Farewell Dinner with the LTB TAs

This entry is dedicated to the 6 wonderful TAs that i had for LTB during the first Semester of AY2006-07. As some of you guys know, I was the head TA for Prof Gilbert. These 6 TAs were a wonderful batch of people whom I kept in touch with even after the module. They are non other than Huiyi, Evangeline, Lishan, Vincent, Yiming and Xuanming. I guess we were closer than the other TAs I had for a very simple reason that we had a lot more meetings than the other TAs i had. Apart from the regular Head TA "education" sessions, we had "extra" meetings to settle a video project for having effective meetings as per requested by Prof Gilbert.

Anyway, after informing them that I'll be going for my US exchange, they suggested that we should have an outing before I go. After some coordination via email, we managed to set upon a date for the gathering. As usual, discussions for time and place for a "meeting" in this group of people goes very smoothly with everyone actively throwing out ideas. In the end, we decided on hardrock cafe behind forum. I would like to make a note here that one of the main motivations behind going to hardrock is a voucher that Vincent volunteered to donate. Thus, I would like to hereby sincerely thank VINCENT for donating his $100 hardrock cafe voucher for our humble gathering.

The night went smoothly as we accidentally bumped into each other at Orchard MRT. The only person whom we did not manage to meet at the MRT was Vincent. We then begain to make our way to hardrock on foot. On a side note, we bumped into Michelle Lee (yes the marketing prof) along orchard road while on our way to hardrock cafe. A few of them (who did not know who she was) did not really believed that she's a prof (considering that she was dressed like any other university student shopping along orchard road).

After meeting Vincent (I realised that i mentioned vincent like many many times) at the door, we all proceeded into the cafe. The decor of the place was based on the MTV period (i think) and there was many TVs which played music videos. Guess what? we saw many "retro" MTVs like Geri Haliwell's "Its Raining Men" while we were there... kinda nostalgic. here's some pics:

the jumbo thingy

my main course: macoroni and cheese... damn nice

xuanming's main course... i took this cause i was beside him

Apart from ordering a main course each, we also ordered a jumbo thingy to share (not really that great though). We then chat the night away talking about anything and everything under the sun. The whole affair lasted till around 9+ before we made our way to the NYDC at Wheelock where we continued to chat until like 10+. It was really amazing that we had so much stuff to talk about. As we were each making our ways home, we even stood outside the door of wheelock and chatted for more than 30mins. haha...

I just want to say that I've enjoyed the night quite a lot and it was really great that we could catch up with one another. Seeya guys soon!

Earning from Stocks

Hi All,

i dedicate this post to stocks and shares. As mentioned, i might be giving tips. But today, its more of letting everyone think about issues about investing as compared to giving tips. Let us start my introducing the two main analysis methods in deciding stocks to buy - Fundamental Analysis & Technical Analysis.

Fundamental Analysis (FA)

Basically, fundamental analysis is used by longer term investors. What they do is to look at the operations of the company. They look at things like the Business Model and Financials. They usually do some forecasts of the financials and start to do their "valuation". The two main type of fundamental analysis methods are Discounted Cash Flow Method (DCF) and Peer Comparisons (Comps Analyasis). For the first, its not a too complicated process but let me just say that it involves concepts like WACC, CAPM, Discounting, FCFF, FCFE, etc. Alternatively, in comps analysis, investors form ratios such as Price-Earnings Ratio (PE), Price-Book Ratio (PB), etc to compare the company with their peers. Basically, say you want to buy a bread, if both pieces of bread is the same, they should cost about the same.

It is important to note that fundamental analysis obeys the underlying meaning of stock investing. That is to buy shares of a company to own it so that you can take a piece of its earnings or revenue. It usually guides long term investors

Technical Analysis (TA)

Basically people use charts and statistics to predict price movements. As an investor, you want to be able to purchase a stock and see it rise before selling it off. In other words, its called buy low and sell high. So when is it a low and when is it a high when you dunno tomorrow's price, people will use TA to "predict" tomorrow's price. There are terms and tools such as RSI, MACD, candlesticks, support / resistance levels that help people make investment decisions. Technical Analysis are usually used by short run investors who time their investments.

I think i remembered in some previous post that i said both are impt to make investing decisions. I still agree at this moment in time. However, today, i realize that Singapore's stock market is filled with many people who trade purely by using TA and worst still purely by listening to what others say. The worst part of this is that these people can freaking EARN MONEY!!!! arghz!

That got me thinking... standard classroom talk will say that these people dunno what they are doing and most likely will be unable to earn long run profits. I sorta agree. But when a market is strongly dominated by these forces, i really wonder whether we should go into this form of investment? haha...

the most impt question i have for everyone is about capital. To make good investments, there is a need to have a relatively large amount of capital. To be frank, using fundamental analysis, there are quite a few companies' stock which are worth buying (e.g. cosmosteel, keppelcorp, sembcorp, KSH, Singtel, CH Offshore, etc). However, they are just too expensive for someone like me who has no capital. This brings me to the question. How can i raise funds to invest? Should i wait till i start work then i set aside my capital little by little?

Alternatively, i can start with contra trading and use concepts of margin trading to start trading with leveraging. However, the risks involved will be higher. In this case, doesn't it seem like the rich can get rich easier while the poor will have problem to even start trading and have to go through high risk investments before making their mark?

Its just some thoughts about being able to gain entry into the market when you start off as a poor man... think about it...

Differentiating between a Slacker and an Unmotivated Person

Recently, numerous issues have prompted me to think the idea of team dynamics again. To many who have taken LTB, the words "free rider" probably do not come as an unfamiliar term. Most people usually call these people "slacker".

From my understanding, the word "slacker" is being used on people who are irresponsible and do not put in effort to complete the job that is allocated on them. This term has been commonly used in projects, competitions and other team-related events.

On the other hand, an unmotivated person is viewed as a person who has no goal, no aim and behave aimlessly. He/She appears to not know what he/she wants and do not make effort to do or complete stuff.

Looking at the above, I am really concered that these 2 socially defined words "Slacker" and "Unmotivated Person" seem to have much in common. Purely by looking at the person's actions, a "slacker" and an "unmotivated person" seem to be highly similar. But I guess the main difference comes from the cause of these actions. To most people, a person is termed as a "slacker" because this person inherently is disinterested in work and do not want to do work. On the other hand, an "unmotivated person's" reason for not doing work is due to a lack of reason or aim.

So... let us ask ourselves this, how many people have we called "slackers" without discerning the difference? Are the people we despise truly "slackers" or do they just lack a motivation? It was only these few days that i realize that i was one of these people who reprimand without discerning the difference. I personally believe in the goodness of mankind. I believe that people are genuinely "unmotivated" if they are not doing what they should be doing.

Thus, i feel that the next time we are engaged with a team activity with such people, regardless of whether we're a leader or a team member, let us try our best to understand the reasons for a lack of motivation and help our friend. On the other hand, if you know that you're unmotivated or unhappy, do share this with your teammates. It is the responsibility of both parties to share and communicate so that we understand each other.

So, Let us stop calling each other "slackers"! and let us start helping each other!

New Handphone with a New Line

Hi Everyone!

its me again! (duh, who else) I have officially changed my handphone number yesterday. I've smsed most of you guys regarding my change of number. But just in case i did not tell you, please do sms me at my old number to get my new number. Just for your information, my old number is still in use because i ported the number over. I have finally moved from M1 to Starhub. With a powervalue 300 and the trade in of my mobile phone, I paid S$198 to be the proud owner of the Samsung I600.

Some of you might not be interested in the phone, but just some little technical details. This phone is a PDA phone running on Windows Mobile 5.0. I have yet to completely synchronized my stuff as i haven been home since i bought the phone. But for the past 1 day, this has been a good phone.

Countdown to USA

Hmm... I'm trying very hard to post a meaningful entry in the blog so that you guys would not lose interest in the blog. However, there's NOTHING interesting that's happening in my life now!!!! AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Nonetheless, just wanted to update you guys on the stuff that i've done to prep for my US Trip. Maybe you can tell me what I've left out:
1) VISA (obtained)
2) Packing list (written but not packed)
3) Air Tickets (purchased)
4) Transport and Accomodation for 2-week tour (booked, paid deposit / paid)
5) UPENN forms (all submitted except health forms)
6) UPENN courses (bidded)
7) UPENN Accomodation (allocated)
8) Working Capital (still fund raising, sponsors anyone?)
9) SMU Indemnity form and application fee (next week go and submit and pay)

anything else to be done? if you guys want, i can post my packing list and you can give me some comments too!

Sexy pictures for paul.... and paul only...

Harlow everyone,

if you happen to look at the CBOX, you probably realize that Paulie is constantly asking for Sexy pictures.... In order to satisfy his NEEDS... i've decided to post pictures that are sexy... before we get to that, here's the definition of sexy:

• marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest; "feeling sexy"; "sexy clothes"; "sexy poses"; "a sexy book"; "sexy jokes"
• aphrodisiac: exciting sexual desire
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• In species which reproduce sexually, sexual attraction is attraction to other members of the same species for reproduction. This type of attraction is a very important survival factor.
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexy
  
  Ok... so it seems like pictures that are sexy basically means that the pictures must arouse sexual desire or interest... i really dunno what can arouse paulie man.... hmmm let me see... ok... here's pictures to help arouse paulie's (a.k.a Animal's) sexual desire..
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Enjoy yourself Paul? Please do take care ya?

Stock Tips - SELL EVERYTHING...

Remember I would be providing you guys with stock tips? Here's my tip... SELL EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!!!

alternatively, you can start keeping some money to prepare to go into the market. From my understanding, the market seems to be overhyped and is destined for a correction in the short run. There was a study that was posted recently (according to my boss) that shows a trend for stock prices. According to research, instead of the old saying "sell in may and go away", there is a statistical prove that within a year, stock prices tend to rise all the way till 15th of July. From 16th of July to the 3rd week of october, stock prices generally head south before rebounding to a level higher than 16th of July before year end. This upward trend will continue till the next year's 15th of July. Of course, i guess 15th of July is not the exact date but the approximate date.

Before you go off thinking that this is total bullshit, i did ask my boss whether this has any logic to it. My boss has a theory with regards to the cause of this trend (which sorta sounds logical). According to him, people receive their bonuses (or bond coupon payments) in the early part of the year and they tend to reinvest these bonuses in the stock market. As such, this causes the stock market to rise. Then why the downturn in July you may ask. We all know that the general holidays for the western countries is between July to October (this is the western countries holiday season, note: not festive season but holiday season). Since they're not in the country, they probably don't trade as much. Thus, there is a lack of support for the stocks resulting in the eventually downturn. As their holidays end, and december arrives, its time to support the market before the year end so that to show positive returns over the year.

Since today is already 17th of July, the stock market is destined for a downturn... The market seems quiet and heading south these 2 days... So what do you guys think? Do you think the above is logical? haha...

Anyway, there is another side to the story. The economy is recovering and many companies are going to post their half year / end year results this coming august. As these reports come out, there are high possibilities for these companies to post "more than expected" earnings and cause stock prices to climb. However, my personal opinion is that many people are "expecting" a lot and thus it is difficult to achieve the "more than expected" earnings. Nonetheless, if we were to see a market correction before the annual reports are posted, there is a possibility that these reports might lead to higher stock prices...

you can decide for yourself which to believe...

Singaporean's language

"The ideal of a single civilization for everyone, implicit in the cult of progress and technique, impoverishes and mutilates us. "

- Octavio Paz (Mexican poet, writer, and diplomat, 1914-1998)
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This post is inspired by a conversation between me and a fruit juice hawker. Let us take a look at the conversation first:

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Yujian: Auntie, 苹果汁带走(for those who can't read chinese, its apple juice, takeaway)

Auntie:是拿走，不是带走。带走是当那个东西有脚才用的。苹果汁没有脚只可以拿走（its takeaway not "bring" away (literally)， apples don't have feet, cannot takeaway)
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What happens next is that she goes on trying to tell me why we should improve our chinese. This is the interesting part. The Auntie said that now that China is growing, we have to brush up on our Chinese/Mandarin so as to communicate effectively with them (there's an irony in this because i actually wrote a paper (in chinese) that singaporeans can't communicate effectively with people from PRC regardless of our language abilities). This is the part which made me start thinking.

What does a language mean to a person? To most, a language is a mode of communication. The Singapore government has constantly encouraged Singaporeans to speak a certain language so as to gain a competitive edge in the world markets. Long ago, Singapore had the speak chinese campaign. We also converted the education system to english so that we can be global and competitive. There was also a period which we despised Singlish (maybe some still do).

When i was walking back to office after the incident, i recalled what my Thai fren whom I met in Vietnam told me. She asked me whether I was speaking Singlish. Of course, i felt a little bit offended and embarrassed, so i apologized to her. Her reaction was really shocking for me. She said, "No! No! No! Singlish is good! It shows your culture!".

So, linking the two incidents, we can see the difference in views between Singaporeans and other countries about the purpose of having a language. Singaporeans see it as a tool for business, while some other people see it as a culture. I guess its really both. Just that Singapore's culture is a business culture. Everything we do, everything we say (and how we say it) seems to be linked to business. Is this neccessarily a good thing (as our government puts it)? I really appreciate the fact that we're educated in english and that gave us a competitive advantage over many countries (such as Hong Kong).

However, on the other hand, how then can we have our unique culture? Our culture would always be modelled after some country that we work with. Its like our exchange rate, "pegged" to the countries that we trade most often with. I guess that's how we'll communicate... our communication abilities are "pegged" to who we "trade" with...

haha... its just a post full of tots... might not be right... still thinking...

Making my blog interesting

Picture of me trying to carry the Porter's load

I dunno why i'm so enthu about my blog these few days... i guess the standard trend is that people are very enthusiastic about their blog during the initial stages and the posting rate goes down dramatically after. I guess it understandable for such things to happen... afterall this reflects the consumerism world that we're in afterall.

Due to successful marketing campaigns and advertisements, people convince themselves that a product / service is good and worth investing either your time / money in it. As most psychology / marketing students might know, during the initial stages right after the purchase / subscription, the consumer will experience post-decisional cognitive dissonance. To reduce this dissonance, what they do is to believe that the purchase is good / correct. This increases the rate at which the consumer utilizes the product / service during the intial stages. I guess its the same for the blogging then. Once you start, post-decisional cognitive dissonance sits in and you start to blog frequently. Over time, when the cognitive dissonance is slowly reduced, the blogging frequency also falls... I wonder whether my theory is correct.

Right, so far, the stuff i've blogged is still not related to the title of the blog. So what am I trying to get at? I've received some feedback that my blog is boring. Despite the fact that i had a disclaimer in my first entry that my blog might be boring, i've decided that i should take the initiative to ensure that my blog is kept interesting. Since my blog is for the sake of communicating with my friends, if my blog was uninteresting, i will not have any viewers. That means that I'm not communicating with anyone and that leads to me not achieving my aim of communicating. As such, i guess I have make my blog interesting.

Ok, let us try to understand why some blogs are interesting / attractive:
1) It contains provocative ideas (i.e. political, religious, sexual)
2) It contains pictures of pretty girls / (sexually) appealing pictures
3) The author is important to the readers (either as a friend, partner, leader, etc)
4) The blog presents opportunity for self gain for the reader (i.e. stock tips, research purposes, etc)

Anyway, i realize this is very similar to the SMUX portal situation. How to get more people to talk on the portal? Similarly, how to make sure my friends read and thus we can communicate? hmmm...

Now, let me see... which of the above methods should I adopt? I guess i'll work on all 4. I make sure i make controversial statements in my blog posts (i suspect some people dun believe that i'll ever make such statements since i'm so politically correct... haha). I should make sure i have appealing pictures (probably not sexually). Here and there i might give stock tips (but please dun believe me) and last but not least, i will hope that you guys think that i'm important enuff a friend.

I'll start today's post by posting more pictures of my recently concluded Island Peak / EBC Expedition. I really like these photos.

our first tent site @ Chu Khung

on the way to the top...

looking up to the summit

summit view

another summit view

My Life of Finance

In light of me being allegedly accused (or rightfully concluded) as being a bimbo, here is a post that is much less bimbotic. For those who do not know my current situation, here's an update. I'm currently working in a venture capital company working for a german boss. My main job scope includes writing reports, analyzing stocks / companies, analyzing economies for VC investments as well as MISC stuff. Before i continue with my post, here's a disclaimer: i will post random pictures (probably finance-related ones) within this post. This is to simulate how Investment Bankers try to package something totally useless (like my post) and make it look damn nice and pro, even when its sometimes unrelated (for real life example, check out how China International Sports market its IPO).

The job has spurred my interest in Finance. Although I have constantly been interested in finance, i guess i'm not where near people who have been constantly IN CONTACT. It has always been an interest but i've never bothered putting in effort to try to understand the market. It seems like the biggest takeaway from my internship is to spur my interest in analyzing companies and stocks. The thing that i like most about my job is that i can understand how people operate their businesses and how it translates to figures (i.e. profits). It is really amazing how simple businesses (like selling zips or mooncakes) can let a business earn tons of $$$ and go for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

From my internship, i learnt another thing about myself. I am LAZY and UNMOTIVATED. I might have great potential but i'm freaking lazy. I will not take initiative to learn stuff (unless i'm SUPER interested in it). I've been interested in finance, so what is stopping me from creating models or reading annual reports everyday? NOTHING. It was only this internship that gave me the opportunity to go and read up on these stuff. In some sense, I only do well in things that are happening in the "current". Thinking about this made me a little more motivated. Maybe i SHOULD try to motivate myself to take steps to improve my learning. I guess it has slowly started. I'm currently learning technical analysis, reading annual reports and creating models for stock picking...

Ok... here's a summary of what i've done at my internship place (for the past 6 weeks):
1) Produced Analyst Reports for more than 10 companies (in sectors such as, construction, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, oil and gas,etc)
2) Translated a 17-page Mandate Letter (similar to a contract) between a stock exchange and a company going for listing FROM ENGLISH TO CHINESE.
3) Translated some other various stuff FROM ENGLISH TO CHINESE.
4) Wrote an investment feasibility report for Vietnam to discuss whether its feasible to invest in Vietnam (looked at economic issues, law and tax issues, political issues, etc)
5) Participated in a sales pitch by a taiwan company seeking secondary listing in HK stock exchange (I was from the buy side)
6) MISC stuff

Here's what i've learnt from the tasks above:
1) How to analyze a company
2) How to make decide on whether to invest in a company / stock
3) Technical terms in Chinese (e.g. liabilities = 债务)
4) How a good company does not require investment bankers (the sales pitch was dominated by the presentation by the CEO... the guy damn zai)
5) Law and technical issues when investing overseas
6) Technical analysis is useful because you want to buy low and sell high (within the small cycle) EVEN when there are strong fundamentals (i.e. you ride the small wave to enhance your earnings)

Here's the list of things i learnt during my "spare" time at work:
1) Created a stock selection model on excel to help me make investment decisions (still refining)
2) Learning Techinical Analysis
3) Fixed Income arbitrage (errr.... dun really understand the article still)

yupz... that's it... i'll leave you with a nice picture lah... the pictures above are total crap...

(click on the pic to see a bigger pic)

My new gadgets (continued)

Ok... here's a continuation of the post last night... remember i bought 4 gadgets? here's some extra points about them:

160gb hardisk

the hardisk is great! its working fine and everything seems good. I realized that if i just pull it out from my computer, my whole comp will power off... i guess coz the size is big and is taking a lot of my power. I'm not really sure leh...

Remember my unformattable 80gb hardisk? I went home this morning and downloaded a low level formatting utility to format the hardisk. I left home when it was more than halfway through. Let's hope that when i get back, it'll be done and usable...

Earphone w/ mic

its not bad... looks cool and i can use it as a earphone at work. Today is a tiring day as i only slept 2 hours. Thus, i got to listen to LOUD RETRO MUSIC (thanks to Nyan who passed these to me a while back) so that i stay awake... damn... got work to do too! let's check out how the earphones look like:

Bluetooth

i went back and started installing the IVT Bluetooth BlueSoleil software into my computer so that i can use the bluetooth device. As much as there's virus in the CD, i happen to be able block the virus and install the software. It's now working fine and i can connect my phone to my computer via bluetooth. This was how i transferred the pics to my laptop for upload to this blog. I could also use the web presenter software to control my powerpoint movements with my handphone! damn cool lah.

1gb MicroSD Card w/ adapters

Checked that the adapters were working. I also started transfering stuff (i.e. pictures and music) into the MicorSD Card... here's how it looks like...

not bad wor... i'm making good use of the stuff i bought... wahahah...

My new gadgets

Sighz... its 1.49am and i am still awake... this is very bad... once again, i'm overwhelmed by my new gadgets and I am not sleeping... I think this is definitely not the first time that this has happened to me... arghz...

I just purchased numerous gadgets and I am still trying to figure out their uses. Here are the items that I have purchased:

1) 1 x 160gb Hardisk @ S$152

2) 1 x Microphone Earpiece @ S$12

3) 1 x Bluetooth device (with a freaking CD that has virus) @ S$10

4) 1 x 1gb microsd card with miniSD and SDcard adapters @ S$16+

I wun behave like the authors of bimbo blogs and start showing you pictures of these items but i guess the most impt lesson is that, i spent the whole nite (i.e. from 8pm till NOW) to configure all this... I have just transferred all my stuff from my 80gb hardisk to the new 160gb hardisk. The old hardisk has quite a lot of problems with some data already unrecoverable. Worst still, the hardisk is not reformatable... i've tried tons of ways (including going to dos-prompt to manually format using "format i: /FS:NTFS /Q") and it din work... anyone care to enlighten me?

As for my earpiece, i'm proud to say that it is a good buy (all hail to China's low cost production). It fits well around my ears and gave me very clear communications via skype with May. (yes i did a test comms with may using skype). This will probably be one of my most valuable asset in the states. For those who still want to chat with me on the phone, you can go buy a mic and earphone and we can chat via skype. The funny part is that while we were shopping for the earpiece, we happen to find a similar product that costs only S$3 more. It really looks like a bluetooth earpiece. Let's take a look:

If you take a look at the reverse description, it says, "bluetooth shape headphone". Wah lauz... best... this is how they bluff people... it is freaking wired and definitely not bluetooth.

The bluetooth device helps me connect my phone to my laptop. It helps me to syncro information and most imptly, i'm downloading a presenter software so that i can control my laptop using my phone! wow! haha... of course, the microsd card is for the phone so that i can store my MP3 and new programs.

All right... that's it for now... back to installing!!!

Why am I writing a Blog and why a Weird Header

This two days, i like quite gian to update my blog. Maybe because i really like to talk and my internship has prevented me from talking to people (i.e. i'm deskbound). So, in order to vent my frustration, i'll constantly write stuff on my blog. Hmm... anyway, i really wanted to share with everyone the reason why i suddenly moved into blogging. Seriously, this blogging stuff is not a memory thingy that i save my memories in. Maybe it will serve that purpose in the future but for now, i see it more as a communication tool.

Its true, once you start work and stuff, communications with friends do decrease. You will miss out on regular supper gatherings, outings and quality time spent with your friends. Thus, i've decided that having a blog to communicate with my friends seem to be possible. Although this medium for communications is more or less 1-way (i.e. simplex) and at most 2-way one at a time (i.e. half duplex), i guess it still serve the simple idea of communications. So for those guys out there who thinks that i have become whinny, girly or metro (think felix)... paisehz... i'm not....

All right, it seems like many people wanted me to post more photos (shit, i think of what those bimbo blogs authors say when they post duh photos of themselves). I guess that maybe one of the main reasons why people read blogs anyway... I've decided to post some photos of the recent Nepal trip for the pleasure of those who did not manage to grab anyone of us (who went nepal) to take a look at the pics. here they are (pictures courtesy of Xiaozhuang and Melvin):

This is not sunset... its the rising sun...

sunrise during our ascent of Island Peak

the view near the top of Island Peak

artistic picture taken by Zhuang

reaching the summit...

trust me, Xiaozhuang's pictures are really damn nice... Oh and anyway, i was thinking that my header picture is a little unsuitable for the name of the blog. This blog is supposed to be for my US exchange but its plagued with trekking photos. Wat the hell... but whatever, the picture looks nice and it really serves well as a header. Anyway, here's some credits. The picture for my header is taken by Mr. Shaun Ng with his new Olympus Mu 770 (the prize that Mingwen's team won. damn... we were so near). Its a panoromic view from the top of Island Peak... hahah... what you see is from the height of 6189m!!! wooohoo!!!

Anyway, i think the camera is really great with all the water proof for 10m and shock proof for 1.5m specs. If you can afford it, i think it will be a good camera for normal use. People who are damn pro with shooting (i.e. you carry an SLR or planning to buy an SLR), i think this might not be suitable for you except as using it as a backup camera... hmm, i'm sounding like a gadget analyst... i wonder whether any company is willing to give me stuff for free so that i can write about them... wahah... yee~~~ so materialistic...

ok... guess that's it... time to go for lunch!

More VISA Issues (similarly boring)

I'm back with boring stuff about VISA once again... I was just told that it would cost me $100 (i've no idea whether its USD or SGD) for the SEVIS application. This application is purely costs for maintaining a database about me. This is really a waste of money. I'm paying $100 (i think it might be USD) to let them keep information on me?!!??

Not only that! I have to pay another S$160 for the VISA APPLICATION fee (note: its application! not the VISA fee)... This is for the processing costs and whatever... For others, there might still be a VISA fee but "fortunately", as i'm applying for an F-1 VISA (i.e. student visa), there's "no" VISA fee...

The total VISA costs adds up to approximately S$320... This is bullshit...

VISA Application (do not read unless you wanna get bored)

This is definitely a boring post... Nonetheless, its a little more interesting than my job. As of now, i don't have anything to do and i'm more or less cooped up in the office. I just got a new thumbs up for my US Trip. My Letter of Eligibility sent from UPENN. This means that I can start to apply for my US VISA. The VISA will cost me S$160 and 2 x half days worth of time. Nonetheless, this is my last obstacle to the US trip.

Let me share with everyone about the VISA application process. For Singaporeans to go to the United States, there is no need for a VISA if you are staying in the country for less than 90 days. That means that IF you are going there for exchange, there will be a need for a student (F-1) or a Exchange Program(J-1) VISA. The application process can be found at the folllowing websites:

Singapore US Embassy
http://singapore.usembassy.gov/how_to_apply2.html
http://singapore.usembassy.gov/visa_types2.html
http://singapore.usembassy.gov/faqindex.html

If you're not interested in read the websites (and I know you probably are not), here's a general idea of how an Exchange Student can apply for his/her US VISA. After your school has nominated you for the exchange program with the receiving party (i.e. universitiy), The receiving institution will send emails to you to ask for your information (they might take a while to get back to you). After filling up all your data, the school will get back to you with a certificate / letter of eligibility (this is what i just got). With this certificate, you can now go register an appointment with the US Embassy to process your application.

For me, the waiting for the letter / certificate part took up a very very long time. So for those who are undergoing similar problems, relax... It'll come... you just have to make sure that you submitted all your information.

*Freaking Boring Post*

My Accomodation in UPENN

I really wonder why i'm writing my blog when the only 2 people who have heard about my blog is May and her sister Peggy. I guess i need to do some marketing for the blog so that more people can start to know about my planning for my US trip...

Right, here's some updates. I have just confirmed my room allocation in UPENN. The accomodation is in this place known as Sansom Place West. Unfortunately, the room that I am allocated is Type 75: Single Shared Bath. In case you don't really understand what that means, here's a layout plan that i downloaded from UPENN's website:Ok.... just in case you think that i'll be allocated 2 big rooms with 1 bathroom. I understand that i'll be staying in ONE of the rooms and sharing a bathroom with the person beside me. Nonetheless, I found out that, as of now, I do not have roommate... That's still ok... but the worst worst worst thing is that I DON'T HAVE A KITCHEN ALLOCATED TO ME!!! How then can I cook my meals! Fortunately, I was told that food sold is not that expensive. May's sister, Candy, sent me a photo of the menu at one of the shops below my accomodation, known as Yue Kee. Let's take a look:
Hmm.... Singapore Prices in USD... sighz... i still think i can save more with my own cooking... i guess all i can try to do is find a common kitchen or something so that i can cook... i'm sure if i volunteer my cooking services, I will be able to get someone to let me cook in their kitchen too rite?

All right... i'm blogging a little too much... to end off, here's some basic information about my room:

Room:
124 Sansom Place West (Type: 75: Single Shared Bath)

Mailiing Address (please do not send bombs):
3650 Chesnut Street, Box 24, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6107

Room Telephone (just call my mobile phone instead):
215-417-4210

All right... that's it for today...

My First Post...

Hi all! It is kinda weird that i'm writing a blog. I never supported or believed in the idea of a blog. I always thought that a journal should be private and never shared with others. However, i finally realized that writing a blog is not like writing a journal. For me, starting this blog is a form of communication. It's a tool for me to keep my friends updated on my life while i'm on exchange in the US.

Those who know me will know that i really like to talk. Thus, this blog will serve as my medium to "tell" you guys about my trip in the US. I do hope that I can update this blog at least a few times per week. Now, let me just say that not all content might be interesting or exciting. My life could be just filled with boring stuff that might not be exciting for you guys so please do not go away with the idea that I'm going to write exciting stuff ya? Nonetheless, I'll TRY to be as humorous as I can (note: i haven't been really successful in being humorous when i'm chatting face to face, so my apologies if you're affected by it).
Right... i guess this should be the end of my first post. For those who need me to buy stuff or take pictures of certain things, please drop me an email and i'll try to acede to your request. NO PROMISES though...