demystified HIEROGLYPHICS

shanghai OPEN

2014-09-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Here are the motions from the recently-concluded inaugural Shanghai International Debate Open. The Adj Core comprised of Zheng Bo, Mai Mokhsein, Chanel Chan and TJ.

Preliminary Rounds

1) This House regrets the celebritisation of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

2) This House supports a match-making industry where parents "shop" for the spouses of their children.

3) This House believes that governments should never pay ransom to terrorists for hostage taking.

4) This House would offer lighter sentences to criminals in exchange for information about crimes committed by their criminal syndicate.

5) This House believes that countries should be responsible for civil aviation tragedies that happen in their airspace.

6) This House would ban the use of civilian drones.

Knockout Rounds

Quarterfinal

You are a high school teacher in love with your 16-year old. She initiated and actively pursued the romance. You have, on several occasions, rejected her pursuit. This House, as the teacher, would date the student.

Semifinal

This House believes that the Police must not bear arms.

Final

This House believes that the International Criminal Court should prosecute the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for hate crimes against Palestinians.

Adj-Core Favorite

The time now is 2016. In response to a failed attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Un, conducted by a retired South Korean marine, North Korea decided to declare war.

This House believes that the Chinese Government should join the war to support North Korea.

traversing the WOODS

2014-08-25T04:06:00.001-07:00

Another lazy lazy Saturday. Plenty of procrastination, career fantasy roleplaying (never gets old!), cherishing the one random Quora upvote and three more movies.

I have never been much of a movie person. Well, I have never been an anything person. But, in any conversation, I always manage to surprise ALL my friends with the list of movies I have missed. I confess – I haven’t watched Titanic, Jurassic Park and the older releases of most Super/Bat/Ironman/James Bond stories. In fact, I can count all the times I have been to a theatre (before Singapore) with my two hands – and still have enough fingers to chopstick-eat my noodles.

However, this is changing. With so much free time in Shanghai during the weekends, I am making a concerted effort to overcome my movie gulf (traversing the unknown woods of Hollywood, Bollywood, Kollywood). Some of the movies I enjoyed a lot in the last two months – Shawshank Redemption, Now You See Me, Inglorious Basterds, Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga, A Beautiful Mind, Tenali Raman, Dhoni and Transformers (with friends at the Cinema – needless to write, first Transformers movie).

Today’s movies were – Inception, Shaadi ke Side Effects and Rang de Basanti. Inception was cool, innovative but being the novice movie watcher, I found myself lost in the details of how Inception worked. Shaadi ke Side Effects was an interesting, entertaining, unintellectual movie, Farhan Akhtar’s parental anecdotes had me in fits of laughter – that my roommate found it prudent to check on my mental wellbeing. Rang de Basanti is probably my favorite movie of today’s picks, for several reasons not limited to – an engaging, refreshing, resonating story, nice music and Alice Patten’s smile.

Despite 20+ movies recently, I know – I still got a long way to go to appreciate the wonders that’s cinema. If there’s any movie you think I shouldn’t absolutely miss, leave it as a comment.

P.S: Rest in Peace, Robin Williams. Sadly, I didn’t know him until he passed away (except as Washington in Night at the Museum). Maybe, I will watch his movies tomorrow.

goodbye, old friend

2014-08-18T22:48:00.001-07:00

Dear lappu,

As curtains come down on your extraordinary work life, here are a few final nice words.

You have always been a fighter - you survived countless ordeals and came back strong each time. You braved the tortures of Sham Shui Po, multiple falls from considerable heights and innumerable open-heart surgeries courtesy your ever-accompanying screwdriver buddies. Yet, you always rose up strong and managed to accomplish most things.

You were such an entertainer - you had people breaking up every time you dealt with a xebra, cxar or Ximbabwe.

You were a facilitator - you spurred me to write this blog. You aided me bond with some of my best friends. You allowed me to create and follow my dreams.

You have been a wonderful companion - lying quietly at the corner of my bed - always there for me when things became difficult.

You have been a great wingman - allowing me to stalk high school/university crushes and say "hi!" without the nervousness of real-life.

You were my pilot to exciting new worlds - despite your shortcomings (and there are quite a few of them), you were crucial in my internship offers, debate stuff and research experiences.

You taught me to overcome constraints - you were never the fanciest thing the world of technology had to offer. You had your fair share of tantrums. People found you cranky and hard to use. But, you taught me to - stop grumbling and make do with what I have. You taught me that the weakest among us still have qualities worth cherishing and defending. You taught me - sometimes, putting along with a temperamental thing may not be so bad after all.

After your mousepad decided to call it quits, I have been thinking - maybe you should take your hard-earned retirement after so long. Maybe, younger systems should deal with the mess that is computing. Maybe, you should take a vacation to Singapore/Hawaii/Europe, visit a beach town, sit back, relax, sip a martini and take in the fresh air.

Goodbye, old friend. You will be missed.

java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError

2014-08-14T02:17:00.001-07:00

Ni Hao Ma!

Hello from my new chocolate-wrapper-strewn digs at Shanghai. Agreed, I seem to have grown a virtual beard of non-writing but hopefully, things will brighten up starting now.

I am currently an SDET intern at Microsoft Shanghai in the Zizhu campus. So far, I have worked on testing frameworks, performance testing, data pipelines (which warrants an entire tragedy post by itself) and now figuring out Hadoop for Microsoft HDInsight.

It has been quite an interesting journey so far. I have been learning every single day and a lot of helpful people helping me get settled. Worthy of mention is Sheldon, Charles, Rodge (the Meri expert), Jingfei (for teaching me all about Github and tolerating my stupid questions) and my current mentor - Yun Hu. My usual summer cycle of hope-frustration-sleep-inspiration is happening in full flow. I come to office nicely rested, get this nice brainwave, and yesterday's problem gets fixed. Two hours later, I get bogged down by a new issue and go home racking my head about it. Sometimes, it make me yearn for the safe comforting environment that is university life but recently, following several Quora posts, I'm learning to accept "life sucks" and starting to deal with it. I have also been visiting the gym enough for the trainers to recognise me, so life's not too bad, eh?

I am also on the Microsoft Intern Management Committee as its Chief Evangelist and hopefully, we are able to dole out some fun events for the interns to attend.

P.S: Sometimes, I question the purpose of my being at such an tech-savvy organization. Then, I realize my caffeine addiction is at least benefiting the Microsoft pantry stocker. So, in this "What-is-the-purpose-of-life?" period of my life, it comforts me to know that somewhere, someone is happy because of me.

corridors of POWER

2013-08-19T16:55:00.004-07:00

Hello!

I'm changing. I'm becoming more organized. I write checklists, take care of my stuff better, take a shower at least once a day. These days, when I travel, I sit down with a computer the day before, mark out places I want to visit on Google Maps, figure out how I get from Place A to Place B and no longer rely on luck and Evita to travel. I have been reading a lot of travel blogs and some of them have provided great advice for shoestring travelers like me. So, I thought I would give back to the travel community by sharing some of my own experiences. In this post, I'm going to talk about my Washington DC trip. As this post is primarily targeted at travelers targeting DC, I will try not to ramble and keep it succinct.

1) HOW LONG SHOULD I STAY IN WASHINGTON?

This question troubled me a lot. I confess, I'm a stingy traveler and I hate spending on hotels. I left New York in a day simply because I didn't want to spend on hotels. So given my financial limitations and stubbornness potential, it was quite a trick question. However, I decided to stay the entire weekend rather than a flying visit to DC. Why this is actually a less retarded than idea than a one-day trip?

a) You must be a certified moron to travel 450 miles by bus back-to-back. Plus, bus fares aren't cheaper than hotel rates.

b) Ideally, appreciating Washington for all it has got, takes at least 4-5 days. Washington DC is more than Obama and White House. You may achieve brag ecstasy with your million snaps of White House and Capitol Hill dome but you will fail badly as a tourist. The Holy Grail of Washington sightseeing stays locked up behind glass panels in the dozen plus museums that dot National Mall. Each museum, if viewed properly, takes a day. And, over the years, I have realized, museums are actually pretty cool and exciting and make a wonderful learning experience. Try out the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the even the worst museumophobe will hate to walk out.

2) TRAVELING TO DC

Unless you got a Rockefeller strand in your genetic code, it is always a good idea to travel cheap. You can book into Peter Pan/Greyhound from Boston to Washington DC. It is an arduous 8 hour journey, and Greyhound can toss your plans for a DLF Sixer, but you will save almost 150 USD (read: Two nights stay at the Sheraton) as compared to flying AA or traveling Amtrak.

3) WHERE SHOULD I STAY?

McDonalds. Starbucks. Union Station. National Mall. Wherever you like, as long as the DC Police don't mind.
Jokes apart, it might be worthwhile to check hotwire.com. They got great deals on hotel prices. Hotels in downtown DC might be heavy on your wallet. Crystal City, which is like 15 minutes by Washington Subway from the Smithsonian, has a lot of posh hotels at affordable prices. Our room at the Sheraton costed us 75 USD for a night.

4) PLACES TO SEE

Words of wisdom I gleaned from a blog - "Don't visit the places that look the same as in TV". Example: White House. The closest you can get is five hundred odd meters away (from the South Side at least) and it is ultra crowded and isn't worth more than five minutes of clicking away.

Unless you are traveling from Dulles Airport, it is a sensible idea to start from US Capitol and walk down National Mall and look at the different museums. This will save you plenty of time crisscrossing Constitution Ave. and Pennsylvania Av. This is the plan we adopted.

US Capitol Dome

a) Start off with a visit to US Capitol. Click pictures to your hearts outside the dome. Then, shutter away your cameras and walk in for the guided tour of the Capitol Hill. Given US security paranoia, it would save you a couple of dollars if you didn't bring your cool Axe deos (The security guard accurately describes it as you aren't hooking up with anyone out here), Washington DC water bottles and definitely, no weapons, etc. The security is friendly but they mean tough business. So, be forewarned.

The guided tour is almost 45 mins approx. Our guide was a sweet middle-aged lady called Chandni. The trip starts off with an orientation movie 13 mins long (no videography allowed) and then you go up to the Rotunda where the Senate art/sculpture collection is on display. You also get to see gifts from different states to the Congress. See if you can locate your State's gift. On working days, you can actually see the Senate meetings but you need to have a pass for doing this (this is available free of cost at the Info Desk). The Capitol Store and the Cafeteria are nice places to hang out. When in the Senate, live like a Senator!

Outside Thomas Jefferson's Library

b) Visit the Library of Congress. There's a tunnel from the Capitol to the Library of Congress. According to rumors (I didn't see all of it), the Library of Congress has the biggest collection of books in the world. Some interesting don't-miss-stuff are the Gutenburg Bible, another really huge Bible and Thomas Jefferson's private library of 6000 books.

c) Unless you are Super Man, eat. We were famished at this point of time. Although we didn't exactly do this, experiment in local cuisine. You didn't travel to DC to eat what you could have easily had at home.

Newseum

d) Undisputedly, go visit the Newseum. The ticket for an average adult (no Medal of Honors, no Obama-chaddy-buddy, no wheelchair and no guns) is 21 dollars. And it is worth every penny. The Newseum is a museum entirely dedicated to news, press freedom, social media and journalism. Start it with a scan of the headlines in newspapers all over America and the world. The Berlin Wall, 9/11 and FBI sections have some pretty impressive stuff to watch out for (real samples from Berlin Wall, 9/11 fragments including a smashed door of a NYPD car; damaged installations from the Twin Towers and evidence from biggest FBI investigations). If you have a thing for smart pretty girls like I do, check out Camelot. Like millions of Americans in the 1960s, I lost my heart, soul, breath looking at Jacqueline Kennedy. Watch some amazing shots of JFK and Jackie in the Camelot exhibition. Other things you should check out at the Newseum are the 4-D movie about risk-taking journalists, 9/12 headline section, JFK section and press freedom wall. Go out to the top floor for a breathtaking view of the US Capitol Dome. Let the clicking away begin.

e) Skip the International Spy Museum. It is boring, juvenile and unattractive. There is an outdated glorification of James Bond included in the package. It isn't worth the 20 dollars you spend getting an entry ticket. And it definitely isn't worth wasting 2.5 hours walking around. In terms of stuff you expect from museums, the ISM is just about right. But post-Newseum-effect, the ISM is a terrible let down.

Relive every space odyssey at the Air & Space Museum

f) Do a 360 degree flip on a F-16 simulator at the National Air and Space Museum. It is a superb experience. Worth every bit of the 8 dollars you spend and few minutes you stand waiting in the queue. You and your friend take the roles of pilot and gunner in a F-16 and you have five minutes to kill enemy airplanes. Ready, steady, fire!

Simulators apart, the Air and Space Museum is a true delight. There is so much aviation, physics related information out there that it would be an insult not to take a look. It has got cool missile models both US and USSR style and got some awesome birds right from that flown by the Wright Brothers to Predator drones. There is simply so many exhibitions. Early aviation, Wright Brothers Exhibition, Black Pilots, Aviation races across the world, World War aviation, commercial aviation, space museum, planetarium...so much of it that you simply don't want to walk out. Screw memorials and Houses, go see the NASM.

g) Gatecrash at the Mammal Reunion at Museum of Natural History. This is second best only to the NASM. If you loved the Night at the Museum, this is THE place for you. Re-discover evolution, decode genomics, go awww! at the Hope Diamond, explore the deepest oceans, flirt with the butterflies, say hello to dinosaurs...watch your secondary school science text book come alive. Again, this museum takes 1/2-1 day in its own right. Don't miss it! :)

h) Check out the other half a dozen museums that dot National Mall. Museum of American History, Museum of African American History (under construction), National Galleries and National Archives (visit the famed Declaration of Independence), all those Smithsonian Art Galleries.

The one and only White House

g) Visit the walls that house and protect the most powerful One among us. Enough delays. This is probably your most anticipated building of this trip. You really want to go tell folks back home that you came this close to meeting President Obama. Try out the Pennsylvania side of the White House if you really want to see it up close. The South Side is nice and green but there is a huge garden in between you and the WH. Unless you got those cool DSLRs which every Tom Dick and Harry seems to have these days, it might be a smart idea to try the North Entrance.

h) Others.
Washington Monument. (currently under renovation. Nothing but a huge block of stone with a lot of historical sentiments).
The Holocaust Museum - We wanted to go to this Museum but couldn't squeeze it in. Given America's considerable Jewish population and how informative this Museum's website is, I guess it would be a very good idea to check it out.
Memorials - The Lincoln Memorial is historically important. As you might well be aware, Abraham Lincoln is buried here. Here's also where Martin Luther King Jr. made his "I Have A Dream" speech before 250,000 African-American supporters of racial equality in the USA. The Vietnam War Memorial & Korean War Memorial are other places worth seeing.

Saying cheese at the US Department of Defense HQ

i) Arlington.
If you have time, cross over the Potomac and visit the massive Pentagon complex. The 9/11 Memorial for those who died at the Pentagon is worth a short visit. The security is extremely strict. Be discreet in your photos though.

5) WOW. I READ THIS WHOLE ARTICLE AND ACTUALLY FOUND IT USEFUL. HOW CAN SHOW MY GRATITUDE?

She looks much better than this :) - Jacqueline Kennedy

I hate conclusions. I just don't know how to end writing. So, I thought I would end it with a question I didn't originally plan on including.
If you actually read the full length of the article and want to say "Thanks", I got yet another place for you to visit. While you are at Arlington, go to the Arlington National Cemetery (sounds creepy, I know). Before you go, hunt high and low for the most beautiful roses on sale in the East Coast of the USA. Leave these flowers as a tribute at the grave of the one of the most beautiful women to have enamored my heart, Jacqueline Kennedy. Thanks :)!

lessons from WUDC 2013

2013-01-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

In this post, I will try my level best to summarize different things(adjudication, tips from seniors, good stuff I saw other debaters doing) I learnt from my days at TU, Berlin as part of the WUDC 2013. If you are a really pro debater, you probably know most, if not all, of this. If you are a newbie at debating, this post might just help you as you go on to debate at various regional/international tournaments. So, here it goes:

1) Analysis & POIs

The problem with most Asian debaters is that we tend to throw arguments at adjudicators expecting them to fully grasp what we are trying to say. While this is better than standing simply for a better part of your speech time of seven minutes, most adjudicators aren't going to love you for doing this. We did this, or rather failed to analyse properly, in our first round at WUDC. If you are OG/CG, you are going to get a lot of credit for supporting your assertions with well-explained logic. While it is easy as Opposition bench to simply nay-say whatever the Government speakers say, in the eyes of a good adjudicator, you aren't going to get too many bouquets. Instead of throwing questions/statements, make it a proper cohesive argument so that you fulfill your burden as Opposition. If you don't have much to say as Opposition, having something more than an assertion such as "This will not solve the problem" will give you more stuff to talk about and also win you accolades for analysis from the adjudication panel. We were always smart enough to think of related points, but we needed to work more on how we presented it. It sucks as hell to hear from the Chair saying "Your point about abcd would lead to this. This would lead to something else. Because of this something else, so many people would be affected. But this logic didn't come up in your speech". Just because I said analyse, don't over analyse/over contextualize. Always know when to draw a line!

Most average teams resist from taking POIs or asking POIs. Asking POIs is one of the best ways for you to stay engaged in a debate even after you are done speaking. Some POIs are pretty crucial in the sense, they target fundamental assumptions of the opposite side which when not dealt with can completely destroy their case. Unless you take POIs in your speech, you aren't giving your opposite bench to present their view of things, pose clarifications. So, ask and take POIs bravely. Don't worry, adjudicators are watching and will love you if you contribute to the engagement in a debate :)!

Post Script: If you are any of the Opening Benches, do take special effort to grab up all the points available before you. This is the only way you can prevent the Closing Benches from coming and making the annoying "The OG mentioned this in passing...but we are going to elaborate this" speeches. :)

2) Structure

It is always good to have great structure (something I'm still working on!), especially as a Whip. Always flag post. If you are a beginner, go with the "Hi! Lunch was terrible. I'm going to offer three rebuttals and two substantives. Here are my rebuttals. Bang, bang, bang. Here are my substantives. Bang, bang." This might sound boring to all those of you who love to innovate, but trust me, I've seen pro-debaters (read Pranav) adhere to this structure and it didn't do them any harm.

A really effective way to organize your substantive point is "ASSERTION. LOGIC. EVIDENCE". Say your point, give the logic behind and provide concrete evidence so that adjudicators get convinced of the validity of your point.

Here's a tip for people with terrible structures, like me.

a) Pair up with someone with awesome structure so that together at least 50% of what you guys say is reflected in the adjs' notes.

b) Organise your notes really well. Have an idea of what you are actually going to say during your speech beforehand. While it might seem a cakewalk to go out there and make an impromptu 7 minute speech, it really is extremely hard to do so without messing up your speaker points for lack of clarity. If on the other hand, you draw up a structure like I have outlined during the time before the motions get released, you can fill it in later and go out there and do a decently good speech.

Also, it really helps to introduce what your partner will say/ summarize your points/your bench points at the end of the speech. It will help other teams/adjs understand the crux of your arguments in a jiffy and can help them take better cognizance of your contribution to the debate.

3) Work as a team

In BP debating, it is all too usual for a team to come up with a motion that they have absolutely no idea about. In our case, it was the sovereign debt crisis. We had a decent idea about the Eurozone but it still floated way above our levels of understanding. When we had a motion about "THW forgive Greek sovereign debt", we managed to finish second against two decent teams. This is because when you work as a team, you might have had different academic/cultural/historical experiences and there is always bound to be something that can be used in a debate. Respect your partner and engage in constructive debate during your preparation time. Question the logic of your partner but do not under any scenario, impose your will over him/her. Two reasons why this is a terrible idea:

a) Your working relations with your partner is going from then on. For a tournament like WUDC comprising 9 round, this is a really horrible way to go forward. United we win, divided we fall :)

b) Your partner isn't going to be able to do that great a job of explaining your argument unless you really sit down and explain it to him/her.

During the debate, do set aside some place where both you and your partner can jot notes POIs, arguments, etc. Some average speakers tend to ignore particularly strong speakers from the other side. When both you and your partner are both aware of the POI and simultaneously raise up to petition the speaker, 9 on 10 times he/she is going to be intimated and pick one of you. So, it is a really wise idea to communicate your ideas during the debate.

4) Manage your time wisely

During our preparation time, until very recently, we were focused on thinking on answering the question "What else?". This can be linked to #1 where I spoke about debaters loving throwing ill-developed arguments at adjudicators. However, in our last round against St. John's NY, University of Bristol and Amherst (Motion: THW ban all political parties and require all candidates for national public office to run as independents), we realized our CG didn't have any radically different new material from us. However, they did a way better job than us in analyzing the argument which put them ahead of us.

Instead of spending your time trying to rack up new points during your 15 minutes of prep time, stop thinking after 10 minutes and focus on developing whatever you have got. Most often than not, you won't be able to think of anything else in the remaining five minutes. Also, you can leave a better impression on the adjudicator if you gave two well-elaborated arguments rather than five hanging-in-the-air inconclusive arguments.

Also, during your speech, do maintain some sort of eye contact with your partner. While you are out there speaking, everything you say might appear to make sense to you. However, for someone like your co-debater, who is sitting down and watching adjudicators take notes, it is more easier to determine if you are beating around the bush or saying something meaningful. If your teammate signals you to move on, do wind up your current argument and move on to the next point.

5) (to end on a cheerful note) Have fun!

Well, this is not something most debaters shy from. But, still, don't stay stuck with your teammate/within your hotel rooms. Talk to other debaters about the weather, about the food (how Manila was awesome and TU sucks!), about debating in their countries, about just under everything under the sun. Argue with adjudicators (when you are dead sure you are right), go out for socials, get a drink, visit local tourist spots, buy random stuff, learn a word or two of a different language. Don't lose your morale after consecutive fourth's :P! Things always brighten up at the end of a tournament. It is the experience that counts, not your points. When everything seems down, just go all out for the next round. More often than not, you will end up winning it.

With this ends a comprehensive summary of the stuff Evita and I learnt at Berlin. Hope our experiences help you somewhat in becoming a debater of Monash standards :P!

Have a fabulous New Year and see in you future tournaments.

what if money DIDN'T MATTER?

2012-11-30T03:23:00.000-08:00

Must-watch video which seeks to simplify much of life's complicated choice-making. All this by asking one simple question.
WHAT IF MONEY DIDN'T MATTER?

Happy Festival of Lights!

2012-11-13T06:20:00.000-08:00

Dear those-who-lost-your-way-to-this-blog,

Here's wishing you and your family a very very happy and safe Diwali.

Early utke nahana, naye kapde pehenna, khoobsurat rangoli banana, achcha khana khaana aur bahut patake burst karna.

Do take blessings of your elders and stay off Facebook, Email, Whatsapp and spend some quality meaningful time with your loved ones.

While lighting up the Indian skies with festive fireworks, do spend a minute or two reflecting on the air/sound pollution you are causing.

Also, make a solid resolve to say 'No' to firecrackers produced out of child labor.

Lastly, safely dispose your burnt fireworks. Don't randomly discard them everywhere.

And, do clean up the streets tomorrow.

Inniya Deepavali Nalvazthugal. Happy Diwali. Hardik Diwali Shubhkaamnaye.

the HKUST entries: surviving HKUST

2012-11-06T07:56:00.002-08:00

We, at Asia's No.1 University, woke up to another email crying tragedy at the subject. One of our freshmen, Poon Kei, a Year 1 student in the Department of Mathematics, died yesterday after jumping off his home in a multi-storeyed building in Tsuen Wan yesterday. From what I could glean off the badly translated version of the Cantonese news article was that the factor that tipped him over was undue pressure courtesy the ongoing midterm examinations. While no one really knows the actual reason, my heart goes out to the family and friends of the deceased and I hope the Almighty gives them enough strength and courage to deal with this unexpected catastrophe.

Meanwhile, to all the living, walking, breathing HKUST camaraderie, please please please do not try aping late Mr. Poon Kei or Ms. Feng Ye or the two dozen other students of HKUST who have taken this ultimate decision to end their lives. Agreed, life is a bitch. Agreed, Professors are morons who overload us with too much work in too less time. Sure, TAs give us horrible assignments which even the smartest Mainlander has no clue about. Last but not the least, the guy who invented the normal curve is the biggest sonofabitch ever to be born on Planet Earth and deserves nothing less than the guillotine followed by a firing squad. But, please remind yourselves these are temporary aspects of life that are going to go away in a bunch of years. Very soon, you are going to be freely walking away from the Redbird and you are never going to come back. These are short-term problems and remember, there are 10,000 of us facing identical, if not worse, conditions and we take it with a smile on our face.

The fact that HKUST is such a terrible demanding mean mistress is why I love studying in here so much. The seven odd months in a year that we put in here are undoubtedly challenging and stressful. Homeworks, assignments, projects, meetings, presentations, AGMs, EGMs, LLCs, society work, social life...every one has their own cocktail of miseries in life. But, what we need to realize and appreciate is that without hard work, there is no true sense of learning and without learning, there is no sense of achievement. I have personally seen the sense of education in a lot of reputed private universities in India and believe it or not, lecturers lecture because they have to and not because they want to. Students cram stuff and beautifully regurgitate in the exam but ultimately, they have no idea why they did what they did and the whole idea of education fails in such a scenario. But, in HKUST, we are challenged every day, every hour, every minute and only by boldly taking/screwing up such challenges, do we learn. In the words of former US President Abraham Lincoln, only the test of fire makes fine steel. This way we are the finest steel in the region and trust me, if you can survive HKUST, you can pretty much handle everything else this world/life throws at you.

It is extremely easy to write a blog post saying "Challenge is fun. Challenge is cool". But when I'm personally confronted by the heavy workloads common to most students in HKUST, I too would want to kill myself, my Prof and the moron who quoted Abraham Lincoln (in the reverse order). So, here are a few suggestions to cope up with this stress that is so fundamental to our lives:

1) Find someone (friend, sibling, Peer Counselor, stranger) and tell them "I can't take it any more". Let all your frustration out on them (you can apologize later) and start afresh. Talking to someone always helps relieve the mind of tension (Warning: Think twice before you do this with a fellow HKUST student. 99 times on 100, that person is in a worse-off state and is bravely taking it than you are. Every UST student hates when a less busy person cribs about how 'busy' a life he is leading. So do watch it whom you whine to)

2) Talk to your Professor/TA. Tell them you tried your level best but you can't finish the work. Most Profs prefer having a Late Submission to a Late Student. A lot of them are really sweet and will happily give you an extension.

3) If you did horribly in your quizzes and exams and feel that Mayan-predicted End of the World is already here, RELAX. People do way more horrible than you have ever imagined and proudly flaunt it with their friends. Yours sincerely managed a cool 1/10 in his first quiz at HKUST. Put an emo status on Facebook. Go argue with your Prof. Get drunk. Study your arse off for the finals. Do anything but do not blame yourself. You are way more than what your GPA says you are.

4) Lastly and most importantly, do understand Hong Kong University of Stress and Tension is the most overrated description we can give ourselves. A lot of courses in our University is actually pretty chill. Unless you keep procrastinating like me until the very last day, you should be able to handle UST Terror pretty decently. If you are from Beijing, you should actually be like "Bring it on, bitches". Students suffer more in Universities in Mainland China, Japan and USA. So, stop crying and start working instead.

Studying in HKUST doesn't translate to handling all the problems in the world alone. When you are stressed out, talk to people. Only when we hear your problems from you, can we collectively help you. When we read it in the coroner's report, it is too late. Do think of your family, friends and colleagues before you try to go do some cool emo mature stuff.

Once again, I condole the premature death of Mr. Poon Kei. May your soul rest in peace and may this be the last ever time we get an email beginning "We are very much saddened to announce the passing away of our beloved student...".

Sign-off link: HKUST's own version of Gangnam Style. Let's Oppa Engin Style!

live life KING SIZE

2012-11-06T02:42:00.001-08:00

iEcstatic!

2012-10-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Remember the article the fictional Monopoly Club I wrote? Thanks to your overwhelming support on Facebook, I was voted the Most Liked Entry and I received a OMG! Guess what? free iPad 2 :) along with Nitesh and Avishek.

Here's me NOT being the biggest jackass extraordinaire ever(term credits: Sindhu) and thanking all you guys.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR HELPING ME WIN THE CONTEST! :) YOU GUYS ARE SO AH-MA-ZING! :) :) :)

P.S: If you ever want a Like for something, do ask me. :)

OMGGG...Olivia!

2012-10-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

Presenting Olivia Natacha, my new found craziest friend. Her reason for this really amazing picture is: Because, I don't wanna grow up!

Stolen from her Facebook :)

the HKUST entries: ~ oppa live GREEN style ~

2012-10-01T18:53:00.002-07:00

Whaddup bitches? :)

How are you guys? Hope you are having a great autumn and enjoying a much-appreciated long holiday(if you are in Hong Kong)

Since my English is still pretty rusty(I can't type a post without backspacing atleast a few million times), I'm going to do a visual post this time. Scroll down to see pictures of the Live Green LLC organized hike to Razor Hill :)

Ctrl+Alt+Del. Shut Down. :)

A really long shot at HKUST

A big huge bunch of housing blocks...Welcome to Po Lam, our promised Land...

Good old Terry Chan..Coordinator, Hall 6 LLCs...fun guy to hang out. Corner of the picture you can see Monkey King.

Po Lam Revisited.

Po Lam Re-Revisited from a greater height.

HKUST & Shaw Center ~

Yours painstakingly...Still couldn't get rid of the Chinese eyes ;) #hatebeingphotographed

HKUST awww...

This is tough. I'm horrible at names. L to R. No idea, Elvis, No idea, No idea, No idea.

Equally clueless but for the handsome one second from left.

Hermann and everyone else :)

Long shot @ Sai Kung...You can see the boats in the distance

Hermann, our guiding light and inspiration-in-chief

You can see Polly, Mona hiding behind her and Terry.

On effin' top of the world...lalalala! You can see HKUST Atrium in the distance.

Sai Kung from the top

Hermann and Elvis

Elvis and yours sincerely

Attempt 4. Decent picture AT LAST. If I'm in the mood, I can be more picky than Prasho in how I look.

Po Lam. Yam cha...!

Alex.

Why I offered to take Alex's picture.

Wohooo...mission accomplished :) Welcome to Po Lam.

P.S: We missed you, Cho Kam Wa.

StumbleUpon link: Jason Mraz's I'm Yours

Belated Happy Zhong Qiu Festival.

indian NAZISM

2012-06-20T08:35:00.002-07:00

All those neo-Nazis still out there, wake up, you got a new Fuehrer to take orders from. Come to think of it, several millions of Fuehrers to take orders from. Who are they? The cruel heartless 'educated' families of the 20th/21st Century Indian married woman. And just whom are we annihilating this time? The Jews, the Commies, the Americans? Wake up, German volk. We are not talking about eliminating inferior races out here. As we march heads held high into the second decade of the 21st century, let's set ourselves a more nobler target. How about elimination of whole sexes? This is not a call for yet another twisted brainwave seeking the amalgamation of the male and female. On a slightly lower step in the ladder of our imagination, how about we destroy the female sex? Once again, sorry to disappoint you folks, no gas chambers, no Auschwitz or Dachau style extermination. Why wait for the female kid to grow up and then gas her? How about destroying the baby right at birth? You see, no need for machine guns, no need for train wagons, no need for trials. A simple ultrasound scan. If your beautiful bahu is pregnant with a baby boy, indeed it is a Cadbury shubhkaamnaye moment. However, if fate is wretched and she has a baby girl, it is time for a sneak little visit to an abortion clinic. Pay the doctor, get the baby aborted, wash your bloody hands and wait expectantly, for your blessed boy. Welcome, my beloved Hitler Youth, to the mindset of the modern Indian family.

Female infanticide and foeticide is a total eclipse of the India Shining dream. How are we developing if every minute there is an unborn female child being terminated simply because the 23rd pair of chromosomes spell XX? How are we shining if we have such screwed sex ratios all across this nation? Call me thick-headed, but how exactly is this desperate craving for a male kid justified? What are the benefits of a male child?

Agreed, your family surname is going to be continued. HOWEVER, women change their surnames to coincide with that of her husband as a result of societal norms. Dear uncles, don't pressure your wife to adopt your boring Sharma/Kulkarni tag and your son-in-law might just do that. Aishwarya Rai chose to remain Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan still continuing the Rai lineage. Your surname just a bunch of meaningless characters, and if we can come down a little on the stereotypes, we'll find women are perfectly capable to continue family traditions.

Given, it is a possibility that you might be well taken care of in your final years. HOWEVER, sit back and compare how well your spoilt son is going to take care of you as compared to your lovely daughter. This son included, boys are generally incapable of even making a mug of coffee to relieve their parents' headache. This son excluded, yet these young men are the pillars of strength you parents are going to hang on to in your last years? If you still remain unconvinced, take a leisurely walk to the nearest old age home and strike a chat with the occupants about how they landed there. Atleast then, realization would sink in that a son might abandon his parents in cold blood, but NEVER a daughter.

Even better, you might get a lump sum dowry including a new flat, Toyota Innova and Reliance Petroleum stocks when your boy gets married. HOWEVER, this is a mere extension of the stupid grand Indian belief that a boy outweighs a girl. If you think guys are smarter and worthier, think again. I'm a guy and I have so many girl friends(notice the space between the two words) who are way more intelligent and strong-willed than I ever will be. If you seek further proof, skim through the archives of the Times of India paying special attention to articles on Indian Class X and XII examination results. Every year, since I started taking cognizance of this fact(and grumbling about it), girls continue to outshine boys. Remember, every guy is not worth his weight in gold and every girl is not born to be confined in the fumes of your kitchen.

Those were the most logical reasons I could come up with for the inexplicable Indian craving for a male child. If you remove the logic criterion, I'm sure we could come up with more absurd theories on why female infanticide is acceptable but there you see, these theories come into being WITHOUT the logic criterion.

I conclude this post with an appeal to three sections of people who are most involved in this horrible tragedy that permeates every level of the Indian society.

Dear parents-in-law,

Granddaughters are more beautiful than grandsons. Boy or girl, an offspring of your child is a joy to behold in your eyes. I know grandmothers who cherish their granddaughters and they constitute some of the happiest people I know on Planet Earth. Before you send your daughter-in-law to an abortion clinic, imagine how you would have felt if your mother had been forced to terminate you. Even if your in-laws had been torturous to you, this is no time to seek revenge. Let's all forgive and forget. Let's make this world a better place to live in! :)

Dear husband,

Be a man! You signed up for this when you married your wife. As Aamir Khan tells us, YOUR fricking chromosome decides whether your wife sires a girl/boy. Stop yay-saying to Mummy and learn to love your kid with all you have, regardless of its gender. There are so many couples out there who are without a kid and aching for one. God has given you a lovely gift, don't even think of destroying it.

Dear doctor,

Sorry I couldn't be scathing enough of you. Remember you swore the Hippocrates oath whence you promised to save every life to the best of your abilities. As your ultrasound might tell you, an unborn child has life. It moves, grows and suffers. Society gives you your instruments to deliver life, not death. For heaven's sake, you are a doctor, a mere cogwheel in the huge machine that is human reproduction. Do not play God with the lives of innocent children.

Kudos to all those mothers who have braved abuse to raise their female children. Kudos to all those wonderful families which treat every baby as a wonder by itself. Kudos to all those unknown journalists, administrators and social activists who fight for the cause of the unborn girl.

Give the girl child a chance @ life!

Today's Stumble and the inspiration of this blog entry: Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate - First Episode on Female Foeticide

the HKUST entries: breakfast OPTIONS (v)

2012-06-14T16:53:00.003-07:00

Achcha subah, lovely humanity and the carcasses of LG7...

I hope you didn't miss me a lot in the last few days. If you did, rest assured I was unable to bear our prolonged separation either. Actually, I was trying to keep up with my reading. I completed Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020 and currently am preoccupied, much to Rashmi's annoyance, with The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Today, as you probably guessed from the title, I'm going to discuss breakfast options in HKUST(because I'm really hungry), that I'm aware of. I take this opportunity to apologize to my meaty audience about the lack of information customized to their tastes. Unfortunately for you, friends, my parents happen to be the traditional Mylapore thayir-saadam-manga-thokku mama-mami types and I have somehow been unable to get rid of their herbivorous legacy. So, if this post is too green for you, you know which two human beings to blame (being fair to them, I guess my whole family tree is at fault).

If you want to try out a HKUST breakfast, you have 8 options. Asia Pacific Catering, McDonalds, Chah Chaah Teng, Canteen 2, Cafe, UC Bistro, Park n Shop and Chinese Restaurant(Agrim recommends the pork buns...a little too economically and environmentally expensive for a Tam Brahm like me). Asia Pacific Catering in LG7 offers a pretty sumptuous breakfast meal including Oat Meal, Toast and Horlicks/Coffee/Orange Juice for a mere $13 HKD. Pardon my leaky memory, but from the looks of the other early risers enjoying their breakfast, I guess, it has decent non-veggie options, usually including noodles, ham/pork and a drink. Canteen 2 and Chah Chaah Teng offer pretty much the same stuff but for a $14 Western breakfast, CCT gives you a slice of ham/bacon (can be exchanged for another toast if you can explain it to the cashier), a toast and Horlicks. If you trust Shreya and in particular, her food recommendations(which I think are pretty good), the Horlicks in CCT is extremely diluted and for a good Horlicks experience, you must go to Canteen 2. Take a lift up and go to the Coffee Shop and you'll find plenty of breakfast options awaiting thy consumption. Although most of them revolve around ham, bacon and sausages, there is one meal which includes omelette and coffee worth 15 bucks and is worth a try.

I have never been to UC Bistro but Avishek believes they have some of the best breakfast offers on campus that can really brighten your morning. That leaves Park n Shop and a McBreakfast. If you are one of the organized sun worshippers, Park n Shop is your best bet. You can get cereals such as Nestle Cornflakes, Wheetabix, Milo Nuggets and Chocos for just under HKD $30 and fresh milk for $16 a litre which will surely help answer your first meal issue for 4-5 days(unless you gorge some cereals every time you pass by it). However, if you aren't a great fan of cereals, you can always try out my favourite breakfast option. McDonalds! How I fell in love with McDonalds still perplexes me (only yesterday's waitress appeared cute to me), but its No.3 and No.4 meals(no meat of course) always work miracles on my tired body and mind after a long night at the CSE labs. No.3 meal comes at @ HKD $23.50 and includes three hotcakes, a hashbrown and a drink. No. 4 meal is similarly priced but includes scrambled eggs, hash brown and a drink. Apart from these two options, there are plenty of McMuffins, Filet-o-Fish and Twisty Pasta to delight your hungry stomach. If you are feeling particularly adventurous, I would recommend the Jumbo Breakfast Meal which is essentially a combination of No.3 and No.4. Although having a Jumbo Breakfast is one of my greatest ambitions currently, the sight of such a large meal is highly intimidating. If you are ever so ravenous that you end up wiping out an entire JB, do let me know how the experience went. :)

All this talk of food has set my tummy craving for them. While I get ready to leave for my rendezvous at the HKUST Library, do enjoy browsing this website. Stumble of the Day: Enlightened Perspective.

Meanwhile, the Information Systems Office (you need to really screw up around HKUST to get to know beyond SAO, ARRO and GSO) refunded the money lost in my failed transaction at the Add Value Machine the other day. Nice to know such nice people are around in HKUST :D

Until next time, this is You-Know-Who signing off.

Morsmordre.

the HKUST entries: Dear Professor...

2012-06-09T12:03:00.002-07:00

Hello everyone,

As I'm currently working on the HKUST English Debate Team blog, I wasn't able to think of anything new to tell you. However, here are 34 increasingly creative and admirable excuses to bunk classes that Yoga and I thought of a few months back. Enjoy.

Dear Professor,

34. If you don't grant me leave, I'll report you for sexual harassment.

33. As I missed the 1.20 Lift, I couldn't attend class today.

32. As India acquired its independence from England 65 years back, I don't really think you have the right to force your lecture on me.

31. My Dad's the Director of Homeland Security and he has an arrest warrant for you with regard to terrorist activities. I was at the attorney's preparing your defense.

30. You so remind me of my ex-girlfriend. That's why I'm not coming to class today.

29. As I want you to spend some time with your own family, I will not be attending class today. You needn't come to class either.

28. As my cat overslept, it couldn't wake me up. Hence, I was unable to attend your class.

27. As I'm allergic to the tubelight, I will not be attending class today.

26. As I haven't done today's classwork, I'm not attending class today.

25. As I'm the neighbour of your mistress, I really don't think there is a necessity to attend the class.

24. Seeing how cold it was in the morning, I thought we must still be in Winter Semester and thus didn't attend class today.

23. As I'm get addicted to you, I'm staying away from class today

22. I work part time in the archives of the Institute of Advanced Psychiatric Care. Yesterday, while I was organizing the files, I came across your medical report. To my shock, I realized you are a paedophile in the guise of a Professor. In order to protect myself, I will not be attending class today.

21. Earlier this week, I was in the Discrete Math class. One of the examples said: "If today is a Friday, then today will be a holiday." Today IS a friday.

20. As I was wearing clothes of the same color as the wall behind me, I think you failed to notice my presence. Kindly mark down my presence in class.

19. As the newspaper astrology column predicted you wouldn’t come to class today, I didn’t too.

18. As you didn't like my Facebook status, I'm annoyed with you and will not attend class today.

17. As I felt guilty about not attending last week's class, I couldn't be there today.

16. As I can't find a matching pair of tee-shirt and jeans, I will not attend class today.

15. As the toilet ran out of toilet paper, I couldn't attend class today.

14. I was arrested over the killing of a mosquito. By the time I got back from the court, the class was already over. Sorry!

13. As I killed a mosquito by mistake, I went to the church to confess. I'm really sorry, God.

12. As you will be in class today, I thought I should go to the stadium and support your favourite team. Don't worry, I'll send you regular score updates.

11. As I was attending a lecture on the importance of attending classes regularly, I didn't attend class today.

10. As you had zero balance on your Octopus card yesterday, I believed you wouldn't be coming anyway.

9. The last time I attended classes, I answered all your questions. In order to create a more level-playing field for my fellow students, I will not be attending class today.

8. Today, I learnt how bank loans work. So here's the deal: I miss class today(80 mins). For the next 16 classes, I'll arrive 5 minutes early. K?

7. Dear Mrs.Professor, Sorry to hear that your husband passed away. He really was the finest man I have met. RIP Prof!

6. I overheard you telling your friend that I was irregular and unreliable. You have left me no choice but to stand by your words. I won't be attending classes today as you see, I can't let my Prof be called a LIAR.

5. As I heard you had a heart attack, I went to see you in the hospital. Get well soon :D

4. As there was a tsunami in the fish pond opposite my hall, I couldn't attend class today. Don't worry, I'm safe.

3. As you said in your last lecture, life is indeed a race. We are competing everywhere from getting lunch to purchasing movie tickets to attending your class. I'm sorry I lost the last one.

2. Sorry to hear about your amnesia. I attended class, remember?

1. Today I'm working part time as a suicide bomber. Keeping in mind your best interests, I'll not be attending class today.

Best Regards,

Sathish

Happy Bunking! :D

BTW, here is today's URL: Motivational Quotes

Good night, the Blue Planet! :)

the HKUST entries: Monopoly Club, HKUSTSU

2012-06-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

Friends, Romans and Countrymen,

What do a bunch of extraordinarily intelligent engineering students do when they casually meet up after dinner? Think of the next coolest tech-toy which Apple would buy off us? Help solve the Euro crisis with a bunch of mindboggling mathematical formulae? Of course, not. What do extraordinarily intelligent engineering students actually do?

They play Monopoly!

To topic. Do you guys know Monopoly? If yes, read on. If not, please jump to the last paragraph.

Last week, with dear sweet Mom transferring a substantial amount of money to my account (nothing worth making a kidnapping bid, so don't get ideas), I felt the mood for some economy boosting and thus began Operation Mong Kok. Ladies Street in Mong Kok is one of the most fanciful places for shopping and if bargaining runs in your blood, you have discovered Shangri-La. After multiple reconnaissance missions and some decent bargaining, I bought a World Monopoly Edition for 100 HKD with a super cool electronic banking system with card-swiping facilities (Yoga's new found sweetheart).

And, with this charitable purchase, was conceived the Monopoly Club, HKUSTSU.

Our first World Domination game was played by Colin, Tony, Thas and I with Tony minting money every time he rolled the dice. By the time, we called quits, Thas was bankrupt and Colin owed me some 20 million dollars in response to the splendid hospitality he received in Hong Kong and Jerusalem. Within days, the LG1 Clinic declared a Monopoly pandemic. Some notable victims include Rd Birdie, Aurelia, Parag, Rajindh and Yoga. Yoga loves his electronic toys and thus is our de facto Banker. Parag plays the shrewd Monopoly genius, defending bankruptcy while building and demolishing houses depending on how close others are to his properties. Aurelia, on the other hand, takes orders from Pyongyang while she plays the game. She buys properties, but she strictly maintains the Hermit Player Status, refusing to deal thereby starving you of the much important monopolies. RdB provides the entertainment factor, regularly conning you with his never-ending witticisms and you-are-my-best-friend deals. Rajindh is our most honest player and offers you less absurd deals than RdB. My playoffs are best described by a sinx curve, forever oscillating between awesome, okayish and terrible luck and I love entertaining my friends in my posh hotel in Hong Kong at a cool price of 11.5 million dollars.

The Executive Committee of the Monopoly Club, HKUSTSU meets on boring weekdays and weekends at the Ground Floor Common Room in UG Hall II. As Parag departs to India in a few hours, we are looking for fun players to join the ExCo. If you are equally crazy about Monopoly or simply wish to recuperate after hours of torturous Safety Training, leave a message on this post or on my Facebook page. We shall discuss your application in our next Empowered Extraordinary Annual General Subcommittee session and get back to you soon enough. Until then, long live Monopoly and longer, the Monopoly Club! :)

Stumble of the Day: 40 Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken

About Monopoly:

Monopoly is a fascinating game that can be played by 2-6 players. It consists of a square board divided into numerous smaller rectangles. Every rectangle is colored and 2-3 rectangles share the same color. These rectangles contain the names of different places (dependent on the theme) and its price. Each player starts of with a fixed amount of money. Players roll the dice in turns. When a player lands on a rectangle, he can either buy it if it is unowned or pay the rent on the property if owned by some other player. When all the plots of the same color are owned by a player, it is termed a monopoly and he can build houses/hotels on his properties. The rents on the properties go up depending on the number of houses/hotels built on that property. A player is bankrupt when he has no money left to repay the rents even after selling his property. The last person playing on the board is the winner of the game. The game includes rectangles such as Jail, Income Tax, Chance and Community Chest to further build its suspense intensity.

the HKUST entries: air-con inspired ALL-NIGHTER

2012-06-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

Jóu sàhn South China,

First things first, I loved Neal Caffrey and Peter Burke in White Collar. Despite re-reading what happens in the last episode of Season 3 in Wikipedia, I confess, I had no heart for the actual ending. Peter asks Neal to run away as he confronts the Department of Justice Committee which was deciding on granting Neal full freedom. He does this for Agent Kramer, his mentor, plans to break up the amazing partnership between Neal and Peter and steal Neal with him to Washington D.C. Not willing to work for Kramer, Neal embarks on his long-planned escape with Mozzie and the Jeff Easton spends the last 1.5 minutes of the episode focusing on Neal's face, revealing disappointment on being separated from the one person who meant the world to him(after Kate Moreau of course), Special Agent Peter Burke. While it was heart-wrenching to see the dream team come to an end, I do particularly relish throwing some choicest expletives at the Kramer character. You are a first-rate !@#$%^&, Kramer, I give you that.

As the first rays of sunlight penetrate the glass windows of my five day old room, I sit uncomfortably on the matted floor listening to One Thing, awaiting the blessed moment when my clock displays "07:00 AM". I call 7 AM a blessed moment for a reason. This is the precise team when the shutters go up on McDonalds. On a regular Semester day, this would mean the end of my nightly academic workout, but why would I wait all night simply to have breakfast on a holiday? Smart question indeed.

Here's the dumb answer. Earlier tonight, or more accurately, today morning, I take this long walk to Seafront Cafetaria in the hope that I would top up my Student Card and thereby get the Aircon working. Usually, Seafront buzzes with a lot of student activity but today clearly wasn't going to be an usual day. I go up to the damn Add Value Machine, push in my card and cajole it to accept my 20 dollar-bill. The HKUST Add Value Machine is a "stubborn mistress", as any experience UST student can tell you. It is extremely volatile and PMSes a lot. However, today, it obediently gobbled up my 20 dollars. I wait for the machine to do its arithmetic and update my card and bingo! what do I get? A Card Error. Okay, I intelligently look up to the Cash Insertion Slot and wait for my 20 dollars to reappear but no such thing happens. The HKUST AVM is a grand display of brawn overpowering brain and for the immense volume the stupid thing occupies, it achieves almost nothing. Soon, realization strikes my head that the AVM was probably a COMP101 course project and exception handling is not taught until COMP2012H which the designer most probably never reached. Anyway, I try my luck with yet another 20-dollar bill but I seemed to have offended the Lady. She resists my advances, and I walk back dejected to UG Hall V. I don't pass a soul on my way back and everyone seems to be sleeping. So, I grab a bottle of Coca Cola, update my sob story on Facebook and embark on my back-to-back White Collar watching session.

I somehow, manage to pass 2.5 hours watching Neal and Peter and here I'm dressing up for my McDonalds' No.4 meal(no meat...relax Tamil Brahmin Association fellas) with Orange Juice(L) and yet another try at breaching the defenses of another "stubborn mistress" at LG7. With some luck, I might have

my way and some comfortable sleep courtesy a functional air-conditioner.

Joyful sunrise yet again.

Until next time, good night, sweet dreams, and screw you, Kramer and AVM.

Our previously agreed upon secret package: Bored.com Funny Photos

the HKUST entries: kongratulasons

2012-06-07T11:51:00.003-07:00

This post is dedicated to my lovely super smart juniors from GIIS, KV CLRI and KV Ashok Nagar and my friends from UST.

Congratulations, everyone, on your spectacular 48x, 47x scores. It is really heartening to see such outstanding achievements from all you guys. I sincerely hope you maintain these high standards of academic excellence and become extraordinary assets to your university, work organization and country.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Bhuvana Jagan, Chinmayi Nadiger and the other super smart nerdy fellas who cracked open the titanium entrance gates of Nanyang Technological University. For those of you whose inboxes are yet to be graced with an email from Dr. Lalit Goel, don't go all depressed and spam our Facebook News Feeds. A lot of NTU successful applicants end up in NUS, so there's still chance that you get into NTU. In the worst scenario, NTU screws up, don't worry for in the words of Late Professor Randy Pausch (Carnegie Mellon University), "brick walls are there for a reason. They are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop people who don't want it badly enough ". There are plenty of awesomer universities like HKUST that respects and rewards your talent. So, cheer up! :)

Also, congratulations, Usha, Pranav Prasad, Shreya Saha, Lynn Wu and Aurelia Fediana :). Usha, my sister, has started working in Sankara Nethralaya as a Research Assistant starting this week. I look forward to some expensive tech-spending after I get back, Ushe :P. Pranav is a wonderful friend and an awesome debater. He has been a long-standing member of EDT, HKUST and is graduating this year. This smart Chennaiite has been scooped up by JP Morgan, Hong Kong where he'll begin coming July. Shreya is currently working on her groundbreaking Shreya Saha Theorem, the weirdest mathematical invention ever. Jokes apart, Shreya Saha has officially renewed her HKUST scholarship with some wonderful performances in her final examinations. All you, Mainland ladke, watch out for the Kolkata-Kuala Lumpur K(C)onk(c)orde! Lynn and Aurelia are visiting USA and Germany in the summer. While Lynn is visiting Stanford University as part of a service learning program, Aurelia is visiting the Fatherland on an month long exchange program. Best of luck, you two. Hope you enjoy San Francisco and Munich respectively.

On a slightly un-congratulatory note, here's wishing my Host Family(comprising Tony Chan and Monica Chan, Lise and Shen) and all of HKUST a fantastic summer holiday. Have awesome fun and I hope to hear some fabulous tales next time from you all :)

As I'm on the verge of breaking the "he-writes-so-long" barrier, this post shall be terminated here.

Good night, Stana Katic dreams ;)

Keeping up with the tradition established in the previous post, here's is the next URL - HKUST Summer Hangouts. To all those depraved souls still languishing in HKUST and HK, if you ever want to get a break from active industrial training and job hunting, check out the link. Entertainment shall always be provided in HKUST to those who need it (Albus Dumbledore, don't sue me please)

rendezvous

2012-06-07T11:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Planet Earth inhabitants,

Whatsup? How is everyone? Health alright? Sweethearts okay? Stocks in the green? Okie, read on!

It has been a long time since words have been etched on this blog. I apologize for this irregularity in posting but tell you what, I study in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, famously the (U)niversity of (S)tress and (T)ension (UST and UST, get it? Perfect sense of humour. Muahahahha!) Needless to write, I remain forever drowned in this bottomless abyss of homeworks (dare you laugh at it...work done in home IS technically HOMEwork...please don't give the oh-how-high-schoolish-patronising-look), programming assignments, written assignments, portfolio presentations, quizzes, unit tests, research papers, midterms and finals.

Spring 2012 was a particularly troublesome one. I did five courses, 18 credits, and in a nutshell, they were demanding enough to ensure I didn't crash onto my bed before five AM every day. Add to it EDT, JUDC, Badminton, Cricket, Veggie Survey, TEDxHKUST, SLOT, Service Learning...not much of time indeed. So, dear Reader, I'm really sorry for starving you of your intellectual entertainment. Casually glancing through my Calendar, I see a lot of ! (Android /\ White Collar /\ Castle) (Chapter 1, COMP2711H, Logic) days, so I'm sure we are going to have plenty of blog-entainment downloading your way.

Until next time, sayanora !

P.S: Hereafter, I sign off with a StumbleUpon link...so here it goes, the story of how a taxi driver finds the greatest moment in his life...
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2nxmly/:196XsnPNJ:c$L3e_YD/5pwn.com/must-hold-in-the-tears.html/

férias em Macau

2012-04-06T13:26:00.004-07:00

Olá!

This week, HKUST decided to improve its Student Social Responsibility and gave us a week long Easter break(for those who watched the Hunger Games, it is that period of niceness which the rulers grant to the tributes before locking them up in the forest). Desperate for some change of scenery from Room 4221, I took this break as an opportunity to get to know some real China and Hong Kong. This post is an account of my trip to Macau SAR, People's Republic of China.

REACHING MACAU

After working on a really horrible assignment in template programming late on Monday night, I decided have some real crazy fun. So, when the JoJo gang of girls(Aurelia, Sathurshini, Shreya, Olivia) asked me if I wanted to join them in Macau, I joined almost immediately.

D-day begins with Olivia deciding to spoil my sleep bang on at 5:15 AM with her phone call. At 6, I pass by yet another of the countless AGMs that dot UST Common Rooms and meet up with Aurelia outside Hall II. We spend the first five minutes eagerly, next ten ambivalently, final fifteen angrily waiting for our beautiful colleagues Shreya and Olivia to materialize. Finally, they do turn up in beautiful white dresses and we set out for Choi Hung. They arrive excitedly and I sleepily at TST, grabbing a small meal at McDonalds and waiting for our fourth little princess, Sathurshini to arrive at the rendezvous.

Soon, we make our way to China Ferry Terminal and board the New World Ferry to Macau. Post immigration, "whoo-ing", "aah-ing" and snapping pictures, I fall asleep to the gentle rocking of the Victoria Harbour only to wake up to the sound of honking ferries in Porto Exterior of Macau Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. Welcome! :)

FIRST SIGHTS

We get out of the Ferry Terminal at a complete loss about where to go. A guide approaches us, promising us a splendid trip of Macau at a princely 900$ in a stretch limousine. Being on a tight budget, we refuse him politely and steal a map from one of the Information Desks.

Finally cooking up a 'plan', we proceed to a bus stop and board a bus to Olivia-Alone-Knew-Where. Laughing intermittently at our own hopelessness, we jump off the bus at Senada Square where we begin Operation Second Breakfast. We spread the map on the table, ask a few locals and improve our looking around strategy. Meals consumed, we walk to the St.Dominic's Church. It is a simple church in Portuguese style with confessionals, statues of St.Francisco, etc and Olivia dazzles us all with a lecture series on Christianity.

We move on to the Ruins of St.Paul, its crumbling crypts and beautiful Portuguese-style entrance. Apart from underground crypts, St.Paul's also plays host to some enchanting Christian sculpture, artifacts and paintings. While Shreya stands determined to cram all about Portuguese architecture at one go, Sathu and I, decide to go hogging. We end up in a shop selling sugarcane juice and corn. Good food, really expensive though.

MACAU MUSEUM

Completely used to full-on air-conditioning in Hong Kong, the sweltering heat of Macau forces us to take a power break to discuss further plans. We break into a few malls just for the heck of it. Soon bored of retail therapy, we leave for the Fortress. Located at the top of a really steep slope mere seeing which discourages Olivia, the Fortress, is famous for its massive cannons, picturesque scenery and cooling environment. It also contains amidst its sprawling complex the Macau Museum which gives viewers a really good understanding of the history and development of Macau from both the Chinese and Portuguese perspectives. It makes extensive use of technology to connect with the past, and boasts of seriously cool exhibits about the Macaunese way of life. Half an hour later, we climb down the famed slope for lunch at Pizza Hut(yeah, we were hungry as hell).

TO BUNGY OR TO NOT BUNGY?

Following a sumptuous lunch of lip-smacking pizzas enveloped in fine hospitality, we continue with our planned trip. The Visiting Professor of Chinese Archaeology from University of Calcutta, Shreya Saha, suggests visiting the Ama Temple and we spend the next one odd hour figuring out Macau's really confusing bus routes. We realize bus stops are hard to find, and finding buses that stop in bus stops is even harder. After taking the wrong bus, we double back up and end up in the historic Ama Temple(the temple that lent Macau its name). We roam around aimlessly and Shreya wins me with her incense-lighting skills. And then, the talk started!

Sitting in Hong Kong, listening to Aurelia declaim her intention to bungy jump off Macau Tower and excitedly second her is really simple. But, when you stand before Macau tower and take in its height and realize the gravity of what you are seconding...you start having second thoughts. A thousand questions grapple your mind, and every step you take towards the tower is more unsure than the previous. "What if the cord snaps? What if the operator decides to doze off? What if you swing against the tower and crack your skull? What if I die?" I ask Aurelia and Olivia. We spend 15 minutes on the banks of a lake outside the Tower wondering if we should do it. Trusting in the infallibility of destiny and mechanics, I decide to take the jump. However, Olivia wishes to extend her visa on Planet Earth and we leave for the final lap of our Macau journey - the Venetian Macau.

GAMBLING AT THE VENETIAN MACAU

More confusion and half an hour later, we pass by the enormous Galaxy Casino to reach the expansive, expensive Venetian Macau. For Mong Kok-lovers like me, it was clearly way out of league. Yet, with the guise of professional gamblers with millions stagnating in Cayman Islands, we enter the Venetian Macau. As in the tag line of the Venetian, the smell of money is there for all to see. Golden shade interior designing, expensive lighting, international brands(Gucci, Prada, Swatch, Levi's...you name it, it is here), we take in the sights. We travel up to the Canal(a small canal made to resemble the canals in Venice) and watch the boatmen in Gondola(small boats) entertain their travelers as they crisscross the bridges over the Canal. Sathurshini, Shreya and Olivia get lost in the swarming masses and we find them half an hour later. We go to the casino and try our hand at the slot machines. We test the treacherous waters with a $10 bill. Unimaginable glee clouds our face as we encounter our first win. Encouraged, we try once again. And, we lose. (An important lesson at $2 a person - money NEVER does come free :P).

BYE BYE, MACAU

A casual glance at the grand ornate clock reminds us it is 7.30 PM. We catch a shuttle bus back to Macau Ferry Terminal. It has been a long day for us, but for the casinos of Macau, it is just the beginning of a long night. Different casinos like the Sands, Grand Lisboa light up brightly luring potential gamblers to try their luck. We rush through Macau Immigration at 7:50 PM and scramble for the 8 PM ferry back to Hong Kong. As we board the ferry, it honks its great horn preparing for departure. As the ferry turns around the waters of the South China Sea, I look sidewards at the Sands, smile at what a memorable day it has been and drop off into the soaring abyss that is much-deserved sleep...

P.S: We couldn't have bungy-ed anyway, it costs a cool 2488 HKD...3188, if you go for a video recording of your crazy moment :)

the HKUST entries: a veggie-tale

2012-01-16T22:05:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! This might seem hyperbolic but I definitely lead the most exciting life in HKUST. Nope, I’m not on the verge of proving Einstein wrong nor do I practise bungee jumping from the Academic Building. I do something more trivial yet more daunting. Yeah, I’m a vegetarian.

Living off rice, vegetables and fruits was a cakewalk for the first seventeen years of my life in India and Singapore. When you add HKUST to the equation, that’s when things go haywire. UST has ten regular restaurants(Bistro is way expensive!), yet there is hardly a dozen decent vegetarian options. The only things Seafront can offer your starved taste buds is Cheese Sandwich(which is good!) and canned drinks. Take two lifts to LG7, and looking at the flashy screens and gigantic menus, your optimism begins to climb. However, the APC menu will only bring tears to your eyes. GRB is better, offering 4-5 dishes but only the Fried Rice and the Mushroom Noodles qualify as something worth your Octopus swipes. I survived LG7 my first few weeks hoping, one day Milano would open and solve all my problems but I was disappointed. Milano did open, and they could just add an overpriced pasta and much later, a delicious pizza to my threadbare menu.

Fingers crossed, you take the escalator up and the best McDonalds can do to quench your hunger pangs is offer you some Fries, an Apple Pie and a Large Coke. Your growling stomach pushes your lazy legs three floors up to LG1 and voila! you have the delicious option of having steamed rice with ONLY spinach. Initially, exposed to wonderful food back home, you sniff at it, but down the Sem, you start worshipping the queen of vegetables, the blessed spinach. Talk a small stroll and Chah Chaan Teng’s famed rice noodles are worth a try occasionally. Hungry for more, you take the escalator up to the posh-looking Chinese Restaurant and their awesome noodles can save your day(don’t fall for the soup; usually contains pork). Or if you are lucky, you might just be able to catch the last plate of “fandai sikh jai” or a Mushroom Toastie at the cafe. Warning from the experts: Don’t overuse this vital oasis. The Cafe hasn’t changed its menu in the last three months and frequent visits will only prepone the dreaded moment when the weekly Aloo Gobi becomes a taste-sore.

Surely, you don’t need to hold a PhD in Math to realize that with 2 meals a day over 100 days a Semester, the probability that one gets bored of the food is almost 1. So how did I survive to spread the green tale? Lots of Indomein noodles, weekly visits to Sai Kung and TST and of course, wonderful friends with amazing moms who send food for me.

Concluding remarks...

“Dear HKUST, you are awesome but please improve your veggie standards. Yours desperately, The Veggie Society”

P.S: I did try taking meat. The disastrous consequences inhibit future culinary innovations.

happy birthday, bangla babe

2012-01-09T01:38:00.000-08:00

"Mohammed" Nishi Anand

Yo Boys, I’m sing song...Soup song...Flop song...

Happy Birthday, Birthday, Birthday, Nishi!

Pa Pa Pa Pa...Pa Pa Pa Pa...Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa(maintain please)...

Happy Birthday, Birthday, Birthday, Nishi!

That’s right, guys! Today marks the (18*365+1)th living day of my craziest awesome-est friend ever. Meet Nishi Anand, the other 50% of God’s favourite friends on Planet Earth. To put everything in a nutshell, whenever anything good/bad/awful/amazing/extraordinary boring happens in my life, she’s the first person who gets to know about it. She’s this really sweet person who lets me rant all day and patiently listens to my nonsense(mind you, she’s talkative too). All the unwanted trivia about HKUST, how awesome we are, what I did every day, she patiently listens without ever telling me off for the bore I’m. Financially, what Pakistan is to the United States, I’m to her (an unwanted unnecessary drain in her expenses...but we have to bear certain things don’t we?). Her CV will glorify her as a genius who surpassed all the crazy tests mankind has ever set to judge mankind but don’t let that cloud your opinion of her with excessive academic nerdy-ism. For the academic blitzkrieger she has been, she’s an amazing sport, excelling in cooking, manaofying and unlimited fun and frolic. She’s always been a selfless friend, deriving euphoria from the success of her friends and never highlighting her own accomplishments. She’s my ideal friend always there with a tissue when I cry, a warm hug when I’m low, a ‘theek ho jayega babu’ when I’m freaked out, a smile when I pour a bottle of Kiwi White Polish on her and an ‘I’m sorry’ when I hang up.

To wonderful moments of friendship, joyful moments of being there, glorious moments of triumphing together, beautiful moments of unvoiced understanding, infinite moments of arguing and slapping each other...here’s raising a toast!

Happy Birthday Big Time Bangla...Have an awesome year ahead!

the HKUST entries: "Hello, Mr.President!"

2011-10-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Professor Tony.F.Chan,
President, The Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology

Yet another normal day, yet another "i-am-sick-and-tired-of-millions-of-emails" attitude towards the UST Webmail and yet another have-to-do-it email check. "One new and unread message", myPortal told me. "Oh Lord, get a life! What is it this time? Credit Suisse? Fencing? Typhoon(hopefully!)?", I grumbled. "Welcome to HKUST", yelled the subject. Reading further, it was addressed to Lise, Shen and I and made some mention of some random Family Host Program at the Chinese Restaurant on the 30th of September, 2011. It was signed "Tony and Monica Chan"...Tony Chan...Tony Chan...the name seemed familiar. Tony Chan...I kept thinking for a while and then a thunderbolt lit up the skies. OMG!!! Tony Chan as in the THE Tony Chan had written to me. The President of the Hong Kong University and Science and Technology with his wife wanted to meet me and it was no April Fools Day' prank!

The assignments and deadlines of the next few days sort of eroded the initial excitement and on Friday, when I stared idly into my diary, I was taken aback to find a tiny note decorated with x's (Meeting with the President, G/F, 4 PM). Paying careful attention to my otherwise African tribal chieftain attire and letting the razor kiss my chin for the first time in months, I embarked on my historic journey to meet the President. Physics, Humanities and Language classes passed the usual sleepy way and I made it a point to remind every one that I was meeting the President and they were going back home. The "OMG! You are so lucky"s, needless to write, uplifted my otherwise morose spirits.

LANG1007 ended at 4.20 PM and I shot past the Cantonese Class mumbling my apologies to June towards the Chinese Restaurant. Messing up my hair little, indulging in a frantic last minute pressing of my shirt, I made my way nervously to the scheduled venue. With Shreya by my side, I signed against my name, quickly scanned through the list, found a few friends, reassured, entered the banquet hall. A few "Hi!"s later, I found myself talking to Florence Fung, the Manager of the Scholarships and Financial Aid Office at HKUST and we discussed about the exciting lives vegetarians lead at UST. A couple of orange juices and in between a particularly delicious bite of watermelon, a GSO aide rushed to me, asking me to hurry. Completely caught unawares, I made this gallant effort to swallow the humongous watermelon and asked her what happened. Before she could reply, the crowed thinned around the middle making way for someone, obviously VVVVVIP. Dressed in a suit accompanied by his wife in a violet dress, there he was, Professor Tony.F.Chan, the President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, standing right there, offering his hand to me and saying "Hi Sathish!".

"Hel...Hello Sir, it is a pleasure to meet you, ", I stammered, thanks to a courage God alone knows, originated from where. Bragging "I'm meeting with the President" every five minutes was cool but actually meeting him in person was nerve-wrecking. Imagine you are an American and you get to meet Obama for a full two hours...how would you feel? I felt the same! But, my nerves were completely unfounded. President Chan was this rather cool person, humorous and extremely fun to talk to. He asked me about my parents, Singapore and unbelievably, Tamil and Chennai!. He went on to address the gathering explaining how excited he was to be a part of the Family Host Program and introduced Professor Forster of the Global Student Office to me. Mrs. Monica Chan, made me feel completely at ease, inquiring about my Hall VI experience, my ECAs, etc and how I felt about living away from home. Later, Professor Chan and I along with Kelly, Philip and others spoke about the higher education system in different countries(Indonesia, India, IB, Canadian Curriculum, etc), 3 Idiots(everyone in China loves it!), Hong Kong, Professor Chan's work, his past students and his college life. Soon, we were joined by Professor Steven Dekrey, Head of the HKUST's world famous Executive MBA Program and the conversation drifted towards how unique the FHP was and what everyone could do to improve it. Professor Dekrey, for his part, regaled us with how his hostees had become an integral part of his family and how his family was growing with each coming year.Upon his return from Korea, Professor Chan told me that we could go downtown along with Lise and Shen.

All good things come to an end, and awesome things faster still. Without anyone of us realizing it, the minute hand sneaked its way to 12 and it was time for the curtains to fall. The President's Secretary pointed out that it was getting late for his next appointment with the MHSS and he took our leave soon after. Shaking hands once again, the President invited Shreya and I to his home sometime in the near future. Mrs.Chan asked me to email her if I required anything at all and promised to write very soon. I bid her goodbye and thanked her for her kind offer.

Soon, the Chinese Restaurant started emptying. I, however, stood at its doors replaying the whole episode again in my mind. The exhilaration on receiving a mail from the President, the three days of inexplicable euphoria at meeting someone so busy and important and of course, the near-nervous breakdown I had when I actually saw him with Mrs.Chan. I stood there for a long time, savoring every second of the past two hours...the adrenaline rush, the hesitant steps forward, the surrounding crowds, of course, those magical words "Hello, Mr.President"...

the HKUST entries: the VingCard SIEGE

2011-09-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

"ENDRI DA!”

These distant words of Yoga Nataraajan would have startled me any other day. But, today, they failed to have their usual effect. I was determined to enjoy my first 7+ hours of sleep and no one was going to sabotage it! I mumbled some excuse, pulled up my blanket and went back to Katrina, Angelina and another recent crush :P

An hour later, I groggily opened one eye to see Thasbeeh Moosa leaving for his classes and decided the time had perhaps arrived when I had to get up too. I sat on my bed, worried about the effort I would have to put in order to accomplish this near impossible task when Thas closed the door and headed for his classes. His parting words got processed in my brain and finally the thought-linking mechanism force-started. I realized Thas was going to the City and I badly needed a recharge card. So, I ran towards the lift, yelled my request to him and strolled back to my room.

The door was like a nanometer away from the lock when I had this strange impulse in me and I pushed the door away. I got in successfully and felt my pockets for the reassuring feel of the VingCard holder and IT WAS GONE! I ran to my table and looked for the familiar yellow pouch but it was nowhere to be found. Laptop bag, roommates’ desks, dustbins, clothes cupboards, window sills, draws…everywhere I turned, my search failed to yield a positive result. To make things worse, there was this bladder of mine that was on the verge of explosion :P. Firmly believing that getting into the room once again was more important than going to the washroom, I placed frantic SOS calls to Thas and Yoga but they didn’t have my card either(not that I expected them to…but in my awesome history of losing things…weird things have happened like Varun’s library book ends up in the primary school library :P)

I looked at that poster of Hanumanji, accepted this challenge, resolved to keep calm through this immediate crisis and restarted rescue operations. One fact that helped me was that I had last used my card yesterday night at 6 PM and I hadn’t stepped out of the room ever since but for one small excursion downstairs to fetch a drink. And, I KNEW that I hadn’t had the card then because I was reprimanded by the security guard at the office below.

Thus, the conclusion of all this ranting: The bloody card HAD to be in the room!!!

Thus began a more intensive search and rescue operation. It was not in the usual easily visible places. Then, I started concentrating at the nooks and corners where I usually dump things and forget about them. No, it was not inside any of my books. It wasn’t below the table either. Vacuum greeted me when I expanded my search radius to include the space between my shelf and the wall.

How about the bed? Nah, the pillow or the bedsheet weren’t hiding it. Making a wild guess, I put my pillow aside and Inshallah! there it was…snugly comforted by the table on one side and my bed on another…protected from the 8 hour AC Thas was paying for…my precious little VingCard.

Relieved, I echoed softly. “Come out, darling…it is getting late”. But nope, it was firmly embedded in the wedge. I tried putting in my fingers but they couldn’t get in more than a few centimeters. I tried using a pencil to push out but to no success. A Classmate notebook idling aside was my next tool. It reached the card and I was able to move it to the left. Now, easily accessible from the side, I put in my fingers and it was a euphoric moment to feel the reassuring touch of the card holder and the more comforting thought of saving 100HK$.

Blogspot ERROR 1965: Unavoidable nature’s call. Attempting to reconnect…

P.S: I kept my cool, Dad!