CHANGE

Hello.

Not sure how I feel about starting to write on this platform again but I guess I need this space to brain dump.

It's May. 2 May 18 to be exact.

It's already 5 months in to 2018 but I do not fill fulfilled at all!

For the first quarter;

I did A LOT of traveling but there were no follow ups (eg. posting edits on YouTube and Instagram). 

I watched a lot of Korean dramas and variety shows but did not practice my Korean/do homework. 

I exercised a lot and I guess this is the only thing I've achieved. 

I did not eat clean!


Now that it's May, I want to promise myself to;

Upload consistently on YouTube (once every fortnightly) and Instagram (once every two days) so I do not put those beautiful pictures to waste. 

Practice Korean for 2 hours everyday.

Only watch 1 drama/show a day.

Continue exercising.

Start on intermittent fasting.

Read the news everyday.


Hopefully making this public will motivate myself to improve on my self development!

Love, Mel

BAOtastic Bao Makers

Is it much of a surprise that I am coming back once again for another food review at a humble cafe I visited last week?

"No..."

So here I am with another #mellyeats.

This almost a year old edition to the famous Horne Road, a street that is known to be packed with cafes, is called Bao Makers. Like any other cafes, it serves mains, sides, coffee and etc but the star of the menu has got to be the interesting bao choices.

Locals love the traditional kong bak pau (braised pork buns) where a juicy pork belly is sandwiched between a soft steamed bun. The creative people of Bao Makers upped the notch and gave these baos a twist. They managed to pair the baos with other local flavours. To name a few, they have salted egg chicken bao, chili crab bao and pulled pork bao.

I also love how they switch up the way they prepared the baos according to the flavour.  So for the chili crab bao, the bun is deep fried to mimic the fried mantous which one would dip in the sauce while eating a chili crab.

I had joy dining at Bao Makers and I hope I have triggered you to want to have a bite in one of those baos. Now let’s let the pictures do the talking. 


Till next time....

Instagram/Twitter/Snapchat: @jellymelissa
YouTube: youtube.com/melissapoonwanderluster

The Music Run 2016

With music being the main highlight of the whole event, it was one hell of a crazy Saturday evening. We literally work hard and party harder!! Let's see what we did; Slid down a gigantic inflatable slide, got a medal for completing the 5km walk/run, had free flow of food and drinks, saw The Sam Willows perform, took a shameless selfie with Alan Wu and danced the night away with DJ Sam Withers and 10,000 other party animals! We definitely felt wild and young that night. I will let the vlog do the rest of the talking.

Before I leave, I would like to thank my Samaritans for the access passes! I really appreciate it!

Till next time... 

Brawn & Brains || #Mellyeats

From the title and pictures, I'm sure you are able to guess what today's post is going to be about. Today's cafe recommendation is, in my opinion, the most instagramable place ever!! Furnished with big windows (therefore so much natural sunlight), simple & clean cut furniture and a big ass yellow coffee machine, every corner is worth a shot. It is a photographer's heaven. If I were to make a comparison, it's similar to one of those places you will find in editorial magazines. 

Apart from the interior, I was also drawn to the array of homemade pastries on the shelf. Unfortunately I did not get to try them but the cinnamon roll will be my first choice. Because the grilled chicken avocado sandwich is such a huge portion, I had trouble finishing it even though it is flavourful and healthy. The only comment I will make is there should be more chicken in there. 

Lastly, how can we not talk about the coffee?! Hands down, I will come back for a cup everyday if it isn't SO far from my house. I had the option of choosing two types of roast; Pen & Pencil Blend or Popa-yan, and Pen & Pencil Blend was my choice. It has a chocolate-y taste to it. So if you are a chocolate addict like me, you will enjoy it. 

To conclude, Brawn & Brains is one of the places to have a chilled hang out session with friends. From its beautiful interior to great coffee, you will have a pleasant time there. The downside is it has limited food options and not that easily accessible. 

Till next time...

Small Change Makes A Huge Difference

"To live a day is a blessing in disguise. Most people survive."

Living with that quote in mind, I have decided to start a routine every morning before work starts. I am blessed, each morning, to have 30 mins to spare to cherish the new day and let my soul wander before reality hits. Therefore, I will make it a point to set my mind free, free from work/insecurities/troubles, and focus on what makes me happy and motivated to "live" rather than "survive". 

So far, through my walks, I have found a few instagramable places that one will overlook and identified the time the rubbish truck will come to collect the rubbish. Though nothing significant, I was able to capture a beautiful picture (like the one above) and avoid the smelly rubbish truck smell. These little things can affect a person's morning.

I urge everyone to give it a try.

Quotes

Some quotes found written on scraps of paper while cleaning my room. I don't know why I wrote them. Maybe they will be a good reminder in future. So I shall document it here. 

"Hope implies that you think you have a chance at something."

"Be sorry you lied. 
Don't be sorry you loved him. 
That's part of you. 
Part you have to let go. 
That's something that made you, who you are."

Rethink

Definitely not proud of how I have left this space barren and untouched for such a long time. But lately, I have been wondering why I do such things and the reasons for blogging/vlogging/posting on any social media site are for all the wrong reasons. Don't get me wrong, I love uploading and sharing bits and pieces of life but it became such a chore I wasn't happy doing it. After listening to industry veterans on why they do what they do, I start to rethink about my reasons for doing all these. The first change was with instagram. I did not bother about how many likes I get or whether this photo fits my feed. I post pictures that made me feel happy on that particular day. Hopefully this step will allow me to not care so much about how others view me and focus more on my self confidence and personal development. My reason for blogging/vlogging is to hone my documenting, writing, editing and photoshop skills. I am going to stick with that and do myself proud, for once.