Sydney

It's going to be close to 3 weeks since i got to Sydney. My Internet was up long ago but its just that i couldn't get myself down to posting. I've been fully occupied with all the administrative stuff of moving to a new place, then came enrolling into the uni and now its with lessons.

The weather here is much cooler than Singapore however, there has been a few days of storms. During this time it rained for almost 2-3days continuously, it was pretty cold during those few days. It has been quite an experience living away from home and I think army did a good job in teaching me how to lead an independent life. I do my own washing and cleaning but at times i do miss my maid. She was very happy when i told her that....

I'm doing 4 modules this semester; Accounting Principles, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets, Principles of Econometrics and Quantitative Finance. Before we got here, Srikanth and I, both toughened by NTU Mechanical Engin's 7 module semester thought the workload wouldn't be too much to handle. However, the workload is much heavier and we find ourselves working pretty hard here.

This post has some pictures around my room as well. The first picture is the sight out of my window! I'm on the 9th floor and my room faces the entire Sydney CBD. The last three pictures are taken around my room

Departure..

Its the 18th of February, the day I leave to Sydney for my masters. For many months I've had to repeat "18th of February" several times to many people who asked "so when are u leaving to Sydney".

I'm filled with mixed feelings. I just hope everything goes well. My next blog would be when I've settled down and my internet connection is up at the SUV.

Last post for 2007...

This shall be the last post for the year 2007. Some events that made this year a truly memorable one.

1. I finally graduated from NTU.
2. Got accepted into University of Sydney for my Masters.
3. Don't owe the SAF anymore time, yes I finally ORD!
4. Three of the SAJC Makkalz got married. That leaves just 4 singles in the pack of 7.
5. Started working at National Australia Bank. At least there's now something on my resume besides ST Aerospace.

I'm sure there's more but I just can't recall all of them. Well moving ahead, I hope to leave all the baggage of the previous years behind and start 2008 afresh. I'm looking forward to moving to Sydney and studying but at the same time it feels to sad to leave home and all my loved ones. But this is my one chance and I'm going to seize it and make the most out of it. Considering the amount I'm investing into these 1.5 years, i hope to reap maximum Returns on Investment (ROI).

Life always comes with ups and downs, failing which something is seriously wrong. After spending 4years applying Newton's 2nd law in every probable scenario, the new course is going to bring a new set of challenges. The complexity increases with the fact of being away from home and in a different environement and system.

To end I'd like to quote from Sachin Tendulkar, “I think I have already spoken a lot. Now it is time for me to play.”

And play I will.....

India's Disappointing Show

Today was the end of the first test match on the 'Indian tour down-under'. As always the Aussies proved that they are the best team in the cricket world and nobody was going to displace them. They beat the Indians by 337 runs, a margin you wouldn't expect given the Indians batting line up.

It was sad to see a side that has most of the world's top batsman collapse like a pack of cards. the thing that really struck me was Dravid's game.

Rahul Dravid (or The Wall) is one of the most senior player on the Indian team at the age of 35. he was also the former captain of the team before he 'passed' the baton to M.S.Dhoni. What I could never understand was what was happening to this man? He's a man who bats carefully but with such class and flourish of the bat but in both innings of this test Dravid seemed to be in a shell. Normally batting at no.3, when made to open, he looked like a fish out of the water. and the joy of playing cricket, was never on his face throughout the game. it looked like he was there in alot of 'pain'. he has an average of 55.45 but in these 2 innings he scored mere 5 from 66 balls in the 1st innings and 16 from 144 balls in the 2nd innings. I just hope for India's sakes at least that Dravid's game improves in the Sydney game.

After a very long time....

Its been close to two months since my last blog and I've finally decided to post after a very long time.

Well many things have happened and its just easier to list them, just to make it easier for you to read.

1. Job - I got a job at National Australia Bank Asia in Ops. I wanted to start on on it after my exams but my boss wanted me in 3 weeks earlier. The option was either to take it or leave it. So I took the risk and went ahead with the job. The first few weeks were real tough, especially having to learn stuff at work and then rush home to study for CFA. However, its turned out all fine and I'm having quite a blast. At least now I can't be told "but u only have engineering work experience". And I'm going to Australia with the working experience at one of Australia's biggest banks on my resume, so I'm one up.

2. CFA - Well what can i say? The exam was tough and i was literally blanking out towards the last 1 hour of the 2nd paper. What was more shocking was the amount of people doing it. I'm sure there were at least 2000 or so people doing it. Many looked like undergrads who were doing something to pass time during their holidays and PRC people. So that leaves you wondering what real worth is there left in the charter anymore?

3. Cricket - In my last update it was probably still the Aussies tour of India. it was followed by the Pakistan tour of India and they got their ass kicked big time. India won both the test and ODI series. now that the Indians are in Australia lets see how they do there. Srikanth and i were planning to catch the one day game at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) however all the tickets were sold out and whatever that's left now costs around $150. I think I'll settle for the TV.

4. Masters - The visa has been applied for, we're still waiting for the reply though and the tickets have been booked. Srikanth and i leaving on the 18th of February at 1955hrs on QANTAS AIRWAYS, QF 0006. There's much excitement as well as uncertainty surrounding the whole trip. First, is that of getting settled in and doing well at our studies.

Second, is around the Australian PR requirements. In order to work in Australia, most employers require you to be either an Aussie or NZ PR or citizen. in order to obtain an Aust PR, your course should be 2 years and without a PR you cant even apply for a job there, except at a few banks which are willing to take non-ANZ people. However, Australia is normally a net exporter of staff in the banking industry and many Aussie students go to Hong Kong or London, both of which are totally fine with me. So we're just hoping for the best and hoping that what got us this far will get us through. We'll both be 27 at the time we finish our masters as we wasted 2.5 years of our precious lives being bald and singing 'training to be soldiers, fight for our land' and the pressure is on. We'll basically be 4years behind the gals our age in terms of the number of years they had at a career then again there's 40years ahead so y look at 4 years?

At the end of the day,

"Life' battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can!"

and I totally subscribe to this school of thought.

9 days later....

Well nothing has happened in the last 9 days that I had to blog about. Well Hema got registered last Monday so we were all at the Jurong Spring CC for it. Since Naresh and Gold's ROM, this was the first time we were meeting. That makes it close to 5months later.

That the curse of life after school, everyone is so tied up with their lives that there's no time to meet up. After Hema's done with her Master's, she'll be moving to the UK or US, so we'll get to see her once or twice a year at the max. Lets see what happens to the SAJC Makkalz in the near future....

Another post...

Its been exactly 2weeks since my last post. Just been very tied down with CFA, 2 performances for Navarathri and of cos the Future Cup (Australia's Tour of India).

Anyway I'm at my last book and way behind schedule but some cock ups are just unavoidable.