The days you wonder if the MBA was worth it..

This past weekend, we were travelling in Athens with my other classmates, since we didn't have class on Friday. While in Athens, we were trying to use our student status as much as possible, including getting tickets to the Parthenon, which is EUR6 for students in the EU, or EUR12 for everybody else.

Unfortunately, some of us (including myself) didn't have our INSEAD ID cards with us, but we had our business cards and passports. The following conversation took place between my friend and the guy at the ticket office

Friend: We're students at INSEAD in France, we don't have our student cards, but we have cards from the school

Ticket Officer: "Where does it say that you're a student?"

Friend: "The name of the school, INSEAD is on the back. On the front, it says MBA Candidate, that's what we're studying for"

Ticket Officer: "What is this MBA? This means nothing to me"

We all had a great laugh out of that one... As you can imagine, we didn't get the student discount.

Two new galleries posted

Life at INSEAD Singapore, including pictures of the campus and my little apartment, and pictures from a recent weekend whirlwind tour of Netherlands and Belgium.. It was wierd being in a hostel again, but I can't argue for 15EUR per night!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kent.x.lee/InseadLife02

http://picasaweb.google.com/kent.x.lee/BrugesAmsterdamBrussels

Life in France...

It's been two weeks now since I've moved to INSEAD Fontainebleau, and it's been a 180 degree change from living in Singapore. Good part is the weather is nice, bad part is that nothing is nearly as efficient, and things are a lot more expensive.

My roommate and I nearly had our first disaster within the first week. We have a car that we're using from the student that we swapped apartments with. After class, we wanted to go back home, and I needed to email an assignment out at 7pm. Around 5:30pm, we go back to the car, and for some reason, the key doesn't even turn! Checked all the normal things, battery seemed OK, etc, so we decided to get some help. I was starting to panic, because it was close to 6pm, and I hadn't done my reading required for the assigment due at 7pm.

When we went for help - the secretary was not exactly helpful. She said she couldn't help us call the service line (we were looking for a French speaker), and referred us to some other staff. We went to the other staff, and she said it's not her responsibility either. Luckily, we found somebody else in another office that was much more willing to help. She calls up the service line, asks a bunch of questions, then the technician asked "did you turn the steering wheel?" - then she realizes that we made a simple mistake.

There's a steering wheel key lock!!! I've NEVER heard of this before. Granted, I have a French Citroen, so everything is kinda weird. With this lock, you have to turn the wheel and the key at the same time. I guess it's to prevent kids from starting the car, but it's wierd that it only disables the key sometimes - defeating the purpose of being a safety lock. Ever since that day, I"ve noticed it 'locking' the key only once. (We drive 2x per day). How frustrating - and a nice start to my time here.

Otherwise, it's been nice, each campus has its own student culture, and it's interesting to see the differences. We live in a little old village called Bourron-Marlotte, complete with small streets, gray-stone cottages, etc. It's kinda cute - very quiet, and reminds me of Wooster on the weekends. More photos to come later..

Photo of the Chateau de Fontainebleau via Wikipedia

Done Done Done!!!

Can't believe it, but I'm finally done! Last exam finished about 1 hr ago, now it's a frantic rush to pack and say "zai jian" to Singapore and "bonjour" to France.. this past two weeks have been crazy, managing exams, final projects, packing, and trying to have to balance. Unfortunately, I think my balance is 2 weeks of nothing but studies, and then 5 days of nothing but relaxing, and then back to the regular schedule...

I think I'll miss this place already... I'll post some pictures of my "Singapore life" sometime in the near future...

Pre-exam philosophizing #2

I noticed for the first time that the shower stall in my apartment, has clear glass, and not frosted glass. Isn't that wierd? At least if it was frosted, and somebody had an emergency, they could still use the bathroom if they needed to.

Wonder if I've never noticed it because it steams up when I normally use the shower...

Pre-Exam Philosophizing - #1

P2 exams are here again, and so I've been frantically studying for 6 exams. And we have only 1 day off to study, so that meant starting early... ie, last weekend.

It was about 10pm, and I was at school, walking back to my "office", and through the glass, I saw a nice dinner party in the outside courtyard. Then I understood what it was like to be in an aquarium. Except the question is: Which is the aquarium?

Was it me in the aquarium, wondering about the lone student who was at school at late hours on a weekend, while people having dinner were looking into the school?

Or was it them, enjoy a nice dinner outside, the life that I could be having, and it was me, peering into the aquarium, watching these people enjoy their dinner?

The Economy Hits Summer Internships

Number of positions applied to thus far: 10
Number of positions with first round interviews: 3
First-Pass Yield: 30% (although one interview was with a very prestigious firm)

Number of first-round interviews "in the oven": 1

Number of positions with 2nd round interviews / offers: 0
Final-Pass Yield: 0.00%

Am I being too picky? Or should I not be so desperate? Or should I just take a 2 month vacation? The only such time I'll ever have so much free time?

I love Singapore

And it's not for the reasons that you think. Ok, Singapore does have really tasty dishes, but the reason I love it so much is because it's INCREDIBLY EFFICIENT. More so than the US (can you really believe that?)

I had a Maxtor external hard disk that I bought from the US, and it went bad on me as I arrived in Singapore. I was afraid that I'd have to return it to the US for a warranty exchange, but decided to look into options here. Turns out that Seagate (the parent of Maxtor) is based in Singapore, and there's a local address for RMA returns. This past Friday, I took a cab to the building, did my warranty return, and was told to wait about 2-3 weeks. (Interesting side note: This place was completely full of pallets of hard disks, seems like it's a regional distribution center for Asia, if not North America)

Today (Monday), I got an email from the company that my new hard drive will be shipped to me by Tuesday.

Incredible! I was seriously prepared for a long wait, or at most, logistical issues since I bought this in the US, but the service was beyond my expectations

Just like my experience opening my bank account here... They needed only a few documents, and within an hour, my bank account was open. I made a wire-transfer from the US, and it was credited the next day. That's faster than it takes for me to make domestic wire transfers between banks in the US!

One interesting thought: once Singaporeans (or expats in Singapore) get used to this type of high-quality efficiency, it must be so painful to move to other Western countries (eg, France), where things move at glacial speeds...

Learning about Wooster at INSEAD


As one of the few Americans at INSEAD, I often get a lot of flack from my other compatriots, because I come from the midwest, while nearly everybody else is from the coasts. But recently, coming from the midwest has been advantageous. Believe it or not, we actually had two case studies about companies in Ohio.. I was completely shocked, because I knew about both of them. The first case was about Lincoln-Electric, a welding supply company in Cleveland where my friend Mike Ohlsen did an internship during college. The case discussed LE's unique compensation strategy, where employees on the factory floor are "paid for performance", based on piecework. Apparently, many business school cases have been written about LE's unique compensation program. The professor even showed a clip from an early 90's episode of 60 minutes, where they went to Cleveland, interviewed the factory workers and the CEO. One of the clips showed the old-school Ohio auto plates... it made me homesick.

The second case that was covered, was about... RUBBERMAID! My dad's employer, the company that gave me scholarships to CWRU, and what was the proudest company in Wooster, Ohio, my hometown. Rubbermaid pretty much collapsed in the 90's after raw material costs rose rapidly, and they were unable to pass the cost to their largest customer, Wal-Mart. The accounting professor was talking about Wal-mart's ability to pressure its suppliers, and showed this excellent clip from Frontline, where they went to Wooster to interview Rubbermaid executives and visited the plant where all the machinery were being sold off to Chinese competitors. It was an interesting discussion, because in class, I explained that I was actually from Wooster, and that my family has a close connection to Rubbermaid. To which the professor said "I feel bad for your town... I think it's better in Singapore. I grew up in Bethelhem, PA (home of Bethlehem Steel), and it's a similar situation there".

This week, we'll be studying Newell, which acquired Rubbermaid around the late 90's, and as an assignment, we have to decide whether Newell should acquire Rubbermaid or not... a very touchy subject for somebody from Wooster.

I'd really suggest watching the clip #2 about Rubbermaid on PBS's website, it's a part of a series asking "Is Wal-mart good for America?"

Now, someone may ask, why is Ohio suddenly a hotspot for b-school cases, when everybody else in the world (and perhaps even in the US) thinks that the midwest is all boring and farmlands? Probably because the Midwest has a lot of examples of companies that were the top of their industry years ago, but with global competition, have been under a lot of pressure to survive, which makes for great b-school cases.

Purim Festival

Last week was the Israeli festival of Purim, it's a bit like secret Santa and Halloween all combined into one... and so one of the Israeli students co-ordinated this holiday for all of us here in Singapore. The idea is that you're supposed to give a secret gift (typically food, or something small and nice) to a person, and then the following day, you dress up, and then reveal yourself to your recipient.

It was completely hilarious to see everybody in their costumes on Friday! I think the professors had a good laugh at all of us too! And so much creativity! Photos are up on Picasa... there were these people who rented half of a bunny suit (ie, the ears half), one girl and a guy who dressed up as brides, among others.

As for me, I had a pair of scrubs that I got from a PM implant case some time ago. I've been using them as pajamas, but thought it'd work well for my costume. So, I found some shower caps, used them as shoe-covers, and wore another one as a hair net. And no, I'm not a doctor, I'm a male nurse.

More haircut experience...

It was time for a haircut again, and after the disasterous pre-Chinese New Year's haircut experience at the local HDB barber, I decided to try something more upscale. Our classes let out early on Friday, so some of us went to Bugis Junction, a shopping center near the city centre. It's actually quite interesting.. It used to be a real street, with traditional shophouses, but they've now covered the entire street, and knocked out the spaces between shophouses to convert it into a shopping mall. It's a nice experience, because you feel like you're walking in the city, but it's nicely air-conditioned.

This time, I went to a hair salon to get my haircut, and it was a nice experience. SG$30 for a wash and a cut (about $25).. the process though was interesting. First you get seated, and they bring you two magazines to read (Maxim and some auto magazine... neither of which I was really interested in). And with my vision, I can't see without my glasses. =) Then they do a pre-wash scalp massage, the haircut itself, and a post-cut wash. A very nice experience, BUT... they tried styling my hair in the latest 'Japanese pop-star' look. (ie, long in the front and back, but short on the sides). A little wierd... then she shaped my hair into a bit of a mohawk!

but then I noticed all the other people in the mall.. definitely was catering to a younger crowd.

In all - a more relaxing experience than the last one.. the luxurious treatment was a plus. That reminds me - I'll need to blog about how I learned that massages and facial treatments are actually acceptable for guys here...

Wintery cold spell in Singapore...

It's been super-cold here in Singapore the past few days, setting a new cold record in the past 74 years.. It's so bad that people are actually buying sweaters and jackets... because the temperature has dipped down to a chilly 25C (77F), and even better, a frigid 21.8C (71 F) at night. (I particularly liked the 21.8 precision on the temperature). It's time to buy some space heaters here!

Can you believe it? It's freezing cold!

This recent article in the Straits Times (Singapore's main paper) detailed the consequences of last weeks cold-spell, to the amusement of nearly everybody else who has lived in the Northern hemisphere.

Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, it's coming out of the near absolute zero super-deep freeze at 40F...

P1-P2 Indonesia Break

Life is non-stop at INSEAD.. after finishing my last exam on Weds afternoon, I went straight to the airport to join a bunch of other classmates to travel around the SE asian region, and then returned on Sun afternoon for Monday classes.

One of my classmates, an Indonesian national, was arranging a trip to Jakarta and Jogjakarta, where we could visit some ancient ruins of Hindu and Buddhist temples, as well as get an idea of Indonesian culture. It was a fantastic 4 days. I had previously read so much about Indonesia, mainly negative things in the press, but this trip was a good awakening to what Indonesia was really like. The people were friendly and warm, but you also have to realize that it is still a developing country, and that there is a lot of poverty around you. But in the end, this trip accomplished everything I wanted... to get personal perspective of life in Indonesia, and travel to a new country, explore a new culture and society.

I've posted a set of photos on my Picasa page: http://picasaweb.google.com/kent.x.lee/JogjakartaIndonesiaTrip/ More stories to follow later...

P1 Exams!

Wow - I had forgotten what studying for exams are like. I don't think I've bad actually sit still for more than 3 hours in the past 6 years. And doing that twice. Ok, well, maybe for GMAT..

Things get kinda nutty when you're under stress, studying all weekend, and then doing 2 exams, then studying frantically again for another 2 exams the following day.

Nuttiness #1: I realized Feb 29 was an extra day that we had this year... a once in every 4 year treat. I used it as an extra day for studying... what would I have done without this extra day? I hope everybody else used their extra day for something more exciting

Nuttiness #2: I've been taking showers at night because of the heat, and last night, I found myself shaving after brushing my teeth. Only after shaving did I realize that it wasn't the morning, but it was actually the evening! I'd completely lost track of time, couldn't tell morning from evening. Especially when it all looks the same - get up, go to school, study, go home, sleep. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Well - one more left - statistics! Then it's off that same night to Indonesia with some classmates for our 4 day break. Hope to have some nice pics up when I return..

Signs that I've spent too much time in Singapore..

1. You instinctually start staying to the left when walking
2. Drinking coffee out of a plastic bag and eating rice off a sheet of paper seem normal
3. Your English grammar has gotten worse - you don't conjugate verbs, and end sentences with 'ah'
4. You know you've had a a high-class meal when it comes with napkins.

Things are getting crazy here as we prepare for finals.. in my sleep-deprived state, I start thinking about crazy things like the thoughts above....

Looks like I'm going to France..

We just had our bidding for campus selection.. I originally wanted to return to the US to do the Wharton exchange, but people were really crazy with the bidding, and completely outbid me! For reference, we're given 200 bidding points for class selection.. you had to keep 10 points for certain classes. 35 seats were available, and the marginal winning bid was 185! Completely crazy.. My bid.. a measley 97 points. Yes, that's right, 97, not 95 or 100, 97. Anybody know why I bid exactly 97 points?

So, life changes unexpectedly sometimes.. I didn't consider going to France, but now that I can't go to Wharton (wanted to do more healthcare classes), it seems that the only healthcare classes offered during May-June are in France.

Ironically, I thought S'pore would be cheaper, but given the high cost of rents here (and low cost of living), I think France might be slightly cheaper (low cost of rents, higher costs of living). Hopefully, it'll turn out to be a wash!

Well, let me know if anybody will be in France (or in a 2hr travelling distance) in May-June. I'll return to S'pore from September - December...

Strangest Cravings..

This past week, I've been thinking about things I miss, and sometimes it's the strangest things. I really miss driving. Driving, of all things... I've been walking, taking taxis, buses, subways, but haven't driven for almost 2 months now. Just that feeling of being in control, knowing that I can drive 2 hrs away if I wanted to.

Singapore is a small place, in probably 1 hr, you're already in malaysia. And if you want to stay in the country, it's kinda hard, because it's an island.

The other craving I've had - is a burger! I joined up with the INSEAD foodie club this Friday, since they were going to Botak Jones.. it's "Authentic American taste" stall in a hawker centre! Opened by an American guy who was looking for American-styled foods, they've become franchised and have 3 market segments: the burger one (original Botak Jones), American-style pasta (Spaghetti Jones) and beers (Brewski Jones). Absolutely brilliant - I was joking that if I don't find a job after INSEAD, maybe I could start a chain of Mexican hawker stalls here.... in Singapore, any non-Asian food is grouped into a generic "Western" heading... it's kinda weird, because you'll walk into a hawker centre, and there'll be an Indian, Chinese, Malay, and "Western", which might be pasta, steak, burger, fish&chips, etc.

Anyhow, Botak Jones was totally delicious - I had to demonstrate some American gluttony, so check out what I ordered...my classmates thought I was crazy... (note that's a double-decker cheeseburger with bacon...) Now, where's that Red Robin Royale when I need one...

Happy Chinese New Years! (新年快乐！)


The Chinese New Year holiday has just finished, we had a nice 2 day break from classes, followed by the weekend. It was really nice to be in a Chinese country during CNY, since all I've ever known is the small celebrations that we had as a family back in Ohio. It's really festive here, with banners and lanterns strung all about, and the other races in Singapore (Indians, Malays) also seem to enjoy the holiday.

During the break, we had traditional Lion Dancers come through our complex, including through the hallways of our condo. I was completely shocked! It was fun though, there's this stream of kids following the dancers as they walked throughout the complex, and then during the dance, the kids like to tease or hit the lion in different places.

CNY is also another time when the Istana / Presidential Palace is open to the public, and I went with a group of students to go visit. It's amazingly large, probably one of the most valuable properties in Singapore, because it's near the center of the city, and near the Orchard Rd shopping district. I've actually never noticed it there - the fencing and security is quite thick, and from the road, you would never realize that there was a huge park / governor's mansion set from the road.

Originally built by the British during colonial times, it's funny because - it has a golf course built into the palace greens! How quaint... it seemed so typically British. Maybe they first built the golf course, and thought, "hm, maybe this would make for a nice Governor's house".

Because CNY is such a huge holiday, EVERYTHING shuts down on New Year's day and the day after.. most families go back for their reunion dinners, much like Christmas in the west. My roommates and I decided to stock up on food the night before, and it seemed like everybody in Singapore had the same idea. THe grocery store was almost robbed blind of items like vegetables and meats. So, on Thursday night (CNY day), I finally cooked for the first time since coming to Singapore, mainly because we knew that all the food places would be closed. I seriously cooked up a serious storm. 6 dishes for 6 people. Felt nice to cook, but after everything, I think it's cheaper and more convenient to eat out. No cleaning necessary!

Well - now it's back to the grind for this week.. our schedule is heavier this week due to the 2 missed days for CNY, so "there is no free lunch"....

Two new galleries with CNY photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kent.x.lee/ChineseNewYears
http://picasaweb.google.com/kent.x.lee/SingaporeIstana

It's done...

Finally, my last step of leaving the US, I finally canceled my Cingular cell phone plan today. It's kinda sad, I've had this number for such a long time, and now it's gone. Of course, the people who would want to get in touch with me can find my new number other ways, but it's just not the same.

I wish there was a way to keep my number, but at $50 x 12 months, my number doesn't mean that much to me.

Worst Haircut Ever

This is in reference to a previous post, Best Haircut Ever, which was the last time I had my haircut done in a foreign country.

I needed a haircut a few weeks ago, and so I decided to go to the market centre of the residential blocks here in Singapore. Singapore is a very small place, and so the government subsidizes these housing estates, large multi-story buildings, where families can buy a flat, but with a 99 year lease from the government. These flats can be bought and sold for money, but they're somewhat subsidized. Back when Singapore was first founded, there was massive problems with homelessness, and the government's approach was to create these housing blocks, which are remarkably efficient. At the center of most housing blocks, there's a traditional wet market, where you can buy fresh groceries like meat, vegetables, fruits, etc, then there's a hawker centre, where you have vendors selling all sorts of cooked foods, and then various "support stores", like a 7-11, a family run shop selling everyday things like toilet paper, soap, etc, a video store, a very basic hardware/electronics store (nothing fancy, mainly just cables, power converters, etc), and hair salons / barber shops. It's remarkably efficient, instead of having to walk/drive/bus to a shopping centre, you walk downstairs and head to the market that's at the center of your housing estate.

So, that brings us to the topic of my haircut. There were 3 places that offered haircuts, and so I went into the one where there wasn't a line. First mistake - because the lady who was there, asked me if I wanted a haircut.... in Chinese. That's when I realized that I knew very few words about haircuts! That was interesting - because most Singaporeans speak some English, but then she was confused whether I was not Chinese, and then I'm trying to speak some Mandarin to make her comfortable, but then she starts using words I don't know. Second mistake - Chinese people believe it's unlucky to have a haircut after Chinese New Years, the theory being something like cutting off your hair after CNY is like cutting off your wealth. Due to this "holiday season" the prices were increased. (not that it was so bad, it went from S$8.90 to $9.90, so about US$7.50.

So, decided to give it a try anyways just to see what would happen. I could only use simple words like "shorter here, flat on this side, don't take too much off, etc". The first round - whoa, not so good. She gave me this Chinese pop star look, where everything is long on the sides - not so good because I like my hair cut a bit closer. Finally after a few rounds, we got to something that looked a bit better, but was probably going to be the closest I'll ever get to my original haircut.... then, finally mistake 3. All I had was a $50 bill, and there was no change in the cashier's box. Completely embarrassed, since there were people now waiting behind me and probably laughing at my broken Mandarin, I had to ask people in line if they could change my $50. Luckily, this old lady was very kind and helped me out. But this lady was a bit crazy - seems like they exist in every culture. She was simply talking to everybody about everything... at first I thought she knew everybody in the shop, but after hearing her tell some things, and people's reactions, I think she was just either crazy or extremely talkative.

In the end, it was definitely a great experience, and although my haircut wasn't the best, it was totally worth it. As they say, the difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut.... is about 2 weeks.