I played squash with AJ earlier tonight. No, not SDM AJ but Dr. AJ from Course 2 (MIT speak for mechanical engineering) who recently earned his new salutation of doctor after his successful thesis defense a month and a half ago - congratulations, Dr. AJ.

I can't believe it's been more than 10 weeks since I last played squash with AJ. I will pay the price tomorrow with sore thighs and wrist. It was a good game. We should do it again, AJ.

10/5/2006 12:11:48 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Sports

I am starting to have a hankering for blogging since I have not been writing for sometime. True, I am still preoccupied with other things in my life but I figure out that I can certainly spend fifteen to thirty minutes to write a decent blog. Regretfully, due to time constraint the blog will be short.

So expect my blog to be succinct from now on.

10/4/2006 11:56:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Blog

Lately, I haven't been motivated to blog at all. I feel like there are things other than blogging that demand my attention. Nonetheless, for the benefit of my friends, here is an outline of what I have done in the past week:

• Sep 18 - I started taking a Microeconomics at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Being that this is my last semester at MIT, I might as well take advantage of cross registering at Harvard.
• Sep 19 - I gave a presentation of my recent dive trip to Manado and global threats to coral systems to my fellow TPP students. For those who don't know me well, scuba-diving is my favorite pastime and the preservation of reef system is something that is dear to my heart.
• Sep 21
• MIT hosted the annual career fair that day. Once again, management consulting and financial companies seem to have the biggest presence at the career fair.
• These days, every Thursday evening means hanging out with my SDM buddies at the Muddy Charles, a popular MIT hangout. There was a good showing of the usual suspects plus a new newbies; but Sorin and Ilana were conspicuously absent.
• After hanging out at the Muddy, we attended the first C-Function this semester. C-Function, short for "consumption function" or "cultural function," is a weekly social event sponsored by the MIT Sloan School of Management.
• Sep 23 - Due to a shortfall of players, the SDM IM flag football team merged with another team to form 2 Sloan IM flag football teams. We had our first practice on Saturday.
• Sep 24 - I practiced my first volleyball this semester with the Sloan Volleyball Team. Surprisingly, I was hitting and passing really well; but I could not for the life of me serve that day.

Alright, that's all I got. I know, it's a pretty lame post. :-(

9/25/2006 10:49:57 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

The MIT Careers Office offers a rich recruiting program for current students and alumni. There are two major on-campus recruiting schedules that are run throughout the year, one in early fall (from early September to mid Novmenber) and another in late winter (mid February to late March). The fall recruiting season is by far the busiest and biggest with about 200-300 companies that are registered for the MIT recruiting program each fall. In addition, the MIT Careers Office along with other student organizations and certain employers offer services in resume critique, mock interviews, and workshops in resume writing and interviews.

Last week, the MIT recruiting fall season started with several high-profile companies (like Google, Lehman Brothers, and The Boston Consulting Group) coming to campus to make presentations about their company and meeting with prospective students. These company presentations are hard to miss. Everyday I get solicited not by recruiting staff but by my fellow students to attend these presentations. I typically hear: "Hey Sam. You going to the BCG presentation tonight?" And I would respond by saying: "Oh, I didn't know that there's a presentation." For next few weeks, there will be company presentations on every night (except Friday and the weekend). Even better, some of the presentations have receptions or offer free pizzas. Even though I can afford for a decent dinner these days, like any student, I seek free food whenever I can. I still find gratifying for being to find and consume free food at a school event - yes! In fact, last year I was able to get myself fed just by attending these events. This year, however, I actually more motivated to attend a company presenation for learning about a company than solely for food.

The paramount event of the fall recruiting schedule at MIT has to be the MIT Career Fair. According to the student section of the web site, which is accessible to MIT students only, there are currently more than 250 employers who will attend the Career Fair on September 20, 2006 next week. I was at the career fair last year and I was definitely impressed and overwhelmed by the number of companies at the fair. I love talking to representatives from different companies. Even if I am not actively looking for job, it is still a great opportunity for me to learn about a company and network with recruiters - like I always say: "it may come on handy someday."

I look forward to next week's Career Fair and the month long schedule of company presentations. It should be fun.

9/16/2006 1:18:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Two weeks ago, I cited the Fung Wah bus rollover on a highway ramp in Auburn, MA on this blog. Not surprisingly, one of the passengers is now filing a lawsuit against the bus company.

Also, the Washington Post has written an article questioning the safety of curbside buses, so-called "Chinatown buses."

9/16/2006 11:04:34 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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News

This is it: my last semester at MIT. I am excited about the life and opportunities that await me after my graduation in Feburary. While I am excited about my post-graduation life, so far I have been a little nonchalant about the Fall semester, which started last week. I have always been super enthusiastic at the beginning of a semester - catching up with friends, meeting new people, taking new classes, and being involved with campus acitivities. Not this semester though. I am still engaging with many of the acitivies albeit at reduced intensity and participation. Since returning back from my three week long vacation, I have not only attained substantial zen but focus, which is exactly want I need this semester. In the past, I have been known to do too many things once. Since school started I have been channeling all my energy into completing my thesis. This is good thing as it means that I can be sure that my thesis can be completed on time.

As far I remember, I have been a perpetual nightbird all my life. I thought that I would have recovered from jetlag last week; but I have been waking up before 6am everyday since returing from vacation. We'll see how long this last. I am still not convinced that I am a fully converted morning person now. Other newly acquired habits as a result of my vacation includes the sudden propensity of wearing casual business attire to school and the desire to keep my apartment neat and tidy.

So on top being fully rested and feeling relaxed, I am now more focused and organized in my life. It's certainly fascinating what vacation can do to one's well-being.

9/13/2006 10:16:43 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Personal

I have finally identified the critter shown below, which I initially couldn't. It is nudibranch, not a sea worm. It has a scientific name of Pteraeolidia ianthina but also referred to as "the Blue Dragon by divers in Eastern Australia." For more details read here.

9/10/2006 10:36:22 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Scuba Diving

What do you get when you combine traditional tango and with the contemporary electronic sound and house beats? The answer my friend is the music of the Paris-based Gotan Project. Even the group's name reflects their deep Tango roots. The word "Gotan" is rearranged from the word "Tango" - actually according to Wikipedia, the name is the result of an popular Argentinean wordplay involving the reversal of syllables.

I really like Gotan Project's concept of fusing the more traditional Latin music and sometimes jazz with electronica. I am captivated by their elegant use of the accordion and vocals in many of their hits. Despite its immediate appeal to chic listeners, the music of Gotan Project is much broader than you think. World music lovers will certainly be attracted to the group's authentic tango tones. Even if you are not a fan of tango, Gotan Project's music will still appease. Most of their hits are soothing enough to be used as excellent background music. Of course, you will look hip by playing their music.

Ever since I was exposed to Gotan Project music from a chill out music compilation CD, I had been looking to acquire more of the trio's music. I was absolutely elated on Monday to find that all three of their albums are available for download from eMusic. I paid $10 for the three albums and still have enough credits to download other music. The songs are in MP3 VBR format (near CD quality) and can be played with impunity on any digital media devices. You can purchase the music from Gotan Project here. Since I am now a big fan of Gotan Project, I still plan to buy their CDs as they all come with bonus materials (like extra tracks or CDs).

I highly recommend all three Gotan Project's album. Both the debut album, La Revancha del Tango and their latest release, Lunatico are the best while Inspiracion-Espiracion Remix is the weaker of the three. Happy chilling.

9/6/2006 1:20:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Music

I first heard from Siobhan, then from Brian. Even Matti wrote about his dissatisfaction on his blog. Finally, plenty of other people had warned me about the dodgy service that is Fung Wah.

Yet I braved the Fung Wah bus and have been using it as my primary mode of traveling between Boston and New York City. But what happened three hours ago made me rethink about what my good friends have been saying all along: stay away from Fung Wah. CBS 4 Boston reported a Fung Wah bus rollover in Aurburn, Massachusetts earlier this afternoon. The following line from the news report gives me no confidence in the bus company: "another Fung Wah bus picked them up and take them to their destination, but it turns out that driver could not legally drive them. Now, a Peter Pan bus is on the way."

9/5/2006 7:44:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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News

I just can't wait. I was going to write about my trips to Amsterdam and Beijing before anything else; but I was just too excited about my recent dive trip to Manado, Indonesia; especially the underwater photos that I took there. I spent the first day back in the States not resting but busily "cleaning" and "cropping" the photos with Adobe Photoshop, organizing the photos (including tagging and file naming), and finally uploading them to Flickr for sharing the photos with the rest of the world.

The entire collection of my underwater photos can be found on my brand new account.

Below is a sample (the top 20) of the photos that I took from my dive trip to Manado, Indonesia:

Anemone Crab (3 cm)	Anemone Hermit Crab (10 cm) Notice the sea anemone on the hermit crab's shell. The crab is chewing on something.
Blue Spot Sea Hare (18 cm) One of the most bizarre creature I have seen in Lembeh Strait. It's a sea slug, and it is shaggy and big.	Clark's Anemonefish (6 cm) One of my favorite fishes to photograph underwater. This one was quite startled by my presence but it settled down when I took the picture.
Cleaner Shrimp (2.5 cm) Cleaner shrimp provides cleaning service to fishes by eating parasitic creatures on the host skin. This one, however, was found sleeping in a burrow during a night dive.	Coral (Heliogungia Actiniformis) Close up shot of a coral.
Flower Soft Coral (Xeniidae) This is one of the most beautiful corals I have ever seen. Each of the feather-like feeding tentacles displays a beautiful fluidic movement.	Juvenile Clark's Anemonefish and Anemone Shrimp (3 cm) Close up shot of a juvenile Clark's anemonefish and an anemone shrimp.
Mantis Shrimp (25 cm) I was lucky to find this elusive mantis shrimp hiding in a hole. Treat this creature with great respect. Also known as smashers, they have powerful claws that they use to attack and kill prey by spearing, stunning, or dismemberment.	Nudibranch (Chromodoris Elizabethina) (4 cm) The highly ornate nudibranch conspicuously warns predators that it is toxic.
Ornate Ghost Pipefish (7 cm)	Pink Anemonefish (8 cm) Another Nemo moment.
Ribbon Eel (40 cm) Adult females have blue/yellow colored body. Males and juveniles have black body.	Snake Fish and Transparent Cleaner Shrimp Another bizarre fish with only the head protruding out from the sand. Notice the two transparent shrimps (look very carefully, click on the picture for the magnified version if you can't see them).
Soft Coral (Sinularia) (Close up)	Tube Sea Anemone (Close up)
Tubeworm (2 cm) (Extreme Close up) A tubeworn with its feather-like feeding tentacles. It is found next to a sea urchin.	Two Undulated Moray Eels Morays are usually solitary creatures. I was lucky to find a pair of morays.
Unidentified Creature I cannot identify this creature despite consulting several marine field guides. From a far, it certainly looks like a sea worm but upon closer inspection, it looks more like a nudibranch. Is it a sea worm or nudibranch?	Frogfish This is a bottom-dwelling fish.

See more of the underwater pictures at !!!

9/5/2006 12:32:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Scuba Diving

In the last 3 weeks, it seems that I have virtually disappeared from the face of the earth. I had no internet connection in the last 2 weeks - so in a sense, I have virtually disappeared. Nevertheless, the deprivation of the Internet was very liberating.

Physically, my presence was literally out of the country. Since my last blog post, I have traveled to Europe and then to Asia. After being stranded in New York on the first 2 days of my vacation, I spent the next 4 days in Amsterdam. I was in Beijing, China on the second week before ending up in Manado, Indonesia for some spectacular scuba diving on the last week. I spent a few nights in between the two side trips in Singapore visiting my family.

My connection time to the Internet is short right now, I will blog more about this trip as well as posting some pictures of bizarre but dazzling marine creatures taken from my diving trip in Manado.

9/4/2006 7:45:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Travels

Here is part 1 of the story. Also, I made significant edits on my original post as it was written right after a night of drinking in Amsterdam - it should flow much better now.

I met Dirk for breakfast in the hotel restaurant where I had the worst omelet and French toast. Even though our flight to Frankfurt was scheduled to depart at 21:30, we were told that we have to check out from the hotel by 12 noon. To add insult to injury, Delta Airlines' didn't provide stranded passengers with vouchers for transportation back to the airport. In other words, we are responsible for transportation to NY JFK Airport and being placed 60 miles away from the airport by the night before, the taxi fare won't come cheap. Delta Airlines incompetence never ceases to amaze me.

Because Dirk and I shared the same flight to Frankfurt, we decided that we should hang out and do something fun to pass time till departure. Instead of hiring a cab like most other stranded passengers, we rented a car. Since I didn't retrieve my luggage the night before, I was concerned that it may be lost. Dirk has to be the calmest and most optimistic German I have ever met. He kept telling me that it is "Lucky Saturday" and our fortunes would turn around; I should be able to find my luggage. So the first order of business that day was for us to drive our spiffy rented Pontiac Grand Prix to JFK to retrieve my luggage - only this time I would ask Singapore Airlines not Delta Airlines for assistance.

The Singapore Airlines staff was friendly, he said that he will check and call me back when he retrieves it. He said that if he doesn't get me on the phone, he will leave my luggage with the counter staff when I check in later. He is friendly, thoughtful, professional, and customer-oriented - the hallmarks of Singapore Airlines. I could have just easily flown from Boston to Frankfurt with other airlines; but instead I braved the hassle of traveling to New York to catch a flight from New York to Frankfurt by Singapore Airlines says a lot about my satisfaction with the company.

Since it was a gorgeous day, we spent the rest of the afternoon in Manhattan. Our drive back to NY JFK Airport was a breeze - there weren't any traffic at all. When I arrived at the flight check-in counter, my luggage was as they said right where it was. We checked in an hour and half before departure. We got into the plane at 21:00 and were in the air by 20:00. There were no chaos and everything was on time with Singapore Airlines.

After about 7 hours of flight time, I finally arrived in Frankfurt and went through immigration and custom without a hitch. But there is still one more problem: the flight from Frankfurt to Amsterdam has not been resolved yet. Dirk, a native of Frankfurt, was kind enough to stay with me in the airport to help me sort out the mess with KLM. After my inquiry at the KLM counter, I was confirmed the next flight out to Amsterdam but it came with a penalty of 115 Euros for changing flight. Bravo! my traveling nightmare was finally over. I said to Dirk then: "You know we never really celebrated our successful arrival in Frankfurt with a toast." We then immediately proceeded to the nearest beer garden for some good German beer. Dirk, you are right - it was "Lucky Saturday."

8/15/2006 6:25:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Travels