Splat...

Exams just over... I think I failed... :( (May have to make one of those insurance bets with Jac again)...

In addition, I'm probably taking a momentuous decision which will take me very much out of my comfort zone...

Pray, or at the very least, hope earnestly for my well-being. And wish me luck.

Semester 1 of the NUS MBA

Hello everybody,

I'm studying hard for my MBA first semester exams. In fact, I just finished my Operations Management final take-home assignment and so am taking a break.

It was just barely Wednesday when I finished my last, and favourite class, of the semester - Management and Organisation. It seems only yesterday when I arrived for my first lesson.

To celebrate the passing of a term, we all had pizza....




Our lecturer David always has us play a game in the second half of class - with attractive prizes for the winners! Our task tonight was as interesting as it was unique. To find out what it was, join the course!



This is the winning team's design...



Of course, the games are always meant to have us learn something. I won't spoil it for you save to say that research shows that students like us generally do worse than kindergarten kids.

This is Mikela with David. She is a Swiss exchange student with Turkish roots studying in a Spanish school (Esade, was it?) We speak in French when we want to snigger behind others' backs. Heh... It was Mikela's last ever class before she obtained her Double Masters. She promised that she would cry but reneged...



This is a picture of our class and the prof... The fact that I owned the most sophisticated camera meant that I had the plum seat....



I'm sure one day the memory of this course will be one which I will cherish forever. For now, I'm just wondering how I will get through, first, my econs exam, and then, my Management & Organisations Case... Wish me luck....

Taking A Short Break

I have been watching a little too many sports matches (and having the odd flutter on their outcomes) and too little time on work and study... Which is bad since my MBA exams are just round the corner....

So bear with me.... I'll be right back when they are done... Or even sooner if I have a spot of free time...

NUS MBA Business Study Trip To Korea - Wednesday - Cat Cafe

My friend and I were walking down an alley at Myeongdong after dinner when she suddenly squealed... "Look at that person in the yellow catsuit... So cute..."

"Yeah...yeah... Another gimmick... Are we done shopping?" I said. "Oh wait... They're advetising a new Cat Cafe... We must go!!!"

"NO-o-o-o.... I want so sh-o-o-op....."

And so it was that we searched out the new Cafe at one of the upper floors of a shophouse....

And we almost didn't go in, mind, for my friend was a little put off by the 8,000 Won entrance fee. But she was 'won over' by the warmth of the staff and my offer of a subsidy ('"Korean Won" over' in this case, if you get what I mean)...

And I was bowled over when I stepped in. I mean, no disrespect to the pet cafes in Singapore, but we don't often see lots of cats, and the few I have been too, there are precious few dogs at non-peak hours - they depend on guests to bring their own pets to make up the numbers. This place however, was teeming with cats - I think maybe 20 of them? And they were all 'house cats', meaning they slept at the place. And, true to the dynamics of my running tiff with Lady Luck, my camera ran out of juice when we entered the place. I did manage to coax out some pics though...

We were met at the reception by a Russian Blue lounging on the counter..



Together with this guy, who later moved back to his normal resting spot....






And that's the thing. The cats, or at least some of them, were extremely active, moving all around the place, meaning that even if my camera had been fully charged, I would have difficulty taking pictures of all of them anyway - because they don't really stop to pose, and because of my lack of skill with the apparatus...



There were some who were rather more lethargic... or shall we say restful... than others though...




This guy in particular hardly moved the whole time we were there...




This cat, the 'hairless one' (the "Spinx"?), on the other hand, was super active, always wanting attention... Poor thing, though... Most of the guests preferred furry cats, so he was often ignored...



I took a picture of these guys because they looked the most like my own cat...






And this guy because, as my friend said, his fur resembled a carpet...





And these guys because they willingly posed for pictures for me....








And if you're wondering if, with 15 or so odd cats, that place, well, err.. stank, it did not at all. For it seems that the cats all seemed to know where to go...

NUS MBA Business Study Trip To Korea - Wednesday Part 3

The sun was still shining after the company visits and that meant that we were brought back to the hotel to recharge. The common consensus between the girls is that they would like yet more shopping and so us gentlemen being just that, decided to acquiesce.

This led to us taking our first bus ride in Korea. It was a good thing Jung Won went with us though, or we would have had a real problem knowing where to get down.



I thought it was not too crowded even though it was peak hour. And there is nothing to get the spirits up more than watching the sunset while crossing the Han River.



Our destination this time was Myeongdong, a shopping area even more hip than Insadong.





We had dinner there, which consisted fo this... I don't know what it is called, but it supposedly originated in the army, where soldiers would dump all their leftover rations into a pot and cook boil them together with noodles. In a restaurant such as the one we went too, these certainly weren't leftovers. Most of the group had beef...



But my friend and I had a seafood mix...




After dinner, we continued strolling down the alleys and that is when I saw it - It was love at first sight....