14 Point Turns

Having a car in Fontainebleau is essential. Many people (including me) live out of town and the transportation alternatives (taxis, public transportation, cycling) have some severe limitations. I opted for a long-term rental of a 5 seater so that I could enjoy a few road trips around the region and take my bike along. It's great on the road; spacious and comfortable, with plenty of room for my bicycle. What I didn't bargain for was the challenge that my gigantic vehicle would create when my trips came to an end. Welcome to Europe, land of the impossible parking spaces.

Every time I have to park, I seem to need to do a 14 point turn. I can't help but have a flashback of Austin Powers (sorry, Erik):

Français essentiel

finalement, je suis en France, et il est temps pour moi d'etre sérieuse a propos d'apprendre le français. hereusement, la vie présente ses opportunites, comme je l'expliquerai. mais, je crois que je vais essayer d'écrire un blog par semaine en français en vue de pratiquer plus. si vous parlez le français et découvrez une erreur (je vais en faire beaucoup), s'il vous plaît envoyez-moi un mot pour que je puisse l'améliorer.quand je conduisais vers l'école ce matin, j'ai crevé un pneu. je n'ai pas de téléphone en ce moment et il n'y avait pas de taxi à proximité (j'étais au milieu de la forêt), alors j'ai eu à voyager avec un étranger qui passait en voiture.

Erik m'a dit que je devais repairer le pneu crevé moi meme - mais je n'étais pas intéressée par cette experience a la nuit tombee. alors j'ai appelé un mécanicien. bien sur, il ne pouvait parler français. j'ai expliquer en mauvais francais. à ma grande surprise, il a compris mon explication et il a fixé le problem tout de suite.

Je ne sais toujours pas comment réparer une crevaision, mais je suis venu avec une bonne idée commerciale: pantalons a taille haute pour les mécaniques.

Empire State of Mind

New York.

I love this place.

With a few days to spare until classes commence again, I've come to spend a little time with Erik, who is here for work. There's so much to do in this city...

- cycling: 'up state', including a private ride in a police cruiser (don't worry mom)

- concerts: alice in chains concert; it's been a while since I felt like one of the young people at a concert

- museums: tim burton exhibit at the moma. oh momma. oh yeah!

- and 3d movies. It's becoming a habit...and Alice in Wonderland happens to be my favorite story...Erik happens to be my favorite date...Tim Burton happens to be among my favorite movie makers. sooo...how can one go wrong! (that's my 'blue steel' in the picture, erik is trying out normality)

I think that alicia keys is on to something. I love this city.

Home. Sweet, Sweet, Home.

Another country, another home. It's not exactly the Club Med that I enjoyed in Singapore, but that doesn't mean it's a step down. In fact, I've secured myself a spot at a 16th century chateau located between Fontainebleau and Paris.

I'm living in the servants quarters, but I get treated to this view every time that i return home.

I can go for a 30 minute + run in the walled backyard - starting around the canal.

after six months in singapore, it's nice to be close to nature again. to feel the cool breeze on my cheeks.

my running path goes around a small lake.

past some sculptures in the forest

hello Atlas.

I think that I'm going to like it here.

So Long Singy

When I initially decided to come to INSEAD, the prospect of completing a small part of the program in asia was definitely part of the draw; however, I was most interested in INSEAD for the the opportunity to live in France, so I didn't ever expect Singapore to be a significant part of my program experience. Two months there, tops.

Ultimately, after consulting with students and alumni, I decided to start in Singapore, which meant spending a minimum of four months there. I was certain that this would be plenty of time to satisfy my curiosity about the region and to take in the island nation. Some travel before the start of the program, combined with a few weekend trips - a lot could be accomplished in four months, right? Well yes, but it's all relative. My wish list of things to see and do in the region just kept getting longer. So, I stayed another two months. Besides, Fontainebleau in January/February was reputed to be dark, cold and lonely - how could I possibly leave the tropics.

Staying an extra couple of months afforded me the chance to see a few more places, and a bit more of the city. In total, I've squeeeeeeezed in a number separate trips over the last six months:

- papua new guinea (various)
- indonesia (bintan)
- indonesia (bali)
- japan (tokyo)
- malaysia (kuala lumpur)
- sri lanka (various)
- indonesia (pangkil pulau)
- thailand (koh phi phi)
- brunei (bandar seri begawan)
- vietnam (saigon)
- cambodia, thailand (bangkok), myanmar
- china (hong kong)
- thailand (koh phangan)
- australia (sydney)
- malaysia (kota kinabalu)

I've also enjoyed a number of Singapore's own offerings:

- Singapore Night Safari

- Chinese New Year

- Deevali

- Sunday Brunch at Raffles Hotel

- Singapore Flyer

- Singapore National Day

- Formula 1 Night Race

- Singapore Marathon

After six months in Singapore, it's time to say goodbye and look ahead to finishing my MBA program in France. I'll miss this place, but I feel like I've accomplished a lot during my time here.

Doin the Tourist thing

Do you like animals? Do you wish that you could see them in the wild? Do you get frustrated when you go to the zoo and you have to use your camera zoom lens just to get a closer glimpse of the animal hidden at the back of its cage? Then, seriously, you need to check the Singapore Night Safari out out.

I went last night as a part of my effort to see the city's main attractions before I leave Singapore. I don't know how the zoo here has set things up so smoothly, but it's unlike any zoo I've been to before. Cages are more like habitats - very few (if any) signs of cages and fences.

Even with the lions

and the rhino's,

it feels as though you are right in the same field as the animals (indeed, sometimes you are). Somehow, animals are all in an easy to see location - sometimes sleeping - but nevertheless visible. It was amazing. A great way to spend a night in Singapore. My only wish is that I would have taken more time - I could have easily spent 3 more hours there.

I also checked out the Singapore flyer - a the city's version of the London eye.

A pretty way to see the city, though slightly less impressive than the zoo! It was a tough act to follow.

Douchebabes

The fifth in our National Week series, Russian (Vodka) Week took the campus by storm this week. As a part of the festivities, the Russians hosted a treasure hunt around Singapore. I formed a team of 5 girls and, to properly get in the spirit of the event, we decided on a team name - Douchebusters.

To express our enthusiasm and awesomeness, we put together costumes and gave ourselves some douchebabe names. Blondie, Money Penny, Nancy Drew, Snow White. I was Maple Sugar. Even the driver that we hired gave himself a nickname - the Black Mole!

Considering that I've been in Singapore for six months now, I was shocked to discover so many new places. Such a shame to just be doing this at the end of my time here. As it turned out, we were the only team that thought to dress up, but I'd say that it only added to the fun. After three hours of clue solving and bombing around the city, we finally reached the finish. We didn't win the hunt, but it was unanimous that we'd had the most fun.

To finish the night right, we decided to hit the town together. We pulled a superman move and tucked into the restroom at the Swisshotel with our Douchebuster packs. 15 minutes later we were ready for action. Not bad.