I’m now having a headache. Reason? I dunno…it can be anything: heat, James, myself. The list goes on.

For the heat, it’s freaking hot here rite now. It was so damn hot this afternoon that my lip balm melted! It was flowing out of the container when I opened it. I sweated so badly. I got mad. Beware! I might get rabies! Hahaha…Anw, I wish I could jump into a pool at this moment. This fish really needs water.

James…I’m working on his two cases: one finance case and one management case. He’s taking too much of my time. I hope this hard work would be paid off. Yup, I may be too obsessed with James' cases and classes but I'm not the only one. Most of my classmates have ‘James’ in their MSN displayed names.

For myself, I just dunno why I cant get the answers for finance case correct. I’ve tried doing the excel and sending those numbers to James for gazillions of times. I am discouraged but I wont give up. Nonetheless, I still dunno how to get those correct answers. Strategic management case is about P&G this time. The company is in good shape. It’s so tough to find five problems to work on…let alone one…

Just like one my good friends wrote in her blog:

“You've got to get yourself together

You've got stuck in a moment

And you can't get out of it

Don't say that later will be better

Now you're stuck in a moment

And you can't get out of it

And if the night runs over

And if the day won't last

And if your way should falter

Along this stony pass

It's just a moment

This time will pass

And so says Bono. Isn't it strange how for some reason, after you've listened to a song for the umpteenth time, when the lyrics leap out and grab you for the first time?

The song may have a darker origin, but I guess it applies to everyone no matter what is troubling our hearts.

For me, the moment entails putting together what seems like a million-piece puzzle that is my report. What's yours?

Just remember, it's just a moment.”

Yeah…It’s just a moment. It’ll pass. Go Jay!

Dear SeaSafe Team,

You are welcome! Good luck with your competition in Texas!

Jay

P.S. What was that about licensing? I ain't got a clue.

Beaches!!!

This trip to the south was totally unplanned and unorganized. I called my cousin on Monday to tell him that I might go to visit him in Khanom, Nakhonsrithammarat for the weekend. On Thursday, I told him that I’d definitely be going there. I’d leave BKK on Friday morning and he had to pick me up at Suratthani bus station in the evening. On Friday morning, I changed my mind and told my cousin that I’d be leaving in the evening instead (there’s only one daily direct bus to Khanom which leaves BKK at 8 p.m. but the bus heading to Suratthani departs hourly). The reason behind this? I thought it’d be better if I spent Friday morning and afternoon working on James’ case and the night for traveling.

I left BKK southern bus terminal at 8.00 in the evening and reached Khanom at around 7.30 in the morning. Dunno where Khanom is? Here’s the map.



We left my cousin’s house around 10 to catch a Ferry to Koh Samui. We decided to take a motorcycle there. I was in doubt of its ability to deliver us there. It was so old. My cousin hasn’t rode on it for ages. Even P’Pum (my cousin) said that he wasn’t sure that it still functioned. Anyway, we thought that it was more practical than driving a car to Koh Samui.

The pier was not that far from his place, only 24 km away. The ferry took us about 2 hours.

On the ferry…



Our mode of transportation



Arriving at Koh Samui



We then roamed around Koh Samui in a loop.

Our first stop, Granpa and Granma Rocks (dun ask why)

This is the Granpa Rock. We couldn’t take the photo of the Granma Rock ‘cos we were standing on it.



More photos at the attraction



Then we moved on to the beach nearby, Lamai beach. Unfortunately, we passed the small street leading to the beach so we didn’t get a chance to see its beauty.

We took a small break at one of the zenith points to enjoy the bird’s eye view.





Chaweang beach was our last stop before we left the island.



And here, I was a bastard to my good friend, PO, who is working hard on his thesis in Sweden.



Departure from Samui



We were back on the mainland at around 5.30. P’Pum took me to a beach near where he used to live. I didn’t know what it’s called nor did my cousin (I just cant believe this!).



I went into the sea and had fun while P’Pum sat on the beach watching me behave like a 12-year-old kid. And again, I was being a bastard to PO.



Seafood was our dinner, obviously. That ended my first day. By the way, he told me that sunrise at the beach was stunning but we had to wake up super early in the morning. I asked him to set the alarm clock and wake me up the next morning.

My second day started at 8.30!

It turned out that P’Pum was too exhausted from yesterday to wake up so early in the morning. So, we missed the sunrise. Nevertheless, I hoped that we would be able to get a real southern breakfast at one of many small coffee shops in the central market. It was too late though. We had to buy drinks from a small stall and get the food from somewhere else and brought them home.

This was what I was talking about: grilled sticky rice, sticky rice and milked tea.



The food would taste nicer if we got to eat it at the coffee shop. It really would (to me). I think it might be because of the ambience…I dunno…

Our journey for the day was to go the one the beaches in Khanom where my cousin claimed that it’s the best beach around the area.



I have to say that my cousin is not a very good photographer. I climbed those rocks so that he could take photos of me standing on it. But…



I have to borrow Bonny’s frequently used sentence ‘you are disqualified!’ to use with my cousin for this. By the way, I have to thank him for taking these photos for me. He was also sitting and waiting for me while I enjoyed myself at the beach and in the sea. He didn’t complain at all. I love my bro!



For this…I tot it was time for me not to be a bastard to PO



Closing time…time really flied. I wished I could stay there a bit longer. However, I needed to back to BKK as work was waiting for me: James cases specifically.

We (P’Pum has a meeting in Chonburi and he needs to stop by in BKK first) left Khanom at 6.00 in the evening and arrived in the busy city at 5.30 on Monday morning. I went back to my Granma’s, took shower, and left to uni for 9.00 class.

TUAMC was over.

TU won. Anyway, I dun think they should be proud of this stolen victory. Honestly, I dun think they deserve it. As I've written here before, there were better products and biz plans. Even the plan from Chula was better (can you believe this coming from Jay?). I didnt know what my SeaSafe team ended up with. Still, they will get a chance to go to Texas for the Global Moot Corp.

During these 3 days, I gotta meet many new people: co-staff, bizmen and many others. I had a chance to see many good presentations. Also, being a member of the staff team, I learned how freaking hard it was to organize such a big event like this. However, that's nth compared to friends I've made: P' (pronoun for sb who's older) staff from MIM program and Nong (pronoun for sb who's younger) from BBA, BE.

For the classes I skipped during this period, I'll photocopy my friends' notes and study them by myself when I have time (James is now taking most of time away again).

TUAMC 2007

Jay's supposed to be working right now!

This whole event is about competing on the business plans for the grad students. On the first day, the teams had to set up the booths to sell thier plans to investors and venture capitalists. I'm assigned to be the NTU team liaison. My team booth was next to a booth from HKUST from Hong Kong. They were so prepared with lots of props. I was so impressed.

On the second day, all the 20 teams were divided into 4 divisions and presented to panel of judges. I watched my team, a team from CU and SeaSafe from HKUST. And again, SeaSafe won my heart. Their salesmanship would be graded A++ by James. Their product was great and their business plan was practical. They breezed through to the semifinal and then the final round.

What many of the staff are wondering at this moment is how come all 3 Thai teams are in the final. Ok, a plan of one of the teams is sound. However, for the other two teams...umm...I'm not saying anything but there are other teams with much better products and plans.

Anyway, I'm with SeaSafe. I hope they win the competition. SeaSafe: From the Sea, For the Sea.

OK...I've spent almost an hour writing and uploading the photos on the E-Week competition my friends and I participated in. However, the stupid blog didnt publish it for me and I couldnt recover the post. Shit does happen. Damn it.

I wont spent another hour doing it again as I have James' cases to do. Anw, I'll try to tell you about it bit by bit on the next few posts. But this might take weeks. So be patient k?

BBA 15th Anniversary photos as promised

ASES members with Aj. Hugh

Supposedly to be setting up booths

Our honourable ASES Chapter

Party @ night

Update!!!!!

Relaxed weekend...

Friday: China Town

The Gang: Erik, Bonny, Phil, Jay, and Jerome



What a poser we are!



Jerome and his durian (he ate it after he had beer...OMG!!!)



Phil's gone bonkers!!!



I ate tons of food on that day. I dun think I'll get my pre-Canada weight back soon. But I'll try. I really hate the feeling I have around my waist now.


Saturday: BBA 15th annivesary party

I was there as a program officer of ASES. Our club had set up a game booth and a photo booth. Program and finance depts were in charge of the game booth. Marketing and technology depts were in charge of the photo booth. We tricked many alumni, our friends and our juniors to our booths. Not many people were interested in the photo booth as we charged a pretty high price for that. Anyway, we've raised quite an amt of money for our club.

Jerome at our game booth



Erik and Phil at the second year booth



Actually I have more photos on this party. You guys have to wait though. I'll post them as soon as possible.

Sunday: Floating Market

I went there with Kampoo and Phil. Jerome and Erik were supposed to come too. However, they were too drunk to wake up. What a party boy they are!





It was about noon when we headed back to the uni. I called my cousin and found out that he's in town. I told him that I'd take a bus to where he was but it'd take time. I jokingly said that I was going to take a cab there if he'd pay for it. He agreed! He wanted me to help him shop for stuff he needed.

I got to the shopping mall abt half and hour later. We went for ice-cream as usual. But this time was diff. We ate loads of ice-cream. Overall I think we ate like a dozen scoops (I have to admit that I finished more than half of it. hehe..). For dinner, we went to Jap restuarant and filled ourself up with yummy food. No wonder why my weight havent gone down that much. Haha..

He'll be back in town again this sun night. We plan to go out eating again on monday afternoon after I finish my class. Cant wait for monday to come!

NYC Part 2

Dec 28th: Liberty Statue and Wall St. (again) and Times Square

Dec 29th: last day in NYC

The Empire State and Grey's Papaya

What a school life!

I still have loads of work to do after exams. There is no break for me. So tired. Anyway, I think I’ll do better this half of the semester with better time management.

Aj. James will be gone for next two weeks. Everybody is planning up trips. So do my friends and I. However, I have to plan it carefully as I have 2 projects due when Aj.James is back in town.

Anyway, I went to a temple near my grandma’s last Sat. It was one of the important Buddhist days. I dunno what it’s called in Eng though. My aunt asked me whether I wanted to go. At first, I didn’t want to go as I have to study for James’ exam yesterday. I changed my mind later as I was so bored of studying.

I have to admit that I am not a very good Buddhist. Nonetheless, it kinda bothered me when people didn’t turn off their HPs or at least put it on a silent mode when the monk was giving teaching (correct me here…I dunno what the right word is). Phones kept ringing. And there was a kid that made noise throughout. Not very peaceful at all…

You guys may not believe me but I actually felt a sudden surge of peace and serenity when I stepped into the ground of one temple in BKK. It happened when my cousin was here almost 3 weeks ago. This temple is called ‘Wat Suthatthepwararam’. We walked past it and I had this urge to get inside. So I dragged him along. We walked around. I dunno abt P’Pum but I felt so calm…so peaceful…

I’m thinking abt going there again in the near future. I just wanna go there and do nothing and see whether I’ll feel the same or not. It may be my quiet corner in a busy and noisy BKK (too bad it’s not as near as Botanic Garden to TCHBS or the Parliament Hill to the Rez).