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Stay tuned for more of our SG Foodie zine to learn more about different Singapore local food like the food history and how the food has evolved! You can also find recipe in the zine and cook your own dish. Or visit one of the stalls on our recommendation page to enjoy the food!

Stay tuned for more of our SG Foodie zine to learn more about different Singapore local food like the food history and how the food has evolved! You can also find recipe in the zine and cook your own dish. Or visit one of the stalls on our recommendation page to enjoy the food!

Are you afraid of failing? Fret not, you’re not alone! We're all fearful of being incompetent (to a certain extent), be it in our respective schools, workplaces, homes, or even just life in general. In a competitive society like ours, it’s virtually impossible to not aim for perfection in all aspects of our lives when everyone’s trying to be the best—we’re hardwired to steer clear away from mediocrity because in our society, mediocrity ≠ success.       

That’s far from the truth because all of us started from the bottom. Sure, some are blessed with a growth spurt and bloom earlier than others, but just like plants, we grow at different speeds and that’s perfectly fine, really! Perhaps you’re not the best at mathematics in class (aka me), or you feel inadequate after comparing yourself to that one colleague at your workplace because of the skills he/she possess, I’m here to remind you to not let that demoralize or deter you from reaching your fullest potential.

Don’t let the fear of being mediocre stop you from trying! Instead, allow yourself to make mistakes, go and take up challenges and above all, try to get rid of your fixed mindset and adopt a growth mindset. We, as humans, have the tendency to believe attributes, such as talent and intelligence are rigid when in reality, they are not. We should try to adopt a growth mindset—having a growth mindset means believing in yourself and your ability to change, learn and develop. As what Carol Dweck wrote in her book, Mindset: “no matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.”

The image above can now be downloaded as a wallpaper! Click on the image below to download~

 

NEW Motivational Phone Wallpaper for download!

 

The image above can now be downloaded as a wallpaper! Click on the image below to download~

 

When we’re out and about our day, it’s always easy to lose track of our things and tasks, but one thing we’ll always remember to have on hand is our trusty mobile phones! As we get gradually busier as the year goes on, there’s no doubt that the assignments and tasks that we get will increase and even though there may be many ways that we can keep track of all our important tasks such as keeping a diary or list, sometimes, our mobile phone may be just all we need! In today’s blogpost, we have compiled a list of applications that you can keep on your mobile phones to help you manage your busy lives no matter what kind of person you may be~

For a professional, no-nonsense, all-in-one: Minimalist

With it’s simple, black and white interface along with the easy, fool-proof function, Minimalist is the perfect application for keeping track of daily tasks. In addition to being able to type in to-do lists, you can also switch to the application’s built in pomodoro timer, which allows for you to be able to plan your time in intervals that allow you to optimise your productivity for doing your tasks and also time for you to rest and relax after an intensive study session~

   

image by the app store via. https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/minimalist-to-do-list-task/id993066159

 

For a fun, personal diary: EMMO

Logging into a digital diary or planner has been all the craze in Korea and this application is inspired by the trend! EMMO - Life Record is the application’s full name and we can understand why! Enabling you to attach pictures, drawings and even stickers to your otherwise text-only diary logs, you can now choose to end your day with logging into your colourful and eventful mobile diary! Even better, look back at the entries you’ve created after a month of keeping track and reflect back on all those beautiful moments in life you had!

   

image by the app store via. https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/emmo-life-record/id1508326506

 

For the retro-vintage loving student: Focus Tomato

If you’re a big fan of the astrology application, Co-star, you’ll love this app! Inspired by designs from the retro-vintage era, Study Tomato puts a twist to your mundane, boring study sessions with its creative and engaging user interface! This timer makes use of the famous productivity system called the pomodoro timer so not only would you have an aesthetically pleasing timer to look at while you study, you’ll also be able to increase and optimise your productivity for your focus sessions!

   

image by the app store via. https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/focus-tomato-lets-focus-now/id1471458198

 

For the gamerholic workaholic: Blockytime

We all know of the childhood game machines like Pacman or Wreck-it Ralph! This application brings the theme of those game machines to life with it’s pixelated block design! If you aren’t a big fan of your school’s timetables or doing up your timetables on a simple and boring excel sheet, this is the perfect application for you! You can now choose how you want to block out your time for different tasks and chores with this simple application that allows you to view your timetable at a glance! Along with its ability to provide a colour-coding system that you can view all at once, it’s the definition of convenience and ease! 

   

image by the app store via. https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/blockytime-lite/id1412629690

 

And that concludes our list of applications for now! Although there might be only a few applications that we have mentioned in this list, there are always more out there that you can explore and try out! After all, there’s no harm in always trying something new and if it doesn’t work out, you can always choose to delete the application from your phone with the click of a button! So let’s get our grind on and work hard in chasing our dreams together~

Sometimes in life, we get too comfortable in living our own lives and being content with what we have. But one thing is, there’s always more out there and all we need is just to take a step. Just like in this world, there’s so many possibilities available for everyone and out of all of us, only those who weren’t afraid to take a step forward were able to achieve them. While our comfort zone may feel “comfortable”, it starts to get uncomfortable when we see others, just like us, go to greater heights and achieve even bigger things. But what we don’t know is we, ourselves can also do the same! As much as we may fear what’s below the step we take off our mountain of comfort, everyone has that fear too! What’s different with those that were able to go the distance is that they weren’t afraid to jump off their mountains and dive into the deep! In today’s TED talk, we learn from university student Luvvie Ajayi Jones about overcoming our fears of diving into the deep and being comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

Fear has a very concrete power of keeping us from doing and saying the things that are our purpose. Fear, as annoying as it may be, is one of the big characters in the play of our lives. It’s what we feel when we decide to say “yes” or “no” to an important question. It may also be that feeling even as we move our mouse cursor to submit a google form. This fear breeds our anxiety and is what causes our sweaty palms and cold feet. But what we don’t know is when we decide to let go of fear, is when all the awesome things will happen! When we let go of the fear to knock down the dominoes in our life, what happens is the other dominoes start to fall and these dominoes represent all the other possibilities we can achieve in life. If we’re comfortable with standing and being on solid ground, imagine what would happen if we challenge ourselves to sip through the air, or submerge ourselves in water? Or even better, skydive? There’s so so much more out there and you’ll never be able to experience them while always being on solid ground. 

Comfort is overrated. Being quiet and keeping things the way they are is comfortable. Being comfortable only means to maintain the status quo. In order to take flight and achieve what we aspire, we need to have courage and take the leave off the mountain and plunge ourselves into the darkness. Only then will we see the light, that is the beauty of life and then find a new distance that we can once again, strive towards~

The image above can now be downloaded as a wallpaper! Click on the image below to download~

 

Sometimes, what we want to do after waking up is to just lie in bed and enjoy the warmth, being surrounded by our plushies, or huddled up in our blanket. In Singaporean terms, we just want to nua (slack) in our bed. But, other times, we prefer to watch a couple of Youtube videos for either background noise or just for a little morning entertainment. Which is why, Wheniwasfour has compiled a small list of channels you might enjoy for a little morning peace and calm! :) 

 

With ANNA 

If you’re a fan of Korean variety shows, you’ve probably heard of The Return of Superman. With ANNA is a channel started by the wife of one of the fathers featured in the variety show. This mother of 3 makes extremely soothing and peaceful vlogs about her daily life, which features cooking, decorating her house and most importantly, spending time with her adorable kids and doting husband.

Miku

Miku features a wide variety of videos. In this channel, you can find music playlist videos, vlogs, hauls and even lifestyle content! Her most viewed video currently is titled, “Morning Routine / A Life of Japanese Salary Women” with 2.6million views and counting. Her videos are although peaceful, rather inspiring, especially with her use of cinematography by featuring beautiful views, which can be mostly seen in her essay vlogs. 

Apple Cheeks 

If you’d prefer watching videos spoken in English, Apple Cheeks is a channel not to be missed! This channel is the brainchild of self-employed illustrator, Tiffany who showcases her weekly vlogs of her working in her studio. If you also fancy chinese-speaking youtubers, Tiffany is actually bilingual and is able to speak both English and Chinese fluently! Her vlogs are bound to cheer you up, especially with its vibrant style of editing and graphics, featuring her colourful products that she sells on her online store.

Suzlnne

For students, suzlnne’s channel is an interesting one to check out. Filled with her daily vlogs, this channel is known for its peaceful and calm vibes, with minimal music editing, (mostly) raw footage and asmr-like feels. In addition, if you’re one to frequent libraries or cafes to study but you’d prefer to go alone, suzlnne’s “study with me” videos are the best to help you have some background noise, without needing to make any social interactions. She has even included a guide on how to use her “study with me” vlogs so if you’re ever confused on how to use them, you can refer to that video! 

With that we hope that you’ll enjoy our list of channel recommendations and that these channels make your morning~

The image above can now be downloaded as a wallpaper! Click on the image below to download~

 

As we get increasingly busier throughout the year, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything and sometimes, we may actually get too engrossed in work and forget about relaxing and taking care of ourselves. This may cause us to feel unwanted stress and become more exhausted than we already are due to the excessive thoughts about work that we may have even though it may be time to relax! In today’s TED talk, psychologist Guy Winch talks about how we can switch off our work thoughts during our free time to get more time to take care of ourselves~

One thing that we may not take note of is that when we end work, we may physically close the door to our office or to our study rooms, but we may not actually close the door in our mind! This excess exhaustion from work may not actually come from the things you do at work, but from the hours you spend thinking about work at home, or outside of work. This open door in your mind leaves room for the stress of work to flow into your thoughts during your leisure time and because of that, you tend to end up thinking more about what’s next to do at work! It’s important to spend time recovering and rejuvenating ourselves from work and take time to do what we like. Work is never fun and while we may be too busy at work to stress about it, ironically, we spend more time thinking about it than about ourselves!

But while thinking about work may trigger our nervous and stress responses, not all thoughts about work are harmful. Thinking about problem solving is okay, but thinking about all the tasks that we have piled up on our desk or wondering about the what ifs of all our other decisions is not! We need to make a habit of stopping ourselves from thinking about the what ifs and what would happen if we did something else. Habits may be hard to make, but here are two tips to forming a good habit of switching from work to leisure mode:

Have a clear guideline

We have a set timeframe for doing work, which is, our said working hours, and that goes the same for our leisure time! We need to know when we should focus on relaxing and stop thinking about our work. Even more importantly, we must be extremely strict with following it! For example, if we choose to have our leisure window after 8PM, we need to keep to it strictly! When the time comes, we must stop, drop our work, leave our desk and force ourselves to close the door to our offices.

Create a defined boundary between work and non-work

We all have different spaces in our houses for our different tasks and that goes the same for work! However, with space being limited in housing, instead of creating a physical boundary in our workplaces, we can actually trick our mind into creating a psychological one instead! One tip may be to stop doing work on our couches or on our beds, but rather choose a designated desk or table to do your work at and stick with it! Our couches are meant for leisure time and for relaxing and when we do our work there, our brains would unconsciously associate our couches with the stress of doing work and because of that, we end up opening that mental door to work again. 

And with that we hope that these small tips can help you to form that physical and psychological barrier between work and relaxing! You are important and your mental health matters in helping you create an enjoyable life for both you and your loved ones because being able to free up time for leisure also means being able to pay more attention to those that matter most to you. And we’re sure that with enough time and determination, you can most definitely do it~

 

The image above can now be downloaded as a wallpaper! Click on the image below to download~

 

恭喜发财! 年年有余! Happy Chinese New Year’s Eve! Although many of us have been anticipating going to visit our relatives this year, many have chosen not to in light of the current situation. But! That doesn’t mean there won’t still be the Chinese New Year spirit! Many of us remember going to our relatives’ houses and watching their television programmes, munching on snacks while our parents chat with our uncles and aunties. Here are a few Chinese movies that you might like to check out this Chinese New Year to bring back the memories of celebrating CNY the previous years! 

Kung Fu Hustle

One of Hong Kong filmmaker and actor Stephen Chow’s most notable works, you’ve definitely seen this movie if you’re a big fan of kung-fu movies. Comical and filled with a bunch of laughable moments featuring many kung-fu moves, you’ll definitely laugh your hearts out with this movie! Spoiler: our favourite moments include the lion’s roar and buddha’s palm! 

 

image by allmovie via. https://www.allmovie.com/movie/kung-fu-hustle-v314244

 

Shaolin Soccer

If you enjoy Kung Fu Hustle, get ready for another fan favourite; Shaolin Soccer! Shaolin Soccer, as its name says, features the universally loved sport, just with a shaolin twist. With this movie, you can definitely expect to be at the edge of your seat with the yin of it’s nicely executed sports comedy and the yang of romantic yet comedic moments!

 

image by imdb via. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286112/

 

Red Cliff I & II

If you’ve learnt about the Three Kingdoms from Chinese Literature, this movie will bring it to life! Telling the story of a heart-gripping plot of the rivalry between infamous characters, Cao Cao and Liu Bei. You’ll definitely be gripping onto the ends of your seat with the intense battles and mind-blowing strategies involved in this movie!

 

image by valorous tv via. https://valoroustv.com/video/red-cliff/

 

Leap

For many other sports fans, the newly-released movie, Leap is definitely one to watch! Telling the tale of Chinese volleyball legend, Lang Ping, this movie is one that will definitely make you love your favourite sport more than you have ever! Watch the story of the rise of the volleyball team as you experience the emotions of the different players through their acting!

 

image by imdb via. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10670442/

 

CJ7

A movie that some might not have heard of, CJ7 is a film that was released in 2008, similar to Singapore’s own film, “I Not Stupid” (which we also recommend!) This is a film that we’re sure both kids and adults alike will relate to. Be it the stress of having to study hard and do well or to provide for your kid and give them the best, anyone can relate to any of the characters in this film! But, just a warning, get ready a box of tissues because this film is one that will get the waterworks flowing!

 

image by amazon via. https://www.amazon.com/CJ7-Jiao-Xu/dp/B001B4SYDE

 

Honorary Mention: The Karate Kid

Many would recognise Hollywood star, Will Smith. But did you know, this movie features his son, Jaden Smith as the protagonist? Mainly filled with english dialogue, this movie is easy on the eyes and the ears! Explore the deeply rooted culture of Kung Fu in China as you watch the progress of Dre (acted by Jaden Smith) as he slowly learns the techniques of Kung Fu. Don’t worry about this movie being boring, it features beloved Hong Kong martial arts actor, Jackie Chan!

 

image by John Argote Rodriguez via. https://medium.com/@JohnArgote1/the-karate-kid-2010-movie-review-6400b9e61f2f

 

And that concludes our list of movie recommendations for today! We hope that this list helps rekindle the joy and Chinese New Year spirit for you and your loved ones! Watch them as a movie marathon with your family or have a movie session on zoom with your extended family, it’s all up to you~