Expressing my gratitude to an old workplace of mine

Thank you SR, the place where my bartending and nightlife journey all started. The place where I met great customers and colleagues who made great mentors that guided me to achieve more in my life, and learnt so much more about myself. 

Walking through chinatown and seeing the signboard that leads towards ann siang hill always make me feel like I am going back home. The feeling never fades. The enthusiasm, passion and love to head to work back then still lingers every time I pass by the vicinity. It can't be put through in words, maybe it's the people there, maybe its the rooftop environment that made me fall in love, maybe it is just my comfort zone, or maybe the first is always unforgettable. 

I have always longed to go back. Back to being behind the rooftop bar where it all started. I wanted to continue the journey where I left off, but i never had the opportunity to. And I guess, I will never be able to as well. I gave up the opportunity to stay in the SR team back then, because I wanted to achieve more in the bartending field and I know I didn't want to stay put and achieve more as a floor staff. 

Now that I am offered better learning opportunity that could bring my bartending career further, I wanted to be back, back in my comfort zone, back to where I would call a home, back to screening room. 

Stepping back in SR today, I realized the place have expanded, the feel have changed.  SR is still the rooftop bar I have the most fond memories in, with the same table settings, same POS system, same environment with the same few people whom I will never get sick of talking to, but something just felt different, and it can't be put through in words. I guess everyone have been growing and changing through times, and I should stop looking back on what I have lost and what could be gained from the past and start working on what I have now. 

Given a chance to come back to this place where i called home, with the position i once yearned for, i hope its still all worthwhile even if it means giving up on my job now that have greater career prospect. And i hope it would bring me back the peace and joy that i used to have.

After all, I just want to be happy.
And i know even if i meet fked up colleagues and bosses, at least i would be happy to take it all for the few people i love in there. And now, its time to learn people management, and most importantly learning to handle myself and keep getting better.

First attempt cycling ECP to Changi Beach Park

Yay to Sunday! Thinking that it has been long since I cycled, originally planned to cycle from Pasir Ris park to East Coast park. But due to limited knowledge to how to park connectors work, I decided to head from east coast park to Changi Beach Park instead. 

Arrived at around 5pm and rented a bicycle at $16 for two hours (2 hours free 1) at the bicycle shop beside Burger King at Area C of east coast park. Basically grabbed a coffee bean before starting the journey and took some selfie with my girfriend while we waiting for the bicycle uncle to come by to fix our friend's bicycle because the chain came off. They actually got a replacement bike which I thought was pretty sweet. 

Selfie time ~ 

Basically took us around 30 minutes to go from Area C where we picked up our bike to reach Lagoon at Area E for our dinner. Grabbed some oyster egg, bah kut teh, rojak, satay and bbq stuff from various stalls and I have to say it was a really great meal. Will do some food tasting from each stalls in lagoon and post some recommendations to make choosing from all the stalls easier soon! :) 

For three, though I ate the most of it lol 

And so, I peddled on from Lagoon to Changi Beach Park. I would say it is a pretty straightforward route over, but it was a little challenging for me because it was already dark and I missed a few signboards and had a hard time looking at which split road to take within east coast park. After exiting East coast park , the way along the park connector was a easy ride. A straight route pass a long canal, and then cycling beside the airport, watching planes take off after planes. Really tranquil but approximately 6.7km long of park connector. 

Its around this distance after passing the canal

And my leg is aching by the time I am here 

 I guess I was really lucky because the heavy down pour only came just as I arrive at Changi Beach Park. I barely explored Changi Beach park yet as it was already 9.30pm when I reached and the sky was really dark. I would say it looks pretty much like East Coast park. But it feels like aeroplanes are flying above your head instead of watching them land from afar in East Coast Park. 

Braced myself to cycle in the rain when it got smaller as I had to return my bike back by 11pm. It took me around 1h 15 minutes to cycle from Changi Beach Park back to the bicycle shop without stopping and in a pretty fast speed while being already familiar to the route. Am thankful I did not be ambitious and cycle from Pasir ris to East coast park though, because just this to and fro distance was already killing me as a first time cyclist for such a distance. 

Plus 6.4km of connector to Changi Beach Park 

Ended my trip with a horlick dinosaur from the prata shop at marine cove as usual. Took grab car back to toa payoh at $24 as it was peak hour and I couldn't grab any taxi at that point in time. 

Am extremely thankful that my girlfriend helped me get out of my house to begin this trip though she had to leave early after the dinner. Learning to do things alone and this is the first adventurous trip around east coast park and I love how i conquer my OCD and decides to go with the flow and wherever the road brings me. 

It felt great to be stucked in the rain alone, and being able to leave any time I want because I know it was only for me to bear the consequence. It felt great that I did not have to consider if the person with me would be bothered if I get lost, or having to convince people to cycle in the rain. And finally, I am learning to enjoy my life alone. More great times of freedom to come! 

Promise yourself

Chanced upon a really good read that kept me motivated and I read it at least once a day to remind myself. Hope it makes a good read for all reader. Here it goes: 

PROMISE YOURSELF

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. 

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. 

To make all your friends feel

that there is something in them

To look at the sunny side of everything

and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best,

and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others

as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past

and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times

and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself

that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,

and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,

not in loud words but great deeds.

To live in faith that the whole world is on your side

so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

📝 Christian D. Larson

2017. A new start or an end?

Starting the third day of 2017. 

Reviewing 2016, its the year I lost myself gradually over time. I stopped doing things that I liked, stop believing in things that I used to believe, and unknowingly, I am filled with negativity and spreading negativity to everyone around me. 

2016 is a year where my greatest goal of starting a social enterprise is gone. I was enthusiastic, confident that I could make that small positive impact to the world while sustaining my daily life expenses. Only to realize when I started the enterprise that the world has became so dark. People no longer have faith in social enterprises, because there are just so many businesses that have been exploiting people's sympathy to earn more. It's so depressing to know how genuine social enterprises are barely making it there, and the big organisations are mostly running through government funds. 

Barely alive. That is me for 2016. 

Trying to please people because that's what will keep me alive in this society. Because people around me hope that I can be more patient, less crude, less negative in my words, and more politically correct. I tried not to, but without a goal, I don't know what am I trying so hard for. I am just like a walking zombie, counting my days, being alive just for the sake of it. 

Find a new goal in 2017? Nah. I will try my best to. I had one, which is to be a volunteer in a third world country, conducting classes and empowering young children with knowledge. And seemingly, this goal of mine made my mum broke into tears. I don't know why. 

But I want to be positive and bright again like I used to be. 

And I guess finding myself again and be strong is what I really need to do for 2017. 

Still, shutting down all my companies related stuff and dumping away all my stocks by end of this month. Let's see where this goes again.

Your No Bill Of Rights - 'The Power Of No'

Chanced upon this really great book 'The Power of No' By James Altucher and Claudia Azula  Altucher, and decided to start drawing out all the really good sayings from each chapter and keep it in track here. If you are a person who have issue saying no to things that are bad for you just like me, this is a great book to go for. 

No is an incredibly painful, brave word to say. 

But we have the right to say no. Here are some that I felt I really needed to know out of the listed 10 in the book.  

1. You Have the Right to Healthy relationships and Real Love

' We are entitled to choose our tribes, regardless what society impose on us. We decide who in our life drains us of energy and then purge them so we can soar. '

Yes. Pretty much for me, to start surrounding myself with positive energy and saying no to people whom I know is draining me off my positiveness. 

2. You Have the Right to Choose What Stories you Believe in 

'Humans are great storytellers. There are thousands of common stories that are baked into our societal mythology and that we believe are real. Like owning a home, having a cushy jobs etc. 

You are entitled to say NO to the stories that do not serve your own evolution, and yes only to the ones that align with your ability to manifest a fulfilling life. This protects you from the seven billion people who want to keep you in line. '

Yes. End of the day, there will be many people around you giving you different advice in all the different situations you meet. But end of the day, we are all entitled to say no to the beliefs people try to build into us that we know deep down isn't what we will agree to. 

3. You have the Right to Be Honest, Above All, with Yourself 

' You are entitled to saying NO to wearing a mask in order to get people to like you. '

' You can trust the way you are is fine, that your honesty is what attract others to you, and that your truth is what lights your internal fire. ' 

Your honesty - Saying no to the lying - is what will bring the lost ships home. ' 

I live all this while thinking that my honesty is what killed me. Only for me to realise, it isn't me being honest that made me lose my job and the people around me. In fact, thanks to being honest, it helped me get away people who aren't good for my life to begin with. 

4. You Have the Right to Be Here Now

' You are entitled to say NO to time travelling. Angers and regrets are in the past. Anxieties and worries are in the future. Travelling to the past or the future will not help you now. 

You have the right to say no to what is not happening right now. It will never solve your future problems but will always sap your present strengths. '

Time travelling is what I am always good at. What will happen 5 years down the road if I get together with this guy? Why did I say that yesterday? What should I say to my colleague when I see him tomorrow about the incident? I never ever live in the present, I am constantly worried about what will happen tomorrow, and always regretting what I said and did the day before that seemed to make others unhappy yesterday. Then to be reminded what is done cannot be undone, worrying now don't solve tomorrow's issue. In fact, im losing moments that I can use to do more productive shits that can really make tomorrow better. 

5. You Have the Rights to Surrender 

' You are entitled to surrender even the ideas you have formed about yourself. This is the ultimate No: Saying NO to what you think you are. 

It means that you need to surrender to the road. You reach out and trust that a loving hand will grab hold of you and guide you to take that first step. 

There is nobody you need to impress. There is nobody who is judging you. And there will be nobody who can stop you. 

One step at a time, the journey will take where you need to go. '

 The paragraph that made me kept reading on. Totally what I needed. Stop planning for everything, stop being scared of taking the step forward, to ask for help, to allow people into my life to bring me where I should go. And most importantly, just go with the flow. And saying no to what I think I am or I should say, what I think I cannot be and believe that I am because I can. 

Swensens Ice Cream Buffet Review

So last Thursday, me and my mum had an impromptu dinner at Swensens Orchard Ion for an ice cream buffet since I had craving for ice cream since few days back. Since it is a weekday, the price was $19.90 per pax (exclusive 10% service charge and 7% GST) and would be $16.90 per pax if a meal is ordered. 

Update: Recent visit on early September 2016. Variations and settings are all still the same. Standard and variation of ice creams still great. Gelato station was down, not sure for the day only or permenant though. Maybe chocolate selection variety increased a bit. Still highly recommended till date :) 

FYI: To celebrate SG50, Swensens is giving out a $10 discount voucher for every $50 spent. No minimum amount required to use the discount voucher on next visit. 

Not wanting to go have ice cream on an empty stomach, we ordered one meal which was the grilled salmon and both me and my mum agrees that despite of the large crowd here, the food is really well done as compared to some other branches! 

Tender grilled salmon that was definitely not too dry! 

Moving on to our main target of the day, or actually is more of mine over my mum, is the ice cream! They really have a lot of choices and I failed to finish all which I aimed to (DUH). The service staff was fast and polite. Despite of the fact that she still needs to prepare the ala carte dessert orders, she was still very prompt to serve us which we thought was really nice! 

Like most reviews would have mentioned, they have this 'chop it up' section where the staff will help you mix the topping into your ice cream like marble slab does! Sad to say, you only get to choose from 8 flavours that they have listed on the small card for the mixing and not from all the rest that you can have. Still, having the ice cream neatly mixed with the nuts is really awesome! 

Toppings available is really a vast variety of choice! Its like a chocolate heaven for me with my favourite Kit Kat, Snickers, oreo mini and many more! They also have some fruit, cherries and whipped cream at the side of this chocolate topping which I failed to capture an image due to poor lighting condition (fine I was too eager to eat LOL). 

You can also expect to find some well-baked crispy waffles here that is constantly topped up and made fresh whenever the waffles in the plate runs low. Not forgetting some brownie, bread and cookies! 

They have both white and dark chocolate fondue here that is kept neat and flowing. 

Personally prefers white chocolate and it pretty much taste alike to the ones I had in Santa's igloo, milky and chocolaty . 

They have six choices of cakes available at the time of visit and we tried a bit of all. Sad to say, their cakes wasn't really soft and fluffy and I will say that is is below average so do take one to try first and not have too many, unless you find dry cakes nice. 

choices of cakes

Though this is not a Groupon review, I would still like to give it a rating with my standard rating scale as a reference point to all of your who may be new to Swensens Ice Cream buffet like me! I would say that it is a really nice place to go to have some ice cream but not a good place to stay in for a long chit chat as the manager will be 'judging' you for hoarding their seats when the queue gets long! 

Service: 5  / 5  

Environment: 4 / 5 

Food variation: 5 / 5 

Food quality: 5 / 5 

Accessibility: 4.5 / 5

就这样，慢慢的长大

时光飞逝，如昙花一现：日月如梭，似弹指之间。而我已经从人生的起跑线出发，在这短暂的时光中却也经历了不少风雨，也收获了相应的的人生感悟。我将这感悟视作一笔珍贵的“财富”。在这风雨中，我就这样长大了。

成长需要坚持。都说万事开头难，但我想，坚持最难。我是一个三分钟热度的人，但不会冲动。凡事都还是会做好周详的计划才行动，却往往耐不住到最后一刻。总会在遇到生意中的瓶颈时放弃或转移目标，开始一些别的新鲜事。渐渐的才明白，没有坚持就没有成长，因为只有坚持才能让自己有所突破，让自己有机会看到跟多的人，事，物。只有这样，才会成长，而不会永远的在原地踏步。

成长需要担当。岁月悠悠，波光明灭。如今，我们已不再是从前那个稚气未脱的孩童了，成长的我们需要承担的责任更多了，面对这些责任和压力，是退缩?是逃避？答案当然是不。正所谓“天下兴亡，匹夫有责”，何况我们是国家的未来，身上背负着巨大的责任，老师和家长都对我们给予厚望，我们能放弃吗？一个人的成长不可能永远遇见彩虹，难免会有风霜雨雪。但是，雨过天晴后的彩虹更加灿烂、耀眼。所以，我们要以永不言弃的精神在成长的道路上披荆斩棘，带着这份信念，创造出一片属于我们的天，那会是我们的梦。

成长还需要放弃。拿得起，要放得下。正如鱼和熊掌不能两者兼具一般，许多人往往很贪心，既要鱼，也要熊掌，结果往往什么都得不到。我们要想取得好成绩也是如此，我们必须收起那颗爱玩爱闹的心，专注与学业。放弃一些玩的时间，坚持学习。一个好的习惯养成只需要21天，只要我们持之以恒，就能成功。童年已逝，为了不让我们的青春留下遗憾，现在，我唯一我能做的是把握青春的美好时间，不让未来的我去后悔，去遗憾。

成长是一杯茶水，需要我们慢慢品，细细尝，才能品出其甜蜜，饮出其苦涩。在这甜与苦的萦绕下，我们就这样慢慢成长。