It’s the time of the year where people will start posting on their reflections 2014 and/or resolutions for 2015.
Being an irregular blogger over these 2 years, I can’t remember if I did anything similar in 2013. Goes to show how irregular I’ve been blogging! (edit: I found a Goodbye 2013 post!)
Looking back, 2014 was eventful. Earlier this year, I wished for the ability to continue flipping the book. Though I didn’t get the opportunity to continue flipping, things were good while it lasted. 🙂
Earlier in the year, I started classes on classical guitar. Music has always been a passion. Guitar wasn’t the first instrument I wanted to learn (piano is!), it is an instrument that I think is easier to bring around when the occasion rises. 10 months now and I’m getting ready to take Grade 3 LCM Practical exam in April 2015! Prepared to fail but I’ll still try my best.
2014 was also a year of a few trips. As Jiawen was on an exchange at Bath (a 2 hours bus ride from London) in the first half of the year, 2 cousins (Jiayun & Wanxin) decided to make a trip to UK/Europe before Jiawen comes back in July (the main agenda of the trip was to help Jiawen bring her stuff back). Itinerary for this trip included London / Bath, Germany (Berlin / Munich) and Switzerland (Zurich / Lucerne / Jungfrau). We purposely included Germany because Leemei (another cousin of ours) is living in Berlin and we’ve not seen her since CNY! And I thought we can save a bit on accommodation if we bunk in at her place. hehehe 😛
I’ve yet sorted out the photos (procrastination wins), but the browsing of the photos is enough to make me want to go back again! Goal for 2016 perhaps?
That was the highlight of the year which happened in end May / June.
And in July, I was overseas again! Went to Malacca with J-Kai & his sister. This time round (I went Malacca with J-Kai & Jem in 2013 too), we covered new places that included the Peranakan Museum and popular eateries that were strongly recommended.
Sometime in August, there was a decision made to take on a 3-year gym membership with True Fitness. Few weeks later, I made the swop to become their lifetime member. To-date, I have been going for their classes regularly (grateful for the companion of my zumba khaki!). No regrets so far!
November was where I went Langkawi for the first time. It was also the first time I went overseas with my parents and the extended family via plane! Knowing how much I love kids, this trip allowed me to have some bonding with the 3 year old nephew and 7 month old niece.
It was also a month where I bought my own bowling ball. Thanks to peer influence of the colleagues.
In Dec, I went on to take up the (self-issued) challenge of running 10km at Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. Despite not having done any training since the registration in Aug (I think), I still managed to clock 1:33:56 (compared to the last run in 2012 – which was also my first attempt – at 1:35:xx). Slight improvement in timing and I felt less lethargic after the run compared to 2 years ago. I guess the regular zumba classes helped!
As I did some searching on blog posts on resolutions for the past years, the one posted in 2013 for the summary of 2011/2012 sounded very sad. As I read the summary, I felt sorry for myself for not making the right decision earlier. The me now is definitely much healthier and happier! Whatever that had been killed in 2011/2012 are all coming back – photography, blogging (still not regular but at least better?). I love my current life! 🙂
Resolutions
I vaguely remembered I wanted to have some resolutions this time last year, but I think I didn’t jot it down because I knew that I wasn’t going to fulfil it/them. When I read that post in 2013, I realised that the resolutions listed there weren’t fulfilled (yes NONE at all!). So this year, I thought I’ll put some wants / wishes that I hope I can fulfil this year. Note the keyword – HOPE.
First on the list will be the driving license. It has been on my list since university days. I think I want to strike it off the list while I still can.
I also wish to have a highlight trip of the year. The HKG trip in Jan has been confirmed. Tentative plan for other trips are Penang in March, Bandung in June, New Zealand in Dec.
I don’t think I will have time for my language classes this year, especially if I want to continue with my guitar classes. But if time permits, I would like to resume either Japanese or Korean class. I can’t decide which one I prefer. Or I might want to pick up a new language. German perhaps?
Overall, 2014 was good. It was definitely better than 2010 – 2012 combined. I’m hoping 2015 will be awesomer!