percentage calculation. Why are there so many problems with these Made in China things? Because most of the things are made in China. So when something is faulty, wouldn't you expect the chances of it being from China to be rather high? I think yes.

Are you blaming the Chinese? I don't know.
To you producers:
I'm sure you sent some of the manufacturing operations to China because it is relatively cheap. So if the press cares so much about people's well-being, hey, maybe you should consider pulling the plants away from China. Manufacture somewhere else, let it be more expensive, so long as your Americans don't get hurt.
To you consumers:
Check the label. Made in China? Say no. Wanna be ahead? Dump whatever Made in China stuff you have. Boycott them altogether.

Convenience. In the midst of your bad economy and just as shit a forecast, I bet I can understand why the press is trying to shift people's attention away from home.

In this small world, we need each other.

I'm not trying to ask you to boycott Chinese products. Because that's what the press is already doing.

Dead Dual Milestone

2007-08-20T19:44:00.000+10:00

When we came out from class at five p.m. today, it was brighter than usual. Ironically though, it was colder. But that isn't the highlight of the day.

Ever since I started deadlifting, I've always been very conscious of my form, for two reasons: to avoid injuries (especially the lower back) and to ensure the respective muscle groups are used (hence stimulated) optimally. Instead of asking a friend to spot my workouts, usually I'd have them check my form. I guess it was quite a milestone today, when an instructor just came by to me and complimented that I'm deadlifting pretty well, better than most of the people. Maybe not in terms of the load, but the form. Nonetheless, I'm finally lifting 125 kilos (275 pounds) now. I guess that's not too bad for a non-powerlifting average build guy.

Snow

2007-08-09T01:11:00.000+10:00

It's already been exactly 6 days since I left to Falls Creek. Time just passes so fast and while I have barely caught up with work, here comes weekend again. But before my memory fades, here is a little debrief of the trip.

I, Will and May gathered about 2-3 hours before departure in Safeway to get some last-minute groceries. It wasn't until 1.30am that we had to meet in Melbourne Central so we just sat in QV chatting away and devouring a roast chicken till it was time to move.

The journey took more than 5 hours, and by the time we reached, everyone was just dead exhausted. Yet, we couldn't check in till 3pm. So we just had our stuff chugged into this storage room, got our gears, and up we went to the mountains.

It was about this time that all the "muscle man", "big man", etc. nicknames bloomed into life. I was no more Ben or Benedict.

11pm we called for lunch. 12pm was time for our beginner's class, which I sucked the worst in the entire class. My slow learning made my first day rather frustrating.

Everyone slept early that night except the few of us who chose to sleep later and talked more cock. We however, woke up earlier than almost everyone else the day after.

So we started our day earlier as well. Will wasted one hour of his life accompanying me down a run. Unfortunately, a part of the 2nd day was still a little frustrating. Until I was enlightened by the lesson of the day: don't look at the board.

Just as the fun kicked in, I decided I should go grab a meal. Later, there wasn't much time left. So we went for this rather challenging run (at least for me). And I did great! I'm so glad I did 'coz it mattered that the last run put a big smile on my face and really great satisfaction.

We went back to return our stuff, ate, started drinking, talking cock and watching some friends sing and do impersonations.

After getting bored, I got back into the room only to see there were already a few additions to the bed talk crew. And so we talked and talked till 5.55am. And slept. Till 9am. We went up to the snow again, this time just to play instead of any boarding at all. And we headed home.

Photos in next entry.

Today is...

2007-07-25T18:47:00.000+10:00

... the third day of my last semester. And I've only had 2 hours of sleep the night before. I'm still having troubles adjusting my time.

... a beautiful day, in terms of Melbourne's weather. My three hour break, despite being really sleepy, was adequately spent with friends having lunch, coffee, resting, and basically just having a good time hanging out in the noon. It's been quite a while now.

... also a day of a little inefficiency on Melbourne's side. I waited for my apartment's lift for almost 5 minutes. The tram ride home also took me more than half an hour (which would usually only takes 15-20 mins) all to be made worse by me wanting to go to the loo so badly.

... I went too far with the little ego boosts I got. Taking compliments I turned myself into a fountain of indulgent self-boasting.

... gym-less. Does that mean I need to quit gymming to have more days like this to come? Nope, but probably some moderation.

Yesterday was...

... the day I got a decent haircut after alot of attempts by other hairdressers. I tell my friends it's got the 'designer feel'. And yes, choosing reading for leisure over computer gaming also has that 'designer feel'.

... the day I walked into Big W and got myself the first hairdryer. Yes, despite the really short hair now.

All in all...

... it sounds very gay. I know, but it's OK, so long as I know I'm straight.

Your 50-day 300 Workout Challenge

2007-07-24T21:34:00.000+10:00

If, like me, bodybuilding is getting a bit pointless to you, I highly recommend you to take up the following challenge, the 300 Workout:
* 25 pull-ups
* 50 deadlifts at 135 pounds
* 50 push-ups
* 50 box jumps with a 24-inch box
* 50 "floor wipers" (a core and shoulders exercise at 135 pounds)
* 50 "clean and press" at 36 pounds (a weight-lifting exercise)
* 25 more pull-ups -- for a total of 300 reps

Condition yourself for 50 days. Then on the fiftieth day complete the above in as little time as possible. You should be aiming for about 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) For beginners, you may want to look for variants online (e.g. with assisted pull-ups, lighter floor wipers, etc). You could die (damage your kidney for too much muscle breakdown or even suffer from a heart attack) if you jump straight on.

2) It's full of bollocks to say this workout will build you muscles. It's really more of an endurance/high intensity sort of workout that may help harden and cut your physique.

3) Youtube any of the workouts if you need visual instructions.

4) I will have no liability for any injuries sustained whatsoever.

5) Lastly, feel free to update me on your journey. Good luck, and more importantly, have fun!

New and Last Semester

2007-07-22T23:59:00.000+10:00

This semester, which is the last for me (hopefully), will be rather different to those in the past. There's only 3 subjects, with one of them carrying double credit. Also, one of these 3 have no tutes.

Contingencies, Actuarial Statistics, and Model for Insurance and Finance. They all sound very technical, yes, but that's about all I know - just can't be bothered to find out more when we're not given the choice of subjects.

And just wondering though. My family is coming in December. Should they stay for Christmas? I've never spent one here so I wouldn't know if it would be fun. Any help, advise or suggestions would be warmly appreciated.

Melbourne Got More Beautiful

2007-07-15T23:56:00.000+10:00

I remember the last time I thought Melbourne got more beautiful was when I finally saw sunlight again, and that apparently wasn't because of the weather, it was because I finally woke up early again.

This time though, it's thanks to government policies. Few months back, when doing research for an Investment Banking challenge, I came across the fact that smoking will be banned in casinos in the Victoria region, effective July 2007.

So I witnessed that myself last Thursday when I was in Crown. Little did I know such a ban applies similarly to other indoor entertainment places as well, until I visited Legends (pool place) and Hush Bar.

No more stinking clothes/bodies after clubbing and second-hand smoking. But more segregation. Being a non-smoker myself, I think the benefits here outweigh the costs, but that of course is just my opinion.

More Touching Stuff

2007-07-12T02:44:00.000+10:00

Today I woke up around 6:30pm in my friend's place and as I waited for him to wake up, I was streaming some videos on SpikedHumor as usual. When I messaged him one hour later had I only found out that I was at his place alone. He was gone playing golf. Man...

Anyway, I saw this really disturbing piece. I've listened to all kinds of gangsta rap, but this one by far hit me the hardest. A 6:48 video, it's not the best video you could find out there nor it has the best rhymes. But Immortal Technique is really one of the most lyrical rappers out there.

The video itself is not disturbing, just its words. Nonetheless, I can't resist to write a spoiler below for those of you who hasn't the patience to go through the entire video.

Spoiler follows:
Billy being a kid that lives a 'typical' hard life of a Black American, approached some gangsters on the streets and asked them if he could be part of them. The thugs showed him no love and told him he had to show what he's got - go rape someone.

The three of them met on a Friday night and followed this lady, quarter to three, who'd just finished work. They wrapped her head and managed to drag her to some rooftop. They choked her, broke her jaws and ribs to shut her up and obviously she cried so badly when they started raping her.

When they were done, Billy was asked to kill her for a guaranteed place in the gang. Billy thinking she had already gone through so much, pulled out a new gun and pointed at her head. But he thought he might as well lift off the cloth covering her face. He saw that she was her mom.

He turned his back and cried to the skies. "Only devil answered because God was apparently not there". He recalls how hard his mom worked to late at night to feed and bring them up. He decided death could bring him to a better place, he jumped off the building. The other finished everything off by killing the victim as well. And the rapper was the other guy there who also raped the woman.

Of Seven and a Bitch Brawl

2007-07-07T16:55:00.001+10:00

Seven was good lastnight. The third time I've been there since they've open three weeks ago, i.e. I've been there every week now. It was good fun yesterday, with both the Malaysian and Singaporean gangs there. Seven is becoming a substitute of Maison for me here in Melbourne. Or maybe better actually.

In last week's post, I mentioned the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Sts to be a very dodgy area. Last week, some caucasian and asian were fighting against something and had the caucasian saying "you don't tell me I'm gonna die tonight aight" and shit, the fight being mediated by a McDonald's security. Lastnight, I watched a random bitch brawl. About 3 girls vs 3 girls and 2 guys. If I remember correctly, only one or two were stopping it and the rest continued kicking and throwing punches. And what happened next? They just walked away. I thought the whole scene was seriously hilarious.

No Boost

2007-07-06T15:46:00.000+10:00

Results aren't nice at all. I'm not supposed to go to Seven with these results tonight, but fuck it:

Actuarial Modelling II: 67
This was sort of expected. The lecturer mentioned earlier that there would be no "middle-range" scores around 70-80. It's either you are the average or the better ones. He said this was to make sure it's fair for getting students into Honours.

Financial Mathematics III: 72
I thought I answered everything, except giving wrong conclusions for risk aversions and missing another 5 marks for leaving out 5 (out of 10) CAPM assumptions. I had full marks for my assignments though. I've got nothing to say.

Corporate Finance: 74
I've got nothing to say for this either. I walked out early all confident and shit. And people from the summer semester get 90's.

Actuarial Modelling I: 76
The paper I mentioned earlier that I could've put in more effort. See, if I did, an H1 could've been possible. There you go.

Update?

2007-06-30T04:33:00.000+10:00

I'm trying hard to be drunk so that I could post up a drunk update. But I could hardly be drunk nowadays. Only hungry, if I don't eat for more than 4 hours.

So what happened? We went to the same club we went to last Friday. It was alright. It was fun actually. Three quarters as packed. Incidentally I was hanging out with some unexpected people, the gym bunch!

Alcohol made you friends and made you get to know friends better. Indeed. Until tonight, I didn't know this guy was actually capable of going to a club ALONE. I've never tried that. After having a couple of drinks, he seemed to be pushing it. He approached alot of girls, whether or not they were with guys. If he didn't succeed, I was next to go. Apparently I backed off at some. I didn't want to get into trouble.

My closer buddies went off early because one passed out. He hadn't been drinking for some time. Upon finding myself unfamiliar with the bunch of people I usually only hang out in the gym and not outside, I sneaked out and took a cab home.

The cabbie couldn't do simple arithmetic. He called me back into the cab after I left, saying he was confused (with the change). Lucky I was at Flinders St Station and a security came by to ask if everything was alright. He finally gave up with the math. I wasn't 100% sober but c'mon. I don't cheat and I could've just walked away with the extra change you gave me. I gave you back the extra and you called me back.

Then I went to McDonald's on Elizabeth St. Everyone knows it's dodgy there. A caucasian ran behind the counters when an Asian was looking for him, apparently to settle some shit. A security pulled him out and became the mediator of whatever problem they had. The white kept saying "you don't tell me I'm gonna die tonight, aight". I pretended everything was cool, savouring my Filet'o'Fish while waiting for my Hamburger. And thank God, I'm home safe. There you go, staying in Flinders Ln.

And the crowd? If you are drunk, go sober up or go home. One sober girl introduced herself to me and pushed her drunk friend to me. I was just like a fucking pole for ten minutes that she clung on to. I had to sit down with her, get her a glass of water, and carry her to the toilet. Take care of your friends, seriously. (By the way, she was no where to be seen thereafter and those sober ones were still there having fun. Where's the mercy?)

Gotta Be Kidding Me!

2007-06-18T22:35:00.000+10:00

So, while I was blissfully asleep today, at 8.15AM, there were 3 critical gunshots fired just one block away from my place. I only found out about that like half an hour ago after noticing my friend's nickname on MSN, after ignorantly walking in the same lane where it happened back to home after gym in the dark.

And again I walked down to 7-Eleven to get a phone card to call my mom. What's so scary? The shooting took place one block away from my place, and a piece of clothing + the GUN were found just somewhere BELOW my apartment, where apparently the shooter ran to after the incident!

Even though I remember taking a piss at 7:50AM, I don't remember hearing a thing. Thank God I'm still safe. Seriously.

Type "shooting melbourne" in Google for more.

edit: Of course, another point worth highlighting is, the killer is still at large.

A Little Too Moving

2007-06-16T03:45:00.000+10:00

I find these two auditions from Britain's Got Talent so moving.

The first one showcases an ordinary phone salesman singing Nessun Dorma. There is just so much soul in his eyes.

The second one is Tony Laf, performing a song written reflecting his life raising 3 kids his brother left behind after dying from cancer two years ago. I have to admit I dropped some tears with this one. NB I've never actually cried watching a movie before. Let alone such a small clip.

Gloomsday

2007-06-16T01:56:00.000+10:00

Today's weather was really bad. It was so foggy throughout the day and so cold you could barely sweat in the gym.

The paper I sat for today was pretty easy, but I really could have done better. Sometimes all I need is just that extra inch of effort. But somehow I fail.

It is also today that I learned about a close friend's lost of his mother.

And also a not-so-close friend totalling his R33 Skyline.

What a day...

I guess nonetheless the day ended comfortably with a Beck's by the fireplace.

edit: Despite the foggy atmosphere, the gym decided to alienate us by having a major rearrangement of 90% of the machines, benches, racks, etc. Peeking out of the glass panes at the doors, one could only see a ghostly empty basketball court and athletic track, and... a goalkeeper at the concrete football field. Funny but spooky how I just saw him/her stood there the whole time and no one else. Shit.

Suspense! with the first paper

2007-06-12T13:31:00.000+10:00

Today I had my first paper. Basically everything towards the exam wasn't really pleasant. I only had less than 3 hours of sleep because I just couldn't adjust back my sleeping hours. The journey there plus the wait 'coz I turned up too early were miserable because of the weather. And the suspense part: just before I sat down on my designated table I thought, fuck, I forgot my calculator!

But nevermind. Fortunately panicking didn't even cross my mind. I called an invigilator and she told me, happens doesn't it? Hell yeah. She got me a calculator from, I suppose, some Asian girl because there was some Hello Kitty-like sticker on it.

333-302 Corporate Finance wasn't an easy paper. We'll see how it goes pretty soon. I hope I don't get some shit 79 score again just because I didn't bother checking and walked out early. But then again, when it happened last year, I'd probably get a shittier score had I not walk out. I knew some things were shaky but lucky I left them as they were.

Looking For A Lil' Fiesta?

2007-06-05T01:57:00.000+10:00

If you are as bored as me, watch this episode of Drawn Together to answer this question: what do I and Lance Armstrong's left testicle have in common?

Study Break Slacking

2007-06-05T01:44:00.001+10:00

Since there really isn't anything to update because life has just been so dull lately and all my friends are studying hard as well, I thought I'd only:

1) let you watch a video of the circuit/high intensity training of the 300 cast. Notice this is the real thing, it's definitely not your usual Men's Health 'revolutionary' program pushed in every issue. With this level of intensity, if you are really keen, expect some throwing up in the process http://www.spikedhumor.com/Article.aspx?id=109182

2) recommend you three tracks that would move you
- Let The Beats Roll (Tim Deluxe feat Audio Bullies)
- Touch Your Toes (Armand Van Helden feat Fat Joe and BL) (yes, such a combo)
- It's The Beat (Simian Mobile Disco)

That's it for now!

Do This At Home, Not Outside! (mature audiences only)

2007-05-29T22:21:00.000+10:00

To Be a Classic

2007-05-25T18:07:00.000+10:00

Around 6:30pm yesterday, I hopped into the tram after having done with my back routine in the gym. Not just one stop away, I could feel there was a little bit commotion going on even though I was on my iPod. Curious of what was going on, I took out one of the earphones and the next thing I noticed, the tram driver walked up to me and asked me to give him a hand.

So I followed him just a few steps to the front door where all the commotion seems to be coming from. An old man struggling to get on the tram. Why not let him? We were at the Royal Melbourne Hospital stop. And he's an in-patient. He still had that needle thing on his hand that the drip tube goes into. Obviously he ran way from the hospital. I told him, "Sorry man, I'm afraid you have to go back to the hospital". He said, "I just want to go to McDonald's to get pancakes, pancakes!".

He was old. He was barely able to walk. So I thought it really wasn't nice of me to forcefully block him and get him down. Eventually he got up and found himself a place to seat.

The tram driver didn't want to move and he wasn't able to do so by the way: the patient's wife was standing in front of the tram. While two emo/punk girls were chatting with him, the police came in less than 5 minutes.

One of the many curious passengers came to the front and asked what's going on. The driver explained to him, and as he walked back, the emo girls tried to get that passenger's attention by saying "Oh, that's life!". Apparently, that guy didn't care much what they said. And I, sitting facing them, thought they should shut the fuck up too.

The patient however was cheerful all the time. He even made us laugh when he said "Ahhh c'mon move the tram, dickhead!".

The cops came up and talked nicely, and he left nicely as well. Everything was handled pretty well.

As other passengers got back into the tram, the two emo girls were pretty agitated. Finally, one stood up and said "I'm gonna leave this damned tram, I can't stand you people. Why can't you just let him go?". They walked down as others were still embarking, and as they left, they yelled "You guys are sick! You guys are so twisted!".

It's my first time to see how emo people would react in such situations. And personally, I think the two girls have a bigger problem than the patient who merely wants to indulge in some pancakes. Seriously. If that's life, get a life.

Sidebar #4 (Melbourne Edition)

2007-05-22T21:17:00.000+10:00

Drive, take a tram, or even walk past the Toyota showroom on Elizabeth St. Notice the dolls/mannequins or whatever you call them at the window. Do this at night. Do this when you need them creeps.

Sidebar #3

2007-05-16T21:39:00.000+10:00

I suppose the majority of the world still has paper babies/newborn registration forms. Imagine one day everyone has to do it on a computer terminal. If I'm able to, I'd run a tally on how many people would be named Qwerty.

NB: Please check you know what I'm talking about. Look at your keyboard.

Nice One...

2007-05-16T15:59:00.000+10:00

Some nice stuff spotted in my own blog. Click to enlarge (hint: 3rd ad)

Bubble Bubble

2007-05-16T00:51:00.000+10:00

This week we've been touching so much on private equity, bubbles and efficiency.

In fact, look at what's happening around you. You know there's a bubble, but just when is it gonna burst?

I could give you a corny+technical+boring example of private equity (despite some arguing it's not one) but let's have a look at something still boring but more personal.

I being an actuarial student since last summer have got all hooked up with investment banking ambitions instead of actuarial. Maybe it's because I worked in a Big 4 and got myself exposed to more of the finance stuff. But probably not so much. It's really more like how, in a way, I decided to do actuarial: the wave.

Haven't you realized how glammed up investment banks are lately? How many finance students you've heard say they wanna work in IB? How many then can go on and on about what IB is but couldn't tell you much on why have they not considered sister jobs like global markets, equity research, or trading?

I myself being an actuarial student am also dragged into the happy bandwagon. I'm already rejected by two major IB's but I'm not worried. They only hire one or two out of the thousands of the online applicants. Unless I'm terribly outstanding. Unless I really get hooked up with some big shots and get hired outside of this process. But it's best one leaves such expectations alone. It works best that way.

So what's my point? Maybe there's another wave coming, among us more mathematically inclined students: quants. Quantitative analysts needs to have done alot of postgrad work, doesn't have to work as dreadfully as IB counterparts and still earn heaps. Imagine a senior quant could earn 500k till a million pounds a year.

So... I really wish I was able to do at least Honours. Too bad I'm not financially able to. But then again, even if I was able to, I still might not want to. Why? You'll never know what you'd like to do when you graduate. Learning skills are more important than learnt skills. And I'm already lucky enough to be here in Melbourne. After grad, it's all up to me!

Week 11 already

2007-05-15T21:19:00.001+10:00

Listening: Sarah McLachlan - Mirrorball

After 6 days since our last round of UBS ended, we met up again to do some catching up. The conversation now is so much more refreshing than the ones we had back then. But still, it was a very good experience.

A friend of mine told me that about 8 actuarial students from LSE got into Goldman Sachs vac training positions in Hong Kong. If I was financially able to, I could've been one of them. I was already officially enrolled but just didn't turn up. This just shows the lack of opportunity here in Melbourne seriously. Things are just made worse with all the citizenship/residency requirements. The economy could have been so much more vibrant, but maybe that's just the way it is and will be for some choose this country for such features.

But indeed. Think about the lifestyle and culture. And food! Speaking of which, I've only discovered today that there is 'Nachos' pizza in Melbourne Uni! If you thought spaghetti on pizzas were novel, think again. I haven't tried it though. The usual meat lovers or bacon pizzas were all tempting enough.

A Wednesday of...

2007-05-09T22:27:00.000+10:00

We finally came into Top 5 but not Top 3 of the campus final. Of course we are a bit dispirited, but at least we've got rid of a big burden. Exams are coming close by the way, and I've got quite a bad schedule.

Our presentation was not persuasive enough. Here are some thoughts I can offer:
1) don't just rehearse to your team mates, but also to your friends so they could NOT ONLY give feedback, but also perhaps be judges and ask you questions on the spot.
2) when you are not creating a presentation from scratch but drafting from an existing one, make sure you don't copy too much. Doing such references could sometimes be more harmful than good.
3) for girls, wear high heels! You will feel the difference.
4) people in Aussie think my tie/shirt combo is good but Malaysians don't.

After our 15-minute presentation followed by the 15-minute bombardment of questions, we went to the city for dinner by tram. My team mate stepped on another girl's foot with her heel and got that girl bleeding. On the other hand, I sat down and immediately stood up when I thought some older guy wanted to sit. But he didn't. An odd-looking haggard woman who was sitting there looked at me sourly and said "sit there, nobody's sitting there". I felt so bad. She probably thought I stood up because I realized I was sitting next to some weirdo. But that's not what I meant. I sat down and the place smelled like piss. We went back for the awards presentation and when I was going back, I happened to hop onto the same tram with the same pee smell. What the fuck man...

Irony

2007-05-08T23:45:00.000+10:00

Listening: Shake - Ying Yang Twins feat. Pit Bull

I was streaming news when I was having a late breakfast today. It's really funny to see how amused two (if not mistaken) NBC female anchors were at miss Paris' misfortunes.

But really, I found it funny myself: Paris complained that the court is picking on her because she's blonde and she's rich. How could that not be funny? She's really confused.

Poor her she only gets one hour outside of her cell everyday and a 5-minute shower daily with only soap.

Orange is the new pink.

Hardcore

2007-05-08T00:57:00.000+10:00

It probably doesn't sound as big a deal to some, but I think I've never been inside the campus for 14 and a half hours straight.

First 6 hours were spent in 5 classes and a lunch break. Then a short 45 minutes break before I met up with my team to do more UBS stuff.

Again I feel like I'm slacking. Not by my choice, but I'm always not assigned enough work. Maybe my part just didn't need that much update for the next phase. But I'm also like the graphing and graphics guy. My technical skills help beautify the whole presentation.

Oh well. Tomorrow we will have the whole room to ourselves again. But the speech has to be written up now and I've got to get some tute work done as well.

Presenting your pitch to a panel of 5 bankers and academics ain't fun. Plus up to 5 more previous winners (or something).

Wish me luck! Will update soon.

But then again...

2007-05-05T03:17:00.000+10:00

Things slowly worked out in my team. Upon going through more thoroughly each of our part of the UBS Investment Banking challenge, our members got a better understanding of each other and their respective contributions.

Things got less tense already.

And at the ultimate point, during the presentation, it was an impressive one. What's even more important was our superior Question & Answer session. We were asked a question probably beyond the conventional scope of the competition but our 18-year old member had it resolved almost effortlessly.

The result? I, being the team's correspondent, received a call 4 hours later that confirmed our standing as the last 4 in Melbourne. For an undergrad non-honours team, I must say we did really well. And if we go through this round again, we'll end up in Sydney competing for the finals. But it's too early to talk just yet.

What a week

2007-05-02T22:01:00.000+10:00

Last week was apparently a good one. Anzac party, Anzac holiday, and our random AEIOU party. It was indeed alot of randomness and fun.

But this week, I'm involved in my 2nd investment banking challenge. I decided to participate again because honestly I had alot of fun the last time I did. This time around though I went through quite a bit of hassle to put together a very diverse team. Expertise from Malaysia, PRC, Aussie and even America.

The result? No, our presentation is on Friday, I mean, the result of the team so far. I see segregation and communication breakdown. The latter started even before we finalized our team's composition. It was a big misperception. It was also one that's giving me trouble: I'm associated now with lacklustre and mediocre efforts. Let's just say it's bad. We are really unsure how we'd do even though we've put quite some time into it and despite some of the really good members we have.

The lesson to be learnt? Unless you can manage diversity well, diversity could make things worse. Even if you do think you can manage well, make sure everybody has a potential fit. The best we could probably do is to remain as last 4 in the State. We'll see how it goes, but I am rather disappointed already.

Meh

2007-04-29T04:42:00.000+10:00

Let's see... I guess it's been quite some time now since the last drunk update. Wait till the lifeless critics begin their priceless operations. Show me some.

The party started very slowly. Most were attached to the Man U game and missed the trio performance. It was really good an original. If it's up on YouTube or something then maybe I could embed a link here.

Besides that, the party build on itself pretty good. The theme was AEIOU and I was an 'aviator', among others that were there: angel, alien, Andy Warhol, kungfu exponent, assassin, IJ girls, emo, artists, and even Anna Kournikova.

It's heaver and more intimate than Anzac's.

If not for the important 1pm meeting tomorrow, I wouldn't be home even now. But well, I guess a balance is always good.

Have a good week ahead.

C'mon...

2007-04-20T15:32:00.000+10:00

Dear hostile blog hoppers, I'm sure the way you guys act around in my blog is because I'm not from the opposite sex, nothing here is attractive to you and you just find stuff that I do too disagreeing. If you are not a friend of mine and are just plain anonymous, well of course!

Why do you hop around in blogs by the way? Call me a poser? If 'posers' like me don't exist, who is gonna fulfill your lifeless fantasies? Would you be reading news, finance, or even environmental blogs?

Well if most of the updates are about parties (if not some random musings), of course you'll find it's to the contrary of what you do. Get off from that chair and go get something to do man. If you are angry because you can't get laid, why not be homosexual?

And freedom of fucking speech. What? I'm scared of spreading rumours of some big guys? If you've got a problem with that, hey, leave your email address down. Or at least a name, pussies! Let's talk.

If people are well known not to take advice, from anyone at all, why would I listen to some idiots who wouldn't even dare to expose themselves? Who hop around blogs by people whom they don't know, and just enjoy being angry and happy at people's perceived misfortune and personality mismatch?

If you wanna make yourself feel better, I'm sure there are some other things you could do. But of course, freedom of speech, you are free to speak here as well. I agree. But being pussy is just being pussy. Know that.

But if you can't find better things to do, look at the bright side! You are just sitting there and you are gonna die fast and young. Which is good. The world, its people and your boredom won't burden you much then. And you, for sure, won't burden the keen audience and me!

It's a personal blog, get it? Cool? Not cool? Speak up motherfuckers.

Pricing Insurance Premiums

2007-04-14T20:49:00.000+10:00

Once again, this video reminds me of the stuff I'm currently learning in uni as an actuarial student. Whether this is fake or not, it is a very good satirical take at what we do:

On Supper and Counterstrike

2007-04-11T03:34:00.000+10:00

Tonight, Hawker's Cafe's food really sucked. You would've thought you ordered steamed rice when your fried rice came. Seriously. But that's not the point. I and a friend were trying to get over the last few bites when we heard some Caucasians on the next table laughing to a word on the menu, 'hor fun'. I and my friend exchanged curious looks, but hey, pretending I didn't know Chinese, I might think it sounds a little funny too. Just a thought.

For almost every Counterstrike: Source account you have now, you will get a free guest pass that you could send to a friend so they could have a go at CS:S. But who would have foreseen this: I've been seeing a some externalities rising from this genuine offer by Steam. Usually, one's account would get banned if they were found cheating. I guess everyone is just using their temporary guest accounts to screw around lately. Sure, cheating and hacking are fun, but to other people who don't, they are really annoying. I guess the problem was most obvious today when I entered this usual public server only to see 17 people spectating and only 9 playing. 3 out of 9 were hacking.

Good Friday

2007-04-07T18:09:00.000+10:00

This Good Friday was spent at home. Alone. Because everyone had plans to go out at night. Half to Infected Mushroom and another half to this event at Baroque House. I was to the latter.

The highlight was, bravo, we had the chance to check out this club/lounge that's usually only open to members who have to pay at least $500 a year. Which means it's quite exclusive, and doesn't got to be really big a place. As a result, because it was open to the public last night, it was way too packed. Yet, the crowd weren't really that fun.

Another highlight is how sporting Rachel's mom can be! Yes, she was there with her 23 year-old daughter. It was fun.

Then we went to Chili Padi for munchies. Guess what, they bill you the Malaysian style. 10% surcharge. For what? For the disposable plastic plates and cutleries? And besides, quoting $24 when it's $23.65 really make them look cheap. I'm sorry.

It was a waste of high.

Sidebar #2

2007-04-03T21:10:00.000+10:00

Dear smokers,

Being an undergraduate Actuarial student, lecturers occasionally throw random facts at us. Mostly regarding life and mortality rates, obviously, because that are what we deal with regularly.

Among them, one I would like to share with you is, the effects of smoking at pre-30 ages to the rest of your life are relatively small, i.e. it does affect your expected lifetime, but not as much as if you would quit before turning 30-ish.

Just something for you to ponder upon. Please do not quote me for any purposes.

-er, -ess night

2007-04-02T17:33:00.000+10:00

Some pics (I don't usually dress up like this. Just to keep up with the theme, I'm dressed as 'baller hustler'):

Ben the baller hustler and Jermaine the sorceress
From top row, L-R: Pablo, Louis the construction worker, Fabio, Ken (forgot his Italian name), Claire the dancer, Black Tony, Jermaine, Ben
Clockwise from prisoner: Luke (host), Sara the officer, Ben, Shuwen the Death Eater, Claire
Ben and Sara, the host, at gunpoint

Trick'a'technology

2007-04-01T13:35:00.000+10:00

LOL @ last post, seriously. What physical anomalies and complicated issues?

But well. I think by the end of the night, everybody was feeling good. So good we almost didn't have enough. The housewarming started mellow though. It reminded me of clubs when they stop the decks, turn on the lights and call it a night. It is with this setting that some created a need to drink more to make up for the lack of a party mood. Then things started to go wrong when people started to throw up, rest in the room, go back to change, etc.

The theme was, dress up as anything that ends with -er or -ess. There was a bunch of Tortellini mobsters, a construction worker, a priestess and a sorceress, a raver, officer, robber, prisoner, dancer, Death Eater, even Power Ranger and Harry Potter, and I was a baller hustler. Those who didn't play their part was coined 'spoilers'. Indeed. It's really unfortunate, but we really did mess the place up quite a bit.

Lastly, I guess it's obvious that my mission to stay sober until Easter has fallen short.

And I dreamed about some power lifter asking me to do more free weights and skip the machines in order to grow. If that was real, I really could've asked if cables were considered machines.

I Know...

2007-04-01T05:16:00.000+10:00

So many house warmings, so many parties, so many not sober nights. Yet today made me discover things that perhaps I shouldn't have. They really complicate things. They really called for sympathy. On a humanity level, sympathy is really good stuff. On the other side, telling people who've just been introduced to you about your physical anomalies perhaps isn't really a good idea. Whichever way it goes though, has no effect now. I can't play Counterstrike: Source when I have no aim. To be continued. Holiday mood is kicking in.

Today...

2007-03-27T02:36:00.000+10:00

I just feel like writing but really there isn't much of a major update.

Weather. Melbourne's weather is becoming crazy as it is. Last weekend was so windy. Your Uni of Melb students should know that the wind near the Raymond Priestley building is probably the strongest, due to interference, diffraction, or whatever you may call it. I used to think I was one of the scrawniest around and should therefore avoid going near to that place when wind blows hard. But on Friday I witnessed this guy much thinner than me taking up the challenge. I wasn't sure if he had taken it up because he enjoyed it or he hadn't a choice of another path. But I thought it was really amusing to see him struggling with his body slanted perhaps more than 10 degrees forward and it still barely helped. I'm not sure if he had made it (although I bet he had), all I saw was a smile on his face.

Benedict. The name went around and still goes around. The first thing my tutor asked me when I walked into today's tute was, "Benedict, were you the one who sent the e-mail out asking for people to form groups for the [...]?". Indeed. And then there was Financial Mathematics III which I'm starting to like and participate more. Because we have small classes, I often find my lecturer's eyes looking for me whenever he's finding someone who gives conspicuous facial responses to his remarks. And I have a habit of asking him questions after lecture. Finally, he asked for my name. I don't even know why am I writing this, but yeah. I'm just saying my tutor remembers me well and my lecturer cares to know my name. All good stuff. If the first idea that's popping up in your head is 'gay', you're really one of those motherfuckers who should instead get your dick cut and be neutered so you know what gay really is.

Finally, dear Indonesians. If you would love to spread some propaganda, why not do it via more conventional means? Why infect the innocent PC's with virus and worms? Best of all, most of the people can't read that language! (I'm talking about the infamous 'brontok' virus. Good luck to people who have it.)

Mellow

2007-03-24T01:53:00.000+11:00

I love to update my blog after parties, whether I'm intoxicated or not. Actually, I'm usually pretty pissed when writing. But this time makes an exception. I am sober, by choice. Why the choice? Probably because of a tighter sense of responsibility. Well the sober talk could go on forever about responsibility to my own body, studies, upcoming UBS Challenge, yadda yadda yadda... But well, basically I'm just happy that I've gained better control and being able to socialize without embarrassing myself. Yet some still claim that they always see me stoning. C'mon, being a little funny as to catch up with the tipsy crowd doesn't hurt, does it? You guys just ought to know me better, and I'm more than happy to do so with you all. Just keep up the party spirit (you for real party people already figured out the other meaning of spirit I'm sure)! I'll always be here.

Crazy Weekend

2007-03-18T16:40:00.000+11:00

Being drunk two nights in a row sure isn't a good idea at all, but at least it was all very enjoyable. Plus it makes me really wanna abstain now. I shall therefore pledge to be sober for a month.

Friday was Mervin and Ken's housewarming. The house was intimately warmed indeed. The theme was 'B', so anything that starts with B goes. Saturday was my second (or should I say, my housemate's) housewarming, which was also quite intimately warmed. Afterpaty was at Hush Bar @ Melbourne Central. It was really dreadful to walk back after that.

Pics:
Ben the Babe, Wille the Beach Bum, Karen, Sara the Bedazzled, and...
The hosts: Ken the Bandit, Mervin the Bi (Rain, in Korean)
The three visible faces: Lynn, me, and housemate Ralph
Clockwise from red: Wendy, Sage, Leon, Faizal, me

Live Sidebar #1

2007-03-10T00:55:00.000+11:00

In this new section, the Issue will feature sidebar-sized thoughts/articles that I hope some will find intriguing, or at least informative of something you wouldn't have otherwise thought about. Some will however be more subjective/normative in nature than positive.

I hereby wish to start with an attempt to correct a common mistake made by most people who are not directly or indirectly involved in the actuarial field:

'Actuarial' is the ADJECTIVE describing the field, e.g. actuarial studies, actuarial tables, actuarial statistics and actuarial profession.

'Actuary' is a person who practices in the actuarial field. The plural noun form is 'actuaries'. This is where the problem comes in: some use 'actuarist' instead.

Note that as I'm writing this Firefox already has it highlighted as a spelling error. I hope I had contributed a little there. So next time resist the impulse to add that '-s' or '-st' to 'actuary'. Cheers folks.

Robotic 22nd

2007-03-07T18:17:00.000+11:00

Yesterday's birthday celebration was held at Robot, a small bar that plays anime on the projector and has got quite a bit of Japan imported booze, located just less than one block away from my place.

The highlight? Besides friends, I didn't quite get a birthday cake this time around. At least not one from the pastry shop/bakery. Instead, after the birthday song, I had to down 2 shots of... I don't know, was it Cointreau or something? Plus a third of a pot of some beer. And guess what, I complained I ain't getting a kick. So they tried to buy a ticket for me to Neverland, with another shot, the 151 finisher. I was almost there, but the only kick I got was a vomiting sensation (that's to exaggerate of course, I was a little high already). Well, surprisingly I was ok. I'm pretty impressed by my own tolerance!

Later a few of us went to some backpackers' to continue and home we went afterwards. I missed the first class today not because I couldn't wake up, but I just wasn't getting enough sleep.

Pics:
The crowd (excluding Sarah who reached just after the photo)
Me, after the last shot
Half of the crowd
The Indian, the one with alot of ideas

100th Post

2007-03-03T13:22:00.000+11:00

Yes, the hundredth post of the Issue!

Yesterday's birthday party themed 'ghetto' was quite a blast. It was huger than last year's housewarming. More than 20 people turned up, Mervin was at the decks, and the new neighbour happened to be my friends' friend. A third of the crowd later went back, the others to Lavish and Beach. All in all it was awesome, and sorry guys in case I made a bad host. Will make up some time.

From first row:
The Uni of Melb hangout people
Andrew, Sarah, Rachel, Ken
Jerms and Mervin
A birthday card and a t-shirt
Yeff and Sze
Ernst & Young people
2 Malaysians, 2 Hong Kees
Leftovers
Cleared decks

Melbourne

2007-02-28T22:08:00.000+11:00

Hello Melbourne!

The flight was a pretty different experience, with a Thai crew flying me back to Aussie instead of the usual Malaysian crew. I must say the crew was rather older than expected, but the only young one there was just as proficient. On board I also met this friendly local, whom if not for her innocent yet delightful smiles my flight would have been so dreary.

After 3 months at home I surely needed a little getting back used to Melbourne. But after a while it's all apparently good. I miss the ambient lightings, the carpet that makes the room cozy, the indulgent bed linens, the priceless Kozyndan and Dave Kinsey posters that adorn the room, and last but not least, the music from my desktop that goes with them so well (be it Oscar Peterson, DJ Krush, or Zero 7).

Currently, my biggest anticipation will have to be this Friday's birthday + start of semester party. I'm only hoping I won't pass out and instead have a good night.

End of Summer

2007-02-22T04:02:00.000+11:00

Dear all, happy Chinese new year!

After almost 3 months here, the end of summer in Melbourne marks the time to go back again (looking to save some money, my flight will span a total of more than 13 hours, including a transit in Bangkok). This holiday was pretty filled with activities and a little excitement here and there, mostly pleasant. But time flew because the majority of it was spent in my internship in Ernst & Young.

This will be my final year already. I've been very lucky to have barely passed Financial Mathematics II that was to determine if I'm still able to continue Actuarial Studies. But it's good to finally see my timetable now filled with only 4 subjects, i.e. the normal load. With a little more effort I'm pretty sure all will end good end of this year.

I guess one of the biggest decisions I've made during this holiday is to not apply for a PR in Australia upon graduating, rather to hop straight to Singapore. We will see how things go, but I foresee good prospects (hopefully) and lotsa lotsa parties (pretty certain I must say)!

Speaking of which, I'll be looking forward to my birthday celebration on 2nd of March, the first Friday of the semester. What better time to party?

I thank you to all those who spent their time with me, and to those not in Melbourne, I look forward to see you guys again next Jan!

Thai x2

2007-02-11T03:45:00.000+11:00

(due to the laptop's damaged backlight, this will be the first post written on the TV screen)

Seems like everytime I head to Thai Club something bad's gonna happen for sure.

So yesterday we were there because beer was dirt cheap if you'd enter by 10. We ordered enough to get each of us down. When the live band was over, most of us went back while I went upstairs to the dancefloor with another two friends.

It was all pretty good (perhaps even more enjoyable than average), although I'd really preferred to be a little more sober considering the experience I have with this place. Plus, having to abstain from booze whenever I drive, this trip back to KL (and the messages in the radio) sorta reminds me that it's perhaps a little smarter to party without drinking.

Until we were approached by this harmless looking lady, offering us drinks and shit. She's from Thailand. And her guy was there with her as well.

Then the night ended and the guy disappeared. So she clung to us. She dragged us to Aloha. Already so pissed, she ordered another bucket when I was in the toilet consulting for strangers' help. The typical advice given? Do her tonight and think tomorrow.

So we dropped her at Cabana Inn because she said her guy was there. Just as we walked away she yelled at us, showed us her middle finger, and asked us to come back. So we had to escort her back to Cabana Inn, knocked on the guy's door for a few minutes and left when, of course, nobody answered.

A friend called telling me that he's waiting for us in front of Aloha. So we went, and I begged for her help. She being the brave one, pushed me into the car and asked that Thai to fuck off. We drove off and Ben was saved.

What an experience.

Way'Ree'Us

2007-02-06T03:13:00.000+11:00

It's been a while now. Partly because I'm usually occupied during my internship (be it work or MSN) and the laptop's condition (its backlight not working, one hand has to hold a torch light trailing the mouse). But it's all good now as the internship has come to an end and my brother is back from his Aussie trip with another laptop.

Although my internship only lasted for a few weeks, trust me the goodbye part wasn't easy. I'm not too sure of how internships worked in other places but I definitely feel that our bunch as a whole was really fun. Plus I am not too sure if it's ironic or merely unfortunate, but I was introduced to all the big-timers in EY only during the last day there.

Malaysian celebrity promoters can go really far. T-shake. Could you guess what's that? If you had spend RM59 buying Hannah T's (Hannah Tan, that is) 'premium' album (that's the only version they have), like me, then you would probably know. To enter yourself to a chance to win some funky prizes, not only do you need to write the usual slogan, but you would need to take a picture of yourself doing the most creative T-shake you could possibly think of.

How many of you all even knew there was such a... shake? And if you had actually checked the album cover out, I bet this could be your first reaction:
1) bloke: that's red hot!
2) chick: how did this pass the censorship board?
3) the Issue readers: Ben was right.

More local flavour. I was having dinner at Sakae Sushi when Reshmonu performed live outside Laundry bar. But to be honest I really didn't know when was he singing and when was it that someone was just doing an opening or supporting set. I would actually have loved it if we could just dine outside Laundry for the whole night. But it didn't really matter. By the time we finished, I only managed to watch half of Reshmonu's Superfine performance. I was immediately captivated. It was FUN and that muruku head guy could actually sing darn well! (Dear muruku, I did not mean it as an insult to call you this. I just don't know of other words to describe your hairdo. It's not braids, it's not locks, I'm just clueless) I am yet to go CD shopping again, although I certainly hope Mr Monu's album doesn't come in a premium package.

Nike flagship store in KLCC. Anyone who's into sneakers or just shoes could probably not miss the big Air Force 25 High (all-white) canvas hanging in the store's display. But I wonder what's the point. The manager wasn't helpful nor did she even looked at me in the eye when she talked. Nor did she know if the High all-white model was ever going to be available in Malaysia. Aesthetics? Possibly. They just want us to know that Air Force One is celebrating its 25th anniversary and we could only pray that the good ones will be here, for selling that is.

Ben, whine on.

(By the way, a T-shake is done by crossing your forearms or two index fingers together. From what was illustrated it looked like it was done by a single person. From its name, being a shake, I wonder if it should be done by two people crossing the forearm/index finger with the other)

On Separation and Overexpectation

2007-01-26T18:04:00.000+11:00

Months ago I used to be listening to a little jazz and intoxicated by alcohol while updating the Issue. Today I am sitting in Millennium Tower intoxicated by Paris Hilton's album.

It sure is different here having a small family within Ernst & Young, with a Lotus Sametime chat channel open almost 8 hours a day. It's impossible to get booze here (the workplace) in the first place. But apparently now is not the best time of the internship: today marks the first exit of a colleague we dearly hang out with. Wednesday will see another two leaving, and myself on Friday.

Now, on overexpectation. Should I name names? I love that shit. But I don't think I should 'coz it's a little commercial. So I read about this decent looking twenty-something who has a Masters in Applied Finance and a ladies shoe boutique under her belt. When I discovered that she'd also won some fashion award not too long ago, I was really intrigued and she became an immediate inspiration.

Yesterday I brought two girl friends of mine to her premise. We found things you could get somewhere else, only more than 200% marked up. It was the location, no doubt about that. No second time for my friends, no doubt about that too.

Did I lose my inspiration as immediately as I had made it one? I can't tell but I tried my best to look at the positive side. Maybe:
1) good merchandising skills and a keen eye for trends made her make similar buying decisions with other labels.
2) maybe my friends were just not the target market.

Whatever it was, I felt as if I had lost a little inspiration nonetheless.

Forunately, things brightened up a bit when I and my colleague walked into Tos'R'Us today.

Tension II: Void from Scene

2007-01-11T00:10:00.000+11:00

Last week when tension built up on the field, my car crashed into someone's.

But I was void from the scene today. Yet my front bumper was pretty badly hit while it sat idly in the car park. The perpetrator apparently left without much concern nor left any message. A passer-by however left a sticky note on my side window: NAZA 1299 (KIA Carnival).

If any of you could help, let's get diplomatic.

Moo Books & Eyes

2007-01-09T11:37:00.000+11:00

Good morning eyes! Yes, they're still fresh, because it's only 8:41am as at time of writing. By 5:30pm they'd be as red as red meat.

After centuries lastnight my dad finally cooked some dinner. When he reminded me of that suddenly the food tasted a little better.

Lunch was horrible yesterday. I've never eaten such hot green curry in my life. These Thai wannabes must have chucked some gasoline in there.

And Kinokuniya. What's with the 'snowflakes' discounts? I've got like 10 stamps in less than a month. That's more than RM500 spent. I'm sure they love impulsive idiots like me.

*Kinokuniya hugs Ben*

Tension: Finally Proven

2007-01-06T01:53:00.000+11:00

Working sure is alot tougher than studying. When they tell you to get the most out of your student life, listen to them.

So there was only 3 days this week. First day's lunch was normal although, as usual, my 'economy' rice was overpriced again. Dinner was an extravagant Korean BBQ though. We ventured further on Thursday, to BSC because a friend was leaving. Today we were at Royal Selangor Club (Kiara).

In these 3 days, however, I feel rather bad. My incomplete jobs were handed (by my superiors) to my own colleagues. One for amendments, the other for completion. It feels like I've done a terrible job. I'm sure they couldn't agree more.

Regarding the topic. Some who had the chance of sitting in my car have surely noticed how stressful the streets are to me. So today there was finally a physical impact: I was following behind this car that moved backwards alot before sloping up to the parking cashier. When I was also at the slope waiting for him to pay his ticket, I had my gears neutralized so I could myself move backward should some shit happen. Well no shit happened and I forgot I was on N. The car rolled down and hit an Airtrek. I wonder if lack of sleep contributed to it.

Little Recap

2007-01-03T11:25:00.000+11:00

Goodbye 2006! But anyhow let's have a look:

I entered 2006 fresh from a break-up. I broke up on Christmas 04 so you could imagine. Then I learned to drive shortly after that. Family and friends got so proud of me. But most importantly, of course, I was proud of myself too.

Came mid-February was time to get back to Melbourne for my 2nd year in U of Melbourne. I bumped into a friend's place for 5 weeks before I managed to get a new place. Silly me, I was still trying my luck on my ex till I moved in. Then Ben woke up and paid much more attention to scholarly endeavours. I nonetheless only managed to obtain two 79's.

Moving in with a new housemate, Chris, and staying with him for 8 months wasn't that bad but it ended pretty unpleasantly. Let's not get into that.

The second semester was time I make up for my first year: I repeated a subject by overloading. At the same time, I started mixing with a new bunch of friends that partied almost every weekend. Or maybe we had good excuses: people's birthday fell on almost every other week.

It looked as if they were both negatively impacting my studies. Well yes they were! I finished my last exam calmly but I knew it didn't feel right. When my friend started panicking, so did I. It turned out to be 53%. How close. I'm glad I'm through but that really compels me to be a little more serious about my Actuarial Studies course. Or perhaps I should think about even continuing it. But I will for the degree's sake.

That bunch of friends really sorta changed me in my approach to weekdays and weekends. I mean, I really take them differently now. Study hard, party hard. It's a very logical (economically speaking) reward system afterall. And self-interest at its best. (Note to other friends: friends are not exhaustive. Having them doesn't mean I can't have you guys unless, of course, I'm unwanted)

Oh yes. Speech problems. I seemed to pronounce W's as V's. Velcome? Lol. Apparently it's not chronic anymore.

A little highlight: the parties were good.

Then Ben came home. After less than a month of pure vacation, I'm now an intern in Ernst & Young. Why Ernst & Young for an actuarial undergrad? I need exposure to other things as well.

I'm sure there is so much more to recap. Little minor and intimate things. A blog's a blog. I shall leave 2006 to that. Let's look forward.

Work

2006-12-22T01:27:00.000+11:00

So we've already been at work for 7 days already. But I guess today I've offended an associate by officially being a pussy.

I accepted my job with the knowledge that we only get accounting jobs. Which of course includes work like photocopying, filing, etc. Or maybe that's just my definition. But today my associate assigned me a novel task. Or at least one which I wasn't prepared for: telephone interview. I was the first in the group that was given such a job. I procrastinated very badly. Until a senior manager came and asked who needs a job. Impulsively I raised my hand and yelled "I need an alternative job!". The associate apparently heard that and a colleague later told me that she didn't look too happy. Invaluable lesson learnt. Sigh... But obviously the cause of the problem is that I was being a pussy. The associate gave up on me and finally approached my colleague while I wasn't around to let him do it instead. Colleagues thought I should hide in the filing room and cry.

Later today however every one of us was assigned the same task. This time overseas calls have to be made. Mine goes to Singapore and South Korea. Challenging indeed.

Do I have (yet) another speech problem? Did I say IMIT or RMIT? Nah... Couldn't be.

And I guess I now know why my blog is unpopular. It hasn't got pics. True enough.

Confirmation

2006-12-17T08:02:00.000+11:00

I guess this update pretty much confirms the fact that I have a tendency to write when I'm not that sober. I mean c'mon, numerous classic literature pieces are written when their author wasn't particularly 100% sober.

Today, I tried drunk driving, but only less than 1.5km in distance, hence calling it a 'try'. The majority of the journey was another first time thing; rather odd but I've been driven back by someone I've barely known, someone from the opposite sex. It was also my first time chucking down wonton noodles while getting chucked more beer by kids younger than me.

Good night indeed. Because beer makes friends. Lucky Carlsberg doesn't do friends/housemates eh?

New Week

2006-12-16T03:57:00.000+11:00

I love the previous update so much I don't know if I should write another now.

So it's been 3 days already I've been working in EY as an intern. Good to have a friend there to start at the same time. As again, for people not really familiar with accounting, I'm assigned to a rather obscured department: Transfer Pricing. First day was alot of red tape, second day was alot of reading, but we had a cake cutting session and some work in the third day. Parking and eating although still in the reasonable region, I would still say it's rather expensive, considering my meagre allowance.

Intermediate Macroeconomics, again. My first proud H1. Today I received a letter from the Head of Department (Economics). Asking me to strongly consider majoring in Economics and try for Honours year economics research. Well, I wouldn't mind, but I've always put Actuarial Studies first. Although I'm struggling, I still love the challenge. Third year is here, which means it's time to up my efforts. I'm pretty sure I'll do well again.

What Was Next?

2006-12-13T01:19:00.000+11:00

I was brought into a lounge by a friend. We chilled and enjoyed the ambience and each other's company. It was also great that there was not too many patrons there. Then more came. And more. I wasn't aware that the place was a favourite hang out among salespersons of all sorts, until one approached me. I declined his kind offers politely. I bumped into a friend, F, she sat down and we had a short but enjoyable conversation. Then she left the table for a while. But she really took quite a while. As time passes the place got so crowded we were seated adjacent to people we don't know. I was approached by another sales guy. I got a little pissed, plus the scene was getting a little crappy. Then somebody tapped my back, and Ben threw a Ben. I yelled and asked him/her to fuck off. I turned and it was F. She sat down and broke into tears, looking utterly disappointed. I explained myself.

This dream reminded me of my bad temper and what it can turn into. And how it often fucked things up. F was the perfect cast. She is someone I don't know, but I and my friends always have very good regard of her. A lesson indeed: why fuck up something so precious with my bloody temper.

Never Again

2006-12-10T05:13:00.000+11:00

Lastnight was my first time passing out completely. And I really hope it would be the last. I couldn't remember a crap. I'll not get into detail of what my friends and family told me but I basically went unconscious (yes, not even capable of walking nor saying a word). Thank you mom for sleeping outside with me, dad who didn't get too mad, brother who was amazingly amused and friends who helped me got home.

The last thing I remembered was being high but I couldn't even remember when I actually got into the drunk phase. It seemed only a split second between high and passing out. Man I really don't know but some told me I wasn't acting like myself. Sure our drinks were with us but I had this habit of walking and fucking around in clubs. Maybe I was drugged. Or maybe it was the sheer rate I went.

Sorry but I have to name this place. So you could be a little more careful next time. Thai (fuckin') Club.

It also got a little hard to stomach things that happened last night. Never again.

Results

2006-12-09T01:24:00.000+11:00

Financial Mathematics II: 53 (P)
As some of you know, this is the paper that I applied special consideration for and the one most fussed about. Its application was considered but no appropriate action was taken.

Applied Mathematics (Advanced): 60 (P)
The subject that I repeated. I thought I could score. But at least I'm finally through.

Organizational Behaviour: 64 (P)
One mark away from even a H3. My group's aim was a H2 though. I wonder how they did. The one and only management subject I'll be doing, ever.

Statistics: 71 (H2A)
I remember walking to the exam hall asking my friend if I would pass the exam. Apparently I fared OK.

Intermediate Macroeconomics: 81 (H1)
My first H1. From the most unexpected of all subjects. Could have done better if I didn't get stuck halfway my essay. Thanks to generous assignment scores though.

I trust it will be a good vacation indeed. Now that I don't have to worry about my course structure and can remain as an actuarial student. In addition, I'm sure the vacation training in this reputable accounting firm will fill my time good. Happy holidays everyone.

Malaysia! Part II

2006-12-03T07:01:00.000+11:00

Don't know what happened to font options. Anyway:

The previous time when I came back to my hometown everything seemed fine. At least I didn't have much to whine about. By no means am I implying that I have been complaining alot, well at least not outside this blog.

It really makes me wonder why. After a little thought, I reckon these factors may have contributed:
1) 9 months in Melbourne being single. Makes a bit of difference.
2) Mixing with Singaporeans. One starts to compare. Neighbouring countries yet so different.
3) Fixed monthly expenses. Higher Purchasing Power Parity (lower living standards) means more spending power. And more spending had made me realize the shortcomings of one's spending capability in Malaysia and its pattern distortions.
4) Being a second year student and collaborating academically with local students in various assignments, my critical point of view may have probably been sharpened.

Undoubtedly, food is cheap in Malaysia. That is perhaps one of the greatest joys of any students abroad who are coming back here. Besides family, I'm pretty sure cheap good food is of great importance. Then we have friends we grew up with.

But maybe good things just stop there. I don't know. But maybe these problems are not KL-specific:
1) climate. Bearable, but absolutely not conducive for the mind to perform.
2) social institutions. Hot topic of mine. I could write a post next. Big question: why Malaysia doesn't perform well enough?
3) money, again. Too little things you could buy even if you had an extra 100 in your pocket.
4) some people get too materialistic. Money is all that occupies their mind. People lose grip. They don't have a good balance in their lives. I despise that.
5) happens everywhere, but I hate kids who think they're all that by spending them parents' money.

But then again, that is just me. Someone who have been abroad long enough to feel the differences. I am sure it is a great country for we can see that many are contend living here. I certainly have no idea how many blogs out there give people an insight into what a person like me would be thinking. I just thought it could help a little if ever officials will ever stumble upon this. And not deny. But that'd still take decades, while we only have 14 years to 2020.

I hope tomorrow will be a very good time for me to write on social institutions in Malaysia. And most importantly I hope that it'd make a difference some day!