Sao Paulo (1) 7/12/15 - 10/12/15

Left with this bunch of hostelites and one Boon Layian amidst the many USP students. Some say membership to our group is even more exclusive 

Landed in Dubai after 7 hours to have another 5 hours of transit. Everything went SMOOTHLY 

Mini breakfast at this supposedly awesome place but it's too ex to swallow so I had a $9 fries instead 

A long long flight later, we arrived! 

Day 1

First lecture on the trip: father of Solidarity Economy telling us more about the topic. Pretty cool 

Then this cool restaurant to meet the Singapore Embassadors in Brazil

And this fake 算盘子 (gnocchi) that wasn't chewy at all for lunch. Delicious nonetheless (though like every other food found here in Brazil, it's a tad too salty) 

And yea, we'll see group photos many more times for unknown reasons 

Then visited this amazing company helping kids here with an easily accessible study aid platform using a much sought-after algorithm to personalize individual student's study pace and path. Office was goddam cool as well, with a distinct mimicry of Google's set-up (even the name is an "imitation," or perhaps an inspiration) 

Had a small presentation with IE Singapore then a networking session with some bosses of Singapore companies in Brazil in this nice courtyard, where the crew spent most of the time talking to the Brazilians working for IE Singapore instead 

And then two more rounds of Happy Hour post-programme where we tried the Caipirinha - Brazil's national cocktail - pretty dope. 

Day 2

Brekkie in hotel is super awesome (but no, that's not Portuguese egg tarts) 

Visited another ministry and found round-edged building around the corner... Fancy~ and feels really like Spanish (and probably Portuguese). And yes, the street art is amazing! Though I still prefer a clean and sleek urban outlook like Singapore, versus this haphazardness 

And here you go: hourly wefie with the fabulous people. Bet this bunch of narcissists are so gonna love their exposure rate on my blog 

Second location is UNESP (Sao Paulo's state university) for a lecture on Brazilian history and culture that turns out to be more of a linguistic lesson. But the more exiting part is this Instituto Confúcio; Chinese learning around the world is really on the rise 

And here is Yilin's first attempt for #NUSlife... 孔子's "reaction" makes it pretty hilarious. Pfft

And just to continue the trend of narcissism 

头痛 shot (and a lot more other group shots cos waiting time was just too long) 

Then on the way back to our free night, more amazballz "vandalism" 

And then off we go to...

No surprise

I kinda like the feel of the store more than the selection (which sucks for male designs), and it's also nice cos, according to Mayer, it satisfies his OCD in the background. Lol 

Dinner is... Jap food. Background info: Brazil has the world's second largest Japanese population, after Japan itself. And here we see a familiar food chain and their famous Gyu-don, with a hint of Brazilian cos of the cheese-spam

And then we walked back to the hotel and ended our first night of "adventure" in the shopping district 

And this is my steal. Yilin bought 20 over pairs though 

Day 3 

Third day started like this, at Batman Alley 

And many of these 

With mosaic 

With nature 

And some nurturing 

And I like this very much! (And many more which I'll not post or it'll be flooded with graffitis) 

Then we went into the woods, sort of. A small part of the world's voted best park: Parc Ibirapuera 

Many cool installations and graffiti later..

Coconut juice! 

Then some more cool architecture 

And even the traffic light is cool! 

Patron saint of São Paulo: St Paul (the traffic light is a caricature of the cathedral!) 

Another case in point: earlier at the park...

Corresponding to this historical monument! Small things making this city cooler than it appears 

Back to the tour: Ground zero for the city 

And the next Neymar Jr spotted 

And a random winking wall

The famous Brazillian Brigadeiro, not a fan of chocolate, not a fan of this

Then this crowded pasar malam place which made some people pretty uncomfortable and excited lol. Hotspot  

And food hall! 

And as with every other nice buildings, nice stained glass art 

And we went to dr.Consulta for another business visit and it turned out to be the most engaging and interesting talk thus far; for the record, the speaker was really smooth and epitomize what a typical rich young entrepreneur/businessman is like. But that's besides the point: the concept is really interesting as well; renumerations to the doctors are feedback-based which encapsulated a very naked form of capitalism like the sharing economy or the free walking tour in Europe, which has proven time and time again to be effective in getting businesses. But after all the cooperative talks from the solidarity economy side of the story, this "truth" seems a little too brutal/realist. But even more interestingly, dr.Consulta employed many different expertise, from the most obvious business OM, medical experts, to marketing and even computer programming specialist to run algorithms for the booking system that even takes into account non-compliance cases with auto over-subscription calculations. Much impressed. 

Day ended pretty late so we found a nice bar/restaurant as recommended by the guide and parked ourselves here through the evening

And they served nice food! Though this photo does it no justice 

TBC 

A normal Saturday after a long while

Went to this party 

With the kiddos

For her first! 

Then went this place 

Sat at this table 

Ate this delicious thing 

With this babe

Before I flyyyy~ 

(Just trying to clear photos for space heh) 

It's.. Its over?!

Ended, hopefully not with a "B"ang, and packed my room and sort of moved out and gotta start packing for Brazil trip, which itself doesn't feel real at all. 

Still haven't come to terms with me surviving through this semester, it was so emotional I trembled at the end of today's paper (or maybe it's just cos the aircon was incredibly cold). Onwards to the last semester, which will probably be even more emotional (and hectic). 

坐下来一起吃

I remember, of course I do. 

Time is such an amazing thing: while it heals some wounds, it also fades out memories we wanna hold so dearly. In fact, more than memories, relationship, energy, positivity and many many other things can deteriorate away with time if no effort is put in to keep it the way it is. 

But some times, some things are just special enough to work against the wheel of time...

--

We aren't as close as we used to be and that's probably because the different groups that binded us together no longer hang, and we both go our separate ways. We were so similar in so many different aspects but truth is, I'm a less perfect version of you. You dared to fight for things you want; had the patience to see them through to the end; and put in your heart and soul into things you deem worthy. And I really respect you for that. And I'm sure your grandma will rest in peace knowing she had such a filial grandson. And really, I've seen you exhausting the very last of your energy for her, I'm sure she'll know, somehow. 

Take care, bro. 

Even though we haven't talk in a very long while, I can still feel your pain. But I'm sure you'll pull through like you always do...

Toughest of times

I am sometimes a sunrise person, and other times, a sunset person; but throughout my life, I've really been more of a midnight person. 

In fact, any time of the day brings out a different side of me; different scenarios pan out in my mind when I look out to the sky and recollects to some events that happened during this kind of sunlight and weather. I believe many people do that anyway, just as I am doing now, on the bus (which is the second best location to reflect on life other than in the toilet, but there's no weather in the toilet so, in this context, bus is the best place for such reflections; also, if there's a reason to not drive, this is it). 

It's almost 4pm now. And I realize, I kinda like it. Might have been something to do with the heat in Italy during the days spent with Ms Blur or the lack of sun in my six months in Sweden that makes me appreciate this weather, but it's quite unusual, isn't it? I mean, this is the most trying of time in a day: work and motivation both die down, everyone's waiting for the clock to hit 5, energy from lunch is waning off and dinner is not anywhere in sight, even the weather's usually unpredictable (heh!) at this point in time at the equator. 

But I figured, really, that's the lure. It's this time of the day after most of the productive day has past, when regrets, guilt, or a sense of accomplishment sets in; when there's still the one or two more hours to salvage the situation for some saving grace before a day worth of life comes to waste; or alternatively, when there's still some time to slow down and smile for the long and efficient day you have had. No matter, it's too early to call. And it's this irregularity and idiosyncratic reaction that's charming... Just like the conventional rain that'll pour anytime soon, life can break out of the routine heat when we prepare for the changes to come and embrace it. And just as how motivation is lost and you find it hard to concentrate on your task at hand, life is about fighting these monsters and battling these challenges. Being an 8am or 6pm or 3am kind of person paint the story about your ideal vision of the world and how it should be; telling yourself you're a 3:30pm kind of person, though, tides you through the toughest of time. 

I fight to face my fear, and while I still hesitate to get my own plate of breakfast before my friends arrive to join me, I'm embracing it. I'm trying to be the 3:30pm kind of person I set out to be. 

Fight, even during the darkest of nights. 

Year 2 me was goddamn smart

Scrolling through my old notes cos I was thinking of taking another philo mod next sem (and Dingkai was showing me a question that was floating around the internet asking "what is there"), and I found my forum response. 

I have no idea how the heck I came up with this. And it sounds like magic to me now. And funniest thing is, I couldn't believe I took this mod two years ago as I have zero recollection of it. ZERO. Oh wellz. Now I remembered. And now I realize I'm so far away from my CAP 5 self after exchange. I need to find the drive again, soon. Soon. 

Also, I've been trying to find this. This is what savaged me from "Heng, you better start participating" (which is still resounding in my head, and the philo mod I wanna take next sem is by the same prof! Exciting) to my eventual A in this mod. Coolshit 

AEC

http://six-six.com/article/asean-establishes-landmark-economic-and-security-bloc

Not matter people will care; at least not those around me. But I'm thinking the eight professions slated to have free movement within the region is gonna affect my many engineering and accounting friends, and most importantly, Ms Architecture. Brace yourselves! 

Reading weak

This is probably the least blogged month ever since this space came about but nothing much is happening in life actually, apart from studies. 

Reading week was normal except now I am a tutor even as I mugged for my own papers. And I realize helping student becomes a little frustrating after awhile, but when I realize they are crunching for time as much as I do, I calmed myself down and replied that 9-question long email, and that 1 hour face to face consultation near midnight, and the staying back after my consultation ended. It really takes much more effort than I thought it would, and I really respect teachers around the world more by being a pseudo one this sem. 

Took some time off studies on Friday to attend a LGBTQ discussion in a nice cozy bar, first time facing this problem so up close and it's really eye opening. Also, the community is so small they realize we're newbies the first moment we entered. 

Saturday was spent camping in library, and as I was scrolling through insta and everyone's overseas, including Ms blur,  I'm like meh, not enticing. Then I saw a friend who I used to hang out pretty often getting married. Not my first friend to do so but wow... And I'm here in the library? Haha 

And Monday: start of papers, end of tutorship. The original story of studying smart goes like this: this is a new mod so there's no past year paper and everyone just randomly mug, but this prof has been teaching another mod that's taught in similar format, so I went to find that mod's past year paper, and turns out, it's really almost exactly the same format. So I was damn prepared compared to the rest who I overheard got owned. 

And so I was so hopeful that I can pull up the lousy midterms with this finals but after some thoughts, I realize I made a few mistakes here and there as well. So I guess in honours year, working smart or working hard individually is never enough...

3 more papers to freedom!