Honest Review of Goodbites (Bishan Stadium)

Hidden in Bishan Stadium lies a pretty cafe by the name of Goodbites. Adorned with beautiful lights, the exterior of this cafe is breathtaking against the backdrop of the vast night view. We arrived at the cafe at 7.15pm and were told that the wait time was 45 minutes. Being tired teenagers with nothing to lose, we decided to wait.

At 8pm, we finally entered the premises. The vibes were pretty chill and were good for a late dinner. There were many things that we wanted to try that weren’t available that day, but our food came rather quickly, which was a pleasant surprise.

Ice Caramel Latte: 8/10

The first thing that came were our drinks. I ordered the Ice Caramel Latte (I initially wanted to order the S’mores latte but it wasn’t available) for $5.50 and felt that it was quite worth the money. The drink came in a big mason jar topped off with whipped cream and caramel syrup. At the beginning, the coffee didn’t have much taste while the whipped cream was a little too sweet. However, once the whipped cream melted into the coffee, the coffee tasted really good!

Truffle Fries: 7/10

I unfortunately didn’t take a photo of the truffle fries. The truffle fries were $7 and the portion was a bit small but there was a generous amount of truffle sprinkled on them. Furthermore, the truffle was evenly spread out, with the fries at the bottom having truffle on them as well. For the size of the portion, it was surprisingly just right for 5 people to share. There wasn’t anything too special about the fries though.

Da Burger Bomb: 9/10

I ordered Da Burger Bomb as my main course for $11.90 and was surprised at how generous they were with the fries and the burger. The burger was big and the chicken was soft and tender, not too chewy and juicy enough to satisfy the taste buds. The fries weren’t too special but there were a lot of them. I feel that this burger was very worth the money.

Tutti Frutti Ice Cream: 11/10

There was a promotion where you could get a free scoop of ice cream with any flavour of your choice if you posted a photo of your food on Instagram and tagged Goodbites in the location bar. I thought that the Tutti Frutti ice cream looked really pretty so I just went with it and wow, it tasted like unicorn poop. For a free ice cream, the serving size was just right. The ice cream tasted faintly of gummies and had a very unique flavour. Tutti Frutti ice cream has possibly become one of my favourite flavours of ice cream of all time, which says a lot because I am usually not a big fan of ice cream.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake: 7/10

We got this cake for $10.90 and it was served with a scoop of ice cream. We were impressed by the ‘Happy Birthday’ pipping on the plate and were shocked when a circus-esque rendition of the Happy Birthday song started playing in the background. As it turned out, the staff would play the song whenever they were going to serve birthday cake. The cake was small but tasted great, with the lava inside being warm and comforting. Furthermore, we found the shape of the cake cute.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Goodbites and will come back for the vibes. The food was good and the staff were really friendly, which made the night very enjoyable.

Address: 5 Bishan Street 14, #03-01, Singapore 579783

Making my Own Vintage Paper

Since I have been in the dark academia mood lately, I decided to make some vintage paper to write on. Fortunately, I had some use for them because I had a few overdue birthday cards that I had yet to write. I decided to try my hand at doing this feat without referring to online resources, and I must say that I am a creative genius. I merely dabbed wet tea bags all over white paper and waited for them to dry. I will definitely do this again as the aesthetic is worth wasting time over.

Impulsively Changing my Study Area: Dark Academia

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Considering that this is my second dark academia post in a few days, you can see how obsessed I am with this aesthetic. This morning, at 2.49am, I decided that I was unable to sleep and impulsively decided to change my desk set-up. I am rather pleased with how it turned out as I merely used items that I already had to switch up my desk and didn’t need to waste money on all items. A huge shout out to my Grandmother for lending me a really old copy of Aesop’s fables. Will I ever return it to her? Probably not.

I was afraid that my desk set-up wouldn’t meet my expectations because dark academia is usually associated with dark, wooden tables, but I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely my white table contrasted with my decorations. Furthermore, my desk still manages to have a slight, minimalist vibe, giving me enough space to do my work. I would say that my decorations are not distracting so that is a benefit in my favour, as I usually like my study space to be as empty as possible, in comparison to the cluttered, dark academia themed tables I see on Pinterest.

In conclusion, I am quite satisfied with how this turned out. I may have lost a few hours of sleep doing this, but decorating your table at night as a “classical dark academia playlist for art museum dates” plays softly in the background is truly a vibe.

20 Lessons that I Learnt in 2020

Disclaimer: This article was written in December 2020 but I only decided to publish it now

The end of the year is nigh and thus come the period of reflections have come. My reflections for the year are not the most introspective and are pretty generic. However, I would like to write this article as a milestone for myself as these are revelations that have never sunk in until now. I thought that ’20’ lessons would be an apt number to end of 2020.

1. Only I get to make myself feel like a worthless piece of trash

This year, I have internalized that the only person who gets to determine my self worth is none other than me. Nobody else gets the privilege of controlling what’s mine. I will make myself feel like shit when I feel like it but nobody else is allowed to do that to me.
2. Live Life to the Fullest

I’ve always thought that I have grasped the concept of my own mortality, considering that I often feel as though I am merely existing and not truly living. However, I have realized that I was wrong. With my parent’s hair gradually turning white and their wrinkles getting increasingly difficult to ignore, I had to force myself to admit that my parents are getting old. One day, they won’t be here by my side anymore. Even though sometimes I feel that life isn’t worth living, in the time that I have here on this earth I should treat everyday as though it is my last because I want to die knowing that I have loved to the fullest.

3. Live in the Moment

I used to be somebody who would overthink about the future and cling on too tightly to the past. I’m still learning to let go of the past but what ultimately matters is right now, this very moment. Who knows, I may get cardiac arrest and die immediately after writing this so I will take things one step at a time and live, love and laugh to the fullest while I still can.

4. While I don’t consider myself a good person, I should continue to strive to always improve myself and be the best that I can be.

Sometimes, I feel like I’m not a good person. Sometimes, I feel fake, as if my so-called ‘niceness’ is merely a façade as I didn’t want to make people feel bad about themselves. Until this year, I never really made a conscious effort to try to be the best person I can be. I know that it will never be enough, but as long as I try, I will be satisfied, because trying my best is what truly matters.

5. I’m Not Perfect and That’s Okay

Toxic perfectionism used to be a huge problem for me, particularly in 2018. I never really managed to accept myself for who I am but what I can say is that I have been working towards loving myself and I think that I can finally accept myself for who I am. It is my imperfections that make me human. Yes, it is true that I will never be perfect, but the truth of the matter is that nobody will ever be perfect.

6. I need to stop bottling up my emotions as nobody can read them

This is an aspect of myself that I really need to work on. A habit of mine is to take stoicism to an extreme level to the point that I feel… numb. As a consequence of bottling up my emotions, my feelings tend to pile up and eventually cause a mental breakdown. This physically paralyses me and is very unhealthy – both in a physical and mental sense. I can’t stay quiet and just hope that people know that I’ve been hurt by their actions, I actually need to tell them.

7. Nobody truly cares about you so you have to care for yourself

My reflections seem to take a pessimistic approach to life, apologies if you thought that this article was meant to make you feel good. While it is unpleasant to think about it, the reality is that while your friends and family care about you, they ultimately cannot do that 24/7 as it is not their obligation and they have other things that they need to take care of. If you don’t care for yourself, who else will?

8. You have the power to start a chain reaction

It’s quite amusing how much power we have without realizing it. I’m going to tell you now that your tongue can never sit properly in your mouth, and now you are going to spend the next few minutes playing with your tongue! If I want to inspire change, it has to start with

9. Intrusive thoughts are just that… intrusive

Image Credits

https://weheartit.com/entry/192771359

https://strawberrigag.tumblr.com/image/187375878391

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cd/4d/b2/cd4db28215edf5b7a49f09cbdbe6b781.jpg

https://pixabay.com/photo-1262613/

https://hairstylesbeauty.tumblr.com/post/616094949375721472

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.enyazilim.wallappsx&hl=en_US?B-52IThDIdh

http://believe-you-can-do-anything.tumblr.com/post/128424377046/juulbird-made-by-juulbird

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.enyazilim.wallappsx&hl=en_US?B-52IThDIdh

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/239843129/take-care-of-yourself

https://www.etsy.com/listing/838580413/red-tongue-sticker-aesthetic-laptop

https://pin.it/5aIzR95

Photoshoot #1: Dark Academia x Royalty Core

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I received a Nikon D3500 as a Birthday x Christmas gift, but I only got the opportunity to play around with it today. Upon realizing that a staircase that I am familiar with seemed to somewhat fit the vibe of a rustic staircase in an abandoned castle, I got my friend @j.t.x.l to model for me and she agreed! Furthermore, the theme of this photoshoot fits the aesthetic(s) that I am currently obsessed with, even though I know that for practicality’s sake, I won’t be able to pull it off because the weather in Singapore is so warm.

It was my first time being behind the camera and her first time being a model, so it took some time for us both to ease into it. It didn’t help that there was no fan or air-conditioning in sight, causing us to sweat profusely and take frequent breaks under ventilation. However, it was overall an enjoyable experience because we treated it as 2 friends just hanging out.

Out of the many photos we took, only a few stood out, but it is ok considering that I am a very low-level amateur. I hope to improve with practice and with time. Most importantly, I am incredibly grateful for @j.t.x.l for helping me out 🙂

Failed Attempt at Making my Mother’s Birthday Cake

I would rate the cake a 6/10.

It was my mother’s birthday and instead of making a card, I accidentally fell asleep, so I decided to bake a lemon chiffon cake for my mother, using the recipe linked. This wasn’t my first time using this recipe to bake this very same cake, so you can say that it is tried and tested.

Yet, it failed.

Firstly, the chiffon cake refused to rise up and ended up rather flat. Secondly, it was a little hard and not soft and fluffy. Thirdly, it was sour and had a bitter after taste.

Here is where I (probably) went wrong:

• It was my first time using the oven on my own without any help, I have a suspicion that I didn’t pre-heat the oven even though I thought that I did. We’ll never know
• I added too much lemon zest, causing the sour taste
• Instead of meyer lemons, I used normal lemons, which could have contributed to the sour taste as meyer lemons are supposedly sweeter
• I didn’t zest the lemons well enough, considering that I was using a knife (We don’t have a zester)
• I used less sugar than normal

My mother said that she liked the cake, but she said that it was too sweet for her liking, which is odd since I found it sour. Yet, the more I ate it, the better it became. I am unsure if I have been disillusioned by the fact that it was I who baked the cake, or if the cake really tasted good after getting used to the taste, but nevertheless, it was a failure in my book. The only differences that I made to this cake as compared to previous lemon chiffon cakes was the amount of lemon zest and sugar, as I had tried to tailor the ingredients to my mother’s taste (She loves lemon zest and isn’t too partial to sugary foods). If there is a moral to this story, I’m not sure what it is.

Uh, Happy Birthday Mother. *Insert smiley face*