term 2

no way am i going to be a last minute fire fighter again. i begin on my EVA(equity valuation & analysis) assignment today as prof posted up the data this morning. I received the the FSA (financial statement analysis) assignment too..but as that is only due in june..i shall finish up eva prior to that. i want to have ample time to ensure these are good pieces of work.

the good thing about having terms back to back is the continuation of momentum. a long break often breaks the momentum and overcoming the inertia takes much effort.

i'm going to keep moving. finish eva assignment due in 4 wks..prepare fsa test in 4 wks..finish fsa asignment in 6 weeks. in that order.=)

to mummy..

this is my beloved mummy. irreplaceable mummy..who still listens to my complaints at work.. i love you mummy.=)

new try out dish

i tried out a new dish today..something my mummy cooks really well but i haven't tried cooking it myself.. my porkie turned out rubberish.. don't quite know why. =X nevertheless, dearie still ate everything and thanked me for the meal. thank you for not finding it a nuisance to eat all my experimented dishes. hehe.. good thing my dearie is not so particular..he always say "can eat can liao" =)

self contentment=self acceptance

The last exam for term 1 wrapped up on Saturday. It was yet another headshot..this one was somehow more fatal than ofrm. Flipping through the paper stunned me and I just stared at it blankly for almost 5 minuntes.

Regaining my sanity I attempted to do whatever I could. My answers came in drips and drabs. That was an ominous sign of a possible failure. I hate to admit I will probably face that outcome; retaking this module again is hellish.

After 3 hours of torment, I left the exam room feeling jaded. I dialed out to dearie and in his words, found comfort. At least I have tried my best. I did put in my best to go through the tutorials 3 times. the exam took us by surprise that nothing related to the tutorials appeared. My heart ached even more when I realized if I failed by a huge rift, I will have to pay the $2.5k again to go through the intensives all over! have I not tried hard enough? Or am I just too slow to grasp the concepts?

On a positive note, I am more pleased with my progress for this new term. We did a mini test yesterday for equity and I managed to get 12 out of 15 correct. I love the calculation and logic bit of this module. Fsa isn’t that bad either because I look at financial statements almost everyday..so it’s just a more in-depth study of what these statements entail. Should things go well, I hope to pass these papers with lesser problems.

Dearie is in the process of building a car for ME! haha..that’s what I am assuming since it’s an exact replica of the car he owns. Will post up the photos when I get to test drive it. haha..

After the class (and exam) on Saturday, dearie took me out shopping. i felt like a mouldy slice of bread which has been hibernating indoors for the past 1 month or so. It was good to be out in the crowd, trotting in the shopping mall. Dearie bought additional paint for MY car.. carrying 2 bottles of grey paint, he was much like a kid skipping out in joy from kiddy palace. Big kid.

The new extended jurong point is huge and there are many fanciful shops..selling pretty little things. funny thing was.. I felt nothing actually drew me to walk into the shops.. I just walked past them.. appreciating the nice window displays.. colorful apparels.. shiny shoes.. bling bling jewellery.. In me I was contented with all I had. There was nothing I wanted to get.. because whatever I needed, I have them.

It’s a bliss being a contented person. Sometimes I struggle to stay that way because human nature drives us to achieve and possess more. Life can be a lot simpler..if we learnt to live with what we have..within our means.. and taking joy that we do not need to be like the others around us to gain acceptance. Self contentment..is a form of self acceptance =)

i got an A for my curry

i remembered the milk today..but i forgot i was suppose to cook the prata to go along with the curry..arghh!! my curry got kindof burnt (again)..this time because i turned the fire too much close at the end..sigh. =( nevertheless, dearie scored me 80 for the attempt. the next time i go home, i'm going to ask ma to give me ojt. on the job training. =)

OFRM-Cleared!

i cleared the options, futures and risk mgmt module with a score of 65, credit. i am just thankful to pass because i was taken aback by the tough paper..i was pretty worried to fail it in fact. phew! that's one down.

FIS this saturday, i hope to pass too. no more distinctions roll for me because the modules are so tough that i've been banging against the wall pretty more often these days.. and i know it because the migraine has been setting in more often than it should.

it's ok..2 terms..and i'll be through the tough patch. =) fight on tricia!

sissel - over the rainbow

something more mainstream..if pie jesu is not your cup of tea. her voice is still beautiful..

sissel-true diva

she is the true diva! dump those pop stars. this is a real singer with THE voice!

you keep me going

an expected discovery threw me into delirium today. on one hand i was furious and the other, helpless. i felt terribly short changed. dearie spent a long while pacifying me over the phone as he talked me through and affirmed the things i was doing. he is right.. i may be far behind her in the first 10km but i know i have the energy and attitude that'll enable me to overtake her in the next 30km.

thank you for the affirmation, dearie. i will not let you down.. because you have given me strength to keep going on =)

on the song list

i've been listening to this boy since yesterday night. happened to find him on youtube as i was listening to sissel sing 'pie jesu'. he has a very clear voice...amazing for a 13 year old. he was 2nd runner up in britain's got talent 2008 show.

curry assault no. 2

i shall attempt to cook chicken curry for dearie again. this will be my 2nd attempt and this time i WILL remember the milk.. i've placed it on the kitchen top so i won't miss it. (erm to think of it, i placed it on the table top the first time but i still forgot!) =P i hope this will be a better attempt. the photo shows that which ma cooked. that's what i'll be striving to achieve! =)

billy tricia hamburger

We had burgers for dinner.. each burger only costs us $1.30 ($0.60 chicken patty, $0.40 burger bread & $0.30 - cheese) it turned out pretty yummy..healthier and cheaper than fast food chains!

new watch!

dearie bought me a new watch on sunday. it's a seiko criteria =) it's an advanced birthday present! haha. i'll use it for my exam this saturday. this watch has everything i want: proper marking (1,2,3...i've been struggling to tell the exact time with my dkny watch) and also DATE! woohooooooooo!

on top of that, it has chrono features..it's a stop watch! =) very blessed..thank you dearie!

if i strike 4d this wednesday, i promise to buy you the hugo boss watch. promise! =)

lazing around & having fun

foooood...

our weekend trip up perak

pa's new drool-worthy peugeot 407

leaving on a peugeot 407

1500km – the total distance we covered over the long weekend. and much of it on the new 407 pa bought.. this car packs the WOW factor!

We spent a large part of the holiday traveling from place to place. although the traveling was tiring, it was made up by the sumptuous meals we feasted on.

There were many firsts during this trip. First time to an estate. First time to teluk intan. First time trying soft chicken biscuits..yummy! First time traveling soooooo much in a car!

Shall post up the photos soon..and let it tell of the journey.

Back to reality. Work on Monday is made a lot more bearable with ag away and tpl on medical leave. It’s a pressure-less Monday after the long weekend.

Time to get back into running form after the pigging out. classes start this weekend and I do have to accelerate on my revision and assignment.

The sooner I finish this 2nd term, the better it is. that means I’ll be getting a breather pretty soon.

worth the plunge

After taking the plunge into financial statement analysis, i am now pretty convinced it is the right choice to make.

1. I heard sebastian rant about treasury mgmt and his experience 2 terms back when dogan took the class. Not a student's favourite kind of lecturer.

2. Now I can go for MR25 cross country marathon! woohoo! after the dnf last year due to my hamstring injury, i hope i can do better this year. isabel will be going for it too, so there is someone i can try to keep up with.

3. Perth City to surf marathon is down the pipeline. Dearie made the ticket booking during the week and we are planning towards for the event in august. wow..it'll be my FIRST overseas marathon (excl. malaysia) really looking forward to it! timely as a reward for 2 terms of hard work.

I've hit a personal weekly mileage record for 2009 this week. 70km. My personal best is 75km in a week, during 2007. This 70km is alot tougher than the 75km in 2007 as it includes track training and hard 12km run at macritchie.

I ran 19km with yanni today and spending the 2 hours chatting as we ran made it really enjoyable. The suffering of the run was alleviated because of a fun companion. Hope to run with you again soon, yanni! =)

on books and roads

Received an email from the school informing us that the fis exam will be postponed till 25/04/09. good news as it means we’ll have more time to go through the materials and get ourselves more prepared. Bad news because it’s on the same day as equities class. That actually means from 9-12noon we’ll be having exams. 1-8pm we’ll be down for class. In a nutshell, some of us will be strapped in school for almost half the day. bleah.

Nevertheless, I’m just thankful now I have a decent amount of time to thoroughly go through the chapters in MPP textbook..and understand the questions in the tutorials better. At least I can sleep in peace now.. I’ve been tossing and turning in bed; mind full of worry about the fis exam.. to be honest, I was even prepared to fail the fis exam and redo it again. so for the postponement, it may be a good thing for most of us in class.

After the fis class with prof dogan, I have switched from treasury mgmt module to financial statement analysis instead. it’s an elective which we have to pick either one. I gathered feedback from lester that the odds of failing is pretty high as tm module is pretty ambitious – lots to cover in a short time. it just leaves me feeling more uncertain on top of prof dogan’s teaching.

Hence, yesterday I took the plunge for the switch. Corp finance will be pushed back to term 4. term 2 will be equities and fsa. It doesn’t sound too bad an arrangement because if things go smoothly, I will still be in time to graduate by Dec..just a week later than my previous plan.

Last Sunday I picked dearie up at Changi airport as he returned from his trip to Penang. The thought of driving felt daunting as I have been always reliant on dearie to ferry me around. He’s a fantastic driver and I would just sit back and relax all the months since I’ve obtained my license. On Saturday, I frantically flipped through the street directory to find bearing in the myriad of ‘e’s (expressways). Kje..bke..pie..sle.. good thing dearie called me that evening and guided me through the journey down.

Sitting into our car felt different as I embarked on the longest drive I’ve done so far in my driving life. I was off to a lousy start as I missed a turning to woodlands road..but as I drove down the empty sungei kadut road, I gained more confidence. Making a u-turn, I was getting more warmed up. the drive was enjoyable and I didn’t feel the least intimidated when many cars were just speeding up and overtaking me on the expressway. I kept looking at my speedometer. I was cruising at 75-80kmh, very well in the 90kmh limit. Not too sure what the rest of the cars were going at, but I decided not to step on my accelerator hard as I was comfortable at that speed. i was impressed at how well marked changi airport roads are. so I got to the arrival hall fairly easily. The whole trip took me 40mins. =)dearie took the wheel on the return trip.

I do think I should drive more..especially parking.. before it becomes a lost art to me.

oh ya..did i tell u dearie got me yummylicious GODIVA chocolates! woohooo..i've been gorging myself on it and now i have 3 freshly popped pimples that have erupted.=X