Friends?

We used to tell each other everything,
We used to meet up everyday,
We used to be so close...
Now, I can't meet you for a chat,
I can't meet you for a game,
You don't reply my messages,
Nor do you return my calls.
And I don't know why...

Maybe... I'm just not so important after all...
~Self-composed verse <Maybe, I'm not that important anymore>

Heyy, readers.

I'm feeling rather down today.

Last Thursday, I arranged to play badminton with a friend, who I was really close with, because of the sport I loved. So, today was the day we were supposed to meet up. I went to the agreed location at the agreed time, and guess what? After waiting for half an hour, she still didn't appear.

I called.

I whatsapped.

I messaged.

She didn't reply any of them.

When looking through old Instagram photos, I found some old photos of my badminton days. So many emotions rushed through me at once, but one of the strongest emotion was regret.

I missed the good old days, where the few of us would meet up everyday, without fail, at the badminton court for an hour of game.

I guess, it all ended during PSLE, where we said that we would not meet up so that we can focus on final preparations. After that, we never met up again.

It was even harder when we went to different secondary schools. Our timetables were differnt, we were all busy in our own ways.

Maybe, if we continued meeting up during PSLE period, we would not have grown apart. Amazing what 5 days of exams can do to your friendships.

So here's a piece of advise I wish I know when I was younger: Treasure your friends, even if one day, they betray you or something, you will have memories to fall back on, and going back down that memory lane may be the only thing you have left.

Peacing out,
~jessykeejiayi><

Why I am proud of Singapore

Hello once again, people! Sorry for disappearing for so long. If you follow me on my other social media accounts, you will know that I have been rather swamped by homework and such. But, enough of that, I will try to blog every weekend if I can, alright? Now, let get into the main point of today's blog post. Presenting to you, WHY I AM PROUD OF SINGAPORE!!!!

Now as a 'Lion City Kia', I feel proud of my country, obviously. But I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what I am proud of, until I decided to sit down, and think through life in Singapore. This was originally an assignment I did for school, but since I am rather proud of my work, I thought that I would publish it here.

Now, what exactly can Singaporeans be proud of of Singapore? Is it people like Amos Yee, Steph Micayle? Or is it people like Mr Lee Kuan Yew? Below is my original list.

1. Walking around alone at night, SAFELY

Now this is an advantage enjoyed by everyone in Singapore, though the same cannot be said for the rest of the world. Especially for women, people can feel safe on the streets, even at night. A main factor, to me, is our street lamps. These brightly lit Streets are contrary to those in other countries, thereby ensuring safety on the streets.

2. Food availability

In Singapore, you will never go hungry. Whether it is at 2 pm, 12 midnight, 12 noon, or even 2 am, as long as one knows where to look, food will be available. This is a sharp contrast to other countries, for example, Mauritius, where I could not find any food for lunch at 3 pm in the afternoon. All the restaurants turned us away, saying that they were preparing for dinner, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Great, just great. I ended up having to wait a long time for a small pizza and some fries.

3. Racial harmony

In Singapore today, there are a minimum number of racial riots. This is because our government has been doing a good job of mixing all the races up so that we all have an understanding of each other and can try to accept everyone and live in harmony.

4. Food variety

Singapore is known as the Heaven of Good Food for a reason. It does not matter whether you are in the mood for Japanese, Korean, Western or any other cuisine, as long as you are in the right place, it WILL be available.

5. Language

As long as you speak English, Mandarin and/or one other dialect, you will be able to communicate with any other person, especially if the three languages are mixed together in broken sentences, because that is, Singapore's  very own, unofficial language, SINGLISH. Found uniquely in Singapore and no other places.

6. Neighbouring countries

We have some of the best neighbours. Malaysia and Indonesia are less than half an hour away, depending on the exact location and things at sold at half the price, thanks to Singapore's rather strong currency.

7. Visas

Singaporeans are able to visit most other countries without going through the trouble of applying for visas.

8. Air-conditioners

Though we have equatorial temperatures, none of us are melting. Why? Because majority of the places in Singapore are fully air-conditioned.

Okay, I know that there are many other reasons why Singapore is a great place to live in., but many other reasons why we may need some more improvements. I'll end this post here today, and I am so sorry for not writing anything for so long.

Peacing out,
~ jessykeejiayi><

Study Tips

Hey guys!!!!

Its has been almost 3 months since I last posted anything, and I apologise. I have been really busy recently, and simply didn't have the time to write anything. But I'm back now, and I'll be back with a bang!

Now in today's post, I'll be talking about how to study! Okayy, I'm not the most qualified person in the world to talk about it, but I did graduate Primary School with a PSLE aggregate of 253. And I survived Secondary One education  relatively unscratched.

Since its the June holidays, I figured that this would be a good time to learn some new study tips, and maybe even change your game plan for the next semester.

Please do search around a little more for more tips, and find the one that really suits you best. I'm still searching too.

Tip No. 1: Find a good study spot.

Now this is really important since you will be spending quite a bit of time at your study spot reviewing your textbooks, notes, and god-knows-what-you-have, everyday. The location could be anywhere, really. It could be the Starbucks cafe near your house, it could be your school/ neighbourhood library, it could be a park, it could be your friend's house, but most of the time, it should be your own home, or more specifically, your room/ study room. Some people may have a study room in their home, but otherwise, your room works well too. Make sure that you are comfortable wherever you are.

For me, my study spot is a study room in my house, with the air-conditioning on and preferably a cup of hot drink by my side.

Tip No. 2: Determine if you can and/or want to work with music.

This is really not a one rule for all, because everyone is different. If you need music, do choose classical music, as it is said that classical music works best for studying. Sources may include: Mozart, Beethoven, studymusicproject (youtube). Don't worry if you don't know any good sources, just go to youtube, and search for 'best study music'. You will be literally SPOILT for choses, and eventually, you will find your favourite.

For me, I can't study with music. I get distracted too easily. But if I am at Starbucks, I am perfectly fine with the music there. Weird huh.

Tip No. 3: Don't be afraid to talk to your teachers.

I'll admit that the first time you walk up to try and ask for help can be scary. But you can always send an email instead. Often, your teacher's email can be found on your school's website. Most teachers are very willing to help you, and would be willing to meet you during the holidays, after school or during recess to clarify your doubts. Don't worry about teachers

For me, I belong to the group who can get the courage to talk to teachers. Just like, recently, I met with my History teacher for consultation on how to improve my History results and he gave me really good tips.

Tip No. 4: Know when your productive time is.

Some people study better in the day, some in the dead of the night. Find out when your own is.

For me, I study best in the morning, when it is quietest. But it's damn hard for me to wake up early in the morning. Frustrating huh?

Tip No. 5: Study everyday.

Okay, I know this is cliché, but do your revision regularly. Half an hour daily would probably be good enough for a normal school day, but as it gets closer to exams do increase that time period.

Tips No. 6: Do NOT, and I mean DO NOT... CRAM.

Cramming does NOT work. It'll just make your brain too tired on the day of exams.

Tip No. 7: Stay organised.

Write To-Do Lists, keep a bullet journal, file papers in different files, use a wall planner to block out study time, note down due dates, exam dates ect. This will save you a lot of time since it is less likely that you lose your materials and have to waste precious time finding them.

Tip No. 8: Look after yourself.

Now you can't study when you're sick, can you? So drink plenty of water, avoid too much fried food, or gorging yourself on sugary snacks.

Tip No. 9: Discover your learning style, and how to best make use of the advantages.

Contrary to popular belief, there are more than the commonly seen visual, kinetic and auditory learners. Find your style, and rock it from there.

Tip No. 10: Don't try to study 24/7, reward yourself.

You heard it, don't study too hard. You still need to find a balance between being a good student and having a life. Go out for an hour or so to exercise, catch a movie occasionally, watch TV, eat ice-cream. Relax every once in a while. But don't overdo this step and end up slacking, please.

Tip No. 11: Make your own study materials.

This way, you are actually doing twice the revision, once when you are making them, and once when you are doing your revision.

Now, this is not all, just a short compilation of  what I have came across in the past. Do do more research if you need more help. But that is not an excuse to slack off, okay?



Peacing out,
~jessykeejiayi><

Dedictating his lifetime to Singapore and to us

Hi again readers,

I believe that many of you have heard the sad news. If you have not, I am sorry I have to bring to you this message.

Our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has passed on as of 23/03/2015, 03:18(Singapore time).

He was known as a charging lion, a father. The Cambridge educated man devoted his whole life to the building of the nation. In his hands, his leadership, we developed from a third-world nation, into a first-world country.

He worked hard, thinking of ways to improve the conditions in Singapore. His perseverance, his determination, his passion, his dedication has brought us to where

"I've spent a whole lifetime building this nation, and as long as I'm in charge, nobody is gonna knock it down."

This  is by far, my favourite quote of Mr Lee. Indeed, he spent his whole life building our country, from being our very 1st Prime Minister, to being a Minister Mentor, the 91-year-old continued serving the nation. He was in charge of Tanjong Pajar GRC for more than a decade.

He started the bilingual education system, which allowed us to be able to fluent in both languages, which in turn, allowed us to be able to carve our career in both ENglish and CHinese countries. Yet, we have people like Amos Yee being ungrateful.

Rip Mr Lee Kuan Yew and may you rest in peace.

Peacing Out,

~jessykeejiayi><

Neighbour Rivalry?

Hey guys,

Welcome to another blog post by me. Today's topic is as you can see, is neighbour rivalry. Now this is a story based on a true story.

Scenario
Now we have a housewife. As a housewife, of course she has to do the laundry, right? So when she hangs out the wet clothes to dry, guess what, her hands slipped and she dropped the bamboo pole together with the clothes. Seeing this, she panicked. She went straight out, and bought a box of chocolates. After that, she went down to her neighbour, offered the box of chocolates to them, and apologised, afeter taking back her bamboo pole.

Now, a couple of months later, the wind blew on of the bamboo poles down to the same neighbour''s house, and this time, the housewife got her husband to go down to retreive the bamboo pole because she was busy. The neighbour scolded the husband. Unfairness starts here right?

The husband is good-natured, and doesn't tell the housewife, but she can tell something is wrong.

When a bamboo pole appeared at the drying corner of the neighbour's house a few months later, the neighbour immediately assumed that it belonged to the housewife. They came up and confronted the housewife. After checking, the housewife told the neighbour that the bamboo pole did not belonged to her. And guess what the neighbour said, "After studying the bamboo pole of several possible household, the bamboo pole looked like it is yours."

*Disclaimer: If the situation sounds like what you have done to your neighbour, but you do not know me personally, then I am not talking about you. If you do know me or my relatives, then I don't know, deal with it, and improve your EQ, for goodness sake.*

Okay, guys, so what are your views on this? The neighbour is obviously too much, right? I mean, using basic common sense, why would anyone want to drop the bamboo pole down to you, purposely? And if you read carefully, everytime the bamboo pole dropped down, the family or the housewife would go down personally to take it, not wait for the neighbour to bring it up right? So what does this tell you about the neighbour? Do you readers also see something weird, why does the neighbour need to go from door to door to check whose bamboo pole is it? Why can't they just put it outside their house, or wait for someone to come collect it? They were obviously looking for a fight.

More than 80% of Singaporeans lived in HDB flats, which is actually a lot. Living in a HDB flat has its perks, like kids being more sociable, aunties are able to gossip with friends, and the family is able to join tours to neighbouring countries together. But what if one has neighbours who are unreasonable?

This would result in unhappiness in the neighbourhood. As neighbours, should we not be looking out for one another? Why make life difficult for each other? This I do not understand.

Well, just a little food for thought, if you have any stories of neighbours being either horrid or really nice to you, let me know in the comments section down below.

Peacing out,
~jessykeejiayi><