The Long Day...

Knocked out last night once again at about 4am or so. I have completely no idea how I ended up on my bed with my laptop and books neatly by the side of my bed. -shrugs-

Got out of bed today thinking it was already very late. It was only 7 plus. Talk about a warped body clock. Anyways, went for a run. Great weather today but darn it felt terrible. I need to take a break from running until I get well.

Worked on some technicals for interviews before heading out with my brother and sister for Tung Lok. Met up with my grandma, some of my cousins and uncles for dim sum lunch. Jeeze, if you had been there to see us eat. 22 plates of egg tarts, and probably around 5 to 10 plates of every other dim sum on the menu. Thinking back makes me feel sick. Still, first time I've done this with my family. Different.

Sent my cousin back and went over to my mom's factory to pick up stuff for my sister. Stayed around until my mom was done with work and came home. Already dead exhausted. Was contemplating some stuff and spoke to my mom for sometime. Needed some peace and quiet to think things through; headed for IHM. When I tried to leave the place, I was stuck inside because there was some function going on at the church upstairs. Had to wait till the cars started moving out before I could get to No Signboard to meet up with some friends.

Dinner adjourned to supper at Xin Wang cafe. Speaking of which, I just realized I haven't had dinner yet. Anyways, yup they chit chatted for sometime before heading home. Was pretty stoned, exhausted.

Took some time off to be alone. Grabbed a drink at the beach pub near to Laguna. I miss hearing the sound of the waves so much. Miss East Coast Park. Saw this really old couple holding hands and walking down the beach in the semi-darkness. Felt really envious and happy for them; they looked so blissful and beautiful together.

Hopped on the car and went for a drive through Singapore. Feeling the warm wind beating against my cheeks. Down ECP, down Rochor, along Marina Square, through the CBD, up Mount Faber... Pretty Singapore bursting with memories. I wonder when I'll see all of these again.

Got home and had consecutive chats, first with mom then with dad. Already a ton of stuff on my mind; now there's more. Well, what's new?

Long night ahead...

晴天

Finally... a day of decent weather. First day I really got to see the sun since I came back to Singapore. Did some last minute work and checks on my applications before taking panadol and taking a short nap. Didn't manage to sleep for long.

Headed out to City Hall area to do some reading...

Met up with Clara for dinner at Chijmes. Bobby Rubino's has pretty awesome ribs; as good as ribs can get in the US. Haven't had the chance to catch up ever since we grew up, amazingly the first time we had dinner out ourselves. Went for a short walk around the old shop houses before going over to Millenia Walk for a drink. It was this place that brewed their own german lager. Not too bad but I guess but half a litre of beer was a little too much fluid to drink in one go.

Walked back to take bus 70 home. I'm almost done with reading the Business Week I bought from Borders the other day. Tired.

Okay, I should go to bed. Already ranting about mundane stuff that means nothing at all. Night... Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight. Maybe.

Entering a Tailspin

With all the work that has been overwhelming me over the past few weeks, I'm totally spinning out of control. Haha. Collapsed last night from exhaustion again at around 10 plus once I got home from dinner with Pat's family. Totally knocked out. I was so exhausted when I was on the road that I was scared of my own driving for once.

I got home safe and passed out until 3am this morning, when I shot out of bed and worked again. Think it's already been in-built into me to get into work anytime, anywhere. Felt like crap as the night wore on and my body continued to break down. Haha. Oh well, I finally knocked out again at 6 plus with a splitting headache and a little fever. I guess, 3 weeks of sleep deprivation has finally caught up with me.

Here I am, working again and double checking the stuff I have submitted that are due today. That reminds me, haven't ran today. *ponders* Maybe I'll give it a break for one day.

Brief recount of the past 2 days. Singapore has been pouring cats and dogs ever since I got back. Weather sucks big time. Been working day and night at my applications, camping out at Starbucks / Spinellis for entire days, shuttling between my Orchard apartment and home. As if there wasn't enough hell, a huge earthquake hit Taiwan and destroyed all of Singtel's undersea internet cables. This has been a most tiring holiday, if it can even be considered one. Quite the nightmare I had expected. Alright, time to go to IHM.

Another few more days and I'm off.

Collapse

Totally knocked out last night. Exhausted with all that is happening around me. Applications are taking forever and I'm in a frenzy to get them done. I worked at one of the Starbucks joints in Orchard yesterday for the whole afternoon and met up with Lennard for a short while. Went around Borders to check out the books too. Orchard was quite a crummy place to be yesterday because of the poor weather, getting me drenched all the time. Apart from that, it was nice to feel the hustle and bustle of the city once again.

Met up with my family for dinner at Mosque Street. The Korean food there was decent. I'm not really a big Korean food fan but I guess it was pretty good by Singapore standards (and way cheaper compared to what I get in the US). I was going to head back to my Orchard apartment for the night and do more work but some stuff cropped up. Passed out on my bed at home while waiting for my brother to come back with the car. Passed out from exhaustion.

It's been a pretty tiring holiday... It's good to see my family again and spend time with them. The night life is good too. And of course Orchard Road is a great place to hang out and people watch. Somehow, I can't wait for this holiday to end and get back to the US, where classes and work await.

Lost in the tiny island of Singapore... Time for a run.

Life of a City Dweller

It was a hectic and almost horrid Christmas Day. Checked out from chalet and drove the huge gang of kids in 4 cars to Joo Chiat for 云吞面. Had a quick, filling breakfast before rushing to the city for lunch with my paternal grandpa and grandma. I was still very full from breakfast when I sat down for lunch. Oh well, I knew my grandpa was happiest when he saw us eating the food he ordered happily, so I just didn't think too much about it and ate a ton of food. Don't get me wrong, it was gorgeous food. Anything to make them happy. So glad to see my grandpa and grandma a lot better. One of my happiest moments in the day.

After lunch, I drove my brother and sister home. On the way back, we dropped by IHM to wish Pat a Merry Christmas. Dar, you haven't been forgotten ya? *hugs* You'll always have a special place in my heart...

Picked up some clothes and odds and ends from home before heading out to the apartment in Orchard. I'm staying here alone now; it's pretty fun I must say. Quiet sanctuary in the middle of the city. Orchard road is just a 3 minute walk away. I can also just cross the road and be in Shangri-La within 1 minute. Anyways, brought my sis out to watch Charlotte's Web yesterday with my brother. I was dozing off in Lido throughout the entire show. I don't know if it's me or the movie, but I think it didn't do the book the justice it deserves.

I was going to send my siblings home and drop by Parkway to pick up some stuff. Thought the better of it. So, I stayed in the apartment and did some work after my brother drove my sis back home. I took a walk down Orchard Road to see the Christmas lights and then headed out to City Hall area for a drink. To my only pal who was willing to head out in the middle of the night on short notice, thank you.

Singapore Sling is decent but way too mild. Oh well, I'll stick to martinis next time. I was going to take a long walk back but the weather got ugly. Maybe next time. Came back to my apartment and did some more work until I passed out, exhausted.

Christmas is just so different without you around... I miss you.

Time to chart the couse of my life and seriously think about where I want to go, what I want to do. Decisions.... Oh well, if anyone wants to look for me, call me at my old number. I'll be camping out in one of the coffee joints along Orchard Road, working on my internship applications or preparing stuff for my interviews.

Happy Boxing Day to all.

P.S. Ah Ma, Grandpa and Grandma, my parents, my family, all of you are the best! =)

Christmas 2006

The end of the year is finally here with the Christmas of 2006. This year has been a real rollercoaster ride for me. When I look back at myself one year ago, I simply can't imagine how much has changed in my life. I'm sitting here in the Wireless Surfing Zone in SAFRA Resort early on a Christmas morning. Sent my brother out to take a train because he couldn't get any cab to come pick him up from the chalet. The rest of my cousins (16 out of the 22 stayed yesterday, including myself) are still sleeping on the floor in the chalet. It's been awesome spending time with my family.

One year ago, I woke up on Christmas day, tired from a trip to midnight mars the night before at Queen of Peace with Pat and her family. Dar, its the favorite time of the year for you. Christmas, your favorite holiday. Having a good time up in heaven?

A short recap of the past few days. Saturday, I woke up early in the morning and ran to Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to see Pat. It's been such a long time... Went off later in the morning to my grandma's place to visit her. Needless to say, she was absolutely delighted and cooked food personally for me. Best grandma in the world! Headed to Reds to get my haircut and then headed to do some visiting.

In the evening, came to SAFRA with my mom and got to see all my awesome cousins, aunts, uncles. The kids stayed up ridiculously late as usual.

Sunday morning, sent a few of my cousins and an uncle out to their church and then headed to Pat's home to visit her family for a short while. It was nice to see all of them again. Her room feels... so empty, yet so familar. Memories...

The rest of the day was spent swimming and playing around with my cousins, BBQ at night and then an earlier night for all the kids since they were dead tired. I got up early this morning and here I am, checking my results. Didn't do as good as I hoped this semester. Even screwed up enough to get a B+ for Finance. Sigh. My favorite class...

Oh well, better buck up and work harder next semester. Hopefully my GPA is decent enough to get me some interviews when I get back. Breakfast with all the kids later and then lunch with my 公公. Looking forward to that.

Time flies. So much has changed. Walking on...

Best wishes and Merry Christmas. I wish all the people whom I love and cherish the very best, a Merry Christmas and may the joy and blessings of Christmas bring them hope, happiness and love, always.

家

After flying halfway around the world (literally 12 time zones away), I'm finally home. It's great to see mom and dad... Thanks for picking me up from the airport even when you're so tired.

The flight was long and painful to say the least. Nothing I couldn't put up with. Got home and it's in quite a mess because of the renovations that were going on. Just went for a short run. Nice, warm and quiet... Singapore is really quite beautiful at night.

Got back about half of my results. It was crap. I wonder where all the hard work went. Sigh. 2 more subjects to go before I get my GPA for the first semester.

Will go for another run in about 4 hours time. Slightly further run tomorrow; a run/visit which I have been waiting for...

I'm home.

Destination Singapore

Finally done with my exams. The last paper was pretty tough in a way. I guess, no one knew what to expect or study so everyone just went in blind. Hopefully it will not be too much of a shocker. Had my first meal of the day: dinner at NYPD (New York Pizza Depot). Didn't have much of an appetite. Probably because I'm way too tired to eat.

Headed out to the mall to do some last minute shopping. Was really pretty exhausted when I was walking around. I got home awhile ago and started my packing while finally getting a Tiger with Ming. Tired... Shucks, totally forgot to buy one more thing which I had promised my sister. Guess I'll have to drive out later again. There goes my sleep. *shrugs* Oh well, I can dutifully pay off my sleep debt on the plane and at airports around the world. Ever tried sleeping for more than 24 hours? Well, watch me do just that.

Packed all my stuff carelessly into my huge suitcase. Going to bring it home and then throw it away because the straps are coming apart already. It's so empty; I've had a lot of trouble finding things to put inside. Anyways, will be home in about 2 days time. My first day in Singapore already all planned out. Breakfast with Grandpa and Dad (Dad, did you arrange for this already?), followed by a much needed haircut, then hopefully drop something off before I head down to SAFRA to join my family for the chalet that everyone has been looking forward to.

Until then, I'd better drive out now to grab the stuff before I pass out. I'm just about running on empty. Yes, literally. Will need to come back and email all my corporate contacts to let them know I'm flying off. I almost forgot about that. My sleep tonight is definitely toast now... Haha, what a way to start the short winter holidays.

P.S. I have this huge urge to go sky-diving for the past few days. Hope I'll get the chance to do that soon. Base-jumping too but that's probably pushing my luck a little too far.

4 Down 1 To Go

Here we are, 4 down 1 to go. After countless cups of coffee and who knows how many all-nighters, the final BIT200 (Business Information Technology) exam is finally here. 1.5 credits makes it almost tempting not to study but we all know better. Never let it up once else the other b-school kids will whoop your ass big time.

Pulled another all-nighter again last night. Caffeine-laden of course. BE exam was tough as expected; once again I got murdered by the MCQs which were absurdly difficult. Drat and each of those were worth 5 points. What a bummer. Ah well, the rest of the paper was generally pretty manageable I guess.

Came home, stoned and tried to get some sleep, as you can expect, to no avail. Caffeine is still flowing good and strong in my body, so I slumped into dreams of solving wonderful economics problems. I think I was practically doing the Math and drawing all the diagrams in my head in my half-stupor. Decided to quit trying to sleep and woke up to do my soon-to-be-due UBS online assessment test for the Asia application. Wasn't too bad I think. Probably did better than the Merrill Lynch one.

Ah well, another one last paper to mug for. Hardware, software, excel, networking, access databases, HTML and all the jargon which only one person is interested in, none other than our Prof himself. Really have to force myself to study for this. I think it's probably the same case for everyone else. First time touching the BIT notes ever. Haha...

Anyways, nice weather today. I would think that I am living in California or something. Sunny day, clear blue skies, zero to five degrees; weather worthy of a t-shirt and shorts. Ann Arbor looks so beautiful.

News flash updates:
Delta rejects US Airways bid and pledges to emerge from bankrupcy.
Morgan Stanley is going to spin-off their Discovery credit card business to focus on their core operations.
NYSE bids for Euronext, probably going to materialize.
Thailand's stock market takes a plunge on new regulations which tries to curb speculation in Thai Baht.
AT&T acquisition of BellSouth hits a hump due to regulatory issues.
Express Script launches a surprise bid for Caremark to compete with CVS's takeover deal.
Oil falls (at least it did yesterday) due to mild winters in the US (for now) requiring less oil and gas for heating.
Harrah's agreed to be taken over by Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group. (Their share price is undervalued by the way, the offer price at $17.1 billion plus $10.7 billion in debt is an offer of 90 bucks a share. They're now trading at $82.30 for some reason which I haven't figured out yet. Weird that the market did not react to the news and bubble the price up to $90.)

That's it for now. Time to get back to the less interesting stuff, BIT. Oh by the way, Google is on discount. Cheap cheap $468 only. Buy while stocks last. (no pun intended)

3 Down, 2 To Go

Done with Finance. I'm totally distraught that my finance class is over. Loved every single class I was in. Apart from the less than spectacular results from my second exam (darn), the class totally rocked!

Finished my paper in *gasp* 1 hour today! Can you believe it? Spent the remaining hour pondering two questions which I completely stumped me. Apparently I wasn't the only one doing that. Definitely going to have to email Josh and ask him what the heck that was all about. Oh well, had a ton of fun studying for it and taking the exam. Thanks Prof!

I'm quite on a high now from the finance exam. On the flip side, I'm not looking forward to the darned BE (Business Economics) finals tomorrow. Big yucks to that class. My two remaining exams ain't fun at all. Oh well, might as well enjoy studying for them while I have the chance. Hopefully I'll be able to work myself into a high studying for those too.

Time to eat some econ notes. Later guys.

Monkeying Around with Finance

It's 12:52am right now, I'm having a ton of fun studying for my finance exam. Finished all my practice questions and re-did my home works. This is so much fun. I'm not kidding! This is addictive!

Ah well, going to indulge in this the entire night (as usual). I'm so going to miss going for Josh's Finance 300 classes. Damn, even the review session / office hours today were hilarious. First thing he said when he came into the class (in his usual flannel shirt and corduroy trousers) was "Alright, so hit me." Just can't get enough of his idiosyncrasies.

On another note, having mixed feelings inside me. My fun-filled exams are coming to an end soon and it'll be back to reality. Hrm... SAFRA chalet, which I am totally looking forward to because I'll get to see all my little cousins and terrorize them. Swimming under the scorching sun, running (who cares, in the sun or in the rain), seeing my parents, my grandparents, my siblings, priceless. Then again, all these will have to be done while I do my resume drops and applications for the US internships before December 28. Well, at least that will be something fun to do while I'm in Singapore.

Oh well, no point worrying about those for now. Maybe things will work themselves out when I get there. Either that, or I'll beat them all into place just like I've done all semester. It's been one hell of a ride learning how to stand alone. One hell of an experience. Like my pals would say, "SWEEEEEEEEEEET". I think so too.

Before I go off, just caught the news that the buyout of Harrah's Entertainment would probably go through. New $16.8 billion bid from Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group. Way to go guys! MGM Mirage also got a share tender offer from Tracinda Corp (controlled by none other than Kirk Kerkorian himself). You've just go to love these kick-ass PE (private equity) shops.

Enough ranting. Back to books.

The Freak Winter

No one's going to believe me that it's winter. It's 4 degrees outside. You can barely call that cold by Ann Arbor standards. Global warming huh. Only one person in the world doesn't believe that its happening. *ahem* Most powerful person in the world apparently.

Been at my books all day. I'm taking a short timeout because the darned house 30 metres away is having a huge party and blasting music. Don't these kids ever need to study?

Nothing much to say. Three more exams; four more days. Weird as it may sound, I wish these exams don't end.

Miss the precious little things in life...

Bleeding off the Fatigue

Short timeout from the madness of exams. Tried to catch some sleep today but my body refused to shut down. Must be the excessive caffeine lingering around in my body. I think I must have drank a month's worth of coffee last night.

Headed to Borders to pick up a present for the Secret Santa thing but didn't attend the dinner. Went for dinner with Selene and her parents instead because I just found out that there were here to visit. Thanks for the treat uncle and auntie. Food at Red Lobster really rocks. Best Cheddar Biscuits ever.

Getting the BIG PICTURE on my my awesome finance, PUNTING on interest rates and MONKEYING AROUND with the free cash flows so that I can NAIL the exam and avoid getting NUKED (damn, Josh would be proud to hear this sentence from any of us). Feel like playing the piano. *ponders*

Alright, I'm heading out to the Union to study. Yes, I know its midnight. Thats the whole idea. I think someone went to fix the broken strings on the piano and retuned it. The grand piano sounds really awesome now. Listen to the songs okay? 88 months... Never got the chance to hit the nice number. I'm off.

Two Down, Three To Go

Done with marketing. Thought it was pretty alright except for the expectedly ambiguous multiple choice questions. Two down, three more to go. But before that, I think I need to pass out, soon. Warped body clock and amazingly still wide awake after a fun-filled night of eating up all my marketing notes. Body's not going to be able to keep it up anymore. Must have hit a record 20 cups of coffee or something last night.

What a waste I didn't manage to find an open mock interview slot today else I can go de-stress (yes weird way to de-stress since it's usually something that stresses people out). Shooting out answers and answering technicals under fire is actually getting pretty fun; love the kick out of them. Haha...

Okay, I'm delirious as you can probably see. Went to collect my signed I-20 from the international centre just now after exams and headed over to the Union to play on the piano for half an hour or so. It's the 15th again. Time flies... More than half a year already. Memories are still fresh like it all happened yesterday. *ponders* After I finished playing the piano, someone came up to me and asked me why the songs were so sad. Didn't know that came through. Oh well, bedtime... It's 11:24am now.

Oh before that, some news updates for myself. XM Radio and Sirius are finally going to consider a strategic merge. About time guys. Also, the awesome year this year for investment banks is going to give everyone super huge bonuses. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. Like 12 months. (A typical investment banker earns around 60 to 70K USD a year. Go figure out the math yourself.) Praying hard this sustains at least until I get to enter the industry.

Okay, really bed time now. I'm going to pass out already. Good night (or morning).

Timeout

Taking a short breather from studying for marketing exam which is at 8am tomorrow. Saturated brains sounds just about right; body saturated with caffeine too. Another bout of overdose of caffeine looming ahead. I wonder when hard work is going to pay off?

Woke up bright and early today to head to the b-school for another mock interview. Yes I'm nuts. Getting out of bed at 8:30am on the first day with no classes is just crazy. Oh well, it was fun. I thought I screwed it up and got totally grilled by the guy but he said I did well. Haha... The hardest mock interview I've done to date. Thanks for your help dude. Learnt a ton today. Answering questions under continuous fire isn't a joking matter at all.

Time to get back to my books. Positive email replies from my corporate contacts. Glad with that. Also, just to note: Airlines consolidation coming up though there will be lots of thorny issues to navigate; anti-trust legislators would probably be their biggest adversaries:

US Airways unsolicited bid for Delta
Qantas accepts takeover bid from consortium of investors which include Macquarie Bank and Texas Pacific Group
AirTrans seeks to takeover Midwest
United (UAL) in talks to buy over Continental

This consolidation is long overdue I think. Transportation industry guys in investment banks must be working their asses off not to prepare their pitches. Also, Goldman, Lehman and Bear Stearns reported record earnings for the forth quarter. Way to go...

流星雨

Geminids asteroid shower... the most spectacular meteor shower of the year. The first meteor shower I have seen in my life. So many stars falling through the beautiful night sky. Small shooters, long-lasting meteors taking my breath away with their lovely trails.

I headed out around midnight to try to catch the Geminds shower at the peak. Was pretty disappointed initially because the sky was cloudy. I was driving back home when I decided to give it one last shot. I drove up to the rooftop at the b-school once again (I already went there earlier in the night and caught some shooting stars when the shower was building up). The sky had cleared up! I lay on the hood of my car, huddling up in my jacket, feeling the warmth radiate from my car engine while catching the breath-taking meteor shower. The sight was just beyond words. Shooters after shooters streaking past the night sky. I made my wishes upon the shooting stars, even if it may seem silly to most people.

Today (yesterday rather since it's past 12) was the last day of class. A great class from the best prof I've had, Josh, for my finance class. Felt rather sad because I really enjoyed going to classes. Looked forward to every Monday and Wednesday because it was finance class days. Exams are round the corner and then home-bound. One battle at a time I guess.

I signed up for a mock interview at (jeeze) 9am tomorrow. I must have been out of my mind. Oh well, better to push myself and force myself to practice.

I wish, I pray, that my wishes can come true... Tired...

Shell-shocked

Went for my first finals today. Accounting 312. Was pretty confident I knew my stuff. I guess, I was wrong. That had to be the hardest exam I had ever taken. Not because the other exams I took were any easier, but because of the fact that I studied so hard for it and yet came out not knowing how to do such a ridiculous number of questions. Shell-shocked is an understatement.

Nonetheless, can't mope over it now. I've got a million other things waiting for me to do, sleep notwithstanding. Finance homework due tomorrow which I haven't started because I was doing apps and studying for accounting the entire weekend, Marketing exam on Friday, 3 more finals next week, A.T. Kerney's presentation and a guest speaker later (still contemplating whether to go), last and the least, a freaking awesome sleep debt to catch up with, but that can wait.

Watching my 4 minute video again. Somewhere out there...

Running on Caffeine

Short timeout from studying. Saturated brain. I think I can qualify for substance abuse now: caffeine overdose. I've lost count of the number of cups of coffee I've downed today. The night is long. More to come... Wish me luck for my exam tomorrow. Will need lots of it.

Wish I could talk to you. I'm really tired...

Work on a Beautiful Day

A picture speaks a thousand words. How about 5 beautiful pictures? Found one of the best spots to watch the sky today. Was driving to the b-school for a meeting and since I couldn't find parking, I drove all the way up to the top of the parking structure and I had the most amazing view of the sky at the open-air parking. Breath-taking doesn't even do it justice. These photos aren't really great quality because I took them with my mobile phone. Still, amazing don't you think? Took a short break and let time stand still for a moment to enjoy the beauty of this world. Rare. I'm definitely going to head there alone in the middle of the night sometime this week to catch the Geminids.

Another day spent fervently at work less dinner break to give Manch her birthday treat together with Ming. I'm awfully tired... Some changes today. Don't really wish to think about it. I'll deal with the shit when it hits the roof. For now, me, my books and my coffee will have to do.

Just one more thing. Mom, if you happen to read this, next time if you need help with stuff just give me a call, anytime, anyday alright? Both Kendrew and I are not in Singapore but we'll still try to do whatever we can if anything needs to be done. Felt really terrible to see you being stressed out at 1:30am in Singapore and not knowing what to do. Next time, just call me!

Okay, time to get back to my lovely books and coffee.

Words can't describe how much I...

Long Nights and The Joy of Work

First thing that must cross your mind must have been "Yeah right". Who is this guy trying to kid here? Well, not really. Yes I am buried under a ton of work. Yes I have been having ridiculously little sleep for the past few days. Yes, I am having fun doing so...

Before I start my rant, I hope my grandma is doing fine. Been worrying quite a fair bit about you lately. Please take care and for my relatives who read my blog, please keep me updated ya? Thanks.

Can't remember if I blogged yesterday. Days seem alot longer, sometimes they are 36 hours long, can't really count them anymore. Like I was saying, it's all good and fun.

My own quiz:
S&P500: 1409.84
NASDAQ: 2437.36
DJIA: 12307.49

And idiot me didn't take note of this information, which I will from now on:
1 year T-bill1: 4.696%
5 year T-Note: 4.533%
10 year T-Note: 4.559%
30 year T-Note: 4.665%

I had to give a rough figure for the risk-free rate to calculate CAPM yesterday during my mock interviews; wasn't aware of the yields of treasury bills/notes. Anyways, this is pretty interesting. Inverted yield curve again , i.e. long term debt is having a lower yield than short term debt. If you're interested, thats supposed to be a bad sign. Inverted yield curves in the past have preceeded recessions in the US. Might also be due to increased demand for long term notes, driving prices (and premiums) down. *shrugs* Take comfort in the fact that it's only a slight inversion for now.

Okay, I'm ranting again. I went for the Friars concert today because my classmate and fellow marketing buddy, Mike has been asking me to go almost everyday. Oh well, I guess the time could be better spent but it was a good concert though. Sellout crowd in Rackham Auditorium. Thats pretty impressive. Dude, you sure can sing man... You're the best! Anyways, loved the song you guys sang true love. It was really nice. The whole auditorium went dead quiet when you guys sang it. Your little prelude that you were all going to sing a song about something which makes you want to vomit. Hilarious.

Back to work again. Time now is *yawns* 2.53am. I miss you... Cold, long night ahead...

Love the Intensity

I don't know how many days I haven't blogged. Losing track of time. Rolling back time to Thursday, I woke up at 7am, went for my terrifically intense classes, went for resume and cover letter reviews, dashed home to get changed and headed back to the b-school for BCG's presentation (Boston Consulting Group). That was closely follwed by a MII Hedge Fund team meeting before I dashed home to continue working on my summer internship applications for the Asia Pacific region. Worked throughout the night, collapsing on the couch at around 5am.

I shot straight out of the couch at 6am to continue working on applications (by that time, it was Friday morning). Work, another mock interview at noon, more review sessions, then back to work. It is amazing how desensitized I am from the lack of sleep and constant work for the past hrm... 30 plus hours. This feels like I am writing application essays to 20 universities all at one go.

Losing track of time. Sometimes I can't remember which day of the week it is or how long I have been going on at my computer. Amazing. Back to work. Time now is 3:31am, Saturday morning, I think. Going to have one hell of a kick-ass sleep debt by the end of this weekend (and more to come). Damn, don't I just love this life.

In the one hour of sleep, thank you... for visiting me.

Non-stop Action

The madness never stops. This is the first time (except for my dinner break), that I am sitting down and not working on some kind of work. I have been up since 7am.

Knocked out after writing up my draft of my report on computer usage last night at about 4am; passed out on the couch and woke up at about 5am, not knowing where I was. Groggily set my alarm on my mobile to 7am and sank back to sleep. From 7am till now, it's been a rush, everywhere. From classes to meetings to classes to meetings to presentations to meetings to home. The previous sentence isn't an exaggeration; that was my day (well, I missed out homework but that is a foregone conclusion anyway).

Citigroup came to present today. As I had said previously, smart and hardworking guys and a cool work culture. Just awesome.

Markets today are doing pretty well. The list of stocks from yesterday pretty much outperformed the market (except XOM which fell slightly, but mark my words, they will shoot past $80 soon). All the investment banks climbed to breach their historic and 52 week highs. Just for my own market awareness and reference, S&P 500 closed at 1412.90, NASDAQ at 2445.96, DJIA at 12309.25.

Back to work. Another long night ahead.

The Madness of My Life

Been rushing everywhere, everyday, everytime. This is nuts. I barely have time to do anything else now. Don't even want to start listing my to-do task. I'm just taking 10 from my work so here we go.

It was another day of snow. Ann Arbor is now totally white. Pretty but extremely cold. Had a hellish review section for accounting early this morning, followed by my marketing group presentation, which I think was really awesome, and then business economics class, which was another totally unproductive class. Grabbed a quick lunch at Za's (again) before heading to Kresge for two back to back meetings, both for BIT200. It's such a pain-in-the-ass for a 1.5 credit class.

Dashed home, got changed and headed out in the freezing cold to Palmer Commons for a presentation by Credit Suisse on "The Anatomy of an Investment Bank". Informative and enlightening I must say. Trudged home in the absurbly cold night, grabbed a quick dinner which was thankfully cooked by Kai Ming, and resumed my attack on my work pile. Here I am, whacking homework after homework, juggling the wonderful things in my head, with another slew of tasks which I will be thinking of (and dreaming of) even when I go to bed.

Intense? The fun is only just starting. Got to work harder.

Quick updates on the stock market: Down for a few days (you should have capitalized on that mini crash after thanksgiving to buy stocks on discount which I did on my virtual portfolio), and now its on the rebound again.

Baidu (BIDU) climed $7.84 today to reach a new high of $122.72
ExxonMobil (XOM) has been climbing (and still is). Didn't I tell you that the world needs oil?
Toyota Motors (TM) is pretty stagnant, hovering around $122 bucks or so.
Any of the financial institutions are hitting historical highs. This trend will probably continue at least till the end of the year. If you are wondering, these include Goldman Sachs (GS), Credit Suisse (CS), Citigroup (C), JP Morgan (JPM), UBS (UBS), Deutsche Bank (DB), basically every investment bank on the street is doing awesome.

Also, keep a lookout for undervalued stocks as people and institutions may be selling stocks to close out positions at the end of the year or cashing out before the festive season. Poor strategy to do that but oh well, thats just what people do. Stocks are long term investments contrary to popular belief. Of course there are day traders who go long and short on technicals, but I'm not too fond of trading on such methods. To those who are free, keep a lookout on the stock market. Wish I had more time to look at it rather than just the stock tickers on my homepage.

As usual, DISCLAIMER: don't come crying if you lose money.

Back to work. Missing you...

The World Turns White

Snow. Lots of it.

It's been snowing non-stop since this morning. The temperature outside is -10 degrees celsius now. Working on my BIT200 homework right now and decided to drop in to write a blog. I think I didn't blog yesterday too.

Oh well, been busy. Had a whole day of meetings and a ton of work to plough through. Had only one class this morning since Josh is stranded out in some airport due to the snow and he cancelled class. Trudge through the snow to get back home. I got dressed and headed out for my JP Morgan mock interview. Decent but not outstanding performance today. I need to work more on my technicals and be more concise in my explanations.

Walk me through a DCF. What is a LBO model? What implications does a negative net working capital have on a company's operations? What models would you use to evaluate a company? What is the WACC? What is the difference between leveraged and unleveraged beta? How do your obtain the terminal value of a firm? *yawns* I'm going to practice all of this until I can recite them in my sleep.

Grabbed a quick bite at Za's again. I just realized that I have been grabbing my meals there every other day (or is it everyday?). Salads and pastas everyday, all the way.

Credit Suisse's corporate presentation today was a little unproductive as it was overly crowded. I couldn't stay long enough to network because I had to rush off for my marketing group meeting. Had another efficient and highly enjoyable group meeting with my marketing group. Such a pity our presentation is tomorrow and with that, also comes the end of this group project. It has been one of the most enjoyable teams I have worked with since I came to Michigan.

Before I head back to deal with the pile of wonderful work awaiting my attention, I must express my absolute contempt for the Florida Gators and the comments from their coach. You may have won the SEC conference title but that doesn't mean that you can slam us and label us an inferior team. We lost by 3 points in an away game to the nation's TOP TEAM (Ohio State which had an unbeaten season), while you lost to lowly #12 team (who had 2 losses this season) at home. What exactly is your argument? I don't care if you play Ohio State in the championship game because they're going to whip your asses big time. Lloyd Carr and the Wolverines will walk on with dignity and face off our more worthy rivals, the Trojans from USC in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

For a more impressive argument, check out:
The Unreported News About Michigan's Snub at #2

Enough said, back to work.

A Loaded Mind, A Heavy Heart...

Worried. This is happening all over again. It scares me no end. Please pray that my grandma would be fine. Please let her be alright...

Didn't blog yesterday again. Had another jam packed day and didn't manage to get into the classes which I want due to the registration schedule alllocation. By the time I was able to register, all the classes were already full and closed. Pissed me off like hell. Now I'm stuck with courses which I am not that enthusiastic about. I'll see how it goes; will try to get an override for the classes next semester.

Had my first mock interview today. I was a little nervous and stumbled over some questions but I guess, it was decent for a first attempt. Attended a couple of meetings following that and then curry chicken for dinner. I headed out to the mall to look for new shoes because my old Asics are getting beyond repair. Should have listened to mom when she was bugging me to buy new ones back in Singapore.

I was pretty down and so I headed to the Union. Yes, the piano again. Didn't care this time even though there was quite a big crowd studying there. Played my favorite songs, your favorite songs. I'm tired...

Got home and took some time off to watch United 93 on dvd. It's scary to watch the show and realize that there are people who have been through all that and shown such courage in the face of adversity. I hope their families are doing alright.

Worried. Please let ah ma be okay. Please let ah ma be okay...

On My Mind

A billion things on my mind, countless tasks to perform. It's been a long day. Intense classes for both BIT 200 and FIN 300. Josh (our dear finance prof) was ill today and we had a stand-in prof to teach us about options. The stand-in prof was actually pretty good; he teaches in the MBA program. He speaks really fast but he explains theories very well. Oh well, can't beat good old Josh and his "nukin' and blowin' it out". The stand-in prof was undoubtedly impressed with my section, and his comments brought to our attention how competitive my section is. Compared to the previous class he was teaching (on behalf of Josh), the other section didn't ask him any questions at all, whereas for my class, we mercilessly fired at him about 10 questions just 3 slides into his presentation. Haha. My section is scary. Did I also mention before that my section is practically always camped out in the library?

Just needed to rant a little. Been really busy with work; studied in the Union until it closed last night (or this morning) at 2am. Here I am, at 2:30am, just done with my work for tomorrow. Getting burnt out isn't something that remote nowadays. Worried about grandma. Ah Ma, I hope you're alright.

Tired. I miss you...

Burning It Out

Phew, realized I haven't blogged for 3 days already? Wow, time has really flown by really quickly. Thanksgiving break is over and time seems to be racing past rapidly. I've been really caught up in work, rushing from place to place, meeting to meeting, with never ending work to do. Just got home awhile ago from my marketing group meeting. I took some time off to cook porridge and fried dace with black beans for a simple dinner. Burning out...

Accounting class is becoming quite a pain, so is business economics because the prof is getting superbly unclear in his explanations. I guess, it just means a lot more work I have to do to learn everything by myself. Exams are round the corner. Academic advising sessions, career counselling sessions, mock interviews, project deadlines, meetings, homeworks, networking... a never ending list of things to do. 24 hours seems too little nowadays.

Some highlights: I had lunch at Sadako yesterday; their set lunch is really worth the money compared to other lunch alternatives available. Also, popped over to Ariel's place with Ming and a bunch of other friends for her surprise birthday "party" last night. Don't remember much of it since I was totally jaded and messed up after a long day.

Oh well, don't get me wrong. I love being in the b-school. Being busy is totally awesome. Just wish I had more time to learn everything and enjoy all that there is here. December is looming ahead. Not looking forward to it at all...

Fighting Irish VS Trojans

Notre Dame (Fighting Irish) will be playing USC (Trojans) today. The only chance we have of making it to the National Bowl Championships for a rematch with Ohio State is if the Fighting Irish beats the Trojans. I never thought there would be the day when I am cheering arch-rivals, the Fighting Irish.

Did my work and caught up on some readings today. Quick dinner at Sadako and I headed over to the Union to play on the piano for a long time. So relaxing to play by myself in the pretty deserted Union.

Memories...

Black Friday

Woke up with a slight headache this morning after passing out on the couch last night. I decided to haul myself out of bed to go to the mall and check out how Black Friday sales were like. It is a tradition here in the US that stores opened their doors at 6am on the day after Thanksgiving with absurbly low prices on goods. People usually describe it as a warzone when the sales start. I believe them. Bought a bottle of cologne from Macy's and a polo tee at a clearence sale from Hollister.

Lunch was a decent meal of dim sum at Great Lakes. I went into the Arb after lunch since the weather was so awesome today. It was a little colder than yesterday but still, the sun was out and that was amazing by any standards. Sat on the grass and read my book. Reading in the wonderful weather got me really sleepy and I dozed off on the grass. Lovely day to be sleeping out in the open.


I took a walk through the trails later in the afternoon. The Arb is so beautifully serene.




Cooked noodles with pork chops for dinner and watched a documentary which I missed out on previously: Invisible Children. I have embedded the video below but if you wish to see it directly in Google Video, here is the link: Invisible Children

This is a documentary not for the faint-hearted; it shows what is happening in Uganda. Children are abducted by rebels to fight for their movements to overthrow the government. To my cousins or anyone under 18 who may want to watch the video, just a word of caution: this is a pretty gory documentary and strongly advice parental supervision.


Children, are the same everywhere in the world. These children are not seen or heard. When will the world care for them?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving.

Ann Arbor is like a ghost town today. Empty, quiet streets. Quite peaceful in a way.

Woke up late today (not all that late but oh well... at least it was after 8am). Had a simple breakfast, went for a short walk around campus to see it when it's empty.

It was nice and sunny around noon, so I decided to go for a run in the Arb. Beautiful day. It was an almost warm day. I ran in my t-shirt and track pants. I assure you, a rare occurrence at this period of the year. Came to my favorite open patch in the middle of the Arb and sat on top of a mound to enjoy the peace and sun. Glorious day. Wonderful smell of earth. Lovely sound of families having a great time out. Beautiful sighs of couples lying side by side on the grass, holding hands and being truly in love.




I stopped over shortly at the Law Quad to take some photos while it was deserted. The Law Quad is one of the most beautiful places on campus.



I cooked curry for the mini Thanksgiving gathering at Aaron's place. Good dinner with a couple of friends who are here for the break. Left earlier because... some scary stuff were showing on television which was totally ruining my night.

All in all, a good thanksgiving. Quiet. Alone.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

The Break Is Here

The break is finally here. Went for class early this morning and ended up being the only person in class for about 20 minutes before 6 other people strolled in. 7 students out of a class of 70. Not bad for a thanksgiving eve. Met up with Lisa for our LHC 250 paired presentation meeting and then went for finance class. Another enjoyable lecture from Josh with his idiosyncrasies such as "Nuke 'em", "I tell you, I lost a TON of money on stocks" or "blow it all up". An informational lecture on mutual funds with only 1/3 of the class present. Josh rocks man...

Went to the Union, deposited my cheque and then decided to go check out the music/study room to see if anyone was inside. The entire room was empty (and so was the grand study room). Sat down at the grand piano and played my favorite songs. It was really calming. Wish you were here to listen...

After an hour or so of playing the piano, I headed over to the UGLi to borrow "The Undercover Economist" -- my BE300 prof's favorite book. He mentioned it so much in class so I just decided to go check it out over the break. Yes yes... nerd.

Got home in time to bid farewell to Jeff before he went off with his friends for thanksgiving break. I have the whole apartment to myself now. Went straight to bed and slept for a good 2 hours. Dinner at Thai Thai with Aaron, Lennard, Efrem and Juliana. Decent food. Went over to Hua Xing to buy some soy bean milk and 豆沙包. Popped by Meijer grab some groceries so that I can cook curry chicken tomorrow.

Last but not least, thanks Anny for the cookies and brownies.

Ann Arbor is going to be a deserted town for the next few days. Peace and quiet for me to sleep and enjoy the tranquility (and snow).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Missing you...

Monday Blues

Its a freezing day today. Still feeling really shitty because of the botched finance exam. Studied so hard for it and yet screwed up so badly. This is so frustrating.

Had a pretty uneventful day. Did my work, read some readings, continued to read the news arguments about why Michigan should/should not play Ohio State for the National Championship. Why don't you all get over it. Michigan and Ohio State are the best teams in the country, period. Ranking USC second (above us) even after they lost to UNRANKED Oregon State. Total bullshit. What kind of dumb logic is that? Stupid polls. We were ranked number two because we are marginally not as strong as Ohio. Naturally #1 beats #2. Why should we be dropped to #3 because we lost to the top team in the nation? Wake up your stupid ideas.

Done with my homeworks and decided to go catch a movie at Briarwood Dollar Movies. $1.50 for Pirates of the Carribean 2. Not too bad for a dollar fifty. When I came out of the theatre, the skies were so clear I could see all the stars. Wish the skies were as clear 2 days ago. Would have been able to catch the Leonid Meteor Shower. Oh well... just have to wait for the Geminids in mid December.

Why is hard work not paying off... Sigh.

Disappointment

Hard work fails to pay off once again on finance. Sigh. This is really frustrating. The second exam was even worse than the first one. Have to work harder...

Attended meetings after meetings today. Group projects, paired assignments, homework, never ending. Snowed quite a fair bit today. The snow has stopped now because it has gotten below freezing point. Here comes winter.

Well done Wolverines. A close fight with OSU ended up with a loss of 42-39, one of the highest scoring games ever in the history of our rivalry. The best defences reputedly in the nation getting torn up by the other side's offense. Truly a battle of the best. We deserve a rematch at the National Title. Why should we be short-changed because we are in the same conference with Ohio State?

Another 3 days of school before Thanksgiving Break. A much needed break to sleep and catch up with work. Burnt out...

Judgement Day

#2 Wolverines versus #1 Buckeyes today at 3:30pm ESPN. Its the biggest football game every in the history of our rivalry with Ohio State. Go Blue! On a more solemn note, the legendary head coach passed away one day before his most loved Michigan Wolverines face off with their arch-rivals. Rest in peace Bo Schembechler.

Been busy the past few days so didn't have time to blog. Had a make-up BE300 lecture yesterday morning, following by a whole afternoon of James Bond 007: Casino Royale. It was a pretty awesome show; in fact, I think its one of the best Bond movies I've ever watched.

Thanksgiving holiday coming up on Thursday. Think I'll probably be staying in Michigan to catch up on some sleep and work on the ton of stuff that I have to do. Tired...

Anyways, Lenoid Meteor showers tonight. Supposed to be really spectacular. Hopefully I'll be able to catch it tonight. The sky looks cloudy though. Meteor showers... Memories of dark nights in Thailand catching sight of shooting stars, quiet nights in Tekong watching the star-filled sky.

Why are you always on my mind...

Months == 87

Wireless network screwed up yesterday at home so I couldn't connect to the net. I didn't forget it was the 15th yesterday...

Finance exam was tough. Once again, hard work isn't paying off. Sigh.

Another busy day ahead. Wish I could just pass out and have a good sleep for once.

Caffeine Overdose

Short timeout from studying for my finance second midterm tomorrow. Prepared like hell for this but kinda worried. The last time round I went in knowing everything but still ended up with marginal scores. Hope it won't happen again this time.

Think I must have drank a tad too much coffee. Feeling quite hyper now.

Stocks to watch: (I typed this yesterday but forgot to post)

Baidu (BIDU): Might be a little too late to hop on the bandwagon now but they're the new Google of China. Enough said.

Toyota Motors (TM): Great company, great financials, killing the Big 3 in the US, expanding into emerging markets (India and China). If you still haven't bought the stock, go kick yourself. Another reason why I love TM is because there are only 2 analysts listed as covering it on Bloomberg. Lack of coverage is always a good sign, especially when its such a wonderful stock.

Morgan Stanley (MS): Strong financials, phenomenal growth, good momentum. (consider the rest of the investment banks too)

ExxonMobil (XOM): Oil. You need further explanation?

Phillip Morris (MO): They make Marlboro, they ran Kraft, they have the most kick-ass lawyers in the world. Smokers are not going to quit smoking anytime soon. What more can you ask for? More of a stalwart than an aggressive grower.

Apple (AAPL): I am more apprehensive of Apple because I'm a PC supporter, but you gotta hand it to them for their product innovation and cool designs. Besides, Microsoft just launched their Zune "iPod killer". From the reviews, sounds like Microsoft just shot themselves in the foot with another white elephant.

Honda Motor Company (HMC): Another strong contender for the motor industry. They're joining in the fun in kicking the butts of the Big 3. (By the way, Big 3 refers to Ford, General Motors and Chrysler) Fuel-efficient cars, high reliability, great designs. I know, because I own one.

If anyone had listened earlier, *yawns* easily made 10% return since.

Back to books.

静

在 Graduate Library Stacks 里， 好静，好静哦。。。 在这里，经得连我的呼吸声都变得好吵。在这里，还真的有可能会找不到出口。一排排的书架，挤满了书。旧书的味道让整个地方闻起来怪怪的。好安静。。。

忙忙碌碌的过着大学，做不完的功课，温不完的书，率不掉的回忆，下不完的雪。时间一转眼间就过。一年前的我，从早担心到晚，从晚提心吊胆到早，回想起来，还不仅会感到一股寒气冲入心里。好可怕。今日的我，改变了许多，也对世上的事看开了许多。请大家好好珍惜你们所拥有的一切。爸爸，妈妈，兄弟，姐妹，公工，婆婆，男朋友，女朋友。才短短过了几个月，艳婷生前所说的话已被好多人忘了一干二净，所担心的事也一一发生了。

我的无私的天使，你别难过。我并没忘记你所说过的话。你知道吗？我好想念你的傻笑声，好希望能跟你说说话。你知道我真得很想你吗？真的好想你，好想你。。。

Burn Me Out, You Shall Not

Its almost 3. Half the night is nearly gone. I was staying up, doing my LHC homework and studying for my finance exam on Wednesday. Tired...

It's been a long day. Meetings, homeworks, cooking laksa for dinner, more work, more work, more work. You shall not burn me out.

The silence... gets deafening...

The Piano...

It has been a long day. Went for my group meeting for LHC this morning and helped out at TWSA's booth at Celebrasia in the evening. Just got back from the Union; I went there to study quietly. They were closing the place at 2am. I was heading out when I passed by the study room with the piano inside. I went in. Played 童话。

好想你， 好想你。。。你听得到钢琴声吗？

Borat is Sick

Just got home from the theatre. Borat, the number one box office comedy, is the sickest movie I've ever watched. Jeeze. Disgusting. I'm sure you'll never catch sight of this bullshit in Singapore. I'm gonna get a freaking nightmare remembering the obscene things in that crazy show. Talk about low down humor. You ain't seen nothing yet if you haven't seen Borat.

Went to the b-school in the morning today to get my resume reviewed, got my coffee, read the Wall Street Journal, did some homework. Ming and I had curry noodles left over from last night for lunch before heading out to Credit Suisse Asia's presentation. More of a chat/info session. Think its decent, primarily for Hong Kong and Singapore, both S&T and IBD.

After coming home, I took a short rest and then headed out for the Thai Student Association's Loy Kratong festival at the School of Social Work. Decent food. Good job by the Thai Student Association.

It's been a long day. It is now pouring like hell outside. Cold, wet night...

End of Yet Another Week

It's been a hectic life-changing week. So many things have happened I am amazed when I glance back. Its Thursday night, the day when reality always starts to sink in on the amount of shit that has happened over the past week (somewhat mirrors Sunday nights when I contemplate the wonderful crap which will come flying in the following morning). Feeling a little burnt out at the moment. Looking at photos which seem just like yesterday, reading blogs which present images so vividly in my mind; emptiness threatens to invade.

Another intense day in school today. Classes getting really tough. Came home, passed out for a short while before going to meet my group mate at Kresge. We worked on our group project for 3 hours straight before going for a compulsory talk for marketing class. It was pretty interesting to hear the general manager of deodorants from Unilever (particularly the wildly popular Axe product line), talk about the marketing strategies they have adopted. Completely ingenious marketing plans I must say.

Finally got home, caught Survivor on TV (superb twist today), had curry chicken for dinner. My throat is so screwed. All your fault Ming.

Finding solace in the 6 songs on my playlist. Wish I could get to my piano. Miss running my fingers down the piano keys. The last time I got to play on the piano was with... -smacks my head-

好累， 好累。。。

Late Night in the B-School

It's amazing how many people are in the b-school at this hour. To put you in perspective, its Thursday morning, 1am at the business school. Discussions going on, students mugging, people doing rehearsals for their presentations or just chilling out, printing machines churning. Its good to be in bustling place. I've been writing and sending out emails, following up on contacts for the past hour or so. Tough work.

Reading my econ notes and preparing for class tomorrow. Pretty tempted to camp out here just for the fun of it. I'm just taking a little time out from mugging.

The night wears on. It gets cold. I'm really thankful for my family, for always being here for me; for Pat, who I know is keeping me company somewhere out there. I went to Sadako for dinner with some friends. Thanks for the company.

Don't really have much of an appetite. I'm still eating my meals, so if you're reading this mom/dad, don't worry.

Democrats made a clean sweep of the house, senate and governor races in the midterm elections yesterday. I wonder how much it will impact the markets. Surprisingly it wasn't too bad. I was a little concerned that the market would take a plunge due to the election results.

A quick update. On the virtual stock exchange game, I bought and held Baidu (BIDU), Toyota Motors (TM), ExxonMobil (XOM), Honda Motors Company (HMC). Its now averaging 6.5% returns. When are people going to start listening and buy Toyota Motors? Its a stellar stock. Did I also fail to mention that Toyota just bought Isuzu and they have reported another record quarter of earnings? Stock price has shot over 122 bucks (and still climbing). Baidu (China's version of Google) has been skyrocketing. Jump on the bandwagon before you miss it.

Back to my books. Throat is still pretty nuked. Sucks.

Swwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeet

Finally got the decision. Well done.

Before I start ranting, this damn cough is just killing me wonderfully.

Had a sorta abstract BIT 200 class, followed by my one and half hour break, which was marked with a wonderful conversation (that followed by my all time favorite FIN 300). Anyways, I just wanted to get things straight. It's okay. If it really doesn't matter, why do I keep caring? Why should I? Idiot.

Made my decisions too. First, boot the unnecessary. Out. Of. My. F**king. Life. (to my little cousins who read my blog, please excuse the language and you guys/gals better not swear off in front of me) Sweet. That done, time to move on.

Dar? I'm really sorry for quarrelling with you in the past over things. Now, I see your point and why you were so incomprehensibly angry at times. You always gave in to your stupid boyfriend and let him appease your anger because you trusted him. I was wrong. A little too late for an apology but you can giggle away at my foolishness ya? I deserve a good smack on my head for all that. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for holding dear the trust that I put in you. You're in my heart, always.

You know what?

I miss hearing you laugh....

I miss seeing you smile....

I miss the feeling of you resting your head on my shoulders....

I miss you.

Hectic Is Awesome

Had a superbly hectic day. This is the first time I'm sitting down and taking time off from work since I got up today. Phew.

Classes were all intense and tough. Got back my BE 300 exam, didn't do great on it. Was pretty pissed because I was so sure that I had aced it. Darn it. Better do better on the finals. After class, I rushed home, got changed and picked up my LHC team before heading out to Meijer. The store manager didn't want to talk to us and told us to make an appointment because he was busy. Bummer. It would have taken him only a couple of minutes.

Returned home, dropped my stuff, worked on some homework before dashing out to Campus Inn for UBS's presentation. UBS rocks. The guys there are just fantastic. Aww man, every investment bank just has such awesome people. Wall Street, Los Angeles, choices choices. I've got to work even harder to get there.

After the presentation, I was supposed to attend my marketing group meeting which I completely forgot about. I dashed out of my house a second after I stepped in, parked quite a distance away and ran all the way to the b-school. Thankfully I've got a totally stellar marketing group. Everyone is just so kick-ass. I was practically yelling out through the discussion noise at Kresge. My voice is totally fading. I think our marketing group project is turning out pretty good.

I finally got to grab my dinner at 10:30pm or so. Starving. Grabbed a takeout Pad Thai from No Thai (yes thats the name of the place). Been spending the last hour or so reading, replying and shooting off networking emails. Damn I love being totally buried in work. Keeps me sane.

Monday Blues

*ahem* This freaking cough is killing me. Argh. No amount of Ricola or lozenges seems to be helping. Crazy weather is making everyone cough like crazy.

Pretty warm day today compared to last week. The usual classes. Thanks mom for chatting between classes. You and dad always make my day.

Attended Citigroup's Corporate Presentation just now. Damn those guys are awesome. Another bank to target. The guys who were here were just fantastic. Could feel the enthusiasm they had for their jobs and the awesome work culture at Citigroup just by talking to them. Definitely another one high on the list.

A super busy day tomorrow. Busy is good. Hectic is better. Buried under work is the best. Everything is coming crashing down so fast it's amazing I'm still standing (somewhat). Doesn't matter anymore.

Darn this cough.

Shot Throat

My throat is pretty much shot. Drinking a ton of water doesn't help at all. Sucks. Freaking cold.

Spent the day running from meeting to meeting. Worn out after knocking out last night (or rather, this morning) on the couch. This flu bug sucks, big time. Little piece of advice, don't ever drink when you have a sore throat. Bad idea. Makes it a million times worse.

Anyways, Lucy 姐, 生日快乐! Hope you liked the perfume we got for you. Good luck for your exam tomorrow. Go easy on the ton of chocolate we heaped into the tote bag.

Went to sit at The Arb to quieten down. I am numbed. Reality has sunk in. There is only one route for me to take now.

Mom, Dad and the people who care, don't worry alright? I'll be fine.

Dar, 我错了，彻底的错了。。。

Speechless.

Speechless

Accelerating down the freeway, hoping that your words can never catch up with me. I don't know what else to say anymore.

Of Scents and Memories

The smell of Very Irresistable Givenchy lingers in my room from the little piece of paper which I got from the sales person at Macy's. The familiar, yet distant sweetness of the perfume throws me into a daze.

Spent the night on the couch for the fun of it again. Dozed off sometime after reading the tons of financial news I had missed out in the week. Woke up and did some final touch ups on my resume review before bringing it in for a the final resume review. Grabbed a quick lunch at NYPD Pizza. Went with Ming to go settle his insurance stuff and headed to the mall to buy a present for 大姐's birthday.

Shopped around the whole mall and finally came across something nice. Haha, just in case she reads this, I'll just keep it a secret for now. Was also trying to find a coat but the ones at the mall are so absurbly expensive. 200 bucks for a decent coat. *frowns* Have this bad feeling that they all cost as much, if not more. Argh.

We were checking out the perfumes and colognes section. Liked quite a few from Bvlgari, Armani Di Gio and not forgetting my all time favorite, CK Eternity. Burberry has a few nice ones too. Polo's Double Black is pretty cool too. Shan't spend money unnecessarily on them for now. Really nice though...

Grabbed a few samples from the saleslady who liked us alot and had fun smelling all the various fragrances at Macy's. Excellent service. I got her to give me a piece of paper sprayed with the Very Irresistable Givenchy. The scent hovers in the air. Smells nice...

Snow!

It was freezing this morning when I got out of the house but I didn't really think that much about it. Headed to class as usual and halfway through my classes, snowflakes began to fall. It's snowing again. This time, the snow fell so heavily and the temperature dropped so low that the snow stayed. The world outside is still pretty white. Not fun at all. Frozen sidewalks are the scariest things to tread on. Hate it when the snow freezes off on my car, such a pain to have to scrape it off.

Pretty uneventful day. Went for Merrill Lynch's CFO informal lunch session, Global Investment Club meeting and then Merrill Lynch's Presentation. Quite cool but it was more corporate finance than investment banking, which is what I would prefer to do right now. The hours are probably a ton better in the CFO (Chief Financial Office) intern program; I'll just keep my options open.

Walked home in my suit and totally froze my ass off. It's frigging -10 degrees (or lower) outside right now. I really need to go buy my formal coat soon. Headed out for dinner at Applebees with Ming and tried to look for my coat at Target. Mediocre range of men's apparel. Will see if I have time to head to the mall or something this weekend. Oh and I grabbed a chocolate milkshake from Steak N Shake. First milkshake in *ahem* 15 years. Superb.

A little down right now. Maybe the weather is getting to me, or maybe I'm just tired. Maybe I'm just missing...

Focus

I had a totally hectic and thoroughly enjoyable day today. Went for class as usual, with the usual in-between class break (bummer). My favorite Josh finance 300 class to give a nice kick to my day. That was the start of the fun.

Rushed home, got changed into my suit and dashed out again. Grabbed a quick lunch, read the WSJ and then met up with my group mates to go for office hours (all within 45 minutes after my class ended). Had another constructive discussion with my prof about our group project, which is progressing pretty well to date. After that ended, went back down, refined my resume a little and printed it out to bring to the resume review by analysts from JPMorgan. Had a good time chatting with them while they looked through my resume. Awesome people.

Had a bit of free time and I headed to the Tozzi financial centre. A few guys were learning stuff for their sales and trading class, so I jumped in too and played the trading games with them. Ended up picking up knowledge about bid/ask strategies for bond trading, which is really cool.

Headed over to the Union for the presentation really early. It was really cool when I got there because it was just the same people whom I see at almost every other presentation. When the JPM team showed up, I realized I've already met more than half of the people who were here for the presentation. Pretty awesome to be able to chat with them and be recognized. =) The team gave a crash course on investment banking, which was kick ass useful. Damn I just love those guys. Spoke to all of them during reception and felt really comfortable talking to the guys from JPMorgan. Definitely high on my list of companies to apply to for an internship next summer. Hopefully I can get close listed by them.

Got to stay focused on my work now. Should kickmyself for slacking off on the networking. I spent the rest of the night sending emails to my contacts. The guys working in IB are just awesome. Smart, funny, hardworking, strong work ethics.

Time to focus and stop being an idiot.

Remembering...

Had a pretty crappy day. Got back my accounting exam, which was terrible. Disappointed... So many mistakes which I should not have made at all. Sigh. I got back my marketing exam too. A little sigh of relief at that because I didn't do as badly as I thought I did. Mixed feelings in a way.

Went to Green Baxter Court again today. Its Halloween so quite a few of the kids had their faces painted, covered in glitter or dressed up as really cool characters. Spiderman, fairies, devils. Haha. Silly kids. Played soccer a little with them and Lego too.

Drove back to the b-school after my community service to meet up with my LHC group. We worked on our team charter due next Monday. This class is such a pain in the ass. Spent almost a good 2 hours working on the assignment. What a waste of time. Oh well, at least my group members are fun people to work with. One scary thing to note: almost half my section was present at the library tonight. Its Halloween; the rest of the world is partying but my section mates are all having meetings and working on projects. The library meeting area was just mainly populated by my section. Jeeze. Have to up the game even more now.

Lost a fair bit of sleep last night. Just lay on my bed thinking about stuff. The horror of some events struck me once again. Who can I tell...

Time flies. Its been 5 months since you've left this world dar. You haven't been forgotten by me know? *smiles* I hope you're happier now wherever you are. Nobody to tell me to jiayou anymore but I know you are somewhere out there telling me that. I will okay? I miss you my angel...

Sunny Monday

Sunny day today! Jumped out of bed because the sun was already out at 7:15am (we are now 13 hours behind Singapore due to the end of daylight savings). Still, it was a bright and sunny day so it was quite a pleasure to get out of bed.

Took a slow stroll to class on this beautiful day. LHC 250 was boring (as usual) but more tolerable since it wasn't dark and gloomy when we had class. Went to Wendy's and took breakfast / early lunch before going for my Finance 300 class. The usual kick ass intense Finance 300 class. Damn, Josh is one hell of a teacher.

Headed over to Kresge after class, fiddled around with Bloomberg, caught up with some financial news and with the league tables. I went for my first in three marketing experiments. What a waste of time.

After I got home, I promptly changed into running attire and drove out to Markley. I sprinted right into The Arb with my camera, enjoying the wonderful warm weather (for a change). Since it was only around 3pm in the afternoon, the sun was still up and the woods were even more stunningly beautiful than yesterday. The sights were simply amazing.



I randomly ran into small forest trails, admiring the pretty fall sights and smelling the woods.


Somewhere inside The Arb, I came to this huge area where there were shoulder height "lalang". It was like running through a mini plantation, except that the paths were perfectly lined with green grass. Pacing along the path with the plants on boths sides was simply amazing.



Ran into the trails more. I ended up at the scenic viewpoint overlooking the open patch in the centre of the woods again. Was totally lost for words at the beautiful sight. Heart pumping, sweating and feeling the ache in my legs from sprinting up and down the trails. The feeling is just undescribeable.



Reluctantly, I left my favorite spot and ran out to my car. Headed home for a nice cold shower before getting back to my school work.

I went for the Goldman Sachs corporate presentation in the evening. The company and the people are simply awesome. Definitely going to try to get an internship and hopefully work there. Quite a good day on the whole, except for the times when some stuff resurfaced to make me feel a little down

In case any of my family members are reading this: Don't worry about me! I'm fine okay? Take care.

Sunday - Peace and Tranquility

It was a bright and beautiful Sunday morning. I camped out on the couch last night because I felt like it. Haha. I think the couch only feels nice when I'm pulling all-nighters. Not really all that nice when I'm sleeping there for the fun of it.

Spoke to sister and mom for quite sometime and saw dad too. Glad to have had the chance to talk to them. Don't worry about me mom and dad. I'm perfectly fine!

When Ming woke up, we decided to head to Great Lakes for dim sum! It wasn't exactly fantastic but it was good enough to satisfy our craving for dim sum for awhile. Asked Manch along. Haha. 小妹妹 you better eat more next time. Not pulling your weight with the 油条.

We went to Meijers to grab some groceries before heading home. Took a short nap and did some work in the afternoon. I went for the hedge fund team meeting, which was really a waste of time at the Tozzi Lab. Probably will learn more exploring the programs and reading the financial news myself. I drove to the meeting because after that, at 5pm, I drove over to Mary Markley Hall, where I was staying last year.

After I stopped my car, I pulled out my camera and set off for the trail into Nichols Arboretum. The place is also more fondly known as The Arb to the students here. It's a wooded area by Huron river, and also next to a very peaceful cemetery. As I strolled into the cool foilage of The Arb, I could feel the wave of peace and quiet that overwhelmed me. The smell of the forest, the colors of fall, the feeling of the earth beneath my feet.

As it was turning dark pretty quickly, I jogged along the path and sprinted along some at times, pausing to take photos of the beautiful scenes that opened up in front of my eyes. I took a slow walk through a large grass patch in the middle of the woods. Cool and tranquil. It really made me calm down alot just closing my eyes and being there.

As I raced against time when the sky turned dark rapidly, I came across this nice view point where I caught the sunset. There were benches at the small platform, just like the other wooden benches spread out throughout the Arb at the most scenic places. Sat there and watched the sun disappear below the horizon. Couldn't help thinking how nice it would be if I could be there with...

I almost forgot to take photos of the spot before I sprinted off for the exit. I finally found the exit from the trail and paced towards my car. One of the most fascinating sights here is when you can see the smoke trail left behind by aeroplanes when they take off into the clear sky.

I headed back to my apartment, covered in sweat; enjoying the cold Michigan evening. Jeff was preparing chicken rice so I showered and helped him to cook the meal. Nothing like a bowl of hot piping Hainanese Chicken Rice after a good workout in the woods.

The week starts again tomorrow. Back to the craziness of school.

At least now I know where to go if I need a place to quieten down...

Michigan 17 Northwestern 3

Went for the game today at the Big House. For the benefit of those who don't know, the Michigan football stadium is called the Big House because its the biggest college football stadium in the country.

We kicked Northwestern's ass today! Hail to the Victors! The Wolverines continue to plough through our opponents, two more little bumps on the road to clear (Ball State and Indiana) and then its the epic battle! Michigan VS Ohio State! Time to finally dethrone them after 10 years. The last time we were in the bowl championships was 1997. We're finally neck in neck once again, second place in the nation. Lets boot the buckeyes!

Going for the touchdown!

Half-time Show: The Michigan Marching Band!

Was freezing in the rain/snow/sleet. The stadium started becoming more empty after half-time since this (and the next two matches) are strolls in the park until OSU. Still, it was a great game and when Mike Hart rushed for the touchdown, phew. Awesome! It was almost comical to see the billboard with Northwestern have negative rushing yards. Hahaha...

Ate a nice warm meal at UCafe. Nothing like a hot piping korean meal after standing in the cold for 4 hours. Pretty tired. Finally a day off from work, or sort of. Back to hitting my homeworks and preparing for next week's classes again.

Oh and the highlight of the day: I got to talk to my parents and Wynne! *wide grin* Been such a long time since I've got the chance to talk to them and see them on the webcam. Hope you are all having fun at the beach. Wish I was there too. That was a nice way to end the day, speaking with the people who matter. =) Thanks mom and dad. Don't worry about me. I'm doing fine.

The Exhausting Week

The end of the week finally draws near. Just had my BE 300 exam. Completely blanked out on the last question and couldn't figure out how to do it. I'm totally disgusted. Argh. It was a pretty tough paper I guess, hopefully I did alright. Sitting in the b-school cafeteria right now having a crummy lunch of Buffalo Wings with celery and carrot sticks, ranch and blue cheese.

My family just came back from China. Isaw my mom online. Got the chance to chit chat with her for some time. It's been quite a long while. So tired I was going to crumble but stopped myself in time. Didn't know how to tell her some stuff because I know it would upset and worry her. Missing all of you. To my two grandmothers, hope you are both doing alright. Must have been really tedious to walk around in China in the cold. Wynne, hope you had a great time. Mom and Dad, hope it was a good break for the both of you, away from work and stress for a few precious days. Kendrew, hope all is going well in Penn for you. Study hard and go easy on the partying.

Anyways, another two more meetings to go. Marketing meeting and then corporate social responsibility conference panel meeting. What a Friday... Doesn't help that its dark and cold outside. Disgusting weather.

Open call to my buddies: Tiger time tonight? Feel like leaping off the top of a skyscraper like John Hancock Tower. That will be one hell of a kick.

Songs keeping me company: 勇气, Right Here Waiting, 愛是永恒, 流星下的願.

Pray for David... Memories

Chanced upon David's blog. David is a strong fighter, with a great spirit and big heart. He has been battling cancer for quite a long time and thankfully, from his last blog, it seems to have cleared up. I've always admired his great strength and the smile which he always had in the face of great suffering. I know that I will never be able to understand the kind of pain you are going through, but I know how hard it is on the people who love you.

Dar, do keep a look out for your old friend and bless him with good health okay? His wife and his kids need him. Please do pray for him. David, 加油 my friend. I wish you speedy and complete recovery.

Pray for David

Jolted back to my senses. So many things have happened. Have forgotten to treasure the precious little things in life. I miss the days when the world I knew was a little more normal; the time when we wanted to walk through life, hand in hand; the moments when silence was just comfortable quietness. I miss your laughter, I miss your tears.

I miss you.

Tiring Day

Some of the stress is burning off while more builds up with the BE300 exam heading up on Friday. Attended 2 workshops today and also Lehman Brothers presentation on campus. i like Lehman Brothers quite alot.

Anyways, I'm tired out. Grabbed a late dinner before Saigon Garden closed, semi-decent Vietnamese beef noodles. I think I like the noodles there because it's soup and probably more because I can put a ton of chilli while I'm at it.

Oh well, my entertainment for the day: picking some stock ideas for tomorrow. Disclaimer: I didn't put much effort into screening these stocks. Just quick picks off the daily losers and a quick glance at their ratios and news. What I'm saying is don't come crying if you lose money. Buy me coffee if you make some.

Possible long for tomorrow:
Lumera Corporation (LMRA)
Osiris Therapeutics Incorporated (OSIR)
FibreTower Corporation (FTWR)
BTU International Incorporated (BTUI) *
Saia Incorporated (SAIA) *

As you've noticed, all from the NASDAQ since they're generally the more volatile stocks. Read: dangerous, high risk, high gains. SAIA and BTUI are more worth more of a second look than the other three stocks. Both of them dropped beneath their lower bollinger band.

Words of caution: Bollinger bands should technically not be used to judge whether a stock price should go up or down just because the price has hit the upper or lower bands. However, since that is a common misconception, you can almost bet that traders would make that assumption and cause the price to rebound anyways. Its really a gamble at best. Also, MACD indicates sell rather than buy since their MACD (moving average convergence/divergence) has crossed downwards through their signal line. BUT then again, MFI (and if you must, RSI too) suggests that BTUI has been oversold. MFI and RSI for SAIA are not really indicative at a neutral 50. (or probably because I lack the knowledge to interpret this data. Will look that up when I have more time.)

An interesting point to note: Google (GOOG) has shot way past their top band (trend reversal supposed to happen?), has hit a RSI of almost 90 (way overbought), MFI a little more forgiving at approximately 60, a MACD that has shot way above the signal line. What I'm saying is, the stock is nuts. Made me a ton of virtual cash (a 30 dollar jump always does wonders for your portfolio) but I don't know how sustainable is this phenomenal growth. Don't get me wrong. I love Google and all the crazy shit they're throwing up. Just don't know when their stock is going to tank.

In my opinion, better ideas:

Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) -- strong fundamentals, expansion on China, price hike in Japan, investing in emerging markets such as India, looking at massive expansion in their current markets, which I believe might actually work given the absolutely ridiculous prices Americans are willing to shell out for a cup of Starbucks coffeee. (darn I'm one of those idiots too at times). One thing that bugs me is their (also ridiculously) high P/E but that can also be seen as a sign of strength or growth by some. Depends on how you study P/Es I guess.

Marriott International Incorporated (MAR) -- As mentioned previously (did I?), strong profits, expected 15% to 25% growth in profits through 2009, looking to increase number of hotel rooms, buying back 40 million shares, continuing to grow locally and internationally. I like the fact that they're truly international, might not that hard hit even if tourism winds down for some time in a specific region. Strong P/Es, debt to equity, ROE, ROA. Might want to look more in-depth into their financials if you're interested.

Of Cold Mornings and Nature

Opening my eyes at 7:30am in the morning, only to see that its pitch dark outside, isn't exactly the nicest way to start a day. Nonetheless, I pulled myself out of bed and got ready to go for class.

Finally went to Green Baxter Court yesterday and met up with my kids. Simply awesome to get to play with them again; playing soccer with a bunch of little kids, playing football and pretending to rush them. Lit up my day a considerable bit.

Went to bed really early last night. I knocked out some time between trying to catch up with the financial news and reviewing my virtual portfolio. Slept all the way through to this morning. Should have repaid a good part of my sleep debt, I think. 9 hours of sleep. It's been a long time since I've gotten that much rest, or sort of. Had lots of dreams last night. Woke up periodically with the sinking feeling in my heart, knowing that it was all but another dream. That's just another one of the reasons why I hate sleeping nowadays.

Anyways, packed day today. Had a pretty informative BIT200 class just now, gearing up for my Finance300 class, which would definitely give me a nice kick since its so tough. I'm sure everyone else would beg to differ. Follow up workshop by the OCD (Office of Career Development NOT Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) on networking at 5pm, Lehman Brothers Corporate Presentation at 7pm, MII Sector meeting at 8pm. Going to be a busy day/night.

Been so caught up fighting my battles that I've almost forgotten to stop and enjoy the beauty of fall. Ann Arbor is disgustingly cold (and getting worse by the day), but also stunningly beautiful. Red, yellow, orange, green, brown leaves, everywhere. Beautiful. Maybe I'll go take a walk in the Arb soon before the trees have all shed their leaves. Its simply amazing when I was driving down the quiet road yesterday through a "wooded" area. The colors that throw themselves in my face. Wonderful...

Missing some things which are dear to me... The emptiness. Gets a little scary sometimes.