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.

Kumble's 10wicket haul...

After a long time....

Its been close to 3weeks since I've last posted anything. If u read my last post i mentioned about starting a new part of the CFA syllabus and boy was that hell. Having no accounting background, I struggled like mad to understand what was going on. Anyway I finished it and am now behind schedule so I've got to start going ahead in full steam so that I can finish in time.

Added to the work load there is the distraction of the Rugby world cup and a greater distraction, Australia's tour of India. At least a Rugby match lasts 80mins and its over but even a one day cricket match can go on for more than 6 or 7hours. Even if i turn the tv off to study, my mind is only thinking about 'how many runs Yuvraj scored' and not about corporate finance.

For those who have been bored at work and asked me to update my blog so that you can be entertained, here is something for you....

Lethargy....

Its been quite a few days since I last posted and i would attribute it to sheer lethargy. I've just been feel so tired and lazy the last few days that I've got to force myself to study and while studying i have this irritatingly strong urge to just go online and slack. i seem to be spending time online reading stuff more than reading my books.

it just doesn't stop there, I've been having problems sleeping at night. I only tend to fall asleep at close to 3am and wake up by 0830. hence, i feel really sleepy for the rest of the day. God alone knows what's happening to me.

Well besides studying, i went to church Novena this afternoon. On the CFA front, I'm at the last chapter of Economics which I was too saturated to finish today and have left it to tomorrow. The next book is on 'Financial Statement Analysis'. Its going to be totally new compared to Econs (which I read in jc) so I'm going to have an interesting time ahead. I'm determined to clear it the first time round so that I won't feel that i wasted the last 6 months. Well I found something to motivate myself as I was surfing the net so here it is;

Krishna said,"Do your duty, Arjun, as your nature dictates. All work fetters, as all fire gives smoke. Only selfless duty saves. Fix your mind on me. Surrender all deeds to me. All problems will be solved by my grace. Pride will lead only to your moral ruin. If, filled with pride, you say, 'I will not fight,' it is all in vain. You are foolish. Fight you will, your nature will make you fight. Your karma will make you fight. You will fight in spite of yourself."-Mahabharata, Book Six: Bhishma (P. Lal)

So thou shall do my duty of studying and surrender all my deeds.

Visa Blues

Yesterday, I went to Raffles Hospital for my medical check up. The whole places was packed with students and people from China, I didn't know Singapore now offers mainlanders immediate citizenship. Anyway the check up and x-ray was only about 20mins but I took me 3hours to get out of that place. The doctor who did the check up found all the question asked quite hilarious. Later in the evening the nurse in charge of the clinic called to let me know that the doctor who did the check up was authorised by the Australian Embassy and so I had to go back again today to see him.

The visa drama didn't end there. just as i was going to make my online application for the visa, on the page where it says 'Click here to start application', there's a statement saying "Visa applications can only be made 124days before the course commences" and it isn't 124days yet. So to sort all this out I went to the Australian High Commission after my visit to the hospital. The lady at the counter told me that the medical records are valid for 12 months so I can just apply nearing the time I need the visa.

So for those of you who plan on going to US, UK or Australia on a long term basis, please start preparing early for all their visa requirements. They don't plan on letting Asian brats like us on their good land easily i guess ;-)

The Hakka!

For those who have never watched the All Blacks play, they traditionally perform the hakka just before the game. Its the Maori war dance so this is for those haven't seen it before...



The old Hakka thats normally done...

09/09/07

Quite an interesting date it is...it is more interesting to think where I'll be or what I'll be doing on 09/09/09. By that time i would have finished my masters and hopefully be well settled in my first job.

Yesterday, Srikanth and I went to Oxford Tailors to order his suit after which we had lunch. Looks like it'll easily set us back close to $800, I'll make mine sometime in December or January. Since I'm down with a sore throat and running nose, i decided to stay home yesterday evening and catch the rugby match. New Zealand All Blacks VS Italy. What a trashing that was, 76-14....great game. In cricket, India just lose the series after a disappointed match yesterday.

Well that's really all there is for now. Tomorrow is my medical check up at the Raffles Hospital. It's a really lazy Sunday and I'm having a hard time getting myself to work.

Its Friday...

Its the end of another week, which means I'm one week close to my CFA exams as well. I've not gone out anywhere since coming back to Singapore as my gf has gone on a holiday with her family. Another week before she's back in SG, so for now its Economics from CFA that's keeping me company.

To those who plan on going to Australia to study, start doing stuff for your visa early. Firstly, the embassy website occasionally will not load. Secondly, you can be put on hold for an hour and nobody will attend to your call. Lastly, the forms are so long and detailed that it'll take you quite sometime filling them up. Called Raffles Hospital which is one of the designated clinics for the visa check up to enquire about the cost and the procedure, so I'll be going down on Monday to get it done. Tests include test for mental stability, intelligence, HIV, Hep B & C and VD. There's an x-ray as well to see if all your limbs are in place.

Tom morrow, Srikanth and I are going to Oxford Tailors to order our suit to bring with us to Sydney. He's in a rush to tailor it since he wants to bring to it to India with him but I'm only getting mine done sometime in mid-November. Probably have to tailor some good shirts to bring with us for presentations and etc. For the sg guys who fuss about wearing a tie, the minimum dress code at an interview in Australia is a suit.

Found something interesting on Wikipedia so for those who understand Tamil take a read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_bashai

Back in Singapore...

Landed in Singapore yesterday at around 0730hrs. Since all I got myself in Chennai was 4 shirts i went to the duty free and got myself the Polo Black which I had been wanting to get for sometime. The duty free price was close to $30 cheaper than the normal shops so it was quite a good deal.

For the updates on the rest of the trip, on Friday we went to Thirupathi. After a 3hrs plus drive we reached Thirupathi and then another 3omin drive up the hill to Tirumala. We had a good darshan except for the pushing and shoving by people there. They were acting as if God was going to run away. I think if the whole crowd was more organised, everyone could still have had their darshan and it would have been a more pleasant experience. Anyway that's how India and Indians work i guess....

On Sunday night, we went for a night show to watch Sivaji-The Boss. The movie stared Superstar Rajinikanth, Shreya and Vivek. I was interested in going for it cos the posters all over Chennai looked damn dumb especially the one where Rajini had blond hair. But when the movie started and Shreya came, goodness i was in total awe. She's just drop dead gorgeous and her dance moves were awesome. I'll add some pics of her to give u a better 'picture'.

Anyway now I'm back to my routine here. The university has sent me the documents to apply for my Australian student visa. So I've just got to go for my medical check up and then apply for my visa which is supposed to take only 2days. Anyway its better to get stuff like this settled asap.

Pillayarpatti and Madurai

Landed in Chennai at around 12am this morning due to flight delays. There was heavy rain and lightning storms across the whole of Southern India. Anyway the flight was good, went on board a new domestic carrier called Paramount Airways. It basically offers internal flights across the major cities in South India. However, all the air stewards and hostesses are from North India, most of the gals seemed to be Punjabi. Most were really really good looking.

After landing at Madurai on Tuesday, we took a 1.5hr drive to Pillayarpatti. Dad had paid for the 'abishegam' before the 'Adutha Jaamam' pooja (the last pooja before the temple is closed for the day). After the prayers, we went to the temple agraharam to visit one of the former temple priest's family. That man passed on a few years back so my dad just wanted to go see the maami.Of cos in these place there's alot of "madi and aachaaram" so when they give you water or drinks, you are expected to keep the cup in the air can drink. The point is for your saliva not to come into contact with their cups, its good hygiene i guess.

On Wednesday, my dad had some purchasing to do for the temple. After that it was lunch at another former temple priest's house. The maami had made great food. I think I haven't eaten so much or had such a great lunch in ages. After that we took a drive to Madurai to go to Thiruparankundram where we had a great drashan as well and then flew back to Chennai.

In Chennai

On Monday morning, I left home at 0640 to check in for my flight which was scheduled to leave at 0825hrs then in typical Indian Airlines style we were told that the flight has been rescheduled to 1010hrs for operational reasons. So we went to the biz class lounge and had breakfast after which I went to the watch shop in the airport to check out the loads of nice watches.

After we boarded the aircraft, they moved it till the taxiway and then decided something was wrong with the aircraft and so we went back to the apron and waited. We waited from 1000 to 1300, which was when we took off. And for safety reasons, the captain decided against flying across the Bay of Bengal and went on a route that was near land so it took 4.5hrs. I didn't mind all the wait as there was super hot air hostess, Nancy on board. She had one of the most angelic faces I've ever seen. It was a stark contrast to the usual old woman you get on Indian airlines. Then I realised she only served biz class and aunties were for the economy class. Even the class u travel in determines the gals who serve you.

Anyway after landing I went to Gowdya Mutt temple with my aunt and had the greatest paal payasam I've had in my life. Today, I'm taking a 55min flight to Madurai followed by a 1.5hour drive to Karaikuddi.

Holiday at last....

My last holiday was sometime in May 2005 when the sajc makkalz made a trip to Bangkok for 4days. Since we went with the gals, it included massive amounts of time spent shopping at all the street market. Well it was a good decision on Naresh and Gold's part to organise that trip because ever since that trip, even meeting up with these people is difficult. For the record, since the start of 2007, the only time we all got together was at Naresh and Gold's engagement.

Well I'm off to Chennai on Monday(27/08) for a week with my dad. My mum and aunt would be joining us on Thursday (30/08). We are all going for my uncle's house prayers, not housewarming but just prayers since they are installing the main doorway for the new house that he's building. Dad and I would be going to Pillayarpatti, Thiruparangkundram and Madurai Meenatchiamman Temple before my mum and aunt arrive. After the house prayers are done the whole lot of us are going to Thirupathi and this time I hope we can walk up. The last trip we made, by the time we reached it was too late to walk up as it isn't too safe to start walking in the night.

My last trip to India was in June 2004, so its been 3 years since I've gone there. I'm quite sure my aunt will cook and stuff me to the point where I feel like puking so I've got to brace myself for that.

2008 Presidential Race

Read a piece of news on Yahoo! which mentioned about this interesting video on you tube so I decided to post it here. This is the new face of Americian politics, maybe in the next GE, we might have a PAP gal and SDP gal....u never know what is is possible in the 'city of possibilities'. This is a video of a gal who calles herself the Obama Gal and supports the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Enjoy it she's kinda hot too....

ORD OH!!!

Finally its my ORD! 2.5 years that included 3.5mths after uni has come to an end. As a farewell gift, I got Staff Ridzwan and Staff Tham a pen each yesterday. Well for Staff Ridz, it was for all the welfare that he made sure we had as nsf in TAB. Staff Tham, tolerated all my ORD crap for the whole 3.5mths so he deserved it.

Collected my pink ic, my certificate of service and the 'NS-Men' sticker on my 11b from chief clerk this morning. Before which I had to sign my release forms which had quite a few terms...so guess I can't stand for President of the US&A just yet. For now I'll let mama Clinton and the rest fight it out...

There was such a sense of joy or whatever its called. When I was entered camp and flashed my pass to the 2 RPs the thought that came to me was "I'll flash my bloody pink ic when i'm going out" of cos I didn't do it. If I had done it,the RP would have probably cursed my entire family (past, present and future) all day long, especially since he was standing in the rain with his poncho and M-16(a soldiers best friend besides his buddy).

I just hope I don't ever get called for reservist even its going to be about being a clerk or medic or whatever shit. I hope I don't have to sew ranks on my no.4 since I have not used after training wing. Can u imagine at having to singing
"Purple light in the valley,
That is where I wanna be,
Infantry best companion,
With my rifle and my buddy and me..."

Maybe as a chao recruit it might have been fun singing those nonsense songs about seeing your girlfriend with another man on your book out day and how to raped her and kill the guy but now its not going to be fun anymore. Well lets hope the saf has had enough of me!

Signing out for day CPL(NS) R S Vignesh, Over and Out!!

ORD - 1

Well its Thursday already so I'm just one day away from ORD. Got to go to camp later in the afternoon for my FFI (Fit For Infantry) so thought of meeting the ORD Corporal gang for lunch one last time at the Whitehouse. After this I'll have no more of the SAF or so I hope.

While having my shower this evening one of those mindless songs I sang as a Recruit came to my mind. I'm sure all the guys would remember marching to the cookhouse singing "training to be soldier...fight for our land...". No more training, no more ironing uniforms, no more beret/peak caps, polishing shoes etc.

Anyway had a great time and it was an experience I'll treasure for life. Especially the lessons learnt and people met but still I rather be CPL(NS) R S Vignesh!!

The photo in the post was taken on Sunday during the COG which I went to watch. That's the Clarinet section with LTA Tan Aik Kee on the extreme left, 2WO Ong and 1SG Kadar to my left.

Heuter ist Dienstag.

Just out of curiosity, I dropped by Jobstreet.com this morning and saw a position "Fund Managers Assistant". The position looked for students on vacation or studying part time and it was a temporary assignment between 3-6 months. So went for the interview with the agent. The woman who interviewed me looked like she joined the agency 2 weeks back, she was totally blur and didn't ask me anything. When I asked her about the job, the only thing she could tell me was, "ermm...its assisting the fund managers i guess?? that's what I gathered from what the client told me." I felt like shaking her and asking her if I was so dumb not to know that. Anyway lets see what's the outcome.

Anyway after that I went to Times Bookshop at Golden Shoe to look for a book that I wanted. My gf was getting it for me as our anniversary present so I just went to check if it was there since I was in the area. Anyway, they had the book there so I just got it. The book's title is "Guide to Analysing Companies" its part of The Economist series of books. I thought the content was good and that it would be useful during my masters as well. Anyway, a useful gift is always the best gift,at least to me. I think I'll have to use Foo Check Teck's method of reading 2 books at a time so that I can finish this as well. I'm still not done with my undercover economist, its getting kinda dry especially when they go on talking for pages about negative externalities.

My mirdangam teacher who had a stroke on my convo day is out of ICU, I'm yet to visit him. But the guys were saying he now responds by slightly opening his eyes when called. Heard he cant recognise his own wife and kids, I doubt he'll be playing after this so that's the end of my mirdangam class. When we to class as kids he'll scold as all the rubbish under the sun. The classes were often draining and I've gone home a number of times with the skin on my fingers split due to the constant impact, he'll say only when that happens you've practised enough. I just hope he gets better.

Tomorrow is the start of my daily morning run, hope I get down to doing it tomorrow. I also am going to start polishing up my Visual Basic Programming which I last touched in 2001 from tomorrow onwards. I realise I need the VBA (Visual Basic for Application) skills for some of my modules in Sydney which require extensive programming and Excel work. I'd rather perfect things like this now than to struggle during the semester trying to learn the theory and the programming side by side. Some may call this being kiasu but I call it working smart.

Success....

Everyone wants to succeed in life. However, what's the definition of success to each of us? Is it what we want in life that we have achieved? or is it that we have achieved what society expects out of us?

If success == what society expects us to do in life then isn't that a limiting factor in this whole game? Anyway who's that swine on the street to tell you how much you should earn or where you should work or what car you should drive? Very often its people who have achieved nothing in their own lives who pass these comments, maybe its somewhat an ego boost to them. Perhaps if they concentrated on their own betterment, they might just have gotten somewhere in life.

I took my fair share of bitching from some people while in jc and another bunch in uni. It was far worst in uni, that's when Victor got me into reading Sun Tzu's Art of War. There was one simple rule I applied to the whole situation:
風　Swift as the wind
林　Quiet as the forest
火　Conquer like the fire
山　Steady as the mountain

The last 2 years it was pretty much the last one which was my modus operandi soon it'll be the first 3.

End of Week 2...

Yesterday brought me to the end of the 2nd week of clearing leave so I'm just 1wk away from ORD. Finally, its over between me and the army. Its normal for NSF to gripe about serving the SAF but for a change I'm going to write about the many things I learnt. Though I didnt serve in the 1st CDO or NDU, I believe that there's something that can be learnt from every situation and circumstance in life. So here it comes...

Lessons Learnt as an NSF
1. Every system has its loopholes, part of surviving in life is to figure out these loopholes and using them to your advantage.
2. Rules are meant to be bent. If you can talk really well, one can pretty much talk your way through any situation with the regulars. (Eg. Long hair, falling in late, dirty bunk/uniform, etc.)
3. Till you go to the SAF the only people you know come from similar socio-economic background as you. Dealing with the Hokkien Bengs is a skill that will serve you throughout the rest of your life. It also gives you a good understanding of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs
4. SAF officers are the most difficult to convince of anything. Planning an event makes you think of every possible situation where things can go wrong, alot of times they can be extreme and far fetched but it makes you creative.
5. You'll develop the patience of a monk.
6. Not all guys like women. (Make the inference)
7. In life your boss is never going to appreciate what you do so just shut up and do it. Cos the more you gripe about it the more pissed off you are going to feel about it.
8. Never end up arguing with an Encik, your gift of the gap will lose out to his years of talking cock at the yellow box.
9. Everyone has their weak points and dirty side, knowing it means you usually can get favours out of them. Its being manipulative but you are better off manipulating others than being manipulated.
10. "In everything that you do, be a KILLER WHALE. Big and strong but swift and decisive!", Staff Tay

Please do leave your comments about the above!!

I've decided that I shall not waste my time doing telesales and selling credit cards along the street. That's the kind of jobs I've been getting considering the limited time I can work. The money I earn firstly isn't worth the time spent. Secondly, I would have the time to study for my CFA if I don't work. The cost-benefit priciple for the CFA far superceeds the working experience gained over 5-6 months. And like my friend Srikanth said, "there's a limit to how low u can stoop for money." I can't bring myself to beg people on the street to sign up for my card so that I can get a few $100.

Got a call from Sydney yesterday confirming that I've been allocated my studio apartment. So got to send the security deposit and acceptance form for the apartment. Called Citibank to settle my loan for the tuition fees, my parents want to maintain liquidity than sinking their funds into tuition fees. So I'll start off my life with about $50K in debt. I've no complaints, my parents paid my full undergrad studies and are covering my living expenses and accomodation in Sydney which is a bomb in itself. If I land myself in some place great, probably the bonus at the end of my second year should be good enough to pay of the entire amount. So will have to work my ass of for the 1.5 years. It'll be something totally new compared to the Newton's 2nd law, Bernoulli's Principle and Fanno Flow I've dealt with over the last 4years. But then again what's life without a challenge? As an SA boy, I always fall back on one important line in the school song "Foes in plenty we shall meet, Hearts courageous scorn defeat!"

End of Week 1

So its Friday again, not as if I'm going to work that I have to be damn glad that its Friday. Its the end of the first week of bumming at home.

Got called for an interview yesterday to be a telesales guy for some local bank. In my moment of desperation, I idea of doing something seemed better than forming the unemployed statistics. But after I agreed to the interview, I started thinking if I really want to be the guy who calls people in the middle of their busy day and bugs them? And I have to be thick skinned about getting screwed by people cos its my means of making a living. The job also only required an N'level holder. If not having a job is an ego bashing what's getting f-ed on the phone by some unknown person called? I wanted something sales related and customer facing as I thought it'll be beneficial in helping me land a front office role. Both my mum and gf both questioned if I'm going to learn anything out of it and its something really worth the time? anyway i doubt telesales==sales.

So I called her and told her I'm not interested and she sounded kind of pissed but put it to me in a professional manner that i was being a pain in her ass. Then again its me who'll be stuck in some crap job.

So the job search carries on...................

Another day at home....

The idea of waking itself was quite dreadful this morning. Another day spent at home just looking at the walls and doing more Statistics for CFA. I just hope I get a job to do after the 20th of August, at least now I can console myself that I'm sitting here doing almost nothing because of some policies. However, after that I'll be just unemployed and I doubt my ego (which is about thrice the size of my head) can take such a bashing. The thought that I'm going to be 25 and still not working sucks in itself, especially when I think of my galfriends from jc who have already been working for 2years.

Last night I just had to go out somewhere so at 11.30pm, I took my dad's car and drove all the way to paya lebar airbase, which is just down the road, made a u-turn and came back home. It was a means to keep my sanity I guess. At least today I'll be going to novena and then for dinner, so there's something to look forward to. I am still waiting for that call from GE Money but if it doesn't come that's fine. I come from the school of thought where there's always something better ahead so if I don't get something its cos something better is coming ahead.

I truly understand the sentiments of unemployed men, it just eats into u when u start to think how u are just sitting and doing nothing. Contributing nothing to yourself and others......Well I found a quote to make me feel better for the next 3 weeks, I'm sure many would agree....

'All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.'
-Aristotle

Off Day

Today is the first day of my long block off. I'll be the last batch that would be able to clear in such a manner since I planned before the directive was out. Since I can't work now, I've got to sit home and slack the whole time. Just studied for my CFA and I guess that's what I would be doing for the rest of day besides going for a run in the evening.

Victor edited one of the convo pics which I thought was pretty good so putting it up here. The rest of the pics are on the Picasa site and the link is on one of the previous postings.

Last working day...

Yesterday, was finally my last working day. The day was spent slacking around the office as there was really nothing to do. Anyway, told staff ridzwan that it was last working day and all. While in camp, cpl edmund (part of the ORD cpl quartet) showed me this video of 3 very talented kids. I have the video on my computer but found it on youtube and am posting it here for u guys to see it.



Got more convo pics from Daniel yesterday and I've finally put them all up on Picasa. This is the url:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rsvignesh82

Just got back from temple not too long ago and its raining like mad so I just feel like sleeping. I think going back to the army has made me more lazy, at any given chance, I just want to slack around or sleep. Got to plan my study plan during the block leave so that i'll finish a considerable portion of my CFA stuff.

Post convo..

It was almost 10pm when I got home yesterday after the convo, was too tired to post an entry after all that. Convo went fine and I think the ntu staff should be given credit for the way they organised the whole affair. It was so smooth with no hiccups at all. It was almost 2hours and by the end I was fidgeting like hell. I haven't gotten all the photos from the covo yet as some of it are on Cpl(NS) Victor Tan's camera and he's currently on ICT. A sure way to ensure some stupidity remains by making u wear your beret, helmet, jungle cap etc. I'd probably put the photos up on Picasa or something. The only pic I'm posting is with srikanth, the guy with whom I'm going to Sydney for my masters.

Yesterday afternoon, I got an email with the confirmed acceptance for the Masters. So I'm confirm going to Sydney in Feb 2008. At least something concrete in my life. I look forward to the change in life and being independent without my family or maid to depend on. I'll surely miss home and definitely my gf but at least she's supportive of me going and wants the best for me.

Had to rush to camp at 7am this morning cos we were the conducting band for ippt. Anyway after the muster parade, cpl albert and i went for breakfast and then went to seek the ninja. Ninja is the call sign of the store woman whom we were supposed to meet today for dekitting. Anyway, I have no no.1 or instrument so I can't be deployed for anything, technically at least.

Pre-covo...

Yesterday, I had an interview at GE Money for the position of direct sales officer. The lady who was supposed to interview me had to go off somewhere urgently and the guy who did interview me was reading my resume for the first time. So I had to tell him all I knew about GE Money while he read up. Thank goodness I did my research. Anyway it was pretty OK lets just see if I get called for the next round.

Well today is convocation. After 4years of working like a dog today is the day. Anyway, I don't feel any great sense of excitement just want to get over and done with it. Some relative of mine pulled some strings with big shots in NTU to get 2 extra tickets. I feel damn fucking screwed about it especially since all my friends are dying to just get 1 ticket for their bro or sis.

I guess the next post of mine would be with all the convo pics. I'm yet to iron my stuff so I shall go and do that.

ORD function

Today, I had my ORD function. I was the oldest guy to ORD and staff jeanny had to emphasise "posted to the band on 18 June 2001 and ORD on the 19 August 2007". Anyway got the plaque from the CO and then had to give my ORD speech, which I wasn't planning to do.

Since I hardly know the people around, I just thanked the current management and then thanked all the people who were running the band back in 2001-2003. After university and all, I am totally convinced that the happiest years and most memorable days in my life were those 2 years I spent in Band B at TAB. Any former TAB personnel reading this would surely agree with me. It was a pity that staff ridzwan wasn't able to attend cos some supplier had come. He's the epitome of the 7th SAF core value, CARE FOR SOLDIERS. Always treated us like equals instead of pulling rank with us and he always had a way to make sure we all respected him and did any work that he wanted us to do. I still remember being scolded by him for not collecting library scores from someone, I really had the daylights blasted out of me for that. If there's something I learnt as an NSF that would be useful in my working life, it would be have to be the tact staff ridzwan has in getting people to work for him. He's so good at it that I've got to admire him for it. Its a pity that people don't get the recoginition they deserve just cos they dun want to carry balls to all the big shots.

Got an interview tomorrow evening so lets see how it goes. I'm just one day away from convocation. I just want to get through it actually, I think its my parents who are more excited not me.

After 3 days...

Its been 3 days since I've posted anything, just busy and sian to post anything. On Thursday and Friday, I had my last parade. We did a change of command parade. The parade was about 45 mins and quite alright, especially since there were cute dogs on parade too so I just entertained myself by watching them. Got an investment banking operations offer on Friday while I was driving to my Audiometry test and then the agent told me that I can't work while clearing leave and this was something that I didn't know. Upon returning to camp I checked it out with Encik and found out its true. I was damn disappointed by it and felt misearble all Friday and was just bitching about it. So I'll be home for sometimes just slacking but it'll be a good opportunity to study for my CFA exams. I'm still not through the first book and there are 6 in total.

On Saturday, my dad's new car was being delivered so went with him to collect it. He got the Honda CRV instead of another continental car mainly because we have stopped travelling to KL that often. It was nice driving an SUV but there was the blind spot problem which my brother indicated about in the showroom itself. He's in ns and now on course to be a transport sup. so he's spent countless hours driving the Landrover Defender and the 5 tonne trucks up and down the expressways. After the merc and BMW, this car feels very light to drive and though it has a 2.4liter engine the power isn't as good as the 520's 2 liter engine. But it was time for the 520 to go, the maintenance in 2006 alone cost my dad $14k. Anyway, I've posted some pics of the car taken with my hand phone.

Tomorrow is my ORD function, so for the countless hours I spent under the sun doing parades I'll get a small medallion looking thing. There's supposed to be a speech but I don't intend to give one because I hardly know anyone. Probably the only person I'd really want to thank for these few weeks would be staff tham and for the 2 years in TAB would be staff ridzwan.

Mid-Week

Finally got my ORD planner settled today, for those who haven't had a chance to become stupid by wearing a combat helmet, ORD planner is just a calender where u plan all your off and leave so that the management knows for how long you won't be around.

There was the hair cut saga today with the 2nd biggest man in the unit(the one whom we can't salute cos he's not commissioned). He refused to sign Donn's clearance form cos his hair was not short enough. Being the man in charge of the regimentation in the unit he said that he can't have a person leaving his unit with such long hair. He signed mine though thanks to the jarhead haircut I got a few weeks back. Everyone at the smoking point, where this incident happened was shocked to the core. Donn is a Batch 43 guy like myself is the last of the disruptees from TAB to come back into band b and he has just 7days to ORD. Some 15 minutes later, the big man walks back and calls Donn aside and signs his clearance. So what caused the change? The ORD corporals are still discussing about the factors which might have caused this sudden change in his state of mind. Perhaps, tomorrow I'll put up the 10 most probable factors which might have caused this change.

Was on afternoon off today and spent the day sending out resumes and catching up on some sleep. I was supposed to go out for dinner but because of some family stuff she couldn't make it.

I am contemplating buying a mac book and would like some feedback from mac users. I hardly play games and I'm buying it for my studies and would only require office for it. Anyway, with the Intel core windows can be installed so I would do that. Leave me your feedback on the comments.

Donn was telling me about this Indian thriller video on youtube...quite funny....its in Telugu....

Ego Bashing....

This afternoon I got a call from a recruitment agent offering me a job at Citibank in consumer banking. She even wanted me to come down for the interview and perhaps sign the contract today. Then she dropped the bomb that the contract was for 1 year which I couldn't fulfil. How sad is that???

So the cycle continues....calling agents asking them the same thing "is this opening for fresh grads?" and then sending them my resume. I have sent almost 40++ applications but yet to get anything....

Now I understand the psychology of unemployed men....its a damn sad and depressing feeling. What an ego bashing.....

PhD.....

It has been almost 5 months since i applied to NTU to do my PhD and got no response, the website always said 'Application under consideration'. So I was all set about going to Sydney hoping that I'll be the next Head of Investment Banking at GS or something.

Then I get a missed call this afternoon and it says A/P Ooi. When I returned his call he was all ecstatic and went, "Vignesh, can u start on yr PhD this August?". I was stunned and told him that I still haven't been accepted and that's when he told me that he held back my application due to the lack of funding and went "its a fully paid scholarship plus u'll be a TA and get a stipend for that. We can work on something else not necessarily two-phase flow*". I had no choice to tell him that I was having second thoughts about the PhD and wanted to do something else. But this is so good that its making me think twice, doesn't Dr.R S Vignesh sound good?? But it would mean having to spend the rest of my life working in some university doing research and teaching punks who'd rather be in their hostel room nailing their gf than listening to me talk about Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer or Fluid Mechanics.

I'm in a fix now. As soon as he got the funding from the HOD he called me immediately and he had lots of hope and spent lots of time grooming me into what he called a student with 'outstanding research potential' but now I'm just walking away. I feel a moral delimma now as if i've turned my back on someone who believed in me greatly.

So what should I do? Will the opportunity cost of turning the phd or the masters be greater in 10years?? I wish i could see the future.

*Two-phase flow was what I did for my FYP. Two-phase i.e. gas in liquid or solid in liquid flow. People have spent their entire lifetime researching stuff like this.

More off!!!

Just got home from the Turf Club performance. Nothing too great compared to the SIA cup. There were just some ang moh gals in the owners stand but nothing too great. For the first time I saw some north indian gals but they were with their husbands and all had this real stuck up face. Anyway 1 day of off in the pocket.

The great news came when staff told us (referring to the ORD corporals) that there's 3 days of incentive off for those who had 100% attendance for the big parade held on the 1st of July. Encik also gave us another half day off since we have to go for audiometry on Friday and then work late. So I have another 3.5days of off to squeeze into my ORD planner. As an NSF, off is the only thing in life that is really worth looking forward to....

ORD LOH!!!

Sunday....

I haven't posted anything the last two days mainly bcos I haven't done much the last 2 days. Friday the 13th was an off day which I spent slacking at home and then went to temple in the evening as it was my Brother's birthday. Saturday was spent slacking as well.

While looking through youtube this morning I came across this video. For those who aren't from NTU, this is the 'great' university where I got my education from. For the record, I was part of that bunch who rushed into the library every morning at 0830hrs to book the table with all my books. I hated that self centered behaviour many students showed and these are supposed to be civilised and educated people. Sometimes you wonder what have they really gained out their education besides the grades.



Got to leave to camp in a while for my Turf Club performance. It would be the last time I'll get to wear the No.1 for the rest of my life. Having mixed feelings about it, on one hand I'm happy that I'm going to ORD but on the other wearing No.1 is something not many get a chance at.

Weekend is here....

Today was another slack day at camp. Just spent the entire morning studying for CFA and the afternoon was spent slacking with the other 2 chao corporals. Since most people were off for the day there were just 6 of us around.

Got a new pair of formal shoes as my old one just tore. Got it from India for Rs3500 so I guess it was pretty worth it considering it lasted 3 years. Well this was the first time I'm wearing a size 7 shoe, I guess Italians have huge feet. Since GSS is on there was 40% off so it was good deal. Dinner was at Thai Express but the one at Raffles City is damn packed but the food was nice. There were 2 really cute gals in the family beside us, they looked between 3-5 years old and they were playing scissors, paper, stone while waiting for the food....really damn cute!

Tomorrow is off-in-lieu for the big day on the 1st of July so it'll be a good chance to send out resumes and study for CFA. Haven't gone to Novena this week as well so tomorrow I'll have to go there as well.

A change in the daily routine...

This morning I was on off so that I could go back to school to collect my certificate, transcript, invitation cards to the convocation and my gown. The sales woman for the gown tried to confuse the daylights out of me by trying her best to talk me into getting one of their packages. Anyway,I decided not to get any of those and just go at a later date to take the photo.

It was great going back to school after such a long time. Finally, I got to see gals in short skirts and tank tops (something local unis are famous for) this was a stark contrast to the 'gals' in camp. 'Gals' here reffering to the confused people whom I happen to spend my days with in camp, people who are confused about their sexuality.

Vincent passed me the beautiful Green Tara Thangka which he got for me from Tibet. I'll post the picture when I get down to taking its photo. Then Vincent, Ajith and I had lunch at Quad. It was great having the chicken udon after a long long time. I miss school.

Afternoon was spent in camp playing soccer from 1330-1600hrs, towards the end it was a chore to even run after the ball.

Countdown: 13 working days left

One of those days in Band B....

Today was a highly dramatic day in Band B. First, it started out with Encik opening the office which anyone of that rank wouldn't be too happy about. Hence, he had his first Monday morning inspection in Band B, I guess to vent his frustrations but it was laced with politically correct reasons in typical army fashion. Of course now there are people who don't iron their uniform or even brush their shoes compared to my era (2001-2003).

Then some Duty Officer who didn't have much to do went to check if the bunks were locked and found 3 bunks unlocked. One of the bunks had a spoilt lock which they never reported, don't ask why. Probably the bunk I/C was too busy modifying his Honda Jazz. So we all had a long lecture for that.

Then came the grand finale of all. We found out the 'confidential' reason behind the no.1 inspection this morning. We had to support Band A in their anniversary parade because some big shot felt the band was too small, by the way this never happened in my era too cos we had more than enough people. Maybe the Bands need foreign talent too, like the rest of Singapore to make do for the lack of manpower. So 13 'lucky' guys were given then 'option' of going down for the parade to support Band A.

All of this happened at the morning muster parade. Then of course in typical bandsmen style everyone was bitching away over breakfast which was followed by full band for Turf Club. Same old Thunderer and Obladi its a matter of time before they ask for the band to play new stuff. The full band was followed by a talk by our beloved Staff who decided they'll be area cleaning and bunk inspection so as to knock the 'sing cheows' (new birds or juniors) out of their honeymoon. Anyway that's all the day was about.

Tomorrow is D-Day for all the bunks as there is bunk inspection, the last time we had that at TAB, Staff Radin (now Master) was more interested in seeing my collage of FHM gals on the wall that he never bothered inspecting the bunk. Bunk 11 was famous for that...free flow of FHM, PS and the only smoker friendly bunk. Of course at night we had visitors from the other dimension who visited us too....

Sunday

Its another Sunday, a day before the whole cycle of going back to camp starts. Just got back from the market....saw this 'cool' dude who found Tekka market too bright and so he had to wear shades to protect his eyes.

At least I don't have to go back to camp today. Last Sunday was SAF Day, an entire day spent waiting at SAFTI-MI. The parade started at 1700hrs but we had to report at 0800hrs, went to SAFTI for one rehearsal which the parade RSM said was going to be a "truncated full round" (anyone can make sense of this? wear your beret and then think you might figure it out). Me being the ORD Corporal just collected ration on behalf of a Sergent who was too busy attending to other more 'important' matters.

Next Sunday, we've got to perform at the Turf Club. We get paid $40 per performance (high by NSF standards) and typically would do two performance. Our holding area is beside the punters, where you see low income Singaporeans blow their money away on a testosterone raged horse while smoking their lungs away. However, on the other side is the owners stand. This is where the stable owners are seated while their horses are racing and of cos where there are men with money there are hot babes. Babes in their little sundresses and hats, you wonder if such beautiful women do really exist in the world. Anyway, I might not have to play for it because Staff Tham knows very well that I am not going to come back for some dinner that they'll have to use this money. Well the policy is that the cash cannot be paid out to us but has to be used on things like food or going to Sentosa (that's what we did back in 2002 when I was in Band B).

First Post

This is something that I have resisted doing for a long time...yes blogging. However, now as an NSF (again after 4 years) my mind is totally void of anything except how to earn off and how to be reserve in the next parade, so I thought I'll record these wasteful thoughts in the annals of history.

When previous disruptees said that after coming back from uni NS life seems different, I always thought its a load of crap but now I have begun to subscribe to that chain of thought. It is different especially when you find it hard to 'click' with 20 year olds. I've stopped thinking of Newton's 2nd law anymore, now its about when is the next parade and how many rehearsals there are. Luckily, there are the 4 ORD Corporals of Band B, the infamous 4 whom Staff Tham sees as a sign of trouble whenever go to him as a group. These guys are close to my age and there's Albert who's been 'lucky' enough to go through the 'great' NTU brand of education.

After quite sometime, there is a weekend without work. All I look forward to is the 31st of July, which is my last working day.

Countdown: 16 working days left