Life after Manila

'Those were the days', people always refer to the past as if it was the best thing to have happened to them. When compared with the present, past always appears brighter and so much more cheerful. May be, its the human brain, we don't remember the bad moments, the worries, but only the wonderful times we had spent. May be, its because we store those moments in form of photographs, and allow the 'theta' to take care of the unhappy moments. And a couple of months down the line, we just remember the awesome times we had.

Manila was one such experience of my life - started with zero (in fact negative) expectations, and turned out to be truly wonderful one. In the beginning, it was 7 long weeks, but as time passed by, it turned out to be only 7 weeks. Manila would always remain in memory for so many reasons - the classrooms, the lunch and the dinner together, the presentations, class participation, my insincerity in the class (people there must have believed that I was the most insincere guy around), and all the good friends.

Made some really friends there, and hopefully, we would remain that for time to come. Life after Manila would be different, I would be going to Mumbai next, which promises to be fun.

Last two weeks

We have almost reached the end of the training program in Manila. It was quite a good experience, much better than what I had expected. I came here with no expectations, and had even wanted to go back during the first couple of weeks. Life had slowed down, and I felt that I was wasting my time here. Then slowly and slowly I started enjoying the free time we had here. I found a lot of time to do things I wanted to do.

I read a couple of books - after a long long time I read novels. Then, did see quite a few movies late in the night, and slept all day in the classes. There are another 15 odd days here in Manila. Need to do some shopping before leaving the place. Till now, haven't purchased anything here. Will go shopping on Sunday. Also, will be watching Harry Potter and LOTR this weekend. Have been delaying the same for too long now, and should see it before leaving Manila.

Exam tomorrow, and haven't read a word, as usual :)

Manila, Accounting and Black Swan

Manila is a different experience for me. Its more like an international school, where you have people from different countries and different cultures. Its quite fun talking to them and understanding their views.

I will be here for another 5 weeks, and will be covering 5 more subjects. Week 2 was quite boring as far as studies are concerned, and we had to deal to numerous balance sheets and income statements. It was quite frustrating we well, doing same analysis again and again, and giving the same comments at the end of it.

I have started reading novels again. Finished with 'The curious incident of the dog in the night-time'. It was a different kind of novel, very similar to 'The Little Prince'. Very simple and very sweet, making fun of human beings and their irrationalities in a subtle manner. Am now reading the 'Black Swan', and its absolutely awesome. Not exactly an easy reading book, but very different and simply mind-blowing. Going by the start, it might change the way I think, much like what the course of 'Game Theory' did. Its not another book, but another way of thinking, and a different take on the world.

Hopefully would be finishing it by next weekend.

MAGIC Program

First week in Manila was a mixed bag. Was very unhappy when we came, had great fun for the first few of days, and then finally went back into my 'hate-everything' mode for the second time in the last 3 months. I had some issues with the HR, and it was taking a lot of mind-space. Thankfully everything has been sorted out.

We went to Old Manila on the weekend with a large group of MAGIC-mates. There are people from all parts of Asia - Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Korea, Japan, China, etc. Its great fun being in the same class as all these people. They are much better than me in presentation skills and hard work. Would need to catch up on that.

Here are my first pictures from Manila.

Bombay Dreams

My company sent me on a week's trip to Mumbai. This was my first visit to the city, and it was an amazing experience. I met with a lot of bankers and brokers during the trip, and had lunches/dinner with them. Suddenly realized that life was changing for me pretty fast, and I have actually joined a job. I realized where I belong, and what world I shall be living in. Back in HK, life had been different with us rotating across different desks. Workload is there, but the feeling of MY JOB was missing. In India, I felt like it was my job, and these would be the people I would be staying with for a long time.

Met some of the big names in the market, and heard of their stories. Everyone working in the market has lots of stories to be told. Saw some of the most amazing trading floors, and saw the adrenaline rush at market opening. It was simply awesome.

Had some beautiful memories from the trip as well. Went around quite a few places in Mumbai, ate almost everything I could within a week, and had the time of my life.

~ random shopping is fun :)