67 days to departure...

It's almost just 2 months to the end of NOC and my time in USA... I dunno how many times I had said this but times flies. I remembered myself wondering if I will make it to the USA at all about 2 years ago, when I first received the offer from NOC as I had to wait till the next semester then to obtain enough modular credits before I could leave for NOC. And the next semester came and passed by yet I was still in Singapore as I decided to postpone the departure to the following semester due to changes in the Chem engineering modules. Suddenly, I'm here and ten months had passed me by... *shudder*

Besides being able to immerse myself in an entrepreneurial environment, one of the other key takeaways I had was the realization of my weaknesses. I think I subconsciously knew I had those weaknesses but it is only when I am here that I started making an effort to do something about them. It also helped that friends are there to support this personal development that I would like to see in myself.

In the next two months, I would concentrate on putting my best foot forward (yes nothing but the best), build up more networks of contacts, travel more (should be the west coast) and improve the structure of my online 'business'. Support me by linking http://us-shopaholic.livejournal.com to your website (blogs etc)... Thanks in advance!

Inspiration

I was really inspired by what Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm once said (some thing like this) 'Imagine a world with this problem and then work backwards to find out the actions to take to achieve that...' Entrepreneurship is really about changing things for the better, can I?

What's wrong?

I dunno if fate is trying to make fun or me but recently there have been lots of things missing from my possessions:

1. pork chops from the fridge

2. one of my socks so now I have a misjoined pair

3. My sweater from Forever21

4. My pinker spaghetti strap from Forever21

5. My sports bra paddings!

please let me know if you know where they are!

Focus on solutions not on problems

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (Ink won't flow down to the writing surface). In order to solve this problem, they hired

Andersen Consulting (Accenture today). It took them one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

And what did Russians do.......................................??

The Russians used a Pencil !!!

So, learn to focus on solutions not on problems. "If you look at what you do not have in life, you don't have anything." "If you look at what you have in life, you have everything." Yet someone said "Focus on problem leads to inventions! and Focus on solution leads to discoveries."

My Facebook rankings :)

I'm amazed by some of the rankings that I saw on my profile..

My chicago photos!

The cheesecakes I made last week!

Cranberry cheesecake!




















Peach Cheesecake with Sour cream

Here's the recipe:

9x13 pan, 350 degrees, 25-30 minutes.

1 1/4 c. graham crumbs
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. melted butter

Mix and pat into pan.
8 oz. soft cream cheese
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
2 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Beat with mixer until creamy and pour over crust. Bake until light brown around edges only. Cool and top with pie filling. Keep refrigerated.

A unexpected ending to a blissful day

I was so totally thrilled to have the whole sunday to myself, after what seemed like weeks of travelling and having fun... here's my schedule for the day:

8.30 am wake up and ate breakfast... my last serving of Post Chocolate honey roasted conflakes
9.10am go to Wharton to do my work... determined to finish the book Getting to yes today!!
11.45am gym! Burn away the cookie i ate just now =p

1pm buy groceries from Freshgrocer then go home to put things down before heading off to the fruit truck where you can get 4 apples/nectarines for just $1!

2pm shower and wash clothes
3pm continue working, cooking pasta at the same time

5pm wash more clothes

6pm baked bread crumbed chicken! yum!

7pm continue working

9pm chatted with my dad and my bf =) but that's when the unexpected ending happened... go figure out... haiz

May tomorrow be a better day!

It's amazing!

I was checking out facebook horoscope application and here what it says about my strengths and weaknesses which I think is freakingly true:

Your greatest strength is:

Your ability to gain respect

Your greatest weakness is:

Caring too much what others think

Gosh, I didn't know that I have been running with the wrong posture

The most common mistake runners make when climbing hills is to look down, taking the hefty weight of the head (the average weighing approximately 7-10 lbs) forward and throwing the spine out of alignment. Leaning forward also reduces the involvement of the hamstrings, giving you less propulsion.

Instead, look ahead, shorten your stride a little and use your arms to help propel you upwards. Don’t try to maintain the same pace you had on flat ground, the golden rule is ‘even effort, not even pace’.

Running downhill might sound a lot easier than running uphill, but the knees and quads can take a real pounding, not just because of the increased impact but because the thigh muscles are contracting eccentrically (to decelerate you), which causes more microscopic damage in the muscle.

To descend less painfully, relax, particularly in the thighs and at the front of the ankles, and don’t ‘brake’ or lean backwards. Take your arms wider for balance, but ensure you don’t inadvertently take legs wider, too.

Don’t look down – it’s tempting to do so if you are running on rough trail but try to pick your route a few metres ahead and then keep your eyes focused on the next bit of trail instead of on your feet. If the path is wide enough, try zigzagging down the slope, rather than running straight down – this enables you to maintain more control.

Breathe easy

There are lots of ‘theories’ on the best way to breathe during running. I believe the best way to breathe when you’re running is the way that comes most naturally. I am not a proponent of all these ‘breathe in for two strides, out for two strides’ patterns, or of advising runners to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth (although you won’t swallow quite so many flies).

In fact, a study from Liverpool John Moores University, England showed that once exercise is just moderately hard, the most efficient way of breathing in and out is through the mouth, not the nose.

Upping the pace

Surprisingly, one of the best ways of improving your running technique is to practice running faster. Just occasionally. When you speed up, your arm and leg movements are bigger, improving your range of motion. But don’t try to get faster simply by taking bigger strides. Research shows that getting a runner to increase or decrease their instinctive stride length forces them to work harder and use more oxygen.

Rather than striving for giant steps, focus on keeping your feet ‘fast and light’. You will find that speeding up your arm movement will help quicken the legs. It’s also a great idea to practice some ‘strides’ or ‘pickups’. Strides are a slightly slower version of a sprint, and will help improve your running form. The greater ‘drive’ required by the supporting leg as it pushes off also puts more emphasis on the hamstrings, while the forefoot landing strengthens the calves eccentrically (while lengthening). From a standing start, start to run and gradually speed up to a pace just below your sprint speed. Go for 5x20 metres.

Fund raising

I'm doing fund raising! Please order the magazines from me =)

http://www.magfundraising.com/Shopaholic

Poconos!

I admit that I have been really lazy but my days have been really packed lately…somehow I just don’t have the motivation to blog anymore. But realizing the need to note down somewhere what I have been doing, for the benefit and reliving the wonderful memories later, I shall start blogging after each vacation trip or any life’s lesson that I experience for the rest of my 5 months in the US. So for this weekend, I went to Poconos with my batch and the junior batch. It is especially meaningful, as it was after a week of relentless and hectic days at work. It’ time to let down our hair and have fun!

I had a mad rush on Friday, when we were supposed to meet at the Towne building of Upenn at 630pm. I was still at the Coach store at Center city (10mins away from where I live by subway) at 6pm, exchanging some items for ZJ. After it was all settled, I was practically flying to the subway. Luckily I caught the train just as I reached the platform. I rushed home to stuff all the stuff into my bagpack then frantically tried to close the window which was stuck for two min before realizing that it’s impossible. I was in such a haste that I forgot my sweater. Imagine how profusely I was perspiring by the time I arrived at the meeting point.

But everything went smoothly and we finally reached the Split Rock resort after a two hour and a half journey. As most of us were already starving when we reached there, we’re expecting a full course buffet as we were provided with the previous time when we came here to ski. But the unexpected happened when we realized all we had for the night was pizzas and cookies! We then had an hour long session introducing ourselves and listening to Joe Sun before making our way back to the resort rooms, where our beds beckoned us. Everything was wonderful, the bathrooms were clean and welcoming while the beds were washed and comfortable. Ah, this is life. I had a good uninterrupted sleep till morning.

We went down promptly at 830 am, not hoping for much after last night’s nightmare but we were pleasantly surprised by the sumptuous spread, consisting of bacon, sausage, potatoes, house fries, fruits like strawberries, cereal, buns etc! It is to no doubt that our favorite dishes were the made to order omelette and waffle =)

After a hearty breakfast, we were ushered into the Harmony room where we had a 2h long session on Business ettique. I was pretty sleepy then because of the plates of stuff that I gorged on but on the whole it was really benefial as we had found the answers to some of the common questions we face when it comes to networking sessions and interacting with our American counterparts in the workplace.

We adjorned for lunch at 12noon but I found no appetite except for the desserts. The buffet was great but the highlight of the day was the paint ball game! Excitedly, we marched to the Galleria where we boarded the classic yellow school bus towards Skirmish where the paint ball center is located. However, I was greeted with an unpleasant sight, we have to wear the army uniform as part of the protection gear for the game! It just set forth a rush of memories from my army times. But it didn’t bother me much when the game started as we began to realize how fun it was to strategize. The scariest thing I found about the game was that we had to start shooting our friends.and it is not our concern now if the bullet we fire would hurt them. To each of us, our friends have merely become target boards and I found myself happily firing at their exposed heads when they hid behind those fences. That is creepy. No wonder in war, it is so easy to just send a spray of bullets, even at helpful victims, as now it is about self survival. There was this particular instance when I sneaked up on my friend and I was pretty close. I simply shot at him even though it was so close before he discovered and shot at me. Luckily I still had the rationality of shooting at his butt and not anywhere else that could have resulted in major injury. There were in fact two cases of injury in our group as one got a gash from the close rang shot in the neck and the other had a huge blue black on her thigh. I shuddered at how cruel one can become even in a game like this.

After the 4hours of firing and being shot, we went back, starving this time. We had a beachside bbq buffet, where we had sweet bbq ribs and chicken. It was just awesome. Crispina and I went to the pool after our hasty dinner, as I was feeling so guilty from the stuffing sessions I had over the past two days. In the end, we didn’t swim much too as we’re smply too full, just soaked in the Jacuzzi and chatted in the sauna room. Now that’s life!

At 9pm we had the usual NCBV drinking session at one of the guys room. This time I was fortunately not the target and poor lionel was taking shots after shots till he vomited in the toilet. The guys refused to let him off even after that and forced him to keep drinking till he was totally wasted. Poor Lionel! The rest of us continued playing and it was evident that everyone was getting quite high after just half an hour. I cooked up an excuse to go back and remove my contacts so as to avoid the drinking incident that I still regretted till today.

I had again a deep restful sleep till 830am in the morning. Showered then headed for breakfast. But it was a rushed one for me as I had to settle the UO order before I proceeded to the dining room. My sister was mad at me for not ordering the items earlier as her item had gone out of stock. Sighz.. it is hard to please people sometimes.

After lunch, the feelings of remorse and unhappiness started to engulf me as I realized that I had lost the hotel room key. It’s $100 for this mistake! But thinking back I really shouldn’t have let it got to me too much as it sort of ruined my bowling session and the rest of my day. I played really badly at bowling, scoring only 28 for the entire game! At least there was horse riding to distract me. It’s the first time that I’m trying it! Like a fairy tale come true =) but still everything was just less fun than it should be and all I wanted is to bury my head till the housekeeping tells me that the key is found. Fortunately, I managed to push those thoughts aside and enjoy the rest of my time after horseriding. Crispina and I went to the beachside to find the other people and then walked around the resort area to take photos and stuff. It was very therapeutic in a way.

Dinner was good enough to make up for the lunch that we missed in the afternoon after our bowling game. I finally had salmon, after what seemed like ages. I had not one but two servings of it as it was just so delicious =) after dinner, my room mate Fiona told me that the receptionist would most likely waived the charges and I felt like a fool, to have worried so much in the day. Anyway, it was a good getaway trip on the whole and I’m absolutely looking forward to the Chicago trip next weekend!

Disruptive technology

From Dennis McDonald's blog,
'My first vote goes for social networking technologies and the ability they give people to communicate and collaborate across many of the traditional boundaries around organizations, neighborhoods, professions, associations, countries, and other traditional ways of organizing work and relationships. It will be interesting to see, for example, if the Chinese government can continue its current level of political control over its population without also increasing control over how people form relationships and interact with each other both socially and professionally.'

Social networking is already revolutionizing the way we think, communicate, shop and even sleep. When you buy a bedsheet, mattress, or pillow, would you feel better if your friend has assured you on facebook that Brand X is the brand to buy as it gave him a good night sleep? When you shop, do you first consult your friends on where are the good places to hit? Never underestimate the power of collective knowledge... Many companies are jumping on this bandwagon now to harness the power of social networking but the question is how. What does this disruptive technology mean to you?

Orbius

An extract from my Colleague, Andy's blog and more insights about my internship company...
We're proud to be in Orbius!

Here are a few reasons why Orbius stands out:

Orbius is different from other players in the market because it is specifically designed to support not just individuals but groups - companies, brand marketers, clubs, and organizations. We call these community sites Orbs. It's really easy to create an Orb, apply themes, configure security and start communicating with groups of people.

Orbius is designed to support multiple Profiles. For instance, I have a public profile that everyone can see. I also have a Family Profile, a Friends Profile, and a Professional profile. I can decide who get's to see any of my personal information. For instance, in my Professional Profile I have my resume, links to technology sites and blogs that I like, etc. In my Family profile I can keep family photos and a calendar that keeps track of where we'll be for different holidays, etc. In my Friends profile I share pictures with Friends and I have a comment wall so we can joke around. But these Profiles would be useless if I couldn't control who had access to each of them. With Orbius it is really easy to organize my connections into various groups and then allow them access to whichever profiles I want!

Orbius offers a unique way to join communities and "hide" your identity through Personas. While this may not be useful in all situations, in many communities members share sensitive information about themselves (medical information for example). In these Orbs, members can safely discuss important issues because the other community members will never know their real identity.

Orbius provides a simple dashboard view of changes and updates to all of the communities you belong to. In addition, all messages among Orbius users come through a central inbox, even if the communication is from different Orbs.

By the way, Orbius is free to use. Anyone can set up Orbs and/or Profiles. However, companies who wish to take advantage of extra features including advanced themes, removal of advertising, custom applications and more can do so with a Premium, Corporate, or Enterprise Level Edition of Orbius.

West Coast travel part 1

This is no doubt my longest trip ever, 6 states, 9 cities in 2 weeks. My traveling companions? My university beties =) it seemed just a while ago that Huiling and I were planning the trip and it’s the trip has already ended. But the memories are really here to stay.

Gwen arrived in NY to meet Huiling on 9 july and for the next 2 days, they did lots of shopping and sightseeing. Having been to New York and is limited by the number of leave I am entitled to, I only joined them on 11july. The Pacific Hotel at Chinatown is simply amazingly value for money. For just $67 per night, we get a queen sized bed in a 2m by 2m room. But a small hotel in NY would fetch usually $200 a night. We departed at 7am the next day to catch the Niagara Falls bus and the hilarious error we committed was to take taxi to go down 5 streets. It is different here compared to Philly, when the streets run in sequence. As the hotel is at 100 something street, one would expect 60 streets in between the position of the tour bus which is at 42rd street but apparently, we’re wrong.

Soon we embarked on our journey to Buffalo, Niagara. After sitting on the bus for 3hours. It seemed that the bus would never arrive at the destination. It was already evening time by the time we arrived. A light drizzle began to fall but nothing could restrain our excitement to see the much awaited Niagara fall. The falls were actually noticeable from a distance, as there were some mysteriously large clouds of mist. Niagara got its name from its thundering sound of the falling water and no other name could have more aptly described it. We wore our poncho and stepped onto the maiden of the mists and almost as soon as it began to sail, the majestic view of the falls came into view. The falls are nothing like those I have ever seen in my life. The sight of the pure glistening water pouring down from heights was simply incredible. It looked so beautiful, like a painting, so surreal. We were soon drenched by the drizzle and the gushing sprays of water from the shore but even if it means risking our camera to take photos of the falls, it was worth it.
The rest of the trip didn’t occur as smoothly but it was a unique experience together. While I returned to Philly to work, Huiling and Gwen stayed on to go Woodbury to shop the next day.
For the next 2 days, I could hardly concentrate on my work, as there were so many things to settle for the west coast trip. The juniors had also just arrived on Mon and all the memories what I experienced in the first few weeks in Philly came rushing back to me again. All too quickly, 6 months had gone by and we’re seniors already.

Before I knew it, Wednesday arrived. At 4pm, gwen and I practically raced to the 30th street with our luggages and all. In retrospect, maybe it was an omen that we’d always be rushing for our flights and to meet deadlines for our trip. I was sweating profusely by the time we boarded the regional rail to the Philadelphia airport. It was in the nick of time that we reached the platform actually. Phew…
Everything else very much occurred smoothly after that. At the Las Vegas airport, we rented a Toyota Prius, which is supposed to run on only one gallon per 45 miles, which is simply amazing. As we drove down the strip, the sights around us were amazing. Even from the airplane, we could see the dazzling lights of vegas, the city that never sleeps. We recognized the hotels as our car crawled along the road, as there were so many cars on the narrow road. The famous pyramidal Luxor hotel, the grand Bellagio hotel that hosts fountain shows, the Paris hotel with its Eiffel tower lookalike. Circus circus was the conventional kind of hotel but it was nevertheless an enjoyable experience staying there. The room was clean and spacious, just what we needed after a horrible experience at the Fallside inn at Niagara Falls.
Our regret is that we could only stay one night there and a short one for that, as we had to set off at 7am for grand canyon the next day. If I am given the chance to change our itinerary, maybe we would have missed going to LA altogether.
There would be no argument for which why Grand Canyon is recognized as one of the 7 wonders of the world. It took a gruesome 5 hours to drive there, passing over 3 different terrains along the way, the desert, the savanna areas and the green hilly regions. But as we set our eyes upon the place, all our fatigue just melted away. The scene was just so breathtaking. The canyon looks different at every angle and nothing can certainly battle this piece of natural avante garde in front of us. We could only spend hour there but it would take a lifetime to forget the wonderful sight of Grand Canyon.

Own something from Coach! You can afford it now =)

Getting a present for yourself or your friend? Get Coach!

NWT Black Coach Signature stripe wristlet going for only S$80!

NWT Brown Coach Mini Skinny going for only S$65!

NWT Brown Coach Signature Stripe Skinny going for only S$70!

Email me at shopaholic@singapore.com

Interested buyers only.

Payment through atm or internet banking

Thank you!

Can't believe I stayed home on a long weekend

Gosh... Can't believe I stayed home for 2 days, another weekend of the precious 50 weekends I have here. Which means I wasted 2% of my time in USA. Hahah maybe wasted is a strong word... At least I saved money from travelling, $200 if I went to Orlando/ Chicago, $100 if I went to Cape May. And I vacuumed and mopped my apartment's filthy floor. Yea and blogged twice in a week (which is so rare), blogged on my business website, sent out the mass mailers to customers, updated the sprees, tidied up the documents for my business, shopped online!
Planned to go Cape May with my friends on Sat and Sun but Friday night I went to bed in a ruined mood as my eyelid was swollen again. Woke up with cold the next morning so I basically slept all the way till 10am. Woke up when hunger struck me but soon went back to slumber at noon... Could hardly do much yesterday but to plan for the Las vegas trip and cook dinner. Fried rice again =(
Yup and as I wrote earlier, I went to Woodbury and burnt my pockets on Friday so at least I went somewhere. Trying to sound optimistic here...

Today was much more productive as I woke up hungry at 7am. Settled breakfast and some business stuff before hitting the gym. I'm so going to miss the Upenn gym come Aug 31 as my membership would expire. Really like the facilities there, the towel service and the proximity of the gym to home. I'm going to the gym everyday till Fri, when I'm heading off to NY to meet Huiling and Gwen. We're going to Niagara falls together! Hope I can borrow Amin's camera so that i can capture that gorgeous maid of the mists... They then return to Philly with me on Sunday but Huiling is flying back to San Francisco again on Mon. Gwen gonna stay here till Wed before we head off to Las Vegas! West Coast, here we come =)

End of summer school... a new start

The feeling of the seniors leaving us so soon kinda makes me quite emo nowadays. It's like just yesterday when Peihiang and joshua met us at the airport and herded us to Philly but now, it's their turn to leave. The nostalgic memories of the time that batch 11 spent with us, just gushed back to my mind, as I enter this post. Someone said farewells are part and parcel of life, and make one more mature... I have to agree with that.. And it is not going to be the same anymore when I go back to office next Monday, alone and having no one around to look up to, having to stand on my own feet from now on. No more fooling around as someone else gonna look up to me, as a role model.

Summer school has ended but I felt as if it never begun. For one thing is that Prof Babin is right, it's a difficult class, not because of the course requirements, but cos no one can really focus and give off their best. The power of context which was a concept emphasized in class is so ironically true as the students influence each other, resulting in a less 'competitive' environment. Nevertheless, as much I would like to focus on energy and time on it, I know I have at least remembered most of the concepts taught in class. Like the power of stickiness and power of the few, from the book, The Tipping Point. It takes just such a little something to create a storm.
The part part of the course is where I could relate the concepts taught to the social networking industry, where my company resides.

Yesterday was US' independence day but I spent in a rather unconventional way. Went to the Woodbury premium outlets with Nadia and her Club SG friends. It was a gruesome 3hours away and by the time we reached, we exited the car like a bunch of kids that had been forced to sit for too long. Shopping was quite relaxing, as I mostly shopped for my customers, so it is kinda of guiltless. But I did get a 17usd white skirt from Armani(my fav brand!) and a 15usd top for my mummy from Espirit. Everything is so ridiculously affordable here. My friend, Cynthia, got a Fendi bag for $140! wow...

We returned to Philly at 1230 and headed to Target where I went to redeem my $10 gift card from Ebates.com. Bought my sunscreen (finally), cereal, bath towel (finally) and stuff... hahah the mart is so humongous! It's easy to get lost here.

The day trip ended with a bang when we went to eat dinner at an Indonesian cafe. We wolfed down fried chicken, curry, veg curry, satay and iced coffee... Yum!!

To commensurate Independence day, Nadia and I went to the Arts Museum. It was quite unexpectedly unentertaining as the artists performing are unknown to us, even John Legends. We left because of the rain, and ironically before the fireworks started, when it was the main reason that brought us here. Sigh hahah.... wat a tiring day!

Trail run at Fairmount!

I wished I joined the Fairmount runners on their Sat morning trail runs earlier! But my Fridays nights are usually filled with those stuff that resulted in a late sleep-in on Saturdays... Anyway, I will make it a point to go for Saturday trainings from now on.

At 8.20am (ungodly hour right?) Nadia and I met to take the septa subway to city hall, where we had to change to bus 33 to 20th Fairmount ave. I wasn't sure of the bus stop at first and approached the bus 32 conductor. But before I could speak to him, I stared in amazement when the lady in front of me planted a kiss on his skin. The thing I couldn't figure out is that she had paid for her bus fare so the kiss is definitely not for the sake of hitching a free ride. Anyway, the friendly driver gave me proper directions to the bus stop and within 5 mins from reaching the stop, bus 33 came along, much to our delight. The inconvenient problem with Philly is that 20th and Fairmount is actually rather close to where we live, in fact, we can run up to the place in 30 mins at a comfortable pace, but there are just no direct public transport route to the place.

Soon, we found ourselves near the Eastern State Pennetary, waiting for Bennett, my club president to arrive and fetch us to the hills at Fairmount to run. Accompanying us was Steve, the first club member I really got to know, since the time when we walked together to the pub for happy hour. He's working at the Upenn Alumni house so Nadia and I had quite a few topics to chat with him about. Sometimes, I think he's really kind-hearted and innocent compared to the other Americans I have come to know here. I wonder if he ever loses his temper before but I doubt. This kind of people are really suited for a job in the education and service industry I realize.

As we whizzed past the green scenery in Benett's car, I just stared in awe out of the window. There were many stone bridges which towered over us, hills that dwarfed those along the roadside of Macritchie reservoirs and the neverending stretch of the Schuylkill river. When we alighted, the sight of the entrance to the trail just reminded me so much of Macritchie Reservoir and the gush of memories to my head left me dizzy with nostalgia. We just started our stopwatch and lost ourselves among the greenaries.

But Macritchie can never be as hilly as where we ran. During the annual cross country race, there will be this steep slope before the route opens into the main road that everyone dreads. But here, there are an uncountable number of them. I wished I have at least gymmed for the past 5 days before coming here. However, the pace was comfortable and we had to slow down most of the time to avoid slipping down the muddy downhill sections and to land properly on the rocks as we ran along the face of the hill. One interesting thing about the trail is that instead of normal wooden bridges that span across the river, there were huge pipe like stone structures instead. One careless slip on it will just send one stumbling down into an abyss of stones and whatnots. But on the whole, I felt this great sense of accomplishment as we ran back into the carpark. At least the fattening food I have eaten over the last five days now have somewhere to escape. Steve sent us to the university area after Bennett dropped us off near the Arts museum. (see I said he's nice) Nadia and I indulged in a Dunkin Donuts' breakfast before heading off home.

My own project

All the research on social networking and marketing prompted me to think about how to improve the user's experience and the interactivity on my website.I am definitely going to start a blog but what are the topics I can explore? Savings on brands?Let me know if you have any idea!

From http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080625005350&newsLang=en,

Interesting points from 'Consumers Want to Talk to Brands, Finds ExpoTV Survey'

Survey Shows that Willingness to Engage With and Listen to Consumers Increases Brand Advocacy

Fifty-five percent of consumers want an ongoing dialogue with brands, according to a recent survey conducted by ExpoTV, exploring how direct consumer engagement creates brand advocacy. The survey also revealed that positive brand experiences can generate word-of-mouth buzz: more than 60 percent of those polled said they tell 10 or more people about the products they like while a third tell 20 or more people.

Such is the power of word of mouth marketing!Instead of talking down to the customers and guessing what they want, brands should engage their customers in conversations, know their needs better. But is this strategy limited to big brands?

The willingness of a company to engage with consumers directly impacts loyalty and can even lead to increased purchase intent. In fact, 89 percent of respondents would feel more loyal to brands which invited them to participate in a feedback group, and 92 percent of those who have a positive experience communicating with a brand will recommend purchasing a product from that brand to someone they know.

By showing that they care about their customers, customers will certainly feel the sense of gratification to return them a favor by developing loyalty to the brand. Customers feel good as they are empowered in a way.

While consumers are interested in engaging in a dialogue with brands around customer support and pricing, the survey showed that they are most interested in discussing product design.

Survey respondents were also interested in communicating about brands’ efforts to improve existing products and share positive experiences.

In fact, 93 percent of consumers surveyed would be interested or very interested in communicating with competitive brands that expressed interest in their feedback.

We want to be part of the process!

Admit it.. our lives are changing online

Adapted from http://blogs.forrester.com/Never_Ending_Frieding_April_2007.pdf

It is scary, thinking about how we have changed the way we use the internet, in the matter of 10 years. I remembered how I used to use the internet just to check mails, go IRC or ICQ and visit websites. Then to blog. And now to use networking websites to connect, interact and simply share my opinions and my knowledge. The thing is that I am perpetually logged into those websites. Just imagine, if what I do, what I say in these online places are tagged and logged by some companies somewhere, what would they do with it?
One day, when I was checking out my items on a online shopping website, I was directed to a page asking if I am interested to subscribe to Reader's Digest, my favorite magazine online. Well, I'm not surprised.

Do we still have privacy these days?

Check out my Slide Show!

Have I posted anything about my trip to orlando yet? Anyway, here's the dishes I whipped up there! Looking at them makes me salivate already...

A summary of my life on NOC

NOC Biovalley— My experiences in Philly

Philadelphia— "the City of Brotherly Love", the first capital in the United States,
the centerpiece of early American history. I have been fortunate enough to be selected for the Jan ‘08 NOC programme and to spend one entire year in this city rich with history and culture. The first few weeks whizzed past in a flash as everyone struggled to fight jet lag, look for accommodation and settle administrative matters. As soon as we get accustomed to our surroundings, it was time to travel! I would not say that we were the adventurous type, as the first place we hit was the factory outlets at Atlantic City, New Jersey. Shopping, as we soon discovered, would become an integral part of our life in United States. Brands like Coach, Guess, Ralph Lauren Polo etc had become affordable to most of us for the first time in our life. The best thing is that it is alright to shop on impulse as one can always return the item and the sales personnel never seems to mind.

Shopping aside, we also visited other cities for the sake of widening our horizons, such as New York (of course!), Washington DC, Boston, Baltimore, Connecticut and Cape Cod. Most of the time we would take a bus, but recently, we had finally gathered enough courage to go on a road trip. What is so unique about each city is that there are always some intriguing stories behind them. For instance, Boston, Connecticut and Cape Cod are located in the region interestingly called the New England, as it has been known that the English Pilgrims fleeing religious persecution in Europe first settled there in 1620. While some people prioritize visiting places of attraction, it is important for me that I learn about the history and culture of the place that I visit. The objective of traveling for me has always been to learn and appreciate more about the differences between Singapore and the rest of the world.

In case you are wondering, NOC is not just about play. It is also about a lot of work. Compared to NUS, the University of Pennsylvania is indeed very different, not only in its type of education, but the characteristics of the professors, the students and the professor-student relationships. While it is rare to see students interrupting the professor and asking questions or presenting their opinions in a typical NUS Chemical Engineering lecture or tutorial, it is the norm over at Upenn. It seems like every student’s primary task is to get the teacher to remember their names by the end of the first week, and failing to do so would adversely affect his or her grades. Unlike NUS, class participation usually takes up a tremendous component of the overall grade. However, as aggressive as it sounds, it is really a testament to their culture of tolerating and encouraging failures as people participate in class without fear of giving the wrong answer. Learning to become more vocal and to think with greater speed and depth are some of the common take away after a semester at Upenn.

Learning opportunities go beyond the classroom, as it is compulsory for us to serve as an intern to one of the start up companies in Philadelphia. I have been truly lucky to be granted my first choice company Orbius Corporation. It is a social media networking company which allows users like us to build our own communities (think NUS Chemical engineers and ChESS) for free. There are several features like the forum, the resource library and image gallery that are provided to enhance interaction among the community members. As my company is very new, I am able to apply most of the concepts which I learnt during my course, Engineering Entrepreneurship. Not only that, my boss is a seasoned entrepreneur who has started 1 other companies and worked for 5 early stage companies like eMoney, which has been acquired by Commerce Bank. It is not difficult to see why he is so successful and each week, he would offer us insights into the web 2.0 arena or motivational stories pertaining to his entrepreneurial background. What I appreciate the most was his insistence that we are given freedom to consider the important tasks we need to do for the company and take responsibility for our own actions. This level of autonomy granted has set free the creative juices that I did not know I had. Moreover, the fact that the majority of the employees are young also means that I have little problem clicking with everyone. In Orbius, I see limitless opportunities to grow as a person and hopefully become closer to fulfilling my dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

The advice for NUS students who are considering the application for NOC is that they should question themselves about how clear they are about the goals to be accomplished for the one year programme. They need to constantly remind themselves that they need to be open-minded, as well as to have self motivation with regards to what they want to accomplish. In Philadelphia, there are countless opportunities for one to learn about entrepreneurship. For example, there are frequent networking sessions for those who hope to enlarge their social circle and learn from the other entrepreneurs who have been there and done that. As long as one is understand what he or she is here for, and plan how they would go about realizing their objectives, this one year in Biovalley would definitely be an enriching and fulfilling one.

Interesting article on economist.com

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2008/05/continuing_our_weekly_series_o.cfm?Fsrc=glvrnwl

Some really funny excerpts:
• To avoid losing face, some Singaporeans will avoid saying “no” outright. Body language will often provide more clues than what is actually said.

• Singaporeans tend to hang around in the office till late—often even if there is no pressing work to do—because of the traditional perception that late workers are hard workers.

• Food is a very important part of Singaporean culture. The city-state has a huge and rich variety of food, and much emphasis is placed on eating out and talking about food.

• Do not be surprised if conversation grinds to a halt once the meal has been served. Singaporeans are passionate about their food, and many will prefer to enjoy their meal in silence punctuated by food-related comments. So true!

Funny posts from Facebook by NUS Chem engineers

Hui Min Koh (Singapore) wrote at 2:20am on February 22nd, 2008 Fluid Mechanics is the most sucky course I studied in NUS Chemical Engineering.. Two sucky and boring lecturers and very complicated Maths. But I like Mass Transfer though, because it is one of the most important subject in Chemical Engineering. The two HMT lecturers are good. Report

YeeKiat Tan wrote at 9:07am on January 6th, 2008 Never get CN2116 because of some corequisite nonsense! What on earth. I hate CORS. Report

Kung Guangyi wrote at 10:13pm on December 26th, 2007 Is everyone still alive and well?

Aurora Kwok wrote at 9:27am on October 18th, 2007 YAY! There's a pic of prof zeng! He's so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuutttttttttteeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Daniel Ong wrote at 10:33am on September 12th, 2007 ChE is getting harder.. and harder! ... I like :) hahaha siao already :)

YeeKiat Tan wrote at 3:51pm on September 7th, 2007 Who here understands Fluid Mechanics???

Kung Guangyi wrote at 11:43am on August 2nd, 2007 Can't change the group name, cos it is fixed. But i've added 2006-2010 to the group description. Frederick Chan wrote at 5:55am on July 23rd, 2007 Do you all need to flood the wall?? lol anyway maybe you should have renamed the group as ChE 2006-2010? Daniel Ong wrote at 10:43pm on April 28th, 2007 i think the problem is that not many people have facebook. mostly people who go overseas start one, not those who're here. send out mass mail psycho-ing your friends to join? lol

I miss Sg food!

Craving for bubble tea now...









And Bak Chok Mee now...

Missing medal

While googling for pages with my name as the search keywords, I just realise that I got 3rd for the age group category but I didn't know that and didn't collect my medal that day! Hope they still have it with them =(

UNIVERSITY CITY 5K RUN             FEMALE AGES 20 TO 29
  1.Rena Stimmel         Gibsonia,PA        22 F    47      183    19:58   6:26
  2.Madeline Olsen       Hammonton,NJ       20 F    56      317    20:13   6:30
  3.Yee Ling Tan         Philadelphia,PA    22 F    67      304    20:46   6:41
  4.Alexandra Malkin     Philadelphia,PA    21 F    70      112    20:54   6:44
  5.Danielle Estabrook   Philadelphia,PA    22 F    78      221    21:19   6:52
  6.Megan Corcoran       Philadelphia,PA    21 F    80       21    21:37   6:57
  7.Ashley Henning       Drexel Hill,PA     24 F    81      212    21:40   6:58
  8.Elizabeth Kelley     Washington,DC      28 F    94      245    22:18   7:11
  9.Jessica Jaquith      Philadelphia,PA    20 F    98       71    22:20   7:11
 10.Kristi Decarlo       Newtown,PA         28 F   107       28    22:50   7:21

Pisces

Pisces ( The fish) February 19-March 20

Dominating Characteristics

* They believe that every one should help each other.
* They are talented in music or Fine arts.
* Their intuitive nature helps them solve others problems.
* They face life with philosophical calmness.
* They are broadminded, good natured and peace loving.



Character Analysis

Pisces belong to the watery sign ruled by two planets Jupiter and Neptune. It is symbolised by two fishes in the opposite direction. They have dual nature. They often intend to do a thing but they end up doing the other. They are gifted with wide visionary powers and they are capable of conceiving grand schemes. When it comes to executing them they become timid and lose confidence. They are very romantic, kind hearted and emotional. They lack stability and will power. They need constant reminders and encouragement. Their vacillating nature makes them take up projects and abandon it later. Pisces are fond of comfort and quiet life. They find excuses for shrinking away from duties. They are very fond of children and animals. They are superstitious but if given a chance they turn out to be good psychic investigators and psychiatrists.

Just a quick blogpost

Just a quick blogpost
yesterday we got a bday celebration
it was crazy
the guys started ordering jugs of beer
then the bday boy drank till he is drunk and he started talking loudly to bypassers,
shaking hand with them, then we just continue drinking and alll... i din drink though
Then at the end there was a grand finale...
Someone tips over a table full of glasses
and the glasses fell and broke
What a night!
We were chased away from the White Dog cafe =(

I just realise how dependent I have grown to be on my laptop when I forgot, for the second time to bring my laptop charger home from office for the weekend...
Luckily Huizhi allowed me to use her laptop but I still needed to work with my laptop! So, I have been fighting with people over the library study booths where there are IBM laptops. I've figured out that I could use the charger to charge my own laptop but I really hope there won't be a third time...

Since it has been a while since I posted something more substantial about my life, I shall devote my last 15 minutes at home to blogging. Going to the library again to fight over laptop charger you see...

School is almost out, with the exception of my last final paper tomorrow. I'm like really irritated with myself these days, as I have been really unfocused during my preparations. Maybe not bringing the charger home is a blessing in disguise as I'm forced to study with the absence of a laptop in front of me, beckoning to me. But as I told Darren, I've become someone who needs a sense of urgency to work efficiently. I need to have lots of things planned for me in one day so that I will truly prioritize my time and focus. He said I am someone who perform under pressure but I guess it is something different. I am just conditioned to have no personal time or rest so having more time to myself now really make me feel lost instead.

But at least, I have already my two weeks of no school planned out!
Mon 12 May I'm going to learn cooking from Amin, Huizhi's colleague who drives us to work everyday
Tue 13 May to meet up with Upenn Management and Technology department to help them with setting an orb on http://www.orbius.com (go visit my company's website) and attend Fairmount Runners training as usual!
Wed 14 May Go for work and then attend a talk by David Noteware
Thur 15 May back to work and drive off to North Carolina at night! =)
Fri to Sun Gonna have fun in North Carolina!

Drexel 5K Run!

I just participated at the Drexel 5K run at 31st and Chestnut street at 11am today. Guess what, I got fifth for women category! I was able to catch up and stay at the 3rd position at first but I think my legs are really not conditioned to run for a while so I slowly slipped to the 5th position. Well, at least I overtook the gal in front of me just before I ended the race =) I must say that this is my first but most pleasant race ever. When we reached at the finishing line, there are chips, cookies, bananas, peach, oranges and drinks greeting us. After we cooled down, there was a marvellous spread of saliva-inducing food after the run. Talk about gaining back the calories I just lost man. Shit haha

When I am at a crunch point, I must:

1. Stay calm

2. Be confident in my abilities

3. Dare to go forward

4. Get the facts

5. Take control

6. Cut my losses

7. Manage the crisis

8. Communicate constantly

9. Identify my constraints or determining factor

10.Unleash my creativity, any problem is solvable

11. Focus on key results areas

12.Concentrate on priories

13.Counterattack the problem!

14.Generate cash flow

15.Care for your customers

16.Close more sales

17.Keep things simple

18.Conserve your energy

19.Make your connection

20. Character is king

21.Resolve to persist until you succeed