Xperiencezzzz

Trip To Italy

2008-06-30T15:07:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Venice to a beautiful Room .. thank goodness.. I'm really terrified of shitty hostels after our trip to Barcelona last year where the hostel electricity kept tripping while I was in the shower which had no windows a.k.a no natural lighting.

First night dinner was a great introduction to Italy. Small restaurant along the canel.. many americans (as we soon realised, Italy was swarming with american tourist)... a boat pulled up along the canel and some semi-drunken guy came on shore to eat.. promptly enticed a pair of Americans to go cruise with him on his boat with a bottle of wine.

After too much wine the night before, Jon woke me up at 8am.. we walked the streets of Venice only to discover most things were not opened.. after breakfast, we walked around a bit more..

Getting Bored.. this is the kind of pictures that result =p

2008-06-30T15:00:00.000-04:00

By 12pm, we were seriously bored.

Famed Gondolas.. So they really looked posh and luxurious.. but at like 80 euro for 30 mins ride.. forget that.

More boring photos.

Anyway.. after lunch... we got really tired and realised Venice is actually quite boring. Ok I know this city is supposed to be beautiful and all, but I've never been those tourist that need to see everything.. n cafes seems to be swarming with tourist.. and i was jetlagged! so we went back to nap.. until 5pm. haha..

Dinner at a restaurant near our place.. with handwritten menus! Cool. The food turned out to be great.

2008-06-30T14:59:00.000-04:00

We started watching a lot of euro cup while in italy.. it was our only form of entertainment at night ;)

With alot of orchestra performance at San Marco Square, I felt the need to be a bit more.. entertaining :)

Ok.. enough photos of Venice. Firstly, I was pretty bored. And it didn't help that on the day we were leaving, we took the water bus only to get caught for not having a ticket. 40 euros per person was enough to put me off. Of course the fact that it was our fault for not having tickets... but still! *Hmph*. =p.

Rented a car from Florence to roam the countryside..

and what a great idea that turned out to be! Beautiful chianti hills.

2008-06-30T14:50:00.000-04:00

Our room in the tuscan countryside turned out to be really nice too.. B&B La Fiabla.. just opened in May.. Highly recommend it guys! the Hostess was really friendly..

I loved these trees for some reason. :).. They look so majestic yet mind their own business.. they down sprout all over the place into other tree's territory. They also line alot of those long rich looking driveways! I swore to buy a villa there someday and line MY driveway with these trees :)... of course I'm talking like 50 years down the road.. ok maybe 60..

Siena!

Can't really see from this photo but the place is sloping like mad.. tiring to walk man..

Anyway, Jon and I lost each other along some slope and I got mad at him cause I thot he left me alone. So sad. We had McDonalds for dinner that night because we were upset with each other. Well, at least we saved money on food for once.

2008-06-30T14:45:00.000-04:00

Next day.. after our "anger" had diminished.. we drove to many towns.. :)
Stop #1: Radda. Small city, lots of wine tasting places called Enoteca.

Swimming Pool! ok, a bit suaku. But I love this .. the place overlooks lush green hills.. Wonder if I'll be able to get a summer vacation home like this in future =p

Gigantic Pizza which we had in Radda

We went to this town called Certaldo.. Bad Mistake. First we couldn't find the furnicular which takes you to the city @ the top of a hill.. and after a lot of sweating and walking and more sweating, we made it up to only to discover *gasp*.. NOTHING. We wanted to have a drink in a cafe and was promptly turned away because they "had no bar to only serve drinks. Only for lunch". Even when we went back to ask if we could have desserts.. it was a flat no. Jon and I suspected its because it was near their Siesta time and they didn't want us to prolong their working hours. Anyway, a misleading photo to show the "beautiful Certaldo!"

2008-06-30T14:40:00.001-04:00

From Certaldo, we drove 45 mins to San Gimiagnano. The place was again, HILLY. So sweaty and tiring man these towns.

This town had alot of "museum of torture". Wondered wat the history was.. were they a prison city????? Anyway, loved this photo.. seemed to say "follow me, I will guide you towards light". Apt in a "prison-city" eh :)

That night, we had dinner at a restaurant near our B&B on our hostess recommendation. Jon finally got to have his florentine steak.. only to discover next morning that it was meant for two people to share. Haha.. he couldn't sleep that night... too full. Oh we had a bottle of Ruffino Chianto Classico 2005, great drink. Highly recommend it. Smooth, slightly dry but not too dry like most Chianti.

Next day, we went to Montalcino. This town was like 1.5 hours drive away.. not really scenic.. but totally worth it because of the cheap brunello! Ok, when I say cheap, it was like 20 euro a bottle and up.. and up.. and up. But considering a normal bottle outside in supermarkets usually cost at least SGD 80, I'll say it was totally worth it. If not for the fact that there is a 20kg luggage restriction and liquids cannot be hand carried, I would have bought more. As it is, we only bought one bottle for my dad. Had Caprese with the wine. Perfection.

2008-06-30T09:50:00.001-04:00

And we're back to Siena for dinner...

another hand written menu. The waiter at this restaurant was really "wierd"... he didn't speak english, asked us if we spoke mandarin.. ask the chinese waitress to serve us.. she totally ignored him... he was also being a sarcastic ass.. guess they dun have a happy working relationship...

An australian mother and daughter pair came and sat across from us.. they had the same problem with the pnly-written-in-italian menu (thankfully jon n I by then already understood what is pomodora, arriabiata etc.. could order what we want i guess).. the waiter didn't know what they were asking and instead went something like this..

waiter: "ok. I know. You like cheese?"
mother: "no. "
waiter: "ok, cheese for you".
.....

sunset on our way back home :). Wished I had those kick ass camera that shows how beautiful the scenery really was

Roma...

2008-06-30T09:48:00.000-04:00

First sight of our B&B... not good. dilapitated. At least inside turned out to be not bad.. except NO AIR CON. Die. 33 degrees celsius. :(

Rome turned out to be all about tourist. The weather was really hot too. But the buildings really were something. Huge.. Ruined.. but pretty stunning nonetheless. The sites were really far apart.. we bought tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus to tour the city but never really got off the bus because it was so hot!

2008-06-30T09:47:00.000-04:00

Yeah, we shopped. Mostly for my mom's stuff.. things there were so expensive and I was so broke I didn't feel like shopping =p.

Anyway, that's kinda the end of my italy trip. :)

2007-12-29T14:30:00.000-05:00

wow.. time flies.. its been such a long time since I've blog.. just felt like it for no real reason at all.. its 3.33am.. cool =p.. played squash and tennis today.. really shag.. met up with some old friends who haven't yet permanently relocated back to sunny island..

ok.. I'm bored and I'm not asleep.. why why whyyyyyyyy... dreading the end of the year because it means back to work!!

2007-09-20T04:30:00.001-04:00

been working for more than 2 months now.. busy busy busy.. with work comes new set of skills but also new set of problems.. I've been quite lucky cause my working team is great.. with some minor hiccups that occur everywhere I guess :)

One think I've learnt is sometimes being so sensitive really no good.. work needs to be done no matter what right.. and sometimes I think someone very angry when he/she is not.. *sigh*.. so troublesome..

want to go for a drink.. now..

Grandpa's Birthday

2007-07-09T02:08:00.000-04:00

Huge turnout @ my grandpa's place yesterday.. all the grandchildren turned up.. 2 brought their girlfriend/boyfriend to introduce to the family.. too bad the great grandchild in australia otherwise will be entire family reunion :)

ignore the obvious height difference.. the 4 rats reunite.. qiuyi bought her bf too.. our 1st time meeting him after so long :)

the grandchildren.. plus 2 grandchildren-in-law-to-be

the lone daughter with 6 daughter in laws

6 sons with one son in law

yup.. whole big big biggggggyyy family :)

today going to do some working clothes alteration and going to ACS to play squash with xiang.. so fun!!!!!!!

2007-07-09T01:59:00.000-04:00

Back in SG.. but was busy doing my room.. painted my own room!! so pretty.. then spend alot of money buying furniture.. been in and out of IKEA alot .. lucky got one at Tampines.. ya haven't been meeting up with ppl coz so tired doing all thes errands and being my family's personal concierge. =p
Sister's Birthday Dinner at Foo's House.. cheap western place opened by the old Hyatt chef who started Mezza9.. my family big fan of their new year buffet =p

Brief visit to Bangkok.. bought alot of junk including 12 packets of seaweed that cost like $3 a pack in Singapore. really nice. Dad was so excited ordering so much food that Xiang got bored and started taking photos.. we took tiger airways there so cheap!

Thai Restaurant that we ate at arnd Siam Sq.. called Ban Khun Mae.. very nice leh the food

2007-06-25T13:52:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Champ Elysee.. the french are the most stuck up ppl around.. service sucks... although their escargot quite nice.. jon is a pig.. everywhere he go must try their delicacy and since we were being cheap, we hunted for escargot foie gras and onion soups at cafes...

walked alot.. the weather was quite nice.. cloudy on off rains but overall we could walk fine.. better than amsterdam.. the buildings very pretty.. our hotel was good.. but wah leg pain..

so now starts my complains.. so we bought a 1 day pass but halfway thru the day i realised we haven't stamped our card at all cause some lady told us we didn't need to on the bus.. so we decided to avoid the metro the whole day so that we can use the card again tomorrow (since the buses don't stamp).. but then at 8pm, half the bus lines stop running and it wasn't reflected on our map... so annoying..

we went to buddha bar.. got turned away coz we weren't suitably dressed..so we went home.. took the cab back to buddha bar.. this cab driver tried to cheat us by "missing a turn and going a round" but after we asked he said "sorry i very tired.. drive very long today.. lady u very beautiful.. and you sir also very beautiful".. then after a while decide to stop the meter.. so ok la didn't really get cheated.. this time made it to buddha bar in style (hopefully) and the bouncer was like "ahh.. ahhh..".. yeah he recognised us and after the eye up eye down once over, nodded and grinned his approval.. buddha bar was really crowded.. each glass of champagne was 15 euro.. damn expensive.. but music n place quite nice.. :).. alot of americans too man.. after a while the music became a bit strange and we left.. wanted to go Rex Club recommended by lonely planet.. but was so crowded Jon decided we should up the mood and take a romantic stroll along the river.. unfortunately the lights to the sights were off so it wasn't as romantic as Jon wanted it to be.. haha think he's just destined to be a brute =p

anyhow.. the next day with our train ticket, managed to cover the rest of the sights not along the river.. montmarte.. eiffel tower close up (which jon didn't really want to see but I insisted.. how can come all the way dun go there!!) and la defense.. then made it to airport..

today morning woke up had super long brunch with jon.. he skipped school to drive me to airport.. now at frankfurt.. boring.. 2 more hours to my flight...so smokey!!!

2007-06-25T13:44:00.000-04:00

along the river, found a multilated tree.. but quite interestin.g. like art =p

along the street near pont neuf ("new bridge"), there were like alot of pet shops and florist.. this golden retriever so cute.. but expensive.. 900 euro

my nicest shot of eiffel tower at night

plus more photos.. lazy to blog all... notre dame.. la defense (the arch is a perfect square... houses some ministry)..view from montmarte/ Sacre coeur.. moulin rouge.. and of course another eiffel tower shot

2007-06-25T13:39:00.000-04:00

Gallerie Lafayette.. the nicest departmental store around man.. so pretty one the inside..

the lourve

2007-06-25T13:20:00.000-04:00

along the river.. saw a tree that was multilated...

along the street near pont neuf (new bridge), whole row of pet shops and florist.. this golden retriver so cute..

my b est shot of the eiffel tower at night

photos from paris.. lazy to blog all hahaha

Pablo Francisco - Time To Joke In Spanish

2007-06-24T19:49:00.001-04:00

2007-06-17T09:29:00.000-04:00

Olympic Stadium..

@ the bier garten..

new BMW museum.. cool! autobahn right next to it..

going to salzburg!

2007-06-17T09:27:00.000-04:00

night out.. seafood buffet for jon.. was going to go clubbing but it was raining and we took a rain check..

what a change from the night before.. new fashion statement

interesting signs around..

2007-06-17T09:20:00.000-04:00

Salzburg...

Cool signs sold at a street fair...

photos from salzburg.. very pretty city...Jon as usual found a bench under some shade and sat down saying "beautiful scenery right".. what a cover up. mozart statue in the middle..

jon acting cool.. haha actually he hates that photo but i like it

2007-06-17T09:16:00.000-04:00

dogs in europe are extremely tame.. owners bring them on trains.. in restaurants.. and they're really well behaved.. this dog didn't even bulge when I took a photo with flash.

bored on train.. heheh

view from train.. the rainbow was BEAUTIFUL.. took ALOT of photos.. but liked this one the best

Since Amsterdam....

2007-06-16T19:09:00.000-04:00

been doing nothing. Jon everyday pick fight with me cause I'm being irritating.. taking up alot of space in his small room.. =p...we've been eating out everyday.. no money..
Wednesday when Jon went to school, I went shopping at Marienplatz.. wah I took 3 hours to walk one street coz there was so many H&Ms each with like different stock. crazy. then not to mention the other multiple stores.. from broke become bankrupt.
On thursday he brought me to the 1972 olympic stadium.. (where they actually firmed the show Munchen..).. climbed up to the top of the "hill".. at 1st reminded me of Bratislava.. he was shocked coz Bratislava was like dead city.. but once at the top.. ok la.. not bad..got the alps in the background. walked halfway down to go beer garden where he had like 1L of beer.. then talked on the phone with his mom until his mom also say he talking rubbish. we went to watch movie! ocean 13! hmm I still think Ocean 11 was the best.. 12 no good.. 13 not bad la. The last 3 nights were always raining in munich so we were very happy when we walked out of the theatre at 9+ and it was bright out.. took the U-bahn back to giselastrasse and walked down the street towards his house where we saw this mexican place and sat down for some snacks and shisha.. the weather still very nice we took a walk arnd his neighborhood.. even he never walked down some of these streets.. quite nice ah :)..

So yesterday he was going to bring me to the English Garden.. apparently the biggest city garden in Europe.. and it was big man.. now jon has a problem with distance. Before we left, I asked if the walk was very long.. cause if it was then I shall not be vain and wear flats instead of my wedges.. like the day before he say very short la very short la (we ended up climbing a hill at the olympic stadium) which of coz turned out to be quite far.. then it ended up pouringggggg... hehe but I forgive him cause he juz wanted to show me arnd la... we ate at the Hilton where Jon had this super expensive seafood buffet and felt really bad the whole...

Today weather very nice.. after very filling brunch at Richart where we of course had my ham and cheese omelette, took the 2 hour train out to Salzburg.. the city very small n quite nice la.. full of tourist.. then I saw this couple that looked like Singaporeans so walked behind them to look at the guy's bag tag.. relalky leh! Pasir Ris!! Cool

we climb up some mini hill to see the view.. came down had crappy pasta for dinner.. the city full of horse shit.. so smelly. =p. On our way back, we saw a RAINBOW!! like really big RAINBOW.. wait I upload photos..then like 45 mins before munich, this bunch of happy merry drunk old man (i think got 1 or 2 women) came up the bus with an accordion and made everyone laugh can... coz the player was really relaly drunk.. making all sorts of jokes (jon had to translate).. came back and went KFC.. heheheheh...

okok, very tired. tmrw then put photos

Amsterdam!

2007-06-11T06:54:00.000-04:00

Our Hotel Room.. Hotel Artemis. very nice room with plasma tv.. reason why its cheap is coz its crappy out of the way! =p. When we got to Amsterdam (nice aiport btw), it was raining somemore.. took the bus to our hotel.. by time got checked in and all was 730...

took the tram downtown.. the tram is really cute.. its quite long.. 2 main sections.. one in front with the bus driver who is isolated in a booth.. and the 2nd section has another booth with a conductor who sells tickets... relaly interesting.

By decree of Mr Kam, we braved the rain to look for a chinatown (location unknown except that its in the red light district).. I was quite tired by then whats with the flight in on thurs.. travelling to munich (although he drove all the way.. 2 way somemore.. ) then pack pack friday left for amsterdam.. then rain somemore.. really no mood.. but felt a bit bad ah.. cause Jon was so excited and all I wanted to do was just sulk pout n b grouchy =p

Anyhow, we found chinese food.. quite expensive but the portion was huge and the food was GOOD. haha I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into the crispy pork and images of eating with my family in singapore just popped into my head. Immediately commented to Jon "wah the food here really quite good ah".. anyhow, the egg n beer ont he bottom is from lunch the next day.. and last photo is at (yes again) chinese food dinner on the 2nd day.. I had mini dim sum.. shiok.

after dinner.. we went back to the hotel.. After checking out at 1230 the next day.. we walked out to try to get the bus to airport to drop off our luggage.. missed the 1st bus just as we were walking to bus stop.. the bus comes once every 30 mins.. 30 mnins later two 195s came.. but both going in different directions.. since the 1st one says "station leylann" we flagged down the 2nd bus who told us the bus in front was the right one.. damn up till today I think that bus driver forgot to switch signs when he made the loop (its a loop service that runs a route between two main stations..).. anyhow had to wait another 30 mins.. this time we just flagged down the 1st bus that said station leylann and the driver looked damn irritated at us saying he JUST came from the airport.. think its the 1st bus from before that we flagged then asked him to leave.. the 2nd bus came n it was the driver who told us we had flagged down the wrong bus previously.. aiyo we definitely must have seemed very suaku.. anyhow, I got bored waiting 1 hr so jon and I practiced some self protrait shots.

2007-06-11T06:51:00.000-04:00

Since we got downtown only at 3.. 1st things 1st.. SHOPPINGGGG

my attempts to make Jon a more adventurous dresser failed miserably.. possibly cause I suck at it too.. haha anyhow it was fun making him try on different things n seeing a very pained expression cross his face... He's a terrible shopper btw.. instead of going lane by lane we would like walk one lane.. turn onto an alley and cross like 3 lanes so we could walk along the canal which individually was by no means famous and definitely had no shops. Since I'm broke and wasn't really looking to buy anything.. oh well.. just walk with him la otherwise he complain again about how abusive I am =p

btw, coffeeshops in amsterdam are legal places where people smoke drugs.. and they're EVERYWHERE. Jon tried one since the magic mushroom experience left him somewhat unsatisfied n frustrated... couldn't take photos inside otherwise I would have.. really strange interesting place. The coffeeshops are not sleazy as expected.. some are even quite high class with the look and feel of a lounge.. the people inside are ALL smoking some form of hash or weed.. but all look really professional and are having normal social conversations.. no weedy uncontrollable smiles or slouching in their chairs...

It was the menu that really made me feel very strange.. the fact that its so open and all that.. although the servers were quite discrete.. talk very softly and professionally.. no idle banter or anything.. just choose advice if u ask.. give and go away.. the cashier himself was smoking ah..

Another interesting sighting... public open urinals for men.. I was actually staring at it wondering if its what i think it is.. then some guy ran up to it and starting unzipping his pants and all that.. I looked at Jon and said "Is he doing what i think he's doin?????"...

2007-06-11T06:50:00.000-04:00

more pictures of amsterdam.. its really quite an interesting city man.. so there's 700,000+ inhabitants.. 600,000 bikes.. 8+ million tourist.. (lots of MEN... especially groups of british men who all look high perpetually)

the city never sleeps.. the sun sets at like 10pm.. Rembrantplein (last row of photos) is where the clubs are.. super crowded and happening.. see the photo of the Borat imitator..

what really struck me was how open the sex trade was.. I mean I knew and read about all the cupboards before.. with women just standing wanting men to ogle at them.. some of them shaking enthusiastically.. some just look damn bored.. on the phone... some really hot.. some fat.. no I'm not being condescending or judging but I was asking Jon doesn't it make sense for them to like lose some weight and put on a more inviting look? the whole point is to entice guys so that they can earn some money right? anyhow, so they just stand behind these glass cupboards.. guys walk up and they open the door, close the door, draw the curtains.. and.....was wondering about the prices.. we speculated that its probably not cheap since they have to pay rent and all that.. if you look inside the cupboards its actually a small room with sink and a bed.. toilets? maybe.

walk walk until tired already.. after more chinese food dinner.. chilled out at a open air lounge at Dams Square to people watch

very interestin sign for a restaurants.. lousy food & warm beer.

Met an old friend Maurits @ Rembrantplein! Seems like everytime there's some sort of vice involved, maurits is there! haha kidding.. just that my last outing with him was our all nighter stint with David at Atlantic City..=p.. was both 1st time for Maurits and me, but quite fun la just taking one table and chit chat all nice while playing blackjack.. we were laffing over how David made like 600% while both of us just broke even.. he's enjoying his work.. takes him to middle east alot since March.. he's barely arnd amsterdam at all.. so we were lucky to just catch him that wkend coz he was back only for 2 days..

still looking the same. :)

Back From Amsterdam

2007-06-11T06:44:00.000-04:00

After beer.. crashing at the airport from 3am until our 9am flight.. then back to Munich.. Jon became like this... =p.. ok if I don't blog for another 48 hours, call the police cause I got murdered in the room hehe

A street fair on the Main Street where Jon's dorm is., alot of food.. live music.. I like these kinda scenes.. :).

2007-06-06T05:57:00.000-04:00

this is probably gonna sound totally bimbotic.. but I'm watching desperate housewives and I really think its quite meaningful. Just watched an episode where these totally hot housewives are searching for love.. n it seems that ppl always want something better. that's so true isn't it.. we all have impressions about what makes us happy.. what we want.. but its only when things go wrong, like say we get cancer?, do we know what really matters...

Last Day In Princeton

2007-06-06T01:59:00.000-04:00

Today was a mad rush. Kevin came arnd 950.. attended my Graduation.. I'm so touched. :). They even bought me flowers. even though I suddenly felt quite lost and sad without my parents.. seeing them here really made me feel MUCH better.. after lunch at Nassau Sushi, came back to my room to rest.. they fell asleep while I packed.. went to eat Bent Spoon.. then Teresa's Cafe with a bottle of white wine.. wah shiok.

Came back to my room.. packed more.. walked kev to dinky.. when we came back, received a call from him... wah he missed the last train.. well I screwed up coz the train timings were wrong :(. ANyhow, borrowed Sun Can's car to go pick him from Princeton Junction.. his car is like a VAN.. haha.. what an adventure on my last day.

I'm all packed and ready to leave. But dunwan to leave. Maybe I'll miss my flight? err anqi will kill me

More Graduation Pics...

Muhamad Ali was our "popular" honorary PhD recipient.. he could barely focus ah.. but so cool! Read about his life stuff.. like how he advocate alot of humanitarian stuff..

Best Pals. :)

Dinner @ Teresa Cafe

Photos from Matthieu...

2007-06-05T09:04:00.000-04:00

Thanks Matthieu... the pictures really turned out quite nicely. :). Putting some up here.. rest on facebook.

Hooding Ceremony

2007-06-05T00:16:00.000-04:00

In the Theatre.. :) Think my parents would have really enjoyed this cause it was quite a cozy personal (though of course rather boring except maybe for that 15 secs that I was getting my hood =p ). The theatre was also very nicely warmly lit and all that..

2007-06-05T00:05:00.000-04:00

Someone Brought his baby on stage. So Cute. :)

Anqi in the white sweater! she looks bored. haha

2007-06-05T00:04:00.000-04:00

2007-06-04T23:55:00.000-04:00

Went to return the car today.. but before we did that, We stopped at Princetonian Diner on Route One..

our cool chevy hot red coupe. =p.

And the food was SUPER GOOD. I swear, the french toast was so nice anqi took away what she couldn't finish. Oh I forgot to mention, the portions were HUGE.

Dinner at Sushi restaurant... we were quite full... was at the Bendheim graduation party before this.. ate a little bit of cheese and had a bit of wine.. :). Only 2 sushi rolls and both of us were stuffed!

Qiuwei And Anqi go to White Castle.. But never make it

2007-06-04T01:36:00.000-04:00

We're on a Road Trip!

Went to BYOB Chloe for dinner... I like the atmosphere..

Food looks interesting... taste-wise.. ok la

Alvina.. she has the coolest surname.. Oo. =p.

2007-06-04T01:25:00.000-04:00

On our way to Woodbury.. Anqi decided it'll be fun to take alot of photos of herself... but to not look so bad, she added random ppl in it la =p

Errr.. then she fell sick. So no more photo.

Until in New York, where she got better and decided that unglam photos of wei are the best.

Macau Pork Chop Bun. errr I was expecting a bun like char siew bao u know? hehe.. ANqi warned me it was gonna be a sandwich.. and as usual she's right.. =p. How to eat it elegantly???? *puzzled*. Aiyah just eat la.

My turn for revenge. See the two BIG plates.. one baked rice which she ordered.. the other is braised tofu which we shared.. sort of at least.. Now you see it... now you don't.. *oops* embarrassed face. Need drink water to help digestion.

Went to Andrew's place to pick up our shopping which we left with him the other day.. while waitin for him and edlyn to settle their laundry and give them a lift to K-town, decided to do a bit of photo whoring.

errr.. I'm quite new to this take funny faces thing.. explains the wierd angle.. I'll get better! Practice with Jon.. Jon prepare yourself!

2007-06-04T01:09:00.000-04:00

went to eat at Viet-town today.. reminds me of the summer that Jason Bel and I always went to eat pho.. haha.. anyhow, found out Kevin has never been to the supermarket there... *SHOCKED*. Left Philly to go new york... got to NY arnd 3.30 and man, did we rush.. cause all the shops close at 6.. and An had specific places to visit.. parking was a b*tch.. =p. finally at 6pm we were SO HUNGRY went to eat at the egg tart place again.. hehe.. eat so much can... like sit there 1 hr the food juz kept coming.. ppl came ppl left.. the waiter stare at us "how come eat so much one these two small kids". =p.

Sugar Rush.

btw, yesterday driving back from Woodbury we were listening to this radio station.. Fresh 102.7.. haha they claim to have the freshest songs.. but play songs from the 90s.. we very happy la cause we recognize them.. :)

Drove back in the pouring rain. Wah, I think this wkend is a record for my driving.. so proud of myself.. although the rain was quite hazardous cause cannot see the lines on the road, at least it kept me concentrating.. a bit tired from lack of sleep also ah.. but now so proud of myself..

Oh, and Anqi is definitely much much better.. so happy.. today she ate so much and still say can eat somemore.. she wanted Krispy Kreme and we braved a mini-traffic congestion to get to Penn Station but it was closed :(

2007-06-03T00:07:00.001-04:00

Got up at 9.30am on Friday feeling really tired.. cause I spent so long blogging the night before, I went to bed afraid that I would oversleep... and because of that, I kept waking up every few hours to check the time. Anyhow, we did our laundry.. then got enterprise to pick us up at 1145.. got to car rental center then realised anqi needs her passport to rent a car (my license expired and PennDot doesn't allow me to renew cause of my visa status... so I think I have to retake the test in Singapore.. crap.. P plate here I come..).. so the guy had to drive us back to my dorm and then back to Route 1 to get the car... and I think he was very happy to be out of the office so he was driving SOOO SLOWWWWLLLLLYYYYYY! Anyhow, by time we got back to my dorm to load our stuff into the car, made our way to post office and to bank..it was like 2.. we were hungry so bought WAWA sandwich.. and no, I'm not mistreating anqi ....

on our way to look for White Castle... when I got to where Google Maps pointed me to.. it was some shady residential area.. we gave up and headed to philly.. by time we got here was like 5+.. An was EXHAUSTED.... and she say compared to my place in Princeton, Kevin's room is like a Palace.. haha I actually agree la.. after chilling in his room till 7 (plus one episode of Naruto), we went to olde city to eat at this B.Y.O.B called Chloe.. I really like the small warm cozy atmosphere of the restaurant... plus their specials were quite err special.. like this cold soup with like every possible ingredient.. pineapple, tomato, don't know what dunno what.. =p Had a bottle of red wine with kevin.. An couldn't drink cause she was starting to cough and had a sore throat.. came home and met Alvina downstairs... oo totally miss that girl. :). After a 1 hr chat, came up to find Kevin's room door open, and he on the phone with his mom telling her about this rat that was scuttling across the room when he and An came back.. Anqi became the resident rat expert.
Woke up at 8am to go put quarters for the car... so tired... but came back and decided to shower n hope everyone else wakes up.. Kevin was so frustrated over the rat that after breakfast he went to the supermarket to buy rat trap.. =p.. anyhow, we finally left philly arnd 1130 to Woodbury.. the drive there didn't take us THAT long.. well traffic was smooth.. shopped all day but I didn't buy anything :(... They both bought some stuff la.. anyhow walk whole day very tiring.. then drove back to Chinatown for dinner.. by this time An running slight fever already.. poor thing.. now really seem like I super bad host :(. Went to Sang kee for some Congee.. now finally back at kevin's place.. gonna take it easy tomorrow.. just go new york for 3 shops.. no more crazy shopping and walking (lucky we have car this wkend)...

Photos tomorrow!

We go to New York City!!!

2007-06-01T02:13:00.000-04:00

big big flag to announce where she is...

2007-06-01T02:10:00.000-04:00

Shopping In Centurey 21 (right across from WTC) and SoHo.. We walked so much I bought a new sandal.. flats cause my sole was killing me.. lots of blisters I was to find out later.. An quite sad cause she cannot find her size here.. we even tried the kids department.. btw, I bought my sandal at the kids store @ Century 21.. so cheap!.. heheheh

Tea at Baltazar in SoHo.. Super Unglam Photo taken by my lovely best friend.

This is one of my fav photos so far :)

On to Atlantic City

2007-06-01T01:59:00.000-04:00

So we walked from SoHo to Chinatown to have dinner.. went to eat Joe Ginger.. I walked out to try to find out more information about the bus to Atlantic City cause I've seen it before but couldn't find the timings on the internet.. bought $1 worth of Hongkong Cakes from the roadside store just to ask for information (well, I like those cakes too la..).. but wasn't really that helpful.. went back to the restaurant and asked the lady boss who helped me call people to ask can.. so nice.. I tipped them extra.. So turns out this bus to AC, leaves at 8.30 or 11.30 at night... (morning also got..) from Chinatown Bowery street.. You pay like $18 round trip, and when you get there, the casino refunds you $22.. its like the Niagara Falls Chinatown Bus Tour I took the last time with Samantha! But we were rookies... didn't know where the Trump PLaza was located so I just hopped onto the Hilton bus.. the Caesars Bus would have been nearer.. oh well..

An thought the Macdonald was really cute..

So we got to Atlantic City around 11pm, took the bus which is called a Jitney (its like a minivan type bus..) for $2/person to get to Trump Plaza.. for $85/night (inclusive of taxes), we got a really good deal.. better than staying in New York.. we both got our own double bed..

Finally here... not quite Las Vegas but will do..

This is what happens when you leave girls with their own toilet and a big big mirror..

Breakfast at the diner.. the menu was the usual omelettes french toast pancakes.. we were so excited.. but the food unfortunately is best described as "lacklustre"..

2007-06-01T01:43:00.000-04:00

Found the shopping street and it was CRAZY SHOPPING TIME... Bought like alot of brooks brother's shirt for my dad.. shirt for jon, bags for sis, and of coz stuff for myself..

Stopping for a refreshment..

Us with our new bags! Brief Pit Stop at our hotel to drop off all the bags..

The Broadwalk in Atlantic City

2007-06-01T01:39:00.000-04:00

In Victoria Secrets..

Anqi in her super hot yellow dress! She really looked suppppeeerrr good... I was trying to convince her to buy it..

Crazy chocolate gifts we found in a sweet shop.. I wanted to buy the Chocolate THong n Bra.. but dunno who to give to..

Us with our shopping bags.. SUPER TIRED.

2007-06-01T01:36:00.000-04:00

Morning After, woke up and checked out of our room.. had a really bad sleep last night and I blame it on the very soft bed.. Anqi had no problem though.. anyhow, walked on the broadwalk towards the Hilton (where we take the bus) looking for breakfast.. we both agreed that somehow on holiday, fast food breakfast seems to be a very common comfortable option.. so BK it was.. =p..

Got to the bus station at 10.30am.. I thot we were being extremely early cause the bus was scheduled to leave at 12? and the people there were like in their 40s 50s.. like regulars.. then told us there was a line.. like people were sitting on chairs n each that came later just sat at the next available chair..

we were smiling cause can sit down n queue.. although a bit worried also cause the line was so informal..
UNTIL this really young uncouth n rude youngster came n juz stood in front of the gate.. when the elderlies tried to tell them there was a line he was like "where got.. u all all just sitting down.. where got line".. SO RUDE!

Anyhow, the bus came at 12pm.. the people with tickets for this timing got priority.. then our line started moving.. and just like 5 people before us, the lady stopped the line and went up the bus to check how many seats left.. we were really afraid lor.. coz the next bus was 5pm.. of coz we cld juz pay n take greyhound or something.. BUT being cheap, I really hoped we got seats.. then ppl started jumping the line.. so annoying.. anyhow, we were the last 2 or 3 to make it up.. sat at the back right next to toilet..

Back in NY chinatown, went to eat egg tarts! of cause right. its my favorite! Anqi likes the place and we're thinking of doing brunch there on Sunday...
went to drop our bags off at Andrew's place.. his friend promptly called him to tell him we had ALOT of stuff.. which is.. err not quite true considering we actually had more but we juz decided to carry back with us.. =p.. And its really interesting because this friend of his has heard of me before! apparently from my sec 4 classmate who sat next to me.. they all go to the same church and she says she heard Ruth talk abt me a few years ago! haha so cool!!

Anyhow, by this time, Anqi was quite pissed at me cause we had to walk quite a few blocks in Chinatown.. and then to get to Andrew's place.. somemore had to come 4 flights of stairs.. actually she quite poor thing, with jet lag and all that still must walk so much... but shopping and US is like that.. not like Europe where all the attractions in one area.. in the US its everywhere! =p.. anyhow, I'm happy cause its helping me to diet.. she doesn't need to diet so... oh well.. after trying really hard, got a cab to the cruise line only to find out we missed the cruise due to my bad planning.. but anyhow, decided to take the crosstown bus to times square..

random photo on the bus.. dun ask me what I was doing..

Anqi in Times Square!!! This girl has travelled the world man! 1st a 1 month around Europe tour last May, now a whirlwind shopping trip in East Coast of US..

Anyhow, in Times Sq we found some really cheap New York type t-shirts.. bought some.. An also bought some from Planet Hollywood ( I got the same one for XP..) and Hard Rock Cafe... then our chocolate trip!

Chocolates

2007-06-01T01:07:00.000-04:00

Our Chocolate Shopping Experience was just so amazing it deserves one whole blog entry. So while browsing arnd in Times Sq, we found the....

M&M Store! its crazy 3 stories

There was M&Ms in every possible color.. coming in all types of packaging.. candy dispenser which Anqi really really wanted to buy but it didn't come in a box.. hard to carry home.. There were pillows.. poker sets, cards, monopoly set... everything la!

And we walk out to find across the street....

The Hershey's/Reese Pieces Store!! Not as elaborate.. but better chocolate right?

Yay....

After this, Anqi finally found out that Chocolate is heavy. oh, and expensive too.

2007-06-01T01:05:00.000-04:00

Met up with Xuda and Leon for dinner @ K town.. as usual, we all had some miscommunication problems.. I wanted to eat arnd times sq or penn station where its easy to get to the train... Leon suggested 38 E 8th street which Xuda read wrongly and misinterpreted to be at 38th and 8 ave which is really near penn station.. haha anyhow, after the mix up, An and I walked from the Hershey's Store on 49th n 7th, to Bryant Park on 42th n 5th.. only to find out the best place to eat was at K town on 32th n 6th.. and yup, we walked ALL the way. SOmehow, meeting leon always means walking like mad.. Anqi was all ready to kill me.. but I kept trying to remind her tomorrow got car!!!
The Korean waitress was really pretty.. all 4 of us simultaneously noticed. But forgot shud try to sneak a photo.. haha

4 Bimbimbap set.. a bit bland.. Leon ordered Scallion Pancake to share...

Random photo @ newstand in Penn Station.. dunno when I'm gonna see these guys again.. Xuda was like "Qiuwei, I'm never going to see u again in like.. forever!" Wah... no la.. 3 months later in August I'll see u in Singapore lor.. to which Xd replied "ya.. that's like forever right??"... hehz.. he's so cute.. although he doesn't read my blog,

Xd I miss you already!! :(.. My complain buddy.. we suffered through all those mad classes, terrible profs, sat brunch when everyone was still sleeping.. early dinners.. walking to get our mail.. convincing him to go back home during spr break... wah all that boring but memorable stuff.. and then it struck me I'll miss all my friends here so much! All our Dbar nights.. late night suppers, movie.. trips to Asian supermarkets.. my greatest regret is I never had the chance/time to travel with them..

On the train back.. had a good chat with anqi.. Lazy, we took the shuttle back to my dorm from the dinky station.. after showering, went to comp lab to use comp.. print directions for this wkend.. confirm with kevin our plans.. check out where the various stores (which Anqi Must go...)are in New York in case we dun come back to Princeton on Saturday.. =p..

okok.. time for bed! An that spoilt princess is sleeping already lor.. and I was ordered to blog.. hehe.. ok fine, I wanted to blog too

2007-05-28T23:29:00.000-04:00

I am officially a pig. I fell asleep normally arnd 2.30am.. wasn't particularly tired.. but woke up at like 1.30pm!?!?! An was trying to wake me up when she got up at 9.. she had a fitful sleep la.. jet lag.. =p.. anyhow, we finally made it out my room arnd 2+.. went to Panera Bread for lunch.. so hot.. Anqi complain here walk alot.. haha finally someone to share my pain.. =p.. the amenities places were closed but shops and restaurants were open.. we went mini shopping for a while before coming home.. room very hot.. very boring.. arnd 7.30 we went to Wawa to get dinner.. took the shuttle back then went to Porters Lodge to rent dvd... classic chick flick How To lose a guy in 10 days.. went to projector room with big big big big big tv .. sat ate dinner and just LAUGHED..

back home.. showered.. tomorrow we heading down to New York.. then spending the night in Atlantic City.. won't be back home till thursday!

Lunch.. AN had to take that extremely unflattering photo of me cause she said I look very disheveled.. took the photo on the bottom right.. trying to capture people swimming in that mini pool.. kind of like at bugis junction.. =p

us! :)

2007-05-27T23:28:00.000-04:00

the bear so cute. :). ALTHOUGH i had to wake up at 945am to go meet the delivery man, the note and the bear really brought a smile. Especially after considering the fact that I was throwing petty temptrums.. well I do that all the time but this time was serious.. I turned off my phone and refuse to talk to anyone for a few hours.. =p.. maybe I should be unreasonable more often.. hehe

That, and the fact Anqi's finally here! I'm so happy.

Met jas and her parents for lunch today... really random but I was on my way to meet them when they walked into the car I was in on the subway! how coincidental. Pouring thunderstorm now... anqi's sleeping like a pig.. I bet she's going to disturb me tmrw morning... haha

Photos from Last Week in New York

2007-05-27T00:30:00.000-04:00

Quiet Winter Night on Locust Walk @ Penn..

and a New day begins in Philadelphia..

My running Trail @ Princeton..

Overwhelmed

2007-05-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

Drawing into the last 2 weeks here.. and how do I feel? Strange. Strange in a way I don't know how to describe. When Xuda left on friday (and woke me up cause I could hear them at 930am! talking downstairs n my window was open), its like it suddenly dawned upon me the inevitable changes that are going to follow. When I left Penn, or rather.. as I was leaving Penn, I was SO SADDDD... after all that was the place I led 3 years of my life.. finding my place alone in a strange foreign land.. the place I fell sick at, the place I partied and got drunk at.. and also the place where i discovered my love for BYOBs.. my friends were there.. my life was there.. and I didn't want to leave that all.. Hated princeton when I first came.. the bad logistical arrangements along with the crazy tough math camp and pouring rain everyday just made everything seem so much worse.. I left every single weekend.. philly.. new york.. even detriot. but friends here made everything better.. suburb life also has a way of settling you down after some time.. nice.. peaceful... everyone is so neighborly and friendly.. and then suddenly I'm forced to leave again.

But what makes me more sad is that life carries on.. I feel that way every time I head back to philly and meet my friends.. who have new friends, new classes to take.. I miss the city but the city doesn't miss me. I walk around and there's not trace that I once lived there, except in the photos that I keep on my hard drive (and yes, facebook). Now many of my friends have also graduated.. and I've lost my last reason to go back to Philly..

Yes, I'm being all sappy and boring and all... I guess change always makes me scared.. not sure about everyone else, but I'm happy with my life and don't want to move on.. haha..

But one good thing has come out of all this.. I actually can see what stays with me.. My family's so excited.. they keep leaving me messages saying I'm coming back in one month and all.. parents are so happy that I've FINALLY graduated and coming home.. dad wants to renovate my room for me.. Anqi's coming up to the US to shop and visit me before I leave... Wilson made a pit stop at Princeton to disturb me for the last time before he has no one else to put him up during her exam time when he's homeless... Jas comes to new york to meet me for a musical.. haha and shes going to see me in singapore all the time somemore.. =p.. my graduated friends also have been leaving msgs trying to arrange last minute gatherings before everyone leaves and get busy with work..

I'm excited about the future.. but first I need to learn to deal with my past.. lessons to remember, friendships forged, wisdom gained, memories to last a lifetime..

2007-05-26T02:31:00.001-04:00

packed and shipped boxes to singapore today.. the shipping option juz got cancelled last week.. ended up paying $370 to ship like 70pounds of stuff back to singapore.. so sad.

pirates of the carribean 3.. really really realy long movie

*sleepy*

2007-05-22T12:12:00.000-04:00

wow. Now that exams are finally over.. I actually feel a little lost. Suddenly with so much time on my hands.. I have nothing to do! ok, that's not true. I really have to start packing.. cancel phone lines, redirect mails, pack and ship stuff back.. get all my graduation stuff done.. but somehow after that crazy round of exams, I just feel like lying in bed and watching korean drama or desperate housewives.. or going to the movie theatre with a big bag of sweet popcorn (here only got saltyyyy :( ) and watch movie after movie..

after that final paper yesterday.. went to the gym.. came home showered and went for the dinner with the gang.. then back to GC to watch heroes.. the season finale was quite disappointing.. the show really was much better up till episode 18. Went to the dbar with the gang armed with loads of alcohol.. but somehow without people arnd partying, no music.. n knowing its a monday night... i think most of us juz really wanted to stay home n tug ourselves into bed for a nice long quiet night. Jon's friend called us old grad students that don't know how to party. *ouch*

2007-05-19T16:52:00.000-04:00

wah.. I've always known that my sister was being swamped with work in the IB programme in ACS... today she sent me their math project and I was shocked man!

they're doing these kind of stuff in graphmatica and the school doesn't teach them how to do it.. they're expected to learn on their own how to use it.. wah cheeemmm... I never knew what it meant to be stressed and stay up all night trying to finish project until I got to uni.. even at Penn it only got really bad like during the crunch time.. i.e WABC, finals, presentations projects blah blah blah (although princeton is quite bad arh...)... but seeing the kind of stuff xiang does.. I feel quite sad for her ah.. kids nowadays really alot of things to learn.. poor thing

I hate myself :(

2007-05-19T01:16:00.000-04:00

woaahh... 3 exams down and I feel like I've been hit by a speeding truck.. dazed.. so today I took the day off! studied a little (yeah while I was on the elliptical in the gymm......) then came home and videoconferenced for like 2 hours.. then went to watch Shrek the Third... VERY FUNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY... :).. juz what i need to help relieve some stresss...

came home and saw a party goin on in the common room outside.. blasting music at 1am.. curious we all went to see la.. zain was all ready to join in the party.. then we found out its a private party for the woodrow wilson guys (its the school of public policy)... and as we were about to walk away, saw the event registration form.. that's when I got pissed.. usually when someone has a party in the vicinity and blasts music in the wee hours of the morning, I get irritated but usually just go on doing whatever I'm doing because err.. I've done it before.. haha.. yeah as inconsiderate and annoying as it sounds.. and I know I shouldn't do it.. but yeah once I can forgive.. but THIS PARTY really annoys the crap out of me because its actually REGISTERED AND APPROVED till 2am!!! how can anyone in the administration in the right frame of mind actually approve a party till 2am during exam period in a residential dorm!???? even if it says "DJ party with no alcohol.." its DJ party.. that means loud music!! arghhh.. and my room although facing the common room is like situated almost the furthest end.. (xuda says he can't hear n he's nearer.. but he closed his window coz he has a fan...) I really pity those guys staying nearer the common room.. must really suck.. so I'm actually considering whether I should for the 1st time in my life, send in a complain letter. hmmm.. or am I just being extremely anal.. hate it.. I feel like I'm justified to be angry yet I feel bad for being angry coz its seems petty that I'm jealous others are having fun. HMPH.

Ya like this always happens to me.. I get angry.. then I feel bad for being angry.. especially when Xuda, Ruixiong and Zain seemed so amused at it.. I seem so anal and high strung next to them.. :(.. whyyyy... why can't I be all nice and peace loving. And I feel it especially amongst my friends here coz everyone's like so nice, unpretentious and chill.. yet all good kids that do their work, go to school, eat their vegetables.. but party on thursdays.. I always get the feeling like I'm the only one complaining and complaining.. so I leave early and come home to complain to jon. I wish
1) I had less strong opinions about every single anal thing
2) I could talk and complain less
3) I listened more
4) I had more nice beautiful thoughts about the world

ok.. I guess these are traits I can do something about.. maybe I should stick a postit on my wall to remind myself every morning... =p.. something along the lines of "Life is beautiful.. look at the blue sky.. you have bad breath, don't talk so much..."

then sometimes I jump to the other bandwagon that says "screw it, I love who I am".. love these ppl.. they appear so gutsy and confident.. so cool!

how how how?????

2007-05-16T23:58:00.000-04:00

hmm.. its been some time since I wrote one of those long crazy post with random ramblings of random stuff that hit me at the moment when I type www.blogger.com...
so since I'm only now realising that the exam tomorrow doesn't warrant any more preparation and a good night sleep would prob be much better.. taking my 15 mins relaxation time now before I hit the bed... it helps you know.. not going directly to bed after studying.. I find that if i try to force myself to bed, all these equations will still be floating arnd in front of my eyes and I end up awake 1 hr later extremely frustrated..

anyhow, so as usual, 1st stop was facebook.com.. that website is amazing.. recently one of my classmates was suggesting that we should compile a contact list before everyone leaves.. n I'm just like.. oh we already have one.. its called facebook. and its true.. I keep in touch with my penn friends n friends in singapore thru facebook or MSN.. the wonders of technology.. n its sometimes quite scary too.. how we don't have to put much effort to "keep track" and "keep in touch" with our friends.. I wonder if without MSN I'll actually maybe spend more time calling people up for a chat.. n its much warmer too.. when Jas calls, wilson.. kevin.. its nice.. our chats always end up like 1 hr until someone has to leave... I wait on MSN for xuda to come online so I know its time for our dinner.. or saturday brunch.. and if I don't see him online i automatically assume today he's not eating at this time and I just go off myself.. I don't even call! (in my defense its coz i don't wanna wake him up if he's sleeping.. )

anyhow, back to my facebook surfing.. was randomly looking thru people's updates.. and I came across a friend's photo album.. crap why are people able to make the most normal looking things look artistic in a photo.. my shots of scenery always turn out rather iffy and doesn't mean anything to anyone except myself =p.. which is why I like people shots.. happy ppl smiling type shots :)

2007-05-16T23:53:00.001-04:00

eh wilson.. never help say never help la.. in fact I HELP YOU lorrrrr!!!

2007-05-16T18:23:00.000-04:00

had a really really tough paper today :(.. then tough nm.. sometimes when its difficult I still coming out thinking I understood the material.. today I felt I could have studied more.. partially coz I was sick all the time.. but that's the excuse.. real reason is I've been lazy and distracted :(...

came home.. napped.. woke up to study.. n got irritated looking arnd my dirty room and started cleaning.. feels good now

5 more days....

2007-05-14T23:08:00.000-04:00

Anqi is COMING in 14 days!!!! to re-enact our Copenhagen adventures.. too bad the two silly guys aren't gonna be arnd to be our bag carriers... not that they helped much last time.. lousy. :).

and I'm free in 7 days... counting down....

2007-05-11T18:38:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling sick from tequila overdose.. too long never drink.. one night is killing me. still sniffing like mad. I miss my boyfriend. crap

actually I was dun understand this relationship thing.. essentially jon signed up to hear me complain all the time about my life.. err whether he entered into it knowing it was going to be THIS bad is another qns la.. and yet I think if I don't call for one day he will be unhappy leh.. not happy that his ear got one day break from my nagging and screaming.. then Valentine's Day, my birthday etc etc all need presents.. worse he'll b in europe for another 2 years.. so if he wants to see me have to buy air ticket.. self torture. But I'm happy. hahahaha

Been getting emails from JCrew VS etc etc all the summer stuff are here!!! went online to check it out and now really wanna go shopping.. ANQI!! FASTER COME!!!!!!!!!!! you're the best shopper I know lor.. except u always look so nice in every outfit then I feel so jialat.. haaaaiiizzz.. so u'll shop with me and I end up not buying that much.. which is good!! retail therapy w/o breaking my wallet. I like.

High School Party!

2007-05-11T14:10:00.000-04:00

Photos from the party last night...

so act cute.. but really quite cute leh.. hahahah

having fun... :)

After the Dbar..its time for some wiiiiiiiiiii

some of my favorite photos from last night.. dunno how come the rest didn't take photos.. then some photos came out blur..

2007-05-11T12:46:00.000-04:00

ate so much for dinner last night that I got so sleepy after... falling asleep reading corp fin.. so I decided to not be lazy and do the opposite.. go to the gymmmmmm... didn't run but went like spinning, elliptical so that I could read notes while in the gym... came back showered n tried to finish up a bit of corp fin before joining the guys @ dbar.. actually had alot of work n wasn't really in the mood to party but wanted to get a drink... for relaxation purposes.. but I forgot last night was the "high school party" night! n ended up drinking quite alot and got drunk. damn. wasted a whole night.. but was quite fun ah
:)

woke up this morning and ate instant noodles.. time to crammmmmm

2007-05-08T21:26:00.000-04:00

haiyo.. received this email from one of my teaching assistants for this class..

"ok, i will let you know, but losing a point or two would not hurt your life. I am just kidding.

I know you guys are doing well. Spend more time in dbar rather than working on this hw."

wah.. asking us to go dbar more.. we that nerdy meh.. oh well

Beauty & The Geek

2007-05-06T21:53:00.000-04:00

And today something relaly funny happened.. the NBC pple came to Princeton Grad School Dining Hall and went around approaching people to ask them to appear on Beauty and the Geek!! think one guy was really offended.. and they must have like a serious bad opinion of Princeton grad students because the lady was going "yeah, we do shows like The biggest Loser where people try to lose as much weight as possible..."

So what did wilson do at princeton? watch me study. haha my FE simulations are killing me... today watched spiderman3 on tv-links.. watched Naruto.. bleach.. played 2 hours of pool.. went eat Indian buffet (Very nice!!!) then came home where he had to hear me talk to my bf on the phone.. going to play ping pong.. haha think he regrets coming!! =p

Wilson came to Princeton

2007-05-06T21:49:00.000-04:00

Princeton in Full Bloom...

Xuda so shuaiiiii

Brunch @ Forbes Dining Hall.. Jon dunwan take photo after a night of partying..

stupid Wilson...

Wah Alot of Shows to Watch!!!

2007-05-04T09:46:00.000-04:00

Last Day of School

2007-05-04T01:34:00.000-04:00

ended on a very flat note because it was Fixed Income.. I think can safely say, she is like the worse teacher I've ever encountered

juz spent hours on 1 question simulating credit default options.. can die

I'm so going to miss school.

=p

2007-04-29T20:43:00.000-04:00

最近听说我可能会被派到中国策略关系署。。惨了。。要多练习一下我的华文。。多读早报。。多看台戏或环朱格格之类的戏。。。《我猜我猜〉〉？？

或许我能说服我们的中国顾客在商业上用英语来谈判有他的好处。。应该是说服不了。。。糟糕。。想是在宾大修读商务汉语的那门课程在成绩单上让上司注意到：（。。

2007-04-28T23:26:00.000-04:00

Just finished watching Save the Last Dance for me.. finally.. haha been watching this drama forever but stopped halfway coz of... i dunno.. naruto.. heroes.. =p.. was going to do work today but guess have to do it tmrw..

so saddddddd... but I like this show coz got Happy Ever After ending.. :)

Question: The Value of Advice

2007-04-25T23:35:00.000-04:00

I've been taught since young that in face of difficulties, it is wise to seek advice from people I respect and trust (especially people with experience in whatever I need help with). Over the years, I find myself with varying degrees of response in different scenarios. Sometimes I hear something I don't really want to hear, I privately think "this person don't know what he's talking about..he's biased". Or I could think "yeah, he's so smart. Can't believe i never saw it this way". Getting more opinions always makes it worse because it starts to become like a voting contest.. 60% says yes, 40% says no.. hmmm ok so where does that leave me? Writing a list has never helped.. even if there are more pros, I will tell myself err but this ONE con is really really extreeemmmlllly impt....haha this reminds me of something the MFin students concluded here. Flip a coin.. if ur instinctively happy.. then u know.. if ur instinct is to flip again.. then u also know..

What sucks even more is having to tell people "oops I didn't follow your advice because......."
Then I go thru that whole period of soul searching.. I wonder if I'm discarding popular advice because of over confidence or because I really just know better..

I guess as cliche as it sounds, the decision is ultimately mine. Crap, I guess this is the real world. There's no right answer. Maybe studying literature really is the smart choice... or even better.. I'll study history then I'll write a book like Blink and make alot of money teaching people how to make decisions.

went running today at the track. Never ran at this track before.. realise the stadium quite nice ah.. not as big as Penn but newer... anyhow the track was quiet coz it was like 2pm.. perfect weather though at about 18 degrees.. ran 6k.. felt quite happy with myself.. came home and vacuumed my floor.. good day good day.

2007-04-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

2nd last week of school.. so much work.. really dun feel like going for classes anymore.. the more I go the more lost I get.

Zain says I look different nowadays.. not so easy to recognize me anymore cause my hair is black.. good for slacking at work perhaps?

WSJ quite funny.. I quote:
"But persuading Joe Six-Pack that a chief executive needs to make $20 million a year for ho-hum performance is no easy task."

Joe Six-Pack? talk about stereotyping.. =p

光良-天堂

2007-04-22T20:32:00.001-04:00

牵着你在天空飞翔
这样看世界不一样
有了你在身旁
笑得脸庞
世界或许就这么宽广

忽然就忘记慌张
人海之中你最明亮
无意间的影响渐渐扩张
你丰富我生活感想

何必寻找所谓的天堂
原来我因为你不想再去流浪
情愿平凡不拥有一切也无妨

有了你在心上已经是天堂

2007-04-17T21:24:00.000-04:00

Rain Rain Rain.. the bus didn't come this morning but I already walked to school.. the rest came in Zain's car.. went to Ivy Garden for lunch with the rest.. really dun like that place.. Xuda and Zain finds the waiter amusing.. I find him scary.. like will insist we speak chinese otherwise we're bad.. n he keeps wanting to speak to us in hokkien which I don't undertand.. ask Tzehui who is matthew.. ask her come tmrw again he cook for her but dun bring her bf.. crazy

after class today, Tzehui and I took the shuttle back.. and it broke down.. haha.. this school relaly doesn't function after a little rain

2007-04-16T22:30:00.000-04:00

Latest Photo of Happy Lim. :)

Another day in my life

2007-04-16T21:12:00.000-04:00

Crappy rain today.. seriously didn't want to get out of bed.. but did anyway because the thought of the warm toasted bagel was just too appealing. At 910, we were all standing there waiting for the shuttle to arrive... but it never did. We chose to give in to herd instinct, despite our smarter human instinct telling us to go back to bed, and walked to class in torrential rain. Ok, I exaggerate, by time we walked, it was more like a drizzle.

Came home after class.. tried to do some work but could barely concentrate cause I was so hungry.. when 6pm came I was so happy and walked to dining hall for a good meal.. we were a little afraid the dining hall would be closed because they sent home non-essential staff due to flood/storm warnings (yeah students don't deserve the same amt of consideration.. something as small as flood shudn't get in the way of learning)

Came home and tried to finish Asset Pricing homework.. I actually finished it but I did it wrongly.. and end up spending 2 hours only to find out that my mistake was in assuming the normal random variable generator in matlab takes variance as an input.. but it really takes standard deviation. Many thanks to Xuda for helping me to spot my mistake.

On to another homework.. really sian.. the bottle of Chianti Classico half-finished sitting on my table reminds me of happier times.. couldn't resist and I poured myself a glass. In my defense, I managed to finish 2/3 of my homework on the train on sat night after 2 glasses of wine.. tt's much faster than what I usually take.. so hopefully this glass will help me too. :)

Power of Marketing

2007-04-15T10:43:00.001-04:00

Had dinner in New York last night at this place called db bistro. Actually wanted to come home to study and was intending to do just that after passing some stuff to a friend. But, got the impression that my friend was looking for some dinner company so decided to join him for dinner. Turns out this db bistro is was not really the small casual restaurant I expected.. well for new york size it wasn't really that small.. anyhow, the menu was interesting. everything was under headings like "salades","saumon", "asperges" "poulet" or something like that which I'm sure I spelt wrongly and they expected u to know what it means.. then the prices were quoted as "AP 23" "MC30" "AP18/MC32".. like huh? ohhhh

Turns out my friend had a friend coming as well. Lucky just 1 friend.. n as much as I was sian, the conversation was interesting.. I enjoyed myself.. but I'm blogging abt this dinner becoz of this 32 USD before tips and taxes foie gras burger (the reason why they chose this place apparently) that they ordered.. like seriously. After the 14% taxes and 15% tips, u probably end up paying 40USD for that burger.. tt's 80 white castle hamburgers. So the waiter (is there a nicer sounding name for waiter?) asked "would u like pommes frites or pommes souffle with the burger" and upon a very blank stare said "french fries or potato souffle" which also means wedges that are hollow in the middle. Whoops, add 10 bucks to the price of the dish. They served the burger without much adornment on a white place with those cone-shaped basket you get at swenson, to serve the fries. it really stuck me then how ridiculous this is. I enjoy nice dinners... but 40USD for a foie gras burger really seems... amazing. haha..

and now i'm thinking if I write

"forced fed ducks' liver served as a burger with french fries".

how much would you pay? but if I write

"Forced fed ducks' liver served as a burger with french fries" ...

the nice type-face warrants a 20% increase in price.. then "

sirloin burger filled with Braised Short Ribs Foie Gras and Black Truffle, Served on a Parmesan Bun, Pommes Frites -or- Pommes Soufflees"

Yup, that's 32 USD. *sigh*.

[French] literally translated, "fat liver"; but the term is used to describe the fattened liver of both duck and geese. The birds are force fed a rich mixture to help expedite this process. The largest production of commercial foie gras is done in France and Israel. The US will only allow this product to be imported in a cooked stage, either canned, vacuum-sealed, or frozen. These are inferior products and will never highlight the true delicacy of foie gras.
www.recipegoldmine.com/glossary/glossaryF.html

and apparently foie gras in the US sucks anyway.

Power of Marketing

2007-04-15T10:43:00.000-04:00

"forced fed ducks' liver served as a burger with french fries".

how much would you pay? but if I write

"Forced fed ducks' liver served as a burger with french fries" ...

the nice type-face warrants a 20% increase in price.. then "

sirloin burger filled with Braised Short Ribs Foie Gras and Black Truffle, Served on a Parmesan Bun, Pommes Frites -or- Pommes Soufflees"

Dinner @ Lahiere

2007-04-13T22:28:00.000-04:00

Overly friendly waiter.. savory french food.

oh, my hair went back to black

2007-04-13T10:20:00.000-04:00

Been a little stressed lately.. feel like there's so many things I need to solve but can't solve.. to do but no time to do.. so on Wed after I handed in my homework, decided to take the day off.. or rather weekend off until saturday when jon leaves that is and when I have to start on that killer econometrics homework due monday... went to play tennis.. quite fun ah! xuda n jon rallied for a while.. nice to watch.. reminds me of those squash matches i loved to watch where the ball is always hit so sharp and fast but somehow always picked up but the opponent.. then went to play more ping pong.. dinner.. and watched terminator 2 at night.. haha so old school.. actually watching it in 2007 i think the show quite cool ah.. in 1990s can film like that. although a bit slow but still interesting..

yesterday had a 815 class.. crazy man.. woke up at 7+ and it was raining and all.. met xuda on the shuttle and two of us were wondering wad were we doing going to class.. got to class and there were only 6 ppl including us lor.. haha but by the end of the class abt 11 or 12 people turned up in total la.. so NOT too bad.. 30% 40% attendance =p
ended class at 11+.. was on the phone with dad for quite long.. then came home.. we ordered pizza in then went to the projection room to watch heroes.. wah quite shiok! big room only two of us.. with pizza and a big projection screen watching heroes.. the show was filmed so nicely somemore..
came home and i fell asleep.. woke up and we went for dinner.. I 1st tried this restaurant Mediterra with Xuda when we 1st came in Sept last year.. but went for lunch then.. last night, there was live band playing jazz-y lounge-y type music.. no singing which jon likes.. soothing with I like. place was crowded.. had to wait bout 30 mins before we got our table.. had a sliced meat/lean meat platter and a cheese platter with wine.. reminded us of barcelona.. then a salmon.. the service was quite good ah.. we said we were gonna share and they brought it out in two plates..
Night still young, we went to the Triump Brewing Company.. they sell "exotic" beers.. we tried the sampler.. 7 types of beer in small glasses.. included INdian Ale, Raspberry ale, British Ale, Honey Wheat beer, SOme Pacific Northwestern beer, german ale, and irish stout.. I must say other than the honey wheat and german ale, i hated the rest.

From top right to left: In Mediterra.. meat platter, cheese plater.. salmon.. In the Brewing company.. 7 glasses of beer.. Jon was amazed I even agreed to drink..

After drinks.. took the shuttle back and went to the D-bar for drinks.. Jon was amazed at how cheap it was.. came back arnd 1 nice and happy...
Jon's leaving tmrw.. so today we're gonna go all the places I haven't showed him... stuff that I always talk abt when I'm on the phone with him.. like my fav breakfast haunt.. think we might play more squash.. .......

Weekend...

2007-04-09T21:55:00.000-04:00

Wah, this weekend was really fun man. hmm actually it kind of started on Wednesday night.. Jon played Ping Pong with me after dinner.. and I lost so badly.. pool after lunch on thursdayfollowed by squash where I won...I think that's the only game I can actually win la.. n i think not for long either.

Slept at 730 cause I was so tired.. jon went to meet andrew at the airport.. cause I slept so early, I woke up at 4am and decided to do work... around 9+ called enterprise to arrange for them to pick us up.. BUT the reservation was screwed up and my reservation got moved to 12pm.. then after we got the car (Mazda 6 but it's not that great.. quite unstable and not very powerful.. whoops.. ok maybe I'm just picking fault cause I was in a bad mood) I lost my wayyyy.. missed the turning to the turnpike.. don't know how I missed those huge signs. Anyhow because I got lost, we were delayed for super long and made andrew take the train to newark airport so we can skip going into Manhattan.. only good thing is that Jon got to try white castle burgers cause we passed by one...

Got to woodsbury and went shopping!!! err but i didn't buy anything.. andrew bought quite a bit though.. =p.. stayed at the hotel for the night.. and Sat.. SIX FLAGS! It was so colddd when we got there that I regreted arranging the trip ah.. 1st thing we did was to go get food but the food sucked! it was cold and tasteless... then alot of the big roller coasters weren't open.. I was 90% sure the day would be a disaster.. but.. it got better! the weather wasn't as cold as it was forecasted.. so the place wasn't crowded but we got to take all the rides.. or should I say they got to ride since hmmm heights aren't really my thing.. =p

Crazy rollercoasters.. wooden roller coaster???

3D show.. Spongebob Square Pants.. we all only went to this 3d thing cause of me la..

look like a kiddy ride right! but its not.. super high thing that just goes all the way up.. then down

looking quite stone after El Toro.. the wooden roller coaster

2007-04-09T21:50:00.000-04:00

when they tried to take the el toro a 2nd time, the ride broke down.. see the mechanics! so scary..
Oh you can see that crazy Kingda Ka ride in the background.. total vertical man.. 13 secs to boost and go to the top.. followed by vertical ride down..

rollercoasters all over!!! Btw, nice sweater right.. I picked it!

Next day morning, we were really hungry... so before we went to the airport, stopped at Galaxy Diner near our hotel for some great american sunday brunch...

Went into Manhattan for the day.. I dyed my hair back to black after everyone telling me I look darker with my hair so light.. =p.. more photos another time.. didn't take that many cause I forgot to charge the batteries before going to Six Flags.. so dumb =p...

Got my laptop back.. time to do work

2007-04-05T07:04:00.000-04:00

life has been rather unexciting.. the weather decided its winter again.. heard its snowing in maine.. what is wronggggg... we have to stop pollution. I've come to realise that a lot of people are really quite ignorant when it comes to conserving resources. Is it because I've been indoctrinated by the government since young that I find leaving the tap on while strolling back to my room to put back a clean cup and take a dirty plate out extremely wasteful while others don't even seem slightly bothered? or leave the lights on all day since electricity is "free-flow", included in our rent? Just because cost doesn't increase with higher usage means we have to max out our capacity.. shouldn't optimal be enough?

learning credit derivatives now.. quite cool.

a lot of homework due in the next 2 weeks. Sian. yet glad there's something to keep my mind occupied so it doesn't seem like every minute is one hour.

intending to go six flags on sat.. but with the weather like that.. :(

Formal Night At the Graduate College

2007-03-31T02:40:00.000-04:00

wow.. the graduate students suddenly all look so nice.. Tzehui and I felt a bit underdressed ah.. where did the girls get their gowns? I only knew about this party like.. 2 days ago? hehz.. anyhow, its kind of strange to have ballroom dancing in our dining hall but with the european harry-potter type setting.. quite cool ah..

before going into the dance...

Zain looking all spiffy in his suit..

jon with his nice new haircut.. i recommended the hair salon lor! heheh.. actually that salon should pay me commission.. I think I brought about 6 ppl there so far..

aiyo this picture turned out a bit blur.. tried to make it as sharp as I could la..

Heroes..

2007-03-29T23:11:00.000-04:00

Starting watching heroes after hearing jon kev xuda talk so much about it... quite addictive ah.. been watching for the last 3+ hours... =p

Should I skip my graduation ceremonY? hmm...

2007-03-27T05:46:00.000-04:00

aiyo i haven't cut my hair since january!! anyway I'm having serious jet lag man.. slept from 4-7.. tried to go to bed again at 1 but failed.. now its 6am and I'm still up.. die la.. have to study for exam :(

watch the 2nd half of this video! amazing man the pranks they play.

2007-03-25T22:17:00.000-04:00

Beyonce- Listen (OST Dreamgirls)

Listen to the song here in my heart
a melody I start but can't complete

Listen to the sound from deep within
Its only beginning to find release

Ohh the time has come for my dreams to be heard
They will not be pushed aside and turned
Into your own, all 'cause you won't listen

[chorus]
Listen
I am alone at a crossroads
I'm not at home in my own home
And I've tried and tried
To say whats on my mind
You should have known
Now I'm done believing you
You don't know what I'm feeling
I'm more than what
You've made of me
I followed the voice, you gave to me
But now I've gotta find my own
You should have listened

There was someone here inside
Someone I thought had died
So long ago
Oh I'm screaming out
And my dreams will be heard
They will not be pushed Aside or turned
Into your own
[ these lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]
All 'cause you won't listen

[chorus]
Listen
I am alone at a crossroads
I'm not at home in my own home
And I've tried and tried
To say whats on my mind
You should have known
Now I'm done believing you
You don't know what I'm feeling
I'm more than what
You've made of me
I followed the voice, you gave to me
But now I've gotta find my own
You should have listened

I don't know where I belong
But I'll be moving on
If you don't, if you won't

Listen to the song here in my heart
A melody I start, but I will complete

Now I am done believing you
You don't know not what I am feeling
I'm more than what you've made of me
I followed the voice you think you gave to me

But now I got to find my own - my own

2007-03-25T18:01:00.000-04:00

I'm back.. laptop screen spoilt so haven't been online.. lucky here got external screen.. flight was looonnnggg.. hate bitchy air stewardess who smiles like mad to the tall ang moh guy in front of u and says in a sharp clipped monotonic voice "welcome mdm" then quickly looks away to do something else...

anyhow, photos from singapore.. didn't take much..

ZHiyi with his new customized oakleys...

Anqi looked so small driving her car.. so cute la!! haha.. anyhow we went barfly and Zouk on wednesday...zouk music kinda sucked.. surprising..

2007-03-25T17:58:00.000-04:00

More from Singapore...

2007-03-20T00:21:00.000-04:00

Been back for a few days now.. doing nothing except trying to study a bit of econometrics every day.. going out for food (Crystal Jade Dim Sum naturally.. ).. errands etc.. went to ACS yesterday to see xiang's school... wah the place very nice man.. crazy no wonder school fees so expensive. Going to vivocity (finally) with anqi later.. =p

My sisters are really entertaining.. ping's so funny.. yesterday we were talking abt mom's car and she was like "Oh the Apricot??" HUH? what Apricot! the Accord la my dear :). she's now a Bailey's girl.. everyday going to work all dressed up in red dress and hot black boots =p.. dad tells her "aiyo u dun like the face I gave you isit.. why put so much make up.." apparently everyone else puts 2x as much.

Been eating at home a lot more.. miss home cooked food ah.. sadly been having diarrhoea of some sorts.. appetite not that great.. but today will be better!!

I like Daisies.. these pink ones are so pretty.. sitting in our hall. :)

dinner with sisters.. yes xiang's an AC girl...

trying to be cool.. trying very hard

dad's chef new creation @ honjin.. dunno if they're gonna sell it though. just realised the color of the table coupled with the stark white plating makes the food look especially appetizing..

2007-03-17T12:45:00.000-04:00

Went with my sister to buy a laptop today.. and we bought a mac! took some crazy photos...

Apples and Wine

2007-03-14T01:24:00.000-04:00

" Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy.

The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree to get them..

Now men...men are like a fine wine. The older they are, the finer they get. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with."

I love Anqi. She's so funny. haha.. always can count on her for a good laugh :)

Ping changed her shift on saturday to morning so she can see me in the airport.. how cute =p

Exams Exams Exams!

2007-03-11T00:58:00.000-05:00

Woke up today and decided to try and use my meal plan a bit more.. weather was nice too so walked to the undergrad dining hall for brunch.. had eggs which was GREAT :).. then went to Friend Library to study. its nice cause the glass windows stretch from 1st to 3rd floor, allowing the bright warm sunlight to shine through.. makes the place bright and airy.. so i chose this big round table for 4 at the far end of the library on the top floor (3rd floor that is..).. monopolized that table and just did work for like 6 hours.. amazing.. even I think its amazing.. walked out to get a drink once.. Realise when you really sit down and focus, alot of things fall into place.. like a jigsaw puzzle.. its a great feeling to actually think I sort of understand my work a bit more now..

After the library, went for dinner (alone, how sad) at this chinese restaurant before heading to small world cafe for my hot vanilla milk.. only reason i go to this place and not starbucks is coz of their delicious vanilla milk :). small world cafe was apparently started by 2 princeton residents who thot we needed a coffee place.. and now they supply to the school eateries.. how cool. studied a bit more there until it got a bit noisy coz had some live band performance (drums and works.. argghhh). took a nice long slow walk home listening to very nice soothing drama/instrumental music.. so sad coz my MP3 player is getting a bit screwed it.. think the connection is loose so a little bit of movement causes it to switch off.. thinking of getting an iPod but then i like this player cause its also a thumb drive.. no need to bring wire around.. maybe I'll just get another one like this.. then again once I start work I wonder how often I'll actually use my mp3 player.. hmm see 1st la

ya.. total uneventful day but I like it.. it was relaxing in a way yet I didn't like waste it doing nothing. :).

2007-03-09T12:05:00.000-05:00

Beauty vs Brains...

2007-03-08T19:32:00.000-05:00

so glad its thursday. Been a rough week. Classes are incomprehensible. Homeworks are everlasting. crap.

After a not so good afternoon, had dinner with the gang in the dining hall. Our conversation centered on the question of "if you had to choose btwn 50% more looks or 50% more brains.. what would you choose.." I would definitely choose looks lor..

I always thot girls would choose looks and guys would choose brains.. haha.. guys choose gf very superficial one mah =p.. and girls like smart guys mah.. right right? =p. Tzehui also chose looks lor.. but two guys bucked the trend.. ruixiong and zain chose looks over brains! =p.. we concluded either they're too smart already that they juz don't see the point of more brains.. or that Stanford ppl too good looking so you always feel like you need to get better looking. =p. (well ruixiong did add a caveat that he actually thinks social skills definitely the most important..brains don't count for anything.. haha)

Received a card from my cousin today.. so nice of him.. didn't really show him around all that much lor.. and I enjoyed the musical also.. so wasn't really going out my way to bring him arnd.. Thanks for the card!

Lazy wkend..

2007-03-04T22:43:00.000-05:00

Got really bored studying last night.. Ruixiong came online and we decided to go to Alchemist to get some food.. haha used to have these random late night "suppers" @ Penn.. but stopped after coming here coz so inconvenient =p.. Chat with him for 2 hours.. so nice :)

Woke up at 8 this morning.. went to New York for lunch.. fell asleep on the train.. to make myself more comfy, i folded my puffy jacket to act like a pillow.. leaned against it and slept.. and the ppl across the aisle were so amused can.. haha..

got to K town early and bought some exam ration.. i.e Seaweed + Pocky =p.. had alot of food with Kevin n Dave @ Shilla.. Dave had to go back to work on a Sunday.. meeting @ 5pm! feel very sad for i-bankers but Dave seems to be holding up just fine so oh well.. took the train back with Kevin.. came home and promptly fell asleep.. wake up to go for dinner.. what a pig.

Studying for Asset pricing now.. haizz I really really wish my math was better.

Naruto episode 224 is out!! Gaara is how cool..

Business School vs.. everything else?

2007-03-03T13:39:00.000-05:00

Over brunch today, Will and Xuda were talking about how they were quite disappointed with some aspects of this program and that staying for 2 years is really not worth it.. Will wishes he's only here for a year.. A major part of the reason why the program has a duration of 2 years is because of recruiting reasons.. many banks etc prefer to hire their summer associates/analyst..

There are many complaints about this program.. some of the more important ones (meaning I exclude the personal grudges against our profs etc ehhe) include

* lack of facilities even though we're full paying students. The ORFE PhD students get more frills such as free lunches at our lounge with the faculty ever so often.. we have only 2 computers to use and the other computers are reserved for the PhD students who go "Shhhh you guys aren't supposed to talk here".. and then talk amongst themselves other times..

* lack of classes (and also implicitly, lack of finance professors) to choose from. Because many of our classes are cross listed with the econs and operations research engineering department, classes tend to clash and end up with all of us having more of less the same time table. This program is exacerbated by the fact that the finance department doesn't have enough professors and restricts the number of classes they can offer.. as it is, one of our core class is taught by a Fed researcher.. another by someone who was just graduated from her PhD last year.. my fixed income class is taught by a visiting prof from italy.. etc etc etc...

* Recruiting. This program is built around recruiting and I must say that its quite impressive in the sense the faculty is very well connected on wall street and those who do know about our program are eager to have more graduates from our program. Helps in that we get "exclusive"-type interviews where they would interview anyone whose interested. But there's also a problem because not everyone knows us.. and the program being so small doesn't warrant efforts by alot of off-wall-street finance firms such as investment management firms, to come to our campus to recruit. They rather just recruit from MBA schools.

* Too focused on academic stuff. Our classes don't include enough practical applications and tie-ins with reality. So Will asked me today to give my opinion since I've actually been in a business school. Think my answer was incoherent but here goes.. as much as I complain that I never learnt anything from business school, academic wise i still maintain that stand.. but practically, I learnt alot. Business school gives students a very good exposure to the corporate world at large.. reading WSJ or FT becomes an essential almost.. taking a wide variety of classes dealing with issues from political influences on business to building our own leadership/communication skills in mgmt 100 (yes I know we all hate this but it DOES give some insight into team dynamics..) .. BUT its also true that we skim the surface of everything. These students however, will go on to learn at work and become really good at whatever they need to be.. be it reading balance sheets or knowing at the blink of an eye where an arbitrage opportunity lies. Here @ princeton however, we seem to be getting prepared for a PhD program. half the class involves teaching us maths 1st.. because its necessary in order to understand how the derivation for famous finance formulas came about. While this is intellectually very stimulating, the students didn't come here for that. Yes we want to know how these models work.. the underlying assumptions and thus the problems with these models.. but we're focusing so much on derivation that we aren't exploring enough, how this affects trading/ finance in the world.

Then again, I'm making all these complains but having no solutions for them. haha, but the 1st step to solving a problem is to identify the problem 1st. So maybe when I get to the point where I can write all my complains in 3 succinct bullet points then I can go about helping to solve the problem...

Jonathan Kam!

2007-03-03T12:47:00.001-05:00

says I'm driving him up the wall. *HMPH* haiiizzzz...

2007-03-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

Ping painted her shoes herself!!! how cute!!!!!!!!!!!

She's workin... wahhh

80's inight at D-Bar!

2007-03-03T02:51:00.000-05:00

Played Squash for 2 hrs today! so Squash.. then went to get lunch at Massimos... came home and did work the whole afternoon!! then At night we headed to D-bar again for 80's night.. Hanjiang (my JC classmate now a senior at Princeton- came too.. photos to follow!

Me & Xuda

Friends! Top Left, cw: Tzehui and xuda; Tzehui, Wendy, Me, hanjiang, Tzehui Xuda, Me and Hangjiang

Dancing Kings/Queens....

Xuda Tzehui Me

2007-03-03T02:49:00.000-05:00

Happy People...

Finance Year 2s..

Finance Year 1s...

err.. Others?

2007-03-03T02:48:00.000-05:00

Gabriela, Me , Brad

Gautum.. really cool fella that I randomly met at the dining hall cos he looked so familiar.. only to find out he's a M.Fin year 2! :)

I like this photo coz they look so happy!! Emeka, Asad, gautum

Tzehui, Jun, Me