Closing Post

Reality bites...
5th January 2007

Seriously, I have procastinated till now to close this blog is because, I really hate to do so. I really, really miss my days in New York. But perhaps precisely that it has to come to an end that makes the whole trip so wonderful. My roomie, my buddy and others... all of them have been great. Thanks man and of course, Ling who has made it even better by giving me the grand finale in the final 8 days. Even as I am bloggin this entry, the fond memories of the times spent in New York just keep floating by...but I guess everything has to come to an end...Bye and I shall move on and face the realities of life...


Reality bites...

Grand Finale...

Grand Finale

28 December 2006 - 5 January 2007

Today marks the first one month back in Singapore. Thought that it will be an ideal date to post my final 2 posts. The final 8 days in New York for me was one of the best trip of my life. I was accompanied by this great lady who was such a great travelling companion. I shall not rattle on what we did during the 8 days but rather, to me, what was remarkable was that we never seem to run out of topics to talk and we never got sick of one another despite seeing each other 24/7. We were totally relax and had lotsa fun teasing each other and joking around. Everyday was so relax and fun. No stress, no pressure and totally cool.

Skiing Trip at Hunter Mountains

Haa, my pretty travelling companion (*wink)

Ain't I cool? haa

Till now, I still look back to this 8 days fondly. It has certainly given me the grand finale to my already fun-filled New York SEP. Of course, it is also precisely that it is so fun that makes it even harder for me to adjust back to life back in Singapore. Whatever it is, this will always be one of the happiest episode of my life and it is all thanks to my great travelling compananion ling. Thanks man!

One of the best 8 days of my life...

Vice City

Las Vegas & Grand Canyon
24 December 06 - 27 December 06

Greed, lust, money & neon lights. Throw them all together, you have Las Vegas. This place is really a vice city. The moment I step out of my plane in the McCarren Airport, I am greeted by jackpot machines. I was like whoa!

Jackpot Machines in the Airport

Haiz, and to think that I was expecting some grand Xmas celebration in Vegas. Oh no, how wrong I am. People still get on with their daily lives of gambling and gambling and gambling. The moment you step into any hotels in Vegas, you will probably struggle to locate the lobby to check into your hotel. I have to navigate across the gambling table etc.. before I can make my way to the check in counter. They probably need a map at the main door for tourist like me to get past all these "Black jacks", "Poker", "Pai Gow" tables. But nevertheless, it was really an experience ( Come to think of it, this word "experience" must have appeared countless times in any Student's blog on an exchange). By the time I arrived in Vegas, it was nearing midnight. No fanciful coutndowns but plenty of really cool hotels. No wonder they call it a city of neon nights. The decor is really fantastic.

MGM Grand

On the whole of Xmas day, I spent the whole day walking the Vegas Strip. Immersing myself in the way of life of Vice City. As I was looking around, I realise that alot of celebrities have decided to ply their trades in Vegas exclusively. Jerry Seinfield and Celine Dion in Caesar Palace, Toni Braxton in Flamengo and apparently they are paid alot alot alot of money to do so. As the night descend, you will start to see the nice and cool lighting of the hotels. From the lion of MGM to Coliseum in Caesar Palace and the Spinx and Pyramid of Luxor. It was absolutely fantastic. But this trip was marred by the many attempts to contact Papillon to arrange a pick up time from my hotel Sahara to Grand Canyon. I even have to bother my sis in Singapore to help me log on the internet to blast them over email. (Internet in Vegas is freaking expensive). Other than this small glitch, it was pretty ok. Of course, there are many pimps around in Vegas at night soliciting for business. Haa, Vice City at its max. There are also plenty of strip shows. For the guys, its the "Crazy girls" at Rivieria Hotel, "Bite" at Stratosphere and "Fantasy" at Luxor to name a few. For the ladies, there are "Chippendales" and "Thunder from Under" to name a few. There are equal chances for everyone so no worries.

The Pilot and the Chopper

Yup, this is the nice chopper that brought me to the foot of Grand Canyon. The view was really really really breathtaking. The only sad part is that it was too cloudy and the sunset view wasn't as great as a result. Once we descend, the pilot would prepare a nice lunch and pop a champagne. Pretty neat stuff to celebrate the descend to the foot of Grand Canyon. After flying around Grand Canyon, I went back to Stratosphere to enjoy the thrill rides. Seriously, throwing you around from more than 1000 ++ feet above ground is no joke. It was really thrilling and my hair literally stand up. Should really try them out if anyone of you guys happen to pop by Las Vegas. Alright, after this, its back to NY for New Year celebration at Times Square.

San Francisco

22 December 2006 – 24 December 2006
San Francisco

It was a very very good holiday in San Francisco. My hostel was well located. Near the Fisherman Wharf, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate. Very relaxing trip. Every morning, when you wake up, enjoy your complimentary breakfast and after that take a short walk down the bridge and enjoy the scenery. Golden Bridge is on my left and Alcatraz is on my right, breathing in the fresh air, how nice man. Its definitely a break from the busy life of NY and Singapore. When I landed on the 22 Dec, I had some problem finding the hostel. Haa, but that’s cause I wanna save some money and have decided to take public transport instead. But it was good, save quite a bit and you get to see the city from the tram. Yes, haa, its an old school tram, pretty unique experience. By the time I check in, it was around 3:30 pm, so I have decided to tour around Fisherman Wharf. Whoa, its seafood heaven man. Had clamp chowder on bread, half lobster and some fresh prawns. It is really good man. The night view is also very pretty. All nicely lighted up and man I almost forgot that it’s Christmas till I saw the trees and all. Merry Xmas to all of you back home!

Al Capone

The next day, I went to visit Alcatraz, home to some of the most famous criminals. People like Machine Gun Kelly and of course my all time favorite AL Capone also stayed there for a while. I really like this guy, cos he epitomizes the spirit of “If you wanna do it, do it well and end with a bang.” This guy may be a well known mafia head but the cops have no way of apprehending him till Federal government revises the tax law to nail him. In addition, the public love him. They will cheer for him in stadium when he takes his seat. How’s that for a mafia head. I shall not rattle on and on about him but haa, I actually bought a mug that has his picture. After that I went to Chinatown. Touted to be the biggest in the whole of US. NY is 2nd but I think its almost the same. Nothing much there though. But interestingly, some of the buildings in San Francisco Chinatown put on the Taiwan Flag and some the China Flag. Whoa, pretty political stuff there man. Ended my day by walking around the market street.

Biking to Golden Gate

The 3rd day is crazy shit. I woke up pretty early, rented a bike and started my bike trail around San Fran. Initially, I only wanna cycle across Golden Gate and to Suasalito bay and take the ferry back to San Francisco (This will be ~9 miles). But later, I got a bit adventurous and decided to cycle to Palace of the Legion of Honours. Man, I think that is around 3 miles. To and fro, add another 6 miles. It seems short but the terrain is crazy. It’s more like an endurance race for me. I kept thinking, whether I should just give up. The terrain is like the race track in Initial D the movie. Yeah, upslope and winding. Imagine doing a drift there and I will be over the hill and dead. Then I kept asking directions. Then this lady I met was pretty funny. She was jogging along this trail (Pretty fit lady) and she guided me. Initially I went past her, then later too shag, I got off the bike and walked with my bike. She ran past me and guided me once more cos I felt abit lost again. Then she told me that the movie star Robin Williams stays around the corner. Yeah, that place is a rich man area, judging by the cars there and nice big sea view. She should be pretty rich there since she is heading there and stays there. Haa, later I went past her again, (Pride problem) and she laugh. Later, she shouted, “just right in front and Merry Xmas!” Haa, I shouted back the same and yeah, pretty nice lady you have there. People in San Francisco are more friendly than people in NY I feel. When I reach there, felt a sense of accomplishment and later took the same stupid route back to Golden Gate etc…

As I am typing this on my laptop, I am at the San Francisco International Airport waiting to board the plane to Las Vegas. Overall, I like this San Francisco trip a lot. Pretty worth it!

Merry Xmas!
ZH

The End...

22 December 2006 - New Yorker, I am not

This the official final day of my SEP. The feeling is weird and have kinda mix feeling towards the whole thing. I still remember my first day in NY, end up roaming in Harlem by myself, wondering how my roomie and suitemates will turn out to be. Seriously, I pretty much enjoy the companion of my roomie. Lifestyle dun really clash and we can really crap around with each other which is strange as prior to coming, I always thought that it will be pretty hard to mix around well with someone from an entire different cultural background. How wrong this notion was man. We clicked pretty well and have lots of opinions in common. Even the kind of dilemma we face in life are similar. Which is pretty shocking when we talked about it. 2 of us agreed that this whole experience can never be replicated. There won't be another time whereby I come to NY, not knowing what to do and not knowing anyone and have to adapt to a whole new lifestyle. This whole experience can only be experience once and never again. While on the last night, though the 2 of us are pretty tired as we burnt midnight oil together the previous night to attempt to finish our IB revision, we still made an attempt to stay up and chatted till 4am where I have to go off to San Francisco. We drank, we chatted, it was true friendship in the making. Though, I will never discount the fact that once we leave for our respective destination, we might just drift apart. But seriously, the memories that linger on is good enough.

The Whole 26th Street Residence, 23rd Floor's final gathering

Andrew Suh (L) and Peter Yi (R) - My Suitmates. American Born Koreans

These are my suitmates. Pretty laid back individuals. Nice people and I enjoy staying together with them. Peter Yi is a lady killer. I think he has like 15 gf for the past 2 years. During examination, he will still bring his korean girlfriends (note the "s") back and smoke weed and get high. Dunno what they do behind the door la. haha, and my roomie was like saying," Man, he behave like he is the exchange student and I am the full time student here" He is a neuroscience major. That is serious stuff ok. haha, but really nice guy except the time he keep making drink So-ju till I puke big time. Andrew Suh is more quiet, like your typical accounting major (no offence here). Nice and always bring his guy friends back for video game. Note the contrast with his roomie. haha. But dun be deceive by his nice boy look. He is also a pot head. hahaha. But so what, that doesn't make them baddies.

And lastly, there's Vivian who was my American born chinese exchange buddy. Seriously, I never thought we can become friends. Usually, such exchange buddy thingy usually fizzle out after the first 2 weeks and none of my exchange friends kept contact with their buddies. To my surpise, 2 of us still actually talk to each other. Of course, not like great pals but at least, its still a good friend made in NY. Haa, my impression of her changed totally from day 1 man. I still remember, 8 hrs before my flight to NY, I was still frantically packing my luggage and trying to book a place to stay in NY as I made a big booboo in my previous booking (tts how I end up in Harlem). Then, suddenly I saw Vivian online. Feeling desperate, I decided to badger her for advice etc.. then she was kind enough to give me her number etc... then she suggest that we put our pics on msn so that we can recognise each other when we meet up. When I put on my pic, I was like whoa! So glam, is she a model or what man. And she mentioned that look out for a very tall girl, 1.83m (not bad, she actually convert from foot to metres for me knowing that I am a Singaporean.) with heels. Tall + Glam + NY = naturally I will think that she is a model or something. Then when we finally met, she was sort of an ice beauty. Not much smiles etc.. Pretty hard to get the conversation flowing. But as the times went by, we talk more after class etc... not bad, she is actually quite funny esp when she tell me of her days spent in NUS etc.. I also share some of the nitwit stuff I did in NY. We met up one last time after our final papers for breakfast and it was pretty nice meal. Then pretty embarrassing , cos she keep insisting on treating me and she really end up paying. Felt really bad as she actually has also helped me keep my luggage while I go on a tour on the west coast of US. Hmm, better buy something for her to show some appreciation. Especially, the first conversation we had over msn while I was still in Singapore panicking etc... That converation gave me a big psychological boost as I know that whatever it is, there is someone in NY that I can contact. Seriously, I was pretty nervous (beneath the cool facade, haha) when I was making my lone foray into an unknown world. Contrast to now where I actually made my own trip to San Fran(yes, I am in San Francisco now as I am typing this) and later Vegas, I actually feel pretty normal. That is definitely one plus point of this exchange. International Exposure + Confidence

Finally, after such a long draft, I better end this entry. I guess the ties that I have made in this exchange was the best thing that happen. Haa, suddenly I have friends in HK, Aust, Korea and NY. Pretty neat stuff. Though, I am still feeling sad that this whole thing is over, but perhaps its precisely that its over that makes it so special.

Now, its time to move on and kickstart my one week adventure in the west...

Gotham Comedy Club

15 November 2006 - Gotham Comedy Club

Its examination period. Feeling very stress cos NYU only has a reading day and not week like NUS does. In addition, the papers are all very closed to each other. On monday, I have Corp Fin and Financial Management. Tuesday, I have Financial Statement Analysis and a final report due. Thurs, I have Investment Banking paper. Man, I have never had such tight deadlines before. In order to relieve some stress, I suggest to my roomie to go Gotham Comedy Club to relieve some stress. Gotham Comedy Club is supposedly quite reputable. In addition, tonight features this stand up by the name of Bobby Slayton. His nickname is the "Pitbull".

Frankly, I enjoyed the night pretty much before he came on. This guy is intense. I don't really like the way he deliver his "jokes". I think he has offended not only me, but also some other people. Ok, when you go to a comedy club, be prepared to be insulted especially when you are an asian. But, if it is delivered in a joking way, I mean, I will find it funny too. But come on, this guy is not delivering it in a joking manner. He was way too intense and was just blabbering profanities. Suck ass man! Felt so shit after the night that instead of relieving stress, it just serve to make my blood boil. Even my roomie, who has been to other show was not impress with this guy's antics. I wonder howcome this guy can win so many awards but sorry, I just don't know how to appreciate his crude and vulgar sense of humour.

Back to revision...

Home

7 December to 11 December
Home

Yup, I went back for a brief moment for my sister's wedding. It was great to be back for a while. Meeting up with my family and friends etc...

An equation to sum up everything.

Home = Good food and great companions

Siblings with different surnames now...

Great pals for 7 years...

Of course, there is also Vincent and my VS buddies whom I did not take picture with.

Above is the big man who just like to act cool in photos. The man that orders his son around when he is back and the man that commands his son to put on his blazer and cuff links for him. Oh well, he is the emperor of the family. What can the humble servant say... Haa

City of Universities

021206 - 031206

Boston

Yup, just came back from Boston. This place is really the city of universities. There is the famous Harvard, MIT and some other smaller ones such as Boston college to name a few. Seriously, Harvard was not as nice it seem. Pretty dead but MIT was really really beautiful. I thought it would be the other way round. The architecture in MIT was really unique and stylish and they have a very beautiful garden facing the sea where people can relax and chill out.

John Harvard and I doing the most uncool pose

I don't know why, but everyone who took picture with John Harvard will touch his shoes. I just follow suit. Maybe it will make me a genius overnight or something. Haa, no harm trying ma.

MIT

Notice that I am actually wearing a Harvard sweatshirt inside my jacket. I am not being a poser here but this thing save my life man. Temperatures in Boston drop so low that I was freezing to death. I promptly bought this from Harvard bookstore and bloody hell it cost me USD 41. More expensive than the Armani shirt I bought. Seems like Harvard brand cost more than Armani. This sweatshirt better make me a genius to make my money worth it. Still, I must be grateful to it for saving my life.

Freedom Trail

Of course other than the universities, Boston is rich in history. You can walk along the freedom trail, which is a trail of red bricks on the floor and you can trace the happenings of the fight for independence by the Americans over the British. If I am not wrong, this is the setting which the movie "Patriot" by Mel Gibson was based. Maybe Enwei can shed some light since he has stayed in Boston for a couple of years before moving back to Singapore.

Chicago

231106 - 261106

Thanksgiving in Chicago

Been a long time since I last blog. Thats because I have been out of town for some time. For thanksgiving break, I went up to Chicago with my friends here. Chicago is a really nice place in a sense that it is more structured and the city is pretty clean which is unlike NY where the subway smells like public toilet. Just like in NY, there will be a mega sale statewide on the friday after thanksgiving. They call it "Black Friday" and some of the shops even started business when the clock strike 12. Of course, ZH here is not so crazy to join in all the squeezing and buying at midnight.

Some of the main attractions of Chicago includes Lake Michigan and view from the top of John Hancock Tower. OMG, the view was breathtaking.

Lake Michigan

Me and the lads monkeying around

View from John Hancock.

Upon typing this post, I just realise that this is the second time this year that I have been to some famous tall buiding and admire the scenery from the top. First was Equinox, next is John Hancock. Next stop will be to conquer the world famous Empire State Building.

Monkeying around again..

Lastly, the hottest and the best experience in Chicago is the ORIGINAL COYOTE UGLY. This was where the movie was shot and seriously, there were lotsa hot babes dancing on the bar tops. Sometimes, some hot bar waitress will give you a free shot. All you need to do is go to the bar counter and open your mouth and they will pour it in your mouth plus a sexy dance from them on the bar top. Of course, ZH will not let such a good opportunity go to waste.

Example of some customers and waitress dancing on the bar top

Some guy got lucky

Of course, being a big finance geek here, I have definitely been to CBOT. It was really majestic and I will show it to fellow finance geeks when I get back home. Shall not bore the rest of the people who probably won't know what is CBOT anyway.

ZH with exactly 1 month left in US

Slam Dunk Part 2

20 November 2006 - New York Knicks (90) VS Houston Rockets (97)

Haiz, Knicks lose again. Nothing new and nothing unsual. Saw Yao Ming, OMG, he is 1.5 head taller than most of the NBA players. That is really really tall man. Having said that, I find that he is pretty slow and can be clumsy at times but still, he scored 29 points i think. Another thing is that, the fact that he is here in Madison Square Garden, all the half time shows are not your usual hip hop dance or cheerleading stuff. Instead, its chinese Wushu and lion dance. Haa, how interesting can that get. In addition, they get a Chinese national (I think) to sing the Knicks Anthem. Of course, needless to say, there was a huge Chinese turnout in Madison Square Garden.

Houston Game

Seriously, beanie rocks! I always thought its just for young punks like me to wear it and act cool. I never knew that it is so effective in keeping you warm. It can really keep your head warm you can pull it down abit to cover your ears and protect them from the chilly wind. Beanie rocks man!

Also, after the previous post, I got an email from my dad that states the following:

"From your latest photo in your webpage,your US$35 hair cut look is not worth that amount."

Best Regards

Haa, I actually find this hilarious. Pa, I know you are reading this, but knowing you for the past 23 years, this is exactly the sort of thing I will expect from you. Haa

Slam Dunks!

18 November 2006 - New York Knicks (118) VS Boston Celtics (122)

Whoa, I just came back from a NBA game. That is really an experience of a life time man. Haa and the tickets only cost me $11 bucks. The game was pretty exciting especially at the last quarter. At the 3rd quarter, Knicks sucks big time! Allowing Boston to have a 20 points lead at one point of time... what the hell man! Ok, I am not a big fan of Knicks but I do expect to see a close match so that it is more thrilling man. But in the last quarter, Knicks clawed back and at one point of the last quarter, they even took a brief lead. Yeah man, thats when the stadium start to rock!

De-Fense!! (With you usual backgroud music)

Can you just feel the atmosphere? WOW!

1st Quarter: NY Knicks 24 - Boston 24
2nd Quarter: NY Knicks 56 - Boston 53
3rd Quarter: NY Knicks 78 - Boston 88
Final Quarter: NY Knicks 118 - Boston 122 (pretty close game)

Alright, got a bad hair day here...

Not much photos to offer but I took lotsa movie clips. All the half time shows and damn, I wasn't able to get a footage of a slam dunk. But its ok, I am going for the Houston game on Monday and Mr. Yao Ming will definitely do a dunk or two. Oh boy, so exicting man! haa

ZH reporting "live" from Madison Square Garden