Pike's market & competition drawing

We went down to pike's market and downtown seattle today, after the roundtable discussion. Pike's was really interesting. we went down a slope that was long and steep on a big main road - something we will never get to see in Singapore, and it was simply exhilarating because at the end of the slope, lies a beautiful landscape of land, water, sun and sky, and that is where pike's market is ( a place pple sell seafood). Then lakshmi went on fervant shopping because the things they sell there were interesting, many of which we have never seen in Singapore. Handmade jewelleries, stone carvings, oh and did i mention that we secretly got prof gilbert a stone that says something like "its not the results that matter, but the journey". Ha...exactly the way team seattle was feeling about this whole competition.

And we took a photo in frt of that pike's fish co, u know that co which appeared on our OB txtbook about positive work culture. It was really good work culture, they would sing in sync (a phrase that sounds like the co. slogan) everytime somone bought a fish, so nice. After a really quick one at pike's (cos there really wasn't so much time), we walked forward to downtown seattle where they sell their shopping stuff. Did i mention that their shopping centres are huge, think it will take about 1 day just to finish walking inside, especially Macy, but eh, no time to shop, if not, think me and kj will buy the whole place down, hahaa....the stuff there is really nice k? especially if u are thinking of getting a prom dress for graduation :p anyway, the girls didnt really shop, cos we waited for the thorn - daryl to get his levi jeans, which were like really cheap gg at US$30+. and their gap men's shirt is nice too, i drooled whn i saw the men's shirt, couldnt resist looking and buying them for the guys back at hme, though i am a girl :) (not to mention an adorable one, haha...)

and whn we went back to the university, it was stressful competition drawing. Oh my, i wasn't the least bit nervous whn it started, until the draw got more and more heated. The big names teams were all together in team D, and whn we all didn't end up with auckland or mcgill, we were sneazing happily inside, until University of washington (host team) was streamed together with us. Argh....was the first feeling, haha....felt really stressed, but after a while, our team decided we shld just do our best and meet the challenge heads on, yeah! KJ proclaimed tt the s'pores have one spirit called "kia si "(scared of death), so since we all are so kia si, we will try to find a way to survive!ha...didn't know the s'pore spirit could be "utilised" this way.

k, that about round up the after roundtable events day nicely =)

KL

2nd day of GBCC event - Middle School & Dean's Rountable Discussion

The 2nd day of GBCC started off with a meaningful event - visit to the middle school. The funny thing is that I smsed Prof Geraldine early in the morning 7am to asked if I could give her book away (cos every school had to give a book away), and I plain forgotten that it was like 12 midnight in SG, and I was anxiously waiting for her reply. By the time Prof replied me with a "yes", we've already given the book away long time, with her name signed on it. haha.

My class was fun. Had kids from all over the world and they were kinda entertained by my Singapore story. haha. Dun ask me what I told them though, I seriously have no recollection. Just remembered this Vietnamese gal (12 yrs) who was really pretty but full of character. So fun. Hmm, maybe I can seriously consider switching jobs to teach. =p

We had our group photo taken next with Prof Gilbert and we had the rountable discussion. The topic is our ever so familiar China's growth. My table had really good discussion, very fervent discussion and amazing viewpoints presented. I particularly remember the Uganda guy seating beside me (I really like the Uganda team. So humble.), I remembered the feeling of heart wrench when I heard him talk about his country. How devestated they were, and how they needed the US to help them rebuild their industries, and now with China, their already fragile domestic market is being threatened even more.

There was another UBS guy seated beside me, and cos we r both chinese (I'm from SG, he's from Taiwan), we chat one another up pretty quickly, and he whispered to me silently during the lunch in mandarin (the food here is not nice, think I dun have to translate it for all others to understand yah?) and gave me a smart wink. haha. So cute.

Then we went downtown to get souvniers. I got nothing much, and waited 30 mins for Daryl. He's really the man. He made 4 gals wait for him for 30 mins while he shops for his levi jeans. muahaha.

The most exciting event came in the evening, and that was the competition drawing, that was to determine which room we r gonna be in. Daryl was v stressed at first, and I was v cool, gave him a cool look and said calmly "Dun care lah. Dun need to be stress", but as the time draws nearer and nearer to Auckland drawing their room and all the other room are almost filled except ours, I got real panicky Daryl laughed at me big time. "Thought you v calm just now? Dun needa be afraid what, you tell me one!"

@##$%@$% To think that Prof Gilbert thinks so highly of him, and says he's like the stone (meaning steady) and we r like the ballons tied to the stone. Not the least bit man! You should have seen how badly we were being bullied by our dear Daryl on this trip.

We didn't end up with the Auckland team (God bless!). We ended up with the UW team though, together with Euganda and Columbia. Talking about Columbia, I had a flying kiss from one of the guys in the Columbia team. haha. He was the one seated at the same table as me during the rountable discussion ealier on, and I think our table share good rapport.

And alas, just as I was about to collapse from fatigue, Prof Gilbert took us out to this bar in Seattle with live music. And the live music was really good. I particularly like their soft rock. Really nice. I couldn't keep myself awake though. I practically collapsed onto the bed as soon as I reached the hotel room.

Prof Gilbert was supposed to write us an email b4 our case was released, in the end, he fell asleep on his chair halfway while writing the mail, and the whole mail was deleted! haha.

Comp started today. Will update again. =)

KJ

I think it has been a happening day today. We made an impact at the welcome breakfast, which was really great for all of us. I dare say we were the best introduction team (we were asked to introduce ourselves and NTU) this morning. Haha, KJ started by saying, let's invite the only thorn among the roses to speak, and alas, later in the afternoon, somebody walked up to Daryl and said, "Hi Thorn!" Oops, see what a deep impression we left =)

Then it was rounds and rounds of interaction. Heard that the Israeli team was very hostile, and we happened to team up with them for campus tour, which was good actually, cos we kind of warmed up to them, and make them talk? =) Nir fr Israel was kind of interesting, we were talking about Hebrew language (the official language in Israel) and he was writing for me and teaching me the language. Could see that he was shy and quiet by nature, so I was rather happy when i got him chattering the whole morning non-stop about hebrew language, and hey, I did learn well k? At least, I shouted YALA! YALA! (which meant come on in english) and the 2 Israelis walking behind me and Nir really quickened their steps forward, hahaha....kinda of interesting to hear the Israelis talk? I think they know a lot about their country, heritage, culture, geography, which really was unlike what we get in S'pore. I think i started to appreciate why pple say S'pore's education was narrow and functional. Whn these pple started speaking abt their heritage etc, they naturally sound knowledgeable and intellectual, and we really paled in comparison, in terms of the content of what we could communicate on? But of cos, our team was lucky bcos we made up for that with good communication skills and a cheery disposition. I think everyone in team Seattle is a great socialist, though they may not be technically endowed.

We talked to quite a no. of teams on the cruise, I talked to the Taiwanese team, Japanese team, Auckland team, Croatia team, Israeli team, Brazilian team, Louisiana team. And in the lift, we talked to like the Canada team, and tonnes other tt i really cant recall, cos there were so many of them, hahaha....think we talked to almost all the teams. And surprisingly, there was the auckland faculty professor who walked over to us whn i was talking to the japanese team, and he said "I know u are kailin!" Wow, i was really taken by surprise, seemed like wlecome breakfast and the skit worked quite well for us to be identified? He gave me a namecard later and invited me to approach him for admission into the University of Auckland's master programme, quite a nice incident. And later, when I board the bus, I had to sit with the Israeli team's faculty advisor who looked really young? Was kind of stressed initially, but somehow i manage to make him talk a bit, and we were having a fervant discussion on gender differences and handling relationships. Of cos, i told him this thoery abt how a guy bloomed at 30, and how girls experienced accelerated depreciation after 30, got him laughing real hard, and he said he was impressed with how well i understood and described Nir! Em, think we hit it really well, and chatted non-stop all the way until we reached the hotel, and he offered to give me a private lecture on gender differences, haha...its kind of like a weird encounter i would say, but interesting too!

Thn I found out tt there were students with astonishing backgrounds in the competition. Many of them were succesors to their father's businesses, and there was this Paul guy fr Auckland team who entered the University at the age of 16! I was really taken, i think there are really many different talents here, and its really an eye-opener. Hidden tiger, crouching dragon, that';s the idiom to describe the situation. It makes us feel small? But i think we learned a lot, about how to carry ourselves, and how we really wouldn't lose out in terms of social and interaction skills. =) Cheers to S'pore!

KL

1st day of GBCC event

So many events happened at GBCC today, that I don't know where to start blogging.

First up was the welcome breakfast that got me and Lakshmi kinda anxious. The team was broken up so that we get to seat with other teams and mingle. Laksh and me were anxious cos the people at our table were really quiet intially. But after that, we found out that it was cos they were shy. haha.

Every team had to do a short intro during breakfast, and I think our team made a terribly successful introduction, we got everyone laughing. Lanna told us that one of her ambassador friends told her we were funny. =p

Went on to do a campus tour with the Isrealis. And the Isrealis are a really good team. I dare say they have a high chance of winning. They are composed of graduates and post graduates (yes, something that caught me off guard was that grads and post grads are allowed to join the comp and there's a couple of them in the comp this time round), which have really good solid knowledge of the industry. Talked quite a bit with the 4 guys and took some pictures with them. They carry with them alot of depth., and understand their culture and history real well. And of course, as per normal, we were asked the chewing gum question. Do you think your government is undemocratic? haha. Ppl seemed to only remember SG as banning chewing gum nation.

Had lunch with the Isreali team and then went on to do a skit. Every team had to do one. Didn't ace this though Prof Gilbert thinks its great. The Japanese team won the skit, and theirs was really good. They demonstrated the Sumo Culture and asked a volunteer on spot to do sumo wrestling with one of their guys. So fuuny and entertaining, everyone voted for them to win. =)

Did a river cruise after that, where everyone had to continue socialising and have dinner. Talked with the Brazilian Team, Japanese team, Croatia Team, Auckland Team, Taiwanese Team. The Kurasia faculty advisor left an impression cos she brought her fiance with her, and they were really lovey-dovey. Cute. Took lots of pictures, in fact the photographer seemed to like us alot, keep snapping pics of me, Daryl, KL. Its like paparazzi can? Lakshmi was cheered on by a couple of people later on (cos she sang really well), and went on to do her socialising rounds. Haha. how come everyone seems to be a natural at this?

I like the scenery though, and had a cup of vodka lime. Was really cold, had to drink to keep myself warm. haha. Paid 7 bucks for it though. Daryl had orange vodka. Dinner was nicely rounded with the Brazil guy coming over to our table and entertaining us with his stories.

Moved on to supper with Lanna after that. Kinda like this gal. So pleasant personality. Had a good chat and crepe. =)

Today was a day packed with socialising. Was it tiring? Yes, it was. Was it mind bogging? Yes it was. But what was important above all, was that I really learned alot about the different cultures. I learned how people socialise and interact, and found out surprisingly that though the cucausians are open minded. they are conservative when it comes to socialising. I dare say we wouldn't lose out to them when it comes to keeping an open mind about meeting people.

Tomorrow's gonna be packed with activities again. Another day of socialising. Hope its gonna be fun. For now, I really have to tune in.

Goodnight Seattle.

KJ

1st shot

Decided to set up this blog for team seattle to act as a form of publication for business solutions, so that people know what we do in this CCA. Also, on a personal level, I think this will be a place where we will record all the memories of the Seattle trip. Something that I believe I will look back years later, and still feel contentment.

Joining biz case has been something I wanted to do since last year. And finally, we r in Seattle, my dreams coming true. The rest of the teams arrived today. To tell honestly, they r strong. Just the confidence they carry with them is enough to intimidate. But hey, we r not really very bothered, bcos right from the beginning we've decided to just give it our best and have fun.

Seattle's temperature fell real low today. I think it's only about 3 to 4 degree, and I really am feeling very cold. But my team had fun today. We spent lots of good time laughing about the skit. Prof had come up with an idea about Singapore Idol and told us to make a skit out of it. Spent lots of time laughing over the dinner table too. Daryl's kinda poor thing, always kanna suan. But then again, they kept saying that I dun care about them. That I went to cheesecake factory yesterday with Liu Zhe and didn't even bother to think about them and da bao for them, left them cold and hungry in the room. Alas! I almost laugh my intestines off can? The team nagged at me for this the whole day cos cheesecake factory was supposed to be very famous for cheesecakes, and being the glutton they r, they simply were upset that there was no cheesecake.

Met Lanna, our administrator today too. Very pleasant and smart gal. Only 19 years old, yet her brilliant mind, and social skills r really mature. Tomorrow onwards, the program will start officially. Got hell lots of activities going on, blog again when I have time. :)

Kai Jun

Well, prof gilbert rented a Lincoln Signature and i was to navigate. Its a huge american car with a 5 litre engine i think. Haha would cost a bomb just for petrol and road tax back home. But it was nice. =) American form of a luxury car. Yup so we drove to the hotel in less than half and hour and went through the university town along the way. The whole concept's very different from universities in singapore. The university town's a real town with food outlets, bookstores, theatres, etc. Very interesting!

So we checked into the hotel and realised that we had 3 rooms on different floors. The girls' room is big and with 2 queen beds, a microwave and a fridge. Whoa! Haha. Mine's nice and comfy with a king size bed! Doubt i'll even use half of it. Haha. It's so quiet and peaceful in here.

After unpacking, we went out for lunch. Lunch was very filling. Ordered a US $10 plate of fettucine and the portion was HUGE! Couldn't finish a couple of mouthfuls towards the end. Heh we were on the road thereafter and i was afraid i would doze off while navigating. Haha the 3 girls were concussed at the back lah! Thankfully i mangaged to stay awake and guided gilbert to his daughter's town 50 miles north. We were very near the canadian border at that time and the snow-capped mountains in the background were beautiful.

When we got to the town, the roads were too insignificant to appear on the map. So we just drove by gut feel. Haha after 20 mins of turning left and right, going up and down, we arrived at a cosy ex-urban compound. Gilbert's grandson chris who's 14 was riding a miniature scrambler in the garden. Cool kid. Haha there was something wrong with the rear car doors and it could neither be opened from the inside nor outside. So ther girls had to step on my reclined seat to get out of the car. There're some prints on the beige leather now. Haha gilbert's gonna settle it with the rental company.

We spent 2 hours touring the house, the compound, the woods behind the house (yes it's a tiny little forest with cedar trees!) and gilbert's daughter's father-in-law's house down the slope. He's 92 years old by the way and still drives! Haha both their houses were really nice and cosy. Typical american country home. =) Oh the dad had a cart-like lawnmower and i rode in it! =) He even has a caravan-like container which isn't really a caravan cos it has to be towed but its very nice! Haha so after the tour, we bade goodbye to the very friendly family with cute puppies and made our way back to the hotel.

Oh i couldn't take it on the drive back and dozed off while on the freeway. Woke up just in time to lead gilbert off the freeway. Heh when we arrived back, we just went our separate ways and arranged to meet tmr for breakfast. I was so dazed that i just fell asleep when i got back to my room until lakshmi called at 8pm and asked if i wanted to have dinner. Honestly, i was still full but i wasn't comfortable with her going out at night on her own. The 2 sisters had gone out to meet a friend and only came back at 2 am lah! Heh so i went down to her room and we went to the convenience store a couple of blocks down the road to get pre-cooked dinner. Wah, it was cold! Haha <10C i think. She was really cold but i kinda enjoyed it. Heh thankfully the store had heating. So i bought a gallon of water and a pound of Hershey's for 3 bucks! We bought some nice big apples too and mac&cheese for dinner! =)

The walk back was colder than the walk there and this time i didn't really enjoy it cos my hands weren't in my pockets. In fact, they were carrying heavy stuff! Haha they were freezing cold when i got back to the hotel. We heated up the mac&cheese and that was dinner. It was quite a lot and lakshmi ate a little. I couldn't finish it so i kept the rest in the micro for the twins to try. Not very pallatable though. Heh.

After dinner, we just watched tv and waited for the twins to return so that we could discuss some skit we have to perform. But she fell asleep on her bed and i dozed off after a while too on the sofa. When i woke up, it was already 12 am and i woke her up and told her i'd go back to my room to rest. Forget the skit. Heh she called the twins and they told us to sleep. Aye so i came back to my room and been online ever since. So here i am recording my thoughts on my first day in sleepy seattle!

Daryl

Goodness gracious me!!! My bums are hurting from the 16 hour flight journey...We didn even dare to pee given the air turbulence we experienced! Shake here, shake ther... but yeah better than some cannot-make it flights. hehe! By the end of the flight journey, me, jun and lin were looney laughing at our own plight and ragged state. Poor daryl who was looking forlorn by the end of the trip was desperately trying to get network connections to contact his girlfriend. While i was air-sick, someone else was getting homesick or should i say missing-gf sick:P

Lakshmi