Design It yourself!

Design what? How about your own passport cover or holder for starters? Passpotter has a range of products available in which you can mix and match accessories and tags, designing them yourself. Besides their specialty passport covers, they also allow you to customise your own keychains, pencil cases and bracelets.

What I like about it? It has your own style written all over it. Choose what words or name you would like engraved on the tag, the colour of the tag, the kind of accessory you would like and even how to position them. If you need a gift for your significant other, this is one of the decently priced alternatives (passport cover). Choose some 'I Love You' or heart shaped accessories and pair it with his/her name and make a similar one with your own name. Give your partner that and tell him/her that you have plans for the two of you to travel together. Awwww so romantic right?

For me, I am pretty much the 'safe' person when it comes to design (otherwise I would be taking forever to decide because of that all so perfectionist nature), so I chose a fairly typical design that is no brainer. A beige tag, an airplane accessory in the middle and a dark brown passport cover.

I am quite enjoying how it looks! Simple, elegant, stylish? C'mon, you have to agree with me. If not, suggest a better design from behind that phone or laptop. I would love to see what you guys can come up with. 

So excited now that I got this, just in time for my travels! Stay tuned to my travel photos and posts, as I head off to Malaysia, Sabah in a week's time! 

My very own customised pencil case! Yes, my personal bias makes me go for brown coloured products. That and blue things too. Although I am no longer a student, I am sure a pencil case is always handy. Somewhere, sometime. Beats having no stationery. 

I also got to watch Alouis in action as he carved out the letters on my tag using rubber stamps. 

Yup, all these can be done on the spot in like what? 5 minutes? You pick and choose whatever you need, be it passport holder or accessories, let him know and he will have it done nicely for you. 

If you are keen to get your own customised passport holder, check out their instagram page at https://instagram.com/passpotter.

Aren't We Just Doing Our Own Jobs?

Aren't you tired of seeing the same old kind of blog posts day in day out? Top 10 places to visit, or activities to do or food to eat? I am, that's for sure and that's why I try to present my readers with different reads.

Warning: Descriptive post ahead

Title: Aren't We Just Doing Our Own Jobs?

He checked his watch. He was on time. As always. The countdown started. Three hours. He just had to endure it for three hours and he would be on his way home, a little richer, with a bit more to spend.

Taking up his position beside the machine, he helped himself to a stack of leaflets from one of the compartments on the machine. It didn't matter how many. It simply mattered that he was doing his job, giving them out to passer-bys. That was but part of his job requirement. To those who stopped at the machine, they required another service from him. He had to serve them and ensure their needs were met. It was generally simple unless technical issues surfaced. Operating the machine was simple. Pressing the right buttons was nothing, even for him. Scanning their flashcards to make a reservation, or returning what they have rented. Mostly, it was showing them how it worked and how much of a no brainer it was. All part and parcel of the job scope.

Considering that there were regular customers, people who were waiting for others nearby, he would usually be able to engage a few members of the public. Then there were days when no one would stop by. No one would even take the leaflets from his hands. It was as if taking one would kill them. Well, he did have the occasional ear-candy to listen to when certain trailers with recent songs played on the machine. He did this for like three days a week? Standing there mostly do nothing was pretty painful to him. He rather that he did something. Otherwise his legs would send compelling signals to his brain and tell him that he should start to feel tired after that amount of time on his feet.

It was essentially people watching. Observing their walking speed, their posture, their walking paths and whether they were accompanied or walked alone. Those in a hurry would unlikely pick up those leaflets he was giving, or else they would grab it and shove it somewhere to keep. The ones moving at a leisure pace, ah, those were his potential targets. Possibly window shopping, or waiting for a friend. They would be more willing to accept that leaflet. Of course, there are those who would avoid his gaze and keep a distance from him as they approach his direction. He told himself not to waste time and effort on them. They weren't worth the disappointment. Yes, it was both emotionally and physically tiring. Imagine being constantly rejected. It wasn't like that of a rejection faced during a proposal but the feeling sucked all the same. He knew he had to get used to it. He had to. When it came to those moving in groups, it was a 50-50. Clueless about it, he knew it was up to chance.

Since he was stationed in a mall that was pretty much accessed by a lot of crowd, it was no wonder that a friend spotted him working one fine day. It felt quite embarrassing for him. Not to mention that the shirt he was wearing with the company logo was not exactly the most stylish, being all baggy and loose. That was however nowhere near humiliating. What was perhaps the most humiliating was when a newly hired security guard approached him and threatened to throw him out of the mall for handing out leaflets. He was but doing his job and with all that negative emotions that came with it, of course he got angry. The boss he worked for was informed but whatever the case, the security guard got his way and he was told to go to another location, suck thumb it was.

After that incident, he continued his work for a couple more weeks until it was time to stop. Did he learn a lot from this short stint? He certainly did. That experience taught him to put himself into someone's shoes. We are all concerned with our own shoes but how often do we take a look from the shoes of others? 

Choosing shoes? 

Everyone is doing their own job and with every job comes its own set of challenges and difficulties. If accepting a leaflet could help someone out and give that person a little bit more of positive energy, why not? If being cheerful and understanding to someone when he has made a mistake could help him avoid feeling lousy, why not? 

Spread the love, stay positive!

I hope you have enjoyed this short post that describes a person's thoughts on his part time job. If you are keen to find a part time job, check out the Stroff.com portal for part time jobs singapore and more specifically, part time jobs for students if you are still studying.

All photos are taken by me.

YouTube FanFest is Back! #YTFF

YouTube FanFest is an exclusive event that will bring together YouTube stars from Asia and around the world with their fans in Singapore! There are over 30 of them and yes, all your hot favourites will be here!

Gautam Anand, Director of Content and Operations, YouTube Asia-Pacific, shared a little about how YouTube has grown and it certainly has. When I was young, the influence of YouTube only kicked in when I was in my teens? I remember that I made do without YouTube for the whole but now, it is like an essential. Nothing to do? Bored? Check out YouTube for some videos. 

This year’s show features a dynamic mix of over 30 widely popular music, comedy, and fashion content creators — the largest FanFest crew to date — including Wong Fu Productions, Kurt Hugo Schneider, Jason Chen, Tiffany Alvord, All India Bakchod, Timothy DeLaGhetto, Fung Brothers, Night Owl Cinematics, JinnyBoy and many more.

So feast your eyes on the photographs of your favourite YouTube stars!

Macy Kate (US)

Wong Fu Productions (US)

Timothy De La Ghetto (US)

Naomi Neo (SG)

Bubzbeauty (HK)

Tiffany Alvord (US)

Kurt Hugo Schneider (US)

A photograph of some of the YouTube stars

It was a time of fun and laughter (you seriously have to catch them life in person), as they shared their answers to questions such as "Are you proud to represent your country?" and "Who would you like to work with?" Certainly, Mozart and Michael Jackson would never cross your mind. On the other hand, when asked why they do what they do, we had very good answers from Kurt and Wong Fu Productions that it had to be that passion, that drive, otherwise it would be meaningless. Bubzbeauty also shared that it was about positively influencing one person at a time and it wasn't about the numbers.

So what are you waiting for? Show them your support! The red carpet is open to public admission today, Friday, May 22nd 2015 at 7pm at *SCAPE! Do not miss this opportunity to catch them life in person! I will be there, so see you there or be square. 

For those keen to attend their performances and spend more time with your stars, get your tickets here. They will entitle you to a full weekend of ‎performances, shows, fireside chats with the stars, meet and greets, academies ‎and educational workshops. 

My Thoughts on The Job Hunting Process after Graduation

I wonder how many people out there are in my predicament now. Graduated, looking for a full-time job but yet to find one. We have been using the various job searching platforms: Jobstreet, Job Central, and even resorting to internship portals such as Glints and Intern.sg but not much luck.

Feels like this huh? Dark, cloudy, all gloom and you are looking for that light.

The real world out there is harsh. No experience, no talk. Look at the jobs available on Jobstreet. I actually subscribed to lina@jobstreet.com and seeing notifications from them everyday is a torture, a necessary one might I say. At least for now. Plenty of irrelevant jobs that I scroll through only to delete. Nearly every job has the condition of having at least 1 year experience in the field. C'mon lah, fresh graduates like us need a job that is entry level, if most of the jobs out there require experience and isn't willing to let us learn the ropes, how on earth do we get that experience? We'll talk about internships in a bit.

What's harsher is that for us Social Sciences students (excluding the Econs students), we can nearly never expect to find our degree being listed as one of those they are looking for. All public Unis have their own talent sites but honestly, it doesn't help a lot. I actually looked through every single page and most of the jobs require specialised degrees such as engineering or more generic ones like business. Like I said, barely any will mention a Social Science degree.

Finding another internship after you graduate may be somewhat unwise, simply because half the time internships already pay peanuts and now you are a graduate, even if it is an internship you seek, you will feel that you deserve more than the normal intern rates because the fact is you do. If it offers a chance of a full-time job at some prestigious company that doesn't give out full-time positions except through internships, then it's an entirely different story. These kind of internships are probably the only ones we should be looking at, ones worth our time and effort. If you are not fussy about the pay or location of the company, there are actually plenty of internship opportunities, all you have to do is check out the internship singapore opportunities on Stroff.com. Click here to read about my previous internship experience. 

It's like you are an artist trying to sell your paintings but what you are selling is yourself.

So, if by now you haven't found a field in which you are keen to be working in, it's either you resort to another internship (I have been through like 2 already btw and have taken on freelance writing positions too) or you have to lower your expectations and just accept a passable full-time job. 

A friend told me (both of us being Uni grads) that we shouldn't settle for less than $3k otherwise we might as well not work. I guess in that statement she gave me that confidence booster, that we are worth that amount, after all the shit (do pardon the crudeness) we had to go through to get to this point of our lives. Before that, I was willing to settle for a job around say, mid $2k? Then again, it is by no means easy to find a job offering that pay. It is going to take time and perseverance. 

So with all that said, I am still looking for a job and I have learnt from experience that contacts is vital to landing you that ideal job. It's all about knowing people. When people know you, what you do, how you do it, that's when you stand a higher chance at getting that job. 

A game of chess anyone? Only that you don't know what the pieces can do for you.

Some people just have it all, like this majestic swan here. Beauty is written all over her.

For me, I think I made my job requirements pretty clear and if anyone has any lobangs or know of any job opportunities, do send them my way, I will be eternally grateful. Hear the exaggerating tone? Just had to do that, ok, I will be like seriously grateful. Thanks in advance!

For those who have yet to start looking for internships, it is never too early to start. In fact, why not even start looking out for positions in companies that you might be keen to apply for before you graduate. They say if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, of course plans don't always work which is why they then say that failure is the mother of success. If you are looking for that singapore internship you want to land yourself in, look no further and try out this job portal first. 

I hope you find that rainbow after the storm passes. It will. Hang in there!

All photos are taken by me.

Singapore International Racing Festival 2015

It was my first time at Singapore Turf Club and it was quite the experience. We started off with taking lots of OOTDs, totally us (or more like them XD).

We watched the horses race and you can totally feel the atmosphere heating up as each race begins. Everyone or at least quite a number of people will go out to take a look at the horses they have betted on. It's quite a thrilling experience for those who have placed their bets and you can see them cheer on the horses. 

It rained a little despite the crazily hot weather and we spotted a rainbow!

We were allowed to get up close with the jockeys and their horses.  Could totally hear the shouts of support for the various horses.

So the Singapore Airlines International Cup 2015 commenced! Look at all those cameras NOT. The highlight should be the performers decked in all the bright and pretty colours and the SIA girls of course.

The SIA stewardesses and the trophies

We watched the Kris Flyer International Sprint and congratulations to Aerovelocity for winning the first place! What an intense match it was. You should have felt the atmosphere as the horses raced past. Exhilarating! That decisive moment when the first horse crossed the finishing line and with that, the results were set. Did you win or lose? 

Indulge your Taste Buds with the Flavours at Yam's Kitchen

Disclaimer: Invited Food Tasting

Are there some days when you are sick of eating the same few dishes at your hawker centre or some of the Chinese restaurants? If your family is the typical Chinese family, you have even more reasons to avoid them when you are eating outside. 

Here's some good news! We found this eating place, a gem if I may call it that, a Chinese restaurant tucked away in Downtown East, E Hub called Yam's Kitchen. The Easties will know that both Downtown East or E Hub do not exactly offer anything special in terms of food, so we were pleasantly surprised to learn of this restaurant. I know the name doesn't exactly ring a bell or tell you what they specialise in so let me tell you more. In short, they serve Chinese cuisine with variations that give your tastebuds the change they so desire.

It's a family friendly restaurant and from the decoration, you can tell it's not posh or expensive. Their prices are reasonable, worth your every penny and you will be pleased to know there's no service charge!

Let's talk more about the food!

For appetizers, or finger food, you can try out the Salted Egg Fish Skin. The taste of salted egg is really nice and thick and there's this hint of spiciness. What's more, this dish is crispy and makes a good snack for adults and kids alike. I was told you can even do take-aways. It's probably not a very special dish but still, we all enjoy snacking on it. 

 Salted Egg Fish Skin

The highlight of this restaurant is its fish tail! Huh? Fish tail? Usually we hear of curry fish head but fish tail isn't all that common. The fish tail is specially ordered and are prepared in different ways so you can choose from a variety of flavours. 

Just some background information on me, I am not a fish lover by nature and by fish I mean cooked fish. I generally can't stand the fishy smell and how sometimes there is little taste to it but I rather enjoy good quality fish such as the Soon Hock Fish.

Deep Fried Fish Tail with Garlic & Diced Chilli (Chef's Recommendation)

The above dish comes highly recommended and for a good reason. The fish meat comes with a strong scent of lime that adds flavour to it, making it really different from the fried fish you usually eat that are dependent on sauces to give taste. The flavour doesn't come from any additional condiments but rather it's all in the powder which has been used to prepare the fish. I personally liked this dish because of its unique lime flavour, a flavour you don't commonly associate with fish. I found myself going back for more and more and I think they are right about us Singaporeans liking fried food.

Award-winning Steamed Fish Tail with Sour Spicy Sauce 

This fish tail was the one I personally enjoyed the most. It was awarded the 2010 International Chef Gold Medal. If I had to rate it, I would give it a 9.8/10. It's strange that my taste buds loved it so much because 1) I have low tolerance for spicy food and 2) being a typical Singaporean, I prefer fried food, while in this case the fish tail is steamed. It makes sense that I would like the fried fish tails more BUT while the sauce is spicy, the level of spiciness is pretty mild, sufficient to give it a sweet taste and a little kick but not one that heats up your entire mouth. The fish meat is also fresh and fragrant and the overall combination of fish and sauces do taste good together. Must try! 

If you are wondering which fish these fish tails come from, they come from the Red Snapper Fish. When it comes to fish tail dishes, Yam’s Kitchen is the first restaurant that specialises in it and they have been awarded the Top 100 Singapore Excellence Award in 2012/2013 through their continuous effort and innovation. 

Ying Yang Hor Fun

This is one of their most creative dishes! There is your normally cooked Hor Fun but in addition, there is fried Hor Fun too. How did it come about? There was an accident where loose Hor Fun got fried in the process and upon tasting, the chefs decided the texture was pretty good and so they experimented on it and came up with this! Ta da! Taste wise, it is a little on the salty side but it beats the normal Hor Fun you order out there anytime. We commented on the huge prawns and fish slices and the chefs responded that they wanted to give customers their worth in terms of food for money. See, it's not all about the money, they do value the eating experience here at Yam's Kitchen. 

We tried many other dishes that are considered traditional dishes but they are pretty special too. Here's just listing some others that you can consider. There's this braised duck dish that is prepared in a special sauce that comes from a homemade recipe, otah tofu (yes, it's tofu with oath filling), fried pork belly (resembles char siew) and bean curd dishes that complement rice well.

It was an extremely satisfying night for our bellies after tasting the various dishes offered at Yam's Kitchen. Reasonably priced, creative dishes with different flavours and all in a comfortable family setting. It is definitely a gem tucked away in Pasir Ris and I can't wait to recommend this place to my friends staying nearby! Time to arrange some makan sessions and head down to E! Hub. 

For all my readers reading this now, there's an exclusive promotion for you! Flash the discount code: SFBloggerYamsKitchen to enjoy an additional 10% off your total bill.

For more information check out their website here and thanks to Singapore Food Listing for the media invitation.

Yam's Kitchen

1 Pasir Rise Close #04~101

E!Hub @ Downtown East Singapoe 519599

Contact: +65 65845884

Operating Hours: Monday To Thursday: 11.30am – 10pm,

Friday To Sunday & Public Holidays: 11.30am – 10.30pm

No 4 Jalan Leban

Upper Thomson Road Singapore 577548

Contact: +65 6836 5020

Operating Hours: Monday To Thursday: 11.30am – 10pm,

Friday To Sunday & Public Holidays: 11.30am – 10.30pm