MAcc graduate

Another chapter has gone by in my life. I officially graduated from my Masters of Accountancy from Bowling Green State University. I do not think I can do this without the support of my family who has guided and helped me through my graduate life. I do appreciate my family for all the work that they have put in me to accomplish this milestone in my life. I actually took a lot of pictures at the ceremony. 

ISAC group members

me and the world

Another pic of me

ISAC group

Close friends group pics

Xiaomeng and me

Posing with our MAcc degrees

My roomate and I

BG Falcon mascot

Better way to save...

I watched this advertisement from Geico insurance and its theme is always "There is an easier way to save, get Geico". And then I thought to myself, this theme can be applied to my life as well. Since being in graduate school, I realized the importance of money and savings. Not like I did not before, but I tend to value money even more. Especially, when you have rent, food and bills to pay off. These are my top 5 list that I have save of:

1. Brought a Wahl hair cutting kit on Amazon with a coupon for only $5.
- Probably my best investment ever. I learned how to cut my own hair. It's pretty easy to do because I only want a normal hair. The downside is that I have to cut my hair once every 1.5 months. But that is okay. Gradually I am getting better at this.

2. Look at the dollar store to find new deals.
- Instead of going to Walmart to find things in bulk, the Dollar Store can be a good bargain. For example, you can buy like paper towels and toilet tissue for $2. My genius mind also helped to buy dog plastic at this store too. Works every time.

3. Walking and biking instead of driving.
- Sometimes, this can be really tiring and boring. If you have a car, you can go places and come back right after. However, biking or walking to college is a good form of transportation. Plus, it helps you to exercise too which is good for your health. :)

4. Renting books instead of buying them
- Buying textbook can incur a large expense. Chegg is a website that allows students to rent textbooks for a semester and you have to return it before the deadline. The delivery is faster too. Another method is buying used textbooks on Ebay or Half.com. If you are lucky, you might find a textbook in the Ohiolink and renew it every time. Best thing ever. Why buy when you can rent. And professors only use like 10% of the book anyways. I bet they are getting a commision from this too.

5. Buying grocery and cooking by myself and refraining from eating out.
- I always go to Kroger or Meijer to get grocery and plan my lunch and dinner for the week. If I have the mood, I will make something delicious which will last me at least 3 days. But I think I can only cook for myself because I don't think other people will like what I eat. Now, I notice that I am not that choosy with food anymore. I sure used to before.

There is an easier way to save. You just have to think of a plan and work towards it. Okay, these two months will be bad because I am no longer on payroll and need to rely on my savings accounts that I accumulated. Good thing I am not a spendthrift type. Hopefully, things will be better in the stretch and I will get some good news in terms of job or CPA examiniation license.

Time or Money

I happened to stumble upon a portrait photo that titles: Time or Money. That statement motivated me to blog about this topic. And it got me thinking too. Which one do I want more? Time or Money. At first, I debated choosing money because I think that money can be more beneficial during emergency situation. If you don't have money, well you practically cannot do anything in life. Everything is about money these days. Right. Where in the world can you go that money does not matter? But then I realized something. Time is also as valuable. With time you can get to do all the things you ever wanted. You know the saying, "If I had the time, I will definitely do .....(fill in the blank). And then I realized that I cannot make a decision. So I started to ponder on myself. Time or money. In the end, I shifting towards Time because. with time you are able to get more money, assuming you are being productive. But, if you have no time, then your money will be to waste. My question is which one do you think you value the most? Time or money. It's not a difficult question to answer. Choose wisely. I know I did. :)

Bdups & other stuff

Finally, Buffalo Wild Wings opened in Bowling Green after they decided to renovate to a new location. I wonder what got me into this wings craze. They have this special days, Tuesday, wings night or Thursday boneless wings. Maybe because it's the price. Maybe because it's the sauce, Parmesan Garlic and Spicy garlic. Or maybe I am just too lazy to cook. Whatever the reason it may be I just love this place. If I eat there, there are gazillions televisions to watch sports. Kinda reminds me of mamak where you go there and order a cup of teh tarik and sit there from 10-2pm watching soccer all night long. After some time, you feel hungry and you order food. But that's different I guess. Sometimes I order takeout because I don't want to wait in line for a place to sit and not pay sales tax. Yeah, life as a college student is difficult. Especially when you are in a financial situation with limited sources of income. Getting my paying off bills one  paycheck at a time.

Since being here, I began training to cut my own hair. It's not that difficult. At least I try to not make it be. I brought these hair clippers on Amazon which costs only $25. It's not perfect or anything but at least it saves me on trips to the barbershop. If I have a good mood, I will cut it too short, which is good because it can last longer. On other occasion, I try to trim it. Hopefully this haircut can last me three more weeks.

Somehow, I managed to put in time to clean up my room. Did some spring cleaning around the house. Vacuum the apartment and my room. (Which my messy roommate dirtied it again). Sanitized the cook area. And cooked herbal soup for the weekend. All in all, it was a productive weekend. Yeah, I also spend time studying for my CPA exam. Man, I really need to pass FIN. Time is of the essence for me. Please, I need all the help I can get.

Cost Accounting

At the beginning of the semester, I heard some good and bad things about Cost Accounting. The only reason why I took this class so that I only have two days of classes. Plus, I wanted to learn more about internal financial reporting. To be a good accountant, you need to know external financial reporting as well as internal financial reporting. Hence, I decided that this would be a good choice. I kinda underestimated this class because he does not collect homework nor attendance is mandatory. But when you consider that you are paying thousands of dollars for university, at least you need to attend class. The first exam was rough and I told myself that I was going to study harder for the second one. On Tuesday, I took the 2nd exam and it was a little bit harder than expected. You know the feeling when you walk out of an exam and you know that you are going to get a bad grades. Tuesday night, he sent out an email saying that the grades are posted on Blackboard. Before I checked my grades, I was trembling because I did not know whether I did good or not. When I look at my grades, I was surprised that I got 83%. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I refreshed the page and still the magical number 83% came up. Well, I will take the 83%. No doubt about it. Phew, at leasat now I am still in the game. Hopefully a B or an A is possible.

Spring

After months of blazing through the blistering cold weather, I think spring is officially here. At least for now. These two weeks have been amazing weather. People are starting to wear shorts, biking and skateboarding around campus. No more big puffy jackets, Northfaces or Ugg boots on campus. Just t-shirts. Somehow I feel that this year's weather is unheard of. There is not much snow but downpour and rains occur regularly. Since spring is almost here, homeworks, assignments and exams also starts to pile up. This week to next week I will be having exams, quizzes, and assignments on a regular basis. Almost one each week. The final stretch is here alright.

March Madness

March Madness is here, this means that College Basketball fantasy team is on. I decided to join in the fun and fill up my bracket. A lot of people take this very seriously, looking at statistics and past history to make up their bracket. I, just randomly pick teams that I feel would likely go through to the finals. Until yesterday, I was ranked first, and then my picked teams got beaten and I dropped down the ladder. My final four consists of Syracuse (not sure they can make it), Kentucky, North Carolina and Marquette. Hopefully my picked teams can successfully go through the Final Four. I chose North Carolina to win the NCAA tournament. Not really a fan of college basketball, but just for the fun of it. We will see how my bracket stacks up against US fans around the world.

Spring Break 2012

Spring break is over...Sadly. But it was week of fun. Let me give you a breakdown:
On Saturday night, I reached Purdue. My sister picked me up from La Porte, IN. Once we drove back, it was already late at night. My sister made Home-Made Burritos for late dinner. On Sunday afternoon, Karn, Mithun me and sis went for Indian buffet. The food was so good. Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Curry and etc. At night, we cooked dinner. Herbal chicken with rice wine and Ikan Bilis soup. Ah, so tasty. The food lasted us for two days. We even got the luxury in buying a tub of ice cream to eat. Unfortunately, my sister started her externship working in the school so she was not around in the afternoon. But, it gives me time to work on my two papers which I am almost done. Victoria Secret VS Moseley for Ethics and Cloud Computing for ISAC. Both of them are almost done too. Hooray. On Thursday, I cooked peanut soup and fried vegetables. Equally tasty too. Friday was the best day ever, we went to eat this Chinese food which so far is the best Chinese food I have ever eaten in United States. Ah, feels like Malaysia qiu-choy place that we always go out at night. Miss those times. Before we left on Saturday, che wanted to stop by the shopping mall to buy some working pants. Instead she brought two pairs of jeans. Girls, what can I say. Those jeans were on sale, so I think she spent her money wisely. After shopping, we drove back to BG. After reaching BG, we stopped by Walmart and brought pork for our Bak Kut Teh. Late night bak kut teh. Equally awesome. On Sunday, I cooked chicken curry and choy sum. All in all, this week was awesome. Completed my work, hang out with friends, ate awesome food, took some time off from my Master's studying workload. Good times, Good times....

NY Knicks Superstar

This has to come sooner or later. Jeremy Lin, a Harvard graduate got the perfect opportunity to play as a point guard for NY Knicks. Well, he was on a roll with 7 winning streaks and double points digits. But, he also got a highest turnovers percentage by a point guard starter. The big hype about J-Lin is that he is Taiwanese born American. Then, come the big loss against New Orleans Hornets, blaming Lin for the loss. You kinda feel bad when you are on the roll, you get the credit, but when your team suffers, you shoulder the blame.
The thing about Lin is that he is an overnight superstar. Kinda live with his friends and don't even own an apartment in NY. Suddenly, he got a chance of life, Carmelo Anthony got injured and he was the starter. Funny how something like this can happen and the next thing you know it you are a superstar. From zero-to-hero. Break it or make it. I wonder when will be my big break. I don't need a superstar status, I don't need big bucks. All I need is a decent job, my CPA license, a girlfriend and constant flow of income to survive for the rest of my career. Wonder when my big break will appear. Hopefully things will turn around soon. It's depressing when the more you try, you don't even get the desired results. Argh, CPA you are killing me....maybe I will take the CISA instead!

Pandora

You know it's been a long time since I last turn on a tv or a radio. Being a college student, you kinda have a strict budget because you are paying for your apartment rent, groceries, credit card bills, Internet, electric bills, telephone bills etc. You don't even have time to splurdge on shopping. Going for a whole year without going shopping is kinda hard. At least for me. Which makes me ponder about twenty years from now. Paying for a mortgage on a house, car, kids and etc. Kinda freak me out. At least everything is online now. Even my favorite tv shows, NCIS, CSI NY and etc. Now, I go online to hear radio. I stumbled across this website called Pandora which plays exceptional music. All I have to do is just type in the artist that I want and it plays the music according to my preference. Ain't that cool. Best part of all, it is free. Sometimes I used Itunes, but then after a while they kinda go on repeat which can be annoying sometimes. For Pandora, there is nothing on repeat. Only downside that I have is that you cannot skip songs as much. There is a limit on the number on songs that you skip. While I am studying, I kinda like to hear piano songs by different artists. Good songs to calm the soul.

Sequel to my life

You might be wondering why I titled this as it is. Let me explain to you in detail. I decided that I am going to do my Masters of Accountancy in Information Systems Auditing. It seems like a good idea considering that the information is stored in a system, and as an accountant you need to understand database software to implement audit techniques. At first, I thought it was a good idea, you know learning about technology and etc. This semester, one of my classes is Information System Auditing and Controls. At the begining of the semester, I learned ACL software that helps input data for audit purpose. In addition, I utilize Microsoft Access SQL to type in a query. ACL is just like Microsoft Excel, you play around with it and then you can get the answer that you want. All you need to do is carefully examine the question and then you can do anything you want. On the other hand, Access, typing a SQL query is like the most difficult thing to do. If part of your query does not work, then you will have to find for your mistakes which is annoying. Imagine, just a simple comma, or a dot can make a difference. Today, was my first exam and guess what. We had to use both software for our solution. ACL part, not that difficult. Probably got the most points out of that. Access part, not so much. Did not have time to finish.

On a bright side, the professor was kind enough to announce that we can take home this exam and it will count as part of grade. Oh man, I literally wanted to jump in joy. After class, my friends and I rushed to the computer lab and worked on it. I did not have eat anything till evening. All I had was a powerbar for snack in between my classes. Luckily, I got done with all my work, and submitted. Hopefully, this will help me boost up my grades. Not really expecting a good outcome but pray for best. Tomorrow, I have a lot of things to do. ISAC homework in particular. 3 pages to review and a quiz on Thursday. I guess homework is starting to pile up real quick. Better get myself organized so that I don't get too caught up with homework.

December Holidays

They always say that it will be a snowy winter wonderland during Christmas. This year, Christmas was the perfect weather, minus the snow. After my finals, I visited my sister in Purdue and went to Columbus to celebrate Christmas with the Baldys. Shao Fern, a talented freshman music composer studying in Texas came with us too. I always admire people who can learn music just my listening. How I wish I took my piano lesson seriously. The Baldys family adopted two adorable Vietnamese kids, Megan and Kelly. They were so cute especially Kelly, which reminds me of Eeling too. Luckily, Shao Fern took her camera and posted pictures on Facebook. So, I decided to upload them here on my blog just to add some wonderful memories over Christmas holidays.

Lunch at Baldy's grandma house! Food was delicious.

Under the Christmas tree, before opening presents....

The Baldy's family

Me and my sister with two Golden Retrivers!

As the Baldy's family live close to Ohio State University, I decided that I wanted to make a trip down there just to see the campus. The campus is super huge with so many renovations going on. We went to the Mirror lake where seniors would take a dive for their victory lap, saw the Fisher Business School and made O-H-I-O in front of the Ohio Football Stadium. Ah, fun times...

Mirror Lake

Ohio State University!

Fisher Colllege of Business

O-H-I-O State Football Colloseum.

Happy New Year

Welcome 2012. the Year of the Dragon. Another year has gone by so quickly, it seems like 2011 was just behind me, and next thing you know, a year has passed you by and you got older. Hopefully, it got you to be wiser, mature and smarter. My new year's resolution will be:

1. Pass the CPA exam before graduate school is over. (top priority!)
2. Find a fulfilling career that I am interested in.
3. Spend (or call) more time with my dad, mum and sisters.
4. Keep in touch with my Miami, Taylor and BBBS friends.
5. Improve on my grades for Spring and Summer 2012.
6. Update my blog regularly.
7. Stay healthy and exercise regularly.
8. Wake up early in the morning (probably at the latest 10am) to do homework and etc.
9. Reduce unnecessary spending.
10. Try new, easy-to-cook recipes on my own.

I know, my top ten list is kinda old but I think it is a realistic goal that I can achieve. Especially the top five list is a must do. Alright, I guess that's it for now. Happy New Year's everyone and bring on 2012.