some budget is set aside every yr for grad connection events, with e aim of connecting graduate trainees of both IB and WM of each batch. yest was our batch’s first grad connection event. supposed to b a BBQ, but due to e potential bad weather at this time of e year, e event was changed to sth tt none of us had experienced before – dialogue in the dark.

we hav nt even heard of it before la. so all who went were pretty excited abt it. we boarded a chartered bus from our office and headed to ngee ann poly at abt 6plus pm after work. reached e venue at 7 or so and we had some briefing before e actual thing starts.

dialogue in the dark at ngee ann poly

some extracts from its website:

“What if you had to go through your daily routine without seeing anything?

Dialogue in the Dark Singapore puts visitors in everyday situations – except in complete darkness. Simple things like crossing the street or visiting a hawker centre suddenly become extraordinary challenges.

Blind guides lead visitors through simulated environments. In the darkness, visitors are forced to rely on their other senses. Role reversal takes place. The blind become the ones with mobility and confidence.

Darkness opens visitors to new ways of experiencing the world around them. Visitors learn what it means to live without sight. In having to navigate darkened environments, they also appreciate the value of effective communication and understand those who see the world differently.”

interesting huh?

and this was a description of wad we went thru in our 1-hour tour:

“You begin your journey into the dark in a group of around eight people. Everyone in the tour is given a white cane. Anything that emits light or sound is covered or silenced. A blind guide will accompany you every step of the way to make sure you feel safe and secure.

Then the journey begins…

As you inch slowly in darkness, you come to an open park with plants, benches, and a fountain. The sound of birds and water completes this invisible landscape.

Boarding a boat, you sail down the Singapore River until you reach the city. Moving into town, you will have to navigate a typical Singaporean housing estate and face challenges like crossing the street through the noise of traffic.

The tour comes to a close as visitors are led to a coffeeshop, still within the darkness. Here you may have a drink and chat with your guide before ending your journey.”

it was a really great and unique experience for all of us. in pitch darkness, we learnt to communicate and express ourselves better. we learnt to b less judgmental. we learnt to trust our colleagues and help each other. we better appreciate how blessed we are with e sense of sight. we leanrt more abt e visually handicapped. and we all had fun. big thank you to serene, our guide! oh btw, this place is actually open to e public (admission at $20 for adults and $12 for students). so do experience it f0r urself!

we left ngee ann poly at 9plus pm and our bus brought us to pasta inc., an italian restaurant at jalan besar for our super late dinner! it was a cosy little resturant and our first time there. everyone had a set dinner each and also ordered some starters like calamari to share. my menu: seafood soup, angel hair pasta with crayfish and scallop, cooked aglio olio style, and tiramisu. everything was nt bad, except tt e pasta was kinda overcooked. haha. but since it is free, shall nt grumble much.

dinner ended at abt 11pm and home sweet home after tt. a really great time with other grads. looking forward to e next event! haha.

in another week’s time, i will be one year older. yest went shopping at ION orchard with dear. cos she wanna get me a casual bag for bday present ha. we reached there at abt 5plus pm. we had heard gd reviews abt e takoyaki and decided to give it a try. joined e long queue and we finally gt our takoyaki after like 10mins. actually nth fantastic wad, why e long queue? ya it wasnt too bad, but dun think they justify e long waiting time lo ha.

started shopping after tt! it was only my 2nd time in ION lo ha. e place was huge la and it was pretty crowded. still couldnt find a bag i like after browsing at many shops. finally sth caught my eye – at calvin klein jeans! great, means e end of shopping haha. many times when u spot sth u like, it isnt easy to like sth else. knowing tt, we decided to jus buy tt CK bag ha. gt some 30% discount, but still nt too cheap.. thanks dear!

dinner at ION was quite a scary affair cos everywhere is filled with ppl la! in e end we settled for e curry rice place at basement. nt too bad, but e portion was pretty huge ha.

went out to e road to admire e pretty christmas lights. this yr’s lights are really nice man. a pat on e shoulder for our tourism board. perhaps it is due to e APEC summit, or maybe it is cos e economy is showing positive signs of recovery, so e especially nice christmas light-up this yr. if only if e weather is abit cooler (perhaps STB can blow cool mist along e stretch of orchard rd huh), it will b perfect ha.

after some more shopping and coffee at orchard central, it was time to call it a day. reached home at 12plus, freaking tired haha.

this yr’s birthday will nt be spent in singapore. yes, next sat will be flying on air asia to phuket for a short getaway! cant wait man. thinking of it, i hav been travelling quite alot this yr! KL in jan, hong kong in april, japan in may and london in sept, and now, phuket in nov. how nice! haha

phuket getaway, 14 - 17 nov

last sat our dept had our annual teambuilding event. actually nt so much of teambuilding la, more of jus a gathering for e whole FXMM operations dept. abt 20 ppl turned up at e BBQ event held at command hse, our wealth mngt campus. my 2nd time there, but was still in awe of e beauty of e place la haa.

my 2nd visit to command house

started off with some wii games – raving rabbids. sth fun for a large grp of ppl i guess.

a game of wii for you?

rain started to pour later in e afternoon but luckily tt didnt dampen our BBQ plan. e BBQ pits were shifted to a sheltered area and we could carry on with e BBQ! some of e raw food was catered while e others were brought/prepared by our swiss managers. there were also plenty of alcohols, like beer and wines. nice.

boys and gers of FXMM Ops

food wasnt too bad. and it was great tt we had a BBQ assistant so we no need to do it ourselves haha. basically jus sit at e tables, chit-chat and wait for e food to b served! how shiok lo haa. was really full with all e food and it was quite nice to hang ard with my colleagues outside work.

after everyone was done with e dinner, we had a tour of e command hse by e “housekeeper”, who was quite knowledgeable abt e history of e place. nt bad, quite informative haa.

command hse tour

enjoyed myself pretty much and these were e times when u feel happy to b part of e company. well, as i hav said, everything is great abt e company. except e work tt is.. wad a pity huh haa.

had been dragging my ass and delayed taking my IPPT till now. window closing in 2 weeks so i mus die die go and clear it. woke up at 6.15am to make it for e 7.30am session at maju camp. now e static stations are no longer in e multi purpose hall, they hav been shifted to e ground floor. and also, e 2.4km has become 6 rounds ard its sheltered carpark. and there is this new machine where u can scan ur tag to see ur scores for ur static stations, and wad timing u needa achieve for 2.4km to get e diff awards. nice!

finally completed e 4 static stations and 2.4km at abt 10plus am. tired man! and this is my report card:

with this results, managed to marginally made it to earn $100 (which needs min C for all stations and a total points of 20) haha. lucky man. hopefully next year will b easier when i get promoted to Cat Y!

CCG at bedok reservoir

oh btw, e CCG 4×2.5km relay was also gg on at e same venue. UBS had one mixed team and ade and jingle were part of e team. so after their super shagged run (in which they performed resonably well, coming in at 7th out of 18 teams), they still stayed behind awhile to support e dragons.

anyway, after heats and semi final, 6 men teams, out of 8, made it to e final dragonboat race. actually only 5 shld be in e final, but one team who initially didnt get in, appealed and succeeded in getting in e final. so well, 6 teams competing for e championship. it was a hard race as everyone was pretty tired alr after e heats and e semis (nt forgetting ALOT of waiting as well…). but knowing tt it was e final stretch, everyone paddled their hearts (and tongues) out in e 300m race. everything was over in 1min plus, but it was damn shagged la.

we were so damn close to e champion team man. but well, a pat on our shoulders for coming in 2nd! damn proud of ourselves ha. at least our trainings and hard work paid off. actually i hav nv expected we cld do this well. cos during sat trainings when we ‘compete’ with other teams, we always came in last haa.

10th CCG dragonboat men's team 1st runner up!

this dragonboat race was certainly a great experience! esp cos we had performed quite well haha. but e event planning could b improved la. toooooo much waiting and waiting man. we were there till 3plus pm, almost 4! abt 7 hours there and we only rowed 3 times! abit ridiculous huh. super tired after e race. how nice if tmr no need to go work and can sleep till late! sian, dun hav such luxury.. shall have an early nite today ha.

hav always been wanting to buy a GPS for e car cos i am really bad with direction. i only noe how to go to e usual places. many times, i took e long way jus to get to those unfamiliar destinations. at other times, i couldnt even get to e places i wanted to and had no choice but to change plan. when i first gt my nokia E71, i foolishly thot it comes with GPS la. yes, it does actually. just for e first 3 mths. after tt u wld needa subscribe and i was told it cost abt $150 per year. how expensive man!

after e 3 mths were up last week, i was abit lost. literally ha. had gotten used to e convenience and reliability of GPS. but buying a GPS was still nt yet on my mind as it was pretty ex.

last fri, when i was waiting for my dabao food at JP, i went to courts to jus look look see see. a printed piece of paper pasted on e GPS display cabinet caught my mind. i saw GPS as cheap as $199 and it was a 4.3″ packard bell one. e price was originally $499, according to tt advertisement. but e only thing was tt it was a display set.. well, i thot it doesnt really matter so on e spot i got e salesman and said i wanted tt.

my new packard bell GPS

but it was nt being displayed at all so e salesman went to find it. and later told me tt e display set has been sold. but he managed to find one last box and told me tt as tt is not e display set, e promo didnt hold. but he was nice enough to check with e manager and told him e situation, tt i saw e $199 price on e advert though e display set has been sold.. so in e end i gt to buy it at $199! quite a bargain man. cos when i gt home and check its review, it was supposed to be quite gd.

and more happily, e next day i saw e same model retailing at $599 at best denki! wooohoo.

after working late (ok 8plus pm may nt b considered late for some, but it is definitely late for me! ha) everyday last week, weekend was very much look-forward to! sat, as usual, was spent dragonboating in e morn. then off to meet JC pals for lunch. didnt noe there exist this place called teachers’ estate la. haha. it was tucked at some ulu place in ang mo kio. if not for e GPS, i guess i would never find tt place man. ha. it was a zichar place which wasnt too bad, but eating curry fish head in e hot weather in a non-aircon outdoor place wasnt too comfortable for me ha. half of e time i was trying to wipe off my perspirations. after tt went to AMK hub for some drinks and desserts before heading to dear’s place.

had dinner with her family. zi char again haha. but it was nt bad. then after tt went to catch a movie at great world. “500 days of summer” we watched. nt too bad, but nt something i expected. i thot it is some typical romantic comedy. but sitting at e 2nd row wasnt such a gd idea ha. headed home after tt cos i was pretty tired after a whole day out and somemore dunno why had a little stomachache.

so fast it was sunday alr. was invited by lekshimi to her place for deepavali lunch! it was my first time. dun hav many indian frens u see. haha. hmm do i even hav any..? anyway it was a spread la! her mum cooked all e dishes and they were yummy man. briyani, mutton curry, chicken curry, prawns, chicken wings, fish, vege etc. and we used hands to eat! haha. nice and filling lunch. went to dear’s place again after tt, jus to hang ard before gg home for dinner.

deepavali lunch at lekshimi's hse

sunday nights always hav e depressed feeling. sigh.

e past few days had been working till 8plus pm. goodness. how tiring man. and thus i only get to eat dinner at 9plus everyday, kinda sad huh. suddenly gt quite alot of work to b done cos one of my colleagues was on vacation. yr end is like tt, everyone starts clearing their leave cos company policy is such tt only 5 days of leave can b carried over to next yr. so well, seems like will b working late till she returns next mon.

but then another colleague will b on one week leave starting next wed.. haha sad. but then my workload will depend on how much of his stuff i hav to cover. i dun think will hav a lot cos e tasks he is handling are sth i nt familiar with haa. but well, we shall see. will noe next week!

weekend always seems to come very slowly but pass very quickly. today is sunday already so fast. yest morn was spent dragonboating, as usual. 2 more trainings to corporate community games (CCG) race! though we hav trainings every sat, our performance is still not very satisfactory. dunno we can beat our competitors in e heats and make it to e final anot.. but well, we will definitely give our best and row till we stick out our tongues in e 300m race on 25 oct haha.

after training, i headed home for a gd rest before meeting BBS in e evening to cele qida’s bday in adv. we had dinner at a restaurant in toa payoh central. had steamboat, steamed fish head, some vege and it was very filling. thanks lilin for e treat! we also cut e bday cake there before making our way to our next activity. yes, we went to ten dollars KTV ha. nt e one in chinatown, but e one in TPY/balestier. it is located in NS home team club or sth like tt one, at ah hood rd. it is very new and its decor is prettier than e one in chinatown ha. nt too bad!

after a late nite sleep, i only woke up at 12plus pm today ha. very shiok man. and jus lazed ard, read e papers. in e afternoon, went for a short swim at safra then to JP to walk ard awhile. then it was dinner at home and after which, i tidied up my messy room. and sunday is almost over jus like tt haa.

when i was still schooling, i like to pack my weekends with activities. but now tt i hav started working, i hav come to realise tt it is kinda a luxury to b jus able to laze ard at home, doing nth. it is also nt a bad idea to jus hav some nice coffee or dessert at some nice place, leisurely reading sunday times and jus enjoy e slower pace of life. instead of jostling with e crowd in shopping centres etc. hmm or issit i am jus too lazy or issit i am jus getting old? hahaa.

i am nt referring to plastic surgery, if tt is wad u are thinking ha. i’m referring to another plastic – credit cards. before grad, i hav been wanting to apply for credit cards. tt is one of e things on my to-do list when i start earning money. 3 mths into my job, i hav since did tt and now i hav cards from citi and stanchart. shld b getting DBS soon. HSBC rejected me cos i am too new into e job ha. think they need applicants to hav 3 or 6 mths of income records. my parents’ generation tends to frown upon credit cards. to them, it is still better to hold cash and make all ur purchases in cash. but well, they overlook e many benefits these plastic can offer.

2. expenses tracking
with credit cards, come mthly statements. they detail all ur purchases for e past mth made on ur cards. u are remineded of when u spent e money, where u spent it and how much u spent. great, cos it means u are better able to track ur expenses. this is nt easily done if u are paying by cash huh (probably u need to keep ur receipts..). with an idea of how ur money is spent, u can better do ur budgeting for e next month. nice.

3. prestige
definitely nt to be overlooked, credit cards do look good in ur wallet ha. it is prestigious to hold certain cards as tat affirm ur income level.

4. convenience
cashless transactions are more convenient as u dun need to b bothered with all e small change u may receive in cash transactions. also, when making big-item purchases, it is jus easier to swipe ur card than bringing with u cold hard cash huh. furthermore, the plastic comes in handy when u are overseas and short of foreign currencies to get tt bag u really really like.

5. it’s free (usually)
yup, though there are usually annual fees for cards, normally nt many ppl will need to pay for tt. firstly, u tend to get fee waiver for certain period of time (from 1 yr to 5 yrs, depending on ur card). after tt period of fee waiver, u will b charged e annual fee. but tt can normally b waived if u call up e bank to request for it. if nt, u can jus cancel ur card and sign up another card, to enjoy e fee waiver again! so yup, credit cards usually dun come at a cost.

of cos, having said all tt, credit cards are ur fren only if u pay all ur bills – in full – every mth. we all noe e interest rate for cards (24% per annum) is among e highest u can find in e mkt (perhaps even worse than loansharks huh haha) and it is jus nt wise to nt pay on time and incur tt interest expenses. also, everyone needa exercise some self-discipline and spend within ur means. hence, whether credit cards are ur fren or foe very much depends on individuals. for me, it is definitely a fren ha.

how sian. i was slapped with a $70 fine for making unauthorised u-turn. my first traffic offence, and i hope it will b my last as well ha. $70 gone like tt very heartache man. $70 can b much better spent on topping up my fuel tank (still gt change lo), a rather nice dinner for 2, 5 movies for 2, 1 mth of MRT rides, half a pair of a pedro leather shoes i am eyeing, and more….. but well, i hav definitely learnt my lesson. shall nt u-turn unless i see an u-turn sign!

have been back to sunny and humid singapore for 1 week alr. nice to be back as i get to see my family, dear, and my frens again ha. home is still e best as we are surrounded by our loved ones. tt’s why i will never consider relocating for good. on e other hand, nt nice to b back as tt means i will hav to go back to work again.. sigh. really miss london days where our responsibilities were jus studying and having fun! gone are e days.. nvm, shall look forward to our next overseas training in switzerland in june 2010!

touched down last sun after a smooth and nice flight on quantas A380! it was pretty comfy and i gt to watch quite a few movies haa.

it was great tt e following mon was a public hol so i gt to spend e day with dear. and to recover from some jet lag ha.

tue was my first day back to office and i gt nth much to do. jus hang ard, distributed souvenirs to colleagues, cleared my emails and tried to get myself updated abt happenings at work. most of my tasks were automated and we had a new AIESEC intern from US joining us for one yr. great, means my alr little workload became even lesser ha. but of cos i will b learning new stuff also la.

wed was on MC cos wasnt feeling too well. mus b my body couldnt adjust to e change in climate. i nv chao keng okie. haha. oh and wed was payday too! happiest day of e month ha. anyway i rested at home for e whole day and spent alot of time thinking abt my future direction. hmmm.. nt much conclusion yet though. well, one step at a time ba.

back to work on thurs and fri and cant wait for e weekend to come. it was e F1 weekend! e global spotlight is on singapore again ha. though i am nt involved at all in e F1 thingg (unlike dear who is so lucky to hav free tix!), weekend was great. sat morn was spent dragonboating ha. after 1 mth break, it was sheer torture to row again. but hav to, cos our race coming up on 25 oct! after e training, met up with BBS for lunch at illuma. then it was BBQ dinner at shiwei’s place. then supper with AJ clique at bt timah prata place. very tiring day, but nice to see everyone again!

sun had mahjong! finally after soo long can. haha. neither win nor lose, but it sure satisfied my mj crave. dinner was with my parents at some zichar at henderson rd, as recommended by e tv show. nt too bad, but many ppl were there due to e show. e power of media.. amazing.

this ends my one-week update. another new week starts again..

3 more days and it’s time to leave london. so fast! 3 weeks training is really too short man. how nice if it is 3 mths. haha. but of cos, 3 weeks is still much better than nth huh.

after our ops training today, we met up with other asians from equities to hav a farewell dinner tgt. after this training, dunno when we will see all of them again. so sad. anyway we went to a thai restaurant near our training venue. tt place was kinda nice! food was nt bad too. but cos it was a long table, not very condusive for big grp gathering.

farewell dinner

it was a nice dinner tgt with them. thanks ade for organising huh! haha. headed home after e dinner. cos we were all tired and tmr still has training.

so jus now after class, we went straight to covent gardens for e show. was running late, so jus anyhow grabbed a sandwich from a shop near e theatre. e show started promptly at 7.30pm. unlike phantom of e opera, i dint fall asleep during this musical haha. though there were parts i didnt understand wad they were saying due to e accent, i managed to catch most of it haa.

characters were portrayed vividly, stage settings were nice, some songs were nt bad. overall it was quite gd. worth e money i wld say. but if given a choice i wld wanna watch “Grease”! haha.

took a cab back after e show and it was freaking ex! more than half of my daily allowance gone. damn it.

had been thinking of gg to edinburgh to spend a weekend even before we left singapore for london. but it was only a few days ago tt we gt down to booking e transport and accomodation! ha. almost decided to cancel e plan as a colleague said tt it was freaking cold in scotland and it was kinda rush and nt worth e money to jus go for a short 2D1N.

nevertheless we went ahead! i gt myself equipped with an additional sweater tt cost 15 pounds from uniqlo ha. on fri night, we took a looonng 8 hrs bus from london to edinburgh!

reached there at abt 7plus in e money and proceeded to our hostel to leave our bags.

our hostel - edinburgh central

after which, edinburgh adventure began! e weather was nt as cold as we thot. in fact it was far from it! my 2 jackets seem to add too much warmth for my comfort.

heading to e royal mile

anyway we had a traditional scottish breakfast on e royal mile (e road linking edinburgh castle and holyrood palace). it contained a traditional scottish food called haggis and most of us didnt really like it. we only found out later tt it was made from a sheep’s internal organs, minced with spices and boiled. hmmmm.. but besides tt, e breakfast was yummy. 

traditional scottish breakfast

joined a free walking tour after breakfast and it was great!

free walking tour

e tour guide brought us ard e area and told us many stories abt e histories behind them. they were interesting indeed. we learnt sth tt we wld otherwise nt noe if we were to explore e areas ourselves. we sure did hav a gd time and hence we tipped him after e almost 4 hrs tour.

4 hrs of touring and stories and fun

next we visited one of edinburgh’s top attractions – edinburgh castle. haha but it was quite disappointing though. cos really nth much. e best part of it was e beautiful view it offered at e top where e cannons were. haha. nth really fascinating inside e castle. nt worth tt 13 pounds admission fee.

edinburgh castle

it was time for dinner! on our way in search of dinner, we saw an interesting busker. he was performing in his brief! haha. he was funny and his performance was quite gd.

busker in brief

we had our dinner at a restaurant at royal mile which served nt bad food. after which was some drinks at maggie dickson pub at grassmarket, which had live band. nt bad at all haha. but went back hostel at abt 11pm cos was really tired.

had a great nite rest at e hostel and checked out at abt 9plus am. headed to burger king for a quick breakfast then to our first destination of e day: carlton hill. it was one of edinburgh’s main hills and was set right in e city centre. e view up there was great and we took lotsa pics obviously haa.

carlton hill

we then proceeded to catch a glimpse of e holyrood palace, where e queen will stay for a few days every year, i think. hahaa. we didnt go in, jus took some pics outside.

holyrood palace

we had made a reservation at a restuarnt at e other end of e royal mile and being too lazy, we took a cab from one end of e mile to e other haha. even e cab driver said “you guys are lazy!” hahaha. e restauarnt we went to was called “the witchery”, which was recommended by a colleague who is from edinburgh. it looked posh man. we had a 2-course light lunch which cost 16 pounds each. expensive man! e food was nt bad ha.

lunch at the witchery

next up: scotch whisky experience. it cost 11 pounds to learn more abt scotch whisky, e famous alcohol of scotland. besides tt, we also gt to try a whisky of our choice. too strong, and e taste also nt really to my liking ha. beer is still better la haa.

scotch whisky experience

after tt, it was a mad rush to grab some souvenirs before cabbing to e train station to catch our 4.30pm train back to london.

goodbye edinburgh

it was a short trip but a great one. scotland was really beautiful and i guess it is even more so at e highland region. leave tt for next time ha.

yea today was e last day of our business fundamentals training. for e past 2 weeks, we hav had learnt, or rather relearnt, e basic finance concepts, played a trading simulation game and taken 2 exams! we jus had our 2nd exam this morn, after only abt 4 hrs of sleep. shagged man, worse than uni days lo. we mugged till 3am! hahaa. but well, it was finally over.

e activity after e exam was fun! it was called “re-create e trading floor”. yup it was some sort of trading simulation, but nt e kind we did for e past 2 weeks, which was those online one. this was entirely new for me haa. it was in fact futures trading simulation done physically.

in grps of 3, we took turns to play e role of a trader (whose role is to strike e deal), a floor manager (whose role is to run e book) and a runner (whose role is to convey messages between e 2).

we were betting on e total value of 4 randomly picked poker cards from a deck of 52. say, if ur view is that e 4 cards will add up to 30, u will wanna  long at a “price” that is less than 30 or u will wanna short at a “price” greater than 30. information will b released from time to time, so teams may change their views on e total value of e 4 cards. for e.g., at some pt of time, 1 out of e 4 cards will b revealed. also, e remaining cards in e deck are slowly revealed at diff pts of time.

futures trading simulation game

it was exciting to b a trader haha. ppl were shouting at their top of their voice and competing with one another to give e best quotes. it was tiring too definitely haha. as for e floor manager, a key responsibility is to continously work out our net position and breakeven price, to give e trader an idea of “prices” and positions to quote. and e runner, besides shuffling to and fro e trader and floor manager to pass deal tickets,  has to look out for info releases.

though we didnt win, we still make some profits haha. but more importantly, it was damn fun!!

but activity after tt was kinda sian. we went to do some gardening chores in a public park as some community involvement project! wah lau. i think it was kinda pointless lo. but well… nt tt we hav a choice haha. i mean i am ok if we do community service tt are like more meaningful, such as tutoring kids, painting some children homes or things like tt u see.

anyway it has been a tiring day! and i have to go pack for our scotland trip later!! haha.

last sunday morn was spent at buckingham palace. or rather, outside e palace haha.

a trip to buckingham palace

there was e change of guards parade at 11.30am, so we reached there at abt 10plus 11 to try to get a gd spot. it was really crowded and our spots werent really fantastic. but well, it was kinda disappointing cos there was really nth very nice abt e parade. but well, this is still sth tt one muz experience at least one time in london huh.

e must-do thing in london tt can really do without

after tt, we walked towards the houses of parliament and the big ben, which was just abt 15mins walk away. took some pics with, and of, the famous clock tower haa.

big ben

a few metres away, we could get a nice view of another london’s landmark: the london eye. we heard last year’s GTP grads had a networking event onboard e london eye lo. how shiok! haha. but not anymore this year. so poor ppl like us could only take pics of it from a dist.

london eye

after a morning (and early afternoon) of sightseeing, we made our way to another famous destination of london. yess harrods  is e most famous departmental store in london i think haa. it is very pretty inside. it also houses alot of luxurios brands which i cant afford ha. so e first section i went to was e souvenirs place. got some stuff for my colleagues. things there seriously nt cheap lo. jus some biscuits and jam cost me like almost 100 sgd!! wah biang.

harrods

decided to return to apartment early cos we were having our first exam on mon. went back and we went to ade’s room for some instant noodles dinner. kinda pathetic huh haha. then after tt was mugging session. yawn.

instant noodles party

e first part of training was over and we will b having our first exam this coming mon! training so far was okie. learnt abt basics of financial mkts, stats, probability, accounting etc. and also hav to play some trading simulation game in teams of 3 or 4 ppl. but it was kinda tiring to b attending lesson everyday from 8plus am - 6plus pm everyday. well, but still much better than working la haha.

fri was a bit different. yes, cos e 2nd half of e day was spent learning some circus skills! packed lunch was provided and a coach fetched us to e venue. we changed into casual clothes and were divided into grps. 4 main activities for e session: juggling, static trapeze, stilt-walking and acrobatic balancing (doing human pyramid). it was pretty fun cos had never been exposed to such stuff at all haha. but nt easy man. esp stilt-walking! wah lau it was scary lo. cos so unstable. though i think it didnt reallly help much in teambuilding, it was still a kinda gd experience ba.

teambuilding event at circus space

e session ended with all e grads forming a giant human pyramid! and after e event, finger food and drinks were served haha. oh anyway no pics to show cos nv took any. wad a pity.

most of e asian grads went for dinner tgt at a chinese restaurant. ordered quite a lot and it was very filling. but e food was so-so only. but it was quite a refreshing change after days of burgers and sandwiches ha.

asian grads dinner at lao di fang

at nite, we decided to go to a club called “abacus” as many grads were there as well. jus went there to look look see see la. had been sooo long since i last went to a club man ha. okie la it wasnt too bad. but was soo tired after a loong day. only slept at abt 2plus am! and had to wake up at 8plus am for outlet shopping!

club at abacus

on sat, went to this outlet mall called bicester village. it took us abt 1plus hour and 16 pounds to reach there. well, it was quite big and it was crowded with ppl. there are brands like burberry, CK, DKNY, ted baker, tommy, polo ralph lauren, D&G, hugo boss, fred perry, paul smith, dior etc etc.

outlet shopping at bicester village

reached there at abt 12plus pm and went for lunch at pret a manger. nt bad! nice sandwiches and wraps and soups haha.

lunch at pret a manger

then we splited up to shop before meeting up again at a specified time. well, nth much for me there. only gt a cardholder from ted baker for myself and a small DKNY bag for dear. things werent really cheap. ok la, US outlet malls are too hard to beat man. haha.

goodbye bicester village

reached back central london at like 8plus pm and we were like sooo hungry! couldnt find any decent restaurant at liverpool street. most were alr closed. so ended up in mac. tried a burger tt was nt avail in sgp. it was gd lo haha. mac is hard to go wrong man.

mac for dinner

at nite we met to discuss abt our scotland trip next weekend. yup, most prob will b gg ahead. it is gg to b just a short 2D1N trip but we certainly hope it will b fun! if nth goes wrong, shld b able to book e tickets and accomodation tmr! nice. haha.

UBS office, finsbury avenue

today’s talks were on personal branding and reputation mngt, performance mngt and measurement, intro to community affairs etc. yes, part of this program will see us doing some community affairs activities like gardening! haha. tt will happen next fri. and sth even more exciting will take place this friday! circus skills! oh my goodness lo. why are we gg to learn circle skills?! apparently tt is supposed to b teambuilding event ha. a quick glance at e handbook, we are expected to experience acrobatic balancing, stilt-walking, juggling and static trapeze! fun anot u tell me. wah lau haha.

anyway, we were let off at abt 1230pm to have our lunch at our own expense. we had a quick one at this jap-inspired cafe. i had a vegetable dumpling udon soup. kinda nice! and very filling too. quite worth it for 4.95 pounds haha. tt is like one of e cheapest meals we had in london alr.

cheap and good lunch

after lunch we made our way to dexter house where e bulk of e remaining training will b held.

dexter house

we will b learning e financial fundamentals there. class was taught by some external trainers and it was still okie. i will faint when it comes to my much hated derivatives and bonds i guess. haha. but shall nt waste time worrying abt tt first. one step at a time!

class ended early at 5pm today! cos ade wanna shop for some shoes for gardening, we went to primark at oxford st, a place selling cheapo clothes and accessories and stuff. back to apartment for instant mee noodles for dinner. so sad.

training officially started yest and all e graduates gathered at UBS office at 100 liverpool street at 11plus am.

UBS office at 100 liverpool street

first thing to do was to collect our per diem! yes we were given allowance to support e high cost of living in london ha. shiok man, was richer by 315 pounds. but well, that is like only 15 pounds per day, barely enough to cover food and transport! but well, it was better than nth huh haha.

our per diem!

we were given a handbook which contains all e details we need to noe for this program and also a name tag to facilitate getting-to-noe-each-other process haa.

handbook and name tag

next was networking lunch. first time meeting e other grads from diff offices ard e world. sydney, tokyo, hong kong, beijing, taipei, zurich, london, seoul, and of cos singapore! and everyone was in diff roles within IB, like equities, FICC, IT, compliance, risk, HR and also operations.  it was kinda interesting to speak to diff ppl but slowly and natuarally, ppl tend to hang ard in their own grps. so it was quite distinct that there were e london grp, e australia grp, e swiss grp and e asian grps. haha.

anyway after lunch, it was basically a series of talks from diff guest speakers, topics ranging from UBS values to our structure and strategy to professional behaviour etc. and e day ended with a drinks reception which give ppl more networking opportunities.

dinner was with fellow singaporeans and some new colleagues at an asian restaurant near e office. we were easilye noisiest table there la haa.

dinner gang