THE Annual Review -- A Summarised 2013 (Part 1)
January 2013
The year started with the end of my 8.5-month freedom since I finished my last examination in April 2012. I was pretty excited for work and told myself to maintain a 'happy balance'. Just one week into the job, I realized the great difficulty in adding 'life' into the 'work-life balance'. This month also marked the exciting Punggol East by-election, during which I attended 2 out of 3 WP rallies, seemingly more excited than some of the local voters. The month ended with my first concert of the year 张惠妹 AMeiZING ENCORE! 世界巡回演唱会 2013, in which the highlight was still the 40-min medley. During this 40-min medley, the official results of the By-election were announced, and the supposedly-emo atmosphere in the concert got lost for me.
February 2013
The Population White Paper (believed to be postponed from January due to the By-Election) sparked a national controversy with the taboo "6.9 million" figure. It got people talking about this unpopular report even across Chinese New Year. It was a wet CNY, and at the same time, I was nursing a sore right ear. 初三 was a non-working day, but having to return to office on 初七, a Saturday, was pretty blue.
March 2013
I caught the Top Grossing local movie of all time, Ah Boys to Men 2, and totally enjoyed the nostalgia of NS life. I also started thinking about things I wanted to do for the rest of the year, and it included volunteering, attending Dharma classes and going on a trip in the 2nd half of the year. I'm now glad that all these happened. I watched 张信哲《空出来的时间》世界巡回演唱会 and loved the love ballads, but felt that he could have sung more. On Good Friday, the relatives met again for Tomb-Sweeping. I visited Punggol Waterway Park with CampComm friends too, and found it overrated. There was a staycation with CampComm guys at Pan Pacific Hotel, so that we could wake early for a 2XU run, but I was a crasher and had to play hide-and-seek with the race officials. It was an epic weekend.
April 2013
The parents went on a trip to Vietnam, which I was quite happy because they've really made close friends with their Dharma classmates. Papa even bought a DSLR for it, which eventually became a toy that the rest of us share. Local TV scene was rocked by news of 黄文永's sudden passing and it led him to clinch 2 Star Awards posthumously. I realized that I began to look visibly tired, with comments coming from people I don't see too often. Work-fatigue had set in.
May 2013
"选举舞弊" and "Blackout" became terms that were linked to the Malaysian Elections, which led to widespread unhappiness, both in the real world and in all social networking sites. I follow Malaysian politics too, and stayed till late night to await the disappointing results. "Tulipmania" at the Gardens By the Bay was the first occasion that I took pictures with the family DSLR, with pro tips from Kian Seng. This month was also when the relatives celebrated Mothers' Day together (first time), initiated by Small Aunt. I also took part in a charity event -- Lion's Biathlon with Wenjian and it made me train hard for the Swimming leg of the race. The event was fun because they removed the competitive nature of a normal biathlon. At work, the team was very demotivated and unhappy by the occurrence of an event and I guess it still does.
June 2013
The month began with gatherings with different friends and it made me feel alive again. It quickly took a turn for the worse with unhappy events at work, some of which I found the need to share with a neutral department in the company. Mid-month, I attended a professionally-run camp by the MINDS Youth Group and had a great day attached to a trainee. That was when I saw how genuinely happy the trainees were, and how real too. I restarted Postcrossing, and sent out a couple of postcards all over the world. The Haze crisis took over the region, and we witnessed the 'New Normal' in the PSI readings. When a '190' first showed, it flooded the entire Facebook and Twitter. Then, once the level had reached '400' one day, a '350' reading would garner reactions like "it's getting better now". There was also the free early transport scheme for selected MRT stations and I took advantage of it for the 1st week. And I gave up thereafter.
人生是黑白的.
12:38 AM <3
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How was the first week of 2014?
-I ushered in the new year at a social meet-up event, attended with Navy friend JX. We realized that the crowd was mostly older people, but stayed on anyway to await the fireworks after countdown.
-On the first day of the year, I pulled myself out of bed (after just 3 hours of nap) and took a bus at 6:20am, so as to reach East Coast Park to get the first light of the year. It was a little disappointing that it was quite cloudy across the horizon, and I could not see the red sun peeking out of the waters. Nevertheless, I was glad I made it for the first daybreak, because I really wanted to seize the year.
-At work, the first 2 workdays were long and there were OT. Probably not the kind of start that anyone would have fancied?
-The first weekend was good, though. I managed to have a good swim and a good run. Let's hope it'll continue.
人生是黑白的.
11:59 PM <3
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