"Jacqueline Koh
Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting around for somebody to give you flowers"

It's bitter to know. It's better to know

Saturday, March 31, 2012 || 10:32 AM

I must not be selective about what I read. Only if i get out of my comfort zone to absorb something new, then can i gain more insights & knowledge. Who knows, I might find myself spiraling towards a new found interest :)

xxx

Was thinking about Marks & Spencers blueberry oatmeal cookies today, and Fizz was telling me he's gonna bake red velvet. The nearest outlet is pretty far, so i decided to do my own!

Baked about 4 batches. Pretty crazy right? Family ate about a batch, gave about another to friends. The rest would serve as my alternative healthy snacks!(okay maybe not exactly as healthy as eating raw nuts and grains, but still... Give me some credit!)

If you're not keen to read a draggy story, skip this:

Mmm.. Went to visit my derma today and something pretty nasty happened. I registered and told the staff behind the counter that I am here to collect two different batches of medicine. One for myself, the other for my brother who isn't here. They went through my history card and told me that it would be better if i re-consult the doctor, to determine if i should get something different, etc etc.

I agreed. I mean, why not right?

So, the counter staff probably dug out me & my brother's history card and gave it to the clinic assistant (the one who is always in there with the doctor). {I'm assuming here, but the routine should be something along these lines} I think there's some miscomm. between the counter & clinic assistant because the clinic assistant called out for my brother's name. I think his card was in with mine because the counter staff wanted the doctor to review if i could collect the additional repeat medicine for my brother. Before i went into the doct's room, i told the clinic assistant that the name she called out is actually my brother, but he isn't here, and that I'm Jacqueline Koh.

She smiled and nodded her head, so i thought she understood the situation.

When i went into the doct's room, the card lying on the table was still my brother's so i pointed that out cuz the doctor called me 'Jun Wei' instead of 'Jacqueline'...

And the doct scolded the clinic assistant in front of me because the clinic assist job was to get the correct medical cards on her table (Which is pretty shameful and terribly embarrassing for the assistant). The doctor asked her to stop standing there and get herself busy. (But a clinic assistant's job is mainly to stand there and call out names, and pass cards to the dispensary isn't it? I know there's a broader job scope, but mainly the above mentioned forms largely it, isn't it?)

So, she went 'out' to the dispensary area, to find stuff to do i guess, and to get out of the room which was nearly tipping over with tension.

So, the consultation went on for a couple of minutes, and the doctor said something like

'So how's your back acne? Is it better already?'

And i'm like .... 'Uh... I don't have back acne.'

So, i looked at the card again, and it was the wrong card again...It was someone called Tiffany or something... And i pointed that out (No choice, had to what, right?) and the doctor flared up, called the assistant in and scolded her, commenting that she never gets anything right...

The doctor apologized to me and i just kept telling her it's okay and that she shouldn't worry about it.

After i stepped out of the room, i could see the doctor walking to the dispensary area and asked which staff registered me. One of the staff raised her hand and she too got scolded. When the doctor went into her room, i went to the dispensary area and apologized if there was any miscommunication. The staff apologized to me and rambled on about how blur the clinic assist is, and how she can't seem to get anything right, how she kept calling wrong names....

When she said that, the clinic assistant (as she was 'shoo-ed' out from the doct's room), was very very near her. She could definitely hear what the other girl said....

The other girl went over to her, and slapped her back with a file she was holding and asked her to get back in the doct's room. She went out of the dispensary, but she didn't go into the doct's room, she went to the toilet instead. And i think she hid there and cry because she was in for a long time.

At that point of time, i felt so bad for the assist... If only people could be more considerate of other people's feelings. It's okay for the doctor to scold, but she could have done it more tactfully, said her words in a more respective tone and could have used sparing words. Better still, she should have reserved the lecture to a time when it is more appropriate, like when both of them are alone. And the other girl, was just downright rude, insensitive and disrespectful.

*sigh*

Friday, March 30, 2012 || 5:48 AM

What a beautiful and functional gift :)

Thank you Eunice, it was nice working with you , hope you feel the same though I kept probing for your age ;)

Thank you for the life changing advice you imparted me earlier just now as well.

I will very well apply it in my personal life.

Thursday, March 29, 2012 || 6:08 AM

There are some designer labels which are lusted by nearly half the population, brands which dominate nearly every luxury mall, worn and carried by almost all. And then you start to wonder, are the people wearing and purchasing because they really like the designer's style, the attitude the brand portrays, the aesthetics, or are they wearing it because everyone feels that it is a status boaster?

Of course brand recognition plays a part in purchasing items, they motivate you to check the stores out. But then... you start to ponder about whether they are following 'trends' blindly? For instance, why does everyone tend to skew towards wanting to get their pretty manicured nails onto a 2.55, rather than docking on a well structured Chanel's little black jacket?

And, digging up a previous conversation i had with my bunch of friends, we agreed that the only Louis Vuitton which is worth investing in is their luggage collection. The rest can be too tacky.

Am i being overly critical here?

A classic is a classic no doubt, but... when a classic gets too involved with almost everyone, is it still an elegant classic must have, or does it get a little too overrated?

Maybe this thought stems from my personality, which is a resistance against crowd following. I hold close to this belief that when almost everyone starts doing the same thing, the real meaning gets lost or largely diluted in the process of adaptation.

Maybe that's why i refuse to change my good old Nokia to a smartphone. Nokia's so functional! Or maybe i am just Jurassic. The epitome of laggard behavior, sinks in when a month earlier i asked my friend 'Hey, can you teach me how to use Twitter?', and I'm only adopting it for work related purposes. Don't see myself getting overly involved in personal life. And when I told Kaye 'Hey, how do you call using Iphone? Where's the numbers?'

I know, this is a MAJOR facepalm right? I was laughing at the absurdity of it all as well, laughing at myself, at my reluctance to adapt, reluctance to understand how an idiot proof phone works.

What a fool, you might think.

I am, i admit, pretty much a fool sometimes ;)

On a completely different note,

Here are some personal favorite brands, with a mix of longstanding & uprising designer labels.

Eleanor Amoroso

(Look at the knotty details, symmetry, cutouts)
LOVE the fact that they used 'fringes' for the maxi skirt part, it serves as a peek-a-boo teaser. Love how they did the hair up as well. I think her collection brings tribal, bohemian and elegance side by side :)

Givenchy (Haute Couture)
Love love LOVE every single couture collection, so much so that I can picture brides in Givenchy Haute Couture rather than Vera Wang.

Roman crocodile-skin suit of armour, 3rd Century AD - Givenchy Haute Couture, spring/summer 2012

Portrait of Maharani Jind Kaur, 1860 circa - Givenchy Haute Couture, spring/summer 2012

Isn't it amazing how Riccardo Tisci can fuse so many ancient cultures into a look?

Tangram

(This is actually the designer's FIRST collection, and she is already charted in my 'favorites'. Look at the Fuchsia pants!!!! Can't wait for her second, third, fourth & many much more to come!) In my opinion, her designs are staples for the loud. LOVE the color palettes used.

Valentino Haute Couture

Sigh.... In my dictionary, if there is something visual to represent 'romance' and 'femininity', it would be a straight out answer: Valentino (with a silent whisper 'Haute Couture')

Just look at this....

Nothing too over the top, nothing too overly lacy (thank god for that), so elegant, yet so dreamy at the same time.

Monday, March 26, 2012 || 6:07 AM

Weekends have been really well spent.

Kat was over in town with her sis, Christine. On Friday after work, went to spend a little time and brought them around shopping areas. They went on a huge shopping spree, hands were full of paper bags. Gotten myself a sleeveless army green trench (yay! who says we can't wear trenches in Sg?! Sleeveless trenches = ultimate win for sunny hot weathers) & a flow-y printed wraparound top. I shop pretty fast, i know what i want for myself, it's a very fast screening of clothes, and ta-dah, purchase done. Fuss-free shopping. Christine shops by the outfit, when she purchases something, she makes sure she has the entire look charted up. It's top to toe : Top/dress/bottom/belt/shoes/accessories, while on the flipslide, Kat categorizes clothes into either 'happy' or 'sad/serious' colours.

'It's okay, there's enough space for ONE serious dress' : when me & Christine egged her on to buy this gorgeous grey-ish black dress.

Brought them to Arab street & Bugis Street to experience the hippy culture and alternative shopping destinations in Sg. It's so funny how STOKED they were when they realized almost everything in Bugis were for $10. They were mentally deciding which clothes to refund tomorrow when they hit town again.

'I am SO going to return this! I can buy three or four tops with this!'

It was so much fun shopping with these girls really, laughed so much and hard :)

Met syah on sat, had lunch and caught up with her. She left halfway for an interview, while i trotted off to National Library for my personal great voyage in search of Carine Roitfeld's 'Irreverent'. Held the large and thick hard black shell in my hands and reclined into a corner spot devouring the images and words of the editor in chief of Vogue Paris.

It's hilarious how some people say they can die, or kill for fashion, it's a whole load of bull. Nobody would die for fashion, not even seemingly ruthless, top in the fields. I couldn't exactly remember word for word what she said, but it was something along the lines of

'After all, it's just clothes. My greatest pride would be my family.'

And during work, I interviewed a fashion director of a particular magazine, he commented

'If anybody think of that, they should be shot.'

Hopefully, years down the road, i hope that my biggest achievement would not be my career, or the number of Hermes bags sitting on vintage wood, but the fact that I have established a loving family :)

But if it's Mr Karl Lagerfeld, then his words would have to be analyzed and viewed from another perspective. Anyone who washes their hair in dry shampoo in order to make it white pretty much thinks in a different frequency from others. But you got to admit, it IS pretty clean and sharp looking.

Sunday was pretty crazy, woke up at 6AM for my driving lesson, mind was so fogged with sleep I couldn't very much remember which was the clutch, brake and oil.

Met up with the 'typical' clique, was supposed to go Antoinette, but the placed was so packed. Hopped over to Wild Honey, but had no luck again. Decided to go to TWG. *Sigh* Such a pity, i can't drink tea. I really miss savoring tea, it's almost better than coffee. Healthy, refreshing, and the fragrance works almost like therapeutic oils. Enjoyed every single moment with you guys so much. Love how every single one of us like to enjoy life, bask in good ambiance, savor quality food and express our materialistic desires without getting judged. Because we know each other too well to harness the thought that any one of us are *gasps* shallow beneath the seemingly 'superficiality'.

'Baby blue boxes are so last season. Embrace Cartier's Red ones'

Red IS the color of passion anyways, and i bet my tall tanned and lovely would agree to it.

Gotten news that two of my cousins are in town to learn some skills! Mechanic skills I think. My entire family met them up to have dinner together at JPOT! I was late, and when I was in the restaurant, I saw that the two brothers were getting condiments at the side. Went over and said hi. They couldn't recognize me! Everybody changed so much, it's nice to see everyone maturing. It was definitely nice to catch up, and I really hope we would be able to have dinner every once in a while! Even though it's family ties, everyone still has to work hard to preserve it well :)

Hard work will pay off, the higher powers above are watching at us. Quoting namesake or was it her BF, can't remember 'I imagine the gods giving us a tick on their score-sheets.'

Dad bought me a pair of tangerine orange flats too! I think the shape and texture is sculpted after ballet flats, but these are functional ones peck peck! Orange goes really well with tanned skin! But too bad my skin isn't sun-kissed like how it used to be anymore.

Lastly, thank you, thank you for my wonderful friends, and family -the people who loves me unconditionally. So blessed :)

Friday, March 16, 2012 || 9:20 AM

It's okay to fall in the beginning, (1st year, 1st sem results)

so long you pick yourself up in the end. (last year, last sem results)

I finally understand what they mean by study smart, rather than hard :)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 || 6:37 AM

Guess what I chanced upon in the thrift store today?

The first thought which came to mind was Marc Jacob's iconic daisies. This pretty vintage piece even has got little pearls sewn on each flower dotting near the neckline. Tried my best to remain poker-face when the shop owner quoted a price which spared change after turning in a red note. Treasure hunting did not stop at one though, good things come in pairs right? Got another vintage tie up blouse with really pretty buttons! & (was cheaper btw!)

Had a pretty eventful weekend. Traveled up to M'sia to attend one of my cousin's wedding.
The last time everybody gathered together was more than 3 years ago. Some became prettier, a handful grew mellowed, a few looked weighed down by the mad rush of trying to increase figures in their bank accounts. But one thing which still bonded everyone together was the appreciation we all have for the extended family gifted to us. Even though we missed out a huge deal of each other's lives, so much so that talking became a little awkward, everybody made an effort.

And that was enough, because I know that no matter how much we drift apart, we can't get too far away from one another as the same blood runs through our veins. Not forgetting that our names, written in calligraphy are under the same family tree, proudly displayed in the home where precious memories are held. How i wish that distance would not deter relationships, but I will always remember, that distance is only a state of mind.

Just a thought: I wished that when i was younger, my mother would reprimand me whenever i toss a fruit away if it's sour. I do that all the time even till now. Rosy apples more sour than sweet, distorted facial expressions when i sink my teeth into seemingly ripened 'honey'mangoes.

If i become a mother in the future, I would ask my children to suck it up, and eat it up anyways because life doesn't always appear to be rosy and sweet. You'd have to initially try it, then gather enough experience to make better choices, growing alongside with it.

That's what I'd tell my children in the future.

But before they learn, they would have to bear with the sour fruits, and the scrunching of faces.

Marketing lesson 101

Saturday, March 10, 2012 || 2:30 AM

Marketing lesson simplified.

Pretty funny, interesting & true!

1. You see gorgeous girl in party,

you go to her & say I am rich marry me
That's Direct Marketing.

2. You attend party & your friend goes to a girl & pointing at you
tells her. He' is very rich, marry him - That's Advertising.

3. Girl walks to you & says u are rich, can u marry me?
"That's Brand Recognition"

4. You say I m very rich marry me & she slaps u
"That's Customer Feedback"

5. You say I m very rich marry me & she introduces you to her husband
"That's Demand & Supply Gap"

6. Before you say I m rich, marry me, your wife arrives
That's Restriction from Entering New Market.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012 || 12:23 AM

Cheers to a sweet beginning of the third month of the year :)

Synonymous to Swedish food shouldn't just be IKEA, now i'm telling you, there's Fika Cafe as well!!! Located at the back end of Arab Street sits this dainty whitewashed little restaurant, with country-like salt& pepper shakers sitting on each table.

Had their fish-roe, shrimp & salmon sandwich and meatballs. Ordered their strawberry cream tea, chose something light and refreshing to balance off with the savory desserts (brownies wheeeeeeeeeee!)

Yay to pleasurable earthly delights!

After which we walked around abit to explore the quirky little shops Arab Street has, and chanced upon this zen, bohemian shoppe which sells handwoven dreamcatchers, statutes, beads, etc... Stumbled across some white birdcages, which would be potential props for Stitch's bedroom revamp. Imagine them hanging down from thick ropes, in rhythmic lengths. She can use them as accessories holders, or place tea-light candles in them :)

We were also absolutely amazed by the Moroccan lamps, exquisitely crafted with raw-cut colored glass, and beads. Wonderful details. And after scrutinizing them for some time, I realized that the Moroccan lamps reminds me of Givenchy haute couture for some reason, except the former doesn't place any emphasis on symmetrical details. Ah whatever it is, both blows me away :)

Have a sparkly, colorful and wonderful day ahead

& keep yourself free from the bug going around! :)

Monday, March 5, 2012 || 7:47 AM

Do it yourself!

Tadaaaaa!

Thursday, March 1, 2012 || 7:28 AM

"Are you ever afraid that by documenting so much, you’ll lose your focus on the present?

Not really, I actually have a great capacity of enjoying the “now”, maybe because I’m so aware of how fast “the now” becomes “the then”, how ephemeral things are."

BAR BAR BLACK SHEEP W/ SHANGHAI DOLLIES

(Wished that Angel was there with us though, the pictures without her seems to be pretty incomplete...)

I am undoubtedly the top spokesperson for this particular waterhole in Sg.
Ambience (check), Quality of food (check), Price (check)

Besides the above mentioned, what draws me to this particular place is the fact that it is pretty thrown off usual routes, isolated in an area where it is not easily accessible.

This remoteness provides me with a certain level of security; still infested with people but people which I would probably not have to make small talk with.
And of course, my favorite goofy chefs :)

Compliments from the chef!

FISH HEAD STEAMBOAT WITH NAMESAKE

Nothing too fanciful... The soup tastes pretty bland to me.
But i guess the walk down to Anderson Sec, peeping through the gates, discussing about color schemes, catching up with each other lives pretty much makes up for it :)

NAKHON KITCHEN & SALTED CARAMEL WITH CCBS

Super budget friendly! Ordered three main courses, soup and dessert. Each person only had to fork out $10, and got some loose change in return! Plus the food is FAB!

YUM YUM!!!!!

When you step into this homely artisan cafe, what's overwhelming is the aroma of waffles.
The ice cream in the freezer would look pretty bleak in comparison. But trust me, the ice cream is AWESOME. It's comparable to Haagendaz, only a little less creamier. But they have pretty cult flavors to make up for it.
Had the Horlicks with Tim Tams, Salted Caramel & Rum n Raisins.
Would have loved the Avacado, but .....

Oh yes, happy belated Leap Year everyone! & have a FAB March!! ;)