Year 4 Sem 1

Finally! It’s December and I can take a breather from school, and update this little blog. It’s been a while, sorry to anyone who still reads this and hopes for an update. (Here it is!)

Quite a lot has happened in November school-wise. I also celebrated my 23rd birthday with Chelsea and my family on 28th November, but perhaps I can leave that for another post. Today, I feel like writing some thoughts on the semester that just concluded at 11am (for me) at the end of my final paper for EC3312 Game Theory.

Another semester with six modules worth of study. Overloading is now the new norm for me, and I expect to complete another 12 modules in the next 2 semesters so that I can graduate in a year’s time. It’s not easy…

This semester I cut myself some slack by ‘dedicating’ my time to my second degree. I have quite a comfortable buffer for the FASS CAP because I am not taking double honours, so my CAP classification does not matter much. Which is good, as it allows me to take risky modules, hahaha!

To fulfill my Econ requirements, I took EC3102 Macroeconomics II, EC3303 Econometrics I, EC3312 Game Theory and NM1101E Communications and New Media. The first two are compulsory modules, and the last one is used to fulfill my FASS requirements. And the third one… well, it’s for “interest” which turned out to be suffering.

EC3102 was okay, and I guess I will perform absolutely average, which is disappointing because I think I could have done better for the finals but it just didn’t go smoothly. Thinking about it now makes me sigh a little. I don’t know why but I’ve always struggled with macroeconomics compared to microeconomics since JC. Oh well. (That’s where I need the buffer to come in)

EC3303 was quite manageable and in fact at points felt a little trivial. It’s puzzling because it didn’t feel like a level 3000 module. Very introductory, very easy to follow. I think it’s an anomaly this semester because looking at past-year papers, the seniors definitely had it worse. This semester, a Singaporean lecturer taught the module. My first Singaporean lecturer from Economics. Indeed a rare species.

NM1101E was an introductory level module, which is exciting because there are year 1s taking it! Except it appears that there are quite few Year 1s taking it… many were Year 2s and 3s taking it to fulfill their breadth requirements. Dewei convinced me to take this module with him during our internship at PwC. There’s a project for this module which is SUPER guided and spoon-fed… as a Year 4 business student, it feels a little too guided. Somewhat interesting module, enjoyed the many videos during lecture. That’s pretty much it. MCQs for mid-terms and finals, for what I thought would have been a crazy content-memorisation and writing module.

EC3312… Game Theory. Bane of my semester. During the course, the lecturer sent out an interim survey asking for opinions regarding the course. There was a question that asked:

What do you think about the difficulty of this course?

It’s so funny because I thought it was INCREDIBLY difficult. So I picked the first option: Very hard – most difficult module in NUS I’ve ever taken.

And that’s true – at least in FASS. Even EC2104, which I struggled with, was nowhere near this.

It’s not really a difficult module if you are attuned to logic combined with many mathematical notations and superscripts and stuff, along with differentiation and some integration. If you can visualise how games work extremely well (and we’re not talking about the basic prisoner’s dilemma) perhaps you stand a chance.

I thought I stood a chance, so I tried. Came out deflated. After the second lecture, the entire module is humble pie. I’m definitely not a logical thinker (at least in terms of game theory) and all the weird game types just knocked me off. My friends may know how much I dislike this module. I dreaded every lecture, and dreaded doing every tutorial. I’m so relieved every time I’m done with this module for the week.

I guess all the above would sound quite extreme to someone who may find game theory easy… it’s true I guess. Some things are more intuitive to me, and some things are not so intuitive. This is firmly in the latter camp.

Thankfully I have the CAP buffer. If not I would have regretted taking this module because I don’t think I will do well.

Do I regret taking it? Probably not… it was enlightening and eye-opening, at least on a personal level.

Lastly, I also completed my one-semester Field Service Project, which is a Business School honours requirement. It’s 8 MCs and meant to be completed within a year, but my teammates (comprising my sister, Chelsea and Isabella) and I, as well as our supervising prof, wanted to finish it quickly and so we did.

Our project was on developing a risk management mobile app. Interestingly I had not taken the module on risk management yet, but decided to give this a try with my group because it sounded interesting.

And it was! 14 or so weeks of fun and sometimes pain. There were many things I’ve learnt from this, but probably the biggest insight was how the business world is very different from the academic world that we live in, and how we have trapped ourselves in this academic bubble for so long. Can’t be helped as we’re basically in it since 7 years old! (With a 2-year break for guys)

So this project allowed us to place a perspective on the things we learn in school, and really, gave me a better idea of what I should be getting away from university. Hard skills? Perhaps, some of the modules may be relevant. (Note “some” and “may”) But I think the bigger takeaway is the soft skills – time management, interpersonal relationships, understanding others, and adaptability. Just that the soft skills we practise subconsciously are set in an academic setting.

That being said, there were enough ups and downs throughout the duration of the project. When we were done with our 281-page deliverable (app specification), it felt like a huge stone was lifted. It’s probably one of the biggest checkpoints that a business honours student needed to clear to graduate.

One year to go.

Next semester would be challenging for me. Planning it already thanks to Business Module Preference Exercise underway, but that’s a post for the future. Till then, there’s still December! A whole month of excitement.

And I will try to update this blog a bit more 😉

Year 3 Done

DONE!

I’m so glad I took this basket of modules for so many reasons, but today, probably the biggest one is that we end one day earlier than the people doing the other basket, who has advanced audit exams tomorrow morning (on a Saturday). That makes for a one-and-a-half day break before internship begins.

I cannot believe I took my first paper just about 14 days ago, and finally after 2 weeks it’s over. I’m done as a 3rd-year student. Hello Year 4! Field Service Project and more Economics modules!

Till then, compulsory 10-week audit internship. Very glad to have the chance to do it at PwC. Will be very exciting to see how it unfolds.

After the 3 hour (and 10 minutes) valuation paper (I’M SO GLAD I’M DONE WITH VALUATION!), Chels and I decided to spend most of the day together, because it will be hard for us to see each other on weekdays when internship begins. Our first stop was lunch at a Thai place along Pasir Panjang Road called Nakhon Kitchen. Apparently the food is good, and it really was quite good. We had the phad thai, seafood fried rice, green chicken curry and tom yam seafood soup. Delicious, and I think the prices were reasonable too.

Following that we headed to a place that we have wanted to go for a while already, which is…

HDB Hub … !

It’s very exciting for both of us because it really means a next step to our future together.

Of course we have not applied for a BTO flat yet, but the process will begin soon and I wonder how long it will take us to get there, but the key is to start, and we are both committed to it 🙂

So we visited the HDB showflat (aka “My Nice Home” gallery) and looked at the ‘cozy’ flats and how HDB interior designers have made use of the somewhat limited area. I’m quite impressed actually. The place looks and feels like a condo showflat. There was even ‘elevator’ music in the 4-room showflat (adds to the vibe).

Too bad this place is only open on weekdays (and half-day on Saturday) so today’s the best day to take a look before we submit our first application. We ended up looking at all the showflats, including the studio apartments, and spent well over a hour in HDB Hub.

(The air-con was also quite nice)

Following that, we had coffee at my favourite place before going to MacRitchie Reservoir for a stroll and dinner at VAVA Bistro, a somewhat casual restaurant/bar in MacRitchie (the food was just alright, a little pricey but I guess you pay for the ambience). I had so many memories in MR as a x-country runner when I was in NJC so it was nice to go back there once in a while. Haven’t run there in years. Still, I like MacRitchie better than Upper Seletar because it feels more natural. It was also quite quiet and it’s soothing. (except for the weather)

So glad the finals are finally over. Four more semesters to go!

Thai food at Nakhon Kitchen! Delicious.

So. many. flats.

So lovin’ the artificial view

Note: your actual ceiling is actually lower than this showflat. Plus it doesn’t come with a projected screen.

HDB’s 4-room living room. Chels enjoying the view outside 😛

Kitchen and dining area. Open concept.

Boy’s room I assume cos it’s blue #stereotypes

Us in MacRitchie!

Love the reflection in the waters today

Quiet and serene

Chels choosing food. Turns out the food was okay and we didn’t take any photos!!

Upper Seletar Reservoir

Hello world!

Most of my friends outside the accounting degree would have finished their finals by now – yay! However there’s still a week to go for me and the rest of my friends.

In the midst of studying I need to take a breather. After very sucky papers in the past week (I can foresee bad, bad results, sigh), it’s always nice to head out with Chelsea to relax for a bit. After going to MacRitchie with my parents two days ago, I thought it would be nice to go to Upper Seletar Reservoir (located at Mandai Rd Track 7), a reservoir that I don’t think I’ve ever been to before.

In Singapore it’s probably quite difficult to find nice, serene places in the concrete jungle that we live in (that’s becoming more concrete-y by the day) but I think our reservoirs are good places to relax. Yeah, they may look somewhat artificial, and you know it’s a man-made body of water, but that does not reduce the pleasant effect of seeing a large pool of water with natural greenery all around.

So that was where we headed to today. And it turned out pretty well! We reached the place around evening, when the weather was getting cooler. It’s a small park, with minimal park ‘facilities’. There’s a viewing tower where you can climb a spiral staircase all the way up to catch a nice bird’s eye view of the reservoir. The tower actually looks like a rocket and apparently called so – the Seletar Rocket Tower. And there were a few benches. Pretty much it. There are two long stretches of roads that bound the reservoir that give joggers some distance to run. That’s the ‘artificial’ part of the reservoir.

But when you ignore that and look into the distance, you either see the reservoir with greenery in the background, or large fields of grass (which is actually a golf course). I prefer the water view ;). But I think the key is that there were very few people around. There were two or three couples taking wedding photos, and a few scattered families and groups. That alone makes this place worth coming – you don’t get the squeezy feeling at all. It’s great.

As we walked to the other end of the park we saw a different angle, and people angling in the reservoir. It makes for some great photographs.

We stayed for a while, at a bench chatting as well as at the top of the observation tower… observing. Nice place to be. I felt pretty relaxed and very happy.

The first view we saw. I got this very deja vu feeling of being at a lake in the US

Lots of water, not so many people

Observation tower

The golf course near Upper Seletar Reservoir

Setting sun giving an angler some vitamin D

Standard furniture in every park

Chels and I 🙂

Sun is setting

View from the observation tower. Very beautiful and serene.

Others enjoying the view as well

(Then we ate dinner at Jln Kayu, coffee at Toastbox and went back home, hahah!)

Wishing all my friends all the best for their remaining exams/internship!

23

365 days ago, I celebrated my 22nd birthday in Georgia, Atlanta. I was travelling with some awesome NUS friends after we were forced out of our dorms in University of North Carolina (gosh I miss Chapel Hill). I remember waking up to a Breaking Bad-inspired breakfast prepared by awesome friends Jake, Ben, Caroline, Sam, Eunice and Hillary. I ended the day with a beautiful sunset at Table Mountain, before witnessing one of the craziest capitalist scenes I’ve ever seen – Black Friday at the stroke of midnight. I’m glad I did a blog post then talking about it.

365 days later, I lost the weight I’ve gained (look at that photo from 2013!) in the States, and instead of travelling around and seeing the world, I’m in the midst of my exams. In fact I finished my EC2373 paper today (what a paper… NUS students should check out the past year papers and laugh at how un-Econs it is), in the morning. Kinda sucky to do an exam on your birthday, takes the morning ‘birthday buzz’ away and replaces it with the seriousness and monotony of the exam hall.

Of course, I’m glad I’m able to celebrate my birthday with my friends and family, and celebrating my birthday with family has been a year overdue.

My birthday celebration sorta-started off early this year, with Swee Choon for supper yesterday evening with 11 other Tembusu friends (incl Heather and Sherman and Ben and Mak and … ). It was so fun. We had so many liu sha baos and xiao long baos and also so much fun. I almost forgot I had an exam the next day (today).

To start off the day, my sweet sister Hui Chee went off to Toastbox early in the morning to get kaya toast, kopi (in an awesome Toastbox mug no less), and tea cakes so that I can escape the monotony of dining hall breakfast in Tembusu. How lovely is that! There’s no better way to start the day. It also reminds me of the breakfast Jake and Co. prepared for me last year.

After the exam and after a swim, I decided that studying today won’t help much. Went home before going out in the evening with my family and Chelsea to Chinatown Point where we had a tour briefing at CTC. Going to China in a week – next Saturday – for ten days. I’m so caught up in the exams (I still have three papers left) that this trip is really an afterthought. But just hearing about Jiuzhaigou (the place where I’m going) is enough to leave me wanting for more.

Had delicious (but damn expensive) dinner at Din Tai Fung before going home to have the usual birthday cake with my family and Chels. Glad to spend this year’s birthday with my grandparents too.

It’s so good that a year ago Thanksgiving fell right smack on my birthday. (This year happens to coincide with Black Friday) With my birthday on the last week of November, it falls within ‘Thanksgiving’ period and every year I am reminded of how lucky I am. How incredibly lucky I am. I am so thankful for everyone I have met in my life. Life would have been different without you guys – so many to name, it wouldn’t be fair to name them all here. (You know who you are!) Especially grateful to my family – my bedrock and my core – and Chelsea, my constant companion and partner who’s always there for me. Thank you.

Early this morning. I’m a Toastbox fan.

Family.

Chels and I

Look at this beautiful cross stitch done by Chelsea! On a pillow some more. Very touched. It’s really beautiful.

Southeast Asia

One exam down, four more to go.

I’m glad one of the two essay examinations are over (I have the second one on Friday). Doing this module reminds me of how much I hate writing essays. Especially essays in an examination hall, where you have nothing to refer to except some memorised facts (which may or may not have spontaneously disappeared the moment you entered the exam hall) and trivia. I know some random facts (just a few actually) and most of them do not apply to the exam topic.

Southeast Asia, oh, what a joy to learn about you, but what a pain to write an essay on you.

I am going to do so badly on this module. That’s quite sad because I did enjoy learning about Southeast Asia and about its fascinating changes over the years (and even today) but it’s going to leave a bitter aftertaste because of my poor results (which will most likely pull down my CAP by *this* much).

Before and after the paper, over conversations with Heather and Mak, I realised that generally, academically-measured intelligence can be really subjective, and in university it really depends on your luck. How well you do in a particular subject or major really depends on your aptitude for it. The problem is many of us would have no experience in a particular subject when we enter the university. For instance, my first taste of accounting was in my first semester in school.

Thankfully I liked accounting and I did quite well.

In a parallel universe, I could have decided to do Southeast Asian studies instead and screw up badly.

Same person, but wildly different academic results in two cases.

Which is why it really does sound funny to categorise students of all abilities and talents academically through their performance in 4 (or more/less) arbitrary subjects in the PSLE, O Levels and A Levels. It probably just meant I got lucky all the way, because I fit the mould for such assessment, and others may not be so lucky.

And I’m still lucky, because I’m still in Accounting, I’m still in Economics (no essays, phew), and I only have two more FASS exposure modules to go. But there are definitely deficiencies in this system (as if we don’t know that already) – the challenge is to address the problem (I have no idea how)…

Year Two Sem Two

And that’s it! With my last papers behind me, my 2nd semester in my 2nd year in NUS is over. I cannot believe that school only started just 16 weeks ago. I still remember that first Monday entering the Leadership and Ethics classroom. Then, I was barely back in Singapore – both physically and mentally. Now, I’m definitely back in Singapore in all aspects, as much as I dislike the weather at times.

It has been an interesting semester. At the start of the semester, I knew this semester will be a start of sorts for me. It is the first semester as a NUS double degree programme student, and after one semester, I have an impression of what the DDP entails, and why I can imagine my friends dropping their DDP status after a semester or a year.

It’s definitely not an easy programme. The requirement to maintain a minimum CAP of 4.0 for both degrees is something that is not easily achieved. The biggest problem is the “jump” that happens when you want to study Economics after your Accounting modules. It’s difficult because they are so, so different. In one module, you see things such as internal controls and journal entries, and in another, you see things like constrained optimisation and matrices. And it is not like an elective module where you can just pass/fail when you screw up – every module counts, and every grade counts.

So how do I feel at this stage? Frankly speaking, not very comfortable. I’m okay with the Accountancy bit. In fact, I’m quite glad that I still feel comfortable taking Accountancy, given that two years ago I was unsure if this was the right choice. I can relate to the topic and things still seem quite interesting to me. Life on the Economics side? It’s not as easy. The managerial economics module I took in Business was probably an inaccurate representation of what was to come for my life in the Economics undergrad world. Somehow, accounting is intuitive compared to mathematical models used in economic analysis. It’s funny how common sense Econs felt as a JC subject.

I have a feeling I will not meet the CAP 4.0 requirement this semester, which means that I only have one more semester to hit the requirement before I am forced to drop the second degree (and experience the ‘dilution’ of CAP thanks to the transferring of credits from the Economics degree to the Accounting one). But it has been an eye-opening experience for sure. I’m still somehow sure this is the right choice.

A Land Full of Grass

It’s May! It has been almost thirteen months since I’ve started this blog. Quite cool, isn’t it? If this were my 14-year-old self, this blog would have been left to rot by this point.

It’s exam week, and the nice thing is that I finish my exams in one week this time. They started on Monday with the audit paper, and I did my Microeconomics paper yesterday (which left me quite sad). I have two papers tomorrow, so it will be the hardest I’ve ever worked on a Friday this semester (context: I had a four day workweek this semester).

Exam week is terrible. I feel the urge to run just about every day, especially after a hour or so of studying. It’s great, therefore, that I found this nice little grass patch near University Town on Monday.

Well, technically, I didn’t find it on Monday – I knew about its existence since my first semester in NUS back in 2012. I even went in (it’s this fenced up area with a portion of the fence on the ground) before for a run, and stopped going back after my then-new Asics Kayanos experienced its first contact with wet mud in the premises.

But I decided to head back here because running next to cars doesn’t really help in relieving some pent-up stress from exams.

This place used to be part of the Warren Country Club (which is now in Choa Chu Kang). In fact, the land that UTown is on used to be part of the same golf course (I remember this from my Nan Hua days). While UTown is complete, this other piece of “unused” golf course is still, well, a patch of grass.

It’s a nice place. There’s this asphalt path that goes around the compound – probably for buggies last time – and the best part is that the entire circuit is exactly 1km long (if my Garmin Forerunner is accurate, that is). But more than that, it’s just this great big plot of grass. There’s even a pond filled with some aquatic plants, and from some angles, the huge grass patch reminded me of the Bliss wallpaper in Windows XP.

How to find this place. The 1km path is highlighted in red (that’s my running track shown by my watch)

What you see upon entering… there is a jogger on the path. United World College is the building behind

Strolling down the path, you see more things – more green, less concrete

Dead leaves on the ground

Pond full of aquatic plants

Aquatic plants that flower

Homes for different species in one shot

And you thought you’ll see buildings everywhere you look in Singapore

Surreal photo thanks to my iPhone’s shaky HDR. It’s a good place to let your dogs run free

A huge Tembusu tree on site

SingTel tower on the right as the sun sets

I can just imagine my grandfather laughing at me. “Grass? Everywhere also have!” – I can imagine him saying in Hokkien. Even my dad will find it funny. But I guess their laughter underscores the irony of development in Singapore. Something that is natural, something the older generations probably took for granted, something as simple as a field of grass, is like a gem in today’s Singapore. Would you have expected a big plot of grassland – untouched but somehow well-maintained – to be in a relatively mature housing area (Dover/Clementi)?

So I came here to run twice in the past three days, four rounds alone on Monday, and six rounds yesterday (5 rounds with Veronica and Mak). I came here for a stroll today, just one round around the land. It’s a nice getaway from the stress of exams, and also from living in a highly urbanised environment.

Of course, in Singapore, every tree and every piece of green land does not last forever (with the possible exception of the nature reserves). In fact, when I came here on Wednesday, there was an excavator that wasn’t on the site just two days ago. I decided to take some photos today before this piece of land disappears for more development.

As I walked through and admired the sunset – blocked by the towering Tembusu and Cinnamon Colleges – I found it sad and funny at the same time when I, once again, imagined my grandparents being amazed with Singapore’s development, and their reactions when they saw the first high-rises, the first skyscrapers in Singapore. In less than fifty years, here I am, no longer amazed by new developments in Singapore – not even the architecturally striking Supertrees or the towering Marina Bay Sands. They ‘wow’, but they don’t inspire.

What’s amazing, then?

Something more natural. Like this land full of grass.

*This post’s title pays a little homage to Coldplay’s new single A Sky Full of Stars which is better enjoyed as a live performance than a studio recording. (I like Coldplay a lot, by the way)

Exam Week

Ah, here it is again. Examinations! Finals! The last two weeks before you stop coming back to NUS for an extended period… the so-called last 200 metres in a 2.4km run. The part where you cannot wait for it to be over. The part where you also have the most self-doubt (can I do well enough?), and it is also the part where it is “too late”. Also, the part where you are just feeling all fatigued from the first 2.2km (or the prior 15 weeks of school).

Either way, I’m pretty glad that this time round, I finally get to experience the joy of ending my exams early – I’ll be done this Friday. (For once, accounting students do not bear the brunt of having the last papers on the schedule!) I will also get to experience the irritating two-papers-in-one-day syndrome – and that’s with two of the “hardest” papers – Corporate Accounting and that stupid Mathy module for Econs. The bright side is that my exams will be over when those papers are over. The not-so-bright side is that I have to go through those papers in the same day first.

Either way, there’ll be a nice one-week break before my internship at ACRA begins. That will be interesting – my first internship. But we’ll talk about it when we get there. First up… visits to LT16 and MPSH.

LDOC

It’s LDOC again. The last time this happened was just four months ago… I look at the post with a sense of nostalgia and awe, as well as a sense of familiarity… yep, another semester has passed and it’s the last day of class again. This time round, the only people I see on my social network doing the LDOC thing is Jake and Caroline… it’s almost like a NUS Tar Heel secret.

Either way, where did the semester go? 14 weeks ago I remember going for my first leadership class, at 11am on a Monday morning. I haven’t even fully moved in to Tembusu College yet… in fact, mentally I was still in the United States on holiday with Chelsea and my sister. That was the start of the semester, and also the start of 13 weeks of crazy 11 am to 6 pm classes on Monday.

It’s also probably due to the fact that there are so many hours spent in the classroom that made this semester feel somehow shorter than my semester in UNC. Funny, isn’t it? Well, if you spend an average of like 3 hours (max 4 hours) a day in school, it gives you plenty of time in the day for a lot more. And when we’re talking about Chapel Hill, there’s really not that much to do.

It’s been an interesting semester. It’s a transition semester, of sorts. Transition back to Singaporean university life, yes, but it’s also a transition for me to study accounting modules again, and to start earnest work on my second degree. It’s a comfortable semester, with only one class where I feel like a total and complete stranger (EC2104, but even so I have Tembusu friends taking that module). EC2101 was with Jake, and it’s a great module that is just not that easy to score. Accounting modules are fun because my first friends in NUS Business are in the same class as me – Danny, Eugene, Paul, Xixi. It was great just spending time after class eating lunch at Arts (I practically didn’t touch the Business canteen this semester), and doing projects together. Leadership was also made comfortable with Justin around.

The conclusion of the semester also means some things come to an end. This is probably the last semester where I will be taking a module under the UTown College Programme. Biomedicine and Singapore Society was an interesting module… but it’s less biomedicine and more on “living well”. Thought-provoking, and interactive. Best parts of a Tembusu module. Next semester, with many Year 2s leaving Tembusu this semester, the college could really just be a place to stay on campus for me.

It’s a semester with great professors. I think one of the great things about NUS is really the dedication and professionalism of the professors. I’m sure other universities have it great too, but I think my profs are just awesome without any need to compare. Profs TWC, Ed Keung, Dan McAllister, Catelijne… just great. (Sadly I have not much feels for my Economics profs – still a FASS noob)

Reading week is coming up. The semester is not over yet!

Last Weekend

And there it goes – my last weekend in UNC. Just like the first weekend in UNC, it has been gloomy and rainy. Just that it’s a lot colder now (it’s more or less a constant 1 degree Celsius today). It also happens that all the uncertainty and blurness associated with the first weekend has long been a distant memory. To replace that, throw in final examination preparation. Yep… even students on exchange study too (at least Singaporean students).

After a very nice warm Friday with my first paper – Macroeconomics, the temperature plunged rapidly (urgh) over the two days (from 25 degrees to 7 degrees to 1 degree Celsius). For the last weekend, I didn’t do much. I did manage to catch a theatre performance on Friday evening though – and it’s by the Playmakers Repertory Company (the same company that my group focused on for our Marketing project). Good show – went with Navin, Rebecca and Caroline. Followed that up with some beer to celebrate Navin’s birthday at Top of the Hill.

On Saturday, went to Walmart for the last time with Caroline, followed by the last UNC basketball game in the Dean Smith Center. In comparison to the wildly disappointing game against Belmont, the Tar Heels won comfortably against UNC-Greensboro (81 to 50!). Great atmosphere, great seats. Went to the game with Caroline, Jake, and Ben (with Rebecca there for a short while).

Spent most of my day today studying. In various places. The Starbucks near my dorm. And Davis Library – the biggest library in UNC. Friends who know me probably know that I prefer to study in my room. Turns out it’s not so easy with a roommate around (and a TV that’s perpetually on). The feeling of studying is somewhat good for me – reminds me of how it’s like in NUS and how good life here is.

PS: There was also a memorable moment – Friday 12am. There were streakers (yes, people who run around naked) – both male and female – running from the library to various places around campus. Truly something you cannot find in Singapore.

Friday Dec 6 – 25 degree weather. Bring out the short sleeve shirts!

The most “happening” area in Chapel Hill – Franklin Street

Some weird flash happened to go off during the tipoff in the UNC-UNCG game

More seats than our indoor stadium …

Carolina Victory! Last moments in the Dean Dome

Davis Library – the white curvy lights are actually skylights!