Every TALENT is a gift

TALENT CAFE

                   DREAM A LITTLE DREAm

Situated at the far corner on Tras Street in the heart of Tanjong Pagar, there lies Talent Cafe. First sight of the fullwhite shophouse, I noticed the cafe's sign. Is it just me or does the colors of the 'cafe' word remind you of Google's logo? Hmmm...

Photo Credits: Talent Cafe



Went there on a weekday late afternoon, no surprise that we had the whole cafe to ourselves, haha nice! Was with the girls and they were open to try this new place too! Love my brunch/lunch kakis who go explore new cafes with me.

Photo Credits: Talent Cafe


Teas for orderings

Besides its chic contemporary black & white furnished dining area which made the whole place look more spacious, there are actually our colored theme rooms however, a pity I didn't get a chance to take a look at it :( Shall go back another time to explore all the rooms and take pretty photos!

They actually have a standard simple menu unlike the variety of dish choices I saw online. Food served definitely changes seasonally, ohwells. Anyways! That afternoon they had some lunch specials so that's what we ordered (:

Here's what we had for lunch that day! (;

Every set meal comes with a mini tomato soup of the day & yummylicious refreshing salad. The tomato soup tasted a little sour but was overall, good. The salad was normal, nothing amazing to be mentioned. What I like was their minimalistic food presentation style. White, Simple, No Frills!

What the girls ordered: Carrot Cream Chicken Linguine

It's creamy so I didn't eat it but apparently, it tasted not bad according to them. Okay #iadmit honestly, it doesn't look very appetizing don't you think so!


What I ordered: Salsa Fish with Rice
To me, it was a disappointment. It was decent yes, but just not something I would eat and definitely not worth its price! There were only 4 small pieces of pan-fried fish fillet with a heap load of rice. I'm biased, I hate rice can't finish them every time. hahaha. And, just when i thought the salsa could help 'save' the whole dish by covering up for the rice and fish, it turned out to be the worser than the fish. It was not refreshing at all! :( Maybe it's my expectations and what I imagined salsas to be like, but yeah this salsa was hot and all so I didn't really enjoy my meal.

I generally didn't enjoy my food but I feel that the place is cosy and has a great ambience. Like I mentioned, whatever I ate, wasn't worth the price, for sure. Don't think I'll visit Talent Cafe just for the food in the near future. Until and unless they come up with a better menu and a greater variety of food choices. Then probably, I'll visit again!

***
For more information on Menu, Location etc, refer to their FB Page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Talent-Cafe-Singapore/113204665422850

This is for you, #RIPissac

Pain is inevitable in life, but you left too sudden.

Dear Issac aka BOSS,

I can't remember exactly when and how this boss and pa thing came about but I really miss calling you AYE BOSS! Hope you are doing well up there, you've safe in God's hands, don't worry.

YOU are the first personal friend of mine who's now gone. I have never experienced this before. Why oh why! Tonight, at your wake, I told ourselves to be strong and not cry because I'm sure you wouldn't want to see us like that. You would always be your goofy self and laugh at/with us if we cried. But as I walked towards your wake with the other girls, I felt scared. And, when I saw your picture, I can't help but to tear. Not as badly as the others, but I still teared. I don't know what to do, all I could do was to leave you and your family members with a little prayer, sincerly from deep down my heart.

I remember how we met... It started at BSC Subcomm Camp AY09/10. Proud to be in CORTOIS, We were Year 1s back then. we were young, we were free. CORTOIS is still an empire close to my heart up till today. And, without CORTOIS, there's no us. We attended chalets together and speaking of chalets, I was in 2 out of 4 FO empires with you and really you were such a blessing to us in terms of entertainment and food. I remember how chalets were made extraordinary because you were the chef and you cooked seafood for us. I mean, which other chalets got so good life right!

We ran for Business maincomms in Year 2, survived through the year, all the ups and downs. You helped to tank things for the committee when some of us were giving up. Our passion was dead or dying but yours was never ever. You inspired and interacted with subcomms like they were your family members, you made sure things were going well in the comm. I have seen how much you have grown through the year. From a hot-tempered guy to someone who toned down a lot and became a better person. Yes, you scolded us, but you made us realize and relight our passion for Business school, the reason why we ran for office elections. I would say that out of these 3years in poly, no doubt my best memories with you would be the times spent in this comm, #BSCay10/11. All the trash talks we had to make us a stronger comm, a better person... Going through Week 0 together and knowing how much we wanted to win 7th time so badly ; Promising every single one in the comm that we would do our best to win that championship and do BSC proud! We cried like babies, but We did it! You did it!

memories of a lifetime

Thanks for everything you have done for me and with me. Thanks for the awesome times we had together and the memories shared. Thanks for being such a big brother and a loyal friend. I remember the first time I went clubbing, you saw me and told me 'Aye tell me if anyone bully you k, take care of yourself inside'. You knew I wasn't the clubber sort.

Look, now 3years passed and we have graduated from poly. I remember the last time we met, it was at Butter Factory - you gave us VIP. Can I still get this privilege from you personally? And, the my last photo with you was at my graduation ceremony. Thankgod I managed to snap a picture with you then! Little did I know that would be the last time seeing you. Feels too long ago.

Rest assured bro, if there's anything you have done right in your 19years of life, you have inspired so many people around you and have played a significant role contributing all you had in Temasek Poly. A highly respected maincomm and orientation GL, we salute you! Check out twitter, you are trending Top 2 bro. Shows how much love you have from your fellow peers, even people who don't know you personally. Tonight at your wake, I see so many familiar faces gathered for a reason, and the reason is you. We have gather, just for you. I have seen so many TP Mass gathering, but tonight's the first that everyone's feeling so solemn. Not used to it, TP people are always hyper, hell load of noisy and super enthu!

And, honestly, you have been sacrificed as a deterrence for others to stop drinking and clubbing. Guys, please take this as a lesson. Don't let him die for nothing. Take life seriously, please!

Yesterday's church service was titled PAINKILLERS. Couldn't be more appropriate for an occasion as such. Your news came too fast, all of us didn't know how to react and honestly, I'm too shocked to grieve. What's the right reaction to something like this?

To Issac's family&friends, be strong stay strong!

I know it's hard but... life goes on. This is life, and we have to eventually deal with the passing of friends.

From this incident, I learnt how unpredictable life is. Treasure people and things around you, don't take anything for granted. Meet up with friends regularly, you don't know who's next. Be a blessing to people around me & I wanna proclaim my love for my family & friends, in case I go next *touch wood*.

Most importantly,

Love God, Love People ❤

Till we meet again, my friend!

I survived the 1st week of SMU, and there's so much more to go

Morning Lovelies!

Week 1 is over, just like that! It's been one mere week of school and it doesn't really feel very much like it. I'm still in my holiday mode somehow yet I see some other freshmen mugging their ass away already. Is this really the JC culture or what? If I were to choose the University route, I never regret choosing SMU but what I'm rethinking is if University is for me or not. 4years of my life, my youth. It better be worth it! I'll make it worth it.

This one week showed me how SMU is really like. I experience it by myself, not just by listening to sheer comments from people around me or the perception of people who are not even students of the school. I may change what I say now, but currently here's what I think.

It's not a bed of roses and it is surely not easy! Especially with the fact that this is Singapore and we have super competitive kids in school with me. SMU is famous for class participation, but it's not that bad honestly, it's like the same percentage as poly just that here in uni, they emphasize so much on it. And, there'll be some idiots who 'spoil market' - I have some classes where there are really people whom I label 'Class-Part Whores'. You know, like how I'm a camwhore... they are those who keep raising up their hands, their voices and make sure they get heard by the prof. They class part so much until I couldn't take it and every time one of them speak, I make sure I stare at them fiercely followed by leaning my head forward to see their name tents - make sure I remember their big name. I swear, it's as through the whole class revolves around them. Studies wise, the subjects I'm taking this semester are things I have never encountered before, except for BizLaw. I admit I took some slack off doing pre-readings for it because I done it before in Poly but really, I underestimated the JC kids. I thought I could say something smarter in class, but low and behold, seems like they ate up the whole legal textbook instead of just the pre-readings. They actually know all legal terms, etc. I don't remember me knowing them before class when I first did this subject. They are really very hardworking. Maybe instead of 'complaining', it's something I ought to learn from them. Ohwells. I just don't want to get into the whole motion of being caught in the ultimate rat race.

Thinking about it, I just feel so sad that my final stage of school life will be spent like this for the next 4years, and probably could get worse along the way :(

Was in SMUSA info session the other night with Gwen and listening to the sharing going on, it struck me how much I miss BSC because it was very much like BSC's elections succession talk, just that SMU's one was done in a more proper/formal way. Point is, this whole SMU journey thus far, made us both realize how much we miss our respective polys. We had everything there... my good bestest friends, my family... It's where we began, where we roughed it out, where we had a 'glory' end, and really, it's a place we are proud to call home. I remember I couldn't wait to graduate from TP, handover all my leadership duties and simply move on. I am still very excited and happy to move on, but I will always 'remember my roots'. TP is one of the places where moulded me to be who I am today and it's inevitable that I'll feel like a little homesick girl in SMU. Some days, I feel totally in place in school, like I'm totally adapting well. But you know, on some other days when bad moments happens, it's like... I feel I don't belong in a school filled with smart kids. I never going to be like them to matter what.

Thankgod for Gwen who totally understands how I feel because she's going through what I'm going through too. Sometimes, when I want to tell her something yet I can't find the word to describe how I'm feeling, she'll already know what I mean. Also, wanna thanked for my FTB mates, MUSHU one big family. These people are sunshines I look forward to meeting, don't expire so soon k! Must continue with our weekly lunches, heh!

Anyways, moving on to happier things, the week was promising and very much fulfilling. Whirlwind!

Lunch at DOME with part of MUSHU on the first day of school.

SAMBA MASALA Workshop

Something I know I won't join, so I signed up for the workshop to experience it at least once in my life

MUSHU Thursday weekly lunch

Really wish these lunches can last through this semester at least

Attended OCSP info sessions *hope all of us can get in together!* the whole day and went to have le sinful dinner with Ray at Macs because he wanted his Mcwings. Had a good chilling session with him and Junwei who joined us afterwards.

Attended VIVACE2012 on Friday afternn, probably the coolest hippest school CCA fair ever. A part of Freshmen Orientation, it was themed like an amusement park, literally. Even had a map, see!

And, whoa lots of goodie bags I'm not kidding!

We signed up for so many different CCAs just for fun. It's like everyone wants a part of you. In SMU, it's like this, a lot of happening stuffs and many distractions around. Got to know yourself best, know what you really want and who you really are if not you will end up being thrown here and there and feel like you are losing yourself.

The week ended with Gourmet Club's food trail with the ACJC girls!

It was super fun trying to get the clues and making our way to the 8 various stations. What an experience! Went to cafes that I've always wanted to try, as well as discovered nice food places I've never been to before.

Indeed, I experience the true meaning of 'PLAY HARD, STUDY HARD' here in SMU and I foresee 4more years of it. It's a mini tiny quote I live by when education comes into play. Learning to love every minute of this!

15minutes tick tock'

15minutes

Friends food & Fame

"Conceptualized by a group of six friends – Jef Koh, Jocelyn Goh, Sandy Oh, Richard Koh, Randy Chan and Kelley Cheng – 15 Minutes builds and thrives on the theme of friendship through its design, service and culture."
15 minutes café at the LASALLE College of the Arts was opened inspired by Pop Artist Andy Warhol's notable quote "In the future, everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes". It thus, gives aspiring musicians a platform to perform there & have their '15 minutes of fame'. It's true, on special evenings, there will be guest DJs in the house, and on other days, there's gonna be live performances from various singers and bands.

I loved its chic and minimalistic design. With tall ceilings, glass panels & long tables, it  makes the whole place look very spacious. Also, because of its long tables perhaps, it has become an ideal place for big groups to dine or chill out there. When I was there, I saw that the crowd largely comprises of university students (I met a SMU group having pre-camp dinner!) and young adults.

Besides the chic design, there's a contrast of 'old school' design too. Just check out the menu written on chalkboards! Doesn't it look like an old school canteen?

interiors


menu of the night

Settled down, flipped through the menu. Not much variety I would say. The food served are standard Western fares (your typical pizzas, fries, pastas etc) & don't know why but the main courses didn't appeal to me somehow, so I ordered 2 'smaller' items instead, as featured below...

Food Galore!

The girls & our yummy food! Look how happy we were. I remember I wasn't even hungry that night but the sight of food made me joyful.

I ordered Citrus Salad & thickcut Cajun fries!

Check them out! I thought that they were really unique, for one, at least I haven't seen such things before. Especially, the fresh citrus salad... in a jar!

Cajun Fries, in a basket
It was decent, not too bad. Wasn't expecting it to be awesome anyways. But for sure, I won't order it the next time I'm dining there because it was too fried and crunchy for me to handle. I prefer soggy fries, teehee! However, I would compliment the cajun spices which made these fries much tastier! Fries wise, I still prefer the ones at Blooies. Ultimate Crave!


Citrus Salad
The dressing that was drizzled on it made the entire jar of salad very refreshing and I totally loved it. Very light, but I would have loved it more if there were more oranges and grapefruits! There was an overload of raw vegetables and because it was served in a jar, when I got to the bottom part, I had some difficulty trying to pick up my vegs! On hindsight, maybe I should have poured everything out from the start to ease eating.

Dear Shiqi & I...


Carbonara Spag


Grilled Pork Chop

My friends enjoyed their maincourse a lot. Sorry, I couldn't try it because both were creamy based and yes, I'm allergic to cream. So yeah. Also, a pity we weren't hungry therefore we didn't managed to order any other dishes that night for sharing, but the one thing I would want to try on my next trip would be the Oriental Duck Pizza! It's a combi of glazed duck slices & mandarin oranges with cashew nuts, how interesting!

FULLHOUSE

LASALLE College of the Arts
1 McNally Street Block D #01-01
Tel: +65 6333 5915  | Website

Opening Hours:

Mon-Thurs & Sat: 1am–11pm

Fri: 11am-12am

Closed on Sundays

Really thankgod for these 2 angels in my life. It's so amazing how we met through different friends and little did I know when I first met them that they will actually be one of my good friends. Had a good catchup session, telling each other what we have been up to these days. Be it continuing our studies or taking a gap year to work first, whatever it is, I foresee great futures for both of them. Let's do our best in our future endeavors, all the best my girls!

Remember, I'll always be there for you in any times of need. Just call me! ☺

Shiqi


Adeline, future teacher to be!

And, a brand new chapter unfolds...

I AM FINALLY STARTING SCHOOL TOMORROW!

I remember finishing up my last written paper in Temasek Poly. I flew off to Hong Kong right next day with half of my Year 1 clique. We had the time of our lives there, so fun I wished we could extend our stay there. The rest of my holidays were also spent on well deserved travel trips. I spent 9 days in Taiwan with just my girlfriends, went to Hong Kong again and even half a month touring East USA with my family. Besides HK which I've been many times, East USA was like a childhood dream come true and Taiwan was like a once in your life must-go country! Sorry I havent blogged about them yet :/ Besides traveling, I was busy handing over TP BSC stuffs at the initial part of my holidays and then I did event jobs here and there. Also I managed to strike off afew food places from my to-try list and met up with friends 1 to 1.

Before I knew it, it was the unofficial start to university life already!

Summer camps and more... (Read about it in my separate photo-heavy posts here) And so, after 5 and a half months of official happening holidays, I'm finally resuming my status as a student. Only that, this time round, I'm at the last stage of school, also known as University. It is like an educational end point for every student in Singapore, and likewise, I have always aimed to get into a local university. However, as i grew older, I never thought I would really enter one, especially after I had chosen the poly route. But, thank god, I made it! My calendar for the past 2 months were filled with SMU summer camps where I had a glimpse into my school life and the people there.

I had no problem adapting to Uni culture and interacting with people there but my personal conclusion is that there are really quite a lot of differences between people from poly like myself and the majority of them, from junior collages.

For one, Mentality! Look, the girls are younger than me by a year. Ok maybe months, because I'm a December baby, but honestly age isn't the point, their mentality is. No doubt, they are book smart but for some, not very street smart... When I see them, it feels like I'm seeing myself when I first stepped into poly. And u see, that's the problem, because I have graduated from poly already. So when I interact with them, I feel like they are my freshies and I'm a graduate, but fact is we are all freshies. Ohwells, but I'm fine with that. I was once like them too! As for the guys, there are two extremes. Some the super gentlemen ones and some you question whether they have even entered army before! Yes, that big contrast! -.- I'm just glad that I can clique the best with my FTB mates, really thank god for them.

For two, First Impressions! For those who know me beforehand, and back in poly, I was always the good girl with flower who had good grades and super active in school activities. Basically the all-rounder, plus I am definitely not someone my friends would call clubber, drinker, etc. But low and behold, come university, we played first impressions and I turned out to be the exact opposite. I had impressions like Ah Lian, Clubber, Street-Smart, Drinker, etc. Shock of my life, I swear! If my poly friends hear of this, they will totally laugh their heads off. Can you imagine the difference?! I'm such a decent girl hahaha. But that's just first impressions and it was quite an amazing experience for me. It made me think... I'm just being myself. Maybe, the JC kids are just not used to interacting with poly kids. Like brown gold hair was normal in poly, people even had pink red green hair! To the JC kids, black was always the norm. Luckily, I met friends who don't judge me and getting to know me better, they know who I really am. Anyways, I've dyed my hair back to a darker shade of brown!

For three, their intellectual abilities! Whoa, these kids are really smart asses. No joke! I may be tops in polytechnic, but that's because it's business related. Come to general knowledge, I admit I don't know much. They win hands down for sure, I'm impressed by them! I'm kinda ashamed of myself for not knowing but ohwells, I hope I can survive these 4years of school being surrounded by kids from top notch junior collages! *prays*/*chants* Anyways, other than that, all's alright and going fine. Am still loving my school life and am quite excited for school to start.

***

Faceit!

Like it or not, these people around me will become my classmates or even project group mates so I just got to live with it. The key is to ADAPT. Love God, Love thy people around you
University to me is gonna be a place i wanna make a difference in both my life and in those of whom I meet. Make friends, do my best to get decently good grades and enjoy the next 4years. I have a list of goals I want to achieve in SMU - to go on exchanges, attend summer school, start a CCA, plan my own OCSP and the list goes on... Dare to dream, Aim to achieve. I don't know how to do so but with faith as small as a mustard seed, I believe I can do it.

And, I know everything's only possible through God and God alone. Amen.

BONDUE

SMU Business camp, BONDUE | Scarlet Royale

After many summer camps these 2months, this is my LAST, as a freshie, before school officially starts!