The past couple of days have been devoted to work - once again. It seems like I have nothing else interesting to talk about other than work. It's true though - when I spend 12-14 hours at work each day, I barely have enough time to eat and sleep. I have stopped visiting the city during the week because by the time I arrive, all the shops would have been closed already. The working culture is very different - Evelyn says, you work hard to keep your job and not to get acknowledged. So if you work the bare minimum, you might not even get to keep your job. Several other 'new graudates' working on the desk shares the same feeling. One of them has worked everyday in January, including weekends. He arrives at 7:00am, leaves at 10:30pm, each and every single day. The trader sitting behind me tells me that he lost all his friends over the past year because of trading - his only 'friends' now are brokers.

Sometimes I wonder if that kind of lifestyle is worth it. I mean, surely you make a lot of money and 'perks' that comes with being a trader is amazing. Apparently they get gifts and lunches (even dinners) from brokers. Of course, the traders in the bank generate millions of volume a day. If one trader favours a certain broker, imagine the amount of commission he will receive. It's so good to be working on the desk sometimes - free food, sometimes even invites us out for drinks. Traders often pick the most expensive restaurants to eat at just because they could.

So if you were in the position to choose between making lots of money and a career, or having a decent life (not to mention half decent sleeping hours), which would you choose?