BEFORE:
AFTER:
Friday, September 21, 2007
Completed Kitchen!
Finally finished up what I wanted to do for the kitchen/dining area! Pics for your viewing pleasure
BEFORE:
AFTER:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Sunday, September 16, 2007
SUB ZERO!!! RAWRRR
For the blog fans and campers, you might realize that it has officially hit sub-zero temperatures in Ann Arbor. Totally unexpected though, a cold front moving across the north-east dropped temperatures down. Wore a light fleece to sleep at night, since the central heating doesn't come on unless sub-zero temperatures are forecasted for 2 nights in a row =(
On the other hand, the football team performs better when it's cold. We crushed Notre Dame 38-0 in Saturday's game, officially ending our dry spell and duck egg. Much celebrations around! There's something awe-inspiring about being in the largest football stadium in the US =)
Took some shots of Ann Arbor and my school building, which is just about the newest on campus at the moment. Downtown Ann Arbor, as I've mentioned to some before, looks a lot like Malacca with white people. Narrow streets, shopfronts, street parking, the works. Welcome to small town USA. This is a shot of Weill Hall, which is the building for the Ford School of Public Policy
And turning 180degrees around, this is the view of the streets of Ann Arbor. Ok, I chose the shot which most represented my observations. =) There are better locales in Ann Arbor heh
On the other hand, the football team performs better when it's cold. We crushed Notre Dame 38-0 in Saturday's game, officially ending our dry spell and duck egg. Much celebrations around! There's something awe-inspiring about being in the largest football stadium in the US =)
Took some shots of Ann Arbor and my school building, which is just about the newest on campus at the moment. Downtown Ann Arbor, as I've mentioned to some before, looks a lot like Malacca with white people. Narrow streets, shopfronts, street parking, the works. Welcome to small town USA. This is a shot of Weill Hall, which is the building for the Ford School of Public Policy
And turning 180degrees around, this is the view of the streets of Ann Arbor. Ok, I chose the shot which most represented my observations. =) There are better locales in Ann Arbor heh
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Great for a laugh!!!
Alright, the following website got me ROFLing a lot today... don't know why I happened to chance on it... (WARNING: Rated NC-16)
http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com
Read the blog comments, they are absolutely hilarious!
http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com
Read the blog comments, they are absolutely hilarious!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Original Borders!
Cool fact that you didn't know about Ann Arbor: Borders the bookstore opened its first branch in Ann Arbor, and it's spread all over the United States and ended up in Singapore as well. =)
Managed to buy a 27" TV for about $100, it's an old Sony with the curved screen. But I figured that it'll be a TV that I could sell for $20 at the end of the day and it wouldn't bother me at all. Unfortunately, carrying that damn TV from the Eclipse to the apartment gave me a massive backache... it still hurts when I try to get out of bed.
Also, I managed to buy a 1 month old PS3 from an american dude for the affordable sum of $385 USD (retail price is $499 USD). Great deal, I even have the receipt as proof. And the PS3 is something I can ship home to Singapore at the end of the study trip here.
School's started and it's been very interesting and stimulating. In particular, I'm taking a class on International Policy, which requires me to write and present an International Policy issue and discuss proposals to overcome it. Sounds a lot like work in IRAS, but on a much more macro scale. I'm also taking a class in Values, Ethics and Morals in Public Policy, which focuses on the softer, moralistic side of public policy. In essence, we ask ourselves questions on values and ethics: Should economic analysis be the only way in which public policies are evaluated? It's a good question to ask, seeing as how the Singapore public service bases a lot of its decisions on pure economic analysis.
With these classes come readings, a whole lot of readings. I think I'll be spending lots of time preparing for class, as opposed to actual homework. But it'll be fun, it's exactly what I need to jump start my brain again.
Managed to buy a 27" TV for about $100, it's an old Sony with the curved screen. But I figured that it'll be a TV that I could sell for $20 at the end of the day and it wouldn't bother me at all. Unfortunately, carrying that damn TV from the Eclipse to the apartment gave me a massive backache... it still hurts when I try to get out of bed.
Also, I managed to buy a 1 month old PS3 from an american dude for the affordable sum of $385 USD (retail price is $499 USD). Great deal, I even have the receipt as proof. And the PS3 is something I can ship home to Singapore at the end of the study trip here.
School's started and it's been very interesting and stimulating. In particular, I'm taking a class on International Policy, which requires me to write and present an International Policy issue and discuss proposals to overcome it. Sounds a lot like work in IRAS, but on a much more macro scale. I'm also taking a class in Values, Ethics and Morals in Public Policy, which focuses on the softer, moralistic side of public policy. In essence, we ask ourselves questions on values and ethics: Should economic analysis be the only way in which public policies are evaluated? It's a good question to ask, seeing as how the Singapore public service bases a lot of its decisions on pure economic analysis.
With these classes come readings, a whole lot of readings. I think I'll be spending lots of time preparing for class, as opposed to actual homework. But it'll be fun, it's exactly what I need to jump start my brain again.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
The Big House
Just attended my first big American Football game on Saturday at the UM Big House, which is THE largest football stadium in the US (about 107,000 capacity). The place is huge, and the atmosphere is electrifying. The guys here really love their sports and it shows.
Well, it would have been even more electrifying if we actually won. In what must have been the biggest upset in college football, the Michigan Wolverines were beaten by the Appalachian State Mountaineers 32-34. ASU is a division 1-AA team, which is the equivalent of a English Premier League Division 1 team, and UM is a ranked team, which like a premier league team. Totally heartbreaking and a terrible way to start the football season.
The weather yesterday was blazing hot as well.. didnt bring a cap or sunscreen, and I think I'm gonna end up with sunburn on the face and arms. Ouch. Lucky I have moisturizer to prevent the skin from peeling off, but it's still rather tender.
School starts this week, but it's the Labour Day holiday weekend now. Monday is Labour Day, so school officially starts on Tuesday. Enough spazzing around, time to get back into the swing of things =)
Well, it would have been even more electrifying if we actually won. In what must have been the biggest upset in college football, the Michigan Wolverines were beaten by the Appalachian State Mountaineers 32-34. ASU is a division 1-AA team, which is the equivalent of a English Premier League Division 1 team, and UM is a ranked team, which like a premier league team. Totally heartbreaking and a terrible way to start the football season.
The weather yesterday was blazing hot as well.. didnt bring a cap or sunscreen, and I think I'm gonna end up with sunburn on the face and arms. Ouch. Lucky I have moisturizer to prevent the skin from peeling off, but it's still rather tender.
School starts this week, but it's the Labour Day holiday weekend now. Monday is Labour Day, so school officially starts on Tuesday. Enough spazzing around, time to get back into the swing of things =)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
My Eclipse
Yes it's in silver, I really wanted black but it was out of stock. This particularly sweet looking coupe is the US-only Mitsubishi Eclipse 2007 model. Mitsubishi was having a 2007 clearance sale, and offered a factory rebate of $2k on the vehicle. On top of that, the dealer was eager to move units, so he also sold the vehicle at invoice price. And since he couldn't get me a black model, he threw in alloy wheel locks and an alloy fuel door for free.
Won't tell you how much I paid for it, but I love this car and it's really a car that I would never get to drive in Singapore. =)
Of course, there's all issues and concerns going around: Is it car thief target? Will your fellow students resent an Asian guy driving a coupe and vandalize it?
Frankly, I don't really care. I like this car, and I'm gonna keep driving it =)
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
There's something strange about coffee...
Today's blog will be on the wonderful world of coffee in America. Or more like, I don't understand why coffee prices are so weird here. For the record, I'm a serious coffee drinker, so the economics of coffee are important to me =)
Let's take a typical jar of Nescafe instant coffee, like the many many types of instant coffees you see in Singapore. Only in the US, instant coffee is considered a rarity; a luxury if you will. A 200g bottle of instant coffee costs a whopping $8... or about $12 SGD. Normal coffee prices for Nescafe deluxe in NTUC will only set you back $8 SGD.
In contrast, ground coffee, which is a rarity in Singapore, is the cheapest, most available coffee product in the US. I accidentally bought a 200g jug of ground coffee, for an amazing sum of $2.80 USD. Now, making coffee from ground coffee requires a fixed cost, which is the cost of the coffee machines, and they use drip coffee makers around these parts. An economical model will set you back about $18 USD.
Economically speaking, if you purchased a coffee machine and coffee grounds, you would potentially break even with the instant coffee option within 3 jars of instant coffee (3 months of consumption for me).
I would suppose that my research question would be: Why does instant coffee command a price premium in America? My suspicions are the cost of processing coffee in the US are much higher than those in South East Asia. Store space in the US is cheap as well, so manufacturers can offer big 500g tubs of ground coffee without significantly increasing the costs of stocking and displaying the product. (Approximately twice or three times the volume of ground coffee is required to produce the same amount of coffee as a teaspoon of instant).
What does this mean for the average lay coffee drinker in the US then? Buy a coffee machine, and buy coffee grounds. Instant is too expensive in the long run and not as tasty as freshly brewed coffee.
Let's take a typical jar of Nescafe instant coffee, like the many many types of instant coffees you see in Singapore. Only in the US, instant coffee is considered a rarity; a luxury if you will. A 200g bottle of instant coffee costs a whopping $8... or about $12 SGD. Normal coffee prices for Nescafe deluxe in NTUC will only set you back $8 SGD.
In contrast, ground coffee, which is a rarity in Singapore, is the cheapest, most available coffee product in the US. I accidentally bought a 200g jug of ground coffee, for an amazing sum of $2.80 USD. Now, making coffee from ground coffee requires a fixed cost, which is the cost of the coffee machines, and they use drip coffee makers around these parts. An economical model will set you back about $18 USD.
Economically speaking, if you purchased a coffee machine and coffee grounds, you would potentially break even with the instant coffee option within 3 jars of instant coffee (3 months of consumption for me).
I would suppose that my research question would be: Why does instant coffee command a price premium in America? My suspicions are the cost of processing coffee in the US are much higher than those in South East Asia. Store space in the US is cheap as well, so manufacturers can offer big 500g tubs of ground coffee without significantly increasing the costs of stocking and displaying the product. (Approximately twice or three times the volume of ground coffee is required to produce the same amount of coffee as a teaspoon of instant).
What does this mean for the average lay coffee drinker in the US then? Buy a coffee machine, and buy coffee grounds. Instant is too expensive in the long run and not as tasty as freshly brewed coffee.
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