Spanish Class / CAPEA Day!

Today was my first Spanish class here at IE. It was quite interesting because we're being taught entirely in Spanish (we would probably understand only 10-20% of what was being said). But I guess the language institution running the program knows best~ and that's why we're being taught the language in this manner.

The video above is one of the things we were taught to memorize. I personally found it entertaining, hehe. It's SO Spanish!



Tomorrow is CAPEA day! Organized by the Spanish Outreach Club at IE, this half-day event will take students to a bull stadium on the outskirts of Madrid. There, we'll be treated to an authentic Spanish lunch (lotsa grilled food, I heard) and an open bar of beer, wine and Sangria (uh-oh!). There will be bullfighting sessions for beginners as can be seen from the video above. And, well, there'll be a professional photographer around to capture interesting moments / highlights during the day.

It costs 40 Euros for this event... sounds pretty reasonable to me considering it includes transportation, food as well as the service / experience of being there. It seems a lot of my classmates signed up for it too~ so it should be quite interesting. Better charge my camera now! Photos to follow!

Entrepreneurial Management

Ulrich and his cartoon self~

For Entrepreneurial Management class we were tasked to form groups of 4-5 people based on industries or sectors we were interested in. In my case, I chose the Travel / Tourism industry. I find it to be a very promising sector because there seems to be still plenty of untapped opportunities. Likewise, with the rising incomes of people from China / India, we can expect a boom in the amount of tourists flocking the certain destinations.

For this project, I teamed up with Ulrich the M&A consultant from Austria, Dominik the law expert from Switzerland and Mariana the Brazilian telecom pro! Professor Wang explained to us that when coming up with business ideas, there were 3 things to always remember:

1. What is the problem?
2. Who is the customer?
3. What is the solution?

An interesting thing he mentioned though was that the solution need not be a complex one. He cited how NASA had spent billions of dollars to create an anti-gravity ball pen. And the Russians... well, used a simpler approach. They used pencils. 

The final pitch presentation is due in 3 weeks... more group meetings to come! Such is life~

Internship Info Session

Desh and Rachel on their way out from the Internship Info Session~

We had this Internship Info Session at school today. I was actually pretty sleepy at that hour since my body still hasn't recuperated from the cocktail party from last night (it's because of lack of sleep, not due to the free flow wine and beer). The Info Session was for people interested in changing careers... or, well, interested in changing geographic locations.

It was a full house, as usual.

Besides the practical pieces of advice, the organizers invited students who had just completed their internships to share their experiences. Of the 6 who shared, I particularly remembered this Japanese student. He apparently worked for a VC firm based in Singapore during his 2-month internship.

During the time he spent there, he managed to meet over 100 new contacts, 29 new firms and managed to invest in 17 new companies. Not bad actually. On one of his slides, he indicated that "network is important in South East Asia". I couldn't agree more!

The Info Session actually made me think about my post MBA career. And, well, which places I should consider applying to. I'll likely put together a rough plan in the next two weeks... and work towards that.

My mega-filling salad from Ensaladas y +

On a side note, I recently discovered this new salad bar near school. It's actually quite similar to these salad bar stores over at Raffles Place in Singapore. What I like here though is that they actually have a wider selection in terms of greens and veggies. What's weird there though, is that right beside the healthy veggies, they also sell beer, plenty of sweet carbonated drinks and all these candy bars. It was hilarious!

Yesterday, I was pretty hungry and so I ordered a pasta base for my salad. I topped it off with tuna, ham, some crispy onions and a light honey mustard sauce. Wow. It was too much. From lunch, it actually also became my dinner!

Anyway, there's a high likelihood that I'll go back there again. My biggest problem here in Madrid is that I generally find Spanish food to be a bit salty. And, well, these tapas can be quite fattening too with all the cheese and oil! Let's see how long before I go back to my meaty diet!

Communications Skills Training!

The main slide of our 1-minute presentation (Screen captures c/o The Daily Beast)

I'm seriously amazed at the quality of lecturers we have here at IE. In the previous weeks, I've had a professional basketball star teach us about teamwork, an ex-Marines-turned-Olympic-medalist-turned-corporate-professional-turned-Harvard professor (whose professional life is the most re-printed Harvard Business Review case on record) teach us about living a positive life, and an inspiring and accomplished mountain climber to teach us about reaching our goals.

These past two days, I took this class on Communications Skills... and who better to teach us than someone from CNN! Seriously~ CNN!

Lola Martinez was the weather anchor at CNN's office
in Atlanta, Georgia (Photo c/o cnnfans.org)

My professor for this course is Lola Martinez, who is an excellent, excellent communicator. In addition to her job at CNN, she also trains CEOs on how to communicate publicly (imagine how much she's paid just to personally coach them!).

She really practices every single thing she preaches and I find myself really glued to her lectures. She knows how to engage her audiences and keep the entire session interesting...non stop. Her presentation slides are beautifully crafted, neat and simple. I especially appreciate as well all these tips, tricks and techniques (which they practice at CNN) she shared with us.

In class we were taught how body language plays a crucial role in communicating. And it's quite cool that during these sessions, she asks for volunteers. And... well, imagine getting feedback from a pro! I actually volunteered together with another classmate. We were both asked to try to convince our classmates to watch a certain movie (we weren't allowed to say what movie it was). I received good feedback on my mini "performance". How validating! lol

We were also tasked to identify good communicators and make a presentation out of it. Our group chose Hilary Clinton (see top image for reference). We actually watched a bunch of her speeches on YouTube and identified key characteristics that made her an excellent communicator. We then put together these nice photos of her and put together a pretty neat slide deck.

Jungmin receiving plenty of positive feedback after her amazing theatrical performance! 

Of all the presentations that day, the one that stood out the most was Jungmin's group. Jungmin is my classmate from Korea. She previously worked in the HR department of LG. If you meet her, she seems very reserved, shy and extremely quiet. For us, it was a surprise to learn that she was presenting for her group.

What she did earlier today took us all by surprise! She did a major theatrical performance and it paid off. Her actions, timing and voice complemented her performance. We were all blown away. After she finished her 1-min presentation, she actually tried to briefly run away because she was so shy. But of course, what ensued after was minutes upon minutes of praise of how well she did.

During the break, I learned from one of her group mates that she actually volunteered to present. This told me a lot... I guess it was her way of overcoming being too reserved and she took the opportunity to do something different. I've heard that MBAs help people transform their lives. I was especially happy to know that this was a platform for her to do so (and well, the overwhelming response from everyone was indeed encouraging). Today was a good day, in my opinion :)

Accounting Wiz!

Taken during Entrepreneural Management Class~ Today we watched an interesting video of a start-up company

A year ago, part of the selection criteria I had for schools had plenty to do with the students who went to that school. I believed that in an MBA program, you'd actually learn mostly from your peers in addition to the classroom lectures. In my earlier post, I shared about the backgrounds of the people in my work group. And today, I was able to benefit from the professional diversity in our group.

We were given a problem set by our professor in Financial Accounting. Some of us have limited or no background in Accounting. Fortunately, we had Stefano and Carolina in our team~ who had complete clarity over the problem sets.

Stefano in action... explaining each step of the process clearly for everyone!

Although I had taken Accounting before and that the questions were relatively simple, I would have to admit that it would have taken me much much longer to interpret each of the transactions (The last time I took it was 10 years ago... and somehow Accounting has a way to confuse people). To learn it from someone who understood numbers completely and was extremely comfortable with it, it helped build my confidence in learning the subject matter. I was also personally happy to be able to clarify certain doubts I had in my head ~ without the fear of castigation of a larger audience. So all in all, I really appreciated this opportunity.

Stefano Says! Hehe! Anyway, thank you so much for teaching us!

 We're in week 2 of classes... and I'm certain the other members of our group would have something to contribute as well (and hopefully, myself included) as weeks go by. I'm highly optimistic on this entire program in terms of learning! YEAH!

Another Evening of Homework and (Even More) Case Studies

Sometimes when I write, I feel like I'm reliving the life of Jose Rizal haha

Yes, another evening of reading case studies. It's the second week of classes and we're already up to our neck with readings. The assignments for Accounting were just posted this afternoon and I foresee the rest of my afternoons / evenings being dedicated for that. In the midst of all the readings, I've taken a quick break to express a funny image that popped into my head as I opened my lamp and placed my computer under it.

I suddenly thought of Jose Rizal~ the national hero of the Philippines. He was a graduate of Ateneo and he also studied in Madrid. And whenever people mention him, I always pictured him writing letters by his window, with the aid of a kerosene lamp.

So yeah. That was the weird / funny thing that popped into my head. But of course I'm no Rizal nor am I planning to be a national hero. 

Rizal in Europe (screen capture taken from Jose Rizal The Movie
Starring Cesar Montano / Directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya) 

Strangely enough, in the time I've spent here, I've come to appreciate the similar words I've found between the Spanish and Philippine language (I understand that there are 4,000 words borrowed from the Spanish language). Words like kutsilyo, tinidor, kubyertos, mesa, pantalon, diretso, americana, palda, camisa, etc. are all the same in Spanish (but spelled differently).

With regards to food, I was happy to find some familiar dishes like paella, callos, chicharon, adobong pusit (called chipirones guisado), arroz ala cubana and leche flan. Of the list I just mentioned, callos is possibly the most accurate in terms of taste! So far, I've had the chance to visit one of three Filipino restaurants I've come to hear about from Filipinos living here. Once I've had a chance to sample all three, from there I'll probably organize a Filipino Food Night.

Anyway, just felt like sharing. Gotta get back to reading my stuff!

Study Sunday

Back at Le Pain Quotidien~ pretty quiet for a Sunday!

Sunday was dedicated to reading all these pre-assigned case studies for school. I figured to get a head-start with the articles over at La Pain Quotidien since I knew reading these documents at home wouldn't be so productive (knowing myself, the comfort of home would tempt me to just sleep all day in bed on a Sunday). I was expecting a mini-crowd there... but well, to my luck there weren't much people.

I actually don't like reading articles off a computer screen~ I prefer jotting down notes and highlighting key phases that stand out... but unfortunately I missed that narrow deadline for the Print-on-Demand service at school. And so, the e-version it was. After reading all articles that afternoon, I was tired. So, I figured to play a game for a while~

In 20mins I managed to finish Infinity Blade (screen capture from my iPad~ from Chair's successful iOS game)

Infinity Blade is an amazing game by Chair Studios that allows you to play the role of this knight-looking character. In the game, you're pitted against mean-looking monsters, evil knights and grotesque creatures which are 1.5 to 4x your size. You can dodge, block or parry their attacks by making the necessary movements from your iPad. It's a really great game with beautiful graphics, an awe-inspiring soundtrack and a really simple / catchy game-play mechanism. In the 20 minutes I played the game, I finally managed to finish it without a hitch. I felt so accomplished. Now back to studying~

Oh, in case you're wondering why spend my free time like this, I actually read an article from Newsweek that suggested that playing violent video games helps raise your IQ. Playing adrenalin inducing video games apparently helps you cope with stress better. Interesting, isn't it?

IE is also open on Sundays. The school is open til 3AM~ apparently according to popular demand by IE students. I guess it won't be long til I find myself in a similar situation!

I went school to print out the documents I read from my iPad. I figured it would worth going back home and highlighting a few things & making some notes since the articles were at least 20 pages long. When I reached IE, I saw a number of students in group discussions, reading case studies or others using the free Internet to go on FaceTime with their loved ones. From the school's LaunchPad (an open area on the ground floor which serves as a public study area / cafeteria / space for events), I printed my case studies and headed up the 2nd floor to print 'em.

That was life up until 830PM (yes, the sun is still shining here). Now it's time to continue highlighting stuff again~

Gran Via Eats & Treats

I traveled all the way here only to know it was CLOSED!

I received a hot tip for good Chinese food in Madrid from an Shanghainese IE University undergrad student a couple of weeks back. It's been officially a month into moving to Spain from Singapore, so I figured it's about time to reintroduce my palate to Chinese cuisine. I'd been looking forward to this day all week, since I've been eating Western food most of the time. I woke up early and made my way to Callao station, just a stop off Gran Via. A street later I was at Calle de Silva. I was headed to Ni Hao Chinese Restaurant for my Asian food fix... and when I got there, THIS (above) was what greeted me.

I was there at 11:45am... and strangely enough the operating hours indicated that they open at 12pm. Usually, for Asian stores, you'd see the restaurant staff scurrying around in preparation for opening. But.. no... not today. I peeped through the gated windows and it seemed as if the owner had a wild evening out and managed to get a serious hangover.

Disappointed, I walked back to Gran Via to look for alternatives. Well... as it turns out... I also stumbled upon a Japanese buffet place and this Indian curry house. And just like Ni Hao, they were closed / still getting ready. It turns out... business on Saturdays officially begin at 1pm. So now, I had an hour to kill. I grabbed a cup of coffee nearby and waited an hour longer to see whether Ni Hao would indeed say "Ni Hao".

If there are more Asians than Westerners eating here, then it's a good sign!

By the time I got in, a few tables were already filled with people. I grabbed a copy of the menu after guessing my orders shortly after (The menu was half in Chinese, half in Spanish~ great combo)! 

Kung Pow Chicken... well, almost!

Feeling the need to get away from the typical dishes I would order in the Philippines (which in this case would've been sweet & sour pork, beef & broccoli and yang chow fried rice), I opted for something else. I ordered kung pow chicken, garlic kailan and claypot eggplant.

The vegetables were downright accurate taste-wise. The chicken... well, it was a bit different. And it's primarily because the peppers used weren't the dried types. But.. well, it was pretty decent nonetheless. It wouldn't prevent me from going there again. But judging from the orders made by the other customers, it seems Ni Hao's steamboat / hotpot selection was more popular. Maybe I'll order that next time. And I'll likely bring an army with me (or a Hulk). That way I could order more stuff in the process!

With the change in season, comes a change in style (see all the bright-neon colors?)

Full, I returned back to Gran Via to check out some clothes. I came to Madrid a month ago with a half-empty suitcase. I intentionally did so because clothes here were cheap and that I wanted to blend in to the crowd as much as possible (I didn't want to stick out like a tourist / easy target for pickpockets). Spain is essentially home to INDITEX, which owns brands like Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka. It's also home to Mango, Desigual, Camper and a host of other brands. And due to immense competition here, H&M also offers pretty good prices as well. So all in all, it's a pretty great place to shop!

From the sound of the paragraph I just wrote above, it seems as if I shopped like crazy. Well, actually, I just bought a pair of shoes from Pull and Bear. It's probably one of the best deals I've had here. I paid 29 Euros for a pair of blue sneakers (With brown laces). I told So about it on Facetime earlier... she was thinking it may have cost around SGD80 - SGD120. She was surprised to know that it cost SGD47! Amazing, seriously.

Mercado de la Reina~ located along Gran Via. An awesome place for food & drinks, without the tourist trap prices!

A couple of hours later, I was hungry. Well, not that hungry... but it was around 7pm and I wanted to have something light to eat. I found myself in Mercado de la Reina... it seemed like a nice, trendy place. I looked at the menu prices and went in after seeing it was reasonably priced.

Pulpo a la brasa con aceite oliva virgen y vinagre de Módena

Still recovering from a cold / coughs, I decided to stay away from the cheap wine and beer. Instead, I ordered fresh orange juice (by the way, orange juice is really great here in Madrid) and some tapas. 

In this case, as per the photo on the left, I ordered some grilled octopus coated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, topped with tomatoes and bell peppers. Brilliant~ and possibly one of the tastiest things I've eaten here.

I also ordered chili peppers wrapped in anchovies~ don't order that. The anchovies were excellent.. but the preserved chili peppers were downright bitter. Ack! It really looked better than it tasted!

Deep fried artichokes. I didn't know you can do that!

My classmate who joined me here ordered deep fried artichokes. I've always had preserved artichokes on my pizza before... but deep fried artichokes? When the dish came, it looked like an onion, where all its layers were wrinkled as a result of the deep-fry process.

And wow~ it had an amazing texture. Just probably the same you'd get when you deep fry some dumplings / wantons. The dish was served with breaded egg plant squares and this very special sauce (sorry, I couldn't explain what it was made of. I'm still trying to figure out what went in it).

Anyways, it was a delightful dish. And it was a good thing that it's something that I could share. Too much fried food for one person will leave a bad feeling in your body later on.

This was the BEFORE photo.

Now, let me tell you about this drink I had.

While I was eating by the bar, I noticed that this waitress seemed to be pouring some cooking oil on a glass of ice. I say cooking oil because the container really looked like a cooking oil container (big transparent plastic tub) and that the color of the liquid, well, looked like cooking oil. She poured it into two glasses and served it to two customers behind me.

Curious, I asked her what it was and she showed me the label. I didn't fully understand what it was but I supposed it wasn't cooking oil. And so, I asked her to give me a glass of it. She poured me a glass, I took a photo of me with it and a took a swig of the drink.

IT'S THE WORST THING I'VE TASTED IN MY LIFE. It turns out, it was this mega-alcoholic drink. Actually, it was a bit like whisky, I think. It had so much alcohol in it that you could smell it by just putting your nose over the glass. Trust me, my face changed from the photo on the left to a complete sour-faced prune.I didn't bother finishing it. If I did, I would've died. Luckily, when the bill came, they didn't charge me anything for it. It was a house special and it was free for those who wanted it. In my mind, it's probably free coz nobody wants to buy it. Except maybe for those 2 idiots who got it too. Eeeks!

A great view of the flowering trees from the open deck of the Madrid City Tour bus

After that good meal at Mercado de la Reina I decided to take a tour bus. I still had 3 hours of sunlight thanks to daylight savings time and I wanted to actually see what else there was in Madrid. It turned out to be a good idea since I now know what monuments are side by side to each other. If any visitors come and visit in the future, I'd probably be a better guide by then.

Saturday was fun... so now it's time to spend Sunday reading up on case studies. Such is the life of an MBA student at IE~ haha.

A Great, Beautiful Day

Flowers are in full bloom all over Madrid

After finishing classes at 3pm, I joined my classmate Desh to the supermarket to buy chicken. He was cooking us Indian chicken curry~ so we headed over to the nearest supermarket located along General Oraa. As we were walking, I suddenly noticed something unusual on the ground... all these pink things! Upon closer investigation I realized it was actually flower petals.

I immediately looked up and noticed that the once bare trees were suddenly covered in lovely spring-pink flowers. It was amazing. It felt as if I was in Japan in time for the blooming of the cherry blossoms. Anyway, it was cooler than usual in Madrid today and seeing trees to be full of life makes today an especially good day.

And oh, I almost forgot~ it's FRIDAY! :)

IE Venture Network

A team shows a prototype of their bamboo bike to investors at Area 31 during the IE Ventures Network!

Last week I mentioned about the IE Ventures Network in a previous post. I attended another session again this week~ grabbed 2 bottles of Heineken and listed to both students and alumni pitch their business ideas. Attending these IE Ventures Network sessions really feels like being part of a live audition in a TV show (one of the professors makes a great TV personality, I feel). Anyway, I was quite entertaining with the groups that presented.

A few of them were the following:
- A unique reservation service targeted to an upscale clientele
- An app-game for travelers
- An outdoor analytics company
- Bamboo bicycles

My personal favorite was the outdoor analytics company. Coming from the Media & Advertising space, I could see the value of such a product / service. I spoke with the team after their pitch and discovered that they were in talks with two media agencies to pitch their idea... one of which was my ex-company, Havas! I was quite elated to hear that piece of news. Anyway, I exchanged emails with the group members coz I'd be very interested to keep in touch.

My Awesome Work Group at IE

People I'll be closely working with (from top left: Luis, myself, Stefano, Carolina, Rachel & Anar)
- Photo taken & compiled by Luis -

According to the Admissions Department, they had intentionally merged people from various backgrounds to create the most chaos possible within a group - all in the spirit of diversity I'm personally happy to be able to work with these people as the experience will likely give me a better understanding of how things work in their country / in their industry. So who am I working with?

To my left is Luis from Bolivia who was an industrial engineer (and who's also a major Real Madrid fan)! Then beside me is Stefano from Italy (Milan) who worked as a consultant at McKinsey. Below to the left is Carolina from Colombia who previously worked at IBM. Then at the middle is Rachel from the UK who worked in PR for VC firms. Finally, there's Anar from Azerbaijan who was an economist for the government.

I have an awesome group and I'm looking forward to working with everyone! Anyway, now you know who'll have most of my time while I'm here in Madrid!

Made in Madrid

Key Ingredient of the day: Crab

Living just across school does have its perks. And part of it is having the liberty to cook during long breaks (or in some cases, before class starts at 9am). In the case of the two exhibits above, we're looking at stuff I was able to put together for lunch and breakfast.

The first item was a crab-based pasta. You essentially saute garlic cloves with chopped spring onions and red chili. Season with salt and pepper and you then pour in white wine and reduce the mixture. After which, I placed the crab meat to soak up all the juices from the concoction. Then, I threw in the pasta with fresh chopped parsley. I placed the chicken kebabs on the grill pan on a low heat to ensure that the meat remains tender (with crispy grill burns).

For breakfast, I essentially made scrambled eggs~ risotto style so that the eggs remain absolutely moist. I then threw in some crab meat and a dash of this paella powder (hence the extremely rich-yellow color). Popped in some parsley flakes and it was ready to go.

After completing the entire vegetarian paella two weekends back, I'm pretty eager to make the "meat & seafood version" soon... especially since so much of the key ingredients for paella are so so readily available here.

Meeting Edurne Pasaban

This woman beside me, Edurne Pasaban, is the first woman in the world to have climbed and conquered all fourteen 8,000m mountains (including Mt. Everest and K2) in the world!

I've listened to many motivational speakers in my life... but I would probably say this woman is at the top of my list. Climbing a Mount Everest is a feat in itself... but climbing 13 more mountains of similar heights after that is just plain amazing!

But what I guess was the most compelling thing I found interesting about Edurne is that her story was very real. Real in the sense that she talked about hardships she faced with her family, difficulties in funding her expeditions as well as the enormous problems she had to face during her climbs.

Give recognition to whom it's due and depend on good people

There's a part of her presentation that I particularly admired... and this was the part where she mentioned all the "invisible people" who have helped you in your own personal journey. These are people who work in the background... whose contribution, though small, have made it possible for you to achieve your goals. That personally made me think for a moment and appreciate what I've had in my life.

Another thing that struck a chord in my heart was when she was sharing one of the biggest obstacles she faced during one of hr last climbs. After reaching the top, on her journey back to camp (on Camp 4... which was the nearest camp to the top), she felt extremely in pain (she indicates she could only take 100m more and that's it. Her body has technically reached its limit). The climb down from Camp 4 to Base Camp usually takes about 8 hours. But in her condition, she needed to be assisted / carried back down. It took them 2 days to get back down.

Listening to that made me imagine all the unimaginable physical and mental difficulties she had to overcome. Wow... majorly intense. She then showed us a video clip of her after returning to Base Camp... and you could see a battered but grateful individual on the verge of tears. I particularly took note of the orientation of her eyebrows as she was crying while thanking the people who helped her come back down. The specific visual image personally moved me the most~ especially if you see her now: strong and accomplished - a complete contrast but a perfect sign of humility and humanity.

So yes, the ball goes to her for that. I'm personally thankful to have listened to an inspirational talk from her. Best workshop I've had here thus far!

Take the Stage

No, that isn't Tim Gunn nor is this Project Runway (the Spanish edition)~ but instead an interesting acting workshop

Not entirely recovered from the previous day's ordeal, I was up at 9am on a Monday to attend a workshop entitled "Take the Stage". IE Business School had invited professional actors from London to train us on communication and body language.

"Pick a card... and behave according to the number
given to you."

7% of what we communicate is solely on the content of our words or what we say per se. The 93% is all body language~ our movements, micro expressions all the way to the tone of our voice. We took several exercises to illustrate each of the points the coach (Richard) was making across.

At some point, I was picked out from the group to act in front of everybody (sorry, no photos!). I was told to play the role of an airport supervisor who was tasked to tell passengers that their flight has been delayed for 2 hours.

Airport supervisors usually have an authority level of 5 (from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest). In the first part, I was tasked by our coach to behave as if I had an authority level of 3. True enough, when I started t behaving like a "3", I received all sorts of "attacks" from angry passengers who all decided to take advantage of the situation.


In the second round, I was then tasked to behave as if I had an authority level of "10". And so I tried my best to act as if I was in control... attempting to parry questions thrown by a crowd like an experienced public relations professional for politicians. The crowd seemed to be less aggressive, and I realized first hand a big difference how an external facade can influence other people's behaviors.

But that said, we were advised not to always have a "strong" superficial facade, but instead one that truly reflected who we were. We were encouraged to be better at being ourselves~ which is something I personally believe in.

All these amazing pre-program workshops helped me understand why IE is a top 10 MBA program~

The session was entertaining to say the least and it's probably something I'll think about later in life. Richard had mentioned that we are never really off the stage during our MBA because we're always assessed in and out of the classroom. He did mentioned as well that it's important to breathe once in a while in order to help yourself cope for the next big thing that you need to do.

Sick Sunday in Spain

I don't remember when I snapped this photo... but it pretty much captured how I felt last weekend

With the change of seasons, well, the inevitable happened: I fell sick.

It started off with a slight cold and mild sore throat... which a day later exploded to a more serious one. But it wasn't THAT bad. It just meant that I had a worse cough, cold and sore throat than the day before. So naturally, I spent most of my Sunday at home, in the comfort of my own bed.

I bought plenty of water the previous day so that I could easily drink as much water as possible. Normally, I would have a difficult time consuming much water as I get full easily. But for some reason, drinking water here felt so soothing to my throat that I managed to consume two full 2-liter bottles of water within a day.

An awesome day for a picnic... but I totally missed the fun (Photo by Heidi Aanderud Ramirez) 

Sunday was a perfect day to go out. And since Spring had officially come, people from IE decided to go to Retiro Park to enjoy an afternoon picnic. I died in bed watching in agony photos I was seeing on Facebook, knowing that I could've been there to also enjoy the sun and good weather.

But, well, that's how life goes. I personally feel better today but getting better still needs a little more time. Hopefully I should be in tip-top shape in the next few days~ just in time when the program officially starts.

Spring is here!

I got off San Bernardo station to begin my search for Carmencita~ a reputed great brunch place!

Yes, you read it correctly - I officially declare that Spring has come to Madrid! I had a taste of it 2 days ago while walking in the afternoon. It suddenly felt hot. And yesterday, it was the same thing... except that it was hot the entire day. It would be possible to walk along the streets of Madrid without a jacket... a big surprise for me considering how cold it has been the past 3 weeks! And with the change of weather, my sinuses have acted up as well. I now have a cold and a sore throat. But it should be okay... drink plenty of water and everything should be fine.

Yesterday, I set out to do some smart shopping in the city. But before I even begin, I decided to start the day off with a hefty brunch to fuel me for the arduous task ahead. I googled the best brunch places in Madrid and found a link & number of reviews on Carmencita. Carmencita was just off San Bernardo road~ which was near Gran Via (where I was supposed to do all my shopping). Perfect proximity I said to myself, so let's go!

Tucked away along an unassuming neighborhood, Carmencita offers a delectable array of brunch options!

Normally, these brunch places we know about have nicely decorated exteriors that lure you to come inside. No, not Carmencita. If you walked nonchalantly along the neighborhood you might just miss it! But once you're inside, you would immediately notice quirky chalkboard menu and its eclectic mix of different chairs and lamps. Once I entered, I was asked if I had a reservation~ and since I had none I was escorted to eat by the high bar tables & stools. Good thing I came at the right time... as minutes later, the place would be soon full (see above).

Brunch item devoured: Mushroom Scramble

Madrid actually has a lot of brunch places~ but some of them only "feel" like brunch places. What I liked about this place was that it totally understood the concept of brunch and that its servings were hefty & delicious (moreover, they truly had English-speaking staff... which is why it wasn't far-fetched that many expats visit this place). I ordered a Mushroom Scramble from their menu.. which was basically soft scrambled eggs with really flavor-packed mushrooms topped off with grilled cheese. The salad had flavor too and the potatoes that accompanied it were totally made with love (it didn't come from a frozen bag of manufactured chips but instead hand-chopped).

I ate my meal and drank my fresh orange juice while also admiring the Eggs Benedict and Gourmet Burger dishes being served on the table across me. I'll likely come back here again.

The entrance of Museo de Historia de Madrid along Calle Fuencarral

Energized, I then went to Gran Via to pay homage to the monolithic H&M store there. After picking out 2 items at a real steal, I proceeded to walk down through the cobblestone steps of an alley perpendicular to Gran Via until I landed on Calle Fuencarral. I personally have a thing of old, historical things... and I watched in appreciation the facade of the Historical Museum of Madrid. It's truly a work of art. I would've loved to enter the building... however, I did have an objective that day to buy clothes that'll last me for the rest of my stay here. Well, now at least I know where it is! So coming back!

I didn't know where I was... but It was amazing to see everyone just socializing by the open space!

I wandered off this area of Madrid where I saw a lot of small cafes and plenty of people congregating for a vigorous afternoon discussion. The weather was quite permitting and there were people who happily chatted on the floor. There was a particular side of this opening that had graffiti all over its walls. It was actually quite political / activist in nature. On the photo below, on the upper left hand corner, was this sign hung from the balcony window which read "Politicos Terroristas Sociales"~ which translates to "Social Political Terrorists" via Google Translate. The artwork below totally expressed what that small sign said.

Beside this open space was this very expressive graffiti wall! 

Along this same path I stumbled on this street that had all these quaint & cozy artisan cafes. It reminded me of Insadong in Seoul and Haji Lane in Singapore. The only difference there was that it was REALLY popular among the locals and tourists alike!

Yes, a mojito bar!

As I was walking along this artsy street I noticed that some cafes had these special stickers pasted on them. It's like a Michelin star award but given by a local organization. This cafe I saw looked quaint, cozy and lively and had two stickers on it... something that indicated that it was the people's choice for 2011 and 2013! Seeing that there was a vacant table at the end of the room, I dove right in and cleared away the coffee cups and plates of the previous diner.

The seat & table was by this full window, spanning from the floor all the way to the ceiling. As Spanish people are quite small, I had to maneuver / wedge myself in. I raised my hand and asked the waitress to give me the same lime & mint mojito that the other guy from across the room seemed to be enjoying. Within minutes, I was given a refreshing glass that capped this day of shopping.

A funny thing about this mojito though was that the bottom part of the glass had this white stuff on it. And so, curiously, I sucked on my straw to taste it. SUGAR! Wow, I never imagined that they'd put so much. Apparently, there was so much sugar on this drink that the rock sugar on the bottom couldn't be dissolved anymore. Diabetics, beware!

I ended the day late... exhausted from my day-long journey of rummaging through crowds of people but I was generally happy of the things I saw. It was nice seeing a lively side of Madrid... and I was soon convinced that the neighborhood I currently live in is totally drab compared to these social spots. But that said, I came here to study. So these places will have to wait til this program is over!

Ending the Week (Thursday & Friday)

Myth Busters, the International Edition featuring Vikas, myself, Michael, Ulrich, Hanna and Danny

On Thursday we had this session called "Revolutionizing Your Space", where we were tasked by the Directors of the IE School of Architecture (by the way, one of them really looks like Tony Stark!) to create a 30-second video based on what we felt was our own interpretation of the theme. We were given a number of items to work with to use as props.

In the end, we came up with PORT-ALL~ a product of the future that teleports things to you in an instant. Of course, while the technology wasn't there yet, it did communicate the nuances everyone has encountered at least once in their lives: forgetting something behind.

We personally thought our video was cool... but another group's video was cooler! It was so funny we asked the professor to play it a second time. If I could only find the YouTube link I'll likely post it below.

Area 31: Where Pitch Slams happen every Thursday. Sponsored by Heineken (yes, free beer Thursdays)!

Later that evening I attended a session of the IE Ventures Network - where existing groups within IE would pitch their business concepts to a panel of investors. It's much like what you see in the show Dragon's Den.. except that the panelists aren't as harsh. I went there with Danny, who's seriously looking into joining the Venture Lab program. After hearing some of the group pitch their idea, I was convinced that I applied to the correct MBA program. I'm looking forward to next week's Pitch Slam... as it'll give me a better idea how to craft my own business plans / ideas in the future.

LAH! A Singaporean restaurant located just across IE!

Missing Asian food on a Friday, I had lunch with a few classmates and headed to this place called LAH!, which supposedly serves Singaporean food. I saw the place before from the outside... but didn't think it was a restaurant. I thought it was a place that sold furniture crafted in Thailand or something (see the big writings on the wooden boards?).

I was surprised with the menu.. because apparently, it was more Southeast Asian than Singaporean. There were Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Filipino options in the menu. Some items were accurate... but some were, well, not that accurate. The two Filipino dishes on the menu seemed more like re-interpreted / fushion dishes (especially the adobo... I couldn't recognize it from the photo). But nonetheless, the food was really good.

I ordered a Thai curried duck breast and enjoyed it immensely. I actually had very low expectations of Asian food in Europe in general but this was very good :) (Likely coming back there again)

Once again I was bored on a Friday night... and decided to explore once more
(Above, a night photo I shot of Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena)

I decided to check out the Royal Palace of Madrid. I heard it was awesome so I figured it would be interesting to see it at night with all the lights making dramatic shadow-effects on the building. Indeed, it was cool... but I think I should probably visit it again during the day... as there was a section that was closed off to the public at night. It had this really spacious and majestic open space~ which I would love to see again.

I walked further down the road and found myself by Almudena Cathedral. Again, it was awesome... but I would need to visit this place again during the day because I'm certain the interiors would've been equally amazing. I went home early because I was feeling very cold... and I felt that if I stayed around any longer I may end up with a serious cold or sore throat.

Anyway, it was an interesting first week. I just got my class schedule for the next 3 months and I'm quite excited to get started with classes next Wednesday! We'll see!

A Busy First Week!

First activity of LAUNCH: a basketball game!

LAUNCH is a pre-term part of the MBA program where the activities are meant to change individuals on a personal level. An hour after the briefing session at school, I suddenly found myself in a basketball court several miles away being coached by Pablo Martinez Arroyo, a professional Spanish basketball star from CB Estudiantes.

There were inter-group competitions and the ultimate objective was to have the shortest time possible in the relay. Here, I learned the value of teamwork in a very creative way. It was quite amazing actually.. during the first round we totally struggled. With ALL our effort we managed to finish the course in 3.5 mins. After a feedback session, we were told that we weren't working together well enough. The coach explained to us that we were paying too much attention to the rules and that we were creating personal boundaries for ourselves. We tried a second time... and we were all astonished that we finished the course in 2.35 mins! Just when I thought it wasn't possible... well, it was quite the opposite. For me, this will probably change my viewpoint towards doing things as a group~ that there are actually other creative ways to get things done better and faster.

Some hadn't touched a basketball in 10 years.. so it was amazing to see grown-up kids come alive again! 

I ran around so much during that morning that I worked up an appetite after the session. I took a train from the gym back to my neighborhood and decided to have lunch again at La Pan Quoditien. I heard some of the items on their lunch menu were pretty awesome... so I figured to see what the fuss was all about.

Possibly the best risotto I've tasted / my new benchmark
of what good risotto should taste like!

I ordered the risotto upon the recommendation of a fellow IE-er who had eaten it before and I was pleasantly surprised with what appeared on my table.

What can I say? It was awesome! I've had a lot of risottos before... but this was different. The rice was perfectly right - it seemed as if it absorbed all the flavorful goodness of all the ingredients to ensure that every bite you took packed a punch! WHAPOW! Like seriously!

The mushrooms that you see on the dish add another level of sharpness to the dish. Eating the rice was great.. and then you would feel like you can keep eating it forever. But when you thought you were having a good time, a mushroom makes its way into your spoon. Then KABLAM! You don't know this dish anymore. It was a better dish than what you were just eating a few seconds earlier. Anyway, it was a really good dish. I'd totally eat it again. In fact, I was also tempted to order more things during that sitting (of course, I came from a basketball game and I was hungry). But I said no... I was averaging 10km per day in terms of walking, I'm eating different / not-so-oily & fatty food and that I just burned some major calories. Couldn't just blow it off with another unnecessary meal. Maybe next time!!

Of course people will be hungry / thirsty from watching bull fights!

Although I had a major physical workout that day, I felt I still had to see some parts of the city. After all, it was only 3pm and I was already done for the day (I'm enjoying this while it lasts). Besides, daylight savings is an amazing phenomenon that basically extends your afternoon til 830pm. And so, I decided to wander around Madrid in hopes of extending my known perimeter of my neighborhood.

Plaza de Toros: the architecture was awesome!

Somehow, I had ventured to the eastern side of the map and found myself at Plaza de Toros. At first, I didn't realize I was there because I thought I was in this moorish-looking church or historical building.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that there were several sculptures and statues of matadors, bulls and flowers being thrown into the air. And true enough, when I hit the main front of the building, I saw the words "Plaza de Toros". I was like... "Whoa, I'm that far off the map!".

Personally, I didn't mind ending up there. It was a treat more than anything else to find myself in a cultural landmark in Madrid. After a few photos here and there I decided to move on. The area had a wide open space around the stadium, and I was getting really cold from the uninterrupted air breezing its way all around.

Police barricades everywhere!

After several minutes of walking, I found myself back to familiar ground but noticed something slightly amiss. The roads were blocked by police cars and barricades. It was probably one of the tightest-looking security details I've seen. I was thinking... is the king here or something? I personally thought it would be interesting if the king decided to eat in a specific restaurant on a whim, and decided to block off an entire road just so that he can have the privacy of the meal all to himself (that would be really cool actually).

But apparently that wasn't the case. I walked around the barricades and discovered there was a major demonstration going on.

Si Se Puede: Yes we can!

Normally, when you take a loan from the bank you sometimes use your house or other valuable possessions as collateral. There would be an interest that needs to be paid in addition to your mortgage. Should you default on your mortgage, the bank takes your house... and normally that should already take into consideration the interest as well.

In Spain, apparently, the banks not only take your house but also demand you to pay additional interest as well.

And so, this rally.

There were lots of people here and lots of news crew covering it too. But in general, people were voicing out that there weren't happy with the current system and wanted the government to do something about it. The crowd didn't seem violent at all.. in fact people were calm and spoke to others about their cause (I got to learn all these tidbits of information because I spoke to some folks there~).

There, I made friends with Paco~ one of the people in the rally. Amazingly, Paco has been to the Philippines before.

And so, my journey continued and I headed off to a tip-off I got from a Filipino waiter I met at 3am several weeks back. He told me of a Filipino restaurant just off Gran Via. I was personally curious to taste the food in hopes of bringing my classmates there to sample Philippine cuisine. But of course, I would need to filter it first to ensure it met my standards!

Sizzling Sisig from Chelly's

The sisig was okay. Of course it wasn't anything like Dencio's or Gerry's Grill but I found it a bit / slightly chewy. But before I recommend this place I need to check out 3 other restaurants the Philippine Embassy told me about. But anyway, this day was an interesting day!