The Scout - the one that got away (but keeps coming back for food), and the (unexpected) player

I headed out of Jurong to Raffles Place, expecting to meet another “Star” – the one that got away -- Jeslyn. As I settled down at the meeting place, Jeslyn came in with her colleague and explained, “She stays in Jurong also!”. And that was how I had an unexpected starlight moment and discovered the player – Calista.

Calista (left) and Jeslyn (right)

When asked what they enjoy doing during their free time, they were hesitant as to where the question was heading. “Huh? What if we say play games?” Calista asked jokingly. She wasn’t alone and many stars were perturbed whenever we asked what their interests were. “Can!” I reassured them that we just wanted to know them better, and “Stars” were everyday people and need not have extraordinary interests. It turns out that they recently played Call of Duty together. 

“Mahjong!” Jeslyn answered proudly after giving the question some thought. On the other hand, Calista loves swimming, and has tried many other sports growing up. I initially thought they had very different interests but Jeslyn brilliantly pointed out that they were similar. Upon hearing her explanation, I had to concede – both Mahjong and sports hone similar soft skills such as strategising.

Both Jeslyn and Calista grew up in Jurong but as they shared their experiences growing up, one thing became clear – while we all grew up in Jurong, we had such different experiences.

Jeslyn recounted fondly her growing up years in Jurong. When she was younger, she would tell her friends where she stayed was even better than a condominium. She explained that as she stayed at a HDB flat beside Jurong East Swimming Complex, she and her friends would swim and walk back to her house to wash up. She thus had access to the similar facilities as those living in a condominium, except that after washing up, they could even head back to the swimming complex for KFC. Other times, they would plan to swim but end up going only to KFC.

Fast forward today, the foodie in Jeslyn remains and we were floored by her impressive knowledge of hawker food in Jurong. Even though she no longer lives in Jurong, she would travel to Jurong just for its food. Once, she woke up with cravings for her favourite Char Teow Kway and immediately grabbed to Jurong alone only to find out she had left her wallet at home. Thankfully, the auntie was extremely understanding, and she still had her Char Teow Kway cravings fulfilled.  

Calista, on the other hand, candidly shared her challenges when she was younger. She revealed that she struggled with her self-esteem and her teenage years were filled with rebellious acts. Her turning point was when she was confronted with the realities of adulthood, upon dropping out of her polytechnic course in her third and final year. Calista decided then that she wanted to enter early childhood education. This meant a daily commute from Jurong West to her full-time childcare job in the North of Singapore, before heading to Bras Basah in the evening for her part-time early childhood education course, and back to the wild west at night. It was extremely tiring but she eventually became an early childhood educator -- which she was for the past 7 years, before she switched to her current job a few months back.

As I bade farewell, I was starstruck and energised by the fun-filled and honest conversation with Jeslyn and Calista. Their youthful energy and candour may be highly contagious – like the COVID-19 virus – but you won’t want to steer clear from them! 

In view of the recent COVID-19 situation, we will be postponing The Picnic to 28 March 2020 (9-11am). In the meantime, we will be sharing more about the “Stars” and what they care about on our facebook event page and at Bold At Work @ Blk 319 so do keep a look out!