Singapore

ahh.. i'm back, the familiar sounds of singlish floating in the air. hehehe. did some housework in the morning, visited a friend for lunch, fell asleep 3:30pm. lol. i'd been working to sleep earlier before i flew over and it kinda shows -- 3:30pm = 12:30am in LA. i woke up 10pm+ to the sounds of MSN since i didn't turn my computer off before i zonked out.

anyway it's good to be back even if it's just for a few months. the plane trip was alright, watched only 2 movies this time, Chariots of Fire which i thought was great (winner of 4 oscars including best picture), but then i'm a bit biased since i hold Eric Liddell as a role model. the other was Stormriders which was disappointing.. and long. very long. as i'd guessed while watching, (i just checked) it's based on a comic and while yes, remaining faithful to the source is important, the plot meandered. yes. meandered. when the introductory scenes take up a significant chunk (felt like 15 or more min), i had a bad feeling. they should have either split it into two or more films or throw out some of the subplots. i think the only part i really liked was the opening scene with the swords all over the place, it has a very dark / punk feel. very cool. reminds of FFX though this movie is much older.

oh wait. there was a third. and that was irritating too. Beowolf. bah! turns out it's CG although very photo-realistic. that's not the low point though. it meanders as well. like it can't quite decide whether it's a drama or an action monster-killing flick. and i'm slightly irritated that Angelina Jolie gets protrayed as the seductive demon. her image in that respect is rather over-used in my opinion.

the TV shows i watched were cool though, the coolest being "Dragons Den" which is a panel of 5 top British venture capitalists and people go to them, making a pitch to raise funds for their company in exchange for equity. i find it really fascinating and educational. a must-see. :D

well, if you like that stuff. haha. the other was "Ad Factors: The Creatives", on the advertising process when working with an external firm. i knew advertising was important but until the numbers show up.. ack. can't find a source to confirm my fuzzy memory but if memory serves, the successful campaign for a middling soda manufacturer brought its sales from around 1m to 100m+. or was it 10m+? argh! whatever the case, big numbers. hehe. =D

and the last show was about Cadbury breaking into Wrigley's grip on the gum market in Britain. the interesting part was the approach, Cadbury going for the "new" experience which is to be expected, while Wrigley's went for more of the old stuff which also is to be expected but which i also feel to not be a very smart ploy. i think they should have gone for a double-pronged counter-attack, i.e. more of the old to retain the existing base, and new stuff to grab more of the expanding market or at the very least, muddle up Cadbury's advertising blitz. but ah well. i'm no expert. at the latest, Cadbury's been busy carving out market share from Wrigley's but there're plenty of factors at work, not least the fact that Cadbury has deep enough pockets to keep up a sustained campaign.

it was a long post so i'll condense it: plane trip long, watched a few things, Chariots of Fire good, Storm Riders bad, Dragon's Den must be watched. =D

all's well

anyway, just an update as i realized i've eh.. forgotten to blog for quite a while. things are alright, been accepted into Azusa Pacific University for the MBA - International Business program, normal intake which means i save both time and money. maximum two years study. just as well since i've been pretty antsy for a while now.

on other good news, i've been recommended for the Dean's Fellows Program which sounds pretty nifty. "will receive free textbooks during the program, and the opportunity to work with research faculty and attend academic conferences. This is a competitive program, accepting fewer than 5% of applicants." not sure how that will go but being recommended sounds good to me.

and before i forget, i've passed my driving test. made more mistakes this time as i hadn't been driving much lately and i used a different car but hey, things went well. 5 minor mistakes for better or worse. hehe. admittedly, i was kinda happy-go-lucky about the test half expecting something to occur such as emergency vehicles coming up right behind me (response being to immediately find a place to pull over) or the lights to go dead again. but nothing happened. hehe. so i passed.

finally, i'm arriving in Singapore on the 16th, early in the morning, and staying for i dunno how long. a few months probably. i'll see how it goes, priority being to settle my student visa to the US.

driving test: fail!

haha, i just failed my driving test. it's not that funny but i just gotta laugh; you see, the mistake i made is a very rare one -- halfway through the test, the power to the signal lights went out. eep! dangerous! haha, couldn't remember what to do (treat the intersection as having 4-way stop signs) and went right through. dangerous maneuver! fail! the examiner said everything else was fine -- if the power outage didn't happen, i'd have passed. so yeah, just gotta laugh. who'd have expected it? my first power outage experience.. on my driving test. haha. c'est la vie, c'est la vie.

texas hold'em

i was playing texas hold'em online, with virtual money not real ones so while i gain experience on mechanics, it's a bit harder to gain experience on the real thing - the psychology. i did learn a few lessons though.

one: patience does pay off. i held my hands and went to town when i had good ones. i not only outlasted a few of the stars but for a few brief moments, was the chip leader.

two: patience and fortitude does not beat skill. there was a player on my table who from a few observations, i could tell was a better player than i was. his cash reserves fluctuated far more than mine did but he rose much faster as well. it seemed like he had a lot of good hands but i felt it was also because he was better at bluffing and calling bluffs. myself, as of now, i can tell roughly if a player is reckless or conservative but not much beyond that.

three: emotions really do play a part and must be controlled. while playing online leaves things impersonal for most part, you could still feel the emotions. when i became chip leader over a few others in a dramatic fashion (i lured them in), i knew that for at least the next few turns, they'd be trying to take me out anyway they can.. even if their hands aren't so good. knowing this, i managed to make a profit. haha. of course, later on, my streak ended when i hardheadedly went all-in even though the chance of winning wasn't that great -- my judgement was still clouded by the fact that i almost.. almost took him out (i was 1 card from taking him out when the river card gave him a double. doh!) and that the failure let him double up on me.

four: know when to stop. i was playing it with the mindframe of a poker tournament player and wanted to practice my head-to-head skills. but still.. reaching $6k+ from $200.. if i wasn't so heady with my winning streak, i might have decided to stop, fake money or not. i mean, imagine what the feeling would be like if it was *real* money. $6k just like that. would you stop? it's like the "deal or no deal" show.. if you're on a streak, would you stop? i guess this is when knowing why you went in becomes critical -- the emotions do get.. a bit strong. very dangerous especially if you're on the losing end of things.

anyhow, that was a lot of words. i'm curious about mahjong as well but as it is, texas hold'em poker seems pretty cool. espn and other sports channels cover poker tournaments and its just so cool watching them go at it.

i suppose this is the part where i make a disclaimer: i'm ok with responsbile gambling since i think it gives things a bit of flavour BUT i'm hesitant about institutionalized gambling. on one hand, i think it's unfair to deprive everyone of something because of some people.. on the other hand, that some people seem to be a fairly large percentage (yes, yes, impressions are not equal to facts and statistics) and the effect on their lives and the lives of others.. really, i don't know. as for actually banning gambling.. that has enough qualifications for a post of it's own. haha.

GMAT

yay! i took my GMAT today, the remaining deciding factor for my MBA application.. and i scored my dream score. exactly. i got 42 for Verbal, 49 for Quantitative, with a final score of 750! that's 98th percentile! i just have to thank God. i don't know what else to say. my studies had a two-week hiatus and last night, i scored 730 on the practice test. didn't sleep well, cough getting worse.. and a better score.

Thank You God.

i happy.

speed

i finally went on the freeway today, going about 60-65mph (96-105kph), and i learned something. you get used to the speed. at first, my body was telling me, hey, fast, fast. then, things normalized. all of which is pretty run of the mill.

it was when i got *off* the freeway that i noticed that i had adjusted to the freeway speed. i used to be able to tell when i was going about 35-40mph (56-64kph) but after the freeway, until the instructor told me to slow down, i didn't notice i had been accelerating up to 45mph already. ooh.. come to think of it though, i went through this cycle when i moved out of the residential districts (25mph / 40kph) to the highways (35-40 mph). had to adjust then as well.

ah well. "It's not the speed that kills. It's the sudden stop." hehe. applies to much of our lives i would think.

much ado about nothing

just watched a play, adapted from Shakespeare into a more contemporary setting, 19th century California. pretty interesting stuff. the director was Tony Plana, from Ugly Betty (i don't watch). there was singing, dancing, and all the lovely stuff about theatre. and of the Shakespeare i've read, i've like Much Ado About Nothing the best.. mostly because it's silly and the only non-tragedy. heh. where else do you get quotes like:

If it prove so, then loving goes by haps:
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.

haha, lovely. anyway, it was by the East LA Classic Theatre, with quite the social bent, encouraging kids to pursue their dreams, the importance of education. the company seems to be quite the stepping stone for young (and old) actors to get their career started. earn their membership to the Actor's Equity Association, get contracts and agents, then from there to the Screen Actors Guild and so on. a pretty good night all in all.