Friday, February 10, 2017
The year so far had been quite on a celebratory note. Besides ushering in 2017, we celebrated the parents' 30 years of marriage over a very satisfactory lunch at Joie, a restaurant in town that serves great meat-less cuisines with an impeccable service. They accommodated our request for a private room on a weekend afternoon, and showed patience in explaining the dishes. The staff also prepared a little cake for the occasion. 30 years is really something that doesn't come by so easily, and for us the children, we're really happy to be a part of this wonderful journey throughout.
WL and I also had a little staycation at Quincy over one of the weekends in January. Though it was for no celebratory occasion, it was pretty fun-filled. I personally liked how the Weekend package included a number of items, including a Chocolate Truffle making session, a bottle of Red Wine, free cocktails and pastries, a movie screening etc. It essentially filled up the staycation easily!
Spring Cleanings came after the staycation weekend, and I did enjoy clearing off unwanted stuff from my room. But there was also something different this year -- I joined some of the other TMBS friends to take part in another half-day voluntary work elsewhere, where we helped to clean rental flat units with 5-6 people in a team. I hadn't done something like this before and I initially had my reservations, which eventually disappeared. We did help to clean up and tidy up the rental unit, making it one of the more meaningful events I've done in recent times.
Chinese New Year came and it was definitely worth celebrating. There were reunion meals with my family and WL's family, and a couple of other gatherings with friends and colleagues. Everyone says that as they grow older, CNY would gradually seem less celebratory. I do feel it somewhat, but call me traditional-or-what, to me CNY will always be my favourite festive season in the year. Perhaps I really enjoy reunions and seeing everyone's well and good.
On CNY Day 2, I was the emcee for TMBS 新春团拜. It was a pretty 'easy' emceeing task as it was just mere reading of the standard script, but it was still nice to hear some positive feedback from some attendees.
For most of the CNY (Day 6 to 14), I returned to my ICT unit for training. A number of friends and colleagues would exclaim at the timing in a sympathetic tone, but to be honest, it wasn't that bad lah. Having ICT after the main CNY period (those first 3 days), also meant that my absence from work is a little longer than others and so have a slightly longer celebratory period. The thing I find interesting about ICTs, is really how the team-mates could bond over the ICT week, then remained transient with almost no contact for 2 years, before coming back again in strong camaraderie. And seeing each other once every 2 years, it was also interesting to see how each of us had (or hadn't) aged. It had been quite an enjoyable week for me.
人生是黑白的.
5:12 PM <3
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THE Annual Review -- A Summarised 2016
January 2016
The new year was ushered in with the concert-going group at qr's place. The month passed with a number of gatherings, including one at a wedding, a drinking session at wx's and a np reunion at the end of the month. On 9 Jan, the concert group attended 张惠妹乌托邦世界巡城演唱会 and was wowed by her flawless performances but unimpressed by the National Stadium's acoustics. The highlight of the month was definitely a week-long Taiwan Kaohsiung+Kenting trip with WL, where we encountered a freezing cold wave that was the strongest in recent years!
February 2016
It's the CNY month, which involved a lot of visitings, reunions and meet-ups with friends, families and colleagues. WL and I also celebrated our first Vday, over spa and at Joie.
March 2016
The month began with 田馥甄 如果 世界巡回演唱会, where Hebe proved to be a versatile singer with quality vocals. The second half of the month was spent in China, for a 2-week Graduation trip with my 3-year Dharma classmates and other volunteers of the Buddhist Society. We went to Henan and Shaanxi provinces, and visited well-known sites of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, as well as other non-religious sites like the Terracotta sites and going up Mt Hua. Notably, we had 12 days of vegetarian menu and really enjoyed the meat-less cuisines pretty much!
April 2016
At work, I was asked to be the emcee for the company kickoff event, which was quite an interesting experience for me -- slightly unnerving at the start, before easing into the role. I guess not everyone would get the chance to stand on the stage of the Kallang Theatre and did emceeing work in front of about 800 people. The month ended with an open audition for 寻找星声音, a competition to pick the next radio station DJ newbie. I was a little nervous while doing the 3 minutes of introduction + script reading on stage in front of hundreds of pairs of eyes, but it was an experience to relish!
May 2016
We went on a Labour Day outing with the Buddhist Society and visited the attractions in the Kranji area. At the end of the month, we caught
Kumarajiva 鸠摩罗什, a play that retold the life of an illustrious Buddhist monk and scholar who was instrumental in the propagation of Buddhism in China through his unsurpassed concise translations of teachings from key Sanskrit scriptures to the Chinese language. WL and I took part in the Sundown Half Marathon, to clock the longest race she had ever done.
June 2016
This was a busy month, with all weekends dedicated to the preparations of our Dharma Class graduation. The actual ceremony at the end of the month included a play performance that I was heavily involved in, and was glad that everything went well, which was a great closure for the class that had stayed together for the past 3 years. I took IPPT and maintained a Silver.
July 2016
This was a pretty eventful month, which started with a birthday staycation at Oasia hotel and my first visit to the Adventure Cove. There were a handful of meet-ups with old friends over meals and one with a cycling session. WL and I caught Les Misérables, my second time after once in London in 2012. It was also Singapore Theatre Festival, so part of the Concert-going group caught the "GRC" (Geng Rebut Cabinet) comedy play. Preparations for the T.H.I.S Buddhist Film Festival entered the final phase, with the first roadshows beginning this month.
August 2016
The month involved a number of gatherings (Concert peeps / drinking peeps / 4B etc) and a number of T.H.I.S roadshows. The witness of a friend's proposal was interesting, as was being the emcee for a department skills contest on a weekend. It was the Olympics month, but due to time zone differences, I wasn't able to catch as much action as previous Olympics. However, the country still managed to stand still during key moments like the Joseph Schooling's Gold moment. WL and I also went for our best spa session so far at a hotel in Orchard. We also went for this year's Natsu Matsuri event. The month concluded with my 3rd Bali trip in 3 years, which was primarily for my 3rd Bali Marathon, and also came with a scary experience at Mount Agung, where I experienced Altitude Sickness.
September 2016
The main highlight was definitely T.H.I.S Buddhist Film Festival 2016, where I was at Shaw Lido for pretty much the entire 9-day festival. We surpassed previous runs in terms of ticket sales and reach, and it was a tired but genuinely happy week for me. We caught 梁静茹《你的名字是爱情》2016 世界巡回演唱会, where Fish didn't disappoint as usual, but there were still a few more classics that didn't make it to the song list.
October 2016
WL and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary at a restaurant on a tall building in Orchard Road. We also won tickets to a movie premiere of 楼下的房客, which brought us back to Shaw Lido once again. Our family visited 外婆 at a nursing home in JB, where she continued to ail in health.
November 2016
A month of catch-ups with friends over movies and a wedding. I trained actively for my upcoming marathon, clocking runs 3 to 4 days a week.
December 2016
Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2016 was my 14th Full Marathon, and my fastest yet! The festive month meant quite a lot of preparations for gift ideas and gift exchanges. Gatherings were aplenty and it filled up the December month quickly. I caught Crescendo The Musical 音乐剧《起飞》with WL and her friends. We had a simple celebration over Christmas at WL's, with our home-cooked meal being a highlight. The ushering of the new year was just as simple -- watching shows at WL's, away from the rah-rah in the city.
人生是黑白的.
3:53 PM <3
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