LETTERS FROM THE LIVING
Saturday, January 20, 2007
This outing is basically no-holds-barred, shopaholics gone wild kinda stuff. We had a monotonous 2 hr drive via the interstate for abt 40 miles. Btw, its quite low tech here to the point tolls are collected at gantries like in Malaysian highways, rather than the more refined ERP system in Spore.
Now back to the crazy time spent at the place. It’s made up by small shops or outlets, hence the name, all of which sold famous and even designer products to offer shoppers a all-in-one shopping experience. Namely: Hugo Boss, Kenneth Cole, Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Coach, Liz Clairbone, Tommy Hilfiger and many many more – abt 100 shops in fact!! Here, they offer their merchandise at about wholesale prices, and it’s almost half the retail prices found in departmental stores or shopping malls.
Well, I bought some stuff at Nike and Adidas. The jeans at Gap were damn cheap, like Giordano price like that! Bought some T-shirts from Banana Republic (for some reason, they were not allowed to open a flagship store in Spore). And the catch of the day: A pair of Oakley frames at about 30 to 50% less then the market price in Spore!!! We went on our splurging extravaganza for abt 6 hrs plus walking thru the trove of shops till we literally; and physically dropped! Pockets were burnt in the process but no animals were harmed in the entire masochistic ordeal.
As for dinner, it was a tat special as we manage to find some Asian food near Chinatown. It was not Chinese food but Korean food! It was surprisingly good (hot and spicy…) and value for money. The end of the day, our first ever road trip in US, a long weekend also marked the beginning of real studying!!!
10 academic facts at Georgia Tech that will shock u! Count your blessings now!
Fact#1: Lecture class size are like tutorial class sizes in NTU (varies from approx 20 to 40). Lecturer recognizes u easily and don’t ever think of skipping lectures!
Fact #2: There are no tutorials. But it doesn’t mean it’s a good thing! (Read facts 3 to 6.)
Fact #3: Some modules have quiz every week!
Fact #4: All modules require homework must be handed in, and is graded!
Fact #5: There are still midterms and final exams!!
Fact #6: But everything from homework to quiz to exam have about same weightage! Not to mention term papers and projects!!
Fact #7: Textbooks here are 3 times as much as in Singapore and more often than not, they are compulsory!
Fact #8: Americans/GaTech students also study (mug) like hell!
Fact #9: Americans/GaTech students who don’t mug are freaking smart!!!! (Kaoz -_-")
Fact #10: Everything here is more fast-paced, more stressful and competitive than in NTU!
Laid to Rest at 1:03 PM;
