A busy, busy period..

It's been such a hectic few days and I don't see the end in sight. This week is my pre-sessional course and it's lessons from morning till afternoon everyday through the week, even weekends! I can already foresee this will be a hell month as most of the application datelines end this monthor next month the latest. And for those who have applied for a job before, you all know how much time is spent filling up all the application forms. Probably have to shelve my travel plans till November the earliest.

On top of that, the career presentations and fairs are coming thick & fast. Last night I went to Merrill Lynch company presentation and today was Banking & Financial Services Fair (where all the financial companies from Goldman to RBS to Morning Star to Bernstein Research.... you get the idea) at LSE. The next 2 weeks will see me going for Morgan Stanley, UBS, Rothschild, Fidelity and Citigroup. You can definitely see and feel the difference in the recruitment in UK compared to Singapore. It's like you are paying so much for your education so that you will have a higher chance of landing your dream job.

Just attending these 2 events made me realise 1 thing. The students at LSE are so aggressive in looking for a job it's just unbelievable. Just an example, the system crashed when the online registration for the Banking & Financial Services Fair started because so many students were trying to lay their hands on a coveted spot. It's no surprise when I go around talking to people, 95% of them wanted to go into Investment Banking. It's like the holy grail of the finance industry, where all the top students from the top schools yearn for a job in IB. Lucky I'm not so ambitious and would gladly settle for a job in Capital Markets or Investment Management. That means a whole less competition for me. Haha, self-consolation.

1 more thing I realise is how fortunate I am back in Singapore. It's like in NTU, I can really concentrate on studies if I want to and still have time to go shopping, catch a movie, play poker or whatever shit. Here it's so different. All the time spend travelling on tube (MRT) and bus, cleaning the house, doing the grocery shopping and laundry just leaves me with no time to do anything else at all (except maybe for a bit of prison break and heroes once in a while). And through all this, you realise how easily $$ is spend doing all these things. Wonder how much the $$ my dad gave will last. I really do not want to ask for extra money as I really feel bad about spending so much money.

Just today, I settled my phone after deliberating for some time. I settled for a 30 pound, 18 month contract that gives 400 mins and 500 sms. I know it sounds stupid to sign a 18 month contract when I'll probably be here for only 10-11 months, but at least I get a brand new NOKIA N95 free! I did a bit of calculations and concluded that on a pay-as-you-go plan, I'll also probably pay about 30 pounds a months minimum. So the extra 7-8 months when I leave will be effectively the price of my N95, which is not that bad I guess.

Anyway, to end it off, I shall talk about my "virgin" clubbing experience in London. It was a Freshers event organised by some Chinese society of some University in London. And going there made me realise 1 thing. The Chinese are taking over the world! As it was organised by Chinese society, it was mostly attended by PRCs. And all of these PRCs are the next generation of filthy rich teens whose spending power is quite incredible. The crazy stock market must be making all the Chinese too rich and it is so damn apparant yesterday. They all came out decked out in their LVs, Guccis, Pradas bags and designer wear by the hundreds. But the point I'm trying to make is I had such a bad experience because me and my friends queued up for 2 hours and still did not manage to get in. The organiser obviously oversold more tickets than the club could handle. In the end, we left for home without me even getting the chance to step into the club. WTF?!?!?! I probably won't go clubbing anytime again in the near future, unless I am guaranteed entry of course.