JANUARY 2011
2011 was ushered in at the airport, sending off campcomm friends to their exchange adventures. The month marked the start of my internship stint at an MNC, where I would spend the next 6 months, as a Pricing Intern. I attended the only wedding in 2011, for my 堂哥. Mid-month, there was Hebe's autograph session too! Notably, my iGallop clique in NUS also kickstarted a monthly treat series, where each one of us interns would take turns to treat an extravagant meal each month. This became one of the most looked-forward meal every month.


FEBRUARY 2011
A happy month it was. My favourite contestant 李佳薇 winning 星光大道 was one good news. Then there was the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit. 2011's Chinese New Year was a tad different, because we didn't enter Malaysia, but we had a good reunion gathering through a movie and a meal at a restaurant, with the Singaporean relatives. My first plans to visit Kagoshima/Okinawa took root this month, but was later shelved, following a massive disaster in Japan in March. I attended my first concert of the year at The Esplanade, for Kit Chan + Singapore Chinese Orchestra. Our squad also had our annual reunion dinner, but interestingly we Lo Hei on 十六, which made us look weird in the restaurant. The month ended with the interns supporting our department's dragonboat team at a big company event, which also started our countless interns' outings.


MARCH 2011
It was a grim month, re-watching images and re-reading accounts of survivors from the twin disasters of Japan. It gripped the papers for about 2 weeks, before the electoral fever got heated up in Singapore. Halfway through my internship, I became a little reflective over the experience. During 清明, the one topic that all the relatives kept discussing, was none other than the coming elections. At that time, I was highly skeptical that I would get a chance to vote, looking at the electoral boundaries and the long history of walkovers at Marine Parade GRC. But the conclusive consensus, was that the ruling party ought to lose at least one GRC to 'wake up'.


APRIL 2011
April Fools' was spent at Stefanie Sun's autograph session. But the month was definitely outshone by electoral fever. I devoted most of the blogging space of that month to election-related entries. There was a great improvement this year, when a televised political forum was aired after 23 years. Mid-month, I attended my 2nd concert of the year: Tanya and The Cities. It was also my turn to give my clique in school the extravagant treat, and it was at JuShinJung, still my favourite Korean restaurant. I entered The Esplanade a second time in the year, to catch 881-The Musical with Jinhui. On Nomination Day towards the end of the month, I correctly guessed that WP's Sec-Gen left his Hougang ward to contest in Aljunied. It became red-hot talk for the next 9 days.


MAY 2011
On May day, the interns had a one-day JB makan trip, hence adding flavour to our many outings. Back in Singapore, I attended 5 rallies out of the 8 nights, of which 4 nights were for the WP. I was very excited when one of the Aljunied GRC rallies was held just in front of my house, bringing the atmosphere and excitement into an otherwise quiet neighbourhood. On polling day, I waited for the results at Hougang stadium, and I will never forget the electrifying atmosphere that night. Please refer to that entry for descriptions. Before the month ended, the iGallop clique went on a JB trip (yes, my 2nd JB trip in the month), but the main objective was to take the KTM train. I took a video of the experience, and you can access it via Facebook.


JUNE 2011
I witnessed another "once-in-50-years-flooding" in Orchard road during my Japanese class. Some other happenings of the month included organising Lasertag for my intern friends. Having conducted for many times, it was really enjoyable to conduct for people I know. The month was better remembered for my trip to Hong Kong with some of my campcomm friends. I took videos too, to document the experience. Tanjong Pagar Railway station opened for the last time on 30 June, and I made a special trip down after work, and witnessed history, alongside hundreds of people and media crew.


JULY 2011
I ended my 6-months internship with mixed feelings. After the KTM trains stopped, thousands of locals went to trek on the tracks, including myself with squadmates. We did a 5km distance, from Buona Vista to somewhere at Jln Anak Bukit. The trek took us through unique views and "non-Singapore-like" areas. I also attended my 3rd concert of the year: Fish Leong's 爱的那一页.


AUGUST 2011
I visited Pulau Tekong for cousin's enlistment, and was surprised at the many visible changes. Together with YS and WL, we went back to TJC to visit our 2 Civics Tutors too. Our squad had a weekend getaway trip to Malacca, where we ate/drank/shopped/Karaoke/celebrated birthday/played cards -- all in less than 24 hours! Before the new academic year started, the campcomm clique celebrated National Day with NUSSU Rag Day at Marina Bay. There was also the Presidential Election, where we witnessed the most razor-thin Presidential winning margin ever. It was such a tight fight among 4 Tans, and it similarly gripped the nation like it did in May.


SEPTEMBER 2011
I completed my 5th SAFRA Army Half Marathon since 2007. My 2nd Musical of the year was The Lion King, at Marina Bay Sands. Watching a Broadway musical was really enjoyable and it made me look forward to Wicked in January 2012. I started watching TVB dramas - in Cantonese - and it became a little addictive, but it's helping me improve my Cantonese and realising one of my 2011 resolutions.


OCTOBER 2011
The parents rarely have the chance to travel overseas, and they did! I caught the 4th concert: Kit Chan's "The Music Room" at Marina Bay Sands, which was superb. This month was really a very busy one with school work, but some time had to be taken out to catch one of the best Chinese movies this year: 那些年，我们一起追的女孩. The movie trended for very long in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and even sparked off a “那些年”风.


NOVEMBER 2011
The month of 第17届新加坡金曲奖, which I managed to win free tickets to. Amidst looming exams and project deadlines, I couldn't resist watching the SEA Games action in Palembang. Hebe's autograph session took place too.


DECEMBER 2011
A supposed Stanchart marathon run became a half-marathon one after oversleeping. But the month has got reasons to celebrate, amidst the countless train disruptions and faults. I took a climbing/belaying course with Navy batchmates; had a few Karaoke sessions and the year ended with 3 Christmas gatherings. At the same time, FYP woes continued as the deadline drew nearer...


2011 had been eventful on the global level, where we saw national disasters all over the globe and many governments toppling. There were the US and Euro crises that gloomed the global economy. On the national level, 2 elections definitely galvanised tiny Singapore and suddenly made everyone politically-aware.

But on the personal level, it wasn't very eventful. Probably 2012 might, since it's so uncertain right now. As always, a new year brings new hopes and surprises, and I'm waiting for all that to happen.