Inside the London MBA

Gelato Mio Grand Opening

Last week was the grand opening of Gelato Mio, the first outlet of this new chain of gelato stores. What's so special about that? Well that is a London Business School MBA2009 and his wife MIFFT2008 who are starting that business! You have probably read on that blog that the 1st year of the MBA (especially the autumn term) is quite busy and that the fulltime master in finance programme is too. That is entirely true, so that shows you how determined these 2 students (namely Carlo and Simone) are! On the video you see the outcome and how successful the opening was, but what is not shown is how much time has been spent on studying the market, defining the project, financing it, finding a strategic location, bidding and negociating for a lease, registering to the local authorities, finding a chef, arranging the supply chain, advertising,... All that knowing that before September, neither Carlo nor Simone lived in London!
And now you're saying "Enough, enough, you're gonna make me cry. This is just another ice cream shop, it's never gonna work in London". Well that would be a big mistake. It's not icecream, it's gelati (Carlo explains the difference very well on the video) and it tastes damn good.
On the day it was open gelato bar from 2-5 PM, so needless to say I took the opportunity to try a few flavours (out of the 20+ available). And they are damn good, hard to say which one is best. I would shortlist pistacchio and hazzelnut though. When you go there, you have to try at least one of these.
For those of you who are going to the Notting Hill Carnaval (the day before school starts!) get off the tube at Holland Park, take a right and walk for 2 minutes, you're there! And don't forget to ask for a loyalty card, you will need one!

Homestretch

Only two weeks remain in the first year of our MBA. I could tell you how fast it went, but my writing wouldn’t do justice to how amazingly quickly it’s all flown by. This term has been (unexpectedly) hectic, though things have calmed down since MBAT. People are finding time to relax, travel and enjoy London before internships start.

Tonight, I’m off to a networking event with the Young President’s Organization, which promises to be good times. 60 students interested in entrepreneurship and 60 CEOs/entrepreneurs get matched up, broken down into small groups, and sent to various fancy restaurants around London for dinner, before reconvening at a hotel party (after which is possibly the hotel lobby). All I have to do is to figure out what “smart casual” means.

Next weekend is Admits weekend, which, if you’re going, you should be excited for. I had a great time last year and met a lot of people, some of whom became flatmates, groupmates and good friends. Oh, and you’ll learn some about the school too. I’ll be around, so hope to meet some of you there.

Mountain Biking Around London

Yesterday I took a 4-hr mountain biking course for beginners with Surrey Hills. The place is a two-hour drive away though only fifty miles from St. John's Wood. There are bikes and relevant gear (helmet, gloves and water bottle) for rent thus it seemed all quite easy. I got no pictures but promise the forest was beautiful and the trails challenging. I learnt a few basic maneuvers (e.g. moving along the bike, braking, corners) which I tried to set in practice unsuccessfully, evidenced by my biggest fall ever. Fortunately I came out in a reasonable shape though not spotless. I strongly recommend the experience but definitely upon practice in easier terrain and preferably on your own bike.

Brighton Half-Marathon

Yesterday, I ran the Sussex Beacon Half-Marathon in Brighton in 2:05hrs. The race and the city were a great experience and strongly recommend it. Leaving at 07:11hrs from London Bridge at 0 C was odd but by the start of the race (09:45hrs), the weather was much better, even sunny. The run was pleasant: through the city and then along the beach. I stayed at the New Steine Hotel (a few steps from the start of the race and from the beach), went to the pier and ate tasty Thai food. I really liked Brighton - so different from London: small and quiet and yet, a great quality experience and only an hour away!

The last laps of the MBA

Everytime someone has asked me "how is it going?" in recent weeks, I have had pretty much the same thought. This is a great time in the MBA for most second year students. Things seem a lot more relaxed now and most of us are beggining to plan our breaks and our future months in London or wherever we are going to be working post MBA. The typical subjects are:

-start dates i.e. when we all go back to corporate life

-future housing - for those staying in London this is probably a big one because staying around school, although very attractive has the huge downside of being expensive

-the big break

I have been planning my holiday for the last few weeks and we have shortlisted a few candidates. Luckily staying in London gets you close to so many great destinations that we are spoilt with choice. We pondered over Costa Rica for weeks but then had to drop it for multiple reasons. We have now set sights on Africa.

A few of us decided to scout around some burbs for future accomodation. We ended up picking Hampstead for our first outing. Of course we ended up not seeing any flats because the ladies decided to go shopping on the high street. We were also blessed with the opportnuity to eat the best Crepes ever, See attached pic for proof. This place has been serving crepes in Hampstead for 40 years and the awards they have received are well justified.

One other thing many of us are looking forward to is the upcoming Portugal trip. We will be going there with the Portuguese club in March. It's a shame that I missed most of the cool trips that happened in the first year. But I was determined to go for at least one such trip before graduating.

Anyways, It has already become very evident that this time is going to be severely missed and I want to make the most of it while I can.

A Tennis Experience at Regent's Park

Today I played tennis for the first time, at the Regent's Park Tennis Centre, for only £6.5/hr. Not sure this is a good or a bad price but I had a great time. I also enrolled in formal tennis lessons (6x1-hr lessons for £72 for the very beginners) and will attend on Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:00pm. I hope it is a good experience while I get out of the running shoes, for a change. I took a picture with the freezing ducks in the lake.

Santa Pub Crawl 2007

The fall term might still be in its last gasps, but the partying has already begun. I attended one of the great London Business School traditions this past Saturday - the Santa Pub Crawl. A night of 400+ students dressed in Santa outfits, spreading merriment, bewilderment and various other 'ments around the streets and bars of London. Other than a few traumatized children, a great time was had by all. I somehow managed to come home sans any remnants of my Santa costume (disclaimer: Santa costumes worn over regular clothes), so I can only hope it was given a good home/burial.

But enough talk, I'll let the pictures below do the 'splainin. Preparation for next term's job search begins now, and on top of the clubs, event planning and competitions I'm involved with, time is scarce. Conventional wisdom says I should probably study for my accounting exam too.

Thanks to Mike O. for the pics and for bringing sexy back.

Diwali - the festival of light and fireworks!!

Yesterday, as with most days at London Business School, I discovered yet more about the culture of my fellow class-mates and had the honour of sharing the Diwali celebrations with the India Club.

Following a "swift-half" in the Windsor with a few friends it was off to get my Diwali armband (something to do with licensing laws...) and sit down for the dinner. A feast of Indian food was accompanied by bread, samosas, a plentiful supply of wine and some great company.

We followed this with the real festival of light a.k.a around half an hour of fantastic fireworks and the opportunity to test the "firework" setting on my camera, which I hope you will agree, resulted in some fantastic photos (see below).

The evening was rounded off with some amazing Bollywood style dancing, a VIP from the film industry (I have forgotten even though I probably should remember) and then the floor opened up for the rest of us to bust a few moves!

All in all a fantastic night and yet another reason to come to such an international school :o)

Another weekend has flown by

Our weekends begin on Thursday afternoon, when our Economics professor sends us off at twelve noon.

Thursday lunches are for practicing Mandarin - I've started a series of lunches where native speakers are volunteering to coach those want to improve their conversational skills (strangely enough, I'm the only ethnic Chinese taking this course). I spent the afternoon working on the finance assignment and catching up with a friend over hot chocolate at The Windsor. Met with a group to discuss possibly joining the JP Morgan Good Venture competition. Ran late to meet another friend for tea in the Quad before he went off for the full-time AT Kearney dinner event. Attended the Alumni in Consulting event feeling cynical about the profession, but coming out in the end inspired by the passion and energy of some of them. Home late and hungry again.

Friday, up early for the Women in Business Conference - more inspiration from Entrepreneurs and CSR sessions - plus plenty of good take-aways from the Fashion workshop. Acting class. A couple of Guinesses at Sundowners. Then running off to the National Film Theater to catch the London Film Festival (and shamefully consuming McDs on the way). Home late, not so hungry and exhausted.

Saturday morning was meant to be easy before I meet two friends (a Croatian 08er, and my Estonian former flatmate from Delhi) at the Interdependence Day event at The Royal Geographic Society. But then got a spur-of-the-moment invitation for brunch at Le Pain Quotidien to celebrate the sunny weather. After the seminars: Starbucks at Knightsbridge; minor window-shopping to put the business fashion skills to practice. Then back at Baker Street to meet others for the Navratri event in Chiswick. Wiki says:

Navratri (Sanskrit:नवरात्रि) is a Hindu festival of worship and dance. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit; Nava - Nine and Ratri - nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti (metaphor for goddess Durga ) i.e. female divinity are worshipped.Navratri (Sanskrit:नवरात्रि) is a Hindu festival of worship and dance. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit; Nava - Nine and Ratri - nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti (metaphor for goddess Durga ) i.e. female divinity are worshipped.

So dance the night away we did indeed.  

...till 1am. Home with friends at 2. Chatted over midnight snack and a glass of wine till 3:30. Pass out.

There was no way I was going to make it to football practice at 10 on Sunday. Got a call asking where everyone else was anyhow. Finally arose out of bed at noon. Made pasta for lunch. Touched base with team at 2. Read through my pigeon hole mail in the sunny quad - played with the daughter of one of the Japanese 09s. She's quickly learning more and more English. Dove into the computer lab to upload photos and finish Finance and Accounting reading. Greet the same familiar faces. Hour-long tea break on Baker Street as everything else around campus is closed on Sundays. Pass a djembe class in the Fairbairn room. Back to basement to finish Accounting and reward myself by allowing time to blog. I promise myself I will give myself enough time to cook the spinach in the fridge and be in bed tonight by midnight.

TATTOO!!!!!

So my fellow bloggers have been asking me where I have been.....'off the blog scene' for a week or so I say but this is a tactical maneouvre on my part! Why? Because I wanted to be the first to blog about this year's amazing international multi-cultural event that is TATTOO!

So what is it?

1. An amazing multi-cultural show with representatives from dozens of countries all over the world
2. An opportunity to experience the national dress, traditions, food and entertainment of 50+ nations
3. A chance to learn all about your business school class-mates and see them in their own cultural surroundings
4. The best deal in London - £15 for an all-you-can-eat international buffet and booze cruise!

This year we were entertained by two student bands, a mariachi group, flamenco dancers, gypsy musicians, samba dancers, indian music and dance......the list truly goes on and I could not do justice to all the entertainment that was laid on for our delight in this short blog - you will just have to come to next year's event or check out the photos which I am sure will start appearing on the school website soon...

For my own cultural stall (the Great Britain and Ireland club) we had a combination of 'toffs' and 'chavs' as well as some good ol' english grub - fish & chips, sausage & mash and the ever-popular cream teas. We discovered that for next years event we will go heavy on the cream teas and light on the fish & chips. Even if the most popular of our national foods was the sweet, it was good to have people coming back for more and telling us it was the best dessert they had ever tasted.

Oh and to top off the evening England won the rugby as well!!! All in all a great night for all :o)

Why did you choose London Business School?.....

......the question I heard most during the 'Ambassador Tours' I did this weekend for the Open House Event at the school.

Open House Events

I was asked (very nicely) by someone from the Admissions Committee if I would not mind helping out on a Saturday lunchtime, showing prospective students around the school campus. I deliberated, wondered if I had space in my schedule, then realised that free lunch and beers in the Windsor were the highly prized award - SOLD! On a more serious note, I actually did want to get the chance to take people around MY school, somewhere I am proud of, and have the opportunity to chat in real terms as to why I chose the school over my other choices.

So we toured the campus and I was indeed bombarded by a number of questions from eager students, wanting to discover the 'real deal' about the school, the MBA programme and the reasons of a bona fide student for choosing the 'London Advantage'. I was somewhat surprised at some of the questions and when asked what the school indemnity policy was ("should I fall out of a library window or something"!!) politely pointed I was merely a glorified tour guide, moving on quickly to talk about my own spin on why London Business School is the best 'fit ' for me:

1. I personally believe it is the only top tier school that really does manage to get the right 'work hard/play 
    hard' balance and enables its students to develop a capture on work/life balance from the start.

2. The international diversity really IS a unique selling point over the US equivalent and as a Brit I am
    genuinely an 'ethnic minority' for the first time in my own country! There is not another school in the
    world that can claim to have 91% international diversity in terms of the host country whilst still managing
    to be located in one of the key cities in the world....plenty of European schools obviously have a great
    international mix but very few of these can boast a 2 year program OR major city anywhere nearby.

3. The students, school and staff do not take themselves too seriously and everyone knows exactly what a
    great brand London Business School without needing to 'sell' the school at every opportunity. It is a
    great place to learn, an amazing community to be a part of and an AWESOME place to socialise!

4.   Top MBA + London life + Great People = A Fantastic Experience......enough said I feel

Now before anyone reading this writes to the Admissions Committee asking how much I am being paid to put this stuff in my blog, I want to point out we are given a completely free reign when blogging and all of the above has been extracted from the dark recesses of my brain....I am a pretty honest type of bloke, and certainly not afraid to speak my mind when something does not work (as BT customer services will tell you!) but it just happens that the school has got it right and I am happy to have no gripes at this point.

So if you really want to know why people choose the school just pop along and ask us - the great thing about having such a diverse mix of people is that everyone will have a slightly different spin on it. The only real way to find out the 'weighted average' of opinions is to keep asking as many London MBAs as you can get your hands on and then read the reviews....that is what I did and can happily say it was 100% the right choice for me.

Roll on the 'London Advantage Oktoberfest' next weekend and please remember if you are going to attend an event that I happen to be doing tours at, I know NOTHING about indemnity or insurance!!!!

Enjoy these links and if you feel London is right for you then we hope to see some of around NW1!

FT MBA Rankings

London Business School News

Wikipedia - London Business School 

Sore body and a full stomach

Yesterday, my Spanish flatmate D was singing Manu Chao’s Me Gustas Tu and since our American flatmate hadn’t heard of him, we let him listen to it (from my ipod) and showed him a video from his Mano Negra times. Seeing a young boy dancing on the video reminded me of the girl from Madonna’s Hung Up video. And this in turn had me jumping up and down to the beats, ready for a run – or better yet, for yoga. I was told that Triyoga in Primrose Hill was where Madonna goes for yoga so I looked their schedule up and found a Yoga 1 course at 15:00.

Invited my best friend to come along (she has been battling allergies all week). I ran to campus to pick up my bike and we cycled to the studio – one of my new favorite places in London.

A cute café up front, smells of incense, warm wood floors and furnishing, and racks of super-high-quality yogawear. 20% student discount. Yeah. Mats, polsters and blocks were all provided in each room. The main one had a little stage up front for the instructor, and colorful window panes. Sunshine pouring in cheerfully. I hadn’t done yoga in over 3 months, except for the Kundalini session I went with S to at the International Youth Hostel last week. It was wonderful to feel the down and up dog stretches again – building up the heat through deep breathing and holding simple poses. I’m plenty sore today.

Heavy drinking before and during our Karaoke session at LuckyVoice might’ve added to the pain.

Now though, my stomach is happy – full of a wonderful Chinese lunch-dinner and mooncakes organized by a Singaporean and a Malaysian to celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. The best part was debating over the "right" versions of the holiday legends. Apparently my versions have been Americanized.

Little Hanoi

One of the best things about London that I have discovered is that one can be in this city but at the same time experience a slice of life (and a pint of the local brew) from almost any culture or civilisation in the modern world.

This was a long weekend and that too a badly planned one. The weather was nice, mostly sunny, my Indian bones weren't chilling and would have been the perfect occassion to have planned a trip to the continent or at least to some place outside of London. Since the realisation dawned only about Saturday evening leaving me with not much time to venture out of the city, a fellow foodie and I embarked upon a project to make the most of what remained of the weekend and to try out some unusual cuisine, the choice for the evening being, Vietnamese.

We went to a place called Little Hanoi (about a 15 minute walk from Bank Station), where the main street is lined with Vietnamese restaurants on both sides, offering a wide variety of Vietnamese cuisine at very affordable rates (read student rates). We chose a place called Cafe Vietnam (or thereabouts) and plunged into ordering roast duck, beef noodles, chicken starters (some form of chicken wings) and my favourite part, Bia Hue! Even though my friend seemed to have enjoyed the food greatly, I am afraid I preferred the Bia Hue! It's in these moments that I tell myself, that it is often not the destination (here, liking or not liking the food) but the journey (the experience of trying out new things) that matters. [In case you would like some more follow-on on this line of profundity, do make it a point to read Ithaca by Constantine P. Cavafy.]

We then went on to Oxford circus (or was it Picadilly) and walked around looking for the Haagen Dazs store - what better way than to wrap up a big meal with some Belgian dark chocolate ice cream. We couldn't find the store and I had to come back home, to crash into bed and into deep slumber, dreaming of the cup of belgian...

It was a great evening, despite the chopsticks playing truant (and moi having to use a random, often messy combination of forks and fingers!) and I intend to make a habit of trying out a new cuisine and explore a new part of the city every weekend that I am in London.

Planning ahead

I just bought my ticket home to Houston. Four-hundred and fifty pounds. It’s not so much the money that has me torn inside, but the indecision on what I want to do with those precious 3 weeks over the holidays. There were just too many options.

- Treks with classmates to the Middle East, Africa, or South America, for me to finally make it to those regions of the globe
- Spending time with alumni and contacts in China to get a better foothold there for possible summer internship leads
- Backpacking anywhere with a old friend
- Doing smaller trips in and around Great Britain and Continental Europe
- Getting ready for the milk round (not!)

Okay okay, those were the options because in reality, the most important thing for me over winter holidays is to be home with family. Sometimes I think the reason why I’ve been able to handle being nomadic for the last several years is because I still have home base waiting for me. I know that my thirteen cousins will all reconvene for xmas dinner – whether or not we do it for religious reasons.

So yes, this Christmas season, like every year (except for the year I spent in India), I will be shopping with my younger brother and sister for presents, wrapping them up at the last minute. I will be having a bowl of Vietnamese beef noodle soup (phô) the afternoon I land home. I will be staying up till morning playing uno (house rules) with my cousins. I will be home for just a few weeks of the year, but I’ll be home.

(Perhaps, very indicative to my choice for work-life balance... can I really handle the consulting world?)

Help....I am trapped in the Windsor Castle!!!

Now I don't want to alarm anyone here, so I will point out straight away that we fortunate few at London Business School have our very own 'Windsor Castle', the spiritual home of the MBA 2009s for the past few weeks and a great asset to the school community. Although not 'officially' part of the campus, the fact that we have our own secret entrance into the pub through the back and have a 'welcome' sign that actually sits on the wall within the courtyard that borders the school, I think technically we could say the pub is on our campus! The Windsor provides a very homely surrounding for us newbies and a place where you can almost guarantee seeing one or more class-mates after a hard day or week, sinking a few cold 'Maisel Weiss' German beers and chatting about the previous few days.....

Friday was our final day of UGM - Understanding General Management, and as a Pass/Fail course we were fortunate enough to be fairly confident that without any real shockers the vast majority of us will have passed comfortably. We had a couple of rather interesting assignments over the week (it is weird to be having homework again having spent the last seven years doing a 'proper' job) including describing our 'dream' job and also writing our own eulogy. The latter assignment might be considered a bit morbid by some and so we were given the option to write our retirement speech instead. It was very interesting to see the correlation between the dream job and eulogy in some cases and the divergence in others. Conceptually some of us are here to find the dream job that will also be part of our life path (myself included in this group) whilst others are fairly sure they wish their 'job' and 'life' to be two separate entities. Either way it was very interesting to see how our minds our working already and even more interesting to find a future potential 'Governor of Mars' in our class!!

So with a slight edge of confidence (we have not found out if we have actually passed yet!) my 'stream' caught up in the Windsor for a few hard earned beers, settled down to watch the rugby, and despite my home team getting a thrashing from South Africa the atmosphere was enough to temper my disappointment and make the evening pass away without so much as a tear....

The fact that the landlord lost a bet on the score and was serving free pints to those of us lucky enough to be in the rugby club did help :o)

So here it is...the mighty, the wonderful, 'Windsor':





     Windsor Castle Pub, Park Road





Next time you fancy a pint on Park Road make sure to come by and if you can find me amongst the throng of MBAs I might even shout you a pint of Maisel Weiss!

Prelude to Loving London

I cannot even pretend that I am well traveled but I have been a few places and seen a few things. But the excitement has never been quite as palpable as at the time of my move to London. Yes, I am excited about escaping from the corporate jungle (albeit for a few months) into a safe and seemingly carefree student life, but I am more excited about ‘being a student in London’. I have read tomes on ‘The London Experience’ and now it’s my turn to get the proverbial ‘piece of the action’!

I have always wanted to stand at Piccadilly Circus in front of the statue of Eros and experience what it feels like to be standing at the center of civilization! On the quite not so dramatic a note, I am excited about the visiting the usual tourist attractions such as St Paul’s, Madame Tussaud’s, the National Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum but at the same time, I also want to explore the quieter side of London, away from the maddening crowds and look forward to long walks at the many London greens. I look forward to attending the ‘Proms’ at the Royal Albert Hall or catching the occasional performance at the Royal Opera House. And while I take in the operatic extravaganzas of London, I look forward to ‘meeting’ the ghosts of Arthur Bourchier and Violet Melnotte at the Garrick and Duke of York theatres! And almost as soon as I reach London, it will be time for the Notting Hill festival and Indian Summers at the Regent’s Street Festival and I am invited! I look forward to losing myself in the Virgin and HMV stores and while I am enjoying my Parmesan ham sandwich and hot chocolate at Café Nero, I hope to catch, if only a fleeting glimpse of some of the iconoclastic music legends of our times. In short, I want to experience the London, which is a unique amalgamation of rich culture and heritage with modernity and cosmopolitanism. Needless to say, I look forward to ‘testing waters’ at the many pubs and watering holes in London and at the end of two years aim to be a quotable authority on the subject!

While I eagerly wait to ‘drink in’ these experiences, I know that it is the company of the friends I will make at School, which will make these experiences richer. I look forward to forging some lifelong friendships and earning membership to a closely-knit network across the globe – a home in every country represented in class, a network that would have started in London.

London, here I come!

Transitioning to Student Life

As one of my flatmates and I discuss the merits of buying reduced price sandwiches at Tesco (soon to be expired food items get incrementally marked down as the day wears on), the reality of being a student again sets in. Sure, the stack of binders on my desk, the looming case study, stats homework, language test and business communications presentation might be better clues, but somehow those seem less visceral than devouring 50p sandwiches in a luxury flat in Fitzrovia. Penny-wise, pound-foolish, as the Brits say. Mom would be so proud.

Seemingly in recognition of our newfound plight, preparation for the all-important "Milk round" (recruiting season) has begun. We’ve started the process of overhauling our CVs a full one week into the term, and London Business School has been kind enough to provide us with personal coaches, who will help us hone our one page wonders for our targeted career path. My study group has also chosen to meet and dissect each other’s CVs, tightening up the language and content based on the advice we received. Results so far have been very encouraging. As the balance of this year’s tuition comes due in a few weeks, it’s programs like these, among many, many others (that I’m sure will be expounded upon here), that will make writing that check a little less painful.

And this is how it begins...

7:30 Wake up in the midst of a warm new duvet
8:20 Leave home, bike to school
8:40 Lock up, dart to locker to pick up name plate
8:45 Business Stats lecture
10:30 First break, grab a cup of hot water for my green tea. Chat with stream-mates about Stream B Pub Crawl next night - and how it might clash with drinks with the new Dean. Head back to Stats.
11:45 Lunch break. Look for a fork for my homemade stir-fry noodle lunch. Eat in the quad with classmates in the sun that still lingers.
12:30 Head to stats tutorial sessions.
14:00 To the computer lab for the stat excel workshops. Check emails and invite other stream members to our Pub Crawl. (Informally known as the Pub Crawl Crashers)
15:30 Have a quick "coffee" break in the quad.
15:45 Programme collaboration briefing. Content is a bit dry but G makes it fun.
16:30 Quickly check emails and online errands.
17:30 GLDP Briefing. Room is full. Good to see people from other streams, will miss that. Work on some Chinese character memorization.
18:00 Search from Singaporean restaurant with Chinese-Indian F. Give up search and settle for yin-yang fried rice, which turns out to be quite a good portion to share.
18:55 Rush to Women in Business intro meeting. Impressed with their research initiatives. Chat over the quiche about hiring practices and maternity leave laws between different countries.
20:35 Realize that I've got two missed calls from the same strange number. Turns out to be an old Chinese-Brasilian friend passing through London for an interview.
20:50 Read cases for Understanding General Management.
21:30 Bike home.
21:45 Finally attach the front headlight to the bike. Porter claims I'm hiding from him.
22:00 Home. Laugh with flatmates about youtube videos. (I think I'm the serious one out of the three)
22:45 Blog. On standby for drinks with friend passing through...

R mentioned that if ones schedule isn't like this...  precious time here is being wasted.

Around the neighborhood

After the first day of real class: Business Stat - I flew home (by bike of course, easily escaping the tube strike that started today) and picked up my dry cleaning (26 pounds for three pieces) and picked out a new orange phone - which they have back order on - I should really just go to another store that has what I want. Orange closes at 6pm. After a quick ramen noodle dinner - with gyoza, organic lettuce and an egg on top (my mouth is becoming parched now) - I walked to argos, which, along with everything else on the swiss cottage high street, closes at 6pm, except for the family owned hardware store, which closes at 7pm. What's left open are relatively cheap HK chinese, thai and indian restaurants for which I've picked up take out menus for - and will probably never use. Taking a loop around the area, I passed by a nice, swanky singaporean place which has a 15 pound minimum for free delivery. It's nestled in between some up market furniture places like ligne roset (which I will forever remember passing everyday I drove home from work in Graz) and bo concept. I kept going and passed a cute little Korean hair salon - Ho hair - 30 pounds a cut and style. I might come here for the sake of supporting local businesses.

Then up a block of row houses and on the corner opposite the waitrose which is under construction are two competing small supermarkets: one korean, open till 9; and one japanese, open till 8; both open on sundays. There are tasty looking eel rice boxes, and individually wrapped nigiri sushi in the fridge. As well as a small selection of medium to high end sake, and a section for green tea and buckwheat soba. Oh, and I finally found that black sesame flavored pocky sticks: 2 pound 58. Maybe I'll save those purchases for a dinner party - when I really want to impress someone with my pan-seared tuna steak and wasabi sauce dish. The fish shop is parallel to St. John's High Street and I haven't checked what time it closes yet.
The internet cafe next to the high end fairfax kitchen store opens and closes, it seems, whenever they feel like it - but they've got a fast connection and it's a five minute walk from home. Only, when I sat down, I realized that I had left my USB stick in the reception room next to the MBA office. Might as well go home and pick up my laptop and go to campus to retrieve it. The ride back and forth is getting easier - I've found a way to go home along regent's park to avoid making a right turn at the weird roundabout at the top of park road.

I like it here when it's quiet and peaceful. It will continue to get busier and busier as the year goes on. At some point, I imagine myself camping here...

It was a bit noisy downstairs...

... as the neighbours were hosting a party in the street all day. That was part of the Notting Hill Carnival of course which I saw the first day only this year, Sunday 26th: children's day. It's actually not that bad as the parade is really professional and the streets a little less crowded, but still the same amount of music and yummy chicken.
Monday was still a bank holiday but also the MBA kick off. Not sure whether that should be considered the first week really as it was more about knowing each other as well as the programme for the upcoming two years. One of the activities I really liked that week was when all nationality groups (we're 58 nationalities this year by the way) had to put together a 2 minute introduction about its culture and anything the others should know about it without probably knowing. The Germans won the contest, they really deserved it as they were pretty imaginative.
The week literally flew by: barbecues, pubs, parties, briefings,... A very good induction before the month of September which should take us one step closer to the actual back to school period and the challenging mix of academics and student associations starting with autumn term!

Preparing for the Start of the Term

Alternate title: "The Ongoing Destruction of my Liver." I'm about to head off to the fifth night of the Flathunter's Pub Crawl, a two week long party that is designed to meet flatmates and share advice. Finding a flat and moving in seems to be foremost on everyone's minds right now, although, after a few hours, the next round of drinks seems to work its way to the top of the list.

I am lucky enough to have already found flatmates and a place, however, my mind won't be at ease until I am physically lying in my new bed. Living in a hotel may contribute to my Hollywood-like image, but it is certainly not the most economical way to carry on.

Most other preparation, for me, revolves around getting situated in London and the UK. Trying to look the right way before crossing a street, trying to keep my mouth from being agape when bills come, trying to improve my umbrella unfurling speed, etc.

As someone who has moved around a lot, this currently just feels like another move; the reality of me being in a classroom soon has yet to fully sink in. After meeting many of my new classmates, and tasting a bit of London, however, I am excited to embark on this new journey.

Chat online with Manish and David Simpson, Associate Dean, MBA Programme

Chat online with David Simpson, Associate Dean, MBA Programme, and Manish Gajria, MBA2008 and MBA blogger, on Wednesday 25 July, noon (New York), 17.00 (London), 21.30 (Mumbai).

Join this BusinessWeek.com hosted live event and put your questions to Manish and David about everything from campus culture and living in London, to admissions requirements and the essays that make the Admission’s Committee stand up and take note.

For full details on how to take part visit the BusinessWeek.com website.
The event starts at 17.00 London time.

View the transcripts from previous events.

Marathon Mishap

Last Sunday was London Marathon day. I set off on the familiar route to the start line at Greenwich and I thought I was set for a good finish time. The training had been injury free and smoother than any previous year I have competed.

Then the ultra reliable London Transport system failed and I was stuck 3 miles from the start line. The only alternative rail route would have guaranteed getting to the start late. So, together with hunders of other runners, I walked the last few miles in a desperate bid to get to the start. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at the start area the place was a ghost town. Still cursing the docklands railway I started the marathon.

I spent the next 2 hours weaving between people dressed in Rhino suits or as Rupert the Bear in a deperate bid to get ahead. It got me nowhere. I did 5 miles at 12 minute mile pace. This was very frustrating and by now I was cursing the DLR and the London Marathon organisers. Eventually, I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to break away from the crowds and tried to enjoy the festivities that surround the marathon. The support from the crowds was phenomenal. I finished eventually in 3.56.

I was cheered on Monday by being accepted on the international exchange programme. I managed to secure a place at Berkeley HAAS for one semester next year. Since the start of the MBA, I have realised that my lack of international experience really stands out amongst my peers. This made me quite concerned when my first round exchange application was rejected. Berkeley was not my original first choice, however I have a growing interest in entrepreneurship and getting Berkeley must be fate giving me some kind of sign. I'm definitely looking forward to spring in California. 

Help with Accomodation

Ever since I settled into my wee little flat on Abbey Road last year (after a tough long distance search for a flat and a week long search after arriving), I have been hoping to help out the incoming class with searching for their own flat. You will soon hear about a flatcrawl where people get together to find roommates and see tons of posts from fellow admits looking for flats/flatmates. However, it is still pretty depressing sitting in another country trying to find a flat in London before you arrive.

Bias Alert: I only have information about some areas around the school. Many students live away from school and commute on the tube.

Tip: Don't break your head over it until you arrive. You will find a flat after you arrive. Calling agents and clicking through websites (listed below anyways) are futile because agents need to show you flats. "Viewing" as it is called here is important. It really is. You must see a flat before you sign up for it because it is really hard to tell how a flat is from a few pictures.

The picture is an attempt to mark out walking distances and a few popular building/blocks where students currently live.

St Johns wood is a popular post code. It is an expensive area but it is really pretty and safe. You will mostly be within a 20 minute walk to the school from here. Rents in the area are typically upwards of 200 for a studio and around 275-300 for a one bed. They can be much higher for better blocks.

Many students prefer living right across from the school in Ivor court, Rossmore court. These buildings are so close to school you can even catch the wireless network signal from school. Hanover gate masions is another popular block and is a 1 minute walk from school. There is a large number of students that choose to live towards Baker street station/Marylebone street which are both 5-10 minutes away from school.

The following is a list of agents that are located around school. Some of these agents waive the agent fees for students (you need a school letter for this). Rents can be negotiated upto 10% downwards. However your bargaining power diminishes as you get closer to the start of the term and flats are almost all gone.

JAC strattons - www.jacstrattons.com

Oakleys - www.oakleys.co.uk

Sandfords - www.sandfords.co.uk

KnightFrank - www.knightfrank.co.uk

Foxtons - www.foxtons.co.uk

BrianLack&Co - www.brianlack.co.uk

Benham Reeves - www.brlets.co.uk

General property search websites: www.findaproperty.co.uk, www.gumtree.com, www.loot.co.uk

Hope this helps cool your anxiety a bit.

The Greek Party

Julie Velissaratou shortlisted a few to attend a Greek party at No. 5 Cavendish Square. Greek music, which seemed Arabic to me, was really good. We had a great time! Greeks from everywhere and non-Greeks like me danced a little, drank a little and had lots of fun.

Summers in London...

I am sitting this morning in one of the second floor conference rooms in the Laing House, which has the most beautiful view of Regent’s Park. The sun is out, I have the windows fully opened, and it sounds, smells, and looks like spring is almost here

London has a global reputation for bad weather. The weather is a favourite thing to complain about, and can always be leaned on to break the ice before a meeting, or just strike up conversation in the lift. Yes, over the winter months, the weather in London is hard to bear. It rains a lot, it’s cold, and it rarely snows. Tourists hate the weather in London, and so do the locals. The British are great at ‘whinging’ – the art of complaining – and have perfected their skills complaining about the weather (always top of the whinge list) for centuries.

In its defence, I have lived in London for almost four years now, and have learned to completely tolerate the dreary winter weather always knowing that the beautiful spring and summer are just around the corner. When the nice days of spring begin to appear, everyone floods the parks, riverside, and pubs to enjoy life in London. I am sad to say that I will be in the US this summer for an internship, and will unfortunately miss my first London summer in 4 years. The long lunches in the park, pickup games of football, Friday pints in the beer gardens well into the evening as daylight hangs on…

I'm back!

After a wonderful and very interesting 4 months in New York, I've returned to the warm embrace of London Business School and it's wonderful being back! I reckon going on exchange is sort of like going on a cool holiday: you look forward to it a lot, enjoy it tremendously when you're on it but also are happy when you're back and look back with fond memories.

The best things about going on exchange were the city itself and living there not as a tourist, but as a normal student; some of the courses I took; traveling in the US and also the opportunity to see how another school does things and meeting exchange and Stern students and applicants from all over the world. Although the exchange meant that I also had to miss certain things (most notably the Santa Claus Pub Crawl and Tattoo) I wouldn't have missed my exchange for the world.

'Normal' life has resumed again which for many second year students means block week courses (instead of a course over 10 weeks, it's packed into 1 week of full days of class) last week and regular term has started this week. The clubs are busy organising events and trips (the inside scoop is that African Club's South Africa trip is very popular this year), the first speakers have started coming to campus again and this week the first Sundowners of the year is held. It's good to be back!

Christmas Crazy

We made it! Term is over and we spent most of the final week celebrating.

It started with an extremely civilised evening with the sailing club at their annual dinner. This was an opportunity for the sailors to get dressed up and to reflect on a great season of events. The event took place at the Royal Ocean Racing Club in St James with both students and alumni attending.

The next event was somewhat different. Imagine 300 students dressed as Santa, bringing chaos to central London. This was an evening of serious drinking and carol singing. We started drinking on campus before making our way to Leicester Square via the tube. We then entertained people on the tube with Christmas carols (they were very happy) and then proceeded on a pub crawl around Leicester Square. Pausing temporarily to sing more carols to the tourists in Leicester Square and to drive bumper cars. See pictures below for a better idea of what this looked like.

Then it was our stream Christmas party, organised in part by me. We booked an area of a local pub and took lots of cakes and champagne. At some point the drink turned into tequila and we were only saved by the antiquated British closing time - 11.00pm.

And all this a week before Christmas and New Year has even begun.         

Rock Climbing for Beginners

I think it was the MBA offsite day that gave us the taste for rock climbing. The offsite took place during the orientation and involved quite a lot of climbing, designed to test your nerves and push yourself. But it was only last week that we were able to find time to complete a beginners rock climbing course.

We went to a place called Westway in west London, a mere 4/5 stops from the school on the tube. The centre at Westway provides indoor rock climbing facilities and tuition, as well as lots of other sports facilities. They have around 350 different routes up climbing walls of every difficulty level.

http://www.westway.org/sports/wsc/climbing

We spent most of the weekend learning about climbing technique and the safety issues involved. It is a really cool sport and now that we have completed the course I'm sure we will be regulars at Westway for some more climbing. Hopefully, we can also get involved in some of the activities organised by the rock and mountain club, including some real climbing outside!

      

The 'Real' Windsor Castle

What comes to your mind when you hear someone say Windsor Castle ? The British Monarchy? The Queen ?

Try this on anyone in London Business School and there is only one thing that comes to their mind. The Real Windsor Castle.

This institution is second home to most students at London Business School. It is a pub but, to most, calling it a pub is disrespectful. Now London has a massive pub culture. That can be a huge topic of discussion by itself but we'll stick to Windsor castle for now. Windsor castle shares a wall with the school building. There is a back alley from within school that has a 'private' school entrance to the pub. Now that's what I call customer service. (I'll try o get a picture of this special entrance soon)

After 6pm on most days people head straight to Windsor to chat with other students (you'll even find professors here). The ambience at Windsor is very welcoming. It's a small place but it has plenty of room for students. On any day you can find groups of people tucked away around small tables with tall glasses of golden lager or dark ale and the odds are high that the discussion centers around finance or accounting or some big investment bank or consulting firm (don't quote me on that though). People come to Windsor to eat, to drink and to have a good time. But a lot of people also come here to network. I won't be surprised if the best ideas for projects have been developed at Windsor. 

I was at Windsor with my study group the other day. We decided to head there to cool our brains off after a harrowing session of business statistics. See how an place like The Windsor Castle can offer so much more than beer. This is the de facto hang out for most study groups. People do venture elsewhere too (like 'The Volunteer' - a short 5 minute walk) but I personally like the cozier and cheaper Windsor.

Windsor is part of our world class institution. I think we should get a credit for spending a certain number of hours at the Windsor because you tend to learn so much over there anyways. I doubt if the programme office will buy that though.

Shrikant Shenoy, MBA2008, says

The Windsor Castle, with its combination of friendly staff, cosy atmosphere, and good food is a good place to hang out. But the fact that it is actually physically attached to the school, and usually full of school people means that it has an appeal and a pull akin to the gravitational pull of a black hole!

It's Not a Sprint

Today, I took part in a half marathon organised by the Henley-on-Thames rugby club . It was a bright autumn day, perfect for running. The only problem was that my training regime was disrupted by Sundowners drinks on Friday night and my friends birthday last night. We spent Saturday night celebrating at a local pub called 'Filthy Mcnastys'. Luckily, I had the sense not to continue drinking at a late night bar afterwards, instead opting for a relatively early night. So after getting up what seemed like only about 2 hours after going to sleep, we drove out of London for the start of the race.

By the time we arrived I wasn't feeling 100%, but I soon warmed up. The race went through some very picturesque English countryside, including a stretch down the Thames and another section through the centre of Henley-on-Thames.

I finished the course in just under 1:37. Considering, the training regime this was slightly surprising. The race was very well organised and the setting was great. Sometimes, it's a nice change to get out of London for a day out. I also have to mention my fiancee who drove us there and generally acted as my support team. Thanks Eimear!

It's now Sunday evening and time for some MBA homework. The past week has seen a change in pace of the course and it now seems to be a 7 day a week effort to keep things under control. The content of the course is not difficult, but the volume is fairly high and I expect it to rise next week. Time management and discipline are required to keep on top of things.

Although I have started working 7 days a week, I still have time to do things like the half marathon. Also, I haven't yet reverted to working late at night like some of my colleagues. Perhaps, I value my sleep more than others, or perhaps its because I avoid most of the 'optional reading'. Or maybe its because like long distance running - the MBA is not a sprint and you don't want to peak or burnout too fast.

One tip I will give for prospective MBA students. It would definitely be an idea to start reading some business books to get a head start on the optional reading. Things like Enron, Liars Poker, Barbarians at the Gate. These are very interesting books and highly applicable to the course material.

The alternative London guide

As I have lived in London for the past 5 years I feel that I should show my new friends some of the sights of London. But I don't mean the Tower of London or Madam Tussauds, rather the best places to party!

Last Wednesday we took a trip down to Brick Lane for an evening of curry and beer. The venue was actually recommended by Dan (thanks Dan), who is one of my study group colleagues. I highly recommend trying it out - http://www.tayyabs.co.uk/about_us.htm

After the curry we went to a couple of student style bars on Brick Lane. You can see from the Vibe Bars website that it isn't a run of the mill kind of place. I think they were having a 1920s night when we arrived including people in 20s dress, music and dancing. It is also the only place I've heard the theme to Happy Days played by a DJ - http://www.vibe-bar.co.uk/index.flashed.html

Last night we went on a tour of Angel. This area is full of great bars and restaurants. We started at a Japanese noodle bar called Wagamamas for some food and Japanese beer - http://www.wagamama.com/food.php

Then we went to one of my favorite bars in Angel called the Angelic. This place is great for lazy Sunday afternoons, reading the newspaper and eating a Sunday dinner. I also love the fact that they play audio of classic English comedy like Fawlty Towers in the bathrooms.

After the Angelic it was time for a real student night at the Elbow Rooms. Quite a few people from our year turned up and we had a great time. The place is a bar, disco and pool lounge. So whether you want to drink, dance or play pool this is the place to go -  http://www.theelbowroom.co.uk/

And how bad do I feel after all this?

Oh, we also did some work this week. More about that next time.