Random postings

I'll post up on my trip to Barcelona later. With exams in 3 weeks, admittedly my priorities are getting a little skewed. I've gone to the gym 3 times this week already just to relax and blow off some steam. Tonight's session was with Gordon and Alfred, and the Big G put both us skinny Malaysian boys through our paces... it was a tough night of gymming (especially as I'd run 5km and gymmed the day before). Then again, I managed to bench 45kg today (I only discovered today that the bar actually weighs 20kgs itself!).

I was famished after I got home. It was 9pm and all I'd eaten for the day was an egg sandwich for lunch). Tonight's dinner was very satisfactory

Soy sauce chicken, chicken soup and rice

Actually the soy sauce chicken was really easy to knock up - some shallots, ginger, soy sauce and water. And the chicken, obviously.

Don't ask why I had time to garnish it with spring onion. I was starving, but hey, food is art =)

Mohan was cooking at the same time, and we ate together: the Chinese guy with his Chinese food and the Indian guy with his curry and home-made chapattis. Actually it's quite funny when you think about it... multiculturalism in action

Nic. Stop taking pictures and EAT!

Anyways, I'll leave you with a few snaps of Barcelona:

Our favourite building in Barcelona. It's anatomically correct.

View from the Cathedral

This is my favourite shot - Pigeons attack kid in Placa Catalunya =)

A man should know where he stands.

Whilst in the midst of deciding what units to take next year at UWA, I browsed through the handbook to find:

LAWS3364 Criminal Procedure: The Trial Process [UG]

The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of going to press but may be subject to change.

Credit: 6 points Availability: Semester 1 Old unit code: 200.364

Outcomes: Students are able to (1) identify the key pieces of legislation relating to the procedure of criminal law; (2) apply key sections of the legislation to factual situations and explain their consequences; (3) apply key case law with legislation to factual situations and explain their consequences; (4) interpret key sections of that legislation, both discussed and not discussed in class; (5) integrate principle and policy arguments in relation to fundamental procedural considerations with current and proposed procedural rules; (6) draft in plain English key procedural documents and forms; (7) justify their position as a lawyer in the criminal justice system; and (8) stand at the correct end of the bar table in their first court appearance.

And yes, I've decided to enrol in this unit.

A man should know where he stands after all.

Confirmed tail ender

After a mad few weeks of assessments, this week finally returned to normal... after Wednesday's Medieval Legal History exam. Have had a quiet weekend, just doing some reading (for fun) and playing cricket. We had our last game for the season today as some of the guys are returning to India/Singapore.

Back row (L-R) - Sharath, Newton, Nishit, Fazi, Afaar, Alinda, Ram, Pradeep, Hasan. Front row - Omar and I

There's nothing quite like being the only Aussie guy in an Indian cricket game. Chasing 65 from just 8 overs, the last game was a foregone conclusion. I'd watched a succession of wickets fall in front of me, and I was the last batsman left. I needed oh, about 30 runs from 12 deliveries.

The recent Australia-India Test matches come to mind - 8 Indian fielders (including one guy with a helmet) surround the Aussie tail-ender*. An off-spinner stares him down from the other end. Talk about pressure eh? We weren't going home until I got out.

I have the dubious honour of being the last wicket taken for the 2008 season:

.

I've got to work on that cut shot**.

What can I say? Indians love their cricket. Most of them are pretty good at it. They're friendly guys as well. All in all, the cricket experience, and getting to know some very friendly guys is something I'll remember fondly from my time in Glasgow.

If you guys are ever in Perth, do drop me a line =)

* for those less cricket-inclined, the tail end batsman is the worst batsman in the team. What this means is 2 things: (1) he normally bats last, when all the good batsmen are gone, and (2) fielders normally stationed near the boundary suddenly move a lot closer.

** Mis-hit cut shots have gotten me out twice in 2 days.

Another reason a finance degree is useful

This appeared on Craig's List

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City , so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 100 - 150. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 150,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

THE ANSWER

Dear Pers-:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard tobelieve that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump."
I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

____________
Rob Campbell
J.P.Morgan
Diversified Industrials Investment Banking
277 Park Avenue, 16/F, New York , NY 10172

Loch Lomond

The highlight of last weekend was a trip to the gorgeous Loch Lomond.

Here's the castle where we stayed - it's now the Loch Lomond Youth Hostel. Apparently the grounds used to be the site of a hunting lodge of Robert the Bruce.

On a clear day, you can see the snow-capped peak of Ben Lomond from the grounds of the castle. After the hike up Ben Nevis, I was rather less keen on doing it this time. It's only 974m after all...

Rather, it was time to do something that I'd never considered doing, but which rapidly became something I chose to do - willingly - and I wasn't under the influence of alcohol at all. Let's start from the beginning.

It was a gorgeous day along the castle grounds

The evening started with us chilling in the lounge room of the castle.

Left-Right: Kelley, me, Kevin (of Clan McBeth), Melanie, Katrina

We then had a ceilidh, which was run by these guys:

I think some students didn't really get into the whole ceilidth thing. I walked out of the hall for a breather to find:

It was that kind of party

Anyways, hot and sweaty after the ceilidh, I walked out of the hall again, to hear some guy decide aloud that it would be a good idea to take a dip in the waters of Loch Lomond. It was approaching midnight.

Another random pic.

Being completely sober (i'd swear this on a stack of bibles), and still within the warmth of the castle, I said the fateful words:

"why not, I'm in"

I was instantly committed. Let's just say it was a very long 5 minute walk in the cold from the castle to the Loch. I had time to think about what I'd just committed myself into as I dodged puddles along a wet path in the rain.

Yay! I'm going to freeze alive!

Mind you, we did warm up beforehand:

There was nothing to it but to take the plunge. I'd note here that Loch Lomond looked much more inviting during the day.

Let's just say it wasn't very warm after midnight.

I had to do a wee bit of cropping for this pic...

Along the way to the lake, I came to the realisation that Kevin and I were the only 2 non-intoxicated people taking the plunge. Kev didn't even plan to swim... he was just there to egg me on (what friends are for). I mentioned this aloud, to hear the reply from an intoxicated Scotsman:

"It's more manly if you do it sober"

To which I'd reply:

"It's more idiotic if you choose to do it sober"

The only 2 sober guys

In any case, now I can cross off one more thing off my list of things to do in Scotland (though it wasn't on the original list, it deserves to be there for sheer audacity/idiocy):

• Take a midnight swim in Loch Lomond - Done
  

Edinburgh

It's been a mad week. I had to hand in an essay and do an oral presentation on Wednesday, and spent last night cramming for an exam today. Thank God it's all over. The exam was interesting, giving us a choice of 2 questions from 4. It wasn't pretty. Basically, I looked at the first 2 questions and realised something: regardless of whatever the last 2 questions were, I'd have to do them...

I went to Edinburgh on the weekend. Managed to tour the castle and the Scottish Parliament. I'd highly recommend the castle - the views are spectacular on a clear day (admittedly those aren't so common here)

The Castle

Looking down the Royal Mile

The view from the battlements - The Firth of Forth

Some of my classmates

The chapel in the Castle grounds

The most handsome man alive poses with Arthur's Seat in the background =P



The Scottish Parliament

Anyways, that's it for now =)

Of driving

Having been in Glasgow for 2 months, one thing I do miss a lot is driving.

I find the act in itself quite therapeutic, and that's even before I get passengers on board. There's something about having 5 lives on your fingertips (before you even include pedestrians and other drivers) that just makes me want to put the pedal on the metal, and fly...

[looks back on what he's written]

I'll stop now before:

• my parents take away the car
  
• the govt takes away my licence
• you all think I'm some kind of psycho... MUAHAHAHAHA!

Admittedly I miss my regular passengers - some who get in out of choice, and the vast majority out of necessity -

• Brian, Ashley, cousins - they're family - if I don't drive them, they don't get anywhere =p
  
• Keith and Natania - regular passengers - often participate in whatever crazy thing I decide to do in the car (eg start a water-fight with the Tangs' car whilst driving on Mts Bay Road)
  
• Russell - can sleep in my car. Witness of the infamous indecisive skid at the Ranford Rd/Bannister Rd traffic lights...
  
• Kristine - complains about my driving and yet keeps getting into the car - I think you're a daredevil in disguise =)
  
• Amanda - who'll only get into my car when she's dead tired or has no car - "Nic... there are some ... unappealing aspects about your driving"
  
• The OD girls - basically I end up hearing high-pitched girly conversations from UWA to Broadway.
  
• The Tangs - I'll quote Michelle on this: "I can sleep when Nic's driving... because I drive like this too"

Oh wait... I just realised that all my passengers get in my car out of necessity

Circa 2006 - Brian praying furiously as I raced from Banjup to Nedlands in 15 mins, including a petrol stop.

I have a few things to say in my defence:

• I haven't actually got into a prang yet (though not for want of trying). I'd attribute that to reflexes.
  
• I'm quite safety-oriented - I always insist that all my passengers wear seatbelts, and always have an eye on the rear mirror (for cops)
  
• I would never do anything I wouldn't do if I were driving alone.
  
• Majority of passengers surveyed said my driving was a "[....] experience" - fill in the blanks yourself...
  
• I'm actually really qualified to drive. Over-qualified in fact. I'd tell you why, but I'm keeping it for future sermon material
• Finally, I also park really well =)
  
  Circa 2008 - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3999078&op=4&o=global&view=global&subj=563231373&id=795785111

The good news is that I'll be back in January =)

Comments?

Dinner

What's better than rendang?
Home made rendang =)

Ben Nevis - Part 2

I left whoever reads this blog (basically those ppl after my guitars) with the impression that I nearly died climbing up Ben Nevis. Well to be honest, it wasn't nearly that dramatic. Admittedly, it was the most physically gruelling thing I've ever done in my life.

On a random note: the first song playing on the radio as we woke that morning was the Beatles' 'Live and let die' =)

Here's a map of our route.
Don't worry - we used a real map on the day=P

Anyways, lets get on with the story... at the Lochan (the Red Burn), I decided to put an extra layer on (which entailed removing a few layers). At the very moment when I'd partially undressed, the skies opened up, and I've never seen hands go cold so fast...It was quite embarrassing as it got so cold in the space of 30 secs that my numb fingers couldn't handle the buttons on my raincoat, meaning I had to get Steven's help - male bonding time inspired by a moment of sheer serendipity.

The Lochan from about 100m above:

There's so many lakes (lochs) in Scotland... lets just say they don't have a water problem =)

The clouds and snow kicked in once we hit 800-900m, meaning the temperature, and visibility dropped. Steven and Maude were 15m away when I took this picture.

But there was one perk. I saw snow for the first time in my life, and remembered the old adage about yellow snow. Fortunately I wasn't that thirsty. And no. It wasn't me.

Hakim, Patrick and I:

We were greeted with a procession of people retreating from the summit. One told us the summit was an hour away. This wouldn't have been so bad, except that 40 mins later, another person told us it was another hour away. This happened a few times. It's a bit dispiriting. On the other hand, on our descent, it was pretty fun playing the same mental games with people on the way up =P

The last part of the climb was probably the hardest. Freezing hands, tired legs.and bad visibility. The path was pretty brutal on the feet, and the snow had a treadmill effect.

The novelty of snow rapidly wore off after my right quads cramped up... (I can almost hear my UWA football kaki telling me to eat more salt). Ever tried walking uphill without your right leg?

Here's a summary of my thoughts at that point

1. I've used up most of my energy already - God I'm less fit than I thought I was
   
2. Have I got enough in the tank to reach the summit?Have I got enough to get down? On the other hand, if I die here, I won't have to lead cell group in Perth. Or deal with the joys of 5th year Law.
   
3. How much longer is it anyways? The guy we met 60 mins ago said it was 40 mins more...
4. Bloody (&^l my leg hurts! I look like a fool crab-walking up this mountain.
   
5. I'm hungry (typical male)
6. I can't believe Evan put me up to this...
   

You can almost hear the desperation in my voice as I helped promote 2009's J-Life Camp - ONE!

At certain points along 5-Finger Gully, the path seemed endless, and uphill. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and plant one foot in front of the other.
However, after 4 hours, we got to the top of the UK!

It was bloody cold (-10C i think), but on the other hand there was an observatory meaning we could get out of the wind, and grab some packed lunch. Couldn't really order a pizza.


The descent was way easier... Anytime one felt tired, one could simply look up at the mountain top... and thank God that we were heading DOWN. Plus, as mentioned earlier there was the entertainment value of telling people on the way up that the summit was 2 hours away =P


Steven and I all smiles. He was absolutely flabbergasted upon realising:

1. I'd never seen snow in my life,
   
2. I'd never climbed a mountain in my life, and
   
3. I'd decided to knock both these things of my "things to do before I die" list. Simultaneously. On the highest mountain in the UK...
   

The best part about the descent were the views, especially when combined with that satisfactory feeling you get after you've climbed that high. I'll end off with some hard-earned pics (some are from Steve's camera):

Aside from a great sense of achievement, I also got a souvenir from Ben Nevis.

Let's just say I felt every single rock on the path through my boots...