Roses are red, Vio—

Roses are always associated with romance and I guess many females regard rose as their favourite flower. Well, personally, my all time favourite is the sunflowers!

I still remember my first encounter with rose latte was at Bricklane in HK and it was a pleasant surprise. I hate Bandung (ok my hatred for it may be irrational but come on it tastes artificial) so I didn't expect myself to like rose latte. 

So after coming back from HK, I realized SG or maybe cafes in general don't usually serve rose latte? I had only drank it once at Coffee Nowhere and I being a glutton had googled and compiled a list of other cafes that serve rose latte. 

Address: Blk 4 Changi Village Road, 01-2090
Nearest station: Pasir Ris

Note: Take bus no. 232 and 235 from Toa Payoh interchange

or no.235 from Braddell MRT. From Toa Payoh interchange, if you take bus no.232, alight at Pei Chun Public School. Take bus no.235, alight at Blk 75 Lor 5 hawker centre and you will see blk 48 across the bus stop. From Braddell MRT, Take Bus no.235 from blk 101C. Alight at Blk 50 and walk to blk 47.)

Dazzling Coffee 

Address: 15 Stamford Road, #01-85 Capitol Piazza, 178906

Yeah, I can't really find any more cafes with rose latte. :/ Hmm, so to any fellow rose latte fans (assuming anyone reads this), you are welcome.

After my O levels, I went into National Junior College which was one of my least favourite part of my education journey. I actually wanted to be in HCI (not that it will make any difference now) but being a 17 year old student, not being part of my dream school felt horrible HAHA. And referring to my post on my primary and secondary schools, the two schools always provided some interesting activities for the students to be part of. I realised I didn't mention it previously but Anderson had all the Experiential Learning Cycle, outdoor trips to Bukit Timah or around AMK... And all I had from NJC was an outing to Singapore Discovery Centre... Okay lah hi army boys.

Academic

This was the point I started disliking Science. Biology involved many numerous terms argh. It was interesting if you were just reading for fun BUT it sucked big time if you were mugging for examinations. Chemistry was really horrible. I thought Chemistry was really fun during secondary school days but then in JC I started to do badly in JC. SIGH. But I really did work hard for Chemistry and I have no idea why I still got a B in the end.

I didn't do really well for Economics as well and Economics became the only subject that I had tuition for HAHAHA. But waste of my money because I got a B in the end as well. #fail

Overall, I think I really didn't do well for A levels, which doesn't really matter now. Or maybe it does. Scholarships etc sigh.

Social

It was during NJ days that I started learning a musical instrument. Can't believe I joined the Harmonica Band, performed in front of people (as a group lah), participated in SYF etc. Just got reminded of this- an interviewer asked me whether I am still playing the harmonica which I said, "sadly no". Sigh I think this ended the conversation. But this brings me to a lesson.

Lesson 4 (yes continue from Part I): Hobbies and interests are really important.

In terms of friends, yes I did gain numerous valuable friendships, which were formed over similar interests. It was so great finding people who love reading and I still remember how our post exam activities involved finding second-hand storybooks and camwhoring.

Hmm but what really stuck with me was how things could change in the blink of an eye. You could be so close to this person, texting every single day and suddenly you all just stop texting and drift apart. I really did wonder what exactly happened between us. Oh you kaypoh people (anyone actually reads this??), it's a her not a him. #notalovestory 

It's funny how I think I changed the most during this period of my life but I can't seem to put my JC experiences in words??? Maybe there are just too much information that I really can't share here without it being too obvious so I will just summarise that. It was a painful lesson but I have learnt well. 

Lesson 5: Don't assume and think too much into things. It's up to a person to prove it to you, you don't have to find reasons and excuses for the person.

This is totally not part of my formal education journey BUT since it was my first time working at a huge company, it did educate me about office work and politics. And it taught me Excel skills which proved useful during University days haha. Okay so being very free during work, I always think about weird things that may or not may be related to philosophy. I think about life, the search for love and the search for food HAHAHA. I think this was the period I gained A LOT of weight. All my good hawker food, I miss it all. It was also during this period of time that I earned enough to travel to Korea. And I really love the idea of earning money and then spending on travel. There are so many things in this world that I haven't explore. :'(

The reason why I didn't say JC was the absolute worst part of my education journey was because... University is the worst part. At least Year 1 Semester 1 was. I stayed at Hall 7 (for a few months) and I left not because I hated hall life but because I hated being away from home. What an irony because in Year 2 I fought so hard to be away from home to be on exchange HAHA.

Okay back to Year 1 Semester 1. So compared to JC days where we were spoon fed, University was all about independent learning. I ABSOLUTELY LOATHED BUSINESS LAW BECAUSE I HATED GREY AREAS. (Not linked to why I didn't like NJ ok lame) Or maybe it was related to how I just couldn't do well for the class participation. I didn't like how it felt in class. Like it was a horrifying battlefield. That how a misstep (mistake in answering) could result in death (more like death stare from people).

I also couldn't understand why I had to do IT. Yes, that's when my Excel skills came in useful. I fell asleep almost every single lesson during IT because it's really boring and it's in the afternoon omgggg. And I really didn't like the group dynamics and this guy actually had the decency to imply that my contributions were worthless.

BUT BITCH PLEASE, GUESS WHOSE IDEA SAVED EVERYONE'S ASSES? Hehe

Hahaha I just realised I have this tendency to be the one to come up with the initial ideas? Hmm, see how reflections are useful, I suddenly have an realisation while doing one. So here's another lesson for you.

Lesson 6: Reflections are good for you because it helps you consolidate thoughts and maybe you will remember things as well as me HAHA.

During Year 1 Semester 1, I had a GPA that was way below second upper when I actually stayed up so late to mug. I wanted to do Banking & Finance so I focused a lot on Accounting and Financial Management and screw up modules like IT which was supposedly do-able. After the release of the results, I learnt that in NBS, most people actually don't like sharing their GPA with one another and some people do judge people based on their GPA. And how there are people who are really selfish with their notes. I guess I was shocked BUT I have gotten used to it. 

I really hated NBS, hated the modules I was doing and I guess the turning point (so exaggerated) for me was when I started doing modules like Marketing. I love how Marketing is full of common sense, yet creative. It wasn't that fluffy as what people said. So I kind of stopped regretting being in NBS and stopped hoping that I had went to FASS. And there's something I did not actually tell this to a lot of people: I have actually applied for early admission to NTU Psychology instead of Business. During JC days I really liked Psychology but did Business for reasons which I do not want to think about anymore hahaha. But it's okay cause doing Psychology elective make me realise I may not do well in Psychology.

Oh before I forgot, it was also during Year 1 Semester 2, I kind of enjoyed being in school and maybe started feeling more confident of myself.

Lesson 7: “You can have anything you want if you dress for it.” –Edith Head, no but really dressing better makes you feel more confident of yourself, so why not just put that tiny amount of effort to make yourself happier?

I applied for the exchange spot to City University of Hong Kong, not knowing any single one who applied for it. I didn't really want to go to Hong Kong, I didn't like the pace of life etc. And I have always thought that I will be in Australia/New Zealand for exchange :( But in the end, I couldn't match many modules to Australia universities and NZ was really expensive.

Lesson 8: Sometimes, the best decisions are those made on impulse.

Oh and a bit of lesson 3 of how everything happens for a reason :')


Okay, so here's a not so flattering photo of me at my exchange school.

• Roycemary 
• Tian Kee and Co.
• Hoopla
• Cafe Melba
• Boufe Cafe
• Maccha House
• Pitchstop (Does it really count as one???)
• Coffee Nowhere (Now here, not no where haha)
• Prive
• Tiong Bahru Bakery
• Montana Brew Bar
• Carpenter &Cook
• L'etoile Cafe
• Holy Cow Creamery
• Sunday Folks
• SPRMKT
• On The Table

Tiong Bahru Bakery

I have been wanting to go back to Lola's Cafe for a longgg time. I honestly think they serve one of the best chicken wings (other than Four Fingers omnomnom). Honey Paprika Wings is definitely one of Lola's signature dishes. Other than the good chicken wings, I think the good service recovery may be the reason why I had such a good impression of them. Many cafes actually do offer good service (like RoyceMary- offers to take photos, gives suggestions about drinks etc) and I do think that for a cafe to do well, it not only needs to offer good food and ambiance BUT also impeccable service. HAHA good service recovery does remind me of MR lessons, hmmm but bye bookssss see you again if I ever do a Masters. Okay back to Lola's.



Hungry from looking at the chicken wings :'( But anyway, since I am not sponsored/paid, I can afford to be honest hehe. While their chicken wings, mains and dessert were average to good, their drinks were not very good. :( BUT I still want to go and try their scrambled eggs with croissant hehe. Okay, I must be really weird since Lola's Cafe is so out of the way for me and there's always a queue... They do have another shop called On The Table with similar food  BUT also inconvenient for me. Woes of living at where I lived hahaha.


Haha the issue of taking so long to update this post is that... I really went to On The Table and tried their croissant with scrambled eggs. This is good and really filling. I think two can share this dish and order their legendary, Honey Paprika Wings.

Oh and I tried their Affogato too! My first ever Affogato so I can't comment...

Prive Cafe

The ambiance at Prive Cafe is really good. Well, apparently stars can be spotted at Keppel Bay, how romantic rightttt, so if any guys come across this page, DON'T SAY I NEVER SHARE. Oh if one were to go there in the morning, it's still a good place to hang out. It's definitely very ootd worthy hahhaha.

Hmm, I usually prioritise the taste of food over the ambiance if I were to choose the dining location. I am not saying that the food at Prive was not good (it's really not bad) BUT the ambiance definitely contributed to the fact why I chose it as one of my favourite cafe hehe. Oh, I really want to give their brunch sets a try someday hehe.

Tsujiri Tea House

Having tried several matcha places in Singapore, I think Tsujiri offers the best tasting and most affordable matcha options (ice-cream and latte wise). Maccha House and Nana offer good matcha as well BUT the prices were like 10+ to around 20 dollars!! But the servings are much bigger as well. BUT desserts are not meant to be so huge right? Tsujiri's servings are just nice in my opinion. :) And having several outlets is a definite plus point :)

Red bean is definitely one of the best thing to go along with your matcha ice-cream hehe

Oh I did try Amasoy matcha ice-cream and I am a firm believer that matcha should be a little bit bitter instead of being just sweet. Amasoy icecream is a little too sweet and too icy in my opinion but if you like sweeter desserts, you can give it a try cause it's quite affordable.

What a long post hahaha. Sigh and I wonder why I don't have abs, now I guess I know why. Till the next time when I explore more foooooood.

Signing off,
a fat jane.