cHyOrK: >>

Monday, January 11, 2016

THE Annual Review -- A Summarised 2015

January 2015
I ushered in a great year ahead with the iGallop clique at Daryl's place. The first few days were filled with a few gatherings spilled over from the year-end festive period. Mid-month, the 07/04 bros went for a short weekend trip to Malacca where we ate alot. I went for a few recordings of 上班不留白3 ahead of the series premiere at the 2nd half of the month. I had kept it at a low profile except for a few friends, from whom I hoped to get some discussion points. On 22nd Jan, when I was nervously watching the season premiere at 8pm on Channel U, my phone was ringing non-stop, which was pretty much to my surprise. I hadn't expected many to be watching. The month ended with yet another successful organising of the company's version of D&D, which our team had spent quite some effort on.

February 2015
I attended my first of a total of 10 weddings in 2015. 上班不留白3's recording was completed at the mid of the month. Chinese New Year came and there were multiple gatherings, in which I was frequently asked about my appearances on TV. A 4B guys alcohol gathering at KBox Bedok Point (which had since closed down) also ended up with a few of us throwing up.

March 2015
I met up with Navy bros for a day of cycling at Pulau Ubin. The month saw a significant part of Singapore history, first with the Prime Minister's Office issuing almost-daily updates of Lee Kuan Yew's health deterioration, until his final passing on the morning of the 23rd. A week of darkness befell Singapore with 7 days of national mourning, when events were cancelled, entertainment was halted and 10-hour queues were formed around the clock to pay respects to the man.

April 2015
A quiet month on the social front, but a busy one on the work front, with a few events and kickoffs and presentations. Notably for the first time, I was asked to be the emcee for a department event. Socially, apart from a wedding, Wing and I met for the first time through SY, who linked us up so that Wing could take up Dharma classes. At month-end, our family car was scrapped and we gave up owning a car for good.

May 2015
The highlight for this month had to be the Solo trip to Sri Lanka. 9 days weren't enough, but I had great fun travelling alone and starting #Postcard_Diplomacy. A YouTube video of the trip can be found here: Awesome Sri Lanka Trip 2015. The month ended with a Dharma exam to conclude the 2nd year of study.

June 2015
The month started with Vesak Day celebrations, in which I was the Chinese Emcee for the puja and was thankfully quite we ll-received. I took the new IPPT and continued to manage a Silver. Kit Chan's 《着迷。陈洁仪》演唱会 had us all spellbound at The Star Theatre. The 28th S.E.A Games opened in Singapore and saw Team Singapore garnering the historic best showing. As a fan of our sportspeople, I was diligently following the action quite full-time (even at work). The 4B guys had a stag party for Yuzhi to celebrate the group's first wedding. I asked Wing out for our first dinner date before the month ended and we had a good 3-hour chat and I realised we had too many similarities.

July 2015
Being the birthday month, there were celebrations from friends, family and colleagues. But July was also eventful due to a department durian party, a squadmate's baby shower, another squadmate's housewarming, an ex-classmate's wedding, as well as a Batam trip with a few colleagues.

August 2015
The month started with a Karaoke session with new friends from 慧严. I celebrated Wing's belated birthday amidst a fireworks night sky. Then, the SG50 long weekend came, which was a valuable time to pack gatherings in. On national day, I decided to do something spontaneous by running 25km from my house to Wing's house, to prove a point about distance. After the national day weekend, election fever took over the town. I had 2-3 political chat-groups with discussions day and night, and with outings like having Orh Luak at Fengshan Market. I gave a quote to Zaobao about being a voter in Marine Parade GRC, and it was published the day after the announcement of the election date. There was a 盂兰盆法会，where I officially took the Five Precepts (受五戒). At the end of the month, I spent 6-days in a trip to Indonesia, visiting Mount Bromo, Mount Ijen and ending with my milestone 10th Full marathon, held in Bali for the 2nd consecutive year. It almost became a personal best, if not for a tummy upset.

September 2015
The day I came back to Singapore from Indonesia, it was Nomination day and I followed election happenings full-time - refreshed news on social media and watched nightly election rallies. I awaited election results at a designated assembly centre, only to be shocked alongside many Singaporeans. I watched 《雨季》musical with the concert friends and took a group photo with 梁文福 and 叶良俊. Apart from meeting friends at 2 weddings, there was a farewell meal for XW who was sent to China. The haze locked up the region once again, making the iGallop clique look forward to the upcoming Cambodia trip while doing our trip planning.

October 2015
Wing and I finally got together in early October. Mid-month, the Cambodia trip finally came and the iGallop clique had a fun one-week learning about the history of the ancient empire, as well as the sad history of recent years. A company-driven tree-planting event saw me planting a tree for the second time this year (the first was during the Sri Lanka trip). At a 观音出家法会, Wing took the Five Precepts too.

November 2015
A pretty busy month at work and external commitments. My Dharma class went to Kwong Wai Shiu hospital as volunteers to visit the old folks, as part of 慈善日. I appeared in the newspaper once again, but this time as a blurred image in a company ad. Wing and I caught 《S.H.E Forever Stars 2015 新加坡站演唱会》and we sat right in front of them. As part of my company's CSR event, our department also dedicated a weekend morning to distribute welfare packs to needy residents. A 100plus charity event also saw Wing and I taking part in a treadmill run and getting free Soleus fitness trackers.

December 2015
慧严 celebrated her 30th anniversary with many events and we took part in a number of them, including 2 发布会s, the anniversary puja and a talk. The annual Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2015 was my 11th Full Marathon and I finally achieved a Personal Best result on home soil again after many years. Perhaps knowing someone waiting at the Finish Line was extra motivation. In the line-up to Christmas, I put in a number of late nights to prepare gifts. The year-end festive period was the busiest time of the year with gatherings one after another, including one at Wing's house and one at her relative's. The happy year ended with a gathering at QR's house, where the concert-going friends met to watch Taipei 101 Live countdown.

人生是黑白的.
1:21 AM <3

>>>

Sunday, January 10, 2016

2016 Resolutions

1. Gain mass back to 65kg! Gain muscle mass and find time to swim!

2. Learn / Pick up something new!

3. 600km running mileage for the year! Achieve a 4:30 timing for Full Marathon.

4. Improve my financial literacy!

5. Find time to read!
6. Find fresh motivations at work!
7. Get an average of 7 hours of sleep every night!

人生是黑白的.
8:32 PM <3

>>>

2015 Resolutions Score-card

1. "Gain mass back to 65kg!"

Verdict: Fair. I'm back to the 63kg level, but never really went past that throughout the year.

2. "Learn / Pick up something new!"

Verdict: Failed. But to be fair, 2015 was a really busy year and it had been most enriching in itself.

3. "400km running mileage for the year! Achieve a sub-5 hour for my 10th Full Marathon, and an improved timing for my half-marathon!"

Verdict: Great. I clocked 754.4km over the year, almost doubling the target set. I achieved sub 5-hour timings for my 10th and 11th Full marathon, with a new Personal Best result. I did not take part in any half-marathons in 2015, but the splits achieved at the 21km-mark at both the full marathons in 2015 seem to suggest improved timings.

4. "Improve my financial literacy"

Verdict: Failed. Did not manage to read up.

5. "Finish 1 book every quarter!"

Verdict: Failed. But again, 2015 had been too packed!

6. "Find fresh motivations at work!"

Verdict: Failed.

7. "Attend more social events to know more people!"

Verdict: Good. In some ways, I really got to know more people over 2015, including interesting people from the Channel U production Smart@Work 3.

8. "Go on at least 1 epic trip!"

Verdict: Great. I made a 9-day epic solo trip to Sri Lanka and made a YouTube video. There was also a one-week Indonesia trip where I visited 2 volcanoes and did a marathon. There was also another one-week Cambodia trip where I visited the rich history (old and recent) of this once-great empire in the region.

人生是黑白的.
8:26 PM <3

>>>