The uni life and three quarters

Woe and worries where are my keys?
No time to get up not time for tea?
Get up now, get some undies,
Its another Monday, time for uni.

Grab you papers, feed the cat,
No more sleep that’s so sad.
Run, you're going to be late,
Shouldn’t have snoozed in bed.

Listening to lectures is sometimes a bore,
The theatre's so nice, hope i don’t snore.
Look left, look right, look at the door.
Constantly thinking about that Mafia War.

So tired, so bored, so many commitments.
The books are piled high like apartments.
Sometimes all we need is a little entertainment,
But, so little time, so maaaaaanyyyyyyyy assignments!!!!!

Look out the window, lights like a prism,
This report's pointless, so troublesome,
Haha.. I’ll procrastinate do it later,
Oh well, have to finish it over Easter.
How come my senior's score so awesome,
Copy and paste is so plagiarism.


Process Equipment someone help me design!
Process Eng how many pages? ninety nine!
Are you on the cost estimation, yes I am!
Little bit more, please don't sleep at 6am!

Staring at the screen looking for inspiration,
Oh what I could do with some motivation.
Take out your Nokia, Apple or Ericsson,
Check your Facebook, is that globalisation?
Why am I here? My friends are on vacation,
Should not have filled that uni application.

Take a tram take the subway,
The smell will not make my day.
Take a cab take a bus,
Why is does this person have a big...
Walking back, cycle at most,
See that Lambo, I want one of those!

Weekends here, Say hi to buddies.
Having wicked fun, time for parties.
Turn on the music, lets get funky
Hope my friends don't get too
Get out, get down, get hammered.
Hang out, hang down, hang overed.
Help your friend off that toilet floor,
Shoulder them back out that door.

Weekends are gone, the cycle starts again.
Who agrees life is such a pain.
Life's short, don't we crave for more freedom?
This post is weird, so totally random.


PS. not yet wonky, just kokd.

Cake to go!

What's sweeter than baking a cake for your favourite sister? Very few things can compare. So thats exactly what BB did for her big sister!

Okay. So getting a cake done from scratch was kinda difficult, so bb and me decided to get a PREMIX! Such cheaters. However, there it was in itself an experience for BB who did not bake a cake for her sis before.

Okay, first ingredient you need is a really emo pet doggy. Note the frizzy hair right after a bath.
Need one weighing scale and a chemical engineer,
A trusty electric mixer to save your time,
Butter, a baking tray, water.

It was kinda easy. just threw in a couple of eggs and the butter and mix for 5 mins. After that, we got a creamy chocolaty batter type thing..
Pour it into the baking tray... Make sure u butter and flour the tray first!
Well as you can see, one baking tray was no enough, so I'll show you what to do with the excess!
Feed it to the dog!! Look at him.. so cute and curious..Kidding.. but seriously.. don't feed chocolate to dogs!! The active ingredient in chocolate is toxic to doggies like Kiki..
Wondering what we did with the rest of the batter??
Cupcakes!!

Okay, place in the oven at about 200 Celsius for 55 mins.
Word of caution: Don't over fill the baking tray! Not you will get mountain Everest in you oven!
Remove the cakes from the oven with your trusty oven mitts!
Lesson learnt: Small cakes take shorter time to cook! If not they will become biscuits! Hey, at least we found out how to make cookies...
Note the volcanic crater in the middle!
Next, time to add the condiments. Here is a pack of 200ml whipping cream. Keep it in the fridge and use it cold. Its good to freeze a whipping bowl and the mixer head as well, keeps it stiff when you whip.

Now whip the cream till a fluffy consistency and store in the fridge if necessary.
Leave the cake to cool so that it does not melt the whipping cream!
Now, what we did was sliced the cake into smaller pieces.
As my lovely assistant demonstrates, this is how u coat the cake in cream.
My lovely assistant!
Okay... here is my relatively "well" candy rice coated cake...
and here is BBs! Ooo. not something u wanna give to someone before doing more work on it.
Haha.. paiseh... not a good decorater.. but getting there..
Okay, my BB adding final touches to the cake.


So, when you wanna give one to your sister, make sure you put a really big heart at the top!
Hmmm. Using chopsticks is kinda crude but it works!


And finally, after some two hours of preparation... the perfect lil surprise for a birthday sis!


This is kind wrong and out of the topic but BB enjoys vaining in front of my full length mirror. Who ever feels so obliged to appreciate a little sisters cuteness and thoughtfulness, please get her one.

Screwing up an Investment Banking interview

Goo'day mate!

Earlier this month, I won an interview with Credit Suisse. Yeah, that's wierd, how do you win an interview?

Well here goes, first, join in the efinancialcareers stock trading challenge. Then, without any prior knowledge, build up your portfolio and trade shares online. Spend like 8 hours a day surveying the market, reading company profiles and analysing stock, 2 hours when you are visiting Sydney on your iPhone 3G. Next, you have to make a 70% return in two months and end up at the top of the score board.

The most important part of this is to make sure you read the prize section before you join. I did not know what was the prize until the last day!

One of the prizes was an interview with Credit Suisse. Right. I joined because I was interested in share trading. That was in October. But oh well, some months later in March, Credit Suisse decided to give me a call. What terrible timing! I was in Melbourne getting an interview for London! Great I thought to my self. What more, I just landed in Melbourne after my summer holidays (We know what that does to you) Moreover, I was doing taxation in Malaysia! I had a gut feeling that I was going to screw it up. So, I brought my camera to take some pictures!!

Here is where the interview was held: 101 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD!This interior is a majestic looking place, suitable for the big people who sit up in its 50 odd stories.
Every step was paved in tiles and there was this huge picture on the front desk.
On both side of the front desk, huge columns supporting air decorated the lobby.
When I got to the 42nd floor,
Wow, the view was stunning. It is like standing amongst giants.
Only the people working for huge firms have the luxury of the good view.

Standing next to not far away from Collins 101 is the tallest building in Melboure, the Eureka Skydeck! Hold on a sec, no its not, this is some other tall building. I digress. The interview started at 8.00pm Melbourne time. That is 9.00am in London!

Here, when I entered the interview room,
Don't worry, the people are not there because, this was scheduled as a video conference! Wow, first time screwing up a video conference. If you want a clearer picture, here it is,
It was just like a normal interview, except you are sitting in this room with the chair empty. You speak to this microphone on the table and look into the camera on top! There were four parts to the interview, two for soft skills, two for technical. Oh well, here is how the interview went:

Part 1 Soft Skills
Interview Person: Managing Director
Question: Describe yourself and tell us why are you here and more about yourself.

Approach: Remain calm, don't talk too fast, and THINK before you speak. Be honest about yourself and smile!

Part 2 Soft Skills
Interview Person: Vice Chairperson
Question: Tell me what is your plans for the future and how will this help you achieve it

Part 3 Technical Skills
Interview Person: Vice Chairperson (French)
Question: How would you value a company?

At this point I was beginning to feel the pinch. Great, I have not even picked up a book on how to value a company, which I should have. So I was embarrassing myself the whole half hour! Also, the answer was really simple and you should REALLY THINK before you speak of GIVE UP!

Part 4 Technical Skills
Interview Person: Analyst
Questions: Financial Ratios, options pricing, M&A

Everything I knew nuts about.

Moral of the story:
1. When you go for an interview, make sure you don't come back from a holiday!
2. If you really want a good impression, practice. Never let a good interview come first. After like 10 interviews maybe and 1000 pages of corporate finance, then you would be ready!
3. Don't take my word for it. Try it!

Anyway, when all hell i went through was over, it was already 11pm.
The streets were empty and the pace was slow. When I got back, and turned on my computer, Silent Night was playing. Ghey.. Until next time...


Anyways, the other prize from the trading game was an iPod touch 16GB which CS was kind enough to courier over from UK to Penang! I gave to BB as her present!!
Happy birthday BB!

Volcano!!

It was my "surprise" from Babe. She wanted so badly to surprise me. She kept this a secret and worst of all made me wait! In the end..
Heavenly! Introducing the Lava Cake!!

These delightfully decadent lava cakes, oozing with rich melted chocolate, are simply sublime. Best of all, you can prepare the cakes ahead of time and pop them in the oven at the last minute, then serve them warm with whipped cream and raspberries.

Ingredients

• 5 squares (1 oz./28 g each) semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 additional egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. (10 mL) vanilla
• 1 tsp. (5 mL) instant coffee powder
• 1 tbsp. (15 mL) all purpose flour
• whipped cream and berries as an accompaniment
  

Cooking Instructions

1. Grease four 3/4 cup (175 mL) custard cups or individual souffle dishes.
2. In a small saucepan, melt together the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
3. In a mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, additional egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee powder until very thick, about 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to form a ribbon when you lift the beater from the bowl. Gently fold in the flour and the chocolate mixture, mixing just until combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared baking dishes, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until about one hour before you're planning to serve dessert. (You can prepare the batter as much as 24 hours before serving -- great for do-ahead entertaining.)
5. Remove baking dishes from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
7. Arrange baking dishes on a large pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the top is just barely set. (A toothpick poked into the center of one of the cakes will come out with batter attached.) Let cool for 5 minutes, then very carefully loosen the sides of the cakes by running a knife blade around the inside surface of the dish and turn them out onto individual serving plates.
8. Serve immediately with whipped cream and, if desired, fresh strawberries or raspberries.

Meet Kiki!

Hints: To ensure that the cake comes off the baking cups, after greasing, put on a table spoon of flour to cover the entire surface. Tip over the cups to remove the flour. The layer of flour will ensure that the cake does not get stuck like mine!

Say Flare!

flare

(flâr) v. flared, flar·ing, flares v.intr. 1. To flame up with a bright, wavering light. 2. To burst into intense, sudden flame. 3. a. To erupt or intensify suddenly n. 1. A brief wavering blaze of light. 2. A device that produces a bright light for signaling, illumination, or identification. 3. An outbreak, as of emotion or activity. 4. An expanding or opening outward. 5. An unwanted reflection within an optical system or the resultant fogging of the image. 6. A solar flare. 7. a. Football A short pass to a back running toward the sideline. b. Baseball A fly ball hit a short distance into the outfield. 8. A bunch of gay guys and hot girls bent on creating Melbourne's best dance club!!! Well, as many of you may know, this is my last semester on exchange in the University of Melbourne. I was very fortunate to be able to be a part of 2009's production, Maelstrom. I made many new friends doing that, I am sure that Flare will bring joy to its new members as it did to me. Sadly, I won't be able to be part of Flare this semester (Even as I type, I have 5 pile of A4 papers lined up on my desk). Nonetheless, the partay in the park was great! It was an afternoon welcome session for all the new members and for the other members to have some fun. The 60 odd people were divided into four groups and were tasked to do some silly things.

When I arrived at University Square, there was this bunch of people doing a serious group hug!
Anyway, when I got there, the groups were tasked with doing funny things like make a human bicycle...

The handle bar..
You can be the pedals...
You know what, bicycles have very uncomfortable seats, not this one!
Head lamps, just in case it gets dark...
Watch the competition on iPhone!

Click here to download this video.

After that, round 2 was a plane competition! The goal was to crash into the other plane and who remained intact wins!

This mini jumbo jet with cock pit and pilot!
This Boeing comes with cushion seats and bow maiden! 8 horse power engines are free too. See the video planes crashing into each other!

Click here to download video.

See no evil, look down, I smell evil, no that's just me.
Check out that extension pack.. on the camera of course.
President of Flare!
What party would it be without food! Pizzas and pop drinks.. the student daily requirement
My couz, Caitlin!
Bee the Pizza girl. Wondering what flavour is the pizza.
Dim sum girl anyone?
Flare is about attitude! They have lookers, thinkers, drinkers and this guy looking rather surprised.
See, I told you I did not need to be deaf to use sign language.
Shiny Pearl.

It pays to be famous.Wondering what
Yusof.Lalalalalallalalalalalallalalalal. Lalas.Our emcee for the day!

Okay, next event after the interval was an impromptu dance choreography. It went with the tune of "I like big butts.."
Award for big butts goes to... Sha!Von vs Loges, she is certainly surprised at the showdown.Shaking butts in the park!Now u know why I say flare is full of gay guys? Not convinced? Check out the next picture.He was certainly enjoying it, look at his mouth!

Video at the end of the event.

Anyway, after a debriefing, we had a group photo!!

Here's to Flare! Wish you all a good year! Gonna miss you guys!
Click here to download:
Hi Resolution File (7MB)
Low Resolution File (1.5MB)
Original Unedited JPEG (7MB)

The other group photos:
(1) (2) (3)