Daniel Group

A giant lovely belated birthday card from my HK fellowship, Daniel Group. I need to emphasize "Daniel Group" because this name will disappear soon as the group will be dissolved due to restructuring. Which group should I join when I return to HK?? Although our group is a bit dull and people are not expressive, I still miss it because people are sincere; we cheer and cry together in the love of God.

Michaelmas Term Exam Results

First term examination result is out, I did very well, got three distinctions.

Finance I : 76 (Distinction with excellent work)
Financial Reporting : 76 (Distinction with excellent work)
Decision Science: 71 (Distinction with fine work)
Developing Effective Managers : 68 (Strong pass)
Managerial Economics : 65 (Strong pass)
Strategy : 60 (Good pass)

May be I am lucky that I didn't do job search and I don't need to spend time on FR, so I can allocate more revision time on the subjects. As I was educated in HK, I know how to play UK examination game, I am able to do better in written exam generally. The practical work lowered my marks for Finance and FR from 84 and 87 respectively to 76. This is the reason why SBS add practical work in assessment, they need to level off the marks and also secure more students to pass the exam. Seems Oxford exams are not as difficult as imagined.

Global MBA Rankings

Financial Times announces Global MBA rankings today, we all feel very disappointed especially compared with Cambridge ranking who jump from 15th in 2007 to 10th in 2008. We will probably question our Dean tomorrow during the regular Dean meeting, will be nice if he could arrange to refund part of out tuition fee............

Key rankings:
1. University of Pennsylvania : Wharton
2. London Business School
3. Columbia Business School
4. Stanford University GSB
5. Harvard University
6. Insead
7. MIT : Sloan
10. University of Cambridge : Judge - Jealous and puzzled!
11. Ceibs (China Europe Int'l B School) - Cool!
17. HK UST Business School - Feel proud but don't think it ranks higher than us!
19. Oxford : SBS - Feel shame!

In fact, ranking based on various factors while one of the crucial factors is the salary increment after graduate. Some consultants said that Cambridge strategically take more fresher who will have a larger salary jump after graduate compared with us, as a result, they could have a higher ranking. Anyway..........

OCC Student Weekend Away

Human pyramid


7 people in a phone box


Worship at Henkel Church


Pinata - candies and chocolate inside the box

Pirate party

OCC Student Weekend Away 2008

I will join my church OCC Student Weekend Away 2008 from Friday night to Sunday noon to Reading. I don't have much idea on the programme run down, I just grasp a sleeping bag, go and see. Hope I could have fun there!

Assignments

It is week 2 of Hilary term and we started feeling the time pressure again because numerous assignments are kick in. Deadline for Finance II on this Sunday, Operation Management on next Thur, Marketing on next Sunday, Macro Econ and Global Strategy on the following Monday.

After Michaelmas term, many study groups tried to do the group work more efficiently by reducing the frequency and length of meetings. We are allowed to form our own teams for elective courses; the advantage is we could work with some close friends but disadvantage is we need to work with around 15 people for various subjects. Nonetheless, it is valuable to know more people and learn more culture from them.

Cathay Pacific CEO

SBS always invite CEO of reputable firms to give us speech. Today, Tony Tyler comes to share about CX business in Hong Kong and its challenges. I told Tony that I worked in CX for a summer job in Swire House (now changed name to Chater House) more than 10 years ago, he said I must be joking because I looked so young. To draw a conclusion on this, Tony is a generous CEO.

Birthday Gift from HK

Thanks for the RMK Beigy Mix Cheeks from HK, a cool A/W collection. This suits me a lot because my Bobbi Brown blusher was lost with the luggauge. So sweet!

Badminton at Wadham

Oxford Ghost Tour

Birthday Gifts

The prettiest BDay cake I've ever had!


Gift corner


Card corner

My birthday

My Birthday!

Hilary Term

Hilary term just started, some people said that it is a "hell" term because of many subjects plus an entrepreneur project. May be due to too many negative feedback, this year should be much better than last year because we have cut one subject.

1. Core : Marketing
2. Core : Operation Management
3. Elective : Global Strategy (by elimination, I won't take Marketing & Culture, Financial Management and Tech & Innovation Strategy)
4. Elective : Finance II (senior said that we will feel shame if an MBA student doesn't have sound finance knowledge)
5. Elective : Macro Economics (highly recommended because people said our mind will change after taking this course)

New Year's Resolution

Applicable up to Sept 08:
1. Study hard, play hard and pray hard
2. Join a Christian fellowship
3. Speak out more with friends and within study groups
4. Practise Mandarin
5. Play more sports including basketball, rugby, jogging, squash, ping pong and badminton

Squash - HK vs India

Wadham has a nice squash court and also outstanding players. It is the second time Deepti plays squash, did very well, right? Tarun is Oxford squash team player who wins a number of awards, he now is our personal trainer and cameraman.

Squash - India vs HK

Movie - Lust, Caution

First time watch a movie in Oxford. I'm poor in listening Mandarin, thus I need to read the English subtitle instead. Basically I like this movie, with a sense of familiarity to see the HK actors such as Tony Leung, Wang Lee Hom and Chin Ka Lok. However, there are too many unnecessary sex scenes.

Report loss

Reported property loss to the police station today and obtained the above slip. I will wait for 3 more days to see if the someone will return my suitcase to me, otherwise, Inez (my sister) will get into trouble. I will ask her to pack/buy tonnes of things and sent to me from HK. My friends said that I don't look upset even I lost my luggage. I agree, I feel peaceful and calm in this incident. I found very lucky as I didn't bring my Gucci sunglasses along and I was wearing my brand new Adidas running trousers when taking the flight.

Other than missing my luggage, the batch of Christmas cards that I sent to my church friends were also loss in transit. I have sent them in mid Dec, please refer to blog dated 16 Dec for evidence.

I've bought my third umbrella in Oxford today, every time when it rains, the wind is strong, high probability to break the umbrella.

Lost my luggage

Bad new! Just lost my luggage during the coach ride from Luton Airport to Oxford. Must be someone getting off the bus earlier than me took away my luggage from the bottom deck of the coach. Need to report to the police tomorrow. Nothing very valuable, the passport, camera, wallet, iPod are with me. Just a pity to loss my clothes/reading notes/iPod charger/cosmetics and very troublesome to loss my spectacles! See if the somebody will return my luggage. Anyway, I am fine and will be careful next time.

Fortunate that I still have my Holland clog slippers above. One for me and one for my tiny nephew.


In return, I have received an early birthday gift from Yam. Thanks! This makes me feel better!

Amsterdam

We went to Van Gogh Museum where I found interested, not only on his paintings but on an artist's life, especially after visiting Picasso Museum in Barcelona. We also went to De Wallen which is the best-known red-light district with a network of alleys containing several hundred tiny one-room apartments rented by female prostitutes who offer their services from behind a window. Don't ever go to coffee shop for coffee because the coffee shop here is legally selling drugs e.g. cannibis.

I find this trip relaxing and enjoyable. We sat in front of the fireplace, chatted on a varities of topics with Sha's husband, Douwe, who is a Dutch. Trust that I would have chance to come again, as long as Sha still lives here.

The Netherlands

I am now in the Netherlands visiting my classmate Shasha, staying in her home for 4 days. Woke up at 6am, took National Express at 7am to Luton Airport. We visited Zaanse Schans to see the windmills, clogs workshop and cheese production; followed by buffet (Wok) at night - delicious!

張敬軒 - 遇見神

近來最喜愛的歌曲"遇見神", 可以用愛不釋手來形容,一聽要連繼聽十次才收手。

曲、詞 : 西佰 (我識佢, 因為佢娶咗我教會個姊妹)
編曲 : 金培達 (国際性代表作奧運倒數一周年主題曲"We are ready")
主唱 : 張敬軒 (不用多介紹,一句講晒,人氣急升)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN7sNftcM3U

http://www.gnci.org.hk/lsd/lsd4_001d2.php

因為找巳遇見神,所以更喜歡最後一段的歌詞,比較relevant。
「誰無遐想一生精采佳美?
由誰來導,演出好戲?
人能遇見神,是福氣,最終高飛。
從來難數高低多少次,何時成就?那天失意?
前途幻變時,路雖遠,有這福氣心內暖。」

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

More time to read during the term break. Finally, I have finished reading an old book written by Stephen Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I pick this book because I want to work more effectively, particularly on the paradigm of time efficiency. Stephen taught about many principles, such as "Be Proactive", "Put First Things First", "Think Win/Win", etc. Some of the principles I have heard before, though not yet put into practice.

Anyway, the part I want to share is Stephen's personal note in the final chapter. He said "I believe that there are parts to human nature that cannot be reached by either legislation or education, but require the power of God to deal with. I believe that correct principles are natural laws, and that God, the Creator and Father of us all, is the source of them, and also the source of our conscience." I am deeply moved by the author's beliefs, it reconfirms God's superiority to me.

I found it interesting to study management subjects during MBA course, I've learnt countless theories e.g. Theory X and Y, Expectancy Theory, Goal Setting & Reinforcement Theory, etc. All in all, we are weak and sometimes not reliable, I believe that using the conscience that God has given us, on top of the management skills that we learnt, will be the most trustworthy and effective theory to manage ourselves and the world.

The Lord of The Rings

前日去完London後今日再去,好過留在Oxford發霉。今次唔係去shopping,主要是睇musical和行museums,吸收多啲文化氣色,唔好成日感俗氣。London有很多musical/opera,每套劇每日兩塲,大概分別是2:30pm和7:30pm。我們多數中午逛街,吃過晚飯才看7:30pm塲,然後飛奔回Oxford。所謂半價後的票價大概GBP30(其實通街的agent都半價,想買正價都難),即大約HKD500,我希望在今年內看完所有出名的劇,所以又要破財。
The Lord of the Rings 的塲面頗莊觀,視覺效果一流,但因為時間所限,以致內容情節不深入。對白多,唱歌少。最驚就是那些怪獸在台下觀眾身旁嚇你,我坐在單邊位,勁驚!


Victoria and Albert Museum ("V&A"). It has many many collections, I like it more than British Museum because less people there and the display are more openly arranged. I asked my friend what's the difference between V&A and British Museum, she replies "何能一間專係偷回來,一間係別人送的"。唔,有感嘅可能!!


Tate Modern is the national gallery of international modern and contemporary art and showcases art from 1900 to the present. Many special art work like this crack in the hall.

嘩!乜感似The Lord of The Rings裡面隻怪獸嘅! 我係話後面黑色那隻,不是前面白色嗰隻。

Christmas Sales

歐洲国家一年只有兩次sale, 在聖誕後及六月份。跟HK不一樣,我們HK新貨一推出就有九折了,然後是八折、七折一直減下去。所以這幾天London & Oxford成街都在瘋狂搶購,當然不少得我份。我去London就等於去Causeway Bay shopping,這兩天我一共買了10 items, 好似有些過份。但你們有所不知了,由2006年底計劃讀書以來我就减少購物,一來要儲錢,ニ來知道行理會超重,帶唔走那麽多東西,忍得好辛苦呢! 另外,這裡的洗衣机搞到我的衣服又縮水又退色,所以要入番啲貨(總之好多藉口^o^)不過我這敞買的都是cheap嘢,可以穿一年後即棄也不可借,全都是H&M, Zara, Mango, GAP等我們熟識的品牌。UK有一間勁cheap的品牌叫做Primark,看看有冇机會繼H&M之後進軍HK。聽聞UK 品牌Reiss在HK已開舖, 屬Moiselle投資項目,請多多支持。

近來多些時間可以睇自己鍾意的書, Sophie Kinsella糸列的Shopaholic and Baby都幾搞笑,她用London做背景,所以多了一點共明。

Count Down at London

有Big Ben大笨鍾的鐘声做count down 的襯托,係咪好cool呢!

Happy New Year

我們一行八人在London China Town 吃過晚飯後便前往River Thames對正London Eye的位置覇位等倒數。由九時開始坐街邊等到＋ニ時,沒有節目表演的,只有電台的強勁音樂和警方的廣播。雖然有一段時候下着毛毛雨,一場去到無理由放棄的,唯有邊吹水邊食薯片但不可以飲水.......

祝大家新年快樂,may God bless you all!

亦用London Eye的五色環祝願08北京奧運成功! P.S.剛剛去完北京旅行的Far話好似很多設備也未搞掂,即跟主題曲"We Are Ready"相反?!