April 22, 2010
Where’s the semester gone?
I seemed to have taken a sabbatical from blog posting since Fong Yee and I went on our Africa trip last December. Since I came back in January, life has been like a whirlwind that only now has slowed down a bit. So what has the past four months entailed in Arthur’s life? Well for starters:
Africa : this was a trip that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and I’m really glad we got the chance to go and experienced so much of Tanzania. The trip was neatly segmented into three parts:
- Mount Kilimanjaro: we started off with the highlight of the whole trip (well at least for me anyway). Climbing this was a personal accomplishment, 5895m! I was also very impressed with how well Fong Yee handled the summit. She was tough as nail and kept pace for the entire eight days of trekking.
- Safari: this was just like a show out of the National Geographic channel, we went through the Serengeti and a few other national parks, and saw all the big game animals there.
- Zanzibar: we ended off with FY’s favourite part of the trip. This included a stay at a beach bungalow set up that was run by a Japanese lady. We had a great Christmas dinner there, in the dark no less (Zanzibar was without electricity from beginning of December, it didn’t get power back until early March).
CNY in HK: spending Chinese New Years in Hong Kong was quite special, I haven’t done it since every year in Canada I am either in school or working. This year however NUS gave us a break during this time of the year (yay for Asian schools). Fong Yee and I headed back to visit friends and families, other than that we ate and shopped a lot, as we do on every HK visit.
Venture Capital Competition: four of my classmates and I took part in the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC). We first went to Indian Business School (ISB) in Hyderabad, India, for the Asian round of competitions. We faced five other schools from Asia, and we came out on top! That got us into the final international round which was held at University of North Carolina. We travelled there early April to compete, and even though we did not win, we learned a lot during the entire process of preparing and practicing for the competition. This was one of the things that I did not push myself towards joining while I was an undergraduate. I’m sure glad I got the opportunity to do it here on my MBA program.
Hyderabad, India: while I was there for VCIC, the team and I took a day to visit Hyderabad. I’ve never been to India so it was a great eye-opening experience for me. The highlight of the day was the biryani that we had at this famous restaurant called Paradise. The biryani definitely lived up to the hype!
Job: well, while in December I secured myself a full-time job with Barclays. Fong Yee and I will be in London starting this September. I will be on an accelerated program to finish my MBA early, by the end of July. This means I will be doing courses straight through the summer, so no internships or exchange programs. It’s great that I don’t have to worry about looking for full-time work, I can just enjoy the rest of my time here in Singapore and with my MBA. However, I do miss the fact that I won’t be able to do an internship and exchange, two of the things that I believe are very important to an MBA (or any) program. Was it a right choice to be the first one out of the gate? We’ll see what’s in store for me in the next couple of years as I go on my executive rotation program with Barclays.
Ok, Fong Yee is going to ridicule me for chronicling my last four months in a single blog entry. All in all this has been a really good semester, most of which is helped by the fact that Fong Yee is here in Singapore now. We’re having a great time experiencing the Singaporean life, and we look forward to getting as much as possible out of our remaining time here.
Art
