The unbearable likeness of being GEP 2

So, like, what's the deal with this GEP thing?

Apparently the headlines in Singapore are all ranting and raving about the GEP, albeit in a somewhat negative way. Of course, this kind of thing makes headline news because we don't care about how the international media is so uptight about us hanging some drug trafficker (although admittedly, I think that thing has been blown out of proportions - why's everyone upset about him being hung as opposed to Singaporean laws tying our judiciary's hands?). C'mon!

But seriously, this GEP thing is ridiculous. Let's look at what people are talking about:

1. Parents bribe and coerce their children into joining the most exclusive/prestigious of clubs - the Gifted Education Programme.

Parents are morons if they think that getting into GEP is such a big deal. GEP examinations are similar to IQ tests - you largely get selected on the basis of intelligence. So an invite to join GEP is like an invite to join MENSA - it's an indication to you that your child is smart (possibly in the 98th percentile or upwards) and that he could join a program with some benefits. What's the big deal? Why is it prestigious? Intelligence is a trait you're born with - a GEPer is as much intelligent as a blonde is, well, blonde (a crude version might be a man with a 17 inch dong). Why are people kicking up a big fuss about this? Big frackin' deal.

2. Gifted children only hang out with each other.

That's like saying Normal (Technical) students don't mix with Special stream kids. Like, duh. C'mon!

3. Gifted students have difficulty relating to the man-on-the-street.

And pray tell, how often does the man-on-the-street get his voice heard or get related to in Singapore? In all fairness, can you think of anyone who relates to the man-on-the-street in our country other than taxi drivers? Hell, taxi drivers ARE the man-on-the-street.

4. MOE says GEP students are doing as well at exams as non-GEP kids, refuting Don Shiau's claim that GEP kids don't do so well in exams. 75% get 8 distinctions at the O levels and 78% get 3A*s at PSLE.

Wow, I didn't even make 26th percentile. But seriously, what was Don Shiau thinking, suggesting that GEP kids don't do well in exams? I mean, we have virtually 100% scientific proof that intelligence will translate into academic performance (on an aggregated basis - there are freak individual cases like me).

5. The blogosphere is pissed off that GEP kids are immature, elitist and fullashit.

Which pretty much applies to just about every other intelligent kid in Singapore. I mean, we bloody encourage this kind of behaviour. Get full marks for exams - new computer. 99? More tuition. Let's compare our grades. Oh, you only got 90 - you dumb kid, Auntie May's daughter got full marks and is going to get 300 for PSLE! Why do you hang out with that John, he's so stupid?

Seriously, life in Singapore as a kid is harsh, man. Everyone wants their kid to be 'The Brainiest Kid' (a horror of a tv show and btw, Cheryl Fox ain't looking so foxy these days). They want their kids to enter exclusive programs - GEP, IB, Through train, SAP, "Xin Suan" (rapid mental arithmetic). As a society, we don't particularly encourage maturity or egalitarianism for our children - do you hear of parents who enrol their children in volunteer work to care about society? Or draw comics because that's his passion? Or be journalists so they can make important social contributions (oh wait, I forgot, this is the Singaporean press we are talking about). Hell no! We want our kids to be elitist and as differentiated as possible. That's us as a society. It's the new class war.

I don't see what's the big deal about GEP - unless you have a complaint that it's social engineering and we don't want to go down the slippery slope of eugenics. It's just a program where intelligent kids are grouped together and then intoxicated with lotsa experimental drugs - no wait, I'm letting on too much here - it's just a program where intelligent kids are grouped together. And taught in an environment with small classrooms and where the emphasis isn't just getting 100 marks for every paper (not until the exam years or unless your Head of Department is anal about academic achievement). It is NOT a prestige to get into GEP. It is NOT a measure of how your life will turn out to be. There are many freaks in GEP. There are many non-freaks in GEP too. And there are also many freaks in general.

Seriously, if people want a mature discussion, then start asking what we can learn from GEP, what GEP can learn from other academic programmes and go do something about it.

C'mon!

The unbearable likeness of being GEP

So, it's time to start settling and getting back into the groove. Exams commencing in a week's time (a discovery from attending class, which is increasingly becoming less of a fun activity), and just some random thoughts floating around my mind.

1. It's another 17 days or less before I leave Charlottesville. Everyone talks about how time flies when you're having fun but I can't think of any person who has ever commented that the exchange went by too slow and that they're dying to leave the country and go back to the Motherland. Much as I hate being back here after a week of travelling, leaving here is going to be something quite lamentable. Sigh.

2. Being in Philly and Middletown was a good opportunity to gain perspective, listening to people who have chosen rather dramatically different paths in life. Serious thoughts of having a 'normal' (9-to-5) job with time put aside for personal enhancement, enrichment and enlightenment (yeah, right) are surfacing. Oh, the fact that the job applications aren't going fantastically prolly makes a difference. But in all honesty, putting aside time to read, to learn a foreign language, to manage one's personal finances actively - all these are things I crave to do as well. Bugger.

3. Isn't it funny how when we were growing up, the epitome of achievement was getting a top scholarship with a government agency so that we would be able to go overseas and experience a foreign education while getting paid to do so? 5 years down the road, it's interesting to see how people are all shaping up. Interestingly, for a person who pretty much messed up his A levels and not having a secure career ahead of him, it appears that my happiness level is greater than that of my peers serving their belated NS now. Seeing friends go overseas to pursue astronomy in a liberal arts college and others refusing to be bonded to the government to major in psychology oddly affirms to me that sticking it to Boon Lay University and joining a new university without a physical campus was perhaps the best decision of my life to date.

4. Chicago has too many revolving doors.

5. The best friends that you can possibly have in the universe are those that you can not talk to for ages (ranging from months to maybe something like 5 years) and yet you can pick up the conversation like it was just yesterday. Better still are those that you never had that many sentences with but find so easy to relate to and are able to just continue chatting about random stuff, ranging from current affairs to weird topics, common themes of childhood and whatnots. This is the one thing that I'll be forever grateful to GEP for.

6. The weather here is 18 degrees celsius. Like, what the hell.

7. To make myself feel better and justify my US$300 expression of momentary madness, here's a picture of the suit that I talked about. Comments most welcome.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, back to our regular scheduled programme...

So finally, after a hectic week of travelling around the country (well, not really around but just within a few states), it's back to the grind at dear ol' UVa. Lotsa thoughts going around in my mind but I'm exhausted, so let's just rewind things a little.

My time in Connecticut wasn't really spent exploring the typical places that you would as a tourist. Like Philly, time there was spent on just hanging out and touring the university campus a little. Wesleyan is really a very scenic kind of place, a quiet quaint little town that is worth retiring to. In fact, southern Connecticut is considered one of the richest parts of the country, with an income tax supposedly higher than New York. That's pretty damn impressive.

Pictures paint a thousand words, so here goes:


The School of Fine Arts (or Performing Arts or something like that). Wesleyan is considered one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. The snow does add a bit to the scenery, no?


This is where Mark spents the bulk of his time. Funnily enough, he is one of 2 undergraduate Astronomy majors in the university.


This is the place that is known in Wesleyan as the waterfall. It's probably one of the more scenic sights and supposedly a great spot to bring dates. I can't imagine why.

One of the highlights of my time in Middletown, Connecticut was dining at a joint that Mark frequents - Thai Gardens. In fact, he goes there so often that besides the Wesleyan 15% discount and a free iced tea per person, he gets a free bowl of crabmeat soup and is pretty much the adopted son of the owner. I mean, we ate there for both lunch and dinner on Saturday. No wonder they love this guy.

Lunch was pretty quiet, and highly refreshing - for the first time in a long while, I was able to talk to someone whose goal in life wasn't just becoming a gazillionaire and working his ass off for it but understanding these things well enough and yet wanting to use that to do some good. Somehow the idea of just having tons of money so you can channel it to the purposes you want comes across as being more interesting than buying fancy cars and houses, although it's hard to say where I'll end up in time to come (possibly and probably none of the above?).

Dinner was joined by another 2 Singaporeans (yes, amazingly, there are Singaporeans in Wesleyan). It was cheap too, coming up to US$6 a head after taxes, tips and whatnots. And in trueblue style:


Admittedly, not my best photo. Dinner, less the pictures of the soup.


From left to right: Yours truly, Corrine, Shuwei, Alice and Mark.

Finally, after a chill-out session of watching 'The Mask of Zorro' (Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones are one hot couple! They should swap spouses), we headed off for the airport. Again, best chronicled by pictures:


Mark searching for directions to Bradley International Airport (and hamming it up for the camera).


In true Singaporean style, we had to stop over for food. Can you believe this is from Denny's? It looks pretty darn good, no?


And the final goodbyes. 3am at the airport. How often can you find someone willing to drive you at 2+ in the morning?

Leavin' on a jet plane...

This one's gonna be quick. Am at the Bradley International Airport and oddly enough, for an airport with virtually no amenities (trust me on this), I'm able to get free wireless Internet access. Anyway, this airport in Hartford, Connecticut is pretty rundown and not exactly the best exciting of places. While most airports in the United States tend to be somewhat lacking in facilities prior to checking in, this one's actually worse AFTER checking in - just one stall selling drinks at $2.36 for a 20 oz bottle (compare that with $1.36 in the airport in Washington D.C.!). Gah.

Finally, the beginning of the end of this whirlwind trip around the USA. Middletown, where Wesleyan University is based, is a really typical university town in terms of how the place is set up but it's not quite a university town with activities not necessarily centering around the university residents (unlike UVa, they don't form a 20,000 strong army). It has a charm to it that's slightly European in flavour, a remnant of its New England legacy. On hindsight, this leg of the overall tour might have contributed significantly to the exhaustion (I mean, the flight's in 35 minutes at 6:25am) but it was quite something to catch up with Mark. Here's a chap I've known for about 14 years and in all that time, despite us leading pretty much our own lives, it's fascinating to know how we are still able to communicate with each other - including areas of interests such as financial markets (strange evolutions, ain't it?). Unfortunately, his sense of humour hasn't changed too much...sigh.

The announcer's making noise for us to go get ready for boarding. Photos and further reflections to come, although the marathon trip back to Virginia up ahead is really what's top of my mind. Urgh.

Connecticut

The travelling marathon continues with one's arrival in Connecticut, halfway along the east coast en route to Boston. Of course this is the final pitstop for this week's amazing race, in a race around the United States for a million dolla- memories, I mean.

The morning began pretty early, with the amazing Esther going over to check on car rental company Enterprise, which had supposedly hooked us up with a car for today. True to form, the company had a million and one unannounced disclaimers, including things such as two bills to identify yourself if you're under the age of 25. Like, wtf?!?! Obviously this turned out to be a big mess for all involved and we were forced to resort to alternative forms of transport, promptly resulting in bookings for my first train ride through America via Amtrak.

Bookings aside, breakfast at a typical American diner's was pretty much the last meal for the Philly trip. Grease was the word for the day.



Having pretty much wasted our time in Philly staying indoors all the time, Esther proceeded to give us a tour of Upenn enroute to the Amtrak train station. Like most university campuses in this part of the world (with tons of funding), the campus is beautiful and generally quite scenic. See what I mean below:


Yes, fellow Singaporeans, now you finally know where this was ripped from.


In traditional tourist style, yours truly decides to take a shot in 'The Button', a monument of unknown significance at Upenn.


Farewell Philly.

The trip to Connecticut via Amtrak cost a fair bit but given the lack of alternatives, wasn't exactly that bad a deal. In essence, a 4 hour ride with lots of comfort, leg room and just about everything you'll need from a flight except for perhaps speediness. On a totally random note, Ansel and Esther are crossword freaks. Make that crossword FREAKS. We passed through New Jersey and New York along the way but of course, yours truly utilised the time for something quite productive - shuteye.

Arrival at the Meriden Amtrak station presented me with a little surprise. Nopes, not my kind host Mark (someone I've known for about 13 years, can you believe it?), nor the -8 degrees celsius that resulted in smoky breath (had already experienced a pretty chilly morning in Philly). Rather it was snow.


Overwhelming, like everything else on this trip. No, really...

Nothing impressive, as you can tell from the pic above. But Mark was kind enough to pick me up from the train station in his car (finally, someone who drives!), bringing me to meet some of his friends from Wesleyan for dinner at a joint called 99. Decent food, quite good company - for some odd reason, Mark's surrounded by Asian bankers and banker wannabes.


From left to right: Roberta, a sophomore who knows the weirdest random facts; Liang, a banker-to-be who just celebrated his birthday and is now indulging his time in fantasy basketball; Alice, yet another banker-to-be who also happens to be Mark's girlfriend; Mark, one of the few friends I have that's brave enough to do something like Astronomy as a major and finally, yours truly, in serious need of a haricut and some exercise.

The rest of the night was not particularly eventful but nice in a chilled out manner - Roberta and Liang treated us to ice-cream (where Roberta displayed an amazing talent to know everything under the sun, ranging from the atomic numbers of uranium to an understanding of the Stockholm Syndrome) and we watched '12 Monkeys' at Liang's place. End of night.

As a final note to wrap up this entry, one of the things that'll make me forever grateful for this whole exchange is the one week spent. It really reminds one how lucky you can be to have friends who are just amazing in terms of taking time off to catch up with you, to host you, to cook for you, and much more. Mark's staying with his girlfriend right now so that I can sleep on the bed (as opposed to the floor) - I mean, how much more amazing a friend can you possibly ask for? It's not quite the same as getting a job paying you $100k a year but friends like these money can't buy. Cheesier than my Philly cheesesteak, but true.

Now I just wish to have my own place...

Thanksgiving

Today was Thanksgiving and in essence, an excuse for us all to just cook lots of food, get stuffed and just be happy. The weather was so cold that we stayed indoors pretty much all day. Erm, yeah. Here's pictures of dinner:


Master chef Esther and our substitute for turkey - chicken.


My biggest contribution to dinner - Asian-styled omelettes at a Western celebration.


Dinner - First look.


A 2nd look at the massive dinner.


Kelvin: "How does he do it?"


The woman who made it all possible, winging it for the camera.

Philly Day 2

My Philadelphia trip is turning out highly distinct from my trip to Chicago, but in a way that is equally enjoyable. In terms of sightseeing, it's really not quite the place to be, as the ever-enthusiastic UPenn students would tell me. In terms of catching up, this time has turned out to be pretty priceless, and it's good to get a bunch of my friends together (not that they don't know each other to begin with).

Kelvin, a friend studying at Duke, arrived this morning and is also enjoying the kind hospitality of Ansel and Grete...Esther, I mean. For those of you who didn't get it the first time, Esther is my friend. She is not part of a random American family hosting Asian hobos for Thanksgiving. She's also Kelvin's friend, which explains why we're both staying here for our time in Philly. You hear that, Mr Sam?

Today turned out to be pretty pleasant - lunch was spent trying out the supposedly infamous Philly cheesesteak. Essentially, it's just a sub with melted cheese and lots of meat stuffed onto it - nothing overly fantastic but I suppose not every place is like Singapore, laying claims to fame via food. Our lunch was joined by Chee Won, who I think hit it off pretty well with Esther, and of course, Kelvin, who he had not seen in probably 7 years?


The legendary and highly underwhelming Philly cheesesteak.


Old classmates Chee Won and Kelvin catching up.

The afternoon was then turned over to our preparations for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner - celebrated by 5 Asians in some weird part of America. Essentially, that translated into a trip to the grocer's and getting chicken (because it's cheaper than turkey and tastes better) and other items that we could remotely cook without messing it up. Costly, but doable.

Took the time to meet up with Darren and had a pretty good chat about everything in general at a coffee house - Buck County was the name, I do believe. Darren is a nice chap by and large but that guy should stop acting so innocent and guai all the time. Liar. Haha.

Dinner was subsequently held at a Japanese place called Ajia - home to a sushi buffet that cost about upwards of US$20. Apparently, that is cheap by American standards, particularly if the sushi tastes edible and decent. Goddamn yankees should learn to make cheap decent food, man. For those of you currently in the States, have a look at a picture of our wonderful dinner:


From left to right: Esther "Gretel" Lee, Chee Won "Don't call me by my slave name Chris" Lee, Virginian Hobo, Kelvin "Insta-haircut" Ho and Ansel "I don't even know these guys" Unknown-last-name. Look at all that sushi!

Philly is turning out to be pleasant - I don't recall the last time I've had the chance to talk to so many friends, especially ones that I've known for such a long time, over such a diverse group of topics, with so many of them over such a short time period and just having the kind of good old-fashioned bonding that makes you think that maybe not working a 100-hour work week and just being able to chill might not make for an unhappy existence.

Philly

This is the 100th post but unlike Darren, I have absolutely no intention of dedicating this entry to my father, my mother and just about every ah kow ah neow that I know. The only persons I might wanna dedicate these entries to would be all the kind folks who've hosted me, but somehow I think blogging gratitude is kinda cheapskate as a form of expressing thanks, amongst other things.

I'm currently blogging from the humble abode of Esther and Ansel, who have kindly agreed to be my hosts for the duration of my time in Philadelphia (affectionately known as Philly). That's right, people, I left Chicago this morning promptly for Philly - or rather not so promptly, with raging winds of about -4 degrees celsius. Missed my check-in time by about 10 minutes and had to be shifted to a later flight. Good thing being that Chicago was home to United Airlines so moving to a later flight is about an hour's delay. Unfortunately that was another hour of McDonald's hell. Yes, folks, more McDonald's for lunch. *groan*. I feel as if I'm filming "Supersize Me 2 - the Asian Edition".

Admittedly, leaving Chicago wasn't something that I was all that excited about. It's a really great city, a place I would live in, given the choice (apparently the state voted in some interesting Senator by the name of Barack Obama - more on that later). For those of you yet to visit Chicago, miss it at your own risk.

An uneventful flight to the Philadelphia International Airport was followed with a pretty long heart-to-heart chat with Renhua, heading off to Barcelona. Pretty lucky that I was able to catch him before he flew off, although hauling one's ass across 3 terminals isn't exactly my idea of fun, especially with the wind blowing straight at you. And unlike the Singaporean airport, most US airports do NOT have places to eat outside the checking-in zone. Bah.

Being the consummate budget traveller (especially after that US$300 purchase, and not to forget a friggin' giant suitcase which is impossible to lug around and just pissing me off), I had to settle for finding my way around by way of the train and bus services here. I actually enjoy travelling by public means as opposed to touring the city I'm in by taxi - it gives me a greater sense of the vibe that flows through the place, and it gives me more spending power in time to come. Anyway, travelling independently has its perks when it comes to pretty much setting your own schedules and finding your way around any way you want, I suppose. I didn't even get lost. Hah!

Relatively uneventful night to wrap up my first day/night in Philly. Esther was kind enough to offer me a Pennsylvanian beer (and I was naturally rude enough to forget what it was) as well as dinner, the tv set and general discussion topics. TV shows included My Name is Earl, The Amazing Race & The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (featuring that Obama senator, who was actually funnier than Jon Stewart - no mean feat). Those are great but having someone to bitch about Singapore and bitch about the US and just about mutual friends in general is so immensely satisfying that it's one of those experiences that's pretty much irreplaceable. Yes, you ACS/ACJC kids, you're being bitched about. Stop twitching those damn eyebrows already.

Not much else to talk about, except that Ansel does some graphic modelling/rendering in his spare time and the lad is, for lack of a better phrase, FRIGGIN' GOOD! Saw his renditions of TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors - very professional. Erm, yeah. That's all. And, oh, this quote from the Illinois Senator Barack Obama:

"The war in Iraq is kind of like driving a bus into a ditch. Obviously you need to reverse the bus out of the ditch, no matter how hard it is to do. Of course, you probably should fire the bus driver in this case."

Chicago Day 3

I forgot to mention in yesterday's entry that we walked down Michigan Avenue, which is really Chicago's Orchard Road. The only difference being that Michigan Avenue probably has way many more places that are affordable to all sorts of demographics, like Marshall's, where I blew my US$300 on the suit. But anyway...

Today began with a trip to the commercial exchanges of Chicago, which is probably part of the history behind Chicago's development into today's services centre. Because of TWAT (The War Against Terrorism), most visitor centres are closed. WTF. As a consequence, I abandoned my trip to the Chicago Board of Trade and instead visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.



The Chicago Mercantile Exchange started as a location where all sorts of producers and farmers could gather to engage in futures contracts to lock in their prices. Like all services that used to be meaningful, it has now evolved into a global bastion of capitalism, with the vast amounts of scumhood that all of us young budding jedi - I mean traders - seek. Basically, it is now an arena using the 'open outcry' system - a system where hedgers openly makes outcries of rage about the way traders and speculators come in to eat up all their profits.


A great bastion of capitalism and greed.

Check out the very educational pieces below:







Naturally, after this very exciting tour through a small room in the lobby of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, I had to go overcompensate by doing something involving scale. This led your correspondent here to the Sears Tower, only the 4th tallest building in the world. What makes Sears Tower unique is that it was built in 1974 as a feat of architecture and was the world's tallest building for 24 years before being replaced by the Petronas Twin Towers (or possibly something else, whatever). Consider how impressive the architecture is for 1974:



In any case, the visibility isn't great at this time of the year but you're still able to see lots of stuff. They charge you US$12 just to go up and then try to rip you off by taking a photograph and offering to sell it to you at a highly discounted rate of US$21. US$21! I mean, honestly, aren't you pushing your luck there, buddy?

So, a view of Chicago from the top...


Notice the shadow being cast by Sears Tower?


That great body of water is Lake Michigan, which really adds a certain depth to the beauty of Chicago (pun unintended. really). Can you imagine dry land instead of water?


With its famous statue, this was the only possible view of the Chicago Board of Trade today...


...or not.

After spending inordinate amounts of time looking down on the people that should be worshipping the ground that I blog on (okay, so you got it, well done), the next part of the day was spent in perhaps the most meaningful way a Singaporean can possibly approach a new city.

Scouring for food.

Travelling alone, the dynamics of the food search changed quite a bit. Obviously there was no point in finding a fancy restaurant to dine by oneself. In search of fast food, one could come quickly to one conclusion about Downtown Chicago (and perhaps the rest of Chicago too).

There are no fast food joints except McDonald's (and arguably Subway) in Chicago.

I'm serious. If anyone finds me a KFC, a Burger King, a Taco Bell, an A&W's or a Wendy's downtown, then I'll say that you have a career in treasure-hunting. Or something like that. There are no fast food joints in this part of the world except McDonald's. I think that gives some perspective as to why McDonald's is the most prominent fast food chain and is the one that gets all that lawsuit, hatred and jazz. It is the most ubiquitous food chain around the world, even in America itself!

Anyway the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I returned the 'Bowling for Columbine' DVD to Virgin Megastore (it cost US$10 but about US$6 online - hey, what do you expect me to do, it's this country's return policy). And proceeded to spend the returned money and a bit more on this US$90 (US$99 with taxes) Samsonite suitcase to lug all that junk that I've been buying. And then came back to Stony Island (where I'm staying) where I saw Keith doing his market simulation game and proceeded to teach him to take advantage of fools and corner the market. How appropriate to do something like this on the day where I've gone to the trading pits! (Well, it was as close as I could get, so shush y'all).

Just a final note before I leave you, my dear reader, more pictures of Chicago. Coming from Singapore and staying in an area which isn't exactly all that upmarket, I'm used to the idea of homeless people existing even in very (supposedly) rich parts of the world. But still, to see the amount of homeless people out in the middle of Michigan Avenue, or State Street, or Adams Street/Jackson Boulevard (the financial hub of Chicago), kinda just reminds you that even the richest of the countries in the world has its poor people. No moral message here, just something to think about.


These 2 'corn cobs' are the pinnacle of city living in Chicago. The bottom parts are car-parking and the top parts are apartments, similar to a condominium. Right by the riverside, you have parking lots for your personal boats to go up and down the river. Sign me up already!


This is the place we had lunch at yesterday. Besides an audacious claim, it also has an outlet just down one of these streets known as Pizzeria Due.


Don't you just want to move here already?


According to the CME, yours truly is a 'spectacular speculator'. Did you hear that, you damn investment banks?!?!

Chicago Day 2

Day 2 of Chicago, and what a day it's been in! Yesterday convinced me that Chicago was the slums and the pits and a dreary place to live in (less the hookah) but today exposed me to some of the famous wonders for which the lovely city of Chicago is heralded for.


Home to Keith, Shu and some hobo from Virginia.

This day began at about 10am, after a peaceful slumber at the only extra beds that most college kids can offer - the couch. In any case, we headed for the downtown area, which sorta defines Chicago from a daytime perspective - magnificent architecture and wonderful scenery. Here's a sample of the things that one can see in terms of architecture and the Millennium Park.


Millennium Park has 2 notable video displays where they show pictures of residents of Chicago. Here's a sample of one of them.


How the f*** did we get these pictures taken?


This view captures the beauty of Chicago architecture and the skating rink at the Millennium Park

I'll upload more pictures later in this entry but didn't want to overwhelm you kids too much at first.

Lunch was at Pizzeria Uno, a place that claimed to give birth to the Deep Dish Pizza. The Deep Dish Pizza is supposed to be a speciality of Chicago - it's essentially a pie disguised as a pizza, with the usual topppings that you'll expect on a pizza but with meat stuffings and a crust so pie that you're wondering what the hell you're eating. If a picture paints a thousand words, then...



Going back to Chicago architecture, some notable buildings include the Chicago Tribune building, which is actually home to random pieces of stones from all over the world. Not exactly random, though - we've got the Berlin Wall, Lincoln's tomb, the Parthenon and other such famous spots. Another building I thought was kinda crazy was this one:


What's with that diamond top?!?! Solar panels or wot?

The afternoon was spent bumming, shopping and chilling. Due to the massive amount of food consumed (we packed away the unfinished portions and gave them to some homeless people), there were many intermissions between stops. I also did something pretty crazy - spent about US$300 (not including the 10% sales tax) on a Hugo Boss suit. I know I'm gonna be upset with myself when I go back to chomping on spags for the next month but hey, when else will you get a decent and branded suit at US$300? It's arguably a bargain (rrrright). I did get a coat to prevent my arse from freezing, though.



We wrapped up the evening with a trip to Second City. Second City is THE place to go for comedy in Chicago - or even America, for that matter. Second City is really quite the holy ground for comedy in America, with an illustrious history when it comes to the amount of talents that have walked out its doors. This comedy club was home to James Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Castalleneta, Mike Myers, Dan Akroyd and Tina Fey, amongst other comedians. I mean, look at that list!



Anyway, at US$9 a head (yes, we got it at half price thanks to my ISIC card - finally found some bloody use for it), you get about 2 hours for the revue, or what is essentially a series of skits that have been prepared and constantly updated. Then after that, you get a bonus hour of experimental skits and a short improvisational comedy performance from the cast. It's really not shabby at all, if you think about it. And it's definitely a sight of Chicago that distinguishes it from other cosmopolitan cities - I really suggest that all visitors have a look.

I don't really have much else to say except that I'm almightily pissed off that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade may not be open to visitors due to the whole terrorism bollocks. Man, whatever else will I do tomorrow?!

I'm exhausted. Good night folks, hope you liked the pics.

Live from Chicago

I'm blogging from the room of Keith and Shu, the two very kind souls who have gladly accepted to host me over the duration of the next few days. For those who are actually keen to know who they are, Keith was a fellow intern during my time during my summer internship, while Shu is his roommate and originally hails from Delaware. Actually, more like China.

I hate it when people ramble, including myself, so I'll try to put in some chronology to talk about this trip to Chicago.

1. Originally scheduled for 3.30pm, the ticketing lady at Independence Air was kind enough to bump up my flight to the 2pm one since I was early and it didn't make any sense to keep me waiting at the airport. That's possibly one of my few positive encounters with airlines. Anyway, thank you, Independence Air, you've actually done something right!

2. Made my way from O'Hare to UChicago without getting mugged. Erm, right. Touchwood. In all honesty, though, Chicago looks kinda dreary when you first leave the airport, but it's not too bad a place. More details later. In any case, I've arrived on a good weekend because the temperature is the same as in Virginia, and also because Keith has no work this weekend. Woot.

3. Dinner was at a Sze Chuan restaurant, and for about US$14 a head, we ate as if there was no tomorrow. No words can describe the senes of satisfaction of being in a place with lots of good Chinese food to choose from, so see pics below. Chinatown rox.

4. The last activity to wrap up the day was a trip to Belmont, the bohemian/hippie/gay central of Chicago. We visited a hooka joint named Samah, and I think it's quite a spectacular welcome to Chicago (my usual edge to my writing is being taken off due to the fatigue of travelling). The service was fantastic (free refills on teas and the charcoal) and the atmosphere kinda feels like a somewhat more upmarket kind of tea joint with the availability of a hooka. If I work in Chicago, I'd be spending lotsa time in this place. Erm, yeah. It was good. I like Chicago already. :)

Too tired to think, here's pics of dinner.


Dinner - The Before Edition


Dinner - The After Edition (Notice it's only 3 people for dinner)

Pre-Chicago

I do apologise for the lack of updates for all my readers and fans out there (that's right, all 0 of you). But let's face it - it has NOT been an eventful week. Well, almost.

I'm dead tired (damn this Astro homework) so here's a list to summarise and do a quick point form storytale of sorts. Erm, not really.

1. I've just come back from a comedy performance by Pablo Francisco. For those of you who've had the pleasure to see him on television or see his videos, you'll know that he does great impersonations of voices, like a lot of comedians. At US$10, he was a gem and since we were off-camera, all forms of lewd jokes came out. Which is something nobody really minds, really.

I gotta give credit to the UVa University Program Council here, for being a student body that really handles programmes that a lot of university students are able to enjoy at highly reasonable prices. I mean, seriously, Pablo Francisco at $10 and Jason Mraz at $15? You can't really complain now, can you? (*hint to SMU kids who are dying to set up the university's 578th club that does nothing*)

2. This week turned out to be surprising in hearing from a number of friends studying in the US who are moving along in the whole job hunt process. Interestingly, all 3 friends (spread out amongst 3 pretty good American universities) are at different stages of the process - one's in the midst of interviewing, one is deciding between offers and the other has accepted his offer. I'm actually very happy for most of them, and this is actually one of those instances where I can proudly say that I don't look on with jealousy as they all really deserve this.

No, seriously, no jealousy! Stop laughing already, bitches.

3. Got back a mid-term exam for my Financial Trading module. Results were shockingly pleasant, and Jem did well for this exam too. While this does give me a reason to whine about how I don't have 200 job offers to choose from, I think there may be hopes at running a hedge fund.

Anybody got US$10 million to spare? I promise not to lose it all.

4. I've been tagged to join a list of Singaporean bloggers who study in the US. Which means there's more than 1 person (yours truly) reading this blog. How...unexpected. Maybe I should cash in on this and do something...like set up a business importing mutton soup into this country. Oh how I crave for kambing soup and bak kut teh...be still, my gut!

Gonna be off to Chicago this weekend, where temperatures are currently a-raging -7C (that's right, NEGATIVE) and with wind chill, it's supposed to have the effect of -14C. Wish me luck, amigos - I'll need it.

The weeks they are a-coming to an end...

The weekend felt very quiet, despite being eventful in terms of attending parts of a football game (vs Georgia Tech) and a trip to Monticello, a museum of sorts dedicated to Tommy J. Best described in pictures, methinks.


This is the Rotunda, the historic site from which Jefferson planned the university around. It is a World Heritage Site and has clear influences from the Pantheon in Rome.


Booyakasha! Ali J and his posse.


America's presidents used to be Renaissance men. Jefferson, besides writing the Declaration of Independence, designed this house and spoke at least 6 languages. That's about 5.5 languages more than the current one in the White House.


This would have no significance except I've been craving fried chicken very much and have finally found something to satiate those KFC-craving tastebuds. This was served at Michie Tavern, an eatery in existence since Jefferson's time.