University Junior: Year 3 Semester 1

December 6, 2014May 5, 2018 / Fiona Seah / 14 Comments

Hello everyone!

PLEASE READ: Please direct all questions to the comments section below so that they will also be visible for other prospective students. Do note that I will not be entertaining any NTU-related enquiries through e-mail from now on. Thank you for your understanding!

Time really flies, doesn’t it? I’m already in my third year at NTU and very soon, I’ll be decked out in my robe and mortar board and receiving my degree scroll on stage! I vividly remember how jittery I was on the very first day of school, worried that I would not be able to adapt to the challenges thrown at me. But I survived it all and I am truly thankful to those who have helped me in any way.

To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to the end of this semester because I will be embarking on my 6-month Industrial Attachment (IA) at the Ministry of Education in January. That would mean having to make a tremendous change to my lifestyle, sleeping and rising early everyday. 😥 But I’m sure it’d be a fulfilling experience!

And no, I won’t be interning as a teacher if that’s what you’re thinking. I will be there as a Recruitment Marketing Executive to assist in their recruitment campaigns. So any MOE marketing collateral that you chance upon next year could possibly be designed by me. Hehe *excites* 😀

My choices for IA programme

I went for a couple of interviews during my recess week and was subsequently accepted by MOE as well as MediaCorp. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t manage to score an interview with L’Oreal because it was one of my top choices. But I doubt L’Oreal even got back to anyone at all because nobody was allocated to the cosmetics giant in the end. Even if they did, most of the students would already have a placing somewhere by the time they start their selection process since there was an acceptance deadline for any existing offers.

I was offered a position as a Production Assistant at MediaCorp Channel 8 and I reeeally wanted to go for it. Argh, how I wish I could accept more than one offer haha. But I had to choose one, so I picked the one that’s nearer to home (MediaCorp is currently located at a godforsaken place and it’d probably stand a better chance if it has already shifted to Mediapolis) and would allow me to humbly display my prowess. MediaCorp, as every Media Studies student knows, accepts interns in batches so it’s gonna be difficult to stand out from the rest. And of course not forgetting the long working hours and meager pay. These, my boyfriend strong disapproves 😐

Enough of the internship talk. It’s now time to review the courses I took this semester! Only 3 courses though, so it’s gonna be a very short one.

1. CS4002 Media Law, Ethics and Policy (CORE)

source: freeimages.com

I requested for an exemption from this course because I had studied something similar in Poly. But it wasn’t granted since it was an upper-level course. The course however turned out to be totally different from what I had expected because Dr Mark Cenite, the course coordinator (and my newfound WKWSCI idol after Dr Cherian George’s departure), included U.K. and U.S. law and policies (which are absolutely bizarre in my opinion) into the syllabus. Hence the lessons didn’t feel like a repetition to me at all. Also, with Dr Cenite’s witty sense of humour, his law classes were never boring nor draggy. I really like that he used current cases (e.g. Roy Ngerng’s defamation suit, the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement and etc.) to illustrate his points. They kinda kept me updated about the latest news. Haha.

Conducted in two 2-hour lectures per week, this course has no written exams but there is a collaborative (discussion allowed, open-book) quiz at the beginning of every session. The quizzes constitute 10% of the total grade and the remaining 90% is divided equally among three closed-book midterms (all of which are MCQ questions). Aren’t you glad that more profs are moving towards the pragmatic approach of not having exams? To me, exams are never the best gauge of knowledge and they should be abolished.

Anyway, this semester was the last time this course would be offered due to a curriculum revamp. It will now be a lower-level CORE available to the first-years.

2. BU8541 Sports Marketing – The Marketing of Champions (GER-PE, LS)

source: tourismupdates.com

I added this course mainly because the tutorial time slot fit perfectly into my timetable and it was the only LS elective that appealed to me. This course basically teaches you about the various marketing tools (e.g. sponsorship) for sports products and how non-sports brands infiltrate into the sports market. Lessons can get pretty dry as I found myself hard to stay awake sometimes. There were 2 time slots for this course (only a 3-hour tutorial each week) and mine was on every Friday morning.

You would be allocated to a group with whom you’d be doing your major project (30% of total grade) and an article analysis (20%). The other components are an individual report based on the article analysis (10%), class participation (10%) and an open-book final exam (30%). The major project just involves studying any sports marketing related aspects of a chosen organisation (e.g. Netball Singapore) and presenting your critiques and recommendations. For the article analysis, you’d only need to select an article related to sports marketing issues. My team did on one that discussed about the partnership between Formula One and Singapore Airlines.

From left: Captain who just got demoted to First Officer (coz one of his stripes went missing HAHA), some F1 Racer, 3 unknown Air Stewardesses with crappy and unsexy uniform and lastly, a Flight Officer.

We kinda set the benchmark for the attire because we were the only group that bothered to dress up. For our first presentation, we added a pre-flight safety briefing in the beginning and an arrival announcement at the end for comic relief. The ladies had to do some silly hand signals to mimic the flight attendants so it was pretty embarrassing. But it’s all in good fun 😀

All in all, the course was only enjoyable because of the group projects. My other gripe is that we didn’t manage to go on any field trip (as proposed on the weekly schedule).

I’m not certain if I’d do well for this course so I am still on the fence whether to S/U this one.

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3. CM8002 Forensic Science (GER-PE, STS) – S/U

Source: Wikipedia // because CSI is so overrated.

I finally had the chance to take this course because Wednesday afternoons for me were previously always packed with classes I couldn’t drop. Over the years I have developed a keen interest in Forensic Science from watching crime TV series (most of them are from Hong Kong because I find that they’re more realistic and relatable to as compared to Western ones). If you’re like me, always wondering how actual murder cases are solved, then this is the course for you. It also teaches you how to reconstruct crime scenes like a pro. Haha!

This course provides every essential information you need to know about Forensic Science with topics on finding out the time of death, blood, DNA, fingerprinting, polymers and fibres, firearms, narcotics and toxicology. Each topic is accompanied with a few real-life cases (mostly based overseas) to demonstrate how these investigative techniques were used. And they are all very, very enlightening. I had personally spent additional time online reading up on some intriguing cases that were featured in lecture.

However, all lectures are pre-recorded and posted on this education platform called Coursera on a weekly basis, spread over 8 weeks. You would only need to go to school for Forensic Science after this period to hear guest speakers (actual forensic scientists and law enforcers) from various organisations such as HSA and SPF. If you’re not disciplined enough to watch the online lectures, you can always read the transcripts (which was what my friends did). The lecture notes are also quite comprehensive on its on.

There would be weekly assignments on Coursera (just 15 MCQ questions based on the topic covered that week) and 3 graded assignments (short-answer questions) over the course of 8 weeks. All these form your e-learning activity, which constitutes 5% of the total grade. There is also a midterm (15%) and a closed-book final exam (80%).

I’ve decided to exercise my S/U option on this because this course is extremely competitive so getting a good grade won’t be easy. By the way, this class is so huge that they have to conduct the lessons at the auditorium.

Okay that’s all from me for this semester! Do drop me a comment if you have any burning questions.

Talk to you guys next time!

Jamie’s Italian @ VivoCity

December 4, 2014May 11, 2016 / Fiona Seah / Leave a comment

Hello everyone! I’m back in my blogging mode now that my exams are OVER! *pops champagne*

Today’s topic will still be food, but I believe many of you would be able to relate to this because..

It’s Jamie Oliver’s restaurant!

Jamie Oliver opened his first restaurant in Asia on 17 July 2013 at VivoCity Mall, Singapore. I had somehow forgotten that he has a venture here until I unknowingly walked past his restaurant one day while trying to get to the taxi stand. I told Bf that we had to try this one day and we finally did last Sunday!

Tucked in a more secluded corner of the mall, Jamie’s Italian is clearly crowd magnet because it was the only restaurant with a queue among many others there, albeit a short one. They have an excellent table reservation system which would send the waiting guest a text message when a table opens up (thus explaining the short queue). As it was an impromptu decision to dine there, we had to wait awhile (for only 30 minutes, a reasonably short time considering that it was a weekend) before we could get a table. But with that system in place, we were able to wander around the mall while we waited.

There’s an ongoing contest which patrons can join to win a Vespa!

The menu (click to enlarge). There’s a cocktail section at the bottom but I cropped it out because I won’t be featuring anything from the bar here!

I like that the menu is nailed onto the wall next to the restaurant entrance so that anybody could view it without having to feel pressurised by the wait staff to dine there. It’s not their fault, I know. But don’t you just hate it when someone in the restaurant comes up to you when you’re merely browsing the menu on the display stand? I do! And rejecting them would make me feel so bad 😦

The items on the Pasta section have two different pricing because they signify two different things. The lower-value is for starters while the other is for mains.

You can hardly see what’s in the restaurant from the outside because it’s so dimly-lit, making it an almost-hazardous place for people with terrible vision like me because I may just trip over something if not careful. Some patrons even needed the light from their handphones to read the menu. It was that dark, too dark for photo-taking too (hence I had to depend heavily on the camera’s flash). I hope the management would do something about it because I don’t find dining in darkness a form of enjoyment. I would like to see clearly what’s on my plate, please.

But that’s at night. I’m not sure if it’d be brighter during the day so perhaps you guys can give it a shot during lunchtime.

Let’s move on to our orders!

For beverage, we had a non-alcoholic cocktail called Refresher (S$7.50++).

Refresher consists of fresh lemon, elderflower, cordial and cranberry juice. topped with lemonade. We were initially contemplating between their Homemade Italian Lemonade (S$6.50++) and Berry Blast (strawberries, passion fruit, lemon and cranberry, S$8.50++) but we settled on Refresher in the end because it seems to have most of the stuff found in those two drinks. Haha money-pinchers.

But Refresher was good and refreshing! It tasted a little like Ribena but of course, way better and more sophisticated.

Also got ourselves iced water because one cup of Refresher was obviously insufficient.

Crispy squid (S$11.50++)

For appetizers, we had Crispy Squid (or Fried Calamari in Singaporean’s term) which was basically fried squid but with garlicky mayo and lemon. The squid unfortunately wasn’t exactly crispy because it wasn’t sizzling hot. Bf remarked that it might had sat on the kitchen table for some time before it was delivered to us as it was a slightly cold and soggy. The dip that came with it was on the sour side, but it went well with the squid. All in all, it was a passable dish. There’s nothing really fantastic about it.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli (S$17.50++)

For starters, I had Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with pine nuts and fresh sage in creamy mascarpone, Italian butter, lemon and olive oil. I felt that the dough was a little too thick and firm and it kinda overwhelmed the fillings. I think there were about 5 or 6 Raviolis in there. The fillings were nice though! And the nuts in the creamy sauce added crunch to the dish. Once again. this is also nothing to wow about.

Wild Mushroom and Smoked Mozzarella Risotto (S$16++)

This Wild Mushroom and Smoked Mozzarella Risotto is the bomb. It is an Acquerelle rice with fresh and dried wild mushrooms and oozy smoked mozzarella. Sadly, this starters belonged to Bf so I couldn’t dig more into it. It was extremely creamy and rich with a nice, thick texture, all thanks to the cheese in it. The rice also had some chew to it and it was really delicious! This is going to be a main course the next time we’re there.

220g Rump Steak (S$28.50++)

For the mains, Bf and I shared a 220g Rump Steak served with garlic and parsley butter, rainbow coleslaw with natural yoghurt and skinny fries. The nicely cut steak facilitated the sharing and I’m so glad it came this way because otherwise, the hungry Bf would slice a bigger portion for himself, leaving me with a measly piece of meat. *victoryboymeme.jpg* (Just kidding later he scold me)

The garlic and parsley butter is such an unusual topping but I actually love it. It had the right amount of saltiness and it’s so amazing I wanted to wipe it all off onto my own portion. The steak was soft, tender and cooked to juicy perfection. The entire dish was simply indulgent. I couldn’t get enough of it.

I kinda regretted sharing the main course because I was still hungry towards the end of the meal. So lesson learnt, never share anything at Jamie’s Italian. Hahaha.

On the whole, the food was not too bad but there’s definitely still room for improvement. Don’t go there with high expectations (Jamie Oliver’s not the one cooking after all) or you’d be disappointed. I also think that my experience was let down slightly by the unsatisfactory service in the restaurant. Our orders were only taken after beckoning to the wait staff several times and each time we’d be asked to wait but no one would come to us in the end. It might be due to the weekend crowd but yeah, it was really tiring to have to keep getting hold of the wait staff.

But the risotto was really, really awesome so you guys must go there and try it!

On top of that, the prices are actually quite reasonable for a reputable restaurant in a luxury shopping mall, don’t you think? I will definitely return for other items I’ve yet to try on the menu! Any recommendations? 😀

Okay that’s all for this post!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Jamie’s Italian @ VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk #1-165-167
Singapore 098585
Operating hours:
12.00pm to 10.00pm (Sun – Thu),
12.00pm to 11.00pm (Fri & Sat)
Tel: 67335500
Website | Facebook | Menu

Les Bouchons @ Ann Siang Hill

November 29, 2014May 11, 2016 / Fiona Seah / 2 Comments

Hey everyone!

Inspirations only come to me at night, so here I am, back to tempt you with more food pictures at this unearthly hour! (It’s almost 3am in Singapore FYI)

After much dilly-dallying, I finally got to meet my girls from Folks Like Us for lunch on Tuesday at this quaint little hidden treasure at Ann Siang Hill which Atheena was raving to us about. It also marked my first trip to Ann Siang Hill because I always had the impression that it’s very inaccessible (and that there were more bars than anything else, thus it’s also very popular spot for expats). But now with the newly built Telok Ayer MRT station, you can easily get there within 7 minutes.

Reservation is necessary due to very limited seating at Les Bouchons. Upon entering the French restaurant, you’d be surprised at how small it is. It was only able to fit 6 tables at most but there were more (probably 4) tables outdoors. I had to squeeze through a tiny gap between two tables to get to my seat. But despite its size, the place was actually pretty cozy. It’s not some kind of high-end restaurant where you’d feel pressured to put up a demure front because everyone would be dressed casual and chatting so heartily during meal.

But that does not mean that the food is going to be of low or mid-range standards.. well, maybe except for the complimentary bread basket.

The complimentary bread basket

The bread came tough and stubborn so we had to request for it to be heated to make it softer for consumption. The service staff gladly complied and even added more bread to our basket. Thumbs up for great service!

At Les Bouchons, you can expect to find standardised prices for their entrées and plats (main course). All entrées are priced at S$18++ while plats (including their Ribeye and Sirloin Steak) are at S$38.80++ each. Fairly reasonable, I’d say! A meal there would definitely not burn a huge hole in your pocket.

For starters, I got myself Burgundy Escargots with Garlic Butter.

The sauce was a tad oily but it was actually quite delicious! The amount of herb in the garlic butter was just right, and the sauce also made good complement to the free bread. The 9 pieces of escargot were served plucked out from their shells. They were fleshy, properly salted and well doused with the butter. Classic!

For the mains, I had Grilled Rib Eye Steak with “Vigneron” Butter.

The mustards for the steak! Among them were Dijun and Whole Grain. I love the Whole Grain one the most!

All of us ordered the same food. Hahaha

Grilled Rib Eye Steak with “Vigneron” Butter

All mains come with a huge serving of salad (as can be see above) and free flow of home made french fries. The salad was made very crunchy by the generous amount of walnuts in it. The fries were simply AMAZING. I ate every single piece of it and I wished I had room for more. Basically, everything on the plate was in large portions, even the steak itself. It was so unusually big that my friend couldn’t finish hers! So ladies, if you’re going to dine at this restaurant, be sure to bring a hungry male friend along to finish the leftovers. Hahaha!

Anyway, the steak wasn’t hot enough for the butter to melt instantly. Hence I had to manually spread the butter all over the steak. Temperature aside, the steak was actually grilled to perfection and it had the right amount of saltiness. Mine wasn’t too fatty and I could practically eat the entire steak without any difficulty.

Needless to say, this is also extremely value-for-money!

Because it deserves a close-up shot.

With Felin!

After the main course, we shared a dessert because the steak was an overkill. We ordered Peche Melba, a vanilla ice cream with poached peach, raspberry coulis and whipped cream.

The vanilla ice cream was very creamy but not too sweet. The poached peach was ripe and refreshing. This dessert was a perfect ending to our enjoyable meal. I’ll try their Crème Brûlée instead next time 🙂

Great groupmates and friends from my university! We have another member who had already returned to the U.S.

The meal in general was really good and the portions were plentiful. But this place is so underrated! It’s probably one of the rare French restaurants that don’t charge exorbitant prices for their food. I only spent about S$67 after including all the relevant taxes. That’s equivalent to the price of a piece of steak elsewhere and it may not necessarily be as awesome as the one I had at Les Bouchons. I will bring Bf along on my next visit and I pray hard that it will not be swarmed with even more reservation calls after this post.

Okay, that’s about it! 🙂

Thanks for reading ❤

Les Bouchons
7 Ann Siang Road
Singapore 069689
Operating hours:
12pm – 2pm (lunch), 7pm – 10pm (dinner)
Tel: 6423 0737

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fionaseah.com

lifestyle from an Asian perspective

Author: Fiona Seah

University Junior: Year 3 Semester 1

PLEASE READ: Please direct all questions to the comments section below so that they will also be visible for other prospective students. Do note that I will not be entertaining any NTU-related enquiries through e-mail from now on. Thank you for your understanding!

Jamie’s Italian @ VivoCity

Les Bouchons @ Ann Siang Hill

PLEASE READ: Please direct all questions to the comments section below so that they will also be visible for other prospective students. Do note that I will not be entertaining any NTU-related enquiries through e-mail from now on. Thank you for your understanding!

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