20 Fifteen

Twenty fifteen, thank you.

It's been a year filled with ups and downs. There were good times where I felt everything was perfect, then there were also horrible moments where I was crumbled into pieces. Through the storms and trials, I've learnt & grew so much. I've learnt that people come and go. And I'm totally alright with that.

I expect nothing for 2016. I guess I was a little disappointed in 2015 because I pictured it to be an amazing year without any frustrations. I was so wrong. 

Twenty sixteen, welcome.

I'm so eager to see what God has in store for me this coming year. I'm yet to discover new things and I'm excited for that. I hope you have blessed new year and if you're going through something that is driving you nuts, I advise you to take a moment to sit back, reflect and ask God for comfort and patience. You'll get through, trust me. It's just a matter of time.

Cheers! :)

REAL or FAKE?

Since I'm currently on a three months plus break before I start Uni, I decided to help around the house by hanging the clothes in the morning or even whip up a good meal for the family. Don't get me wrong, I'm one who doesn't enjoy doing chores. However, ever since my last helper ran away when I was fourteen, I started doing house chores a little bit more as the years go by. I enjoy cooking lunch/dinner for my loved ones. The dishes that I normally cook range from a good old plate of pasta to a typical American breakfast you could find at any cafes nowadays. No, I'm definitely not saying that my cooking skills are up to their standards, but hey, I'm trying to get better each time I cook these dishes! :)

I had the honour of cooking an American breakfast yesterday. It consisted of a sunny side up egg, chicken sausages, baked beans with lots and lots of onions & garlic, and not forgetting the 'almighty' bacon. I love me some good smoked bacon. I changed things up a little yesterday by coating my bacons with honey but I wasn't too impressed by the flavour it had... Got to find some way to improve on that! I apologise as there weren't any pictures taken due to my greediness haha.

When I woke up this morning, I was supposed to have lunch with a few friends but I then decided not to join them because I was just too drained out! Mom came in to my room and asked if I could cook pasta for dinner! I decided to give my all time favourite since young, pasta carbonara, a try since I've only cooked aglio olio all these while. I straight away grabbed my laptop and searched for some good recipes! Stumbled upon a recipe by this man and what caught my attention was that there was no cream in this recipe?! How can a carbonara have NO CREAM?! I was quite amazed when I found out that the true and original spaghetti alla carbonara sauce by the Romans only consisted of egg yolks and parmesan cheese. Hence, the yellow-ish colour of the pasta. Decided to trust this man and voila, the outcome was mind-blowing. After trying out this recipe, I told myself to never order a spaghetti carbonara at restaurants the next time I step out of this house!

Here are some pictures that would hopefully do some justice! :)

The only ingredients you need! Any kind of pasta of your choice, parmesan cheese, garlic, bacon, and egg yolks. 

Also, you can add some black pepper and extra parmesan cheese for some garnishing.

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Okay, side track a little! As I was reading on different claims on whether the true carbonara by the Romans had cream or no cream, I thought of something rather interesting. And that is kind of why I decided to blog about this 'pasta carbonara' experience.

During the last couple of months, I came across two ladies who asked me to do a survey on their iPad. Being the typical college student who would be asked to do countless surveys by students, I figured why not help these ladies out right? As I started on the survey, I was quite drawn towards the first few questions on Christianity. I thought to myself, "Hey, this isn't that bad eh?". However, I got a little "offended" when I saw the last question where it said "'Do you believe in God the Mother?". I understood where these ladies were coming from and I insisted on leaving straight away but they kept on wanting to share more about this "God the Mother". They even asked me to give them my contact number so they could keep in touch me if I wanted to know more. Based on my belief, there isn't such thing as "God the Mother". There is only ONE God, who is a three-in-one God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Anyway, what I'm trying to deliver in this blog post is that there are so many false teachings out there, but do we know which is the true Gospel? Or are we just sucked into these false claims?

I'm not condemning these teachings but I'm just expressing my personal thoughts on this. As I have said before, this is a blog where I can open up to. Thank you for the time you took in reading this :) Much appreciated.

Cheers! :)

The End of College

"You can be dismissed."

When I heard that sentence by the lecturer after our papers have been collected, I have never felt more relieved. I told myself that my sleepless nights have finally come to an end! I honestly can't believe my college year had ended already. It literally just felt as if I finished SPM, graduated from high school, collected my school leaver's and SPM cert... Time passes really fast eh? Anyway, I'm pretty glad that my college year has come to an end. I'm actually very excited to start Uni in February because I get to meet new friends despite the undeniable fact that I would have countless assignment and tests! I feel much more productive when I'm studying (lol I'm such a nerd). But hey, I actually do enjoy education very much and that's because it makes me have a goal to achieve in life. My personal ultimate goal is to do well in my studies and make my parents proud, and not forgetting to always glorify God in my achievements and failures as well.

Throughout these past 10+ months, I've learnt to appreciate people and be more thankful for those around me. I've learnt to enjoy a small or even a big group friends. I've learnt to enjoy alone moments. I've learnt to manage my time well. I've learnt to be more independent. I've learnt to be not so dependant on others.

I'm not going to lie, but I'm pretty disappointed at myself for not keeping up with my daily devotions on busy days. I've been so exhausted and caught up with work lately that sometimes, I would even forget to say my prayers at night... I would just fall straight to my bed and doze of immediately. And I'm guilty of that. However, I know my God is an understanding and loving God! :) Also, I started attending a Bible study class on the book of Philippians a couple months back. I definitely need to get back on track with that and not treat it as a "chore" but a "work out of love for Him".

Anyway, after my last paper yesterday, I had dinner at Sae Ma Eul, a Korean bbq place recommended by my friend! It's located in Solaris and I must say, this place is SO worth it. I'm emphasising on the SO because it's not just worth it, but SO worth it!! There was a total of 9 hungry-food-lovers and the bill came out to about RM295?! And to top that off, we ordered pretty much everything the place had to offer (jokes). What I loved most about this Korean bbq place was their korean seaweed rice balls with kimchi! The best part about it was that we got to mould our own rice balls! Here are some pictures that was taken yesterday night :)

The seaweed rice ball that I'm pretty much obsessed with!!

Address : 1, Jalan Solaris 4, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Cheers!

Little thoughts

I felt the need to jot down my thoughts here because I'm starting to have a lot of "whys" in my head and I tend to overthink a lot now compared to before.

I don't know what is my sole reason as to why I started overthinking about the tiniest and absolutely trivial things in life, but what I do know is that part of it is mainly because I am growing up. Yes, growing up, something I refuse to admit. I just turned eighteen and I process my thoughts a little more here and there nowadays. Is that actually a good thing? Trust me, I have no idea. You tell me. On some days, I am joyful and overwhelmed by them. However, on those not-so-good days, I just feel as if I am drowned by these thoughts of mine... Now, that's the not-so-good part of overthinking in your head. It eats you alive, it overpowers you, it destroys you, and most of it all, it changes you. It changes the way you would view people, it changes the perspective you would have on society these days, it changes your lifestyle. Well basically, it changes your whole mind set on life. All in all, I remind myself that as a believer in Christ, I would have a different kind of perspective in life, and that is to have a Christ-like perspective instead of a worldly one. Here's an example. I strongly dislike the current "activity" which is probably carried out by most teenagers, vaping. Mind me, I don't dislike the people who vape and I actually have friends that do it and they have their personal reasons to it. Just for your information, I am not judging them because I am in no position to do so. I just really despise the vape smell. I guess it's because I have a ridiculously sensitive nose towards smoke. Anyway, I feel that society has gone through so many changes and I am so clueless as to why people are so influenced by it. Don't we all have our own stand in life? Must we get dragged towards the norm of society? I admit that I do get influenced by society. For example, having an Instagram account or even dressing up a certain way. It isn't wrong but if we start forgetting our true self in life, I think we better start reconsidering the decisions we have made and think about how it would impact our future.

These are just little thoughts of mine. Like I said in the beginning of this blog, I created this just so that I can express my deepest thoughts in life. Until next time then!

Cheers! :)

Alone and Lonely - Is it actually something to be afraid of?

In my earlier childhood days, being all by yourself at a corner is something that isn't normal. It is as if you had just committed a horrible crime for sitting there without anyone accompanying you. However, as I started growing older, I began to appreciate the time spent alone. Honestly, I wouldn't care if I was being judged for being a loner because at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that you're contented with what you're doing. I remember when I was 13-14 in secondary school, I hated being alone. Maybe it was because of the fact that many people in my school preferred to hang out in a group rather than to be alone sometimes, hmmm... I kind of regretted not taking time off to spend time with myself in the past.

When I entered college in January, I finally understood how important and crucial it was to be by yourself. In college, you're pretty much surrounded by so many friends from different courses and I must say, the new friends I made are actually so easy to communicate and connect with. (Kudos to all of you that I'm friends with :') Thank you for making college less dreadful.) Anyway, long story short, an Onigiri (Onigiri is a Japanese stuffed rice wrapped in seaweed if you weren't sure what it was hehe) and a cup of iced Milo from the vending machine were my companions when I choose to be alone on certain days. College is very hectic and it is filled with tons of studying, assignments, more studying, more assignments, EVEN MORE tests ermergersh, and the cycle repeats. So, it was understandable if one chooses to spend time alone to enjoy deep and meaningful thoughts. I'm actually quite surprised I managed to have the courage to sit alone at the foyer without having the fear of being judged. Trust me, I know people who do not even dare to sit by themselves and I totally understand that!! :)

What I'm trying to deliver in this blog post is that BEING ALONE IS NOT HORRIBLE. If you're walking at your college compound or even at public areas and you come across someone who's alone, what would you do? Now, pause for a moment and figure out what would be the first thing on your mind. Will you start judging them or will you just appreciate the courage given by that person for being alone? Being alone is actually something beautiful. I thoroughly enjoy the peaceful moments I have had. Sometimes, I would have a conversation with God, thanking Him for everything that He has provided for me up until today. Sometimes, I would take the time to reflect on the many things that had happened the previous days. Sometimes, I would think back of the misunderstandings or even arguments I had with some people, and wonder whether were those tiny misunderstandings even worth it. Sometimes, I would be a normal human being on social media, catching up on what I have missed hehe. Come on, let's admit it, we can't live without social media right? However, I try to be very careful and avoid myself from being so "hooked" onto social media as I wouldn't want to treat it as my idol. That would be so very wrong.

Thank you for your time spent on listening to my thoughts of being alone! Why not try being alone if you hadn't tried it already? I promise you it would be life changing!

Cheers! :)

Best Friend award goes to...?

"Please write down your name, email, and contact number down," said my class monitor in 2010, Allison Chaang.

My very first impression on this classmate of mine who was merely a month younger than me was that she had this really fierce look that might scare anyone away within a few seconds. I instantly wanted to befriend this human being because I had this weird feeling in me that we would be the best of friends. To my amazement, she has been my best friend for 5 years and counting and I cannot imagine doing life without her.

This friend of mine, or should I call her my "twin" is quite unique in a way. She's the one who I constantly compete with in class, the one who forces me to follow her to the toilet (She calls the toilet her "seashell palace", DON'T EVEN ASK ME WHY BECAUSE I AM STILL FIGURING IT OUT UP TO THIS POINT OF TIME SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME), the one who gets angry at me for the minor things, the one who was up against me for prom queen (She obviously won), the one who joined the same clubs with me, the one who almost everyone looks up to, the one whose parents I'm comfortable with, the one who named a dog that doesn't even belong to her, Toto, the one who made me cry because she was a big bully, the one who still supported me when I was super stressed, and the one who had my back no matter what.

We can barely meet because we live in different parts of the world (cliche, I know). The funny thing was that we got mad at each other at one point of time because none of us had the time to meet up. I guess the reason why we got ticked off with each other was because we missed each other's company really, really badly. So, two days ago, Allison told me she finally could drive alone all the way from Ampang to Subang because she had to settle some student council stuffs in Inti. She asked if I was free for a sleepover, and of course I agreed to her plan since I'm on break!

We met at Inti at around 8p.m. yesterday and she drove us to Burgerlab at Sunway! I was a very very bad navigator. So, to those out there who can drive, I highly recommend that you should not ask me to give directions because I suck at it haha! Just giving a heads up ;) Oh boy, how will I even be able to drive alone soon, considering I already have my license...

The A+ (Set) RM 21 and Beautiful Mess (Set) RM 26

The burgers were only alright to my liking. Maybe it's because I've had Burgerlab for quite a few times so I kind of got bored of their burgers...? Young entrepreneurs, please hurry and come up with more burger places!!

Address
3, Jalan PJS 11/9, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor 

Opening Hours

TUESDAYS - SUNDAYS | 5.00PM - 10.15PM

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So, here I am, blogging about this after having lunch with Al, my mom, granny and brother at FIQ's Gastronomy. This place had a nice set up and the food was not bad! I have to comment on something though, the service was quite terrible. It took them a long time to serve us our food. All in all, I would give FIQ's a rating of 7 out of 10?

 They had this hipster-ish wall art right outside their place!

This tomato soup and Ice Lemon Tea/Mineral Water came with the set that cost RM 23++

 B.M.C.S RM 24

Citrus Chicken Pasta RM 23

Address

34, Jalan SS 19/1d, Ss 19, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours

Tues-Sun, 12pm-10.30pm

Thanks for the good memories we made throughout high school, Al! Can't wait for the many more memories we would be making in the near future. Still love you even though you constantly give me terrible insults x

Cheers! :)

Review on Cafes in Subang, PJ and KL

Hello there! If you're reading this, you're probably one of my most frequent readers who is actually interested in what I have to say! So, thank you for that because I really do appreciate that effort of yours in clicking this link :) (I'm done with my first semester exams so that is why I am able to blog so yay to more blogging?!)

I have a very special post for all of you today because it's going to be a post on FOOD! Yeap, that's right, my first love... Don't worry, I'm just kidding! My first love will always be God's unconditional love for me and I should always remind myself of that daily!! Jesus loves you, you and YOU!

Over the past few months, I had the privilege of visiting different cafes which were at different locations. The cafes that I am about to share with you right now are located at SS15, Damansara Uptown & Bangsar. So if you live in any of these areas, feel free to drop by at these highly recommended places!

1) Loha Cafe

I visited this cafe with Ben, Tim and Alyssa after MUFY games. We were contemplating on whether we should have Chili Pan Mee for lunch or cafe food. I then decided we should try this cafe that my friend, Catrena was telling me non-stop about! I had to try it.

 Chicken Teriyaki rice

Pasta Carbonara

Honestly, I was a little upset when they served me the pasta. I expected the pasta to be spaghetti but they gave me fusilli instead. So, please remember to inform the waiter if you want spaghetti or fettuccine or fusilli. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed our meal and it was really filling! Pricing was around RM 15.90 or so. It was DEFINITELY below RM 20! To add on, I heard that there was a small chill place where you can play video games? Now, that's a plus!

Address 

No 7 (First Floor), Jalan SS 15/7, Subang Jaya, 47500 Selangor. 

Opening hours 

Mon - Fri :	8:30 am - 8:00 pm
Sat           :	9:00 am - 8:00 pm

2) Dal.Komm Coffee

Bingsu is the ever so popular Korean shaved ice dessert. This craze on Bingsu only started when Malaysia brought in Caffe Bene if I'm not mistaken. Ever since Caffe Bene became a "hit", more and more Bingsu cafes started to appear out of nowhere!! Correct me if I'm wrong! Of the different Bingsu places I've tried in my life, I can say that Dal.Komm sells pretty yummy and presentable Bingsu's! This place had a warm ambience and it is located right opposite Taylor's College and Inti. I am so done with Caffe Bene haha. This is just my opinion though!

Apple Crumble Bingsu RM 15.90

I ordered this because it was much more cheaper compared to the other varieties. Haha, cheapskate me! It was still worth the money IMO.

Oh, just look at this beautiful mess... This is the Apple Crumble Bingsu! It comes with shaved ice topped with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream! Not forgetting the apple crumbs for some last finishing touches. Perfect for two to share.

Address
No 6, SS 15/8, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Opening Hours
Sunday to Thursday- 9am-12am
Friday to Saturday- 9am-2am

3) Bingsu Cafe

Speaking of Bingsu, here is another top Bingsu cafe I would recommend you to give it a try. My friends, Tracey and Hannah have been asking me to try this Bingsu place as it was claimed by them to be MUCH MORE BETTER than Dal.Komm. This place is indeed so much more better than Dal.Komm IMO, of course. I came here with my coursemates since their last paper ended on Friday! All I can say is that we were not disappointed with the Bingsu's.

 Mango Cheese Bingsu RM 16.90

Triple Berries Bingsu RM 17.90

The Mango Cheese Bingsu had shaved ice of course, topped with mango slices, cheesecakes cubes, a scoop of vanilla ice-cream drizzled in mango sauce. The Tripple Berries Bingsu, on the other hand, had shaved ice topped with blueberries, strawberries and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream drizzled in berry sauce! 

Bingsu cafe has more choices compared to Dal.Komm Coffee. This cafe has 9 choices to choose from whereas Dal.Komm has only 5 choices. I would recommend you to try Bingsu cafe if you live in the Damansara area, but if you're in the Subang area, trying Dal.Komm is already more than enough!

Address

Jalan SS 21/35, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours

12.00 p.m. - 12.00 a.m.

4) Nutmeg

I've always wanted to see what was the craze on Nutmeg all about. So, my family and I decided to head to Bangsar after church just to try this place. Beware, the food here is a little more on the pricey side. As I always like to say, visit once and never come back if it isn't THAT fantastic.

Thick Cut Open Faced Salt Beef Sandwich RM 23

Nutmeg Big Breakfast RM 28

I ordered the Nutmeg Big Breakfast and the portion was really big! If you would like to save a penny or two, you can always share with someone. The desserts here looked really yummy, so during my next visit here, I would want to try their desserts especially the cakes!

Address

UGF-28A Bangsar Village II, 2 Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar Baru. Kuala Lumpur

Opening Hours

Daily, 9:30am-10pm

5) A Pie Thing

Everyone should be familiar with this place, am I right? After a long day of studying at the library, I decided to try this ever so famous place with Tim and Alyssa since it was so near college. Their friends joined in as well! All I can say is that I wouldn't come back for a second try... Pies are just not my thing, doesn't matter if they're sweet or savoury. I just don't fancy them! Forgive me, pie lovers.

 Pie + Mash + Gravy RM 14.90

Smores Pie RM 10.50

As you can see, we "conquered" them. Well, technically, Alyssa did most of the "conquering" as I did not enjoy both the pies.

Address

No.12, Jalan PJS11/8, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Opening Hours

4pm-11pm, Tuesdays through Sundays

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more posts? :) Have a good week ahead everyone!

Cheers,

Char

Year of change, perhaps?

And *poof*, 2014 had just passed by in a glimpse of an eye.

2015 is going be a year of massive change. If you ask me how do I want 2015 to turn out? I would just say one word, Happy. Not that 2014 wasn't a great year, it was. Unfortunately, there were many ups and downs in school and I really hated it. I clearly remembered that there were tears in my eyes most of the time. I'm not going to tell you why because that would take me 10 years to complete this post then. 

I want 2015 to be extra different. I want it to be a year that I can remember. I want it to be the perfect year for me where I can look back in the future and say to myself, "2015 changed me and it was a good change." I want 2015 to be an impact on myself.

Here's a summary of 2014 in four bullets :

• Knew which friends were the ones who would remain in my life forever
• Met my second family, E1 CG
• Stressful
• Grew spiritually (Am still trying my best to learn the Gospel)

Stay tuned for more updates! I promise I'll post more often.

Cheers! :)