Tuesday 4 December 2007

Logistics "mini" rant

Dear reader,

I have no idea how long this post will be, I just needed to "let it all out."

A few comments:

a) Apologies for not posting in the recent past - its manic.

b) Housing in Singapore is astronomically expensive.

The favourite haunts for INSEAD students are very close to campus, but boy do you pay for the privilege. Also, the whole rental system is very different to North America and Europe in terms of what different definitions mean (fully furnished vs part furnished).

I think INSEAD students should make try to manipulate the market by grouping together and setting prices. Now this might start an Anti-Trust investigation in the US but if everyone agreed that this was the price for 2bdr or 3 bdr and offered only that we would all then benefit as landlords would be faced with getting no rent or a certain consistent rate. Of course this does bring into play the prisoner's dilemma (or so I'm told by a smarter person than I).

Alternatively, live a 20 minute bus ride away and reduce the rental by 20%. Some might suggest cycling - well a friend of mine emailed from Singapore and advised me that it was presently cold there "mind you its still 75 degrees Fahrenheit" -and given the humidity by the time you get to campus it will look like you just walked out of a sauna/shower combination, although with the added fragrance that heat and exercise bring.....

c) Banks are strange- they know you are going to do a top MBA and may offer pots of cash (at very commercial rates of interest), but then "cheese" you off by making silly, careless mistakes. If you travel a lot you could try the HSBC premier account (I'm looking at it right now - but the requirements could be (and are) beyond me!).

d) I love my laptop -highly recommend Toshiba - competitive price but (with all due respect to Necromonger) a better performance than the Lenovo.

e) Getting a flight to Singapore with Singapore airlines is nigh on impossible presently - its like there has been a run on the seats and everyone has booked one!

f) The potential summer internships with banks in Asia require preparation of CVs pre-mid December.

g) The to do list has hit over 30 items despite working solidly on sorting myself out for the last 2 weeks.

h) I have not read any of the pre-reading (unlike two of my class who began in October!!!) and have not done any work on my third language.

i) Blah, Blah, Blah....

I will try to blog more regularly (again how does Necromonger do it?)

Well , as Shrek said "better out than in" (a challenge for you - which number film and to which scene does this refer)


If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.

Robert Fulghum

8 comments:

sunslinger said...

Hi there!

I've just been accepted to start in Fontainebleau for the class of Dec2008. I'm a Malaysian who has been staying in Singapore for 10 years plus now so maybe I can give you some insights to the accommodation here in Singapore.

Condominiums/Apartments can be pricey especially those in close proximity with INSEAD. A cheaper (sometimes much cheaper) alternative would be to consider renting a HDB room/whole flat around the Clementi, Dover, Jurong and even Commonwealth areas. You can then easily access INSEAD by MRT (train) or bus. The average journey times for these locations is +/- 15 to 30 mins.

Do keep in touch!

Bubbly said...

COngratulations to Making to INSEAD

THank first of all for linking to me and secondly for calling my BLOG classic, but it is Zanat0s, not Zanat!

Do contact me through my blog http://zanat0s.typepad.com

and lets talk about INSEAD. I am so jealous of you making it there!

Accipiter Nisus said...

Sunslinger,

Congrats on getting in!

Thanks for the info. I thought about the HDB - but went with the Heritage/Dover combo because I want to be walking distance from INSEAD.

So when you off to Fonty? Got the chateaux sorted out?

Accipiter

Accipiter Nisus said...

zanat0s

Apologies for the misspelling!

Its been corrected - although the fonyt recognition seems to show the 0 as an o - I'm trying to fix this!

I'll contact you for advice on Singapore! Hope all is well in Japan.

Accipiter

Res I(p)sa said...

I wouldn't worry too much about the pre-reading if I were you. Maybe the Finance is worth a quick skim, but leave the rest. You'll have gone way beyond the level of the books by the second week of class anyway.

Good luck for Singapore!

phathu said...

please forward me details of the machine you toshiba you bought... afrodreamer at gmail dot com

sunslinger said...

Zanatos,

Sorry about the misspelling as well. I have also corrected it on my blog - 'paiseh' in hokkien.

accipiter,

the thing is, I have not gotten anything ready... :(
Still in the midst of getting the education loan, and waiting for the INSEAD Online Community access, got that then found that my account was disabled. Was actually hoping that the online community has some great deals on room mates, second hand bikes and stuff. Other than that, the cityguide website is quite good but the selections are so few. Maybe because of the late timing... unlucky me for being on waitlist :P

Btw, I checked my email yesterday night (SG time) and was notified that I was awarded the INSEAD Diversity Fund! Woo-hoo! Though the sum is not only Euro 10,000, it at least helps my living expenses.

Keep in touch!

sunslinger said...

*Correction - I actually meant to say rooms AND mates. LOL!