Day 215: Cricket Mania

Cricket fever has hit INSEAD! The Cricket World Cup is being played in India at the moment and students with Indian ethnicity make up the largest national group on campus (~10%) so it's a pretty hot topic at the water cooler these days. More people have probably come to appreciate (or at least understand!) cricket in the past few weeks than ever before. Tomorrow, India play Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in Mumbai and I know quite a few of my classmates are already on flights back to India as I'm typing this so as to catch the action live in the stadium. 1 particularly passionate cricket fan I know is paying almost SGD$4k for flights and tickets for him and his wife just for this weekend! I'm actually a little jealous (even though I only JUST got introduced to the game 2 weeks ago) but the chance to watch your country's team play in a World Cup Final of the nation's #1 sport in your home town can only be described as a once in a lifetime experience. If you don't pay the money now, is double that amount of money going to be able to "buy" you this experience some time in the future? Triple that amount? Probably not.

Catching the Semi-Final game on Wednesday at Krish with the Indian contingent was quite a spectacle. My  classmates were jumping up and down, yelling triumphantly as the Pakistani wickets fell, and these were my normally mild-mannered classmates! I can't even begin to describe what the more rowdy ones were doing. ;)

In other news, the first "dings" of rejection bells were heard as applications were sent out for jobs and subsequently rejected. Apparently, it's a ritual that when you get a job rejection, you strike the bell in the bar to  let out your frustration and disappointment. Your friends might also see you there and perhaps buy you a beer as you all commiserate and share the various rejection letters you all have received collectively.

Over the past 2 weeks, I have also been volunteering to give mock interviews for my peers preparing for case interviews (mainly for consulting but other industries are beginning to use them as well). You can definitely feel a bit of frenzy building up on campus with regards to interview prep. It almost feels like people are competing to see who can do the most mock interviews. There are a lot of resources out there that say you should do this or do that. I say you should just find a style that works for you and stick with it. You should not have to force yourself to fit some mould. If that's the case, then maybe that isn't the right style for you?

I don't believe in stressing out too much about it because when you are stressed, you sorta lose that natural touch which I think is important to bring to the table (other people may disagree). You want to present yourself for who you are and see if that fits with the company/people are you applying to work with. I take interviews very seriously and prepare for them in advance but at the same time I try to be as natural and calm as possible. I like to see them as conversations rather than interrogations!

Day 202: World events and recruitment as "dating"

I believe one of the myths of blogging is that when someone doesn't update for a while that nothing is really happening. Contrary to that belief, I think too much has been happening in the world right now and especially the past 2 weeks that it's been rare for me to take a break from things to really reflect about it.

Outside of INSEAD, we've seen continued uprisings across the Middle East and most violently in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen. Citizens have been rising up against their governments in a show of their dissatisfaction with the status quo and government forces have been cracking down brutally to control the protests. The UN only just recently passed a resolution declaring a "no fly zone" over Libya to prevent excessive brutality of Col Gaddafi's forces against his own citizens.

We've also experienced the day that "shook the world" on the 11th of March in the form of a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake that realigned the earth's axis slightly and shifted Japan 4 meters to the east. You would have thought that the earthquake itself would have been the most damaging episode of that event but it turned out to be the subsequent tsunami that really wreaked the most havoc by sweeping away entire towns and cities or covering them in mud and debris. In the aftermath of the tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear power plant began to suffer a meltdown due to the shutting down of pumps meant to cool the fuel rods, creating yet another potential disaster that as yet people have no idea how to quantify or really think about. As news trickles in from the front line of this unfolding situation, people do not yet know what is the appropriate response to such news and something like this has never happened before. Do you stay and help your nation in this time of need, not really knowing how things if you are putting yourself and your family in harm's way or do you save yourself, evacuate from the surrounding areas and come back when things have cleared up? I don't think there's any right answer to these questions and that is what is making it so difficult for people to respond.

Inside of INSEAD, we are fortunately not to have suffered from any disasters of this nature and we are physically detached from the situations. However, as some of our classmates have friends and relatives in these affected regions, we have also joined forces in organising fund raising events to aid the relief efforts. It is a very heartwarming show of solidarity with the rest of the world as we help out our fellow man. You can never predict where the next natural disaster will strike next or in what form.

Recruitment fever is officially also upon us now that we are in P4 and people start realising that they are fast approaching the end of their time in school and need to figure out what they are doing next. I have been caught up in the wave of activity as well, researching companies, reaching out to my network to speak to people about opportunities, attending on campus recruitment talks and helping out my peers with case interviews. The curse of choice means that people realise that they CAN do quite a number of things given their work experience and interests but find it hard to really narrow down what exactly they WANT to do. My peers and I are all ambitious and driven people otherwise we would not be in business school to begin with, but having to choose just a few things to focus on among the wide range of options out there is not easy.

The whole recruitment process is kinda like dating really. You see an interesting company that you would like to work for and then realise that the criteria they have listed for a successful candidate sounds a bit like your own profile and so you apply, summarising your best intentions and achievements in a document that is meant to capture their imagination. The company of course is highly desirable and has many "suitors" and if she likes what she sees, she calls together these "suitors" and thus begins the tango of interviews, case studies and assessments to help her really understand if you really are the one for her. Through the various interactions and conversations you have along the way, both sides begin to get a better appreciation of the other and what the other party has to offer; most importantly I feel, whether there's a good fit with the personality/culture of both parties. Both parties tend to be extremely polite and pleasant as you "court" each others' feelings while at the same time try to get a better sense of the other. Along the way, you may be rejected and left heartbroken especially when you think that things are going well, only to have the rug pulled out from under you. But you have to pick yourself up as soon as possible as the next opportunity is just around the corner and you might miss it if you are still dwelling on the past. No effort is ever wasted effort of course as the experience only makes you sharper, more self aware of your strengths, weaknesses and your own character if you bother to take a step back and reflect. It may take weeks, maybe even months, but if you keep on trying, you eventually find a company that wants you as much as you want them. Both of you become excited about the future together as you begin what hopefully is a rewarding and fulfilling relationship.

Day 187: Last day at Niseko

Despite my unfortunate accident, I must say that I like Niseko over other ski resorts that I've been to in the past. The powder is really excellent, there are a lot of slopes to choose from and they are not too crazy, the food is great and the onsens are heavenly. Not many other places have the whole package quite like this place. No wonder then that property prices here are ridiculously high although I hear that it's seen quite a dip lately due to the strong yen and now it's much more of a buyers' market. Apparently it's much less busy now than in previous seasons.

Our visit here in Japan was slightly tarnished by an unpleasant incident yesterday after dinner (which unfortunately was not that good either). One of members of our group came to pick us up from the restaurant in Kutchan and accidentally parked in the parking lot of the restaurant next door instead (she doesn't read Japanese). She had only been there at most 15 minutes but the owner of said restaurant got so upset that he parked his own car in front of our van in an attempt to prevent us from leaving. He demanded that we pay him 3000 yen for parking illegally in his lot. After getting someone to translate for us, apparently this sign said something to the effect of "if you're not eating at Izakaya Torisho and you park here, it's a 3000 yen penalty". Something we all can understand the principle of except that we don't speak or read Japanese so there was no way for us to have understood that sign. The restaurant owner clearly did not give a damn whether we understood Japanese or not and kept shouting over and over again "3000 yen!". Maybe he's had a few bad incidents in the past (we will never know as he did not speak English and we did not understand Japanese, although we knew enough to know that he was beginning to get vulgar with us) but he really came across very poorly as extremely money minded and lacking in understanding of what it means to be someone in a foreign land. After we managed to dig a way out of the barricade, he sent his wife to stand in front of our van to prevent us from leaving. How crazy is that??? We knew there was no silent escape from this if he was willing to sacrifice his wife (how "noble" of him) in exchange for 3000 yen.

It was an honest mistake on our part and we apologised profusely. There was no sign that any of his customers were turned away as a result of our parking there as it was almost closing time when my friend came to pick us up but clearly he just wanted his money. We tried to negotiate a lesser fee when we realised he definitely wanted money over anything else but even then he rejected our offer insisting that we pay the penalty as written on his Japanese sign.

We then had a brain wave. Since parking was free for customers of his restaurant, why didn't we go to his restaurant and order something for less than 3000 yen. We would then automatically be his customers, in which case our parking would be perfectly within "the rules". Realising that he had been out-foxed, this was when he REALLY reared his unreasonable side and refused to honour "the rules" that he had set out in writing from the start. Recognising that there was no winning this argument unless we had spent at least 3000 yen, we then proceeded to sit in his restaurant to warm up (no point standing out in the snow right?) and order a couple of beers till we reached 3000 yen. At least this way we got something for our money (instead of nothing at all).

I don't know if they have ever been overseas before in a country where they don't speak the language and but I hope that one day they understand the frustration of what we went through when coming across really unreasonable people.

Word to the wise people:
DO NOT GO TO IZAKAYA TORISHO IN KUTCHAN
The owner is mean and unreasonable =(

 

I think people should always be nice to tourists, because one day... you will be a tourist yourself.

Day 186: iPad 2 and Marketing

iPad 2 came out yesterday to much fanfare and I gotta admit that the promotional video is pretty slick and definitely makes people want to go buy the iPad 2.

However, I then discovered these videos created by JLE productions that really take the piss out of these videos and they are hilarious. I've included the link to some other spoofs that they've created. My personal favourite, the banned white iPhone 4 promo. Enjoy! ;)

 

This definitely won't stop the fanatics but more importantly I find that these videos are a pretty interesting commentary of the hysteria that goes with the launch of each Apple product. I think Apple have done a wonderful job to create this hype and fanatical fan base that allows each product to pretty much sell itself. Apple probably spends a lot less on marketing as a % of revenue than many other companies. 

Afterall, a wise man once said that "Marketing is the price you pay for being unremarkable".

Heck, they've even got these guys inadvertently marketing for them (even if they are panning the products!)

Day 185: Truly a BREAK from school

Am in Niseko enjoying a nice break away from the bubble that is INSEAD. Unfortunately, I've accidentally taken my break too literally and have cracked my ribs while skiing. While this has caused me a fair amount of discomfort (e.g. it hurts when I cough, sneeze or even laugh), I'm thankful the damage isn't much worse. This is probably going to put my out of action for at least 4 weeks at the earliest. I wonder if I can still to other things like swim and cycle before it's completely healed.

I am bummed that I'm not fully enjoying the winter sports that I would be if I had not sustained this injury. Maybe in some ways it's a good thing to be able to slow things down a bit and really enjoy a relaxing break although I really could do WITHOUT the pain from laughing. In my opinion, that's just cruel especially after the now infamous "Drunk Banana" prank. It had me laughing so hard, I was in literally in pain. So funny, yet so painful. =(

In the absence of the ability to take part in the MAIN reason that I'm here (to ski), I've had to branch out to other slightly less vigorous activities like exploring the local onsens which are amazing. Sore muscles or not, soaking in a hot tub of spring water while it is snowing outside can only be described as heavenly. If you've never done it before, I highly recommend you do at some point in your life. I've also taken to photographing more things around me in an attempt to amuse myself and will probably attempt to make a snowman tomorrow. Why? Just because. =)

Hmmm... I guess I no longer have an excuse for not catching up with my emails or with this blog while I'm here ;)

Random Fact: Kutchan, the town in which Niseko is situated in, is famous for skiing and potatoes so their mascot is... a skiing potato! You can't make this stuff up!

Jagata-kun, the Skiing Potato of Kutchan!

 

Day 181: Thanks for the memories of P3

The mass exodus from Singapore has begun with lots of my classmates flying out today and heading off to various destinations all around the world. It's not just Asia this time but people are traveling as far away as North and South America given that we have a week off and some people are taking the opportunity to do some company visits, take part in field trips and moving over to Wharton/Kellong/Fonty.

The past 2 weeks have flown by at nothing short of breakneck speed with deadline after deadline. Managed to squeeze a short trip to Krabi over a long weekend that I had in between and it proved to be a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of school. There's really so much more you learn about your classmates outside the classroom than you ever learn during your interactions in class.

I hate saying goodbye, not knowing when I'll see people again especially after having shared a significant amount of time with them, getting to know them and really building a friendship. There were many promises to meet again during the Grad Trip at least if not sooner but we all know that our time here at INSEAD is but fleeting and that one day in the not too distant future, we will have to say farewell to each other, not really knowing when we'll meet again. I found that I was definitely not alone in feeling that perhaps it's better to just slip off into the night silently without too much fuss or drama.

It was a really good day though, save for the fact that we had exams. Grad school exams are probably a lot less stressful than undergrad exams as you know you only need to pass and also because you have the experience of so many previous exams under your belt. What was tough for me though was having to continue with my exam while my classmates who had finished earlier were already beginning the end of period party outside without me!

The party was a great chance to catch up with people, chat about their holiday plans and of course say farewell to those not sharing the same campus as you the next period. Most of my classmates will be heading to FBL for P4/P5. Life on campus here in SGP will certainly be quite different with far fewer students on campus and hopefully a less stressful schedule for all of us. But I'm sure that the job search frenzy will take hold and people will get caught up in it (myself potentially included).

The day after just seems like such a drastic difference compared to the activity of yesterday. I'm heading off to Japan myself to go skiing with a friend from "outside the bubble" and his friends. I'm really looking forward to it as I haven't skied in almost 2 years and I've heard great things about Niseko in Japan. =)

Here's wishing safe travels to all my classmates who are traveling this break. Thank you for all the wonderful memories of P1/2/3. Here's wishing you all the best for P4 wherever you may be and I look forward to living vicariously through your photos and updates on FB. ;)

Day 180: Last day of P3 =(

Can't believe it's already the last day of P3! (Which also means it's our exam day)

Time is just absolutely zipping past and tonight many of us will say farewell to each other for at least the next 2 months (if not longer) with so many people switching campuses for P4/P5. Perhaps we'll meet again at Grad Trip or Graduation (depending on campus)

In the meantime (unfortunately), there's a small matter of an IPA exam standing between me and the farewell champagne party.

More updates tomorrow before I fly off to Japan!

Day 169: Happy Valentine's Day!

For all you bookworms out there...

Here's a link to a BBC Magazine Commentary on "Why books do not prepare us for real love"


Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Day 166: Nightmare week over!

Sometimes I feel like I just need to suppress the voice in my head that tells me to go to class and just hop on a plane to somewhere else instead. ;)

It's been a pretty brutal week in school and some days just feel like a complete blur given the sheer amount of activity going on. Thankfully the schedule eases up much more over the next final 2 weeks of P3 although it's kinda sad that it's the last 2 weeks to hang out with some of my friends before they move over to Fonty for the rest of their time at INSEAD.

I had another of those "this could only happen at INSEAD" moments this week when we essentially "took over" the bar at 1-Altitude on Thursday evening. Pretty amazing. I think most people come into this year fully aware of the fact that many of the experiences that we will have this year are so unique that you have never had them before and will very likely never have them again.

Think about it, how many times in your life are you likely to go out with >100 of your friends all at once, travel with a group of 30+ people to exotic locations, chat about what life is like from a local perspective across >30 different countries. That's probably why you throw yourself so fully into everything even though it exhausts you, even though your other friends think you're slightly mad. At the same time, you do need to fight the FOMO fear coz you can't physically be in 2 places at the same time and your body will break down if you keep running it into the ground.

Bring on the weekend and some much deserved down time. =)

Day 164: Cow Philosophy

My Corporate Entrepreneurship professor is known for his penchant for making fun of National Stereotypes. He does not mean to be offensive of course and trusts that we take the material in good humour. While discussing cultural norms in the context of international expansion of businesses, he shared with us the "Cow Philosophy". It's been circulating around the internet for a while but I doubt it will ever cease to be funny (and somewhat telling).

USA:  You have two cows.  You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.  You are surprised when the cow drops dead.

France:  You have two cows.  You go on strike because you want three cows.

Japan:  You have two cows.  You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them World-Wide.

Germany:  You have two cows.  You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

Britain:  You have two cows.  They are both mad.

Italy:  You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.

Russia:  You have two cows.  You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows.  You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

Switzerland:  You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.

Brazil:  You have two cows.  You enter into a partnership with an American corporation.  Soon you have 1000 cows and the American corporation declares bankruptcy.

India:  You have two cows.  You worship both of them.

China:  You have two cows.  You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported on them.

Israel:  There are these two Jewish cows, right?  They open a milk factory, an ice cream store, and then sell the movie rights. They send their calves to Harvard to become doctors. So, who needs people?

Singapore:  You have two cows. One is "Cow-beh", one is "Cow-bu" (Singlish slang). You are fined by the government for keeping them in your apartment.

Day 161: Where did the holidays go??? O_O

Can't believe it's Sunday night already after a 4 day holiday. While I don't dread Sunday evenings as much as I used to back in NS, it still seems like the past 4 days have really flown by. All the CNY eating/snacking/visiting seems to have all blurred together even though it's actually be a pretty action packed past few days.

Besides having the customary meals with my relatives from both sides of the family, I also managed to catch up with a couple of friends outside of INSEAD over the break and successfully avoid email for a few days too. Chinese New Year really is the perfect time for all sorts of reunions and a great excuse for groups that haven't met up in a while to meet up again and renew friendships. Since Chinese New Year runs for 15 days, I've got reunion plans for next weekend lined up also!

I'm sure many of my classmates are probably just touching down at Changi as I'm typing this after returning from various exotic locales. I look forward to seeing their pictures on Facebook soon and hearing about the ridiculous antics that people got up to. As for the ones that were "stranded" here in SG, a couple of them came over to my place on the 2nd day of the New Year for lil' get together. Figured this might be the only chance for some of them to experience Chinese New Year first hand, take part in some of the traditions and sample some of the snacks. =)

From the relative calm of the last 4 days, we enter the home stretch of P3. It's the last 3 weeks and 2 of my classes end this week. 2 more end the following week and 2 more the week after that (just before the hols). I still haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do for the P3/4 break yet. Need to figure that one out. Currently thinking either NZ, Japan (skiing) or perhaps a volunteer project in Cambodia that I just heard about. But before then, I need to finish 3 group projects, do 3 more group assignments and take 1 final exam. >.<

Guess there's only one thing to do. Take a deep breath and plunge right in.

Day 157: Rare public holiday break!

INSEAD are somewhat notorious for not observing public holidays either in France or Singapore so you can imagine my surprise when I found out that we were going to have 2 full days off for Chinese New Year here on the Singapore campus (not in Fonty though).

Additionally, Chinese New Year this year falls on a Thursday and Friday so it makes it a super long weekend for anyone looking to travel. Needless to say, at least 70% of the campus has decided to take this opportunity to travel over this break despite the high ticket prices (a lot of Singaporeans are also looking for a short break overseas).

I found it quite ironic that although most workers had the afternoon off today to prepare for the New Year, I ended up having class only at 3.45pm today! What I found pretty surprising was the fact that quite a few of my classmates were actually in class together with me. I had thought that more of them would have taken the opportunity to leave a day or two earlier. That being said, you could definitely tell the difference compared to a normal day.

Looking forward to the break and catching with friends outside of school I haven't seen in a while! And getting more sleep... maybe ;)

Song of the moment on campus: Barbara Streisand (keeps us going late at night when we still have work to do)

Day 152: Morning zombies (aka Heart of Europe Part 2)

"Morning zombies" are common sight after a big night out on a Thursday night. Last night was the Heart of Europe party and given that it's the first National Week, it was MASSIVE. People were really up for a big night last night and there was a definite energy on the dance floor. It's only been 2 weeks since the Bain party at the end of Welcome Week but already you could tell that people had been working very hard in the meantime and were looking for a chance to let their hair down. The Heart of Europe team certainly did not disappoint us with their party although the choice of a Latin club made the venue somewhat odd. I guess it's hard to find hardcore German techno club / rave here in SG (or maybe I've just never looked for it!)

Unsurprisingly, there were a few people looking a bit worse for wear this morning in school but the key thing is that they still showed up and soldiered on despite probably not getting very much sleep. I salute them for their effort. That's work hard play hard at its very best for you alright. =)

A big thank you to the Heart of Europe team for a great week full of events both big and small. Bring on Iron Curtain (Eastern Europe) Week in 3 weeks time!

Amusing Class Moment / Lesson of the Week:
This comes from my Market Driving Strategies class and shows a series of automobile ads as they "responded" to one another jibes. This isn't a recent campaign but it's hilarity is timeless.

BMW started it

Audi fought back

Subaru came from left field

Bentley ENDED the argument
(Reportedly photoshopped but still priceless!)

Day 148: Heart of Europe

National Weeks are back in full swing again and first up in 2011 is the Heart of Europe Week (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Popular belief has it that they were the only National Week who could get the week organised this early in the year and so soon after the Christmas holidays. Guess German/Austrian/Swiss efficiency has its merits afterall. ;)

From our experience in P1, we know that the first National Week with the P1's around is always a hot seller but I don't think anyone anticipated the frenzy that accompanied the tickets sales today. I heard that tickets for the dinner tonight sold out before lunch time and that everything was completely sold out (t-shirts and party tickets) before 5pm today. Amazing response!

The buffet dinner at Paulaner certainly did not disappoint with the only complaint from most people being that they ate too much because the food was too good! No other better way to wash it all down of course than with a liter of German beer. If today is anything to go by, the rest of the week should be fantastic. =)

The only thing some of us have to watch out for is not to burn out from exhaustion. I know it's only the start of the week but some of my classmates definitely came back from the weekend looking more exhausted than when they left for the weekend! The number and intensity of the assignments and readings are certainly not letting up. Maybe we could all use a little German/Austrian/Swiss efficiency boost to get through all the work this week.

Thankfully I had a really relaxing weekend in Pangkil with some of my classmates. Definitely one of those things you don't really get the chance to do unless you're at INSEAD and surrounded by a large group of people who are up for a similar getaway. The phrase of the weekend most certainly has to be "Are you a man or a bag of potatoes?"

The perfect prescription for a crazy week is definitely PANGKIL-ers. ;)

Another beautfiul sunset brought to you by God, sponsored by Pangkil

P.S. In response to my previous acronym post, a friend of mine came up with a really good one:
INSEAD = I Never Stop Eating And Drinking

Day 144: Cure for exhaustion

It has been a super busy past few days but today really takes the cake. I had an 8.30am - 7.00pm day. That means 6 classes back to back with a 30min break for lunch. I don't know how some of my classmates do it but I am so tired at the end of the day even though I had 6 hours of sleep. I know quite a few people who went out last night and one of my group members only ended up going to bed at 5am this morning! Let's just say that coffee was one of my best friends today although I haven't gone down the Red Bull path yet...

Breakfast of Champions
(my P1/P2 "neighbour's" regular start to the day)

The great thing about it though is that despite the fact that I'm exhausted by the sheer amount of activity and work required, I genuinely do feel like I had a great time in school today. Really enjoyed all the classes I had today and feel like I've learnt something, been challenged intellectually and gotten to know people better. People often ask what a day in the life of an MBA is like so here's a sneak peek into what my long day was like.

My first class of the day dissected the US Ford Fiesta social media campaign and we had a lively discussion about the strengths and shortcomings of that campaign from 2009. My key takeaway was to have a clear idea of how you're going to harness all the excitement of the buzz generated otherwise it just dies off.

The next class (double) I had was an Idea Tournament which is kinda like American Idol for Business Ideas except that all of us were the judges. Lots of really cool interesting ideas that had a lot of potential were presented. Honestly, I'd be pretty excited to work on quite a few of them if people were really serious about forming a team.

Following a quick lunch, I learnt more about the death care industry in North America and financial distress from my finance class. I know it's a pretty morbid topic but a really fascinating industry. Very stable revenues as you can imagine! Also, there's a lot of money to be made in consolidating if done properly. ;)

My last class (double) of the day was a computer simulation Marketing Strategy game that we are all playing against each other. My group's company is still in the lead after 3 rounds but competition is getting fierce! Will we still be in the lead after next period? Stay tuned!

Just because classes are done doesn't mean that your day is done. Not by a long shot.

Met up with my group from my first class to discuss a paper that's due tomorrow (last minute panic is a wonderful motivator!) before catching up with some classmates who were still around. Finally managed to eat dinner closer to 10pm. I know many of my Spanish classmates would still think that's early for dinner. ;)

After a crazy day (and a crazy week in fact!), I'm glad the weekend is almost here. Heading to Pangkil (a private Indonesian island off Bintan) tomorrow with a couple of classmates. Must admit it's a bit of a "right of passage" here on the Singapore campus. Seems like just about everyone who studies here spends at least one weekend ther.

I've heard it's just lovely and very very relaxing. A chance to just kick back and enjoy a bit of sunshine and nature. Sounds like just what I need. Oh... and there's no internet.

Perfect =)

Day 139: Courses finalised & Bain Party

Can't believe it's already been a week and a half since I started the period. Feels like sooo much has happened in the past few days that could quite easily have taken up twice as much time as it all has. That being said, I'm glad that I've finally got my classes for this period sorted out and it's all systems go now.

I'm signed up for the following classes:

• International Political Analysis (IPA) - Core
• Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) - Entrepreneurship
• Applied Corporate Finance (ACF) - Finance
• Market Driving Strategies (MDS) - Marketing
• Advertising and Social Media Strategy (ASMS) - Marketing
• Strategies in Product and Service Development (SPSD) - Technology & Ops Mgmt

I feel that they cover a pretty wide range of topics across various department with some really cool projects/discussions and some amazing professors. One thing I'll need to be careful of is to make sure I stay on top of the classes as far as possible as the workload for these courses combined can be quite a handful.

In other more fun news, the Bain party at the end of Welcome Week last night was just as amazing as the one back in September, if not better in my opinion since we (the P3's) know each other a lot better now and therefore are more likely to throw each other in the pool. =P


I think it's pretty cool that Bain sponsor this out of all the other events that companies sponsor at INSEAD. Definitely don't see any other consulting companies doing anything similar for a large-scale social event. My question though is whether the company see this as marketing budget well spent or not? I'm not necessarily convinced that it incrementally helps with their recruitment efforts but it certainly gives people a positive association with the company name. Everyone who's graduated from INSEAD recently always remembers their own Welcome Week Bain party with a smile. That can't be a bad thing.


Don't think there are too many pictures from the event as most people knew better than to bring any electronic items (phones, cameras etc.) to the party as there's often a very high chance they'll get wet... The best memories are all in our heads though, right where they belong.

FBL guys: You really missed out. Just ask anyone who was there. ;)



P.S. Probably the only downside was the fact that the bar staff at Cafe Del Mar were simply downright rude and pissed off a lot of us as some of them clearly had an attitude problem. If I were the management, I would seriously try to address this issue because there's no way we'll want to go back to drop the kind of money that we did there if they are going to spoil the evening with their surliness.

Day 134: Sweet sweet procrastination

You know you have a lot of work when your mind starts to wander and you can't stop thinking of anything other than work.

INSEAD: Internationals Notoriously Sightseeing Europe & Asia Diligently

What's your version?

I'm also highly amused that one of my classmates has FINALLY come back to Singapore today, 6 days after P3 started. Well done "Animal". You're certainly living up to your nickname. ;)

Day 131: I think I need a nap already

First week back in school for P3 and I already feel like I need a nap. Most of my classes this period are electives which in my opinion are more interesting than the core classes for the simple fact that they are what you want to take rather than something that is imposed on you. If you never want to touch another Finance course again, you can pretty stay clear of it. That being said, Advanced Corporate Finance is annually a very popular course!

My schedule this period looks to be pretty insane and I know I've got to be pretty ruthlessly focused with my time otherwise I'll fall behind and will end up drowning in work/emails/group meetings. There are a couple of days where I have 6 classes back to back from 8.30am in the morning till 7pm at night with 15 minute intervals between them and a 30min lunch break. I think most full time jobs aren't even that demanding on your time!

The SGP campus has been "taken over" by our FBL visitors with them slightly outnumbering us this period but it's actually a nice balance of familiar faces and new ones (almost 50/50). While people aren't quite as keen to meet new people as compared to the first few days of P1, I'm sure everyone would like to get to know people from the "other campus" (depending on your perspective) and find out more about student life over there. We are after all one school. It's natural that you naturally gravitate to the people that you are most familiar with, especially if you haven't seen them for a while. But I'm confident that both sides will warm up to each other eventually and I'm pretty sure we're all going to make sure this is the best period ever. =)

Day 127: A year of endless possibilities

As the year begins, so does the recruitment frenzy for our class. I believe most people will switch gears slightly and give more time and attention to searching out for that job that they want more then striving for top marks in any particular class (especially if your dreams of the Dean's list have long evaporated). I know I'll be personally looking out for interesting opportunities myself and speaking to as many people as possible to understand what's out there and how I might be able to contribute.

One thing I'm still exploring is the field of entrepreneurship. It's something that deeply fascinates me largely due to the passion that entrepreneurs I've spoken to have displayed for their chosen ventures. Conversations with them are generally much more interesting than any that I've had with any banker/consultant/finance professional/industry executive.

While attending an entrepreneurship conference last period, one of the guest speakers made a fairly interesting comment in that he felt that one of the greatest "flaws" of Singapore was that it was too "perfect". Things worked, the government made sure that things ran smoothly, there are decent job opportunities. Coming back from my holidays, I can sorta see why that could be a stumbling block for entrepreneurs but yet can also serve as an accelerator for entrepreneurship if we can get people to change their mindsets about success/failure.

In other countries where the government isn't so omnipresent and efficient, private enterprises often step in to fill in the gaps. "Friction" (for lack of a better word) presents opportunities for people to smooth things out. I'm not saying that there aren't opportunities in more efficient societies, but you have to dig a bit below the surface to find them. They aren't always as apparent.

The opportunities costs of setting up your business also tend to be a higher when you have fairly decent alternatives to doing so. If you can earn a pretty decent living working for a large corporation (with all its perks), you'll probably be less likely to give it all up to try out a business idea. When life isn't so comfortable, people tend to have a stronger desire and hunger to improve things and in the process often set up businesses to do so.

That being said, I recognise that the government here has tried to make it as easy as possible to set up businesses here and is often very willing to provide seed money for ideas that they think have potential to provide value to the country.

I know many of my classmates are looking to become entrepreneurs as well. An often quoted statistic about INSEAD is that ~80% of students take at least 1 Entrepreneurship elective while at INSEAD and ~50% of graduates set up or run their own company at some point in their careers.

Given the government's drive to encourage and support entrepreneurship coupled with INSEAD's strength in this field, it certainly sounds like a match made in heaven for all interested parties.

Day 125: Relaxing year end break and a New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Just came back from a great trip to Vietnam where I spent a couple of days in Ho Chi Minh followed by some cycling around the Mekong Delta. Really nice to be able to disconnect from the world for a few days and just get back to basics. Taking the time to enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and the company of the people around you without worrying about emails or phonecalls.

Beautiful and tranquil countryside

Absolutely insane traffic in the city

That being said, I did bump into a classmate of mine outside the Reunification Palace in HCM. It was pretty hilarious when we saw each other. AND, cellphone reception was immaculate even while cycling through the middle of the rice fields as our guide's "Holla' Back Girl" ringtone would attest to.

Need to catch on some sleep now after arriving back this morning but will write more about my thoughts on the trip and its connection with entrepreneurship next time.

In the meantime, enjoy some new random trivia courtesy of the BBC. "100 things we didn't know last year".