Sleepless in Haas (Shanghai)

Today I went to a Haas student chat in Shanghai. 2 student of class 2008, 1 student of 2007 admit and about 15 prospect students attended.

Haas is very popular among applicants in high-tech industry. According to Patrick and Momo Haas gives out about 15 offers each year to PRC. This year about 6 are going says Momo. 1 from Shanghai(Momo) 5 from Beijing. Each year one scholarship (tuition waiver) for PRC usually to the highest GMAT score. So target adjusted to 750 for me...

What I learned the most today is that it's okay to go to study MBA without a detailed plan. Ping challenged that I don't have management experience so I didn't know what I am going for my career. Patrick said today most people going for MBA don't have a detailed plan about what they gonna do later. But it's important to have a direction, it's okay when you finish your MBA and say hey I want to do something else. I will either do product management/product marketing or start-up in high-tech for my career. So MBA will be a good tool for me to reach that goal.

It was a nice district, however the bar chosen(Old Movies) was not so good. The bar ripped us off by demanding each of us ordering at least 50 RMB (around 7 USD) tea/snack/coffee.

A music video I enjoyed today

It is on the tip of every one's tongue. This song just sings it out. It's true, people just need to get a bit closer...

Bonus video: Travis - Closer

New apartment

Today I signed the contract with the new landlord for an apartment. 2 years in Shanghai it's the 4th apartment I will be moving in next week.

The interior of the apartment is a bit old, the building was built in 1990, I saw some neighbours today, they seem nice. The landlord wanted to have the apartment painted during the "Golden week" of May, My girlfriend and I decided to paint it ourselves and pick up our own color.

So golden week project 1. paint the apartment 2. decorate it a bit 3. move in.

Budget planning and pictures to be uploaded later.

So far, we need a dining table, 2 chairs, 1 reading table, 1 reading chair, 1 sofa, 1 microwave oven.

My current luxury (some may have seen) apartment's contract will end only in June, so I need to talk to my current landlord, hopefully she will agree to let me rent it out as the same price so we can end our contract earlier.

Virginia tech shooting

I got a message from Rachael telling me the shooting, then I looked up in CNN, then shocked.

Rumor says the gunman is from Shanghai, I am very worried, just like Bin Laden won't do any good to the image of Afghanistan student.I visited an apartment today, decor and floor is okay, price is also okay, location soso, but ok:), uploaded photo.

Here is a picture how my desktop look like:), I wanted a desktop PC, maybe after I move to the new apartment I will get one.

Update, confirmed from Metro news paper in Shanghai, the gunman is from Korea...

Belgium closing up

今天收拾房间翻出了比利时3年的房租合同， Tiensestraat 154, Tiensestraat 142, Fredrik Lintsstraat 59. 翻出了3年Fortis银行的Bank Statement， 还翻出了周老板给我做担保的担保书。
呵呵， 感叹岁月蹉跎啊， 转眼来上海也2年了。

Today I cleaned up my papers. I found my rent contract from Belgium, the addresses are Tiensestraat 154, Tiensestraat 142, Fredrik Lintsstraat 59, 3 houses in 3 years. I also found all my bank statement from Fortis bank, and the financial guarantee paper from Mrs.Zhou.

Life is like a box of Chocolate, luck is maybe at the next corner.

Take things for granted

Today my manager had some problem. Our video quality was not consistent over several boxes. The parameters were set by me. I received a report from our hardware engineer and later another hardware engineer told me to change them, I asked the later engineer if he is sure and want me to put on all boxes, he said yes, then I did the change.

The lesson learned here is that I took for granted the later engineer would communicate to the former engineer the change, which is now proven not the case:(.

I went to a restaurant and bought a take away for my dinner. When I got home, I found one dish I paid is not in the bag, I actually saw they put my fried rice in two boxes, and they gave 4 boxes. I ordered 4 dishes, so I took for granted they would put 2 of the dishes in one box.

Lessons learned, never take things for granted:). Always do some check, simple or complex, make your life a lot easier after wards

Back from Nanking

check out the web album

Pros

• Nice bullet-train ride from Shanghai to Nanking(though not as fast as bullet-trains in the rest of the world, well, not yet). 300KM in 2.5 hours, 3 stops in between.
• Hunan Rd is nice in the evening for food (if you like real Chinese food).
• Confucius temple, Qinghuai river are nice
  

Cons

• Youth hostel close to Confucius temple under poor management.
• Not as clean(organized) as other neighbouring cities

Rating: 3 out of 5
Conclusion: old capital, so it's old. Somehow not well maintained and developed in my opinion

Home sweet home

Time surely flys fast. Now I am home again for Chinese new year!
It's about 5 degrees Celsius here, and it's raining.
This is typical for my hometown. It feels very warm to be with my family. I take my camera with me so I will upload some pictures now and then.

Happy holidays everyone!