Foodiez

Back with another fun post, and this time, we're missing 1/4 of us again. This time, which is the next week from the post here. Once again, I'm suffering from a writing dry spell, but here we go!

This time around, we decided to meet at Bishan MRT as usual, but again, all of us were late. And the funny thing was, I was the latest to reach, so when I reached Bishan, I was just mad dashing through the crowd to meet Xi Yun & Jane at the Circle line. But before that Jane was waiting, just sitting at the red line, so she was casually walking while I just disregarded everyone in and just walked by her. #fail

But when we did finally gather, we got in to the train and headed to the place I've been to wayyyy too many times, Holland Village. Ugh, I think people who work there can recognise me already. On the train, Jane recounted her times in Taiwan, highlighting the glorious cool weather, amazing food, her climb to a mountain top, and after all that excitement she concluded that the trip was 'errr actually ok lah'.

WHAT, I wish I could go travelling too. On route Holland Village, we were talking about travelling together later on this year, in fact we have been talking about it for a while already, and then Xi Yun dropped the bomb she's not allowed to travel with friends till she's 21. And the sky is once again gray. *cries*. No but the rationale was because her sister first travelled with her friends at 21, so it only is fair if it's equalised. HOPEFULLY THAT CHANGES SOON!

This time around, we decided to head to hatched! This restaurant/cafe specialising in all things eggs has been featured in XiaXue's guide to life and many blogs. Actually we have been wanting to go here for quite sometime already, but it just so happens that whenever we want to go to hatched, we find some other cafés to go to.

Decor wise, I think it's pretty ordinary, nothing that is specifically amazing, but I guess the chalk drawings on the blackboards are a nice touch, but then again, I think after going to cafés for so long, I am desensitised and can no longer appreciate the decor or atmosphere. Which defeats the purpose of cafe hopping huh?

After placing our orders, which now that I think about it, took quite long. But when holding great conversations with friends, the concept of time need not apply. And also, explained to Jane this project which I needed her help in. So yeah, basically. And if you're wondering where Vernice is, at that point she was happily in Malaysia with her family, and said she'll make it in time for dinner with us.

And of course, what's us without selfies before the food arrives right? Cute salt and pepper shaker though, all in preparation and the name of Christmas. (I know it's irrelevant now that it's the new yeat already)

And after a good 20 minutes wait, the food is finally here! 

I order this beef burger thing which I forgot the name, but it was supposed to be with sunny side ups, but I opted to change it to scrambled eggs, for which I had to pay an extra $2, that didn't make sense to me, because it's just changing the way I wanted my eggs.

This beef burger, filled with cheese, mushrooms, sauteed sweet onions is accompanied by fries and salad. Taste wise, I really think this is not bad, the beef is nicely cooked, and the sweet onions help the whole dish less overpowering and nauseating. Eggs wise, I actually really like it, it's soft and fluffy but not like mushy, which is good! I like the fries too, in terms of the shape lah. But other than that, it's pretty much just usual potatoes.

Honestly, this dish is one that you would come back to once or twice, except the price of $21 just makes it ridiculous and a splurge almost. But nonetheless, a good one.

Xi Yun got the pick your own egg, which is omelette wrapped with 3 ingredients you can choose from out of a few. She got cheese, ham and something else, don't know if I'm right or not. With a slide of toast as well. I guess again, it's not bad.

As for Jane, she ordered this Croque or something like that, I again forgot, Just basically bread, eggs, mash, and bunch of veggies.

Overall, I would say that the food at Hatched is actually pretty good, and it fills you up quite a bit, and you'll like the food there if you like eggs, and honestly, everyone does. But apart from the food, everything else there is mediocre. And the price is overstated for all that it is worth, sadly. I mean $21 for burger and fries?! I can get 4 of those at McDonalds!

I guess the service is satisfactory, the waitress is like filling our glasses as soon as it is empty, and we had to just sit there for a good 10 minutes because we were so bloated from drinking so much water.

Is it just me, or whenever someone refills my cup my natural instinct is to take a sip?

OVERALL EXPERIENCE : Hatched

Food                        8/10

Service                    6/10

Price                        5/10

Ambience                5/10

___________________________________

Final Score: 6

After Hatched, we embarked on the next spot, a nice café that we can chill, talk, and satisfy our sweet tooth. And this time, we had a CLEAR PLAN on where we wanted to go, unlike the last time where we were aimless souls. 

Despite not knowing better how to go, we ventured to Marymount hoping to get to the spot where we wanted. The café that we wanted to go is over at Thomson, which firstly I never seem to know how to get there myself, but we reckoned we can find a bus-stop and navigate ourselves there.

But thankfully, Xi Yun has been here before, so we walked there instead. It was actually surprising how near it was from the MRT. While walking there we had to walk past a neighbourhood. And the tranquility, quietness and laziness of it all seemed quite poetic to me. 

Before soon, we are at the Thomson area. However that was all I knew about it, like I dont know which specific street of alley it was. And the weather at that point was H.O.T and humid and we were lost. I was so thankful and counting my blessings that I didn't wear a pullover because I'd be burning up like Jessie J. 

Initially I wanted to tell them why not just chill at some other place because I felt so horrible getting them to bask under the hot sun finding the place, since I was the one who opted to go. But they were nice enough to press on and walk walk walk. 

And after a maze like walk, we finally got here! PLY baked goods. I saw it online somewhere and the desserts look ohhhh soooooo delicious, and I really wanted to come over here, and finally, we got to! And the fact that it was scorching hot outside, coming into a air-controlled environment was heaven on a different level.

Love how there is a self-service counter, and it's decorated so adorably as well, cosy. and This small little bakery was really the perfect weekend getaway that I have been wanting and dreaming of and guess I finally got to live it. Small, homely, whimsical, and very quiet. This café was almost unreal.

I think what attracted me to this café of bakery is the while simplicity of the layout. Something about the laziness of it all. When you face the counter, you don't see fancy displays and attractive menus, the menu was just words and price, as for the cakes, it's just in the gigantic glass and white metal fridges you see at the kopitiam. 

TELL ME THIS ISN'T THE PRETTIEST RAINBOW CAKE YOU'VE SEEN?!

I wish I was exaggerating, but after going to so many cafés and tasting their rainbow version of anything, this is by far the best I've ever eaten. I love how it's rainbow all the way, both outside and inside. 

The P.L.Y baked goods Rainbow Cake($8.50) is pretty big, and considerable on the pricier end, but it's worth every dime. The cake is nice and moist, with a nice cake texture to it, and the cream is not too sweet, and I think they mixed rosewater or rose flavour in, but it is super light, which gives it another layer of flavour. Even though XY and Jane said they can't taste it. 

And there's the crowd favourite, CHOCOLATE CRUNCH BALLS, ok that is obviously not the real actual name of the thing but you know what I'm talking about. Even though some of them were not that crunchy and soggy - the taste and texture is enough to compensate it. 

Jane & XY got the lychee chocolate and this chocolate crumble cake ($6-8). And guess what, they taste really good too. Either we were lucky to have chosen the good cakes or everything here is just super yummy. Cause most of the times as you would know as well, when you go to cafés there's only that few dishes that is highly recommended and the rest are meh. But desserts wise, this did pretty well. 

The chocolate gave a richer and creamier sweetness, like a real bar of chocolate, and one would think adding lychee may confuse your taste buds, at least I think so. But apparently, they pair up pretty well together. The lychee has a lightness, and different type of sweetness - with a slight tartness, which gets rid of the sick feeling after consuming too much milky stuff. 

As for XY, she indulged in chocolate, for all the right reasons with her loving chocolate. Initially at a glance as you have seen in the photo, it looks like a typical chocolate cake. But, it's more to that. Firstly the chocolate is really rich and fudgy - AND THE BASE MADE OF BISCUIT. The whole super soft and moist texture paired with a crisp crunch is right up the alley for whoever that love their sweet treats. 

And of course, what is tea time without some tea? Still not down with our food coma, we needed something to alleviate our Sunday sombre. Initially me and Jane wanted to get tea, but we thought they served it in cups, so we got 2 different teas, Earl Grey and some China Tea. 

Turns out, it came in pots! More tea for us then, we certainly aren't complaining. And the best thing is they come with these cool ass futuristic cups, like the handle is one piece?! And peeking by the side of the plate is a sweet caramel cookie to balance the tea. 

AND THEY GAVE US THE COOLEST DEVICE EVER. 

SPARKS FLY, AMAZEMENT, wtf is this?! Ok, let me snap out of this childish amusement, this is basically a tea filter with another 'cup' device so it can trap any smaller particles that slipped past the mesh. But the pouring thing and how it can turn also just beyond me. Where can I buy one of these?

This place sells savoury goods like pies as well. The great thing about secluded cafés is that you are not competing with the deafening music and other groups of people talking. You don't have to worry about the people there chasing you out. And you can just enjoy your time there. 

And we legit like stayed there for hours until we had to urgently find a toilet to pee. And the walk to Thomson Plaza was probably the longest, I could've sworn I almost peed my pants. 

We wanted to meet Vernice in time for Dinner, but she came back to Singapore only at like 9/10, and she had a exam the next day. So we just reckoned to go to AMK hub and had dinner at 18 chefs. 

Wasted Vernice didn't join us because the food we had was really really good. But till the next time, good times like that are missed.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

-THIS PROJECT IS NO LONGER, IGNORE-

From now on, I'll be blogging on another platform where me and a few of my classmates started. This blog is all about sweet treats - where to find amazing dessert, how to make simple treats to satisfy your 3 a.m. crave and a lot more. So please support us by following our Twitter & Instagram(Liking, Retweeting, Replying etc) so we know what's good and what's not! 

This sweet project we have is 

thesugartint.tumblr.com

Tell me this doesn't look pretty?! 

See more of our social media pages, just click, and please ah just follow. 

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

We're still deciding on certain layout and designs, so we'll only get better with time, so please check back regularly! 

ps. I'll still be blogging here so sadly, there'll simply be more of me on this social media wasteland the society created. (:

The Truth About Polytechnic Courses

So polytechnic open houses are right around the corner, just tomorrow in fact! This is for all 'O' level people who are still contemplating which course to choose, here's an insider's point of view. And if you read on, there's a second section for those who are planning to go into media but don't know which course to choose!

It's that time of the year again, where you are happily in your 6 months holiday(if you choose the polytechnic route that is), where you just sleep at 4am and wake up at 5, and do absolutely nothing and just turn up. But 2015 comes and you're placed into shit again. That day where you jump into your uniform for one last time if you're lucky enough, to collect the almighty result. 

And the the scary choice of choosing a course/school to go to. And I'm sure questions like 

'Aiya which course to choose'

'Stress lah, I know what course I want but which school, distance or reputation'

'Shit, I don't know what I want'

'I want course A, but my family want me to go course B, how like that'

It's common to have this kind of confusions as you should know by now, but still nonetheless, it is incredibly vexing. But before the catastrophic results day, there's the open house. And every poly is furiously promoting their open house events. And every website you go to, you see 

 THIS

 THIS

 THIS and

THIS

Now you might be wondering, where's RP's open house poster? Is it cause no one would in their right sense have the actual want to aim to go RP? Albeit partially true in my opinion, THAT IS NOT THE REASON, cause I couldn't find it. 

That aside, with attractive facilities and nice places to eat and all the visuals makes every single polytechnic very tempting to join, so how now? So based on what I've gathered and heard from friends and classmates, here's each polytechnic's 'strong' areas. They are in no way proven or factual and just solely from the word of mouth and opinions of OTHER PEOPLE.

Singapore Polytechnic - Engineering

Ngee Ann Polytechnic - Film & Media Studies

Nanyang Polytechnic - Health Sciences/Animation

Temasek Polytechnic - Design

Republic Polytechnic - (Not sure)

I don't know what purpose this piece of information serve, but for reference use, here it is. Now to answer the questions that most of us, or now you have : 

WHICH COURSE TO CHOOSE

Firstly, if you head to an open house, or read up the course and module, UNDERSTAND THIS, it will definitely be drier and more boring than how it is being described, because it is suppose to tempt you. So no matter what course you choose, it is the same. You will be disappointed,you will be surprised. 

But with that said, the best and easiest answer is obviously what you're interested in. But unlike the masses, some of us are just overwhelmed by the number of choices and sadly can't find one that you closely identify and can dedicate 3 years of your life and can be passionate throughout. 

The easier method is to look at your JAE booklet and cancel out courses and categories you know for sure you are not going to be interested in, and then look at it and keep on narrowing it down. For those you manage to catch any form of interest, head down to the website and look through the modules and if you're still interested enough, head down to the open house - which also is a elaborate version of school life, THE REAL SCHOOL LIFE IS A LOT MORE BORING AND MUNDANE. Expect that. 

'Stress lah, I know what course I want but which school, distance or reputation'

If you ever brought this up in class or ask friends, all teachers, parents, friends alike will tell you that don't consider the distance from home to school, consider the course and what you really want. THIS IS A LIE. 

Not even trying to be funny, they first thing you should even ever consider is the distance and how long you will take to and fro school. Why? Simple reason, across the polytechnics, the things you will learn is going to be so similar and the qualification you have is going to get you the same job at the end. But what will determine a lot is your grades and how you do it. 

One big concern that way too many students neglect and blinded by their 'dream course' is sleep. I've heard and seen too many people go 'Course X is my dream course, I can sacrifice a few hours of sleep'. While this is true for some, but most of us really succumb to this within 3 months maximum. Initially, it is liberating taking a different route going to school. For some, for the first time your school isn't across your school, for once you have to take a train to school. 

All of that is fun for the first few weeks, until you and spend 2 hours of your life everyday just to get from school to home, and how during 8am classes you need to wake up at 5:30am to prepare when you can wake up so much later if school was nearer. 

The point is, our education believe it or not, is actually good enough that just because you graduate from say NYP or even RP, doesn't make you any less compared to a SP graduate. But what will take away your competence is your lack of rest and ability to function because of how tired you are. And consider this, while your friends are studying for finals, you are still tired and on the way home. 2 hours a day, that's 10 hours of your life you're not getting back. And think weekends too, projects sometimes burn those days. 

So they say don't consider the distance, my tip is ALWAYS consider distance. 

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THE TRUTH ABOUT MASS COMM COURSES

Now this part is for those people who are interested in media, particularly in Mass Communication. So if you guys still don't know, EVERY single polytechnic has a Mass Communication course, just that they are named differently, but believe me, THEY ARE THE SAME. 

Singapore Polytechnic - Media & Communication

Ngee Ann Polytechnic - Mass Communication

Temasek Polytechnic - Communications & Media Management

Republic Polytechnic - Mass Communication

Nanyang Polytechnic - Mass Media Management

I will not speak of those I have very little information on, but for those that I do, I will tell you like it is. Now, I have no intentions of slamming any courses, and the things stated here are based on facts, opinions, and personal experiences. 

Frankly frankly frankly speaking, if you enter Ngee Ann's MCM, you're in very good hands and the training you get there is very well-rounded and industry ready, but at the same time, it is super rigourous and extensive, and if you don't think you can get a lot of work done in short periods of time, and burning ALL of your holidays meeting deadlines and going out of your ways to get people for certain modules, don't consider this course because you will end up with a shitty 2.2 GPA. 

However, if you're ready for that, then you will enjoy the things you learn in MCM, no bullshit and nonsense, you get the full package. If you have dreams of becoming a writer, columnist, journalist or radio personality, do not even consider anything else, because Ngee Ann exposes you to the best writing practices, and also in terms of the opportunities you actually get to write for something. And radio-wise this poly has churned out the most number of radio personalities. Reputation wise, this is the oldest Mass Communication course with 25 years in existence, and it just so much above the remaining 4 polytechnics

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NP'S MASS COMM VS. OTHER MASS COMM
In general terms, the remaining Mass Communication courses has very equivalent credentials and standards. Basically all equally not on par with Ngee Ann Poly. But I will give you my opinion of the course in Singapore Poly, for the simple reason, I am in it. 

If your interests lie in advertising, public relations, marketing, media research, and production even, Singapore Polytechnic's Media & Communication is probably the best bet on giving you that. You will be given really amazing briefs to work on, and mentorship by one of the largest communications group. By the end of your 3 years here, you will be trained impeccably to be an marketing executive. The lecturers in these respective modules have extensive experience and give you constructive criticisms and provide you with excellent guidance, delivering very informative tutorials. 

Plus you get to use this space modelled after a real communication agency, which just tops off the entire experience as a marketer. 

HOWEVER, this course is a hell hole and no place for budding writers or radio journalists. The emphasise on writing here is cruelly minute, and the the coursework that you will be tasked to do for writing is very basic and not as complex as NP's. 

For the most parts, it is very marketing based, so you will not go very far as a writer in this course. Outlets wise, you will have little to no chance seeing your written works getting published anywhere, because currently SP has no such channels. 

Bear in mind this course has been around for around 14 years, but the new syllabus only began 4 years ago, so technically this course is just 4 years old.

Even though with that said, XiaXue was a graduate, but please refer to this post before thinking the course made her the great blogger that she is

~

For Nanyang Polytechnic, you will learn business aspects like business law, as well as Mass Communication stuff. If you want to become a writer and cannot get into NP, I would so much more suggest you go to Nanyang. Modules concerning writing are plentiful compared to the former. However I will say that, the course in Nanyang from what I've collected is that this course will suit you best if you're looking to do production in the future. Front end or post editing, Nanyang has very good facilities for you to practice. 

~

I will not comment on as much for the other polytechnics because I have way too little information to way in whether or not they are courses for you, but I hope you do understand where I am coming from, because the modules you will partake and the weightage of it will affect you and your performance in your course. 

Moreover than anything, if you're willing to put in hardwork you will do well, but there is a clear differentiation between putting in hardwork and enjoying what you're doing. Whichever it is, I would really recommend you read up and go to the open houses and talk to the people to understand what it is. It'll be good if you can read in between the lines of what they are saying because they are trying to get you to go to their course. Ask ask and ask questions in regards to what you want to do in the future and all that relevant shtuff. 

Ok that's it for this post in 'O' levels and poly courses. I may or may not write another post on what you will expect in polytechnic, all the real shit people don't tell you, to complete the whole facade and series of this how to guide for poly.