Starting Conversations, Building Network

Finding a job in Singapore is not easy. Market dynamics are different and things are not easy if you have come to Singapore for employment. Personally, I have witnessed few people coming here, spending time finding a job and then finally returning to their home country. Have seen many NUS MBA students passing through the same rigorous process. I have gone through this process myself at Singapore as well and do believe that perseverance will pay, however you need to gain the art of conversing with others and building your network in order to reach where you want to be. There had been many weaknesses I learned about over a period of time though I now feel a little content that I have become better at tackling few things that I was completely fearful about during and after my MBA time.

People say that the most important aspect one learns in a MBA program is Art of Networking. “How do you come across as a personality to other people, how do you sell yourself in a job event, how do you make an interesting conversation that could lead you to where you want to be”. These things are exceedingly important in one’s career as he/she will be evaluated more and more on personality aspects rather than technical aspects as one gains experience. And I was not good at this at all the time I joined my MBA school. I, definitely, was not one of those who can get along with anybody in minutes, actually far from that. I was not confident of speaking in public, I had problems continuing (or even starting) a conversation on anything, etc to name a few. Furthermore, my career experience post undergraduation after IIT Bombay was in a technical domain, as a software developer, which is more like an inward job where one gets evaluated more on technical skills than anything else, and does not expose much to interacting with customers often. Moreover, getting a job in IIT does not inculcate that very skill which is so much needed in a career growth. IIT students are given a silver spoon and companies line up to get the best available student, unlike any other university in world where students understand from very start that they need to sell themselves to a prospective employer.

Boracay Island - 3 Nights/4 Days Trip

Just completed a 4 Days/3 Nights trip to beautiful Boracay Island. Here goes my recommendation

Recommendation and Tips

1. Try to arrive at Caticlan aiport instead of Kalibo. 2-3 hours can easily be consumed while traveling from Kalibo to Caticlan jetty port where you will be taking a boat ride to the island. Caticlan airport is just 5 minutes ride to the port.
2. We made end-to-end journey reservation from Kalibo airport to our resort via Southwest tour. It costs ~560 pesos per person. You could buy tickets on arrival as well.
3. We loved station 2. Reserve a hotel that opens up to the beach. We chose Boracay Regency.
4. Take a mat and lie down at the beach in night. You will not regret the view of the sky.

We loved Boracay Island for two reasons - Phenomenal Sunsets and Excellent White Sand. Both of these things made our journey quite memorable. Although, reaching Boracay Island is not so straightforward. From Singapore it could take anywhere from 9-11 hours (end-to-end time). So I feel that you should plan for at least 3 complete days to enjoy the beach.

There are lots of sports activities available in Boracay - you could go para sailing, island hopping, banana boat, snorkeling, sunset sailing etc. We did not do any of this as we have done all in some other trip. Just relax on the beach, take a dip in the water, drink and read a novel. Just destress ;)

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Places/Countries Visited in the World - 2

It is time for some update. For the past one year, we have traveled a lot and here are the places that we visited, last being Boracay Island in Philippines. Will write about my experience in Boracay in some time, but here is the travel we did last year

Vienna, Salzburg - Austria
Zurich, Jungfrau, Interlaken - Switzerland
Rome, Florence, Venice - Italy
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia
South Island - New Zealand
Boracay Island - Philippines

5 new countries. All of them offering a unique charm. If it was breath taking scenery in Switzerland and New zealand, it was the churches and histroy in Italy. If it was the sound of music in Austria, it was one of the most amazing beach in Boracay. It is good that world has so much to offer.

Here is the new updated map. 16 countries and counting.

11 days visit to New Zealand - South Island

Recommendation

1. Choose good AirBnBs (which are a bit high on a hill, we chose at Fernhill and Frankton (both in opposite direction to get diff views) in Queenstown. You will not regret it
2. If taking helicopter ride on Franz Joseph, chose the one which drops you higher (HeliHike) for further hiking. Glaciers are receding.
3. Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki offer unbelievable views. It should be there in your trip.
4. Going to Puzzling World (in Wanaka) on a hot day could lead you to frustration when searching for routes in the maze.
5. You should book a good car (higher power) as many drives pass through mountains.
6. Accommodation in Milford Sound (only one lodge) gets filled up pretty fast, so book them early if planning to go during festive season.
7. There are lot of scenic routes in South Island, so you would want to stop at every point to take pics. At most places, you would find look out point which will anyway offer spectacular views. So follow the signboards.

New Zealand South Island journey has been the most spectacular journey thus far. Routes are most scenic, first time on glacier - hiking, different color lakes, milford sound, seals, beautiful views of queenstown, gorges etc etc. We avoided Sky Diving and Bungee as we have done it before. But in all, driving south island is a ggreat package. I'm listing down my journey route, nights we spent at different places and costs etc to plan your own trip. We landed in Christchurch and decided to go anticlockwise as shown in figure below. From my research, it didn't appear that we should be spending anytime in ChristChurch so we left directly from airport and stayed at Hokitika.

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