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Thursday, December 28, 2017

THE Annual Review -- A Summarised 2017

January 2017

The new year was ushered at WL's place, away from all the noises and rah-rah at countdown parties. We celebrated our parents' 30 years of marriage this month at Joie, which is really an occasion that doesn't come by easily. WL and I had a fun-filled staycation at Quincy hotel, which had a worthwhile weekend package. We also teamed up with some TMBS friends to take part in a voluntary spring cleaning event at a rental flat, which was a new experience for me. Chinese New Year came towards the end of the month, with numerous reunions and gatherings with family, friends and colleagues. On Day 2 of CNY, I was tasked to be the emcee for TMBS 新春团拜, in which I received nice feedback from attendees, even though it was really just mere reading of the script.

February 2017

For most of the CNY this year (Day 6 to 14), I returned to my ICT unit for training. It might sound like a bad time to have ICT, but honestly, having it after the main CNY period (those first 3 days), actually meant that my absence from work was a little longer than others! I can't share things from it, just that it was a pretty enjoyable week for me. As it was still CNY, there were still a number of gatherings with friends and colleagues this month.There was also 学友.经典世界巡回演唱会（第57场） that ended the month for me memorably -- I've watched countless concerts before, but this was the best concert I've ever watched in my life, and I might not watch a better one ever again. (And I'm glad he's coming back for an encore performance in Feb 2018 again!)

March 2017
I lost my 外婆 early this month, after seeing how rapidly she weakened since last August and then after a fall last October. She had led a tough life, and I will definitely miss her unconditional love and concerns for all of us. Apart from a few meetups and a cousin's 21st birthday celebration, this month was relatively uneventful.

April 2017

The month started with a exclusive visit to out-of-bounds Raffles Lighthouse, having successfully balloted for an annual learning experience tour conducted by MPA. We also celebrated mum's birthday this month. There was also my company's kickoff event, during which I humbly received an award with a prize of a Korea trip hosted by our CEO. WL and I were also busy planning for our upcoming Canada trip in May. I flew off for Korea at the end of the month.

May 2017
The Korea trip for company award winners was a relatively luxurious one, where we had quality food and underwent experiential activities like wine tasting, strawberries plucking, paper fan painting and hanbok wearing etc. The only thing was that almost everyone else could bring a spouse along, but I didn't have one. To prepare for our self-driving in Canada, WL and I rented a car for a day to practise. The eventful month was also filled up with gatherings, a wedding, a Vesak day, karaoke, and packing for the trip. We finally flew on mid-May to Canada. This was THE trip of a lifetime -- we did tandem skydiving coupled with a wedding proposal; island kayaking; driving on the left driver's seat; whale-watching; attending an overseas wedding; encountering a bear while hiking; appreciating awesome views of the Canadian Rockies; breaking my personal marathon record at Ottawa; and the list just goes on. I will never forget such an adventure-packed trip.

June 2017
The moment we came back from the awesome Canada trip, our wedding preparations started immediately, with shortlisting of wedding venues and even coming up with a target guest list. House-hunting began too, with visits to some potential units nearby my current place. By the end of the month, we had visited no less than 4 wedding banquet venues and WL had also began visiting bridal shops. I was personally amazed by our speed of preparations, amidst the numerous gatherings with friends that also happened during the month.

July 2017
The month began being a videographer at KS+MQ's wedding. WL and I continued with wedding venues hunting, and we finally settled on one during a wedding show, alongside with the confirmation of a package with a bridal studio. I officially celebrated my #chyork30 birthday, and WL initially planned for her performance surprise at Shuffle, which sadly did not happen. She was pretty disappointed. Her birthday came towards the later half of the month too and we had a simple celebration. This month was also the start of my gym routine, in which I had continued on faithfully since. To prepare for the Army Half Marathon in August, I also took part in running clinics with the official pacers, which I realised were good training sessions! The month ended with a spa session, after which WL and I signed for a few more.

August 2017
Amidst wedding planning and meetups, one highlight for the month was the Army Half Marathon which I had tried to prepare for, by joining some pacer training runs. The race turned out well, and I managed to break my own Half Marathon timing, and did a sub-2 hour run for the first time. I continued with the running momentum, by joining a 16-week running programme by Coached, which would prepare us for the SCSM at the end of the year.

September 2017
The month was passed with the finalisation of a few other necessaries of the wedding - the list for 过大礼, choosing the videography partner, as well as fitting of the gowns and suits. We had to rush a little this month, because WL would be embarking on her 2-month ship programme in October, and would thus be away. We also decided to celebrate our 2-year anniversary earlier, at the end of the month.

October 2017
I signed up as a pacer for the YoloRun, and began training with the other pacers on a weekly basis at the undulating terrain at Fort Canning. It was quite a nice experience, being the first time introducing an added responsibility into my favourite sport. WL and I had our pre-wedding shoot too, and it was quite a tiring but fun day. Honestly speaking, I had expected the day to be a hassle and dreadful day of rushing, but I was surprised that it was pretty smooth (except that it rained and we had to change location) and enjoyable! We also viewed a potential resale flat unit much to our liking, and had placed high hopes on it, only to be disappointed eventually. WL finally flew off for the 52-day ship programme.

November 2017
As WL was away, the month was relatively less eventful. The YoloRun took place and the experience didn't turn out very well, even as a pacer myself. But I did try to enjoy the process, and we did our job well for that first 19km before the major bottleneck. Singles day 11/11 became my first Taobao experience, where I subsequently became addicted and did much of the shopping there since. Training for my SCSM continued to the hard phase, as the countdown to the race drew nearer.

December 2017
I initially expected myself to break my own record at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon this year, but it didn't happen due to a nightmarish baggage deposit saga that caused me to start 1 hr 20 minutes behind everyone else. Otherwise, the marathon experience was relatively nice, with great road closures, weather and hydration points. This spurred me to set a tougher challenge for myself in 2018. WL returned from her ship programme in mid Dec, and our wedding preparations continued in full swing. December was a month of gatherings, giving, drinks and celebrations, and the mood would continue until the very end of 2017.

人生是黑白的.
2:51 PM <3

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