MA Boot Camp - Week 2

Out of the Woods, Into the Classroom

The first week of real work finally began after an epic weekend partying spree. In retrospect it may have made sense to slow down on Sunday so that I might have caught enough sleep to function effectively through the next week, but what's done was done.

Monday introduced me to my lecturer for the next two weeks, a Singaporean-English former credit specialist with experience in an impressive number of reputable investment banks. I definitely lucked on my instructor - besides being knowledgeable and engaging, Yuen was also very honest about the material in our banking training, especially about which areas which are purely academic and would have no application at all in real life. He related almost every concept back to his personal experience, and regaled the class with anecdotes, interesting what-if scenarios, and constantly challenged us to consider why businesses do certain things (why do Russian companies invest in London, why shouldn't you buy your own company's stock, why do supermarkets like Walmart succeed in some countries but not others)

Despite my fatigue from the weekend, as well as the long lecture hours (8:30am - 7:00pm on average), I found it relatively easy to stay interested and attentive during class. What did annoyed me was HR's attempt at simulating a stressful work environment, by scheduling mandatory guest-lectures after work and implementing a silly policy on homework. HR informed all the instructors to assign us about 2 hours of homework a night, and then also requested they do not provide it to us until the end of the day. This process led to a lot of late nights for many MAs, since our commute home takes over an hour and we still have to manage dinner. I'm certain that none of the 80+ MAs had time to consistently cook throughout the week, and most of us had to settle for takeout or the nearby food court almost every night (which we have for lunch as well).

Perhaps I am being soft but I do not believe that HR has no reason to make class intentionally difficult by withholding information to the people they are trying to train. Why not just assign us more work rather than creating an artificial stressful environment? We would learn more that way and can use time management skills to allocate our efforts to what we feel is important. HR's plan drew a lot of ire during our feedback sessions and resulted in them lifting the big weekend assignment.

Besides this one aspect, I've enjoyed everything else: the case-based subject matter, the mix of interactivity and lectures, my instructor, and the competition for crystals in our classes (it's a lot like Harry Potter and adds some light humour).

MA Boot Camp - Week 1

I'm just nearing the end of my last summer vacation (even though I started work in early August) and I figure it is about time I updated this blog.

I am in the midst of my second week training in Singapore for my Management Associate program and so far it's been a thrill. I will be here for a total of 28 days, a period of time that feels more like an university exchange than a business trip. 

The accommodations are spacious and quite alright - our entire intake of 60+ foreign MAs are staying in a group of fully serviced residential complexes at Tiong Bahru. Despite uniformly terrible reviews of these rooms on Google, I find them acceptably clean and comfortable. I have seen ants in the kitchen area quite often though, and rumours are abound about mice, cockroaches, and lizards getting into certain complexes. On paper these rooms rent for about $4000 - $5000 a month and I would agree for that price living here would be silly. I do appreciate how my flat mates and I can leave the air conditioner on 24/7 - sometimes the heat outside is unbearable.

The first morning of training consisted of hours of Powerpoint briefings and networking games. Little did I know that those two activities are the most popular elements of training, and that morning was just a preview of much, much, more. The afternoon involved a showcase where MAs set up exhibits presenting elements of their own culture to senior management. The CEO came by to meet everyone individually - I found it interesting that unlike the rest of the top management team he didn't pretend to care to be interested in our booths. He came to meet MAs so he would ask whatever questions he wanted, whenever he wanted. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were workshop days to improve everyone's presentation skills. My bank had hired an external professional training firm to take over these workshop sessions, as well as the financial knowledge instruction in the later weeks. It had been over a year since I had last given a business presentation, and I delivered quite a weak one for my first try. It didn't help that I presented a project I did in third year (cap and trade policy vs. carbon tax) and I wasn't entirely familiar with the content. Over the two days I was surprised that I learned quite a bit. There are so many factors to being a natural, complete, speaker that I hadn't considered before, especially regarding speaking pace, pause, body movement, and connecting with certain members of the audience through eye contact. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and felt major improvements by the end of the second day.

Capping off the end of the week was an overnight team-building trip with Outward Bound Singapore on an island near Malaysia. The most interesting part part involved a rowing excursion to a remote camping spot on another side of the island. After setting up shelters and cooking dinner, we were told that we would try to circle the rest of the island by noon the next day. There were some hints that wasn't going to happen though - for one thing, our shelters could barely cover everyone, there were wild dogs roaming around, and we were never explicitly told in any of the briefings we would be sleeping outside. In the end, the coordinators sent us back on our boats at 11:00pm and we rowed back to our starting location armed only with paddles and glowsticks. The journey back in near-pitch darkness was really the stand-out moment of OBS - it's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly why but the combination of unpredictability, physicality, teamwork, and novelty of rowing in the dark made it such a memorable experience. 

Game of Thrones Thoughts - Daenarys

I've been obsessively following Game of Thrones for the past season now and I realize now I have some serious beef with Danaerys. I'm normally pretty apathetic to TV show characters and wouldn't care at all about what happens to them, but Daenarys really grinds my gears. Practically every time she appears on screen, I cringe at something she does or says. I find it absurd that I would write a blog post about my dislike for a fictional character, but these frustrations must be vented.

Daenarys Stormborn

Better than you

Reasons I can't stand watching Daenarys Stormborn

She has complete plot immunity

Daenarys has the most screen time of any character, (Ned Stark did challenge her in Season 1 but we all know what happens to characters played by Sean Bean) and on top of that she is completely isolated from the rest of Westeros. None of her actions for the past 3 seasons have affected anyone in Westeros at all, and for the sole reason of not wasting all the minutes spent developing her character, Daenarys must survive. Even further, she is young and beautiful, supposedly the 'purest' of all the characters in the show, so it's extremely unlikely she would sustain any injuries (a scar across the face, a chopped off hand). No one from Westeros is even close to interacting with her at the end of season 3 so it's guaranteed that she'll be plot protected (and probably victorious) against all her threats for the next few seasons.

Now I wouldn't usually mind this but..

She is incredibly arrogant

Is anyone more self-entitled than Daenarys Targaryen? Sure the self-proclaimed kings in Westeros are ambitious and want to rule the realm, but none of them believe they are God's gift to the world (well Stannis might but we have no trouble believing that he's disillusioned). Daenarys is a fourteen year-old girl, who after losing her husband and leading a rag-tag khalasar for a few weeks, suddenly discovered her divine calling as the savior of Westeros. By what reasoning is she the rightful heir to the Iron Throne hers anyway? Didn't Robert Baratheon win it legitimately through conquest like her ancestor Aegon did? Why won't she listen to anyone who tells her that her father went mad? Why doesn't she try to learn the circumstances of the Rebellion from anyone other than her dead brother? And WHY does she constantly have to flout her titles - did her servant girl really have to address her as Daenarys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Rightful Heir to the Iron Throne, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons???

One of Tywin Lannister's greatest lines to Joffrey that if you have to constantly remind others you are King to earn their respect, you are not a King deserving of their respect.

Her enemies are cartoon idiots

For Daenarys to have a shot at surviving until she gets to Westeros, she has to be given huge advantages over the rest of the cast, and one of them is that all enemies are ludicrous caricatures who spew evil-speak and die a few episodes later. Her first antagonist, Viserys, promptly got himself killed, but not before generating as much as animosity with the audience as possible. In fact, you could say that anyone who verbally disrespected the Khaleesi ended up dead (even Robert across the sea). Calling Daenarys a whore is a stronger recipe for death than throwing yourself into wildfire.

One especially unbelievable plot development I have to take issue with is Danaerys' interaction with the Unsullied slave owner in Astapor. Those slave owners are probably the most shrewd negotiators on the continent, having dealt with hundreds of mercenaries, criminals, desposed rulers, and all-around shady folk. The slave owner hears the word dragon, and is then willing to trade the city's entire cache of ultra-obedient super-soldiers, all for a creature that could've bitten his head off as soon as he approached it. Surely nothing could go wrong! Can you honestly imagine Daenarys going to King's Landing and convincing Tywin or Tyrion or Ned to trade the entire city's defenses and army for one dragon on a leash? It's laughable.

Her decision-making is atrocious

Even worse, after getting her super-army, Daenarys decides to order it to kill every single slave trader in Astapor. In what twisted world is that justice? You can't waltz into a city that has been trading slaves for thousands of years, who don't know any better, who have accepted it as a way of life, and kill them all for it. Did she even meet any of the slave traders? Some of them could have been decent people, with wives and children. They could have been accountants, engineers, teachers, who owned a slave to help out around the house. It's akin to aliens suddenly appearing on Earth one day, and exterminating every single person who eats animals and plants because they are living organisms. No trial, no due process, just the senseless killing of people. There are countless other instances where Daenarys has made horrible decisions that miraculously turn into the best possible outcome for her (walking into a funeral pyre, confronting a murderous warlock anyone?). Her success is solely based on a combination of luck and incredibly able allies, who only serve her because they instantly fall in love with her, or through some convoluted sense of duty and honour.

I honestly can't wait for her to land in Westeros and deal with real problems like everyone else. I would like her to be shown up to be a naive, self-entitled, little girl, but I have a feeling she's going to find success until the very end.

23 - Goals

The most meaningful pursuit in life is to strive to become a better person each and every day. Living with purpose and taking steps to realize your fullest potential are the important things you can do for yourself, because there is so much out there in the world - so many people to meet, so many skills to develop, so many places to go, so many experiences to be had.

Having just turned 23, there are several areas of my life I want to improve on this coming year. These  aspects form an integral part of who I am, and I hope that in setting out these goals, I can take them to new heights. 

Health
I've packed a lot of weight this past year, mostly due to not knowing much about nutrition, and assuming that by working out I'd be able to get my body fat under control. Exercise is important, but diet plays an even more important role in building a better body. My primary health goal is to cut to 10% body fat and stay there, which would require a combination of disciplined diet and exercise.

- Exercise consistently, with at least 2 weights sessions and 2 HIIT sessions per week
- Cut down drastically on empty calorie foods
- Consume about 1g protein per lb of lean body mass a day
- Regulate calorie intake to 165lb - 170lbs, and slow gain from there

Mind

The best way to build a healthier mind is to develop a willingness to learn and improve, and maintain a high level of self-esteem. I don't believe anyone can have too much confidence or self-belief so long as they are grounded by basic humility and common sense. To achieve true happiness is to live in a way that I find personally find fulfilling and satisfying, which is all a state of mind. I will abide by these statements this year:

- Understand that I am responsible for my choices and the attainment of my goals
- Accept myself unreservedly, including my flaws and shortcomings, and understand that I have the power to change myself
- Behave and act in a manner that is congruent with my values and wants
- Hold myself to a higher standard in everything I do, large or small. This is my own standard, and it does not matter if other people know or care
- Live in the moment, find satisfaction in every little thing I do

Career

I will continue to pursue the CFA if I start at DBS. At work I will be selfless, enthusiastic, and confident. I will take every opportunity to build strong relationships with my co-workers and managers. I will build my professional network, and consistently seek avenues to advance my career

- Pass the Level I CFA, register and study for Level II
- Maintain existing networks, meet and contact new people as much as possible
- Keep myself open to new career opportunities

Personal Life

- Interact with at least 5 people a day, reach out to as many old acquaintances as possible
- Do at least one memorable thing a week. A trip, a new activity, a unique experience
- Master that guitar. Practice every time I watch a long video
- Sing. Develop my pitch and tone
- Tennis. At least achieve 4.0. It just requires concentration and the mindset of executing each shot to the best of my ability. Understand the reason behind every error.

February in Tofino

Tofino - Day 1

This morning I set out for Tofino with Josh, Tyler, and Chris to do nothing but play board games, poker, and chill in a fancy cottage for four days. BC weather in February is dreadful, and the near-zero water temperatures meant that we could avoid the surfing crowd and rent out a place for a good price.

Tofino was a lot farther than any of us expected. Actually, no one really anything about the path there besides the fact that we needed to board a ship and drive on the Sunshine Coast for a bit. Only after the ferry circled around Vancouver Island to dock at Nanaimo did we realize getting to Tofino would take a bit longer than anticipated. The total drive from Nanaimo to Tofino took about three hours, and involved a lot of rain, mist, and manuevering around sharp mountain bends every 50 metres.

When we arrived at the villa, it felt like a storm was approaching. Conveniently, I left my winter jacket behind at the Superstore at Metrotown that same morning and I couldn’t stop shivering every time I exited the car. The cottage we rented was completely stacked in terms of space and accommodations including:

-           Heaters in every room

-                 3 floors

-                 3 bathrooms (two showers)

-                 4 beds including one super well-cushioned and king-sized master bed

-                 Kitchen fully stocked with every possible electric appliance

-                 Washer and dryer

-                  Huge wooden table for our board/poker games

-                  TV & Speaker System

-                 Armchairs and couches

-                 View of the water and mountains

We couldn’t have asked for any more for a four-person cottage. Well, maybe the Wifi could be a bit more reliable.

We did a quick grocery run to pick up dinner and breakfast items. Luckily, Tyler is actually a competent cook and was able to put together a huge pot of chicken fettucini in alfredo sauce. Afterwards, we settled who would have to wash dishes over a poker game (I did), and who would get which beds over a game of Catan (Tyler got the master, I won the fold-out couch, Chris and Josh were relegated to the twin beds downstairs).

All in all, the trip looks amazingly promising. Not much alcohol was consumed tonight but that is expected to change.




Tofino - Day 2

I started the day off right by finally learning to make breakfast items that don't involve simple pan-frying. Tyler showed me how to mix ingredients to make pancake/crepe batter and then fry it. I can see it being handy knowledge in the future, though I won't be able to do much at home without a whisk and mixing bowl. The thing is with breakfast is that I almost always feel like spending 15 minutes cooking (plus another 5 for dishes) is too much time compared to the 5 minutes I spend wolfing it down. Maybe if I make it a daily habit, I'll change my mind and gain a better appreciation of food, but that's a big if. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to try.

We mostly lounged around the rest of the day. Surprisingly, the sun came out so we went for a brief walk around the town. None of the regular shops opened before 12:00pm besides a few restaurants, the grocery store, and two souvenir places. Tofino's library was the most shocking - it was open only Wednesday to Saturday, and only for four hours on each of those days. What is the point of building a library and filling it with books if you plan to only operate 16 hours a week?

The town demographic makeup was almost completely Caucasian. We did spot a cute Asian girl in the coffee shop, and she became the topic of conversation for hours after. We postulated she worked at the local Chinese restaurant, Gary's Kitchen, which served half Western food, and seemed quite deserted. We lunched across the Kitchen at Sobo, a 'trendy' lunch cafe that was well regarded on Yelp. I ordered bison tacos, which tasted much better than I would've imagined and split a shrimp pizza with the others.

The rest of the day consisted of catching the Canucks-Blackhawks game (devastating loss in shootout) in the cottage, shopping for wine and dinner ingredients (caesar salad and rotisserie chicken - rotisserie chicken is a lifesaver for bachelors and lazy folk), and much more Catan and poker. I also tried this game called Thurn and Taxes, a strategic city-building game set in 19th-century Germany, but besides learning the names of a few German cities, I couldn't really get into it.

Poker at the River Rock

I took the chance to poker overnight at the River Rock a few days ago as I was recovering from jetlag, and I had one of the most interesting sessions of my life.

Arriving at 12:30am, right at the start of the Australian Open women's final, I spent the majority of my time at a 1-2 table beside a TV. I thought that the final would keep me entertained and from overplaying my weak hands, and I did not anticipate that I would catch very little tennis throughout the night.

It was a Friday night, and it seemed to me the players were a bit looser and weaker than usual. One person in particular, a very young guy with a scarf, appeared to have trouble learning table etiquette. Other players were explaining the table rules to him when I arrived, such as no string betting (betting with more than one motion), how straddles worked, and that he did not need to show his hand on the river when it was clearly the loser. The young guy also played relatively slowly, acted out of turn, and arranged his chips in stacks of 10, which meant they covered at least twice the surface area of anyone else's.

His friend sat behind him, who apparently doesn't play at all. For the first hour, I fluctuated up and down, mostly playing tight and betting the flop after I raise preflop. I was down after getting involved in a few pots, and added a few more chips to bring myself up to the $300 maximum buy-in, in total putting in $500. It was around 2:00am that I started to realize something was odd about the young guy. He raised preflop every hand, bet continuously unless he was sure he was beat, and projected a very strong table image, despite his novice play habits.

I was lucky to sit two seats behind him, which almost always gave me position. I gave him the benefit of the doubt when he raised on the button or in late position the first few times, but it started to occur to me that this was becoming a regular play. He then revealed one card to show a huge river bluff to his opponent, and my suspicions were finally confirmed when I picked up some online poker lingo that he was conversing with his friend behind him: jam (all-in), and nit (tight).

Feeling I could maneuver him with this information, I selected several hands to play back at him:

1st hand: A suited semi-connector in position. He folds to the 3-bet, saying "always respect the first 3-bet". In the past 2 hours, the only person who had 3-bet was me.

2nd hand: AJo. I 3-bet his button raise from the big blind and he calls.
The flop is Q with two low cards.
I bet. He calls.
Turn is low card.
I check. He bets with a grin.
I fold.
I felt I got floated (called on the flop to have the pot stolen later). He could have had nothing about 50% of the time and a draw or a pair the other 50%. It wasn't worth the cost of raising to find out. It's possible I could have bet the turn, but he folded so rarely up to that point I didn't want to invest to find out. This hand shows the most common disadvantage of playing out of position.


3rd hand: KQhh. I 3-bet him in position and he calls.
The flop comes 10 8 7 with no flush draw.
He checks. I bet. He raises with a grin.
I fold.
This was getting annoying fast.


4th hand: T6dd. I call his raise from the button.
The flop comes J 4 7 rainbow.
He bets. I call.
Turn is K
He checks. I bet. He calls.
River is J.
He bets. I fold. He shows one Q and says that is his highest card.
I tried to float here and he felt he could still steal the pot from me. I was seriously contemplating raising the river bet but I would have had to go all in, meaning I could only represent a big Jack or a full house. He asked me soon after if I folded an Ace and genuinely seemed surprised when I said his Queen beat me.

5th hand: T8 offsuit. I call his raise from late position.
Flop is Q 10 7
He bets. I call.
Turn is Q
He bets. I call.
River is 3.
He bets. I'm laughing inside now and I snap-call.
He mucks (folds without showing) and I muck after him. Like the last hand, he could only represent trips or a full house here. Even Aces might slow down by the river.

More hands go by and we end up at the biggest pot of the night:

6th hand: 89dd. I call his raise from the small blind, and two other players follow.
Flop is 8 7 6 rainbow (flop 40)
I check. Guy 1 bets 20. Guy 2 calls. Young guy raises to 60. I raise to 160. Guy 1 and 2 fold. Young guy calls.
Turn is a 5
I bet 220 with about 200 behind me. Young guy folds.

This was the most difficult hand of the night for both of us. I got extremely lucky to complete my straight and definitely messed up, if not with my betting action, then with my bet sizes. If I check-raised one raise on the flop, I could have all sorts of hands. But I check-raised two raises on the flop, meaning I was representing a huge hand (two pair or better).

The main reason for my raise was because I didn't feel anyone had a strong hand. The young player was constantly aggressive and I couldn't give Guy 1 credit for a huge hand. I felt I was protecting my hand and could also push others off a top pair like Ace 8 or King 8, or perhaps tens and Jacks.

You could argue that if I checked the turn, the aggressive player might have taken a stab at the pot, but if he had a pair, two pair, or a set, would he really turn his hand into a bluff with the river still to come? The most logical scenario for when he would bet on the turn is if he had a straight also (then he would still call or raise a bet from me), or if he had absolutely nothing (which is extremely unlikely considering the flop action).

Betting on the turn is fine. The size could have been smaller but it's hard to argue which number is best since I would show I was committed to going all in no matter what amount I bet.

The young guy tells me later he folded a set, which meant his situation was even worse than mine. Folding on the flop seemed too weak. Raising would fold out weaker hands and only get him all in against sets and straights (and possibly my hand). Calling to evaluate the turn card was a decent option, and he was just unlucky that the 5 put four cards to a straight on the board.

Kudos to him for outplaying me, then making the right fold on the turn.

I later find out that he is an online pro who recently turned 19. It was his first time at the casino, though he acted like a newbie to project a trustworthy, stronger, image. He also string-bet on purpose a lot so that he could appear to want to bet bigger while only committing a small amount of his chips.

Tokyo Part 2

The second part of my Tokyo trip started off in the Ginza fish market, where Hiroya showed me the touristy foreigner fish market, followed by the local one in a giant warehouse next door. Fish doesn't really excite me - what did interest me were the giant motorized scooters all the fishermen were driving around. It really seemed to me that every fisherman had one, which again reminded me how well off people are in Japan. The fishermen in China, the Phillipines, are generally struggling to survive, while the Japanese are racing each other on motorized scooters.

Next stop was lunch with Hiroya's parents in a traditional Japanese restaurant. They are honestly too generous - I had a shabu shabu lunch that cost about 5800 yen and extra beef plus dessert on top of that. I was convinced that shabu shabu was a kind of rice meal so I was surprised when the waitresses set up this massive hot pot contraption in front of me. The beef they served was honestly the highest quality meat I have ever tasted. The beef was so soft that it seemed to melt in my mouth, and I would have ordered even more if I wasn't being treated to it.

Afterwards, Hiroya and I made it over to Akihabara, Tokyo's otaku district that is known for its anime/manga subculture. Giant advertisements featuring cartoon girls adorned the streets, and you could instantly tell how the population here skewed more towards the teenage boy demographic. Akihabara was initially known just for its numerous technological products shops, but some time ago it grew to be hugely popular for anime/manga shops, and now otaku have now made it their own. The most intriguing part of the visit, besides the maid cafes and the vampire-themed bars, was discovering the girl-companion business there. Dozens of high-school aged girls lined the streets, asking passing boys if they would be interested in having a female companion accompany them as they shop. I saw two guys who picked up a girl, but there was no physical interaction between any of them as they walked along. I am very curious from a business perspective how successful this service is, because I foresee so many potential legal and safety problems that could occur.

We met up with Aji at night, and after dinner at Mos Burgers we headed to the Womb nightclub in Shibayu to meet up with Annie and her exchange friends. The Womb was one of the more expensive clubs that flew in international DJs and attracted a significant number of foreigners. After 1:00am, the main dance floor (there were 4 floors) began to get uncomfortably crowded. The whole club felt like a rave, and the walls of people became almost impossible to dance in or navigate through. Overall, the place was fantastic in terms of entertainment, with moving displays on the roof, light shows, and original beats. It was unfortunate that our group split up halfway through the night and couldn't find each other afterwards.

Recovery took the whole next morning, and I then went to settle my long-promised tennis match with Hiroya on the outskirts of town. The court surface was carpet, which I thought I would never have the chance to play on. It appeared the ball moved a bit slower on carpet, but I didn't have a very recent tennis session to compare it to, so I can't be sure.I later met up with Yumi in Tokyo's high-class shopping district. Muneo worked at the cafe, which was especially known for its French crepes. Catching up with 3 other HEC friends over French food was a great time - I just never thought I would do it in Tokyo. A karaoke session wrapped up the night, and I crashed relatively early that night.

Tokyo Trip

Today was my second full day in Japan and it feels like I have been here for a week already. The incredible culture and many quirky nuances in everyday life make me feel like I am constantly learning something new, and I feel this Japan trip has almost been overwhelming in terms of experiences and reflections.

Where to begin?

I first ventured into Tokyo on the train from Narita airport at about 9:00pm and upon stepping out into the crisp night air, I was astounded how similar to Vancouver that Tokyo appeared. The temperature was exactly what I would expect in Vancouver, and there was even traces of snow-ice left over from the previous night. The skies were clear and the air lacked the humidity found in Hong Kong and Guang Zhou. Lastly, even though I was in central Tokyo, the streets were relatively spacious and the view was quite unlike the skyscraper-dominated landscape of Hong Kong.

After interacting with my friend Hiroya's family, as well as various people on the street and in shops, I was greatly impressed by the service and humility of the Japanese. Japanese culture is built on a foundation of respect and hierarchy cultivated through thousands of years, and this clearly shows in the interactions between shopkeeper and customer, hostess and guest. I also find the fashions of the Japanese to be the most diverse of any country I have visited. They have developed some styles that are truly unique - the flamboyant, casual, and professional are mixed well and this leads to many outfits that warrant a double-take.

The application of technology here is also very different. A few examples include:
- Electric toilets that clean you as you do your business
- Electric mattresses to combat the freezing temperatures of winter
- Vending machines that disperse meal tickets for you to take into a restaurant (so you don't have to flag down a server later)
- Heat packs you apply on your body before you go outside

Yesterday I roamed mostly on my own through the Ueno and Asaksa districts. I tried to get the obligatory museums and cultural places out of the way, while Hiroya was at school. Although I do not find art and culture extremely interesting, I enjoyed wandering and taking as many artistic photos as I could. I also dined in Japanese cafe for lunch where for the price of $2 you can order an appetizer and get as many glasses of soft drinks/juice as you want. I met with Hiroya and two of his friends in the evening for some real Japanese sushi, and while the portions were not particularly large, I did try a lot of meats not commonly available in Vancouver: whale, horse, supremely fatty sashimi. Wasabi in Japan comes squeezed in the sushi itself, which was a small difference that I almost forgot about before eating. We went afterwards to Donkihote, a department store known for selling unusual novelties. Aside from viewing the 18+ section (where the majority of the dirty jokes were made), I was amused to find that Shakeweight is attempting to build itself into Japan's next workout sensation.

Today I followed Aji, one of Hiroya's friends from the previous night, to Yokamoto, one of the newer districts in greater Tokyo. The highlight of that area was definitely the Cup Noodle museum, which while unassuming on the outside, housed a Noodle Factory (where you create and customize your own of cup of instant noodles), a Noodle Bazaar (food court with ramen/noodles from 8 different countries), a Noodle playground (for young kids to play in a noodle-themed playground), as well as noodle history exhibits, and optical illusions with prominent noodle themes. Only in Japan...

Dinner took place at Enoshima, in a seafood restaurant two trains away from the already-far Yokamoto. Enoshima is right beside the ocean, and features an incredible view of the mountain ranges as well as Mount Fuji in the background. Aji and I were lucky to arrive right before sunset to catch the sun dip below the mountains and fade away. Hiroya later joined for dinner, and we decided to visit a hot spring on the way home. Japanese hot springs are most different from their North American equivalents in one key area: everyone gets buck-naked. I got over the nudity relatively quickly and quite enjoyed the experience overall. The outdoor springs were by far the most satisfying - when your lower body is submerged, you feel you are just exuding heat everywhere on your body, and you are completely immune to the 0 degree wind attacking your torso. The spring experience, and the accompanying sauna, exhausted me for reasons I still do not understand, and I am glad that I am back in bed over an electric mattress ready to sleep.

Online Sports Betting - An Example

Here is a statistics and reasoning problem about tennis that's been bugging me lately.

The Problem

From 2005 - 2012, Rafael Nadal has dominated the French Open, winning 7 titles in 8 attempts. His odds to win the event as dictated by online bookkeepers ranged from about 30% - 70%, and let's say for simplicity's sake, his average odds were 50% each year. How then, has Nadal lifted the championship trophy 7 times? 

There are two possibilities:

Either bookkeepers' odds are inaccurately low - this meaning that online sports betting is highly exploitable, and you can bet on Nadal profitably if bookkeepers continue to offer 50%

Or Nadal has been extraordinarily lucky - essentially flipping a coin and calling the result correctly 7 times out of 8?

My Take

The most straightforward answer would be to say that yes, Nadal was probably a bit heavier of a favourite than than the bookkeepers gave, and luck played a moderate role in the final outcome. Any French Open betting odds given for Nadal are reasonably accurate, and the system is not exploitable.

However, I do not believe that this is a complete answer, since it implies Nadal is still an easy positive EV bet in future French Opens. 

Let's look at a few other scenarios:

Nadal's record at the Monte Carlo Masters is an all-time record, where he is the first player in history to have won the same event 8 times in 8 consecutive years. He was a strong favourite every year after his first win but was never more than 3 : 1 (75%) against the rest of the field.

After seeing this more extreme example, the complete answer becomes more apparent. Nadal's true odds to win the Monte Carlo Masters are clearly not 100%, just like how his true odds to win the French Open are not 87.5%. The odds of a player winning an event are based on more factors than than his win percentage at that event. To put it differently, the past results of one event alone give almost no indication of present odds due to its small sample size.

Nadal's odds are determined by his win rate on clay across hundreds of matches, including his losses from outside Monte Carlo and Paris. They depend on his opponents and his current physical condition. The odds also consider that Nadal may retire from the tournament due to injury or play poorly due to some other issue. 

Given all this information, would an average 50% win rate for the French Open make sense for Nadal?

Nadal's career win percentage on clay is 93%. 0.93 to the power of 7 (the number of matches in the tournament) is just over 60%. Once you consider the fact: that Nadal's win percentage counts only matches Nadal did not withdraw from, Nadal is the most susceptible to injury and pull-outs of the top players, and that the field at the French Open is tougher than at smaller clay court tournaments, it would be reasonable to give Nadal a 50% chance to win the French Open.

Conclusion: bookkeepers are correct, market economics work, and Nadal has been fairly lucky to avoid injury during the clay season.

HK Recruitment

These past few weeks I have been in Hong Kong applying for jobs, and so far the most comprehensive process I have gone through was for the Management Associate position with D Bank.

The program has been around for quite a few years but recently it was revamped as part of D's growth, and its strategy to improve its internal training and work culture. The bank has also started to build a stronger brand internationally, which explains why it was one of the two Management Programmes posted on the Sauder career website.

The application process consisted of 4 rounds and I'll describe my experience in each one:

Online Application

Very standard application that involved a few paragraph responses as to why you want to join D and what your career aspirations are. Extremely straightforward

I was invited to the next round almost immediately after the application deadline. I believe they skim every online application very briefly for a few indicators: education, GPA, work experience, and then shortlist so long as the candidate is minimally qualified.

Round 1: Online Aptitude Tests

The two online tests examined my logical reasoning and numerical reasoning skills. The logical reasoning test required me to respond to paragraphs with a Yes, No, or Cannot Say, and was fairly straightforward. I was asked to use a calculator and pen for the numerical test, but I chose to open an Excel window beside my browser and quickly analyze data that way. I later discovered I would have been faster using pen and paper, but luckily the test was easy enough for me to finish with a minute to spare.

I have always wondered how HR departments deal with online aptitude tests. The method that makes the most sense to me would be to invite the top X percentage of test takers to the next round. It's always unclear what the percentage is, and I have often been very surprised that I passed, or I failed.

Round 1.5: Phone Conversation

I don't believe that this was officially a round, but almost a month later, I was contacted for a telephone chat to confirm my qualifications. The HR manager assured me she only had a few questions and that the call wasn't an interview. Nevertheless, I dug up as much information about D as I could and prepared my answers to basic questions.

I was lucky I did. The call ended up taking about 20 minutes asking about my motivations to join the bank and my leadership experiences. After the conversation, the HR manager informed me that I would be notified  if a phone interview was appropriate.

I suppose that the short phone call is supposed to verify that you were being honest in your online application, although I can't imagine many candidates failing this area.

Round 2: Phone Interview

I received my invitation to the phone interview a few days after and began to prepare more thoroughly. The interview itself was actually extremely similar to my phone conversation - it was just a bit more behavioural-focused and lasted 30 minutes instead of 20. My interviewer, the same HR manager, loosened up a lot after I started speaking in Cantonese, and she took a few minutes at the end to go over the entire timeline of the Programme and its application process.

I have a theory about interview performance and it is that in each round of an interview, you either have to stand out in a positive way, or merely qualify, to advance to the next stage. A round where you have to stand out positively means that the organization is looking for a reason to hire you, whereas a qualifying round means you only have to avoid by looking bad. More desirable positions, and those with less openings available, will have at least one stand-out round and many will have two. These rounds truly determine whether the organization really wants you. The qualifying rounds filter the applicant pool to make this round more straightforward.

I felt I delivered a strong response to every question in my D phone interview, and I was quite confident that it was a stand-out round, so I was quite happy going forward. 

Round 2.5: Video

This barely counts as round but I thought it was very interesting. I was invited to the D Assessment Centre in Hong Kong, but before that, HR wanted me to send in a 30-second video introducing myself and explaining why I wanted to join the Programme.

It took me over 2 hours to produce a one-minute video of myself dressed professionally in front of a plain background (this format was specified). The reason it took me so long was because I ended up memorizing a script and re-shooting until every vocal tone and facial expression was perfect. I thought it would be too embarrassing to get eliminated based on an awkward video, and I hope no one did.

Round 3: Assessment Centre

I was notified about my AC a month in advance, but there was not much I could do to prepare for it. Although I had done case discussions with other firms before, I knew that the D one would be more comprehensive. I researched as much as I could online but I couldn't find anything that would give me a good idea of what to expect. I later learned that candidates are explicitly told not to spread any details about the AC online.

The day started at 9:00am, in the office tower right beside my place in Taikoo. There were 7 candidates in my group: a mix of locals and foreign-educated Chinese. Everyone was Asian, and for the most part, fluent in Cantonese or Mandarin.

Networking & Refreshments

A few D representatives enthusiastically greeted us at 9:00am and whisked us off to the cafe. The cafe could have passed for an outside coffee shop, which was quite impressive considering that it was only used by D. There were also fruit platters, scones, sandwiches, and beverages laid out on a table, but I don't think anyone had the chance to touch the food. A few more people from the office came in and soon every candidate was paired up with someone from D to talk to. I was surprised to learn that one of the representatives who was so enthusiastic at the beginning was the COO - and I talked for a while with her and another person. A short 15 minutes later, we were shown to the training room for our first assessment. 

I dropped my passport in the cafe, which one of the HR managers later handed to me in the training room. Not the ideal start, but I thought I presented myself fairly well otherwise.

Case Discussion

As a group, we were asked to read a series of printed emails, and organize a movie screening and after-party fundraiser for a fictional company. Our table was surrounded by four assessors in different corners, as well as a few junior staff sitting in front of us. The planning exercise went well - I started off quiet as everyone tried to get their ideas in and I started to pick up by pitching suggestions to make existing ideas better. My strategy was to avoid controlling discussion and getting bogged down in minor details such as budget calculations. I focused on recommendations that would raise more revenue, save on costs, or contribute to increasing the value of the event. The only time I took the lead was when I reminded the team we were running out of time and I would work with someone to write down our presentation points on the flip chart, while the rest of the team finishes the budget. 

After the activity concluded, we were split up into two smaller groups, and I went with two others into a separate room.

Role-Play

The assessment involved reading background information about a bank branch. I was a new Account Manager who had to deal with a complaint by a client who was overcharged. I was extremely familiar with this situation through my TD experience so I couldn't help smiling as I read the opening paragraph.

I moved to a new room with two assessors and my client, the HR manager from my phone interview, walks in. They had definitely tried to make the situation as tricky as possible - the information I had in the beginning didn't give a complete picture of what happened so I had to ask about her experience too. I followed every bank protocol in the beginning, asking for ID again even after she ignored my first request, and checking her history before asking her questions. I resolved her dispute by reimbursing a reasonable amount, and fielding her questions about the branch's products. Strangely, she kept asking more details about products my bank could offer her business, when I only had information about business loans.

I think the interaction turned out fine in the end. I stumbled a few times throughout the interaction while trying to resolve the conflict, but I felt I made a fair reimbursement and got the important information across.

Written Exercise

This was a qualifying round to test our English written abilities. The question was what could Management Associates bring to D, and I jotted down a quick page about diversity and openness to learning. My response didn't flow as well as I would have liked, but I felt I wrote satisfactorily enough to qualify.

Case Presentation

This was the big one. Everyone was individually given an hour to read a case and prepare a recommendation to management. We were given flip chart paper and pens for our presentations.

The case involved devising recommendations to improve the performance of a medical salesperson. I was given his past sales performance, product offerings, environment, competitors, marketing costs. I broke down the presentation into four sections: summary of his products and past sales, sales opportunities and threats, recommendations, implementation and marketing budget for the next year.

The presentation part was fine. When I finished it in 8.5 of the allotted 10 minutes, my assessor asked if I wanted to add anything. I realized my recommendations didn't specifically address the threat of competitors and I spoke a bit more about that. 

The 10-minute Q&A portion was unbelievably stressful. The 10 minutes felt like 20 minutes, and I wasn't confident at all in how I answered some of the questions. The worst stretch was when the assessor kept asking if there were any other ways to improve sales performance, rephrased over and over. To be fair, she did give me new ideas to work with, such as getting support from corporate, but after a while I felt like I was repeating myself again and again. She ended her assessment with a faint smile and a handshake, and I was finished for the day.

At our debriefing, we were told that we would get a call later in the evening if we were shortlisted to the final round. The final panel interview would be held at the Central office the next afternoon. 

Round 4: Final Panel Interview

For the rest of the day I was in an anxious mood. If I hadn't messed up the final presentation, I would have felt a lot more confident. In the end, I received a call close to 8:00pm when I was having ramen with friends, and I booked it home to start preparing for the final panel interview.

My panel consisted of the lead HR from the assessment centre, the head HR for D Hong Kong, the head of Institutional Banking, and another top executive. The interview was scheduled for 15 - 20 minutes, and in my mind, it had to be a qualifying interview. The number of candidates progressing through to the last stage roughly matched the maximum number of positions, and they cannot expect to make a very informed hiring decision if I only spoke to them for 15 minutes. The offer was practically on the table.

And I messed up, in three ways.

• Cantonese - The interview actually started off very well in English. I was articulate, enthusiastic, confident, and I fielded their curveball question decently (What colour best represents your personality and career ambitions?). Halfway through, one of the assessors asked if I could speak Cantonese and I replied I could, with a disclaimer that I may have trouble expressing certain ideas in Chinese. If I could redo this, I would have said I know a little bit, and then started conversing in Cantonese to exceed their expectations. Stating upfront that I could speak set me up for a torrent of Cantonese interview questions that I stumbled trying to answer again and again. I didn't feel my responses were so bad that it warranted a request to answer in English (should I have?), but I continually paused during my responses, and sometimes substituted in entire phrases of English.

• The Banking Questions - As if expressing my passion for banking, learning, and accounting, wasn't hard enough in Cantonese, I was asked to assess the state of the banking industry in Asia. Looking back now, I cannot believe that I did not adequately prepare for this question. In English, I probably would have answered fine by thinking something up on the spot, but I simply could not do this while finding the words I needed to express my ideas in Chinese. One of assessors followed up by asking what I thought about the growth and potential of the China market, and I replied with almost no substance or facts.

• The Offer Questions - This was a truly cringe-worthy moment. By this time, I had dealt with enough Cantonese questions to know that the interview was not going well as I had hoped. I wasn't panicking but my anxiety had affected my thinking process. The questions flowed in this order:
• Are you applying to other Management Associate Programmes?
• Even though I wanted to avoid this question, I had already said in my phone interview I had applied to H, so I replied in the affirmative.
• Which ones?
• I was committed. I said H.
• What stage are you in for your H application?
• I had literally one second to think whether I should answer this question, and what I should say. The truth was I had applied to H but my last response was almost a month ago. They hadn't outright rejected my application like they had to other people I know, but it was also unlikely I would be moving forward. 
• Should I say I don't want to disclose that information? 
• Should I say I finished my online assessments 
• Should I add it was unlikely for me to move on the next round?
• I felt that option 1 was too cold, and option 3 was showed too much weakness. I decided to go with the partial truth and said I had completed my online aptitude assessments.
• If you were to receive an offer from H and D, which would you take?
• I said I didn't know. Facepalm. One of the interviewers actually laughed and said out loud that I was too honest.
• Truthfully, I had not done any research into H's MA program so I could not compare the two at all. I suppose in English I could have stated again the benefits of D's program, its structure and network, its supportive culture and people, but in that split second I did not think I could effectively elevate D over H in Cantonese, especially since the first time I even met anyone from the firm in person was at the AC the previous day.
• So I blurted out the most honest response in Cantonese, and I learned a valuable lesson. 

The interview concluded after a short exchange where I asked the interviewers my own questions, and I met my HR manager who escorted me out. I had taken about half an hour inside the room, which is bad news for a qualifying round. I found out later from another candidate that she had kept within her 20 minutes.

I find out my results 'within Feburary'. Hopefully it goes well.

DBS Update:

I did end up receiving the offer from DBS, after I almost lost hope. The recruiter was very careful in the beginning of the conversation, asking what are my career plans were for the future and where I planned to work.

This confused me at first but when it occurred to me they wouldn’t ask these questions to reject me, I was elated.