Inked: Regine

Hey Regine, don't worry~ I don't think of you exactly as a Rhino! ;)

As you may have noticed, I experienced a huge backlog in terms of posts for this blog... and it mostly had to do with this piece of work above. Most projects take me anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour to complete. But with the piece above, I was stuck. For days.

I managed to make the letterings for "Regine" perfectly. Unfortunately though... I couldn't put my finger on what shape or animal it was. If you look at it, there were 2 humps on top of the name... and I couldn't think of any animal that had such. I thought of using a camel... and ultimately extending the humps even further. But the problem I had there was that I wouldn't have enough decent space for the head & neck. That's why I was stuck.

The epiphany came to me last night... when I remembered this safari video I saw. Then suddenly, BAM~ the puzzle was solved! It took me a while to put together because I've never drawn a rhinoceros before. Anyway, it was a tough piece of work. But how fitting isn't it~ coz rhinos are tough too. Just like my sister (Go Regine!)!

IE Networking Cocktail

"Ambassadors" Desh and Lisa welcome you to the IE Networking cocktail! lol

The IE IMBA Office put together this simple cocktail event along Serrano 99~ on one of IE's green lawns. The objective of this event was to allow students from the April and November intakes to get to know each other. Personally I thought it was cool for them to do so. But considering it was on a Tuesday / a school night, I wasn't entirely sure if a lot of people will turn up. Regardless, I went anyway.

The event started at 730pm. I went there at 745pm... with a little hesitation. Knowing how things work here in Spain, I know that parties usually start at a much later time. But in my mind, well, I thought I'd just go early anyway. I figured there would be others like me who would classify the evening as a school night and would come early / leave early. Walking up to Serrano 99 felt weird... I honestly felt as if I was the only person that was going to be there.

Well, turns out it wasn't the case (phew)! Fortunately a small crowd of about 25 people had already gathered at the place. All the tables still had food (mini burgers, jamon serrano sandwiches and other stuff) and the bar was completely intact! Interestingly as well, the school hired 2 performers to play some Portugese music in the background. Pretty cool!

Wine, sangria, beer, soft drinks and water~ all on the house (our tuition probably paid for it too, come think of it)!

I can honestly say I don't know almost everyone in this photo

During the course of the cocktail party, I had a chat with my classmate Shalabh on how we should be using this opportunity to meet people from other sections or intakes.

He had a pretty valid point... in 2 weeks, it'd be the summer break. We'd be away for 3 weeks... and by the time that we'd be back in September, we'd be piled up with lotsa work. A presentation after another, report after report. And immediately after that, exams. And after that, another round of Change modules.

Term 2 would go by so fast... and it essentially meant that we'd find ourselves almost half-way through the MBA program already. I took what he said into mind... and decided I better meet more people TODAY (unlike my previous post title, it's now "Better Now than Later").

The boys from the IMBA program meet an alumni from the MIM '09

So there~ I took the initiative to have a chat with people I didn't know. I met Unoma Eke from Lagos from A2. I learned that her surname apparently meant "Day" in her language. Pretty interesting factoid! Likewise, during that span of time, Lisa, Desh and I thought of coming up with an A1 Term 1 Awards Night for our class. In many ways, it's one of those activities that would help foster a better bond amongst all members of our class. And... well... it should be a good last attempt of having fun as a group before things get immensely busy after the break.

No, it's not the start of a heated argument. Just Peter and Tiago talkin'~

On my way out of the venue I thanked the IMBA team who organized this event. I usually find these school-initiated opportunities genuinely good and I appreciated that they did something like this. Honestly, it's possible for them not to have done anything. But they did~ and it's all in the spirit of allowing us to increase our network despite the rigors and hectic schedules of the MBA program.

Dinner at La Tulipe

Montaña and KS smile for the camera!

This officially marks the 2nd time I've met my Term 2 work group. I've always believed that sharing a meal is one of the (effective) ways in which one can reinforce bonds within a group. And so, we decided to have a group dinner at La Tulipe, located along Calle Serrano 110. La Tulipe was recommended by Svenja, who has had other similar good experiences eating at that place (same for me too~ I ate there once with my Global Village Bollywood dance group).

Svenja looks fresh n full of energy after a gym workout!

We ordered a number of items to share. People got steak tartar and this other salad while I ended up ordering a Burrata (which is a type of fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream, if I'm not mistaken) that also went with some greens. It was pretty cool, actually. But of all things ordered, I especially loved Sterling's choice~ which was the Entrecote con patatas al tomillo. It was capital D-elicious! It was something he first encountered when he was living in Argentina... and I must say, it was a pretty tasty piece of steak! We ended up ordering another one to share!

KS catches up in terms of drinks... while Sterling... is in deep in thought.

As with all social gatherings, having some wine helps. We ended up ordering 3 bottles of wine to share! And ultimately, this dinner allowed us to get to know each other a better. I was fascinated to learn more about KS that night hehe. And of course, that includes lotsa tidbits about my other group members too.

Giovanna & Montaña~ as colorful as their dresses!

We ended sometime around 1am... I think. On my way home, I bought some food and water to neutralize the alcohol I took in that night. I was planning to write my Marketing paper that night. Well, it didn't work, apparently. Even with all the lights on & stuff, wine made me sleep like a baby. And so, yes~ I ended up writing efficiently in the morning... together with reading through the Innovation & Technology Management case & watching the accompanying video in record time!

Anyways, I'm certain we'll likely have many more dinners or hangouts like this. Got a pretty cool group~ so it'll be fun for sure!

Inked: Lina

A Cheetah looking far~

I figured the next ink-work I should do should be for my parents. There are many reasons why I've opted to choose a cheetah this time 'round (interestingly, it's also my first time attempting such). If you notice the stamps on the right, I had to practice a number of times before marking my work. I was worried of ruining the entire piece if I over-stamped / smudged / under-stamped it. 2 down this week, many more to go!

Better Late than Never

The panicked residents of Salamanca: Michael, Anar and John!

This post is a couple days late~ but I thought it's still worth posting considering it's an interesting quirk that happened here. Not everyday do you actually see almost everyone on the streets as if there was a street party going on. We had this fire drill at IE and it seemed fascinating to see the usually barren streets of Maria de Molina thriving with students. Anyway, here's a few photos of the madness that ensued on the streets:

Prof. Rumschisky assessing what's going on across the street~

As with all MBA events... chatting happens in any part of the street. It's all fair game!

This is how packed Maria de Molina would look like if it were more of a shopping street like Gran Via!

Really looks like some parade happening, eh?

Compared to the other posts on my blog, this probably has the most people contained in a couple of still frames.

The exercise practically ate up 30-35 mins of our first Marketing Management class... but it didn't take long for everyone to return to their respective classrooms and seats.

Anyway, that's pretty much for this piece of news~

Inked: Spain

The sitting bull

One of the personal objectives I had set for myself was to do an exhibit here in Madrid... featuring, well, these things (above). It's a style I started decades ago~ back in my university years. How it works is that I write a name first... then work out from there a general shape. From there, I try to figure out what it's going to be. During lunch, I bought a blank notebook today to get started once more. My plan is to make one, at least once a week.

Today's piece was different of all the items I've made. It was the first time I tried to do a name of a place... and somehow I already knew I was either doing a bear or a bull. In this case, I thought a bull was more appropriate, considering the on-going San Fermin running-of-the-bulls festivals here in Spain. I also opted for something visually different as well... as most imagery of bulls we have seem to represent power, rage... or some sort of strong force. I felt like doing the opposite; I thought of a bull at rest... sitting down... or perhaps looking defeated (I think of the bulls at the stadium after it has been stabbed / poked by the matadors~ but look, no spears nor blood here).

I kept the top of its head blank... as if to signify a clear mind. Or perhaps a lack of thoughts. Or a disconnect between the mind and the heart. The rest... I would leave other people to interpret on their own (but of course, only I know the real meaning of certain placements of shapes. Trivia-wise: there are 6 things of significance that aren't apparent but implied in the image). Anyway, that's it... on to other more important stuff for the week!

Sometimes I...

Yes, it's actually possible for me to spell my name on a keyboard without lifting a finger~ 

Interesting piece of trivia, isn't it?

Well, this week I've had to rearrange the order of these letters a number of times to remind me to stay positive (2-1-4-3 or I'M OK). I had one of the most life-changing things happen to me last week... which I would classify as one of the most important and expensive lessons I've learned in this MBA program (not saying what exactly). But in a nutshell, it's been a tough week on a personal note.

Honestly speaking, I've also lost the desire to write. In the past, writing helps keep my brain active. But these days... I just feel like going blank (not entirely the best scenario when you're in an environment that requires you to think critically). So it's been tough maintaining a balance. There's been a number of interesting highlights that happened just the past week.... but again, somehow I care less about writing about it.

I've found it quite difficult to sleep these past few nights... and YouTube has once again become one of my best friends. I opted to listen to one of my favorite Korean singers, Kim Yeon Woo... and came across this song from the soundtrack of a drama series called Bad Guy (나쁜남자). I really like his voice and the way he sings. More importantly, I like the lyrics of his songs a lot. Anyway, here's a clip of that song that caught my attention (there are a lot of these websites that translate his lyrics~ so just look it up):



For those who know... how befitting, is it not?

Amazingly, in grad school, I've found that weeks somehow go by quickly. Major events happen every week... and somehow, due to the intensity of how things happen here, you'd somehow forget what happened the week prior. Not for me though. And not this time...

But that said, last week also marked the start of Term 2. And as with all things, it also signaled for a fresh start. That was probably the only optimistic thing I could think of. And so, I'll likely try to keep writing... even with just short snapshots or what not.

Final Term 1 Group Presentation

Thank you Term 1 group mates~  (Photo c/o Rachel Wilson)

Last Friday I had the pleasure of working with my Term 1 work group for one last time... for Strategy class. We presented to the class our analysis for Samsung Electronics, more specifically its IT & Mobile Communications division. While we had already submitted our final presentation and report the previous Wednesday, we could only present on Friday due to time constraints.

That's my group right there! (Photos compiled by Ghazal Jabr)

During one of our meetings, I expressed to the group that I was getting bored of our presentation formats... and I wondered whether they would be willing to entertain one of these crazy ideas that lingered in my head.

Most presentations followed a typical format... and so I wanted to try something a bit different. And so, I suggested doing something like a TV show.

I found a royalty-free news intro clip on the Internet and put together a microphone visual with a "IE Business News" label on it and had it printed across the street. The group then thought of creating a large Samsung TV screen visual from cardboard that would serve as our offline set. Fortunately, everyone was pretty game with the idea and created their own TV personalities.

Anar acted like a natural field correspondent, often touching his "earpiece" while delivering the news. Carolina represented your vibrant news anchor in sunny, outdoor locations. Luis, one the other hand, delivered his part with much gusto and confidence~ it was perfect! Rachel transformed into "Dr. Thomas", as she always brought in with her a credible image (She's just so articulate and structured! And yes, the English accent helps too!).

3D TV Indeed! (Photo c/o Carolina)

But of course, the best performance was Stefano's... who brilliantly came up with the idea of bringing an umbrella as a prop! It was completely hilarious~ and his concerted Italian hand gestures made him the star of our program!

The presentation was very well-received! And I guess it wouldn't have been possible had it not been for very willing (and risk-taking) group mates! It was a good way to end the term~ and I'm very thankful for the wonderful experience of working with all of them.

With my new work group for Term 2, I'm very optimistic of the things we'll all be doing together. But that said, I also know that my previous group mates are going to other groups as well... thus making competition much harder! It'll be an interesting experience indeed.