‘Detoxification’ at the gym

By Shilpa Ramesh Vaswani, Indian, Intake Class of 2012

As I walked alongside the lush foliage across campus and felt the soothing evening breeze of Singapore refreshing me with its gentle blow, I thought to myself, “Where did the first trimester go!” I was headed to the gym, after an intense two week span of mid-terms, to debit my much deserved leisure and credit my study time liability for later (let’s blame that random analogy to the mid-terms)!

A dig in the soccer pit with the women’s varsity football team as amazing as it was intense. It brought back so many memories (I love football!) and I loved the fact that the team is open to integrate with passionate football lovers and not just ‘professionals’! With all due love for the affiliation to the team, I couldn’t wait to hit the treadmill and make use of the amazing gymnasium equipment. The Sports and Recreation Center (SRC) offers a football arena, a synthetic track field, tennis courts, indoor as well as outdoor basketball and badminton courts, a refreshing pool and two remarkable gymnasiums. The walk towards the place is refreshing in itself; watching individuals play their hearts out, and realizing how an effortless drag to the SRC and a little bit of sports,  can be such a radiantly enhancing experience on campus! I stopped by to grab a Gatorade at the much revered 24 hour convenience store in the area (how cool is our campus)!

I got digressed from my walk towards the gym, and got pulled towards the basketball court. I had the opportunity to watch and somehow experience the NTU women’s basketball team in full action, who stood victorious as they literally thrashed the opposing team with their consistent rain of shots made. I almost felt like I bled NTU and was so proud of the series of 3-pointers that shot up OUR score!

After much digression, I finally hit the treadmill – upbeat, with an electrifying bhangra, (a popular lively fusion of traditional North Indian Punjabi and Western pop, hip-hop, house and reggae music), playlist on my shuffle, de-stressed, rejuvenated, fulfilled, content, and liberated… Bhangra is always great for an energetic exercise regimen. The sports streak in me was alive again and I don’t think the NTU SRC amenities will let it fade. As I ran at a speed of 10.2, I watched my neighbor running at least 15 and thought to myself, ‘This is risky but will definitely yield a high return in terms of calories burnt and less guilt while munching on French fries’ – I’m telling you, it’s the mid-terms!

 

Celebrating Mexican culture – in Singapore

 

By Manuel Salgado, Mexican

One of the goals was finally met. After several cultural events that showcased interesting facts about diverse cultures that form the Nanyang MBA, from the tasty Korean BBQ, Chinese full-of-lights Mid-Autumn festival, the very rhythmical Indian Bollywood dance, or the traditional songs of ‘German’ Christmas, it was time for the Mexican MBA students, like me to share a little about our culture.

The excuse was perfect: September 16th 2012, the 202th anniversary of the Mexican Independence Day, is around the corner. With a short time for preparation but the best efforts, myself and Allan Perez (Mexican, Exchange Student from EGADE MBA), organised a party gathering among senior students (graduating batch) and new cohort and also with the Exchange Students. The reception to this party was very good as the slots were full in only a couple of days. For me and Allan, the celebration was indeed the best opportunity not only to show a little about our culture, but also to thank all the support and kindness we have received from our Singaporean and foreign colleagues over all.

More than 40 of us, a very diverse group, attended the fiesta (or feast in English!): Singaporeans, Filipino, French, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, German, American, Spanish, among other nationalities. The first surprise they encountered was the possibility to adopt a Mexican Name.  John Rae Philip (Filipino) and Martin Schmidt (Austrian, Nanyang- St. Gallen Double Masters) helped the visitors pick their name based in the translation or adopt one that they liked. They provided a Certificate of Name Adoption to each of the attendees. For example, Hao Wu (Chinese, Nanyang Essec Double Masters) decided to pick Señor Gabriel, which is the name of one of the archangels that he likes.  Harutaka Ichinoki (Japanese,) chose Don José as it is easy to remember.

After the name adoption, participants indulged in Mexican food and beverages. For beverages, it was possible to try Michelada, a beer cocktail that includes lemon, salt, Maggie sauce and chili. For food, they tried Carne Asada (roasted beef) with Tortilla, a combination more popularly known as Taco in Mexico, the most popular food. They had the possibility to accompany the food with a large selection of salsas, from non-spicy to very spicy, and of course, including in that selection the famous avocado sauce, Guacamole. Our Vegetarian peers had also the chance to try dishes that did not include meat.

Tortilla chips, quesadillas and chicharron (fried pork skins!) were also part of the celebration. Some of our classmates were decisive and willing to help out- Steven Quimby (American) and Jaewon Park (Korean) provided a key support in the grill section and showed their BBQ expertise.

For the event closure, two (2) traditional Piñatas were brought in and those who wish to play this game were blindfolded and asked to hit the Piñata with a stick. The reward, when the Piñata was hit and broken is an avalanche of assorted candies- we had fun as we competed among ourselves to try to get as much as possible. Vida Zhou (Chinese,) and Aditi Jain (Indian,) were the first ones brave enough to try the Piñata. Overall, we have fun during this enjoyable evening- eat, chat and play while celebrating Mexican culture. Viva Mexico!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's me in action.

 

 

 

 

End-of-Midterms Celebration

By Bodi Yuhico, Philippines

Most of us from the Nanyang MBA Class of 2012-2013 completed our final midterm test one Sunday morning. When the clock struck 12 noon, it was a symbolic moment for the entire cohort for three reasons:

1)     The end of the midterm exams

2)     The end of the first half of Trimester 1

3)     The beginning of the ExCo’s first social activity for the batch!

Filled with much gusto and excitement, our ragged group of some 50 MBA participants moved from LT27A to our own place, The NANYANG MBA lounge. There were a lot of foods: from sushi to sandwiches to pastries. As we entered the lounge, we noticed not only food, but also the projector was set up with the newly bought karaoke (that famous Japanese contribution for “sing-along” ) machine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To kick things off on the right mood, Andy Kim, President of the Nanyang MBA Student Executive Council, thanked everyone for coming, and then proceeded to serenade the batch with his rendition of ‘Uptown Girl’. Not bad for a singing prexy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also wished and sang happy birthday songs to the September celebrants: Indonesian Satria Krisnandi, Peter Ho, Indian Sunny Arora, and Canadian Jake Hason. Sadly, the lovely French Florence Roncalez wasn’t able to join!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so, with all that done, it was time to mingle! With Filipino John Rae facilitating the karaoke machine with aspiring singers, the rest of the group of full-timers and part-timers spent time  socializing.

It was indeed the end of the first half of the trimester, and for many participants,  it felt it went by so fast. It ended on a day usually reserved for rest(Sunday), a day typically considered in some cultures as the end of the week, and in some cultures as the start of the week. And that, in essence, was what the End of Midterms Celebration symbolized: the end of the midterms and the first half of the semester, and yet the start of many other new firsts.

Congratulations to a job well done to everyone in the cohort making the ExCo’s first social activity a success! And looking forward to more!