Close to my heart

ARE YOU REALLY IMMUNED?

Having stopped blogging for such a long time, hopping back on the bandwagon seems really tedious for me. The difficulty can be attributed towards the fact that I find my language and grammar to be atrocious. The second part because I felt really closed off for the longest time. Previously, I was able to blog whole-heartedly. Pouring my mind, heart, soul onto a blank page on the screen. As I grew older, I realized that things aren't so simple anymore. People judge you. Whether you like it or not. They judge everything you put and offer online. I used to think that I've braved the worse type of judgment. Having literally stood (or sit) in front of a group, being judged for my lack of attendance (this story saved for another time) because of factors that I couldn't control, I thought that I'd be strong enough to face any type of judgement.

I was wrong. I still feel like shit when people pass negative comments, I get defensive, I get annoyed, outrage even...

Judgments can be passed so quickly, so negatively and so mindlessly. Yet it affects people it the deepest of ways. With enough judgments, the hurt that comes with it makes it difficult to reach the deepest part of me and really grow to understand myself even more. It's the cliché line of how you build a wall so impenetrable that people can't relate to you? blah blah blah... Yeah! It's juvenile when phrased that way. But if you'd just take a minute to really think about it. It doesn't seem all that trivial anymore.

Now don't get me wrong. That's not to say that ALL judgments should be condemn. I concede that not all judgments are completely unethical. If it's well thought out, logical but critical, I accept. I accept fully that we're not perfect. Such judgments can help us learn, grow and improve. Everyone has faults, flaws, however you name it. My issue is with judgments that does absolutely NOTHING to help the other party receiving it. Yes they can be negative. Yes they can be critical. But if they are simply accusations, lies and condemnation of the other party, there's no worth to them at all.

Judgments happen so fast. Everyday, we meet someone new, a stranger on the MRT, a friend, an acquaintance we pass judgments within the second we meet them. We judge their clothes, their looks, their material possessions, the way they walk... the list goes on. Something I've grown to learn is how others judge me the way I've judged them.

Do I measure up? What are their judgments like? These two questions are terrifying to me because I don't want to know the answer. I know I'm probably not strong to face those judgments yet. Some day though... I know I would be.

Recently, thoughts like this have been surfacing very often. I often think of ways I can better improve myself as a human being. As God's child. (Yes, apart from business ideas, I do think of such stuff... haha how my mind churns every thought I have is pretty amazing. No wonder I was intrigued with the idea of studying medicine) It's so difficult to control our emotions, our thoughts. There's no idiot-proof way of not passing mindless judgments. What we can do I guess, is to simply cease that thought/judgment everytime it occurs.

Understand the effect it has on people. Understand how it may potentially be you. To be honest, I think humans are innately selfish. Or at least, capitalism further exacerbated this nature of ours. We are constantly seeking for things to call our own. We forgot how to share, we do it for the sake of doing it. How many of you can truly say that you're selfless? If we're able to put ourselves as the victims receiving those judgments and comments, perhaps we would be better able to seize our tongues or thoughts when such judgments appears.

Pardon this post of mine. Note: It's not my style to be blogging like that but lately, I've just been doing quite a lot of soul-searching.

I guess I'm really not that immune to judgment. What I can do though, is to watch the way I behave, the way I conduct my thoughts and judgments about others. To be honest, if I was the victim of all my judgments and comments... I'd probably hate myself. That's the truth.

So my question to you is... Are you really immune?

Thoughtfully,
J

Ideas and Thoughts

BEING REALISTIC

Do you ever stay up in bed all night thinking that a brilliant idea may work? Well, it happens to me quite often. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just being too idealistic. It's easy to say that it works and then leave the rest be. Ideas are just the start. A brilliant idea is only brilliant if there's work done to it. To refine it, to mould it, to implement it. Otherwise, all that it is, is simply... JUST. AN. IDEA.

I have all these crazy ideas. Thoughts that stimulate my mind, gets me excited. Growing up, I can say that I was always this active and this alert to capitalizing on ideas. In Primary school, I remembered selling handmade boxes and jewellery to my friends. Mom and I decided to start a mini-business with me taking orders in school from both classmates, bus mates, schoolmates and even some teachers. I made a total of over $100 just from the sales of such boxes. It's incredible to me back then because when you were little, $100 ALL in coins seem like a lot! Recently, more ideas have been planting themselves into my head and I just can't stop thinking about them.

On top of school work, I'm becoming increasingly fidgety about getting some actions tied to these ideas. I need to know that it'll work. I need to know that at least some of the ideas would succeed. So many of them aren't exactly feasible. And you'd probably think that I'm simply wasting my time thinking of such stuff when I have exams round the corner. I'd rather work on an idea and be hopeful and optimistic. Business start-ups that happen in university are rare but NOT impossible. I've always believed... GO BIG, OR GO HOME.

You never give up before trying something and you certainly DO NOT QUIT when something goes wrong. It's the determination that I have. The passion, the lust, the need for success that drives me to my breaking point sometimes. But it's also the same drive that brings me the success and gratification that I have today. I know that my ideas can work. I know that they're feasible. Now, all I need is time. Time for me to day-dream, to ponder, to contemplate the various strategies I can potentially come up with.

All you nay-sayers out there... Hold your horses. Yes hold them. Because I'm coming for you.

Deep in thoughts,
J

Random Musings

EXHAUSTED!

 

Hi all, it's been quite a while since the last post, I know, I know... Sorry for the lack of updates but this week was really just a hell week for me. I had to rush through 2 projects in a day!

Stayed up till 5:30AM in school, cabbed home, changed, cabbed back to school for an 8:15AM presentation! To top it off, I had another presentation later on at 3PM that very same day.

Apart from the lack of sleep, lack of food, crankiness and tiredness, it was a pretty good day!

The projects went smoothly, the professors seemed impressed. It was all good.

 

Not to mention, I am LOVING my group mates this sem. They are such a fun bunch. In fact, I got really close to a few of them this sem. Hoping that I'll keep in contact with some of them! :) Hopefully we'll be able to bid for classes together next semester! :)

 

So anyway, just got home from movie date and tuition!

Been quarrelling a lot with K recently. I really wonder why I'm so hard to please some times. I mean sometimes I'm able to get angry for the slightest reasons. I need to work on that like.. Seriously. When I think back at our quarrels. Even I found it funny because I would never have treated my friends the way I treated him. Yet, he's supposedly the one I should be appreciating the most isn't it?

It's all good now though. As always, our quarrels are usually short-lived because we hate to drag it on to the next day. Caught DIVERGENT in theatres today and it was AMAZEEEE BALLS!

 

All of you who haven't watched and are on the verge of stress collapse. Take a break, honestly. Take a break. It'll do you good. You'll be more refreshed, more energized. Go CATCH THAT MOVIE! It's so good I'm not even kidding. While I may not be the most reliable movie critic out there. This movie is honestly quite thought-provoking. It describes humanity. It captures the idea of a caste system, a classified, 4 tiered society brilliantly!

 

Don't understand what the heck I'm talking about? GO WATCH THE MOVIE! :D Or start with the trailer first. Maggie Q is acting in it. I hope that gives you more incentive? :) She's HOT HOT HOTTTT...

 

So anyway... Photo updates next! :) Now that all my projects are more or less settled, It's exam time. Gonna mug the 2 weeks away! THEN... PHUKET WITH K!!!!

So looking forward to it! CAN'T WAIT! Alrightee, that's all for now guys, hope you have a good week! :)

 

 Till our next post! Take care! And enjoy them photos. :)

With the FIIM Group mates! :) And a seemingly, very smiley prof!

 

With my CAT groupmates! Love this crazy bunch! HAHA!

 

Just realized that both my profs were from China. :) Does that indicate anything?

HAHA! Alright guys, GOODNIGHT, I'm headed for bed now. :)

Botanic Gardens 2014

Photo-taking, goofing and stuffings

at Singapore Botanic Gardens

It's been so long since I've had an outing with K. I can't even remember when was the last time we took a leisurely stroll when the sun was still up. I think such activities would definitely make it to our "must-do" list for future dates! Initially, this date was meant for studying. I had FIIM (Finance) and CAT (Computing) assignments and projects that were shouting for my attention, to top it off, I had research studies I had to sign up for and a ton of ethics readings that I have yet to complete.

 

The sun was blazing as we walked through botanic gardens while he happily snapped silly shots of me. I can't begin to describe how much fun he was having at my expense... HAHA! My photo album was filled with redundant or "un-usable" shots of me that were wayyy to unglam or simply just too funny-looking to post up! But I do have to say that he did take a few nice shots though...

 

 

He seems to always have the ability to make me laugh. HAHA! Thinking back to the time when he took this photo and remarked "so you think now that you've started blogging, you gonna be like a typical blogger with shades, acting all cool and stuff?" HAHAHA!

 

I seriously hope he reads this post because that is NOT A SMILE. It's simply teeth-baring.

Damn son, you gotta learn how to smile a little better!

Critical right? Yes I know. But it's all for his own good... HEHE!

 

Always wanted one of these hair-sweeping, Hollywood moment. HAHA! Quite fail huh?

 

By far, my favourite shot of the day! :)

FATS, FATS, FATS! Die, gotta start running again!

See, It's all these goofy shots that he took! HAHA

Trust me, the rest are worse! This is a better looking one already!

 

One of the most memorable days in our 1 year together. Hoping that school won't take that much of a toll for us to enjoy this all over again! Oh! Food review up next! :) Stay tuned!

 

Plenty of love,

J



Boomerang Cafe Review

REVIEW: BOOMERANG CAFE 

P.S: Everything in this post is neither sponsored nor paid. Every description, opinion are mine and only mine.

Earlier in the week, K and I decided to go out for a brunch date. Seeing that we haven't had one in a long time, we decided to do some research and found out that there were a few brunch places that were highly raved about both on social media as well as reviews from other bloggers. (Famous food blogger that i shall not name...)

So we were pretty excited to try out Boomerang cafe as it was one of the recommendations in his blog for favorite brunch spots in Singapore. However, I guess I should have known better then to take everything at face value... I mean... food bloggers are paid to do reviews aren't they?

So anyway, we decided to settle in and the service staff was prompt with serving us water which i very much appreciated... (Seeing how freaking hot Singapore's weather is and i had to walk a distance from clarke quay mrt before reaching the cafe)

It was a quaint, quiet cafe tucked away at robertson quay and I must say that it is pretty hard to find. Took us a while, but we got there. It's definitely a place that most expats tend to grab coffee from before work and it's pretty interesting to note that there were many locals. (Or at least at the time i went, it was relatively empty).

Having walked for quite a while, we were hoping that the menu would be more exciting. Unfortunately, it seemed pretty mundane with the standard eggs benedict, waffles, pancakes, big breakfast.... etc... At this point, I must say that the service staff was pretty rude when she decided to hurry us in our order. K and I were still busy looking through the menu when she rudely commented "So are you all done? Do you know what you want yet?"

Wow. So much for customer service... Like hello?! I've only stared at the menu for a meager 2 seconds. Chill lady. I didn't give it much thought and simply dismissed her by telling her to come back later when we've decided.

Once we were more or less decided, we placed our order and I had the usual Eggs Benedict with roasted potatoes and Iced tea, while K ordered his favorite banana pancakes with a vanilla milkshake to go along with.

I must say that the food took a LOONGGGGGGG time to arrive!!! We were already famished when the food arrived. You would think that by now, anything that we put into our mouths would taste good. But nope... Boy oh boy. The Eggs Benedict were cooked well but the eggs were slightly overcooked. The yolk wasn't as runny as i wanted it to be. Not to mention, the hollandaise sauce giiven was barely enough to cover the top of the egg. So... being the typical girl that i am, i decided to ask for more. Thankfully, the waitresses obliged without complain. I swear that may just have been my tipping point. The roasted potatoes were bland and severely under-seasoned.

Am i being too critical? I mean I wouldn't consider myself to have an extremely sophisticated palette. But even then... these eggs couldn't justify or warrant the $15 price tag that came along with it...

My ratings on Boomerang's Eggs Benedict: Probably a 5/10.

Hoping that the food served at boomerang wasn't all that bad, I turned to K and asked if his orders were satisfactory. He gave me a glum look and proceeded to drench his pancakes with maple syrup! Prior to that, he took a bite out of the pancake. I asked if it was any good without the maple syrup and he gave me a look that i can only describe as being "despondent". HAHA! I'm really not exaggerating. We love our food.

I decided to try it for myself. So i took a bite of the pancakes and man.... It was heavy, starchy and completely tasteless (Apart from the sweetness of the maple syrup). I guess the good thing about such pancakes is that its really filling. One meal of that and you'd probably be too full to eat anything after.

Lastly, about the drinks... With such negative comments above, I thought I'd end with something a little more positive. Their drinks were really quite good. The iced tea that I ordered was lovely. I don't like my teas sweetened so its sweetness was exact on par. It was refreshing and really soothing for the throat. K's vanilla milkshake was delicious as well. It was creamy, thick and really slightly foamy at the top. (Think of hot chocolate foam) However, it's small glass didn't really warrant the price tag of $11. But i guess it's worth it. The vanilla flavor wasn't overpowering and the mixture of vanilla and milk is simply a match made in heaven. :)

So i guess if i could recommend anything... It would be their drinks. But hey, don't take my word for it. You can try their food too! I mean... really. These are just my thoughts.

Well, enough of my ranting, I shall let the pictures do the talking...

The drinks that we've ordered came first! Yummmmmmmyy!

After editing, the eggs ben look pretty delectable. This picture was taken after i had requested for more hollandaise sauce and added it myself!... 

K's pancakes! Maple syrup and greek yoghurt to go with. The batter was wayyy too thick in my opinion.

Yup, that's our meal alright.

Trying to capture the breaking of the eggs ben! This is like some Masterchef moment where you see if your eggs are overcooked or undercooked. 

Almost there....

Looks pretty good doesn't it? The first egg was slightly runnier than the other, but still wasn't fantastic in my opinion. By the time i got to eating the other egg, it was harden, the yolk was encapsulated in a sac and it wasn't as runny anymore :'(

Was it just a bad day that we visited? I mean if a restaurant is able to display such inconsistencies. Would you wake up early in the morning just to make a trip down? I guess that's why businesses lose customer equity. One bad experience is ALL it takes to lose a customer for good. In our case, 2 customers... 

For the next visit, we would be sure to try and source for more reliable reviews before making a trip down to any cafes. :) 

Have a good night everyone! 

Plenty of love, 

J 

Ideas, Ideas and more Ideas! 

This year has been eventful so far! Since the start of the sem, I've been having all sorts of BIG, BOLD, CRAZY ideas to work on. Some feasible, others not so much. Today, while speaking to mom about certain issues, we managed to come up with another idea. Will it work? Is it bad to be this optimistic? Will there be a market for this product? Is there a demand? Sometimes, I feel that I am secretly a pessimistic optimist if it makes any sense to you. 

More on those ideas in another post. I wanna have some time to work on refining it before anything else. So how was today? 

Went to school at 8am in the morning and only got home not long ago. It's crunch week. Everything is going at 1249823487238423mph/hour. I'm exhausted. Really... Both mentally and physically. Oh god, please give me the strength to continue for the next 2-3 weeks! The end is really near. I can almost taste freedom! 

This shall be a short post. My eyes are half-closed. I think i'll turn in for tonight! Sleep tight y'all!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! 

 

Returning to blogger

Hello everybody, this is my very first post after taking a long hiatus away from blogging...  I'm pretty psyched to be blogging again, however, this post will be dedicated to giving my readers a little insights as to who I am and why have I started blogging again. See, I thought I'd get a little more personal. ;)

My name is Jocelyn and I've always been a fan of social media. Since blogger started years ago, I was one of it's early adopters, when the templates weren't changed to standard, "updated" versions, when I could still tweak my own skin and code my own HTML. (I can't tell you what a pain it is not being able to customize my own skin prior to launching this blog! URGHG!%#%y#*%*#%). I love to be able to share my photos, thoughts and somewhat personal feelings with random strangers I may not know. The thought that someone, just someone reading or looking at my photos and being able to relate to me is pretty intriguing.

I guess I can describe myself as a typical girl obsessed with makeup, fashion and good food! I don't mince my words when it comes to criticising bad food or anything that I feel strongly about. My blog, my thoughts, honest and truthful. That's what I can guarantee you! :)

So I said that I've "returned" to blogger. What does it mean exactly?  Well...I used to blog a lot in this space but under a different URL. I've since deleted that blog for no particular reason... I guess simply because I got sick of blogging for awhile and needed some space. Then that space turned into boredom. I craved the idea of being able to share my experiences, to have a record and to see my transformation. Blogging isn't just a frivolous activity that youngsters engage it. It empowers and give someone who may be timid in real life to really share and express whatever they want to (No, I'm not timid HAHA!)

So since then, I started using other social media and somehow I still felt disconnected from readers and followers... So hey what'd you know? I'm back blogging again!

A different URL, the same hyper, slightly insane and happy girl!

Looking forward to sharing more with you! 

P.S: I never end my post without photos. So expect at least one in every post! :)

Always loving this bunch! My fort, my pillar, my strength!

Plenty of love,
J