Alone vs. Lonely

I usually feel alone every now and then. Lately I've been feeling more lonely.

Feeling alone, to me, is a good thing. Time to look inside and see what is going on. Evaluate what's going on. Ask yourself questions. Wonder about the world. Care about the people you love. Think about life. Or just relax. It depends on the current mood. I control the moment. That's alone.

When the moment controls me, that's lonely. And I suddenly feel lonely. Last night and today.

This picture was taken in Limerick, Ireland. It is a tiny piece of sculpture stuck on the outside wall of the museum. If I hadn't looked out the window (due to bad ventilation - I needed some fresh air), I wouldn't have found him.

He. is. alone. Or so I think.


 

Peaking... when!?

Interesting article thanks to the dirty canuck... I wonder if the same applies to businesses that require creativity.

Signs

Anyone seen the movie Signs, starring Mel Gibson and director M. Night Shyamalan (and the always under-appreciated Jaoquin Phoenix)? There are signs around me these days as July 23rd rolls around.

I dream a dream... I can't remember the details, but at some point I was hanging off some barb wire on some building. On the other end was Alan. I wasn't strong enough to hold on to him. I wasn't upset when I woke up or anything. It was a bit weird though.

Friday night went to Chris Poon and Vivian Tsang's wedding. After the wedding, I went to a club to meet up with some friends. There I met Francis, one of Alan's best friends at CMU. He told me he got kicked out of school and is now studying to finish his degree elsewhere. And he commented that Alan would have probably been kicked out too. =)

Saturday, I went to play ball with friends. It's more like helping my friend set up a basketball tournament business. Not sure if it's going to work. The logo certainly doesn't (don't ask, I don't know). But the business has potential. Anyway, at the court were a couple of Alan's classmate, one of them who used to be pretty good friends with Alan.

Signs. They are everywhere when you look for them. And they are nowhere when you are not. And they are everywhere when you try to avoid them.

More bathroom

Don't worry, Huckle Cat, this isn't another I poop you poop entry... but still pretty entertaining.

So, I was having dinner with my friend V at this Mexican restaurant in Central. Tacoloco was the ultra creative name. Food was pretty good - I had a Chili Verde Chicken buritto. The fresh lime juice was good until the last two sips - too much sugar left in the bottom.

Anyway, the key is the bathroom. V was answering a phone call, so I took the opportunity to use the bathroom. Typical small toilet door in Hong Kong. But this one was different. It didn't open all the way, cus the washing basin was in its way. Me being larger than most Hong Kong men, I had to slip into the bathroom sideways. Then the difficulty begins... I need to turn the other way sidways so I can close the door behind me. And so I did. The next thing I can't even put in words... but I will:

I fit myself into the... um... corner. There was no space really. My shoulders barely squeezed by the walls on both sides, I hit the washing basin on my back. By tilting a bit, I avoided the walls on both sides and was able to take good aim. Getting out of the bathroom was everything in reverse... turning the other way to slip through the door. What an experience.

TMI? I think not.

Good and Movie

Woohoo, a review!

Kiku (贺菊) in Landmark. Very good Japanese sushi place. We (Kaleen and I) had toro sushi so good that we thought it was beef tartar sushi. Also had thin sliced beef: the US imported beef was half the price of the Japanese import. It was pretty good, which made me quite intrigue at the difference between the two products given the price gap! Would recommend to go back there for Japanese food.

Apparently, we were sitting beside the richest family in Macau. I had no idea who they were, except that they were quite rude and classless. Thankfully, Kaleen recognized their faces.

Food in Hong Kong is awesome. We paid a price for the nice meal... but my lunch was a $1.5 noodle (沾仔记) that was also very good! I'm going to be a sad man when I go back to Chicago.

Saw Superman Returns after the meal. TGF says it's 行货. Boring. Don't go see it.

And another week gone by

I'm trying to comapre whether the GSB went by faster or the summer internship went by faster. I'm leaning towards to internship right now. I've been really busy and always find myself behind on personal (read: conference) stuff.

Blogging while working is not nearly as interesting. Nonetheless:

The keyboard situation is really frustrating. I use the standard Lenovo laptop at work. I use a Dell at home. At work, the F1 button is below the ESC button; At home, they are next to each other. This is VERY annoying because I keep accidentally hit the F1 (Help menu) button while at work. At home, Ctrl is right below the Shift button; at work, the Fn button is below the Shift and Ctrl is beside that. All the Ctrl+C/V/etc is delayed at work as I struggle to hit the right button. Ah, all those little things. With any luck (and PC), I will purchase a new computer to replace my 3 year old Dell soon.

I'll be having my midterm review soon. To be honest, I've been trying to gauge how I am doing and I really have no idea. The biggest question is that I don't know what the expectation for the summer intern is. Do they expect us to contribute like a new or fairly new consultant would? Or are they doing a personality and basic ability test? I don't know, so I can measure myself. Will seek help next week by talking to other consultants in the office.

I went to karaoke with my colleagues last night. All the way till 4am. I'm not 21 anymore, I know, I know... but hey, it was still fun!

You poop, I poop.

How weird is it that I bump into the same person in the bathroom 4 times in a day!?!? I finish my business and he walks in while I'm washing my hands. That happened 3 times. The forth was as I walked out of the stall... he enteres the adjacent stall!

We have the same peeing and pooping schedule, which is quite amazing...!

Anyway, it's quite busy at work. My case is about to end this week (yes, I've been here for about 3 weeks), and we'll see if it rolls - consultant jargon for continuing a case.

But I had to mention the poop schedule.

How to fix the world cup...

Actually, here's why I like watching the world cup more than any other sporting event.

1. Flow. Any sports game is most fun to watch when there is flow. One team attacks, attacks, attacks, looses the ball, back on defense, defense, defense. No annoying TV time outs, no instant replays, no TV ads in between CRUCIAL moments in the game... just a game that is free flowing according to the players. I love it that way. Why can't the NBA be like that? We shouldn't have to go through 15 minutes of ads for 1 minute of playing time, watching teams shoot free throws after free throws.

2. Passion. I'm watching the games in Hong Kong, where groups of strangers congregate in empty shopping malls (it is, after all, 3 am in the morning when the games start) and cheer for their respective teams. Nuff said.

3. Worldly. Of course the Red Sox can claim themselves as World Champions when teams from only one country (okay, we'll count Canada as a second one) can compete. Makes perfect sense. Hong Kong has no respectable football team; but that doesn't stop us from liking the sport. Aside from America, the sport is loved by all.

4. Simple. Goal in net. That's all. Otherwise, the most complicated rule is offsides, which I learned when I was 6 watching a Japanese comic.

Anyway... it hurts to see the 2006 World Cup be marred by inconsistent refereeing, boring PK shootouts (still nerve wrecking though), and constant diving. Here's how I would fix them... actually, just the last two points. I can't fix refs.

Diving: everytime a player goes down, the player has to be moved to the sidelines and then wait for 2 minutes (I'd prefer 5). Sort of like a penalty box for the injured. If you are truly injured, 2 minutes is good for recovery. If not, you stand there and wait. This should eliminate some diving. Other new rules I would consider:
a. you can only roll over 3 times (if you've witnessed Argentine players roll over 8 times after they are tackled, you'll know what I mean)
b. no holding your face and smiling under your hands (Italian specialty)
c. no stretcher - players have to carry their sweaty teammates out themselves.

As for PK shootouts, here's why it needs to be eliminated. Generally in sports, you want the best team to win. In PK, it's a coin flip (unless it's the English squad...). I want to know which team is the best team, not which won the coin flip. How to fix it? I don't know. Keep adding to OT while allowing one extra substtution? Make them play only seven players with free substitutions?

Alright. I'm officially intrigued now... but, before I go, I just want to point out that a pair of Chinese ladies have captured their second grand slam title (Australia and Wimbledon). It barely held any weight in even the Hong Kong news as World Cup craziness was on the same night. A big big step for Chinese tennis.

Boring entry...?

I'm sure you've heard about the Pepsi Coke secret debacle. Here's one look at it from the economists' (read: U of Chicago) point of view. Couldn't agree more.

Anyway, a little recap of my week. It’s been relatively busy at work, mostly because I’m trying to catch up to my team rather than piles of work or real urgency. Anyway, I made my first presentation to the client on Friday. It went smooth, though there were a few points I could improve on. I did feel like I was auditing for my own job… and that feeling was scary.

It’s hard to balance life between work and family. Given that I live right next to my office, it doesn’t make sense to go back to my parents and have dinner there. Also, my times are so unpredictable that I feel bad asking people to wait for me for dinner when I might eventually have to say no, sorry, I can’t come. It’s happened twice already. Hopefully I can settle into a rhythm (love this word for hangman) next week.

I haven’t had time to reply to all the emails I’ve been getting. Not that there’s a lot, but some of my HK friends are asking for me. I haven’t been real diligent in keeping them updated. Truth is, by the time I get back from work, I need to attend to some personal matters and no longer have enough time or energy to reply emails.

I promise I will change this next week and for the rest of the summer.

Last night, went to LKF with an old friend of mine. We had to line up for a club and the bouncer wouldn’t let us in because we had more than what was indicated on the guest list. This really reminds me of my old Boston clubbing days. Fed up, I went to get a cold beer at an adjacent bar. And then another (I was told that we can enter the club once “someone arrives”)… I had a good conversation with my old friend, putting life in a bit of perspective. I swear, this clubbing scene is not for me anymore. Most of the patrons of the aforementioned club are boys and girls in their late teens or early twenties. They flash their parents’ cash at all directions, speak in perfect American English and wear really tight shirts. Ugh.

I went home at 2:30am.

Picture from Ireland... and more

This is an interesting look at India. Amazing stuff.

Picture from Ireland... this is Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. I have yet to update my website on my trip though. Life is quite busy...!














World Cup Baby! 

PC...

Pay Check, mind you, not politically correct.

So what did I do with my first pay check in one year? Use it all on one item! Oh yes, you heard me. I bought my dad his TV just in time for world cup finals. Cost me a bit more than my first PC! haha! Well, not quite, since there's interest free monthly payments. Feels good to spend money on big ticket items though, even though it wasn't for myself. Compared to its predecessor, the 50-inch baby is almost twice as big and infinitely better. It'll be serving dad this weekend. And hopefully me too. hehe.

Can't wait till my second PC!

Pictures from my new apt in HK...

 

This feels like...

My second day in Hong Kong...

7:30 - I'm up due to jet lag... at least they are playing some good plays from the world cup
8:00 - complimentary breakfast at corporate apartments
8:50 - leave apartment
9:00 - arrive at Bain office and start filling in forms for corporate card
9:15 - powerpoint training starts
9:16 - wow, this is mind blowing... and to put this into a little bit of context, the CEO at my former employer used to ask me to man the laptop when it was in the final edit phase. I was quick and I was accurate with powerpoint, rarely using the mouse and always knowing all the shortcuts. And this training at Bain is completely blowing my mind.
9:25 - I'm still being amazed!
11:00 - Excel training now... haha, now it's my domain. I went out to do something more useful, such as setting up my voice mail and getting my cell phone set up
12:30 - Lunch on Bain. DIM SUM, finally!
1:30 - More training...
3:00 - Manager explains all the potential projects, ending with "I can't tell you what you are working on until tomorrow because I am really busy and I can't meet with you one on one"
3:10 - I start looking at prior cases just in case...
5:00 - Time to go home!! SWEET!!
7:00 - Arrive at parent's to have dinner
7:30 - Reading my family tree... which my dad retrieved from some temple up in China. I'm the 25th generation. Every step of me was retraced! The first Lam was a provincial official sent to 福建 (FuJian) in 宋朝 (Song Dynasty) in about 960 to 1279 AD.
10:30 - Leave home to go home... so weird, yet so normal
11:00 - World Cup!

And... this feels like home.

Off to Hong Kong

Bain's training ended with a blast yesterday. How much did I learn from 2 days of training... a lot, perhaps, but I don't think what I learned will stick around. One thing I did learn that will last: Bainies are a great bunch to be around. It's sort of like the start of business school, when I meet amazing people after amazing people... only this time they are all nice. Bain seemed to have filtered out all the nice people. How do you even do that!?

Anyway, it's 4 in the morning right now, and with a bit of nervousness and excitement, I'm off to Hong Kong. It'll be about 20 hours of travel and I will arrive in HK at about Sunday 10pm, 10 hours before I have to be at the office. Yes, Bain is already testing whether I can withstand cross-pacific travel.

With my name tag saying Eric Lam, Hong Kong, U of Chicago, fellow Bainies are invariably interested on whether I intend to stay in Hong Kong. Not so fast, I say, let's see how that fulltime offer comes along. All kidding aside, I did start to wonder what I am trying to accomplish this summer. The answer I finally got was surprisingly profound. True, Bain seems like a great opportunity and I will evaluate it as much as it evaluates me... but even more true is this: I'm trying to figure out WHERE IS HOME.

Let me just repeat that for emphasis: where is home. I had said that without much thinking at a bar event. And it has struck me and stuck with me. While most people are trying to find out whether they are made for consulting, I'm trying to evaluate my life. Where is home for you? I bet most people have one or two solid answers. Me? Not quite. Hong Kong? Haven't lived there for 11 years. Boston? Fun for undergraduate, fun for working... but the complacency I feel there always kills me. Chicago? No yellow food. West Coast? Sounds good, but I've never lived there. America? China? I mean, I just realized at a bar that the summer is a HUGE process for me. Who does this kind of thing at a bar? Well, me.

And with that, I'm off to Hong Kong for my Bain summer internship, trying to find out if consulting is right, if Bain is right, if family is right, and... if Hong Kong is right for my life.

Starting... finally!

Today, I will start at Bain in Boston... that's where their training is. I'll be flying back to Hong Kong on the weekend and report to the office Monday first thing in the morning. Exciting indeed.

Bain Hong Kong. My top choice firm, my top choice location. I wonder to myself why I got so lucky in the process... and I do actually have an answer for you. It has something to do with the dollar bill showing the twin towers on fire, or that 9+1+1 = something related to the flight numbers.

Bain's Address? 233 S Wacker
My Address? 233 E Wacker

Bain's floor? 44
My floor? 44

Bain's fleece jacket? Landsend, bright red, black zipper
My fleece jacket? Landsend, bright red, black zipper

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... and so I start. Finally.

By the way... I watched a bunch of movies on the plane:

King Kong: one benefit of seeing movies on the plan is that they are "edited to suit viewers on the plane" (or something like that). That means two things: no swearing and shorter. So glad I saw the short version of Kong. Boring. I can't believe someone paid $10 to sit in a theater for this crap.

Wimbledon: Laugh all you want... here's my defense... I literally watched it on someone else's screen when I was watching Kong myself. I still don't like Kristen Dunst. Nobody can convince me otherwise.

Firewall: what a dumb movie. Harrison... your time is up. I hope they make Star Wars: Han Solo's Greatest Moments.

Forth movie: I can't remember it... which means I should and then tell you so you don't see it.

Nostalgic in Boston

Arrived in Boston Sunday afternoon. Since touchdown, it's been pretty nostalgic... starting with me remembering how much I hated the "T".

Sunday night was dinner at Shanghai Gate... I MISS YELLOW FOOD!

Monday morning, I was reminded again how much I hate the "T"... the crowd on the "T" wasn't crazy or anything, but there were certain points that I was looking for an escape route.

I spent some time back at Analysis Group. Actually, I spent the whole afternoon there. Lunch was, predictably, at the food court. I continued to boycott (Melman will be proud) the Indian place for their complicated pricing. I settled on rotisserie chicken. The lunchroom had the World Cup games on. Sweet.

I made my rounds at AG, talking to most people rather than just a simple hi. I didn't realize how much I missed people at AG. Just a wonderful bunch to be around at any time. We talked about my year at Chicago (AG just opened an office there), my summer plans, how the company is doing, how some analysts are heading to different MBA schools, how some are preparing for GMATs... very nostalgic. I left at 7pm!

Dinner at OSushi... not even close to Oiishi... but... I MISS YELLOW FOOD!

Back from Ireland

A whirlwind crazy week. After finishing my exams on Thursday night, I packed a suitcase to Hong Kong, packed a suitcase for London/Ireland, and then cleaned up my apartment for the summer sublet. On Friday, I was off to London. Due to time difference, I arrived in London 6am and took a cab to make the 11am graduation ceremonies for my little brother. He's graduating from high school. Anyway, later Saturday afternoon, we were off to Dublin.

A week in Ireland. Dublin and The Burren. Per usual, my website will have more details once I develop my pictures (in Hong Kong, of course, I can't stand the US standards and prices for developing pictures) and organize my travel journal.

Flew back to London on Friday, had birthday dinner with my family and some old friends from Hong Kong. Saturday morning I was off to Chicago. Had to make some last minute housing arrangements. Get my suitcase from my apartment where the sublet has already started. Move everything to the emergency housing place. Then off to another dinner with GSB friends (thanks for dinner, guys!) on Saturday night. Sunday, today that is, I woke up and left for Boston. Bruce is hosting me here.

I'll post something better when time allows.

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My reaction after the German's 4th goal... amazing shot. The keeper had absolutely no chance. What an entertaining first game. Too bad Americans don't give a crap. Some quick comments before I head off to London:

Mavs vs. Heat is a fun series. I hope the Mavs win... only because I want to see David Stearn and Mark Cuban shake hands at the podium.

If Germany keeps playing like this, they will have a hard time advancing in the elimination rounds. Great pressure defense in the midfield, very suspect in the backfield, which gives opposing teams many chances. Give it to Costa Rica might be okay, but how many can you give to elite teams?

I love watching football. So much better than watching American sports because of the flow and lack of timeouts.

Commentators are AWFUL. I miss 阿叔。 No color commentating. It's obvious that these guys don't really know what they are doing. For example, a defender who didn't have a chance to get possession in a forward pass slides over and kicks the ball out of bounds. Standard play. Commentator: WHAT A PLAY BY XYZ! He had NO chance at the ball and DID THE RIGHT THING! Uh... that's pretty standard, my friend. Since I'll be in Europe, I expect much more... especially the Irish commentator.

Have a great summer, readers! I'm off to London, Ireland, and Hong Kong.

$65000... well spent on a GSB MBA!?

Short Answer: Oh, Yes!




















I thought this would a fitting picture for the conclusion of the school year:

1. Top left, Drinking Cum in Your Eye Shot in Belize - ah, life before MBA. I kept thinking to myself (and no doubt my fellow first year colleagues were thinking the same) that this MBA thing is going to be awesome. Drink, drink, drink, and the drink some more! And when I'm not drinking, I'm on the beach or on a sail boat! Sweet! I also met some of my (future) best friends on this trip.

2. Top middle, LOE - all I remember clearly from LOE is that we had to be at HPC at 6am to catch the damn bus to Wisconsin. That and Karaoke night and a lot of partying. Good times.

3. Top right, Chicago Marathon - this was in the start of the Fall quarter already. AG friends came to run the marathon and I showed up to cheer. Things are speeding up already. Although I came into business school knowing what I wanted to do for the summer, I was still learning a lot about the consulting field. This was also a few days after the Red Sox were eliminated by the White Sox.

4. Middle left, Golden Gargoyles - yes, we're at the end of the Fall quarter already. GG is a LEAD event that completely exceeded all my expectations. When someone asks me "who are you wearing," you bet it was a fun night. Got my mind off some serious workloads.

5. Middle middle, St Patty's Day at Howl at the Moon - alright, time flies. We passed exams in the Fall quarter, Beijing Trek where I met many companies to affirm my interest in Asia, a nice week in Hong Kong to visit friends and family, and recruiting season, a.k.a. the unnecessarily stressful period in business school that is a necessary evil. As you can see, my facial hair is that of one who is done with recruiting. Was a good night!

6. Middle right, Grand Canyon - Spring Break! The picture was at Grand Canton... uh... Grand Canyon. But the key was Vegas, which of course I am not free to discuss. But of course there are things I can talk about...

7. Low left, Greater China Conference - You can see the gradual loss of facial hair. The spring quarter is hard to predict. With only three classes, I still find myself busy with student group work. I didn't work on the Greater China Conference, but I'm working for another one. And I can only imagine how much work they have put into this.

8. Low middle, Michigan - always fun to be totally irresponsible and leave for a weekend. It's a pity that the second years didn't start doing this at an earlier time. I feel like I'm missing out on the opportunity to really know some of these fine folks. On the bright side, the school year is almost over and I was eagerly waiting for the summer internship to begin.

9. Low right, and ending appropriately with a drinking picture from Belize - I hope my summer is the same!

Now, I realized I didn't talk about any of my classes. Okay, quickly:

Micro, Accounting, and Regression - at least I got them out of the way

Operations - with the right professor, it could be really good, I still learned some new stuff in this class

Marketing - Once again, a good professor is EVERYTHING, I learned while having a lot of fun... also had one of the best study groups

Competitive Strategy - a whole new world to me. A quality introduction to what the MBA is all about. I'm surprised that this is not a core requirement.

Managing the Workplace - classic U of Chicago; even with issues such as HR, classes still place number and data behind everything. Everything has a reason, and that reason will not be something that cannot be quantified.

My spring quarter classes are here.

Okay, I'm tired.

24

"The following takes place between 12AM and 12AM on June 5, 2006"

I just realized that I should have said that before my describing my day...

I don't understand the big deal about 6-6-06... what about 6-9-69? Isn't that a more intriguing date? I understand that you'll need to go through 6-6-60 before you get there, but still... I hate the media. Look, if 6-9-69 doesn't become a big deal when I'm 90 years old, there is no justice. Hmmmmm...

I still haven't seen X-Men 3 and Da Vinci Code. Maybe before my investment exam on Thursday. I even have a meeting scheduled that morning.

I packed a little box and two pieces of luggage last night. I can't imagine those who have to move during exams before heading out for their internships.

I don't get fixed income. Equities and options all make sense; but fixed income doesn't. I was reading the notes on my couch and fell asleep last night.

I need to do a year-end review of the GSB. That will come soon. I'm already excited about it. If you're reading this, try and remind me if I'm missing anything: LEAD, my 10 classes, BSG, CAP, Beijing Trek, Belize, Spring Break... (that's right, I have no life outside of the GSB)

Hmmm... I can't believe how little is on my mind right now! SWEET!

Allow me to help you procrastinate

Here's how my day went, Huckle Cat style:

12:00AM - okay, what am I doing here... studying? TV? Which one?
12:05AM - must study Corporate Governance and Privatization
12:10AM - 1 minute break for ESPN2 poker game
12:20AM - 1 minute break for ESPN2 poker game
12:30AM - 1 minute break for ESPN2 poker game... okay, I'm procrastinating
3:30AM - Finally done with studying
7:00AM - Alarm
7:09AM - Snooze
7:18AM - Snooze
7:27AM - Snooze
7:36AM - Snooze... I'm up
8:15AM - Now I'm up
8:43AM - At school. My last stand against International Comparative Organizations. I should have chose to do the final paper
8:44AM - What's new on CNN...? ESPN...? Oh, Bush is trying to ban gay marriage again
9:23AM - Okay, I have to start now... going through practice exam 1
9:51AM - Practice exam 2
9:52AM - Hmm, friend asks about investing... I'm obliged to answer
10:20AM - Done explaining alpha and r-square, back to my notes
11:10AM - Oh, it's too late now... heading into "I don't care" mode
11:30AM - Exams starts
12:12PM - Colleague in front of me groans... dude, I feel you man, I feel you
12:45PM - I'm developing arthritis in the exam
1:15PM - No point in continuing the struggle
1:16PM - Must... get... one... more... point...
1:30PM - Hoof, one down, two to go... I'm hungry.
1:41PM - Nothing is intriguing in the cafeteria... to the computer lab
1:45PM - Data driven marketing take home final... keep programming...
2:30PM - I am really hungry... meeting with CAP Conference Planning Team
2:47PM - mmmmm.... Chilli.
4:25PM - We're bored in the meeting. This will keep you hooked for at least one 10 minute span. Try not to do this at the library or a quiet study room.
5:03PM - Done with meeting. Back to computer lab for the DDM final
7:45PM - My summer sublet is calling for my keys, must head back home
8:08PM - Just in time... to be late. Here are the keys, let me show you the trash shute
8:40PM - Off I go, back to the lab. Gleacher one this time
8:50PM - Resisted urge to turn on laptop... nicely done
10:00PM - Almost done with DDM final... heading home now, lab is closing
10:24PM - Red Sox lost 5-13 to the Yankees!? WTF!?
11:00PM - Full fledge procrastination: MSN, GTalk, Email, ESPN, Youtube, etc etc
11:59PM - Feel need to recount the day so I can keep procrastinating
11:59PM - Start blog entry...

六四

Just wanted to note that today is the 17th Anniversery of 六四事件 (June 4th Incident).

$12,000 Well Spent

$12,000 well spent again. Let's see what I learned this quarter...

Chicago Asia Pacific Group: CAP takes up most of my free time outside of class. CAP and the NBA playoffs and the random Red Sox game that pops up. Anyway, we have a good group going. Meeting every week to make sure everybody is on the same page. Conference planning has been tough but very rewarding. We've actually succeeded in getting some really high profile people to commit to speak to our students. Funding is coming along. But most importantly, everybody seems to be having fun.

International Comparative Organizations: I'll admit it, I didn't learn much in this class. Some random facts are always useful, such as inequality isn't caused by China, US is land of opportunity only if you are an immigrant, Japan's employed for life schemes aren't really employed for life - just employed for three-quarter life, etc etc. Lots of fun facts, not many tools. The professor could have gone one step further.

Data-Driven Marketing: Although the lectures were sloooooooow to develop, the class was quite fun to be in. Given my background, I say slooooooow because the class spent a few classes on regressions. If we could learn more about model building, that would be awesome. I've never enjoyed doing homework, but this class was different. Each homework was like a consulting project. Here's a bunch of data, go figure out what to do. This is precisely why I came to business school: learn what to do with data and then make recommendations based on numbers.

Investments: Professor Akash (Can't spell his last name) is a handful and a hit or miss with the students. Some like him a lot, including yours truly; some don't, including my entire study group. Like him or not, my advice is that at least listen to him. He sounds like your grandma, very high strung, and is always very passionate with class. Anyway, I learnt a great deal in this class, including (His words, his emphasis):

1. University of Chicago discovered everything in modern financial economics.
2. Math is not your friend. (his words, not mine)
3. Fisher Black of Black Scholes option pricing lived a sad sad sad life.
4. Myron Scholes is the luckiest academic.
5. University of Chicago is the only school in the world that teaches this stuff.
6. You will not see this material (pointing at blackboard) in any textbook that I know of.
7. Goldman Sachs will ask you this question (pointing to homework) in your interview.
8. You are studying at the University of Chicago, not HBS or Stanford or Kellogg. You have to know this stuff (pointing at blackboard/slides violently)
9. I am the same as Gene Fama; we both get horrible student evaluations. I am the same as Fisher Black; he was also a physicist. But that is where all the similarities end.
10. This (pointing at blackboard) is child's play. This is nothing. (pointint at us) You will learn much much more in financial engineering. CHILD'S PLAY!

Hilarious!

Fortunately, those who don't understand Cantonese may enjoy this less. Or is that unfortunately? Anyway, here goes:

The video is called 巴士阿叔 (Bus Uncle)... subtitles are provided as well.

Here's a remix version.

Media coverage!?
More Media...

Long Weekend. Summer. At Last.

Memorial Day long weekend. What should a GSB student do for the weekend?

a. Study hard for finals. Afterall, starting early will ease the pressure later on. Since finals usually count for a huge chunk of grades, studying early would serve the GSB student right.

b. Movie marathon. One can watch X-Men 3, Da Vinci Code, AND Mission Impossible 3 on the same movie ticket! This will propel the GSB student to unchartered territories: knowledgeable about contemporary entertainment.

c. Party. TNDC, the void left from yet another botched LPF, Saturday night, Sunday night, Monday all day. The possibilities are endless. While it might be detrimental to grades, the GSB student needs to consider GND as well. Plus there was a memo that everybody was going to get a B.

d. Do nothing. So, the GSB student has been doing "stuff" every week for the past... oh... year. It wouldn't hurt to take a weekend off right before finals, right? The GSB student can catch up on the baseball season, reply to dad and mom's emails, watch the playoffs, go shopping, hang out. You know, all the normal human activities.

Well, some of you may already know how my weekend turned out. Shmoo and I organized a BBQ party on Sunday. I spent Saturday learning about option strategies and then set out to buy and prepare food. The party was great as both food and people were plentiful. Summer has obviously arrived as it was really hot out. Hopefully this weather will persist.

I spent Monday updating my website. Since I can't do flash, I've decided to stick with html for now. My website will still start with a flash world map... but I will change that when I have a chance this summer.

And suddenly, it is Tuesday morning. I have chosen c and d. Way to be a student, way to be a student.

But how!?

I just noticed this on TV although it's been around for a long time. Cialas' commercial claims that its erectile dysfunction drug "has been clinically tested to be effective for up to 36 hours..."

So, my simple question is how was this test administered? Are you measuring hormones? Or is it a live subject? Now I'm beaming with questions... how would you conduct this experiment?

Apparently, weird thoughts venture around when you are watching TV while preparing for a BBQ party. I blame all the meat.

Evolution of Facial Hair

This was a picture from LOE. Good times. Clean shaven:












Picture from St Patrick's Day. Obviously, recruiting was over. Out of control facial hair:



















Picture during Greater China Conference. Conforming to summer internship. Goatee only:

Which one will you be?

Among the best flowers? Or one that is different and laying low?


 

The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts

That's what I meant in my previous post! Anyway, somehow, my marketing study groups all have similar attributes in that the team is better than the sum of individuals. Last quarter, our six member monster marketing team bounced back from a poor first assignemtn (poor results, good process, not sure that counts though!) to ace our second assignment. The current data-driven marketing team is demolishing problem set by problem set. Although I'm pretty sure our answer is not what the professor is looking for, I decided to keep my mouth shut because I thought we had a better answer. Will pay the price, perhaps... oh well.

The weekend was quite eventful, starting, unfortunately, with yet another sub-par Japanese restaurant. Only this time it cost me $50. Recommended by a Japanese classmate; that was the only reason that I even considered it. I will now boycott Japanese restaurants in Chicago unless it's recommended by Japanese and Yuri. Expensive and not-very-good food was followed by me being violated by a young lady looking for her wallet. And then followed by some quality Karaoke.

Saturday was meeting up with Vivian from Toronto. Long time no see! The night kicked off with CAP Korean BBQ Party, then a bar event at Jin Ju, and then some poker action.

Sunday was paying for all my sins. Study and writing papers. And then the weekend is finished. haha! Way too fast!

Picking a Job

General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, came to the GSB to speak. Basically he gave us some cliche advice in life and then took questions for the audience. I'll be honest, I went to listen to the Q&A to pick up something spicy. Turns out the cliche advice was a bit more profound (Q&A wasn't bad either, but it didn't stick in my mind). Others seems to have gotten much more? My first impression is that this man, one of the most powerful in the world, is articulate, reasonable, and very thoughtful. Quite the contrary to his superiors (which is ironic after you read the next paragraph) - i.e. Rumsfeld and Bush.

Anyway, the last piece of advice was on how to pick a job. Basically, General Pace told us something that I have been telling my friends for a long time, especially those who are struggling with their current jobs. Pick a company where your values resonate with your CEOs. If they don't, pick another organization. The reason is simple: one's success depends on one's immediate managers. They have more experience and, if correctly matched and teamed together, will be a tandem (you and them) where the parts exceed the sum. If you cannot agree with the leaderships and managements, you will not be happy with yourself.

I think that made sense. I've always told my friends that if you don't like the job, quit. It's that simple. We are fortunate that we will never find ourselves unemployed for too long since our skills are highly valued. We have choices. Use them.

Almost Summer...

Full speed ahead (Thanks to Dina for the picture)... I can't wait till my internship (and the paycheck).




















Meanwhile, I'm making a "Evolution of the Facial Hair" blog for my first year at the GSB. Good times. Good times.

Reviews

Red Sox DVD: The curse of the womanly slap.

Now I Can Finally Die in Peace: Well... since I've read most of the book before in SG's columns, it's not a fair review. I did LOL a few times alone at home though.

Mission Impossible 3: Better than 2, worse than 1. Hollywood has gotten this franchise completely wrong. Big explosions are nice and all, but MI was about a team of professionals using gadgets and brains to beat the bad guys, not guns and jumping around buildings in Shanghai.

Lucky Number Slevin: One of the best turn around films I've seen in years. What's a turn around film? The first three quarters of the movie was rather confusing and at times boring. But the last quarter was well worth the ticket price. Good movie.

Waiting for Da Vinci Code and X-Men 3. Also on my list is Thank You for Smoking. A good start to the summer movie season. In other news, I caught the beginning of The Core, an absolutely ridiculous movie about the Earth's core stop spinning and scientists plant nuclear bombs to start it again. Anyway, by catching the beginning, I found out that the geologist (or whatever) teaches at the U of Chicago! Anyway, I have no point. Please shoot me.

Top 10 at HPC

Top 10 - GSB News

heh heh

In other news...:

Cast party on Saturday night was fun. I whooped out my Chinese accent English - maybe do a skit next year.

I played tennis for the first time in 5/6 years. Form is okay, timing is way off. Need a lot of practice. Blisters suck.

Watched the Cubs get two-hitted by the Padres from the rooftop seats. Odd experience since you don't really know what's going on in the stadium (scoreboard faces homeplate).

Sucked into watching Da Vinci pieces on the Discovery Channel. They had three: one on Da Vinci's Code (the book), one on the Holy Blood and Holy Grail (the book), and one on a piece of painting that is suspected to be Da Vinci's. Fascinating programming. I love conspiracy theory.

Weekend

Picture (thanks to Davidson) from our Michigan fishing trip last week. So, midterms are over, and life is back to normal. Last night it was Follies for the GSB. Nice production. Loved the outsourced interview feedback. And the percussion of company names. Too much serious singing, though. We're there to have fun, man!

So far, it's been a rather boring weekend. Feeling a bit blue too.

Watching the Cubs game from a rooftop tomorrow. Should be interesting.

Oh, and I keep wondering who the GSB blogs belong too. Some I've been able to find out. Other's I'm completely in the dark.

Pick one already!

I was staring at my package (no, you sicko, the USPS packages I mentioned yesterday) and had a hard time deciding which one I should start with.

There's Freakenomics: Steve Levitt's masterpiece on putting economics behind all types of events. I've been meaning to buy this book for a long long time and just never got around to do it.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: Jared Diamond's book, which received rave reviews from my mom. It seems like a good book to read, so I picked it up...

Lonely Planet Ireland: Just need this to prepare myself for the trip to Ireland this summer right after exams.

Now I Can Die in Peace: Bill Simmon's (Boston Sports Guy, or Sports Guy, or SG) book on his journey with the Red Sox. While I've read most of SG's articles, even those from the very old times, I'm interested in the book. If only I can get it autographed.

Red Sox Collectors DVD: 38 hours of Red Sox action, baby! I get to experience the exhilarating victories all over again. I can even pretend that we're in October and we just came back from a 0-3 deficit against the Yankees. DAMN RIGHT.

So... naturally, I went with the DVD. There were 12 discs (7 vs. Yanks, 4 vs. Cards, and 1 Championship DVD which I already have). I spent about an hour watching games 4, 5, and 6. The moment I enjoyed the most? Not the Roberts steal or Ortiz walk-off homer in game 4; not the Roberts steal or Ortiz walk-off single in game 5; not the Shilling bloody sock in game 6. The winner is... A-Rod slapping the ball out of Arroyo's glove. It's awesome to watch (after the fact, of course, I was so pissed at the moment and scared shitless for the inevitable letdown umps have shown Red Sox fans for years) and even better to rewatch. Gay-Rod, I hope your slap makes top 10 on the "Cheating in Sports", together with Maradona's Hand of God. What a dispicable act.

I read some of "Now I Can Die in Peace" last night, and will start Freakonomics when I finish. Hopefully I will have time to read the Gun book before cramming in Ireland during finals!

Gone fishing

Yes, yes, the Bulls have gone fishing. Twas a good fight. Couple of very good 2nd round matchups, including the ridiculous Spurs-Mavs. I'm also looking forward to how the Pistons will completely shut down LeBron. In other relevant news:

Went fishing at Michigan (the State) with a bunch of GSBers. Good times. A nice and relaxing weekend far far away from school. Unfortunately, wireless internet was also available at the vacation home. Anyway, we caught a 14 pound King Salmon that tasted really good at night!

I got raped by my investment midterm. I suspect most people in the class got raped as well, so I should be okay.

I will have my first all-Chinese study group. I wonder what is going to happen...

I submitted a bottom ten for the Hyde Park Center building. Concluded with bathroom faucets not working.

The over-under on how many times I will watch Red Sox vs. Yankee 2004 ALCS Game 4 is 10.

My order from Barnes and Noble arrived: Freakenomics, Lonley Planet Ireland, Now I Can Die in Peace, and Guns, Germs, and Steel. Can't wait to read them all.

I spent the afternoon trying to figure out how I spent about $300 just cus I felt a strain in my hip. Apparently they charged me for hospital fee, x-ray fee, doctor's fee, and medicine fee. Why I bought $2000 worth of insurance if I'm charged all that crap is way beyond my comprehension. Even after speaking with Mary from the insurance (she's great), I still have no clue.

I really want the summer to come.

GSB - Results from Google Blog Search

http://ykgsb.exblog.jp/

I don't understand it at all. But the heading is funny.

Procrastination...

I'm studying for my investments midterm right now in the GSB quiet study room. There are quite a few oxymorons there, such as "I am studying," "studying... investments," "studying... right now," and, worst of all, "quiet study room." There's a reason they named this the quiet study room! Don't talk on your phone as if we don't exist!

Anyway, some random thoughts on the NBA playoffs (I hope Bill Simmons publishes my mail):

Go Bulls! They were down 2-0 and came back to tie it only to loose game 5. Good effort nonetheless. I was at game 3 and the game was awesome despite the blow out.

These ridiculous suspensions have got to go. Here's a solution: fine players the game check and let them play in the game. I'm interested in how much effort they put in if they aren't getting paid. Oh, and having all the players on the court, of course.

Spurs-Kings: The Spurs don't look like Champions. Shareef Abdul-Rahim is in the playoffs finally. Since then, he's showed up for one game and also managed to turn Mike Bibby into a non factor for the other games.

Suns-Lakers: I still don't like Kobe Bryant. Steve Nash is scary when he is angry. I can't tell the difference between Shawn Marion and Bin Laden - both have disappeared.

Nuggets-Clippers: I can't tell the difference between Camelo Anthony and Bin Laden either. Is he on the Nuggets? I don't care what Reggie Evan's excuse was. The Clippers have a chance to the CONFERENCE FINALS! Do I need to repeat that?

Mavs-Grizzlies: Don't mess with Dirk. Don't mess with Germans. Chucky Atkins singlehandedly destroyed Memphis' chance of winning 1 game. Trade him to the Knicks. Isiah will need some scoring point guards who can't pass.

Pistons-Bucks: Pistons are going to win it all. And they are going to do it in a very boring way. A white starting center in the low post! Ladies and gentlemen, Andrew Bogut.

Heat-Bulls: Gordon is no Jordon. Wade is damn good. You have to see it in person. Shaq needs to retire soon. Don't throw mouth pieces. Basketball is not hockey... but I can see how it can be more fun if it were.

Nets-Pacers: Please throw Vince down on the floor. He will never come to your neighborhood again. J Kidd, thy time has come, thy time has gone. Jermaine O'neal, thy time has come, thy time has gone. If your fate is in Anthony Johnson's hand, you have no chance.

Cavs-Wizards: Apparently Big Z, Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, and Drew Gooden have decided to see how much LeBron James can do on his own. So far, they are doing a pretty good job. Gilbert Arenas will never win a championship.

Back to investments.

Vote for Professor X

It's award time! The GSB has asked us the students to vote our favorite professor. As such, I voted for Ann McGill, my marketing teacher, whose wit and humor made marketing an interesting subject. Anyway, this blog is not about who to vote for...

I received an email a while ago from a student group that urged me to vote for a certain professor. Since I did not take this particular professor's class, I had no such intent and promptly deleted the email. Then I got another. Same group, same email, same professor. And another. And another.

And then... same group, same email, different professor! This time, the writer of the email indicates that you can vote for two different professors for two different awards. So you can split your votes between the two awards.

Now I'm just annoyed. I have no doubt that these two professors are good. But the student group email is not a place for rallying votes or spliting votes. I signed up for that student group for specific purposes, not for junk mail. Especially not for junk mail that games the voting system.

But... you can do it on a blog. I'm not going to ask you to vote for Ann McGill... but do take her marketing class if you have a chance. It's a fun time and you do learn some useful tools.

Today in Class...

Woohoo, finally, something about my classes at the GSB. Speaking of which, how do I get my blog onto the admission website? If you are completely unaware, admitted students get a list of blogs that they can visit on the website for admitted students. There are blogs from first and second years and also faculty members (Gary Becker's blog is awesome).

Anyway, finally, something about class! This is what I learnt from my International Comparative Organization class (basically, the class substitudes policy for culture to explain business behavior in other countries):

1. Free agent athletes exert effort up to the contract day, and then sulk after a big contract. Bigger the contract, bigger the sulk. Empirically tested in the NBA! I love this game! It's faaaaantastic!

2. Majority of human beings overestimate his or her ability (i.e. everyone thinks they are above average). Only the clinical depressed demographic are right on with estimates of their own ability/expected life/etc.

3. Good employees are identified relatively early in their career. Those who are identified early as "good" are more likely to succeed later in their career. However, research show that a wrong identification will still result in more likelihood of success! This is called the Halo Effect, caused by people bandwagoning on the identified person even though true ability is bad. For more details, check me out.

I'm almost done with my investments study group (learning SO much in that class that I'm not looking forward to the midterm at all). Next up, I get to listen to the Czech president speak about economic reform - he's a Chicago-trained economist - with Gary Becker. Good times all around.

My Computer Exploded

Actually, I just wanted to see how that title looks in print. Pretty bad ass, I'd say.

Sunday night, I was sitting on the couch watching the NBA playoffs... ops, stopping the story: I really like watching the Bulls play. They play like a team at all times: constant moving with and without the ball, cuts, picks, movement, open looks. No true star player to take over down the stretch, but they play the right way. I've got tickets to their Thursday night game 3 and I'm skipping class (to be made up during a marathon Saturday class + review - damn you, Akash) to go see them. I have extra tickets if you'd like to go to!

I'm so easily distracted. Anyway, I was watching the game and typing up my homework that was due the next morning. Suddenly, I noticed that the power sign switched to battery mode. I looked down at the AC adaptor and the green light is on. Something is not right about this picture. I pick up the adaptor, and the green light starts fading. Noooooooooooo!

Um... no what? I don't even know. Since computers are like girls - warning signs are unpredictable and hard, if not impossible, to decipher - I have no idea what I should do but to leave it alone and hope all is well when I come back to it.

Alas, I couldn't wait for even five minutes. I plugged the stuff back into my computer. Green light comes on... battery not charging... green light goes off. Okay, so this is really frustrating; my batts are old, they don't last that long without the adaptor. Anyhow, I decided to keep the damn thing plugged in and hope it fixes itself.

Next thing I know, I smell something burning! Sparks are coming out of the wires of the adaptor. I'm not sure what happened, but I must be more amused than anything, cus I picked up the adaptor to see what's going on. That's when the thing exploded. Sort of. Fire and smoke and all. Unplug everything. Fire put out.

Okay... so if you remember, I'm supposed to be doing my homework assignment. I've got about 30 mintues on my computer, and this puts me in a really awkward situation. Do I speed up and finish everything in 30 minutes? Or do I use this 30 minutes to solve the battery problem? I did the latter (I'd wake up at 6am and head to school to finish the assignment - but that's another story). I went online and looked at Ebay and Dell websites - $70 for a new charger! Holy crap. I better call Dell. Jack - whose real name is probably Amit or Ashish - is very good over the phone and is worried that I might burn myself. He keeps telling me to unplug the adaptor and put it faaaar away from my computer. Yes, Jack, I'm doing that. Honestly. Thanks for the free adaptor, by the way!

Tony Parker, you da man

Tony Parker and Eva Langoria interviewing on E! I'm such a sucker for this stuff. Anyway, just want to point out that Tony Parker is the man. He's only 24!!!!!

Admit weekend. Always fun to talk to eager admits - they absolutely remind me of me. One difference though: I see a huge improvement over last years admit weekend. Much better organized and not too boring. I remember last year they stored us in the dreaded 104 room and lectured about the GSB for a good three hours. Good first hour to get us pumped up, and then it was all down hill. We were so tired at the end of the first day. This year, they moved people around so they didn't have to sit for too long. They made things more outdoor to get some fresh air. In fact, at a later bar event, I was told by admits deciding between schools that GSB's admit weekend was the best - "much more organized than Kellogg's" and "tighter message than Columbia." Amen.

NBA playoffs start today with the Bulls taking on the Heat. I thought the picture of Kirk Hinrich scratching his crotch would be a good start to the playoffs. Okay, maybe I should stop drinking in the morning.

Go Bulls!

Chicago Brand and Sex

It's Admit Weekend II and I start getting emails about the Chicago Brand. While others have real reasons for coming to the GSB, I have one too - just realized this morning at 9:52 am while watching CNN.

CNN just presented a study on who is more satisfied sexually. Turns out Austria was number one at 71% satisfied while a host of western countries came in the top cluster. Predictably, Asian countries came in at the bottom with Japan scoring a 29% satisfaction rate for the dubious honor of lowest scoring country. The study concludes that it seems that sexual satisfaction is connected to gender equality.

So you're wondering what does this have to do with the Chicago Brand. Well, naturally, the study was carried out by the University of Chicago (bottom of the screen - it stared at me)! What's the value of the Chicago Brand? If the study were conducted by University of ABC, I would have raised the following questions:

1. Have you controlled for frequency of sex?
2. Have you controlled for gender?
3-100. Have you controlled for (insert demographic)?

But because it is the U of C, I know I'm getting the real deal and that the research was rigorously tested. Most reasonable doubts and question marks MUST have been answered by the researchers and the conclusion (gender equality -> sexual satisfication) reached is likely very close to the real answer.

Of course, you the reader should be skeptical. I was last week (here starts Part II of this post) when Professor Hsee of the GSB spoke about what makes the Chinese in China happy. Turns out owning a house and relative income were key factors. A third key factor was frequency of sex. Naturally, the audience were surprised (honestly, audience, why are you surprised!? I'm not!) about this and asked questions regarding it. Prof Hsee had it coming. He said he's controlled for gender, for marriage (!!!!! Meaning statistically marriage didn't add weight to the effects of frequency of sex !!!!!), for income, for almost all the question marks we the audience had. Amazing display.

And that is the Chicago Brand. When research comes out of Chicago, you know you are getting the real deal.

Especially when it comes to sex. (Sex is more important than marriage)

43!

That's 43 people on MSN - yet another sign that work has finally slowed for many GSBers. I've always wondered what would happen in Spring quarter: no presentations and no recruiting, what do business school students do with (to) themselves!? Alas, this past weekend provided the perfect answer:

Friday - LPF, eat crawfish, poker game.
Saturday - Greater China Conference, karaoke party.
Sunday - brunch, basketball.

So what else can I blog about? Poker game was won by my (so-called) protege 2R. Unfortunately I didn't get very good hands to play with (a total of 10 hands maybe in 3 hours), so I couldn't face off with 2R, which would be a fun time.

The China Conference was pretty well done considering that they didn't have much time to plan. Speakers were good but somewhat irrelevant. Not enough big picture view, in my opinion. Otherwise, a well done event!

Oh yes, I played 2 full hours of real basketball. I couldn't walk on Monday morning. LOL. I'll be playing again this Thursday. Must make this regular.

Admit Weekend II is in-coming. Amazing that it's already been a year since I decided that the GSB would be the school.

Galendar!

Just wanted to share my new toy with everybody: www.google.com/calendar

I've been asking for this product forever (苯, my friend at Google, has been hearing my grief for a whole year now). Couple of things that Galendar could really do to enhance my experience (they don't allow feedbacks):

1. Birthdays - link them up with address book!
2. They allow invites and link them to Gmail address book. Yet groups (with multiple emails) on the address books are not automatic. So I have to re-type the 20 emails in.

Oh, and upon telling my mom about Galendar, she quipped, 'Gay Calendar?'

This is the picture that has everybody talking. Yes, it's me. Yes, it's me. Yes, it's me.

The Switch is On

No, I'm not talking about how baseball teams play Big Papi.

I'm talking about my emotions. I had an uncontrollable moment in Toronto last weekend. Then I came back to Chicago and it lingered. I start noticing little things, like the belt I wear, which belonged to Alan. I wear it almost every day, yet I only started to pay attention to the fact this week.

I was walking back to my car along 58th at about 1:30 pm. Classes have ended for me and I need to get back to downtown for a study group meeting. Grade school was in recess and the kids were out. Running around the playground, playing some sort of baseball game, basketball, sharing toys on the steps, sharing new nature discoveries around the bushes... suddenly, the world slowed down so much. Across the street, a woman was walking her dog; she wasn't paying attention as the dog dragger her on. Another guy just jogged past me, iPods and all. A couple walked pass me, talking about their parents. I can hear the birds too.

The sun is out. Spring is here.

And then I realized I parked my car on Midway, not 58th! So I had to walk back to my car through the school. Funny when your mind is not right, even the trivial stuff goes wrong.

So much to write, so little time. This quarter is going to be interesting. Between Data-driven Marketing, International Comparative Organizations, Investments, and Chicago Asia Pacific Group (CAP) should keep my hands full. But it's definitely more relaxing and less pressure. All I'm really doing is looking forward to this summer's experience!

Oh, I switched my MSN picture and everybody started asking me who is in the picture. That's still me, okay? It was 10 years ago.

Dream Poker

Fell asleep on the couch for the 962,287th time this year.

I'm holding A-6 unsuited in the late position. The flop came A-Q-6, all diamonds. In the dream, I can see my opponent's hand (A-8 diamonds). Naturally, my opponent raises, and I went all in. for some reason, the cards remained face down as the turn and the river were dealt. On the river, I caught a full house with a 6! Since the cards were face down (though it was clear int he dream that my opponent has a flush), I hesitated and looked at my cards again. I won!

Dream over.

Meanwhile, on TV, a poker tournament is being aired. Amazing. I wonder if that exact hand happened too?

Update!

Thanks to Le Voyageur, I was able to copy and paste a bunch of other people's blogs onto the sidebar. Have fun. I will continue to add to this bar. Meanwhile, I should find out who they actually are.

A bit disappointed

If you are wondering where I've been for the last few days, I was in Toronto visitng my girl friend (she too understands business school classes...). Anyway, it's always nice to see Kal even if it's only for a few days. As usual, the Lam cousins had yet another dinner that is measured by pounds and not dollars. I miss Asian food.

Anyway, Kal brought my pictures from Hong Kong. I must admit that I am rather disappointed at the quality. Some of them I expected to be difficult because of the lack of sunlight (at Grand Canton... uh... Canyon); others was just my lack of understanding on how the camera handles lights. Especially on using long lens and not being able to control the shutter speed. Very disappointing. Here's one from Death Valley. With some help from photoshop (Picasa), there is more contrast for a better feel.

Epiphany

My feelings at GSB classes, 9:08 PM, while I was walking back home:

During soft classes - marketing, competitive strategy, HR: !!!
During hard core classes - finance, operations: ???