Where to date when you are broke AF

As students, we bear the burden of heavy student loan. And with limited sources of income, we often sigh as we watch bank account balances deplete. However despite that, we still want to get dates and go on dates. So how do we actually plan dates without spending excessive amount of money? Here are some ideas.

1) Spending the day at Marina Barrage/GBTB/MBS

Your day can start with kite flying at Marina Barrage. It is where many photoshoots take place. If you do not have a kite and do not have the budget to rent one, all is fine. You can always have a picnic there. All you need to prepare are picnic mat, homemade food, ukelele, book, and/or your camera. (the list is not exhaustive)

Upcoming Smartphones of 2017

With a new year comes new flagships to look forward to. So what can we expect from the shiny new smartphones of 2017?

Taiwan Night Market (台湾夜市）

Okay guys, these are some recommendations from a "super star with five nerds?" graduation trip. If you have difficulties in deciding what food to try in Taiwan, I have consolidated some useful food itinerary based on my own graduation trip experience.

Eat at NTU

There are three kinds of canteens/restaurants in our campus: canteens located in different halls, canteens located in north/south spine and restaurants/cafes
Most canteens have Mix Veg Rice, western cuisine, Korean/Japanese cuisine, Chicken Rice and Indian cuisine. The "special food" in each canteens will be listed later.

Stop Eating McDonalds!

The famous chef, Jamie Oliver, won the court case against McDonald's who claim their burgers are 100 per cent beef. It turns out it is 15% beef and the majority of their meat is unfit for human consumption and should be used for dog food. It's funny how this has not hit the front page news. Be kind to yourself and stop eating McDonald from today onwards and read this story online.

I mean I don't eat beef because of religious beliefs but common sense tells me that it can't be 100% beef......

Read more: http://www.luxuryandglamor.com/the-famous-chef-jamie-oliver-won-the-court-process-against-large-food-group/

Places to chill and hangout

The most problematic thing to consider when you jio your friends out for an outing is probably deciding on where to go. We often complain how Singapore is too small and "boring" for exploration, and yet there are actually a lot of places to hang out. This post is dedicated to those who do not know what to do/where to go for the upcoming March holidays/Sem Break.

Instagram: Facebook of the Youths

Like it or not, you have got to admit: This is the Instagram era. Because of the diaspora of millennials from Facebook, Instagram has taken the crown as the crowd's favourite (together with Snapchat). Gone are the days when couples used Facebook to announce their relationship status; as well as the days when students used Facebook to announce their choice of university. Instagram is the new place to be, with many using a single photo to make announcements. Facebook only has the outdated information; check their Instagram accounts for new (or usually deleted, if the couple broke up) photos just to avoid any embarrassing moments.

NTU Financial Management AB1201 2016/2017 Sem 2 Mid-term quiz

A bunch of NBS students just had the FM quiz tonight, 7pm to 8pm. I would say the quiz is rather tricky especially in theory questions. The following answer is what I presumed to be correct, but I would like to emphasise NO GUARANTEE 100% correct.

3 reasons why you should watch Descendants of the Sun

If you are planning to binge watch a Korean drama, you must not miss out Descendants of the Sun. It is a drama about a special forces team which safeguards a medical team on a humanitarian mission.

Review of EZBlocker (Spotify Desktop Adblocker)

Tired of listening to terribly long and frequent ads on Spotify but not willing to pay $9.99 a month? Well, this may just be the solution for you!

So I recently stumbled upon this piece of software called EZBlocker. Having abandoned Spotify ever since my Premium trial ran out, I decided to give it a go.

After downloading the program, make sure to start Spotify before starting EZBlocker. You should be seeing something like this:

Review of Seoul Spicy Burger at McDonalds Singapore

So yes. this just got released in Singapore (9th march 2017) with some hype:

and with hype comes expectation. Therefore I had to try it. Even though my spicy tolerance is negative

Anyway I got the set meal of: 1) Seoul Chicken Spicy Burger^TM 2) kimchi fries 3) Peach McFizz

does that not whet your tastebuds

here's the burger in all part of its glory:

xoxo, Gossip Girl

Everyone loves gossip. High school dramas, scandalous affairs of the rich and famous - new headlines splashed across the latest tabloids almost everyday. The Gossip Girl show rose to popularity when it went on for 6 seasons, starting from 2007 and ending in 2012. The show chronicles Manhattan's well-known socialites as they graduate high school and step into the working world. Not dislike cult favourite Mean Girls, stereotypes are prominent, as evidenced by the titles given to various characters ('It-Girl', 'Queen B', 'Golden Boy', etc). 

Good places for study in the campus

Ever wonder where to go when you have no class but have to stay in the campus?
Ever wonder where to go to prepare for your quiz, midterm and final exams?

Food to eat at Jem

JEM

Paris Baguette (#02-20)

Address:#02-20, Jem 
50 Jurong East Gateway Road
Singapore 608549

Hours: Mon-Sun 10am – 10pm

Price Range: $15 – $20 per person

When you are craving for Korean plus European food, Paris Baguette is the place you should go! Pastries, cakes & desserts plus all-day breakfast and all other "hottest" food in trend. 

Must try (Value for money):

Apple Vs Samsung

One of the greatest battle of the 21st century is probably between Apple and Samsung. Is an iphone or a Samsung Galaxy better? Having used Samsung for 5 years before switching to iPhone 2 years back, I shall give my two cents worth of the advantages and disadvantages of each phone brands.

Reasons why iPhone triumphs over Samsung Galaxy

Facebook

In case you don't already know, most of the late 90s children don't use Facebook anymore. It's a known fact that except for those in Raffles, most of our Facebook accounts are not as updated as our Instagram accounts. Maybe it has got to do with newer social media platforms like Instagram being in trend, maybe it has got to do with parents and bosses getting onto Facebook as well, but in any case, it has to be acknowledged that its attraction has decreased significantly since the early 2010s. For instance, it's easy to see that I haven't added my upper secondary or JC classmates. But the interesting thing is, Facebook has made a comeback in my University life. In my opinion, this has got to do with Facebook's comprehensive functions like groups and polls, which Instagram is still unable to accomplish. In addition, it has to be admitted that there are more Facebook users than Instagram users. Therefore, it's easy to understand why organizers would prefer Facebook to coordinate large groups.

How to get to NTU via shuttle bus (bus location and timings)

This is a summary on all the free ways to get to NTU via shuttle bus. For NTU students (matric card! but rarely checked...). There are also public buses 179 and 199 from Boon Lay interchange and Pioneer MRT bus stop. 

Main shuttle bus to NTU is from Pioneer MRT, called Campus Rider. Just look for what bus students at the bus stop at Pioneer MRT board. Schedule below.

三生三世十里桃花 Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms

Recently, this ancient drama <三生三世十里桃花> became a hit especially in Asia.
58 episodes in total. I spent my entire recess week to watch this. Really love it 💗

《三生三世十里桃花》根據唐七公子同名小說改編，講述了青丘帝姬白淺和九重天太子夜華的三生愛恨，三世糾葛的故事。妖君擎蒼向神族挑起戰爭，神族付出慘痛代價封印了擎蒼，同年天孫夜華出世。七萬年後擎蒼破出封印，青丘狐帝么女白淺再次將擎蒼封印，因此被封法力、記憶和容貌，落入凡塵與夜華相識、相戀，後被帶入天宮。

Main characters:
白浅上神/素素  (杨幂)
夜华太子 (赵又廷)

Watch it at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X119f3L6oE&list=PLpOa-OrneXm1aKAMg14GLYNHxmcVuurSR

3 reasons why you should watch Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

If you are planning to watch some light-hearted romance comedy, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is probably the one for you. Here are five reasons why you should watch it.

1) The gorgeous cast. I mean like just look at Lee Sung-kyoung and Nam Joo-hyuk. Even the side cast Kyung Soo-jin and Lee Jae-yoon are so beautiful. 

2) ABS

Look at those glorious bodies. In the drama, Nam Joo-Hyuk is acting as a professional swimmer so you can expect glimpse of his perfect abs in quite a number of episodes.

3) Great acting

The female lead acts really well and the character is a three-dimensional one with many idiosyncrasies.

Fun at the Olympics

Olympics has always been seen as the final destination. The place where you bask in eternal glory as you watch your flag rise and hear your anthem echo throughout the arena with billions of people around the world watching your close-up shot. It's hard to have fun and enjoy the Games.

My Personal Review on Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale

Recently, I went to watch Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale. To be honest, I didn't watch the trailers or was even planning to even go watch the movie in the first place. But after watching the movie, I was amazed by everything about the movie. Let me explain why.

Fast Fashion Retailers

There has been a photo circulating around lately, showing snaps of how a customer was unhappy with the writings on a sweater from Forever 21, which would have been better if not for the writings. I'm not putting it up here because the language is not exactly polite, but you can always google image "every time i find something in forever 21". 

Music in the early 2010s

Conor Maynard and his collaboration with The Vamps on the cover of Shape of You was on my YouTube homepage, and I was just reminded of how I had heard of Maynard's name in the past. In the early 2010s, I listened to a few songs, including Vegas Girl, Animals, Turn Around and Can't Say No. They were all Maynard's works. Then Bridget Mendler's Ready or Not came on and so did Cher Lloyd's With Ur Love. Music back then was light, poppy, fun without heavy doses of autotune, basses, or lyrics with painfully obvious sexual innuendos. Currently, so many singers are trying to mix other genres with pop to allow them to have a unique selling point but because the market is so saturated, it's difficult to establish a new style. Why would it hurt to go back to the basics and back to pop? Pop is not derogatory. Don't dismiss pop as something unimportant and prioritise something called "alternative pop" or "pop rock" because they're still pop songs and let's make it a lot lighter. Early 2010s was such a carefree period.

Take everything you want with a tub of salt. Do your research and listen to the "old"-pop and then decide for yourself.

The US Highway

No, it's not a metaphor. I'm going to talk about the literal US Highway.

In the US, nobody walks. Well, almost nobody. Most people drive, because you can't really get to anywhere on foot, since everything is so far away (unless you live in the city, that is). When you drive, you are definitely bound to experience the US Highway. Driving at 80 miles per hour (or 130 km/h) is not something you'll used to here in Singapore. The thing is, even if you're afraid to step on the gas pedal, there is in fact a minimum speed that you will have to drive at. I asked my Dad, and he said it's because another car will probably crash into you if you don't drive fast enough. That makes sense, actually.

The Politics of Snapchat

I use Snapchat frequently. Perhaps a little too frequently. As social media finds its way into our lives, little trivial things seem to be more important than ever as people start to care about the tiniest details. I like using Snapchat because unlike Whatsapp, it doesn't save the photo or video that you've taken and flood your camera roll with it. Of course, the self-destruction timer is fantastic for that double-chin wide-eyed selfie you've sent your best friend. However, I find my friends and I getting hyped over Snapchat politics. In Snapchat, you can have a maximum of 7 best friends (marked by 😊). However, amongst those, there is a #1 Best Friend (marked by (💛, ❤, or 💕). This causes problems when your real-life best friend doesn't Snap often enough and you actually have a #1 Best Friend in someone else. Cue jealous glances or snide remarks. On the other end of the spectrum, there are people you just want to kick off your best friend list. It's a tricky political situation that requires more thinking than necessary.

Today, I was reminded of the vulnerability of Snapchat friendships. It's sad when you watch the emojis beside a contact name change and eventually it disappears. So many friends have fallen off the best friend list and eventually, the emoji disappeared. The rise is quick, but so is the fall.

But why are we cracking our heads and fretting about this problem? Has social media taken over our lives?

Does Asia has a Sherlock Holmes of its own?!

王昱珩微观辨水

Differentiating water? How's that even possible? This guy, 王昱珩, with his superhuman observational abilities dropped the jaws of all judges in the China reality show, The Brain Season 2(最强大脑). 

Wait, did I tell you guys that he completed all the challenges with only an eye? That's right. 王昱珩said, "I have nothing special......I'm just better in imagination". In 2016, China doesn't need police or CCTVs anymore. 王昱珩 is a better option. He solved a hit-and-run case that police had spent eight months trying to figure out. His talent once again proves his God-like presence!  

Now, in The Brain Season 4, Baidu's robot challenges him in face recognition...... Robots vs Humans? Who will win? Can I believe there's still hope for humans? Stay tuned to #reviewsofeverything 

Animals you can find in the campus

-Snakes
-Cats
-Dogs
-Wild boars
-Monkeys
-Frogs
-Insects
....
will keep updating

How to satisfy your thai food craving when you are bored of studying

When your life gets too boring, you need to spice up your life... with some Thai Food!

Here's introducing The Talad Drink & Thai Kitchen. Located right in the heartland (just next to HDB Hub), The Talad Drink & Thai Kitchen sells quality yet affordable thai food to satisfy your thai food cravings.

In case you're more into desserts, you can also get this for the price of $4.80

or this

The Talad Drink.

The Talad Drink & Thai Kitchen
190 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 #01-520
SingaporeTel: 9105 0555
Daily: 11:00 - 21:00
Nearest Station: Toa Payoh

Living in North Hill

This post goes out to those who are thinking of moving into the new North Hill halls in NTU, and incoming freshmen, who, last I heard, are guaranteed 2 years of hall stay instead of 1. North Hill halls are the latest halls in school, and are situated at the Jalan Bahar exit. They are split into 3 halls: Binjai, Tanjong and Banyan. Each hall is split into 2 blocks, A and B.

Review of single room with aircon in Northhill Halls

-Most expensive in NTU. (S$425 per month)

-Most of time it is quite cool so actually it is not necessary to live in a room with aircon.

-The room is quite small, so make sure you don't have a lot of stuff

-The bed is quite small as well

-Two elevators per block, each floor has a pantry and laundry rooms are located on every odd-number floors so it is quite convenient to live in Northhill Halls

-Bus you can take: yellow line (to TCT); blue line and 199
 In weekends, you need to wait for about 20min to take the buses

-The canteen is quite nice, with western cuisine, chicken rice, Indian cuisine, Chinese cuisine and mixed veg rice etc.

-Some part of the northhill halls are still under construction, thus sometimes it is noisy.

-The study room is the largest comparing with other halls' and the largest gym in NTU is located in northhill halls.

(picture: www.ntu.edu.sg)

When life gets too boring, visit cafes

 Attention coffee lovers! If you want good coffee, this is a place that you must definitely visit. Located along Beach Road, Candour Coffee serves coffee made of imported beans from Dukes Coffee Roasters and Market Lane Coffee.

Apart from satisfying your caffeine addiction, Candour Coffee also serves sandwiches, cakes and tarts. For (SMU) students who wish to study there, there are also unlimited power plugs and free wifi.

In case you need to update your instagram feed, there is also this insta-worthy wall. Do visit here if you are looking for a nice study spot or simply a nice cozy place to chill.

Candour Coffee
41 Beach Road
Singapore 189680
Tel: +65 9457 0070
Daily: 7.30am – 9pm
Nearest Station: Bugis

Review of Bed

conducive for procrastination. 5/7