THE Annual Review -- A Summarised 2014
January 2014
I ushered in the year with a sunrise, hoping to 'Seize the Year'. The month was a busy one at work, partly also due to my involvement in the company's D&D event. It was a great success in my biased opinion, and it was fun to work with my fellow batch-mates in the Commercial Associates Programme.
February 2014
It was my most favourite time of the year--Chinese New Year. Of spring cleanings; a Lunar New Year Puja; went visiting relatives from the 2 countries; celebrations with friends; and bringing the parents for a movie etc, I enjoyed every second of the festive occasion. A Tioman weekend getaway with NP friends followed, in which we recharged by doing nothing much. I did my first Snorkelling there and was impressed by the corals, the fish variety and the crystal clear waters there. At just slightly over S$200 per pax for the whole trip, it was simply a steal. I attended my first concert of the year at 陈绮贞 时间的歌 巡回演唱会--新加坡站 2014 , a philosophical, deep and soulful night of enjoyment. I love her genuineness and will look forward to her next act here again.
March 2014
Late nights were put in to complete a photobook for my Germany trip in Sep 2013, due to an expiring coupon deal. The end product was my proudest photobook production to date! Mid-month, I went on another short weekend trip to Langkawi with my EnginCampComm friends. It wasn't easy to align a good holiday time for 13 people, but the effort paid off. It was a great get-together, over star-gazings, food, cam-whorings, charades and cards, and island-hopping.. I cleared my IPPT this month with another Silver in the bag. The month ended with my first-ever ICT, which was a pretty awesome 9 days out of work.
April 2014
My photobook arrived which got me really excited about it. It was my 3rd so far, and certainly the most 游记-like that I've always wanted. Another excitement this month was the musical 天冷就回来, when we actually got close up with 梁文福 and had an autograph + group photo with him.
May 2014
I started counting down to a change of department in the company, and also started to think about having a solo trip later in the year. My first year of Dharma classes ended with a written test, which gave us the foundation to continue into the 2nd year.
June 2014
It's a month of mixed feelings when faced with the impending change of department -- I could see how the mixed feelings panned out at different points of the countdown. It really wasn't too hard to ease into the new role and new colleagues, and I found some new happiness there. The month ended with an Opening performance at the newly unveiled National Stadium, where I watched a record-breaking 5000-strong Chinese Orchestra performance.
July 2014
I caught 孙燕姿[克卜勒世界巡回演唱会2014] at the National Stadium, the first pop act there. It was a large turnout, with at least 30 friends I know at the same venue, listening to the local pop queen belting out numbers in her 14-year career. Just a pity that she was unwell and couldn't perform at her best. I donated blood on my birthday after a 1.5-year break, and celebrated with few groups of friends, including the Concert friends and colleagues. The Brazil World Cup brought July to a standstill worldwide. I caught the final few matches, and was especially tickled by how the local anti-gambling campaign by NCPG got everyone poking fun at the character 'Andy'. I watched the lovely musical 'The Sound of Music' with my university friends, because we travelled to Salzburg together in 2012, where the movie of the same name was filmed in the 1960s. I was also fortunate to watch the NDP NE show before the month closed, and get wowed by the fireworks on display.
August 2014
The Glasgow Commonwealth Games was the highlight of the month for me, when I stayed tuned after work till midnight to catch the matches. The time difference of beautiful Scotland made it very suitable for working people like me. After doing very much research on Myanmar, then Sarawak's Mulu, then Surabaya, I finally decided and booked my September trip to Bali+Lombok with Wenjian, where we would trek a volcano and do a marathon.
September 2014
苏打绿's 空气中的视听与幻觉 十周年巡回演唱会 - 新加坡站 kicked off the month well. We got ourselves the prime seats and enjoyed this top-quality concert so much. Wenjian and I decided to stayover at Swissotel after the concert, so as to catch enough rest before the Army Half Marathon the next morning. It was my 8th consecutive year in this race, and it was still good, with a non-too-bad timing. The Mt Rinjani trekking trip came and I cannot stress enough that it was a trip worth doing for everyone, for the breathtaking views and how it would make you 'feel like you've lived'. The Bali Marathon that followed was also an epic race that made me break my own personal marathon timing. After a year of preparations, T.H.I.S Buddhist Film Festival 2014 finally took place this month at Shaw Lido, and it was easily my happiest week this year -- we sold 97% of the available tickets, with multiple sold-out screenings. It was so fun, joyful and memorable that I think I'd want to be a part of it again in 2016.
October 2014
A relatively quiet month. I did another YouTube video for the Rinjani trip: Awesome Rinjani Trip 2014, which didn't garner as many views as my other Germany video. It was nevertheless still a month of beer, karaoke and gatherings.
November 2014
I went MediaCorp for an audition which eventually turned out well -- you'd hear more about this pretty soon. One other highlight was probably Chaw Mun's wedding at Sentosa, which would kick off a series of many more weddings in 2015.
December 2014
My 9th Marathon done at Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2014. As expected, it was slower than the personal best set in Bali in September. All participants would remember the deathly heat that morning! The festive season came, and I made personalized gifts that took much sweat. There were of course many year-end gatherings to close the good year as well.
人生是黑白的.
8:00 PM <3
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