So THAT'S how you kill gummy bears...

the end of our BBI presentation, but only the start to Ambi's journey into the world.

I'm not boasting here... but my group has definitely done extremely well for BBI. From our pitch to the way we answered the questions which were unforgivingly shot at us... We were very sure that we put in our very best and gave it our all on the 10th of July. Thank you to Mrs Tan and Mr Tan for their praises; we are very happy that our effort has been recognised.

We may not have entered the grand finals, although we were pretty confident of it yesterday. But oh well. Things happen. We felt like we let Mr Terry Goh down. We promised him that we would win. I may not have cried yesterday, but I cried quietly for a while when I reached home and told my parents about BBI. In fact, my eyes well up whenever I think of the judging results on Friday, as I am now. It really hurts to know that you have done your best, that there are many people who believe in your product and team, that you actually have a good chance of presenting your business plan to the J1 cohort.

Our team joined Best Business Idea for a different reason. We wanted to make Ambi known to the whole school.

You can call winning BBI a by product of the competition, because the transformation we have undergone is priceless. From the introverted people Mr Tan once saw... to confident presenters on Friday. (hehe now I'm not going to talk like I'm pitching, though.) But winning, or at least qualifying for the Grand Finals, would have been the ultimate way for us to know that our efforts have been recognised.

They should have told us earlier that the judges were looking for products which could earn profits quickly (for Singapore)... The name of the competition has been made a misnomer ever since the judges gave their summative comments.

Nevermind... Lesson learnt: If you want to win, then before joining a serious competition like BBI which requires a hell lot of hard work over a long period of time, ascertain the background info of the judges, and also be very sure of the judging criteria.

Hehe. Hope you read that, juniors!

We were also quite depressed when we heard that the judges barely read our business plan. That was the product of months of hard work... now gone to waste.

Lesson Learnt: If you ever become a superior, take the effort to read the proposals your subordinates have submitted to you. Show your appreciation for their effort; everyone cheers up when they know that their efforts have been recognised.

You once told me that after years of training and injuries, there's the desire to end it well; but one wrong step shatters it all. For us, those were sleepless nights, numerous painful scoldings from our parents, endless editing of our report and powerpoint, and numerous speech practices. We, too, wanted to end it well. But we don't know what shattered it all. Did we take a wrong step? Or did the judges make the wrong decisions? I'd like to believe in the latter (hehe Mr Goh...), but not knowing the exact cause of our predicament hurts the most. We want to improve, but if you can't tell us how to, I'd resolve to believing that you guys weren't a credible bunch.

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Hahaha ok I shall put an end to BBI; to all that remorse, regret, and sadness. Let's just say that the people we have met, how we improved as a group; and also as individuals, are just priceless.

(The skills we have acquired will allow us to get jobs which pay so well that we can afford to visit the Silicon Valley 10 times a year. :D Skills are priceless!)

hehe I always have this feeling that I'll be really rich in the future. :) muahahahahahaa... Or have I confused my feelings with my daydreaming?

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YES! On to happier things!

Ambi Inc. returned Ambi to the NUS SRL after BBI, and guess what we saw...

YES!!! IT'S THE S$6000 SOFT TOY, Paro from Japan!

AHHHH SO CUTE RIGHT!!! Bet you jumped out of your chair to get a closer look. We couldn't contain our excitement either.

A robotic seal, it's built to comfort/calm the elderly and children. Some homes for the elderly in Singapore are using Paro, for your info. :D

Doesn't it have such long eyelashes? Haha :D It purrs a bit when you touch its whiskers. (or whatever you call that) I forgot how many touch sensors it contains; but there sure are a LOT of them in there. And they're really responsive. Paro responds to you regardless of where you touch it.

The sound localization is just OMG!!! I tried snapping about 1 metre away, and Paro turned to me! IT TURNED TO ME!!! IMMEDIATELY!!! The microphones are cleverly hidden in its nostrils. This piece of technology is DEFINITELY worth the 6k. The lab will be using it for psychology tests on the elderly and children.

You may be wondering about the pink pacifier. It's a stroke of genius... Well. It's a charger! Plug the pacifier into Paro's mouth, link the other end of the pacifier to the mains, and paro starts charging! Paro actually sleeps (with its eyes closed!) while charging, and wakes up when you provoke it. It even bats its luscious eyelashes gracefully before groggily waking up. How cute is that! :D Like a little baby.

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everybody say: AWHHHH............

Yup, we later headed to this shopping mall in Boon Lay interchange to buy gifts for our teachers and mentors. And also to buy Japanese schoolbags which we have been eyeing on since June. :D Didn't manage to haggle much of the price off, though. Yay now we have the same schoolbag with different designs. :D Plus, we now look more studious with double strap backpacks. We're well on our way to mugging sessions and straight As!

Oh. I was considering whether to join the NUS Start-Up business competition next year. The grand prize is 10k! But you must have a working model of the product. Which translates into many hours in the SRL after the A levels..... We're not giving up on Ambi.