NYFrog's MBA

Epilogue

2007-07-12T16:46:00.000+08:00

This is officially the last post in this blog. From now on I'll write from my regular blog here. The year at INSEAD has been, as promised, a roller coaster. From the lows of P1 and P2 where core courses exert their mandatory pressures, particularly on the "softer" students, to the highs of getting my first job offer, biking in the archaelogical fields of Myanmar's Bagan, and simply discovering new minds among my fellow classmates. I would redo it all over again if asked, but I'd travel/ go out more/ be more forward looking rather than nostalgic (cough cough). I've always sought out adventure, but INSEAD forced me to be even more flexible and daunting. Adapting to three continents, sixty or so nationalities, taking on new business disciplines and leisure activities in the span of 10 months requires determination, energy, and an open-mind. I'm still a work in progress, slowly integrating all the pieces of my identities given this explosion of experiences. Wish me luck in my next endeavor, probably venture capital in New York. How did an ad chick land a VC offer? What I realized during job interviews is that everything I thought made me more vulnerable in business school were differentiating and attractive assets in the eyes of the interviewers. School shows we "fuzzy" people have a mind for business, and our backgrounds in the "arts" express our unique point of view and personalities. Who can resist?

Other bloggers from my promo:
Hallonman (go Stator!)
DomoDomo (when's the next soirée at your Parisian flat?)
Doug and Sara (so in love!)
Milan (did Carrefour ever write us back?)
Rodrigo (habla espanol?)
Stefanos (the "baby" but sensitive member of our class)

Régime et Diététique in Bayonne

2007-07-12T16:15:00.000+08:00

Um, unlike this picture lets out, our weekend in Bayonne, in the SouthWest of France was quite the opposite. We consumed many bottles of red wine - over lunch and dinner, and exercise included wild golfing in the yard, and climbing on hay sacks. Oh, I sunburned my stomach while lying on the beach in Biarritz and must have keps my hand on my stomach doing so because I can see the mark of my fingers.

Traditional houses in Bayonne/ Commander of the countryside

Thomas at lunch, checking out the hay lying in the yard

Biarritz, surfers' preferred beach, and at night

The Basque country, while locals are not as revolutionary as on the Spanish side, they still tag the walls with propagandist slogans

The boys golf in the yard, while I nap

Phasing Out

2007-07-11T20:12:00.001+08:00

Another one or two posts and this frog will blog from "La Suite" again, as the MBA is at its end.

Summer Hail

2007-07-10T04:03:00.001+08:00

An oxymoron? Nope. July in Fontainebleau, France. The white dots on the ground are not confettis. They're ice. Lovely.

The End

2007-07-07T00:00:00.000+08:00

Um, so I'm officially unemployed as of today. I received my MBA diploma yesterday during a well orchestrated ceremony on campus, and now ready myself up for two months vacation. Real vacations - no classes to worry about, no job interviews, just leisure and constructive hobbies like driving classes, travel and reading. Maybe some museums. Tonight I'm heading to Bayonne in the south west of France. First time in that region in France. I'm in denial the year is over. But my challenge will be to make "real living" as stimulating as the year behind. If I'm a creative, I don't see why I can't accomplish this mission. Au revoir les petits!

Bliss Without Sand

2007-07-06T23:29:00.000+08:00

On all accounts, the grad trip to Hvar, a Croatian island, was a complete success. Four days of island living, with enough activities to fulfill each and everyone's tastes, from the beach bums to the foodies. Personally, at age 28 I finally experienced my first spring break vacation. Picture this: plane full of MBAs, drinking Jack and Coke, listening to music out of the boom box, and dancing a storm in the back of the plane. The rest of the stay was spent more or less in the same fashion, but in different contexts, like the sail boat, a club, or the beach. In the program: sailing excursion with swimming and beach volley, scuba diving (spotted an octopus and wore bioman type of outfits), scooter rides in the island (I drove!!), beach, and daily savorings of grilled local fish like octopus, seabass and dorata. Yummy!! But don't expect sandy beach in the area: it's all rocks.

View from our hotel room

Fresh seafood

Field of lavender and the mountains

Hvar

Beach Beach Baby

2007-06-28T18:03:00.000+08:00

I'M DONE WITH MY MBA!!! Before receiving my degree, I'm heading to Croatia for the final graduation class trip. 150 MBAs will be whooping it up in the island of Hvar for the next five days. A smaller group, including myself, plan on scuba diving tomorrow. I can't wait to get lost in the big blue again. After that, well, probably do what MBAs do best - party.

On the Fence

2007-06-18T19:21:00.001+08:00

Brooding or not brooding, that is the question I ask myself every morning. Some external circumstances make the decision very easy. For example when we found out an MBA peer passed away last week. Life is truly a gift that can be taken away at any point; some folks make great use of their time alive. Do we?

Christine's visit helped get out of my head as I observed her delight in everything French in Fontainebleau and Paris. Powering somebody else's happiness is very satisfying. Our time together made me realize how solitary I became this year, despite being in school, and how much I missed having one person with whom to share everything with.

Fortunately again, I didn't have the luxury to contemplate my existentialist qualms over the weekend as I spent over 12 hours a day in school, building and bankrupting a fictitious company for my entrepreneurship course. My team was composed of an Israeli, a French, a Moroccan, and an Austrian. We took all the risks we would never dare taking in real life, and truly had a blast figuring a way out of our growing debt. Like when we set up auctions for our spare production capacity after we bought two large manufacturing plants. You know, I always had expensive tastes! So from an initial ambition to go into high-end, we ended up with a low-cost, mass product. Our CFO is spending some time in jail with Ms. Hilton after destroying a contract : ) No, I'm not the CFO.

Best classes at INSEAD? All the simulation exercises: MARKSTRAT, First 100 days, Entrepreneurship in Action, etc.... At least we learn the consequences of our theories/ strategic decisions which is immensely more powerful than any academic frameworks that nobody ever uses/ knows how to use.

Now off to analyzing Motorola and recommend to buy/ hold/or sell. Any thoughts?

Do Not Disturb

2007-06-12T04:57:00.000+08:00

Weighing the pros and cons of different job offers, while negotiating closure on others. Timing, location and work permit conflicts galore. I wrap up classes in two weeks, and have no clue where I'll be in July after graduation. People say I shouldn't worry, I'm wanted. Fine.

Interesting tests thrown my way during the job hunt process (everything but consulting):

Full length GMAT Kaplan practice test
Graphology test (took this opportunity to write about my ED project, he he)
Flight to a different state for a sales meeting; introduced as "the intern"
Margharita
Stories about South East Asia
Cases about dealing with employee fraud
Cases about being a CEO and making exec decisions for start up
First interview conducted entirely in French!!!

Singing Kills

2007-06-03T23:41:00.001+08:00

Eric, I know what you're thinking. You only wish there were Philippino-like mechanisms to regulate the throngs of karaoke singers out West. What's the Philippino secret? Shooting dead the off-key singer as is reported in this story. In my opinion, it's a matter of artistic sensitivity. Proactively the Manila government censored the most risky song, My Way by Frank Sinatra. Other songs that I would ban if bad karaoke put my life at risk:

Toxic, Britney Spears
I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
The Titanic Song
All of Celine Dion and Cindy Lauper

Conflict of Interest

2007-05-30T03:50:00.000+08:00

I know, I know there is a small chance that this clogs up the system, but I must share my new addiction: online video stream. No need to download any software artilleries, just click and watch. Of course whatever is free comes with imperfections, like too many broken links.

So here is my new boyfriend, ta ta:
http://www2.tv-links.co.uk/index.do

A Night In The Fontainebleau Castle

2007-05-28T17:04:00.000+08:00

Oh my, this has been a whirlwind of a week, with parties every night of the week, with the private equity conference on top. The apogee was the INSEAD summer ball in our very own Fontainebleau castle on Saturday, where 1,600 students, alumni and faculty partied until dawn. The ball included acrobats, fire throwing, fireworks, Brazilian dancers, champagne, breakfast. It's by far the most formal yet very entertaining event I've attended. Men wore mostly tuxedos, women had their hair done, and wore gorgeous ball gowns. Of course, around 2am the jackets and bow ties came off, our professors went home with their wives, and the party really got started. More photos as they become available. Check out another blogger's account of the evening (I'm just too lazy to write much more).

Belle of the Ball

Kunal and Acrobat

MBA Student performing cartwheels

Sheinal, David, and Ich

Weekend Bourguignon

2007-05-21T04:45:00.000+08:00

The beauty of the last period at INSEAD is that we have ample time for travel. Less courses, less homework, and the job search is almost over. So Fei, Amit and I decided to discover the Burgundy region in France. Burgundy is famous for its pinot noir wine (Pommard, Cote de Nuit), chardonnay (Montrachet, Meursault), and mustard (Dijon from the Dijon mustard is the capital of Burgundy).

Our first stop was in Ladoix, for a yummy lunch at the bottom of the vineyards at the Terrasses de Corton restaurant. To walk off the calories (and the wine) we strolled through the vines.

In Tournus, Lotti and Michel hosted us in their lovely maison d'hote, la tour du tresorier. Our suite included an outdoor terrasse with a view over the very old Saint-Philibert Abbey and the Saone river. Late at night, we spent hours sipping wine and admiring the stars. Something hard to do in urban environments.

Our hosts Lotti and Michel

We couldn't be in Burgundy without visiting one of the many famous vineyards, so a very French lady escorted us through the Chateau de Pommard, which produces Pinot Noirs only sold at the castle, and in high end restaurants. Unlike Australian and US wines, French wines are marketed by region, not by grape, which makes wine buying very complicated for the non-initiated, i.e. US consumers. For example, even though Pommard is a small village in Burgundy, there are a few producers of wine labelled "Pommard," but only one is called "Chateau de Pommard" and worth your dollars. Or so claims Chateau de Pommard's marketing department. You be the judge!

Later we visited the famous Hotel Dieu in Beaune, which was a hospital now converted into a museum. We shockingly learned that the practice of medicine in France remained barbaric well into the XIXth century. Medicine was all about "getting rid" of the sickness, via purges, cleansings and amputations. Picture coming soon.

Last, but not least (but unfortunately undocumented), our gastronomic endeavors included local specialties such as Beef Bourguignon, Tete de veau sauce ravigote (veal head), escargots (snails), many fruit tarts, and Lotti's impeccable breakfast.

I recommend visiting Burgundy to anybody looking for a quickie weekend not too far from Paris.

Closing Thoughts on Week 1

2007-05-14T01:53:00.000+08:00

"I've, had, the time of my life..." Cheese aside, the first week in ol' Fonty kicked serious ass. Parties every night, castle dinners, fun and instructive courses, runs in the gorgeous forest, spottage of deers gazing alongside the country roads, delicious wine, cheese, and stuffed goat belly (a scottish specialty I hear), badmington tournaments on the lawn, and a final round interviews in another European country. Things are looking up!

Evidently, the stress of core courses is long gone, job search is almost over (and lucrative), and come on, Europe is absolutely fabulous, even if there is no coffee to go or nail salons in Fonty, yet.

Funky moments (that I recall):

Global strategy prof calling grape growers "farmers," then seeing my outraged expression, downgraded them to "peasants" during our role playing exercise. I represented grape growers and, after the name calling, called for a general strike and threatened the sell off French grapes to Australian winemakers via ebay.
Blind Date series where MBA female contestants demonstrated their oral skills with a lollipop. Wild! (and phew, i'm relieved i didn't participate)
Me, going off for 15 minutes on the strategy for advertising hangers during a job interview during a case interview. My interviewer was flabbergasted by my passion for a seemingly boring subject matter.
Screaming infant voices heard from the confines of a very serious financial accounting course. Professor noted that the infant "wants to learn."

First Days Home In Fonty

2007-05-09T00:39:00.000+08:00

After 11 years away from Europe and my hometown, I'm back to wrap up the last two months of my MBA program. It definitively feels weird to "live" in my childhood bedroom again (pink wall, flowers, teen posters and all), and even more so to sit in my father's course on Pharmaceutical Marketing. I thought I knew it all from our offline conversations, but no, Dad has many more insights and stories up his sleeve. In only one lecture we already covered numerous insights on the healthcare marketplace, including marketplace structure, growth and cost drivers, and emerging trends.

The Business Development course focuses on identifying value creation opportunities and structuring the deals. The cases and team project will bring the discipline to life (versus the lectures), and help hone my strategy skills.

Financial Statement Analysis, taught by the ever deliciously sarcastic Jake, is about building models to evaluate companies, deriving quantitative numbers out of qualitative insights (from marketing and strategic analysis for example). As a potential entrepreneur, this will come in most handy.

Socially, I'm realizing how close I've grown to certain people, and how many students I've built a lifelong friendship with. I had to leave INSEAD for two months to understand the strength of the relationships.

Last but not lease, we're celebrating the British-Irish week, with cricket matches and drinking events every day this week. What I've learned from previous periods at INSEAD is that the best week to whoop it up is the first week, thereafter the ever academically conscious nyfrog feels she needs to save her brain cells for school. Let's see if I keep my sober lifeline despite "senioritis."

Wrapping Up the US Leg of My MBA World Tour

2007-05-07T06:53:00.000+08:00

East/ West Transition
It’s been a bit eerie to readjust to my US life after seven months in South East Asia. The cold, Philadelphia, the bland tasting food. I finally made my Chinatown comeback on Sunday, and lo and behold, was severely disappointed by the low quality of the food (what happened to my chili sauce!), and the way too gentle foot massages (those gotta hurt baby to be effective). Despite the lower heat, NYC and my friends’ nuttiness totally compensated.

Philly
Philadelphia was an interesting experience. First, the city is very segregated. All the families live in the suburbs, and mostly Caucasian students live in center city. Which gives a lack of safety all around for a single gal. Thankfully, my dear friend Peter escorted me to great student parties, introduced me to my first adult Happy Meal (the cheapest beer with a shot of the cheapest whisky, all for $2), and Ally drove in for a girl’s night out. Philly’s night scene is the opposite of New York’s: lots of single, available, future high earning men, and few women, much less pretty. Bottom-line: “I like.”

Job Search
I woke up at 5am on Thursday for my first day at work. That’s right, work. I was given a verbal offer by company X. I asked to spend a day at the office to experience a slice of the job to better inform my decision to accept or not. It definitively felt awkward to wear a black suit and white blouse after running around in flip flops for seven months in Singapore, and sneakers at Wharton. But at the end of the day, over margaritas and enchiladas with my future colleagues, I decided that I could be very very good at this career. More on this soon….

Love
There were downs, but also ups, like Sara and Mel getting engaged. Congrats!

Last Day in New York
But Philly only reminded me of how I missed New York. For my last day in Manhattan, I reunited with my year 2000 brunch HQ Isabella’s, on the Upper West Side. Amazing egg benedicts, the cutest gay waitstaff, and beautiful people all around. Grace and I later strolled in Central Park where I discovered women playing American football. Disturbing to see cute girls getting tackled by meatheads, but whatever floats their boat. I kept turning around upon hearing my name called, but it was never meant for me but for the hundreds Sarah’s in Manhattan’s upper east side today for the Israeli parade. For my last Manhattan sight, I jogged 3 miles around Central Park’s reservoir and teared up waving good bye to my favorite skyline.

The Future
I’m flying out to Paris tonight and will be spending at least two months in France to wrap up school. It’s my first time back in Europe for more than a vacation in six years. I have a lot to look forward to:

Classes:
Entrepreneurship in action
Financial statements analysis
Business development
Global strategy management

Parties:
British Week
The Summer Ball

Peeps:
INSEAD folks from Singapore, Wharton, NKOTB
Old friends who “abandoned” me in the US to move back
My family

Food and Wine (and potential weight gain…)

National Week: British Humor for Dark Days

2007-04-26T01:38:00.000+08:00

So here we are, in the middle of the recruiting season at INSEAD. Students scurry around, first targeting their dream job (primary motivator for getting an MBA), and eventually opting for a shotgun approach out of despair (or love of the sport). The Brits are throwing a national week soon, and sent out this humoristic note explaining the labels. Note the reference to American Express and Google recruiting practices...

From: British Week

JOB HUNTING: A PRACTICAL USER GUIDE

Interviews

Case interview: Series of thought experiments in which you pretend calculators were never invented
P Equity interview: Mythical event, rarely seen, bit like the Loch Ness Monster
McKinsey interview: You are in the presence of God: bring gold, frankincense and myrrh
Goldman interview: As above (but forget the gifts, they don’t need the money
Feedback: In the unlikely event that they remember who you were, they are likely to question either your “fit” or “commitment”…best avoided\
Assessment centre: A sort of MBA Big Brother event. Never believe that any part of the program is “informal” – someone, somewhere will be observing you with a clip board.

Dings

The basic ding: You will experience in many forms: checking your email or hearing your phone ring may inspire panic\
Te stealth ding: You only find out you’ve been dinged when you find your best friend is off for the final round interview in London
Back stab ding : You are dinged after the formal job offer: was common during the dotcom meltdown; American Express are only recent practitioners
Google Ding: After a process that is a cross between one of those Japanese endurance game shows and a Guantanomo Bay style interrogation…you are dinged unceremoniously
Rverse ding: Pay back time…you finally get to ding someone…provided you have more than one job offer

Miscellaneous

Internship: They pretend to pay you; you pretend to work
Career Service: An INSEAD division intent on making you into a management consultant and gathering statistics to help attract applicants to INSEAD, best avoided
Career counsellors: Overflow psychotherapy service used when professional psychiatrists on campus are over-booked.

Application analytics (we are MBAs after all!)

Primary ding rate No. dings for 1st round/Total number of applications.
A good quick and dirty indicator of your application situation
Secondary rate No. 2nd round acceptances/No. 1st round interviews.
Used in addition to primary rate by any professional analyst
Conversion Ratio % 1st round interviews converted to job offers…
the free cash flow holy grail of application analytics…
Job Multiples As in “Dunnett is trading at 5 times”: 5 job offers, but only one body to carry them out.

Family Weekend

2007-04-24T19:59:00.000+08:00

My father and I flew to Chicago to celebrate my brother's 24th birthday. The city never ceases to amaze me, when "the sun shines and the sky is so blue." The skyscrapers so elegantly elevate themselves to the skies, unobstructed by a busy skyline like New York City. Lake Michigan sizzles with golden and silver touches and extends itself so far into the horizon, you wonder if it's not an ocean.

My brother, always the triathlete, woke up both weekend days at 7am for three to four hours of biking/ running. Thankfully he let go some steam on Saturday for a lavish birthday dinner at Everest, one of the city's best restaurants, next to his gorgeous, soon to be French speaking girlfriend. The best dishes were a delicately sauteed scallop and fish, and the grand marnier souffle for dessert. The view of the perfect city grid reflects American geometric urban planning.

Frenchbenj granted me a bed on Saturday night, were I conked out surrounded by his cats Max and Hugo, who'd occasionally walk over me, or cuddle their little heads on my hand. Awwww.

On Sunday we watched the results of the French elections. 99% of the French in Chicago voted Sarkozy, so they were pleased (second round will be the opportunistic capitalist versus Royale, the idealist workaholic). Many of the French expats following the elections from Chicago's Sofitel hotel examplified what we label as "jeunes cadres dynamiques." I think I'll finally start attending some French consulate events when I'm back in NY full time.

On Monday I took in New York City's downtown scene, where I shopped and lunched with the models, fashion designers and film makers who wear gelled up hair, lots of makeup, and zero body fat. Inspired I ran in Central Park on the cherry blossom lined path. New York City, I'll always love you!

A Year of Uncertainties

2007-04-23T23:04:00.000+08:00

Stream of consciousness rambling, read only if interested.

My good friend Eric rightly pointed out that I was a creature of habits. Doesn't mean I'm locked out of spontaneity or experimentation, but truthfully, I prefer carving out specific time in my schedule for those bouts of improvisation. Otherwise I learned to satisfy my basic and more complex needs over time, until I attained a delightful routine of "work, run, shop, cook and lounge." I experienced the true meaning of comfort. This was in 2006.

Then I left everything and everyone behind to move to Singapore and get my MBA. Ouch. A few months later I've adjusted to all the changes by forcing "time outs" to focus on single minded tasks like running, writing, or sleeping. These tasks are my only ties to my life pre-MBA. Nowadays, I meet new friends every week, never cook, learn about things I never suspected would interest me (accounting practices, pricing strategies), switch bed every 3 or 4 days because of traveling (not promiscuity, I wish!), and am still unsure where I'll live, and what I'll do for a living. For a creature of habits, this lifestyle certainly throws me off-kilter despite my best efforts!

I realize (and had planned so) that by forcing disruption I've also opened the door for fabulous opportunities I'd never would have had so fast and so easily. How else could I have travelled across dozen countries in 7 months, learned hundreds of business concepts, expanded my network exponentially, and get a shot at a career in finance?

Hello, new me.

Now it's about transforming what I loved, who I became, into a happy future. And believe me, this isn't so easy.

This is where I should discuss my job search. But my fellow MBA peers have much better descriptions of the dread of job hunting, so I'll refer you to them (my job search is very, um, organic since I am not interviewing for consulting jobs).

Hallonman
DomoDomo
Milan

5K Results In

2007-04-12T00:23:00.000+08:00

I'm number 115/254, finishing in approximately 25 minutes. Clap clap clap. They also totally misspelled my last name.

Unexpected

2007-04-12T00:13:00.000+08:00

This is how technology can transform mistakes into fortituous opportunities. Earlier this week I searched to reconnect to colleagues from my former employer on Linked In. I emailed a few of the contacts listed whom I recognized. However, when one contact accepted my offer I realized that while he had the same name he was a total stranger who worked in the Sydney office of my former employer, years ago. It gets better. He emailed me asking for my resume because his company was looking for a marketing manager in New York. Of course I applied. Not sure I meet the "Qualcomm-savvy" requirement but hey, I have nothing to lose.

No Photo?

2007-04-11T22:25:00.000+08:00

I know, I know, photos would satiate your appetite for "sensation" rather than having to read an entire paragraph of words. Well, my inspiration for snapping shots is dead at the moment (or perhaps it's my vitamin-starved skin?). So what's shaking?

Awesome wine and cheese party in our Philly "Romanian" flat. About fifty students from INSEAD and Wharton joined us in tasting French cheeses, from mild and non-odorant, to Roquefort, all paired with the appropriate wines.
Dinners at Les Enfants Terribles in NYC, followed by Karaoke in k-town
First home cooked dinner at Grace's. After seven months in Asia I totally crave Tex-Mex food, so I cooked chicken enchiladas
Hours spent on the telephone and on the web networking, networking, networking
Completed three pricing models for school, on my own

Mom Is Going To Screech

2007-04-06T23:30:00.000+08:00

I ate a whole pizza by myself last night. Even the women at Starbucks were shocked as they overheard my admission to a friend over the phone. What can I be compensating for?

Alanis Is A Goof

2007-04-05T08:30:00.000+08:00

From the rock chick (Alanis Morissette) who sang about abortions and nasty breakups comes a spoof of Black Eyed Pea's famous "My Humps"

And the original

Post Party 5K Run

2007-04-02T01:31:00.001+08:00

Results forthcoming, but it was bbrrrr-freezing at 9am by the river.

Hefs & Bunnies

2007-04-02T01:08:00.000+08:00

It was the infamous Wharton 54 party - the forelast chance for any business school student to get lucky before graduation (last chance is the post-graduation beach week in South Beach). I have yet to spot any of the hotties present at the party in my classes, but I admit, I'm impressed. Whartonites looked particularly hot decked out in lady bunnies, Hefs and shot boys (shot boys paraded around the club topless, ripped, distributing shots with water guns). Oh, my.

INSEAD party goers, all smiles.

Bertrand tries really hard not to stare at the barman's ripped chest (did I mention the party was held at Pure, a gay club?)

Gokhan is still in Rocky mode, while Erica & I gooof around. Bertrand, not sure what he's looking at here...

Apparently a student band played for parts of the night.

What's Your Answer?

2007-03-31T08:54:00.000+08:00

During my interview, I was asked to explain prime numbers to a 5 year old who knows how to count until 10, but can't add, substract, or divide. My first question (to myself) was what the heck is a prime number again, but my brain miraculously recovered the definition. Phew!

Other questions included my forecasts for the Web and Search in five years, the product or brand that transformed our lives (couldn't pick Google goods), and how I'd optimize search algorithms. A challenging interview, but hey, so is the rest of my life.

Emulating Rocky

2007-03-30T23:53:00.000+08:00

Working Girl

2007-03-29T10:21:00.000+08:00

My first interview is on Friday. I'm psyched, but like many also terrified because I haven't really interviewed in eight years. I was planning on practicing over the weekend, but in the world of high-speed internet, your invitation to interview is valid for the next three business days only.

Time to pull out my magic wand. Um, has anybody seen my inspiration?

The Rocky Dash

2007-03-29T04:11:00.000+08:00

The legendary DASH started on INSEAD's Singapore campus, where all MBA students "dashed" to class in costumes. We've launched the first installment of the DASH at Wharton in Philadelphia, a tribute to Rocky. We met at 6:52am for a dash to the arts museum.

High and Lows

2007-03-27T04:57:00.000+08:00

The highs

Lunch with Aimee, her 5 months old daughter and 2 year old son. She refers to her daughter as the "trick baby" because she's so easy going. I had to leave her apartment though because her son was too excited to take a nap.
Sara's bed and SATC collection. Enough said.
Eric's birthday dinner at Les Halles, where the steak, frites and wine never disappoint.
Effusive reunions with old co-workers for happy hour, and my old flatmate Grace for a girls night out, taking over the town. Somehow, we ended up sitting at a table of Princeton and HBS grads.

The Lows

Rainy Manhattan
More heartaches
Desire to be a high-earning working woman at last, rather than a job less, penny less flat squatter
No photos

A Week Day In The Life Of...

2007-03-22T22:25:00.000+08:00

My alarm ends my dream. I can feel the icy temperature outside my bed and postpone my exit from under the cover for a few more minutes. After a quick shower (I have to walk downstairs to shower), I run out the door to catch the bus to Wharton (crossing my fingers that I'm indeed on the right bus). On the way I stop by Starbucks to pick up a grande skim misto with sugar free cinnamon.

It's 9-10am by the time I reach a computer on campus, check and respond to email. Review the Wharton job board. Work on an umpteenth CV and cover letter. Dream of moving out West where it's warm and I won't need all these layers of clothes. Wonder if prospective employers will find my advertising stories as amusing as my business school school buddies. Worry that I'll feel "un-natural" wearing a suit after years looking "creative" in advertising.

10:30am, time for class. All the INSEAD students sit together and desperately try to win a few participation marks, which represent 40-50% of our final grade. After months spent studying z-curves, supply and demand, process operations and amortization, I'm thrilled, absolutely thrilled, to sit in a class where I get to watch Coca-Cola commercials and analyze/ critique them. Unlike what previous INSEADers reported, I'm loving my Wharton courses:

Technology Strategy: last period I took Integrated Systems Management at INSEAD, but tech strategy is a lot more about what it takes to bring new technology to market, and succeed in maintaining leadership. All the articles and case studies are completely different from the ones we reviewed at INSEAD. Perfect course for someone applying to IT/ Tech marketing positions (a-hum, Google, I'm waiting for your phone call). I'm also working on a group project on Firefox, the open source web browser. Thanks Ben for giving me the idea last time you visited in New York! (I saw you ran Firefox on your laptop).
Pricing Policy: prices are usually set randomly, like an art, whereas in this course we learn about the science behind setting the right price. Via conjoint analysis and deconstructing the different dimensions of a price. It sounds geeky, but I love it.
New Product Development: sit back, watch commercials, discuss them, write a marketing plan for a new product with a team. WON-derful.

I finish around 4:30pm, in time to meet with one of my teams for 90 minutes. Then I head to the Wharton gym (so amazing compared to INSEAD's, there's even a climbing wall). I get home around 8pm. Pick up dinner on the way. Check email, do homework. Sleep around 11 or 12.

What's The Scene

2007-03-22T22:14:00.000+08:00

At last I've re-embraced the nightlife, albeit Philly's nightlife which is a lot more, let's say suburban, than New York. The best club being a gay club. This is so college, yawn. Six years in New York turned me into a jaded bitch, that's right, and I won't apologize.

Philly's full of hole in the wall trendy restaurants. Sophisticated design, good looking staff, nice compositions on the plates, but terribly banal taste. Tinto, Bar Ferdinand so far have disappointed.

Clubs on the other hand lack designer touches. There's just one or two large rooms with a DJ in a room upstairs pumping top 100 hits and bartenders mixing bad drinks. Still, given that the ratio at Wharton is 30 female/100 men, I'm never left un-entertained. Ann instilled a breath of New York into my first weekend in Philly, as she so beautifully describes here.

Of course people are nice here. The ladies in the stores comment on my "oh what a cute hat" I wear, the dry-cleaners run out on the street to hand me my washing powder, and my landlord invites me to her house in Princeton. What can I say, it's not New York but it's quaint enough.

Worse Week Ever Ends

2007-03-17T11:34:00.000+08:00

Break ups, breaking ins, at the end I passed all my core courses, yipee! It's snowing/ freezing in Philly, police sirens raging, heading to NYC next weekend.

It Gets Better

2007-03-15T06:33:00.000+08:00

Bad things happen when you leave Manhattan.

You get robbed
There are no shower gels, shampoos and blow dryers at the gym
Your landlady changes the locks, then doesn't show up to her appointment to hand you over the new keys for 3 hours resulting in you being locked outside your apartment building, then inside your own apartment after a neighbor lets you into the building
The flat cleaning crew looks like it came straight from the crack house

A Promising Start

2007-03-14T10:34:00.000+08:00

After a week in New York, I Amtraked to Philadelphia to attend Spring quarter courses at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania’s business school (famous alumni include Donald Trump, Candice Bergen, Elvis Costello, I.M. Pei, Donny Deutsch, Maury, etc… (list here). The campus is gorgeous, in an Ivy League style, courses promising (pricings strategies; new product development, technology strategy), and downtown Philadelphia cute (brownstones).

We met for a very merry dinner with the INSEAD crew at Wharton on Sunday, near Rittenhouse Square.

View of the Philly skyline from my bedroom

Nice flat, eh?

.... But, who took the lock out?

… a thief who broke into our flat while we were asleep and stole my flatmate’s JB’s phone, keys and wallet. The police is investigating, but this is what happened.

1am, JB and I come home and crash
2:50am, thief starts making calls from JB’s phone
9am, I walk down the stairs and notice the apartment door is open
9:30am, JB can’t locate his keys, phone and wallet, and the lock of the building front door is out

So, who's coming to visit?

First Impressions and Food Guide

2007-03-14T09:29:00.000+08:00

It’s nice to be back “home” in New York. Mingle with the thousands New Yorkers roaming the streets of the city – Caucasians, African Americans. Eat, shop, workout at any time of the day. There’s so much of everything – people, food, objects on sale in the stores. I missed this feeling of abundance America fosters so well.

It felt wonderful to meet and chat with my girlfriends (plus Eric) too. Blunt, animated and loud conversations (you have to, it gets so loud in the restaurants). So here are select New York experiences:

Lox Bagel from the Yiddish bagel shop Bagelworks on 1st Avenue between 66th and 67th street (ask for a toasted onion bagel, with cream cheese, lox, tomatoes and onions).

Craftbar with Liz – aioli potatoes, fried sage stuffed with sausage, sweetbreads, and pork belly with spätzle
Pastis with the crew – and the whole wilhemina modeling agency in the meatpacking district
Burger at JG Mellon on 3rd avenue & 74th street
Sake tasting at Satsko on 7th street, between Avenue B and C with Eric, Ann & Gail
Wine at The Bourgeois Pig, on McDougal & Minetta Lane
Brunch at the Brooklyn Diner on 57th street & Café d'Alsace with Sara & Mel
Angelika Film Center in SOHO to watch New York movies like Factory Girl because you can feel the vibrations from the nearby subway stations in the theater.

Some good search tools/ guides for New York

CitySearch
Daily Candy
Hipguide
New York Magazine
Paper Mag

Beauty Quad

2007-02-27T19:45:00.000+08:00

The MBA beauty quad took over Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a leisurely weekend in January. It's a Muslim state, with a gorgeous and clean capital city and very friendly locals. Sam, a buddy from Northwestern, guided us through his city.

The famous Petronas Towers, previously highest towers in the world before Taipei 101 was built. Truly magnificent Islamic art design, based on the concept of two interlocking squares that form an eight-pointed star. If you recall, Catherine Zeta Jones dangled from the towers in Entrapment, pre-Michael Douglas and motherhood.

View from the Petronas bridge

The KL postal office, before torrential rains flooded half of KL. Seriously, the cars were literally pushing water.

Another contrast between colonial style buildings, and modern skyscraper.

Sam took the girls out to lunch at Peter Ho's (don't laugh)

Laksa, the Malay dish with coco and chili sauce. Hot!

7 Months Back...

2007-02-25T17:07:00.000+08:00

Trip down memory lane...

Just Because

2007-02-25T17:02:00.000+08:00

It makes me happy looking at the island I've lunched at in the Maldives during Christmas break

The Grind

2007-02-25T10:07:00.000+08:00

Other students describe the academic grind well, so I’ll refer you to their blogs, while I’ll ramble on my “feelings.”

In 32 hours, I’ll be done with core course exams at INSEAD. Until then, I’m crashing and burning over International Political Analysis and Macroeconomics. Now I get why the Wall Street Journal headlines "inflation fears dent stocks again." Impressive, I know. Can’t believe I’ve become so smart either.

In four days I’m out of here, back in Europe/ US to catch the tail end of Winter, wear closed shoes (bye bye pink flip flops) and savor food MGN, soya and chili-less. I predict I’ll drag Mario to Chinatown for kway teow noodles as soon as I get to New York, after I satiate my craving for a toasted onion bagel with lox.

It should be a prosperous year as I’ve tossed my raw fish high up in the air during our Chinese New Year celebratory dinner on Wednesday. It’s a uniquely Singaporean tradition, whereby all the guests “toss” raw fish with other ingredients such as crackers and ginger with their chopsticks, and throw the fish in the air while proclaiming a series of wishes (money, health, love, the usual). The dish is called YuSheng and was created in 1963.

Bored

2007-02-17T18:18:00.000+08:00

Not that I don't have tons to do, but the last two weeks have been rather boring. I finished two courses already, handed in my biography, and feel that all that's left are lame assignments. I wish I could hop on a plane and fly home already. On the bright side, I met my classmate Yael's children who are two angels. I'm continuously impressed by the men and women who juggle a 10 months MBA and a family successfully. Ok I can't complain anymore...

Guilty Pleasures

2007-02-10T22:06:00.000+08:00

What did a tired frog do to make herself feel better? A girlie day!!

Brunch at Ya Kun Kaya Cafe on their specialty ultra soft boiled eggs (with soy sauce), kaya toasts (coconut jam) and coffee, with Star magazine
Shop in Holland Village
Get my hair done at Toni & Guy while chatting with my colorist about the best restaurants for Chinese New Year in Singapore
Nap
Watch Sweet Home Alabama with Reese Witherspoon on TV

Yodelee, Yodelee, Yodelee La

2007-02-03T15:57:00.000+08:00

In honor of my Austrian heritage and love of Swiss cheese and luxury brands, I participated in the organization of the Heart of Europe national week, promoting the Austrian, German and Swiss cultures.

We decked out the campus in national paraphernalia, including a giant poster of Claudia Schiffer to promote German investments and held a series of events on and off campus including a panel discussion on luxury, raclette dinner, tipp kick tournament, waltz lessons, and Oktoberfest. I had my first shots of Jagermeister since year 2000 on Oktoberfest. Probably my last shots for the next 7 years too.

Antonia (the mastermind behind the events) and I wore the traditional German outfit - the dirndl - all week long. Coincidentally, the INSEAD Dash (running to school in under 3 minutes in costumes) happened on Tuesday so I ran to school with a very good friend of mine... The Swiss cow!

Psss, what's our strategy for winning the dash this year?

The Heart of Europe Dash Team

Ruuuuun!

My favorite, the Israeli "Twin Toilet Seats"

My second name is Hildegaard

Deep Immersion in MBA-World

2007-01-28T23:57:00.000+08:00

After six months in the program, I'm fully immersed with little time for blogging. But some quick stats:

1 day until Heart of Europe national week where I'm channeling my inner Austrian, wearing a Dirndl all week and drinking beer
6 days until my marketing simulation team drives all the other companies out of business. Or not
7 days until my information systems final
10 days until my 25-page autobiography is due for one of my classes
4 weeks to improve my negotiations skills and negotiate interviews in New York (any tips, email)
4 weeks to learn to ask and receive help gracefully
5 weeks until I'll be eating hamburgers amidst skyscrapers and receiving hugs every day
14 weeks to get a job
Forever, the great memories I've built this year

I Heart Myanmar

2007-01-28T23:30:00.000+08:00

A jewel in the region, Myanmar remains largely untouched by Western/ tourist influences. It's double-edged: I felt in another world, in another century, and Burmese still live alienated from the outside world, in poverty, with little hope for the future.

The military dictatorship (the Junta) maintains a stronghold on the country’s wealth (emerald, ruby, oil), while the rest of the population struggles to develop out of impoverished rural living. Imports are scarce, and most intellectual materials too heavily censored to exert any impact. Tourists are rare, as the US sanction Myanmar by asking Americans not to visit, so unfortunately there is little wealth getting to the people. Despite grim prospects, Burmese display infinite warmth and friendliness; always greeting foreigners with a smile and happy to share their experience in Burmese life. Conversely, they’re also hungry for non-government ideas and devour any outside information to help them start businesses and, perhaps, shake things up a little. I hope many of you will get the opportunity to visit Myanmar because it’s not only a beautiful and culturally fascinating country, but due to sanctions, receives the least amount of help from the international community.

A few images from my trip to Myanmar/ Burma over New Year.

The spectacular Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, the capitale

Young girls in Inwa, near Mandalay up north. They wear a wood-paste over their face, which acts as sunscreen, beauty cream and make-up.

Oren, me and Molly on the watchtower in Inwa, an ancient royale city

Bagan, where thousands of XI and XII century Buddhist temples populate the fields.

The local bus, packed with the commuters, including young monks.

Street food in Yangon

New Year, Old Excuses

2007-01-16T23:39:00.000+08:00

So I've been busy. And my narrative spirits are channelled by a very interesting elective course "Career Dynamics & Self-Assessment." Essentially a therapy during my MBA, with hundreds pages of writing due throughout the term. And yes, I will or have already written about you. Sometimes I wish I could analyze the people around me - a reminder of my old "consumer research" portion of my planning job, but I must remind myself that no, as interesting as, say, my father's life has been, this course is about me, and how everything you guys do affects me.

Shocker, today I learned that my ego state is a lot more of a "child," than the average MBA. And no, it's not negative. It means I'm more creative and free-spirited (Mario, don't laugh). So I announced to my class that clearly, my goal of being more adult/ parent-like in P1 & P2 was anti-nature and that from now on I'll return to my natural self and party/socialize. I sensed a lot of enthusiasm among the new students who transferred from Fonty, and a disbelief among the students from Singapore who apparently already perceive me as sufficiently extroverted and social. But they've only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, here is an overview of my academic journey for the term:

Information Systems & Management
Macroeconomics in a Global Economy
International Political Analysis
Market Driving Strategies
Negotiations
Career Dynamics & Self-Assessment

Oh yes, tomorrow I'm negotiating as Diego Primadonna's agent against the general manager of the Rio Nacional's football club. Let the games begin!

Blue Ocean

2006-12-27T10:49:00.000+08:00

It's going to take a while to load up the shots from the Maldives, but here are a few snapshots from scuba diving. The first two dives were rough because I got sea sick, but after ingesting a little OTC pill I felt better and enjoyed the marine life a lot more. One of our scuba instructors sent vibrations to the fish with a hand gesture and literally thousand fish crowded our entire dive site - the sand, the coral, everything. No need to eat magic mushrooms to experience magic.

Did you say turtle? She was present, nearly at every dive in the magnificent Indian Ocean.

Nemo (the clown fish) with family graze their large sea anemone.

A Spinner Dolphin and his twenty mates played around, while the manta ray freaked me out. I thought a space alien was coming to get me!

The Sirens

2006-12-18T19:45:00.000+08:00

Can you hear them? I can. One more exam to go, and I'm at sea. Yipee! So, what's it like exams in business school?

Four hours spent analysing a marketing case on Bugles, and another four hours on a strategy case on NVT versus Honda in the US motorcycle industry. I happily report that I mentioned the word "'sizzle" once, and "ZZ Top."
Three hours of process and operations management where I found two bottlenecks in the supply chain. Obviously I made a mistake, but it's a sunk cost as I learned in micro in P1.
In Managerial Accounting, I pondered the cost of hospital hoists and bug repellents. An absolute bore.
In Finance today, I didn't price my callable bond, but obtained results for my clicket, vanilla, and ladder options. Apparently clicket and ladder options are "exotics" (my old flatmate Annie's specialty!). I also wrote adamently that arbitrageurs were bad for the shareholders and long-term investors (the widows and orphans, as Theo would refer to them), and that there was no such thing as a free lunch. I just like to say this.

Yeah, we're not feeling very merry this holiday season.

Bachotage

2006-12-11T14:45:00.000+08:00

Exams are here, already. So expect to hear little from me in the coming weeks as I'll be jetting straight from my last exam to the Maldives and then Myanmar/ Burma until early January, when classes begin again. Before you envy my holiday plans, check this crazy schedule out:

Thursday POM exam - 3 hours
Friday am Managerial Accounting exam - 3 hours
Friday pm Marketing exam - 4 hours
Monday am Strategy exam - 4 hours
Monday pm Corporate Financial Policy exam - 3 hours
Tuesday pm Leading Organizations "group" exam - 4 hours

It's a good time to practice meditation, so I'll conjure up images such as this one:

Desi Party

2006-12-09T18:15:00.000+08:00

THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY YEAR AT INSEAD THUS FAR!

First, Indians are some of the warmest, smartest, and most extraverted and colorful folks here, and second, dancing is way more fulfilling to me than option pricing problems.. How strange?

The Desi Party to celebrate India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan took place on Wednesday and did a great job showcasing why India is such a festive and loveable country where the clothes are colorful, the music energetic, the food bombastic, and the people charming and still oh so proud of their customs. Almost all the Indian students came dressed very elegantly in traditional Indian outfits: pajamas for men (the extra long shirt) and embroidered silk tunic with lots of jewelry for women. The food at the buffet was very tasty, and the entertainment catchy with an Indian drum and dance ensemble, a solo dancing act, and a DJ playing a mix of Indian and Western pop mucis. I tried to prep for the event by getting a henea tattoo on my head and arm, a bindi on my forehead, and lots of cheap bangles.

And oh surprise, our little dance performance at the end of dinner was met with enthusiasm and brought everybody onto the dance floor until the hotel kicked us out around 1am when the ballroom closed. I'll try to supplement the photos as students upload them on the server.

Our dance group:
Lakshmi, Maithily, Me, Cathy, Molly, Kanika, Ena, Reshmi

Video of our performance. Unfortunately a technical glitch during the recording makes for a video that's 3-4 seconds ahead of the sound, and where the beginning part is cut off. Maybe we'll get our hands on another recording. I'm in the dancer in a pink skirt on the left, front row. My favorite part is at the end when Amit MC extraordinnaire (Indian with long hair and red top)starts jumping around with Ashvin (tall Indian student with the scarf).

Sore

2006-12-06T00:16:00.000+08:00

Oy my thighs are sore, and not from Sunday's run but from 2 hours of Bollydancing. The show's tomorrow, so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm wearing a long pink skirt, a pink shawl, and lots of gold jewelry, bindi and if I have time, henea tattoes. The dance teacher said my facial expressions were hilarious when I danced. I may not get all the moves right, but the heart's in it!

We got lots of results back today, from bad to good.

We received check minuses on all our accounting assignments despite spending several hours on each case analysis. Very frustrating, but we have another week to improve before our final exam. I guess we will left-tail that course.
We did well in Strategy, but not as well as the strategy consultants. I suppose I'll give it to consultants that their graphic skills are superior. I will get there though, I swear!!
Our Mixed 10K team ranked number 9 out of 108 teams. More photos from the event below.

Tropical Racing

2006-12-03T18:44:00.000+08:00

A bunch of us decided to do something productive and healthy of this Sunday morning and we raced as part of the Standard Chartered Bank Singapore Marathon. Molly finished her marathon in just over four hours (special kuddos to this woman who is able to get her MBA and finish a marathon); Sheinal, Vincent, Carlos, Anders, & Joseba did a very strong half marathon, and Marc, Alex, Andras, Jill, Tomas and myself completed a good 10K as well.

We were extremely lucky to run in a "cool" city thanks to on and off drizzle and clouds catching some of the sun's ray. We also started damn early. Interestingly, while the marathon organization was well polished, the energy was very low compared to other races I completed. None of the runners cheered despite all three races crossing and even sharing paths numerous times during the race, and the only "cheerers" were a few expats in groups of two or three. Thankfully my flatmate Michelle cheered us on as we approached the finish line. What a trooper for getting up early on a Sunday to support us!

The 10K Team Before The Race (or how my diminutive physique can no longer be denied):
Myself, Andras, Alex, Tomas, Jill & Marc

The Half-Marathoners After The Race:
Carlos, Vincent's friend, Vincent, and Sheinal swearing he'll quit smoking.

Sheinal, Me, Carlos & Vincent; and with our cheerleader, Michelle

The kids impressively dashing through 5K as Molly (in the back lane on the right in blue) gets ready to cross her finish lane after 4 hours. Later with her flatmate Tomas.

A Friendly Visit

2006-12-01T22:38:00.000+08:00

I know I know, it's been a month already, but hey, better late than never. So before Mario's "conjugal" visit per some readers' labels, Christine popped over for an activity-filled weekend. To give you guys some perspective, Christine and I lived down the hall from each other freshman year at Northwestern University and maintained a strong friendship ever since, jumping locations from Chicago, D.C., New York to Seoul, Bangkok and now Singapore. I just have to state that I'm glad Christine forgave me for me inane FOPiness (French off the plane) back then and initiated me in the American and Karaoke ways. A lifelong influence!

First, a reunion with Hawking (another NU alumnus) at Post bar at the Fullerton Hotel.

Hawking, Christine, Dick, Me, and um, I forgot his name

Then a long night of clubbing, including at Zouk/ Velvet/ Future (clubs within a club). Yes, it's my flatmate Fei's smirk in the corner.

We had some traditional Singapore food at the Maxwell Road food center.

Then Christine was craving American "junk" tex-mex food so we found one of the three Taco Bells in Singapore and ate there too. Successfully dragged my other flatmate Michelle & another French student (Alexandre) in our endeavor. Alexandre ate a taco and a burrito.

The highlight was the monsoon ball, and later a charity ball hosted at the Ritz by Hawking & Dick (which I didn't attend but Christine did).

Ready for the ball.

The two Korean beauties, and Dick & Hawking in the ever-classic black & white suits.

And good news for Mario: there's a Hooters right in the middle of town!

Daydreaming

2006-11-30T12:57:00.000+08:00

I open a sleepy eye on blue sky and iron roofs trying to reach the sun. An intruding brisk of cold air pushes me back deep into my comforter where it's warm and soft. At last, the idea of breakfast accompanied by the necessary cup of coffee - simply black, convinces me to bundle up and step outside to the corner diner. Just a few steps out in the cold New York air colors my cheeks bright red and freezes my nose. I dive right into my cup of coffee and ask for a refill. I think about last night, what my girlfriends are up to, if everybody got home alright. My lumberjack breakfast has arrived. Plain buttery pancakes and scrambled eggs, easy, with two slices of very crispy bacon. I go for the eggs, then mix in some bacon, and between two bites make a dent on my stack of pancakes. Nothing beats this mixture of sweet, salty, crispy and creamy. My waitress automatically refills my coffee. I look around and notice the usual crowd of retired New Yorkers, the scrunchy literary types who spent Saturday night smoking by their laptops, drinking a man's drink, and writing, the families with stressed out moms, crying babies, agitated children and aloof husband. No celebrities. No party boy/ girl, god it's still too early. Mental note to pick up the Times on my way home to learn more about the world I live in, and if there are any good movies playing. Maybe I'll catch a yoga class later today at the gym. No excuses, the gym's in my building. As I contemplate the array of options for the day, I fall back asleep.

Cabaret

2006-11-29T20:27:00.000+08:00

The Bollywood dance class was hilarious. Made me realize how stiff I am! Another three lessons to memorize and execute a whole song's worth of bollywood dance steps until the Insead Cabaret, on December 7th. I wasn't planning on performing since I lack 'serious' skills, but now I am I suppose. Will try to post some pictures that people were taking while we were dancing.

Note To Self

2006-11-28T22:46:00.000+08:00

What makes a true pupil of the humanities? No matter how quantitative the assignment, we'll show up with "ideas" expressed in "words." Meanwhile, everybody else shows up to meetings with spreadsheets. Apparently, I forgot that I'm in business school and getting it on with Exel is important. I'll try harder but, if writing and conceptualizing is my strength, why not capitalize on it, even in business school?

Tomorrow I'll diversify my skills at the Indian/ Pakistani/ Sri Lankan bollywood dance class organized by students.

Warning

2006-11-28T22:40:00.000+08:00

A new finance professor is wrapping up P2's finance course and will teach us about trading jargon (short put, long put!), how to value stock and create exotic derivatives. Or something like that.

Diplomatically, he announced "the dean said to me to never utter the word quantitative in front of MBA students. Well, this is a quantitative course, and if you don't have a finance or engineering background, you definitively won't get it."

I'll try to take up the challenge because strangely, I find this whole trading business pretty interesting - conceptually of course. After all, there's a certain amount of creativity and game theory involved to structure deals. Let's see if I get a handle on the numerical part.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T22:56:00.000+08:00

Hard to believe that it's Thanksgiving without the change in season and an anglo-saxon family to "adopt" me for the day. Instead of indulging in the sensual enjoyment of cinnamon scents and too much turkey and stuffing, I went running 9 kilometers with a group of runners in my MBA program. I feel grrrreat!

Below is a photo of the same day, a year ago, when Grace invited me to her family's house to cook my very first turkey. Meanwhile, Mario was skipping dinner alltogether in Mumbai.

Mish Mash

2006-11-23T10:21:00.000+08:00

It's difficult to keep one's head above water during P2 at Insead. Imagine taking six classes, with a lot of overlapping themes and graded group assignments due every week. It feels like we just begun, and yet exams are a mere 2 1/2 weeks away already!

Highlights:

Viking week where all northern Europeans come to school dressed like vikings with swords. My "viking" name tag for the week is "Carmen Kass." Not bad to role play a top model.
Process & Operations Management (POM) class where our extremely passionate professor excitedly details the manufacturing process and how to spot and manage plant bottlenecks. Clearly the peak of my experience at Insead, haha. Perhaps I can translate the lessons learned in POM in qualitative areas of my life (who is the bottleneck in my life, eh?).
Leading Organizations (LO) where our French professor (what else) stripped off his jacket, then his tie, shirt, and polo to make his point about cultural expectations regarding professors' attire. He was wearing a t-shirt under his layers of clothes.
Something in our LO reading that suggested that "moveable" children and spouses were a mandate to pursue an international management career.

No exciting travel plans for me in P2, but plenty of students travel to Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. I on the other hand discovered how "small" Singapore really is when playing host to Christine, Mario and Eleonaure. A matter of a 2 hour tour. Mostly, Singapore should be experienced through its food and shopping. Otherwise, I'll post pictures soon that show that you'd never know you're in Asia just looking at the urban architecture of the city.

Happiness

2006-11-21T21:08:00.000+08:00

Mario came and left Singapore. Just enough time for a friendly dinner on Clark Quay with some Insead chums. Another 15 weeks and we reunite again, US-side.

Fei, Molly, Me, Mario, Yael and her hubby Doron

The Great, The Good, & The Bad

2006-11-15T21:41:00.000+08:00

Great: I'm picking Mario up at the airport on Saturday morning.
Good: I ran a total of 30K last week and feel "comfortable" running 8K (=5 miles) now. Classes are more strategic in nature this period so I can participate. We're going to Churrascaria for Michelle's birthday tomorrow.
Bad: Self-esteem down dealing with a "pricing" problem, a resume that's "schrecklich," and guilty feelings flaking out on my friends because of my obsession with doing homework or other masochistic activities like running.

Denial

2006-11-13T20:41:00.000+08:00

Reading about the famed Nevada "Burning Man" community in the NYT reminds me of my youthful ideals. Ones of surrealist expressions, unharnassed by capitalistic and bourgeois pressures. Well, the closest I ever came to that was probably just camping illegally on the lawn of Northwestern University, hosting a personal poetry reading session with other hobos after dark. After a few hours we decided that a bed was decidedly more comfortable than sleeping out, so we decamped.

Senior year I traded my baggy jeans, piercing and surreal poetry for a suit and portfolio, got a corporate job and became what I guess is known as a yuppy. Now I'm back in school, cognizant that I am that boring neighbor/ flatmate who runs, assembles herself salads, works on her resume and just goes about life forgetting about the arts and creation. Well, this post is a reminder that I don't want to be that no-fun dry person and that I ought to try to inject more creativity into my life, and to an extent, my business school homework. Humpf.

Express Myself

2006-11-10T18:00:00.000+08:00

Guess what? This little advertising chick made it past the first period in business school! No meetings with the Dean, and totally decent performance given my poor proficiency in all things numerical. Lessons learned for future b-school performance:

Studying pays off. And getting my butt to school at 9am on a Saturday to attend the stats tutorials really paid off.
Of course, I passed finance thanks to the group homeworks to be handed in throughout the period, not the final exam. Go team!
I also wish for more qualitative exams vs. multiple choice where I have a knack for picking the wrong answer, too often (Financial Accounting...) withouth being able to articulate the logic of my answers in words.
Happy surprise in Leading People & Groups. Despite collating at the last minute all of our sections written in different "English," we did well.
Class participation is in fact carefully graded, and I probably should try to look less bored since I sit in the front row this period...

My parents can now sleep at night knowing that I've survived P1. And I can return to normal living. It all started with a Korean food orgy followed by karaoke last night. Mario's visiting next weekend. Life is good.

More Teasers

2006-11-09T12:26:00.000+08:00

Insead's most talented dancer showed off his dancing skills at the Monsoon Ball on Saturday.

Get You Wanting More

2006-11-08T20:56:00.000+08:00

Myself, Fei and Michelle at the Monsoon Ball on Saturday. More to come...

Back To School - Period 2

2006-11-01T23:44:00.000+08:00

Period = Insead lingo for quarter/ trimester/semester

Introducing the subjects I will ponder over the next 7 weeks:

Process and Operations Management
Marketing
Strategy
Managerial Accounting
Leading Organizations
and my favorite for last... Corporate Financial Policy

I already received a comment from another student that it seemed as if the marketing professor and I had a one-on-one conversation in class. I'll try harder to let the others speak... but you know me, I can't live my passions quietly. And our finance professor would be Mario's favorite. In his thick Belgian accent he shouted to the class:

"And who does the company work for? The shareholders. We're capitalists. Lawyers are evil. They steal profit away from the capitalists."

The subject may not excite me tremendously, but at least I'm enticed by the prof's obvious passion for his subject and use of theatrics to engage students.

Better Than China?

2006-11-01T15:08:00.000+08:00

Or so claims the proud Taiwanese (host wunderbar Kuang Kai) who showed me around during my recent trip to Taipei, Taiwan (earlier Fu-Min from Hong Kong said HK is the best city to live in, and before that Hawking from Singapore claimed Singapore was best). My point of view is that Taipei is the closest I’ll get on this trip to China. Unlike Singapore and Hong Kong, Taiwan hasn’t been as heavily influenced by Western culture so it remains more Chinese in lifestyle, language (no Singlish spoken there) and I guess everything else. Expats and non-Asian tourists are rare in Taiwan. Remember that Taiwan was part of China until the revolution, when a faction of the Chinese political class fled to the island hoping to get mainland China back. Well, this hasn’t happened yet and the world is split on whether or not the country Taiwan is part of China, or represents China. Taiwan is officially the Republic of China. Kuang Kai refers to himself as Chinese.

Right now, Taiwan’s strengths over mainland China are its high tech industry, specialty manufacturing, entrepreneurial spirit, and resilience in face of work days that often stretch beyond 12 hours into the weekend. But political tensions and economic inter-dependence with China (Taiwan exports a lot of businesses, know how and executives to China) may sway Taiwan towards independence, or not.

Enough of background, time to show Taipei in images.

Food was eaten aplenty. Starting with my favorite, Chinese dumplings.

And then some less conventional dishes. Like the omelet below which I affectionately refer to as my toad’s saliva omelet. You understand why.

I also tasted snake. Snake is old men’s favorite because the snake bile, venom and blood invigorate them. I tried to eat my soup with boiled snake “chunks” after watching a few python enjoy their lunch of rabbit and mouse, but despite the meat’s chicken taste, I couldn’t really eat much of it. After my dinner the cook eviscerated two live cobras in front of us and only chopped off the snakes’ heads after all the vital organs, blood and skin has been removed. Gross stuff, but from now on I can look at snakes and think of them as human food, and feel pity for them.

I shopped.

And visited the cultural sites. Such as the Longshan Temple

The National Palace Museum. Taiwan’s national treasures? A stone “found” shaped and colored like Taiwan’s favorite meat dish, and a piece of jade sculpted to look like cabbage. In Taiwan, the fact that nature reproduces what we eat so perfectly is a celebrated rarity. I couldn’t photograph the art, but I snapped a shot of this funny board at the museum.

The Chiang Kai Shek memorial.

The world’s highest skyscraper Taipei 101 (509 meters), with the fastest elevator (37.5 miles/hour).

Party World – a “karaoke” mall. Unfortunately I did not sing.

Email me for the complete photo album.

Hungry?

2006-10-27T20:19:00.000+08:00

I just watched a cobra getting eviscerated after eating snake, and I feel icky... The turtle dish is not going to happen on this trip...

Party Time!

2006-10-25T21:37:00.000+08:00

I'M DONE! 16 hours of exams over 3 days, and I'm finally OVER with my first period of MBA courses. Memorable moments:

Collating 5 minutes before the due date our five different intepretations of our Leading People and Groups case analysis. Refusing to go through the pain of reading through the paper we had just submitted.
Stating that the HBS graduate advising us to take a tech related beta (measure of risk of my stock), better go back to school as he'd have learned that an S&P beta was a better gage of Yahoo's risk factor.
Smiling to myself when answering the qualitative questions on my corporate finance exam. 5 pages of writing for questions worth 5 points total... Do we get points for creative writing skills?
Boo-ing our Prices & Markets and Uncertainty, Data & Judgment professors when they walked by us after their exam. Noticing their "I screwed them good" glow.
Filling my exams with nonsensical equations. Or were they?

Off to Taipei tomorrow morning. No guilty feelings for failing to prepare classes because I'm done done done.

Ras Le Bol

2006-10-21T17:18:00.000+08:00

I'm trying to study for my corporate finance final, and realize the depressing extent of my ignorance. I had just gotten over bonds (got that one), and now I'm being thrown problems of risk measures, WACC, and stock prices. Not only do all the formula sheets utterly confuse me by using similar notations for different concepts, but I couldn't care less about hedging and everything else financiers do. Really, I'm not a lady of the numbers and finance.

The minute of cyberspace venting is over.

Porn, Trendsetting Industry

2006-10-18T21:43:00.000+08:00

Well according to our microeconomics professor who repeatedly attributed the onset of new technologies (VHS tapes, Internet) to porn. "Porn is always at the cutting edge of technology. Don't under-estimate the porn industry."

Scoping even larger, he claimed the 14th century "Canterbury Tales" - considered pornographic at the time - tipped Great Britain into learning and speaking English vs. French.

In his honor, a few students replaced their name plates today by "Porn is King" and "Porn Star" names (we created subject relevant name tags for the last day of class).

Who said business school is boring?

I May Be In The Tropics, But The Fun & Games End There

2006-10-15T22:35:00.000+08:00

GGGRRRRRRRRR, I can't believe final exams are in a week already. I looked at past exams and they're a lot more difficult than the quizes we've had to date. I spent the weekend pondering over hypethesis testing and regression modelling problems, and that's just one of my five topics.

Coincidentally, while I should be studying (and I do), I also should be training for my 10K race in December. This week I accomplished my 5 runs, including a "long" 6 kilometers run today. My body feels great, and now I'm ready to make it an early night. I can't imagine pulling all nighters anymore. I believe that with continuous, persistent studying I can pass my classes. Mhmm, yeah... We'll talk about that next week, okay?

Hazy Month

2006-10-15T10:02:00.000+08:00

Instead of paraphrasing other insead bloggers, I'll just link straight to Anonymous student post about the state of haze in Singapore.

American Cravings

2006-10-13T17:58:00.000+08:00

That's right, I'll be getting a taste of the American MBA as part of the Insead Wharton Exchange program. 35 Insead students, including myself, won our bids to study two months at Wharton in March and April. This means I'll be stopping over in New York before moving in my Philadelphia student dorm room. Yeah... student dorm... The main objectives of this exchange are to:

Enhance my employement profile by adding a name that American employers recognize and identify with more easily (than Insead)
Be physically close to prospective employers to network and interview
Experience one of the top US MBA programs
Spend time in my favorite city with my favorite peeps again because Philie is too close to New York not to spend many weekends in Manhattan! (and have a giant burger, oh my god I miss my burgers)

Frog Back In Its Waters

2006-10-10T14:54:00.000+08:00

Just came back from Hong Kong, and oh my god I'm so in love I'm obsessed. The logic...

When you've lived in New York City, Hong Kong fits like a glove. After all, almost half of lower Manhattan was modelled after this Cantonese province recently repossessed by China (albeit Hong Kong kept a lot of decision making power vs. Beijing). Hong Kong and New York City are two chaotic yet utterly sensual cosmopolitan cities:

Urban planning was, for a long time, an afterthought. Now the juxtaposition between the glass skyscrapers and the crummy near collapsing buildings and the back dark alleys between them is enticing. Developers just wait for buildings to collapse to replace them slowly by big glass towers. Old wooden tramways are still in use downtown!

Causeway Bay and The Tramway

Messy city. Hong Kong is not dirty (cops fine you for littering), but because commerce has spurted on every level, finding a store becomes a scavenger hunt. Stores are located on every level of almost every building, and they're advertised by giant billboards. But similar to Times Square, it's difficult to take in all these colorful signals (nevermind the Cantonese). There are also throngs of people roaming through the streets during peak shopping hours.

Sign in the subway in Kowloon Island, and Shopping district in Hong Kong Island

Cool peeps. Laid back, not judgmental, but I'm biased because Fu Min is probably the best ambassador to HK I could meet. Took us on a DJ club crawl while briefing us on Hong Kong (most insights I write about HK, Fu Min taught me). The clubs are great, even members only clubs are pretty chill.

Hong Kong Skyline from Harbour City (all buildings are constructed using bamboo scaffolding)

Now this is why Hong Kong won on many sensory levels over New York:

I discovered how seafood is meant to taste like. Fu Min drove us to a fishing village outside Hong Kong where we picked the freshest fish and shellfish to be cooked right there, to perfection. Did you know crab should taste slightly sweet? More cooking notes for the foodies: Chinese food in HK is delicious and not that fat and greasy. The seafood was basically steamed to perfection with a touch of olive, cilantro, ginger and scallion, et voila!

The seafood restaurant and the live "menu"

Cuttlefish - live in the first photo, and the same fish fried later...

Scallops and Moray Eels

Shrimp and the happy diners, Jean-Francois, Marco, Christine, Me and Fu Min

Hong Kong's landscape is overwhelming and beautiful. I only wish I had taken pictures from our bus ride through the green mountain roads, overlooking to Sea of China bay.

There's a lot more to it, but I don't want to make this post too long for you ADHD patients. Technical notes if you've been to HK or plan on going:

Domestic Airline: Cathay Pactific, and the new Oasis (no frills) airline
Hotels: Lanson Place and Jia are two cool and new boutique hotels right in Causeway Way (great shopping and food)

View from my hotel, the Lanson Place

Transportation: taxis are dirt cheap, otherwise the subway, tramway and buses are very convenient and clean.
Food: Eat Chinese, you'll see quickly it's nothing like the Chinese food we eat in the states. Try seafood, Shanghainese and Dim Sum.
Nightlife: Lan Kwai Fong (don't remember the names of the clubs though except Vulture?)
Shopping: Causeway Bay, Monkok
Sights: Bus to Stanley Market, View from Victoria Peak and the Star Ferry

More info at Visit Hong Kong.

Ready For More Diving

2006-10-02T09:29:00.000+08:00

I'm now officially allowed to scuba dive up to 18 meters deep anywhere as I received my OPEN Water Padi certificate yesterday after completing 4 dives in 24 hours. The conditions were rough: 8 hour trip to Malaysia's Dayang Island by bus and boat; transfer in the middle of the night from the boat to the jetty via an unstable little wood bark; rocky waters; dorm room to share with 20 other students; cold water showers; suspicious outdoor kitchen hygiene.

Despite anti-Club Med conditions, I sucked up my snottiness and showered with cold water, ate the dubious food, preprared my scuba gear, wore the same wet wet suit for each dive, jumped in the water, and discovered the amazing aquatic life eye to eye. The top sights:

- Giant pink jellyfish (1.5 meters)
- Nemo in his anemone
- Juvenile fish cleaning their gills in the anemone
- Blue spotted sting ray
- Moray Eel
- Bumpy Head Parrot Fish (1 meter)

No turtle for me, but other more advanced students did see them. I did however jump from the top of the boat into the water (about 6 meters?), and almost lost my bikini in the process. At least I was in the water!!! The "Open Water" moment came when we floated in very rocky water for 20 minutes, waiting for the boat to pick us up. I never dog paddled so quickly back to the boat!!

On the way back to Singapore we watched Final Destination 3 (worse movie ever, Ben) and all the boys cheered during the scene where the women get topless. B-school boys miss female company.

Dayang Island's luxurious - a-hum - resort

Linsay, Patricia (my Portuguese scuba buddy) and I

Insead students hard at work on the deck of our scuba boat

OPEN Water Padi

2006-09-29T08:02:00.000+08:00

No updates this weekend as I'm off to a Malaysian island to obtain my scuba diving padi certificate. Apparently there are many turtles swimming around so hopefully I'll get to meet one. No sharks, unfortunately.

I Passed!

2006-09-27T15:09:00.000+08:00

I only made one error on the economics quiz, and just made it passed the class mean (yep, everybody else is smart too). Unfortunately, the feel-good vibe won't last long as the final exam is only 4 weeks away, and it will be very difficult to ensure a large performance distribution (and hence higher likelihood that everybody will pass, even with a sucky grade). You guessed it, I'm taking a statistics class.

First Econ Quiz

2006-09-25T16:54:00.000+08:00

Just finished my first economics quiz for which I locked myself in all weekend. It was a little "trickier" than I expected, mostly because the right answer is about the theory behind economics, which differs from the practice, and I prefer thinking of concrete complicated examples. A sign that I did ok is that I spent considerable time thinking carefully about each question, drawing graphics, and making sure the logic was irreprocheable. Second sign is that unlike most of my past test taking experiences, I didn't guess. Ok ok, I guessed one answer. Still, much better than in the past. Keep your fingers crossed.

3 Weeks Of Classes, Already

2006-09-24T21:06:00.000+08:00

5 weeks to go until the break (each period is 8 weeks long). Still totally confused by FMV, but I sorta kinda feel like I'm getting somewhere in my other classes. Perhaps it's an illusion that b-school subjects cannot be that hard. Perhaps I actually try harder at my traditionally "who gives a s***" subjects. Perhaps the professors make me care more because they tie statistics and economics to market research and marketing strategies.

Also a good news, I didn't get "fined" yet by our social reps. The fine applies to all students who show up late, without their name tag (yes, we have giant name tags and prescribed seating for class), with phones that ring in the middle of class, and ask questions during the last 3 minutes of class. Any breach of the rules, the fine is 1 bottle of champagne.

Other random observations. There's a lot of drinking and clubbing in business school! And that's coming from a redeeming New Yorker who spends most her free time studying. So for once, I'm actually the introvert, quiet & studious one who does all her homework and doesn't fall asleep in class. Even my flatmates are taking the MBA as an opportunity to go out 4 nights a week until 4 or 5am, while I'm excited about my new sober lifestyle. Let's see how long I last...

Upcoming is a weekend in Malaysia to take my Open Water Padi, and a weekend in Hong Kong with Christine and some mates from my previous life (northwestern & new york).

Bangkok In Images

2006-09-24T20:39:00.000+08:00

Ok go here for my version of the weekend in Bangkok, prior to all the political drama. I did all the temples and touristy stuff six years ago, so for this trip I focused entirely on spending quality time with Christine. It also commemorated our 10 year friendship! Sadly (or not), we haven't materialized our teenage dreams of hosting tea parties while rubbing our pregnant bellies yet, but we did take our friendship in three separate countries (the US, South Korea and Thailand), so that's pretty cool.

Enough Of Pink

2006-09-21T20:24:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, I learned that the Thai's enjoy a "glass half full" approach to life, even under extreme circumstances like a terminal illness. Everything will be fine is the mantra. Remember that unlike many Asian countries, Thailand never really fought a war. Instead, the formerly known as the Kingdom of Siam forfeited parcels of land against peace. This passive pacifism is obvious from the prevalence of Buddhism as the preferred religion and fairly low levels of violence.

But nowadays, it appears that at least some Thai's see no choice but to act and illicit some conflict. From the Muslim attacks last week, to the coup led by General Sondhi and supported by the King earlier this week.

And guess what the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's reaction was? "Nevermind, I can still keep in touch with my family. Everyone is fine." (quoted in the WSJ)

It Wasn't Me!

2006-09-21T11:08:00.000+08:00

After returning from Bangkok, this happened...

Reflections

2006-09-13T22:32:00.000+08:00

My last NY moment was 5 weeks ago, so how do I feel?

At the moment, pretty lonely. My emotional life is in New York, and it's difficult to connect meaningfully over the phone or the internet. This said, I wouldn't survive without speaking to you guys so let's keep the dialogue!
FMV (financial market valuation) makes me feel even crummier. I'm not alone in my confusion around time value of money and bond bootstrapping exercises (nope, nothing kinky here, just equations), but I do get discouraged and just want to play ostrich. Fortunately (or not), my team is organizing a full review session tomorrow.
Encouragingly, I did improve my business skills a lot working at Ogilvy. I understand the concepts, but inevitabley get thrown off by the maths. I'm hoping that with practice, I'll suck a little less. Show no fear!
I actually ask/ answer questions/ make comments during all my classes, except FMV.
In retrospect, advertising was a very good match for a "creative/ words/ concepts" person like me. Cross off: Management Consulting, American Express, Banking/ i-banking, all desk & Excel jobs.
I MISS NEW YORK! Plus, since I need to maximize my chances of getting a good job (= make more moolah than Mario darling just because), I may spend 8 weeks at Wharton in the spring.

I'm spending the weekend in Bangkok with my dear friend Christine who had already received me in Seoul, South Korea. The program? Good food, Thai massage, pedi/ mani, and cocktails with the so-hi (high society). Can't wait!!!

Fashion Show

2006-09-11T23:22:00.000+08:00

Trina, a friend from my young Northwestern days, invited me for a night out on the town last Friday night. We began with a delicious Chinese dinner at Laos Beijing in Plaza Singapora. The best dishes were the spicy beef noodles - particularly the rich broth, the spinach beancurd, and the stir fried venison. Afterwards, we headed to the national museum which is closed for renovations. However, for this night only the museum was open for an invitation-only Calvin Klein fashion show. It's 90 degree weather every day here, but the show only displayed knits, woolens and furs in gray, kaki and black colors. The 14 year old emaciated, non smiling models didn't help to enliven the catwalk. The same models were seen fighting over the last cigarette in their packs.. I definitively do not miss my teens in retrospect!!

Despite a boring defilé, Trina and I entertained ourselves with the open bar, and we ran into Selima, from Dick's birthday, and Felipe, from the Jumbo dinner. Additionally, the MTV camera filmed us sipping our glass of red wine and gossiping... unbeknown to us! A-hem...

Team Bonding

2006-09-09T12:28:00.000+08:00

Better llate than never, a quick overview of one of welcome week's activities last week. We spent a full very rainy day on a little island off the coast of Singapore with Outward Bound - an international leadership and team building training business. I came back that night with a very dirty butt from being the first to climb onto the dirty and wet wooden logs outside. Not a pretty sight! I'll spare you the nerdy details of "lessons learned from the activities." Pretty blah implications (communication, communication, communication).

Activity #3: Jumping 10 times in a continuous pattern. The girls practice, but really it was the boys who had the hardest time.

Final Activity: climbing on a net, then a vertical log, followed by a series of z shaped wooden logs onto the top.

I can do it!.... See the big butt in the air, yeah.......Finally reached the top. Then it was my turn to help my fellow teammate, holding the rope tight.

Singlish

2006-09-09T09:25:00.000+08:00

You can, you cannot learn more about Singlish (Singaporian English) here laaaa. Meanwhile, two snapshots of Singapore Quirks.

Trying the Mitsubishi hand dryer at Plaza Singaporia Mall

A Hamburger with rice buns? Less calories?

Heard in Class Today

2006-09-05T21:05:00.000+08:00

"Insead women are not normal women." Leading People & Groups professor Thomas Manarelli

"I've learned over the years that a happy wife makes a happy life." Bill Amelio, CEO of Lenovo, who gave a special lecture

I'm An ENFJ, What Are You?

2006-09-04T21:36:00.000+08:00

Just took the Myers Briggs Personality Questionnaire, and I'm an ENFJ. In English, it means I'm an envisioned mentor. No surprise, my highest score is in the "extrovert" characteristic.

"ENFJs are energetic, enthusiastic, and very aware of others. Their genuine interest can usually draw out and involve even the most reserved person. They listen to and support others, but also have a very definite values and opinions of their own, which they will express clearly. ENFJs are energized by people and are socially adept; however, they also have a strong need for authentic, intimate relationships. "

If He Wasn't Already Manly Enough, Mario Turns 30

2006-09-04T20:58:00.000+08:00

Happy 30th Birthday Mario!! So, how does it feel to switch to a new decade? Can you still relate to us youngsterst in our twenties? Based on prior segmentation studies, you and I should still match because we have approximately the same number of years of professional experience, and are still unmarried and childless (assuming neither of us counts as a child). This also makes us an ideal target for marketers of luxury goods, sports cars, and other selfish man/ women's goods. Good times!!

Back To School (for real this time)

2006-09-03T12:50:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow is officially the first day of classes. Classes typically begin at 8:30am, and can end as late at 7pm. For each class, students must prepare cases, exercises, and pre-readings. In addition, companies hold recruiting events every other day, add social events organized by the student committee and you may not hear from me so often. For the next eight weeks, I'll be studying the following subjects:

Financial Accounting
Prices & Markets
Leading People and Groups
Uncertainty, Data & Judgment
Financial Markets & Valuation

We've all been assigned study groups - 5 students per group. We'll be sitting in the same seat in the same auditorium next to the same people until Christmas (with large name tags in front of us so the professors can cold call on us). Luckily, our study group gets along. Besides me, there's a French engineer who grew up in Africa, an Indian McKinsey consultant who specialized in analytics, a Greek-Canadian female engineer, and a Japanese lawyer. Some groups have no women due to the low percentage of women in our promo.

The professors who lectured to us as part of our welcome week on Asian trends, management and business ethics (fantastic case on the "talking blanket"), all know me since I'm a kid and we could definitively sense the sad passage of time. I still cannot believe I'm "that" old, and they're still teaching!

What about the parties? Well, let's say that we kicked the parties off Monday night, and then again Friday night at Ministry of Sound. Some students go out late every night, but I'm more selective. Despite sleeping only 2 hours on Friday I made it to my 8:30am class and participated in the case discussion of the now defunct Sabena airline... until 5:30pm!!! Some students stayed home, others left in the middle of the day for a long nap.

Now I'm off to read some of the pre-class material - outside by the pool : )

Friday Night At The Sea Center

2006-08-27T11:58:00.000+08:00

We celebrated the end of the business foundations program with a spirited dinner at the Jumbo sea center restaurant, right on the coast. Amit ordered the famous cereal prawns, and the pepper and chili crabs. All washed down with Jacob's Creek Chardonnay.

A view of the feast: lots of crabs, Jacob's Creek, and a collection of cell phones.

Amit tutors Iddo on how to properly crack a crab.

Our merry group, from left to right:
Marc, French Canadian lawyer; Maria, Spanish Bain consultant; Patricia, Portuguese physicist who works in i-banking; Amit, Indian marketer for DHL; Me; Inbal, Israeli lawyer; Philip, Portuguese hotel manager; Iddo, Israeli helicopter pilot and biotech engineer.

I Want To Hear From You Too!!

2006-08-25T19:53:00.000+08:00

I apologize for the setting error. Now if you have a thought, or just want to send kisses, the comments are open to all - registered and non registered users.

The Transformation Begins

2006-08-24T20:22:00.000+08:00

I started my MBA education with a five days preparatory course in Financial Accounting, Finance, and Quantitative Methods last Monday. The ratio male to female in the prep course is 2 to 1, which is not representative of the 4 to 1 of the actual class. Obviously, a lot more women felt the need to ramp up their business skills compared to men (half of all women in our class), and most participants in the prep course are big time nerds. It got me and a few others worried, until we started meeting the students who decided to go and travel rather than sit through lectures and homework sessions from 8am to 8pm. Sadly, I belong to the nerd group. See the picture below of my homework group proudly holding our first homework.

So clearly, I didn’t even know of the term financial accounting until this week, but I came to enjoy it periodically thanks to analogies drawn by Professor Jake Cohen:

“In financial accounting, I like yummy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That’s when my peanut butter is covered by an even layer of jam (the matching principle). All my revenues need to be matched with costs. If it’s just revenues, my sandwich is not yummy.”

So I’ve applied myself to preparing yummy sandwiches and writing financial statements.

In quantitative methods, Professor Ilia Tsetlin helped me memorize the value of e (=2,718281828) because 1828 is Tolstoy’s birthday. Then he showed us cool tricks for building mathematical models from scattered data (linearize your function). That was the answer to the Mercer Consulting case that got me puzzled senior year undergraduate (and cost me making it to round 2).

Lastly, finance is taught by an invisible professor because she’s so tiny, she nearly disappears when standing sideways. In this class I’ve learned about calculating the time value of money via compounding and discounting operations, figuring out if projects are a go or no go based on the future value of the project to the company, etc… Well, at least I’m getting used to the big finance jargon.

Tonight we’re getting a well deserved rest (well, we were still doing homework until 7pm). We’re celebrating four birthdays with a BBQ in the gardens.

Singapore Pop Star Birthday Party

2006-08-23T23:40:00.000+08:00

No laughs, please. On Saturday I joined a throng of family and friends to celebrate Singapore pop start Dick Lee's 50th birthday. The dressing code was white with gold and/ or silver. Champagne cocktails and the show took place in the Old Parliament, and the party at the lounge next door called Q Bar. Despite knowing virtually nobody outside Hawking and Billy (the latter left for three hours to attend another party), I stayed entertained from 9 to 4am! Singapore is a small world so I met business school students from U of C, Stanford, Insead Alums, the chief executive of Diagio Asia Pacific (the drinks giant), the head of a modeling agency, headhunters, enterpreneurs, other local pop stars, and more and more. Not to mention, the party was very gay (Dick dates my friend), so I felt right at home (once a fag hag, always a fag hag right Ben?).

Complete photo and video coverage of the event here.

Sarah, Dick and Billy; Dick blowing his birthday cake.

Leann, Billy, Sarah

Leann and Dick's brother (also gay); Wai Lin and "Garbage Chef"

Numbers and Food

2006-08-21T16:18:00.000+08:00

Singapore prices come close to New York’s for any Western style service. A manicure costs S$22 sing (= US$13), Italian dinner in a fancy restaurant S$90 (=US$57), rent in a skyscraper S$1,000 a person (=US$635). The advantage is that there are no tips here, and there are many other services that are very affordable for a student budget like mine.

Average meal at one of the food markets with drink (you find them everywhere, especially at the bottom of condominiums) = S$5 (=US$3)
Dry Clean = S$5 (=US$3)
20 minutes cab ride = S$10 (=US$6)
Meal at one of the top chain restaurants = S$25 (=$15)

Below are some of the meals I’ve had. Unfortunately the fanciest meals where in restaurants where I felt awkward snapping photos so I haven’t documented them yet.

First day, typical Singaporean breakfast of Nasi Lemak, which is a Malay dish of coconut rice with fried eggs, fried bait, and chili paste in a banana leave. I had a fried chicken wing too.

The second day I ate at the Holland Village Food Center, which is a covered market with little food booths everywhere. You order at the food stand of your choice, pay, order a beverage, pay, and sit at a table where the food will be served. Once you’re done you just leave and someone will clean after you. Oftentimes you can spot an older Chinese man spitting the food on the table during his meal. It’s not rude but an old school custom, which still frightens me a bit in case people miss the table and hit you… I ordered a delicious sugar cane and lemon juice which was pressed directly out of the sugar cane, perfect to soothe the heat from my coconut curry dish called Laksa. It’s rice noodles in coconut curry gravy with shrimp, egg, and cockles.

The third day I craved eating sushi off a conveyor belt, so my flatmates and I dined at Sushi Tei in Holland Village. The food tasted ok. The only novelty was the conveyor belt, otherwise the sushi were average.

From left to right: Michelle, Fei, my two flatmates, and I

Last night I ate at the latest luxurious residential area by my apartment called Rochester Park at the Italian restaurant Da Paolo. The food was sumptuous, and I had my first glass of wine since I got there. Excellent blend of Tocai and Sauvignon Blanc from Italy. Audrey and Bobby and Billy and I

Lastly, this morning I sampled another popular Singaporean breakfast at the popular chain Ya Kun Kaya Toast. It’s soft boiled eggs, with Kopi (coffee with sweetened cream), and Kaya Toasts. Kaya toasts are filled with sweet coconut and egg jam, and a large slab of butter. Yum!

TGIF

2006-08-18T17:17:00.000+08:00

I have so many small observations about life in Singapore, it's difficult to articulate them into a story. But I'm doing well. I've been very lucky that my Singaporean friends from Northwestern and New York welcomed me into their country with open arms (well, Chinese culture frowns upon any PDA, but I got away with one hug since I left New York).

Hawking drove me to Ikea to get the essentials for my apartment, like towels, bed sheets, and beer of course! He also lent me a cell phone that we put into operation via a pre-paid SIM card. Later we ate dinner at his house with his boyfriend Dick, who is a regional pop music star.

Yesterday I ate lunch with Bobby from NY and his brother Billy who graduated with me at NU. They seem to be fairly well known in Singapore (small city after all), so everywhere we walked someone would walk over and exclaim "Mr. Cheng!" I was the little white blond thing standing behind in full out tourist attire (tank top with shorts, camera). Singaporeans are very formal so a "casual" attire consists of a shirt/ branded polo, slacks and prada or other brand name sneakers. For now, I'll assume that I'm being excused and being French sparse me from the fashion police.

Tomorrow we're all celebrating Dick's birthday with a concert at the Parliament during which Dick will perform, followed by supper and dancing. The dressing code is formal (government official attire, or aristocracy), and fortunately I've brought one of my undergraduate gown so I'll probably go as Princess Sarah, unless you think of something more original.

I'll let you know how successful my foray into the Singaporean society comes along. I definitively miss my chatty and energetic New York posse!

Student Home

2006-08-17T12:28:00.000+08:00

The irony is, as a professional I've never come close to living in such a beautiful apartment. Then people wonder why I would want to move to Asia for longer... (no worries, I won't, but it's tempting).

My bedroom, with a view of one of the pools, another condo, and the S'pore outer city.

My living room, dining room and kitchen

A Dumpling A Day

2006-08-16T10:26:00.000+08:00

Singapore (which means the Lion City in Malay) just turned 41 August 9 (before that, Singapore was governed by the Brits, Japan, and the Brits again). Singaporeans shine with national pride. Country flags hang from every other balcony of the condos across my building, national slogans encouraging a united, healthy and hard working national spirit cover the city. The one and only political party keeps an iron hand on Singaporean society, economics and politics. In fact, government dissidents are easily brought down so you’ll hear few negative discourses against the country here.

Quite frankly, from what I experience the government appears to have done a damn good job developing an Asian city with all the perks of urban life (great food, culture, shopping), devoid of pollution, crime and garbage. Can you imagine walking on the streets of Manhattan smelling the sweet scent of orchids and not worrying about stepping on gum or garbage? Or being able to pay most of your credit card and city bills from the corner ATM and your mobile phone? Ok, it’s a dictatorship where your voting is not anonymous and the government has the power to drive a man/ family/ business down, but for the first time I can imagine forfeiting my utopian socialist ideals for a more pragmatic approach.

I haven’t yet snapped as many photos as I’d like, but to give you an idea.

First view of Singapore on my way from the airport. I didn't remember the city being so, gray. But it's 7am, the sun hasn't gone up yet.

Arrival at Heritage View, my apartment complex. I'm in Tower A, on the seventeenth floor.

First breakfast that I scavenged following people who worked in my building into a tiny food court in the condominium across the street. I ordered based on the pictures of the food, and it was satisfying: rice, fried bait, fried chicken, and fried egg. The coffee on the other hand (kopi), is bad (very very sweet).