As my title says, it is 2019 turning 2020 and a brand new decade is about to begin. I have accomplished much in 2019, learnt lessons both at work and in life. As usual, the year started off really badly with me having to rush a RfP with the ED in 7 days starting from 2 Jan 2019 while little rattie visited me. I was doing all-nighters for 5 days in a row, sleeping 3-4 hours per day while juggling my work with tour guide duties. However, I was very happy to have Rattie visit me, going to the beach, desert, counting down together while watching the Burj Khalifa lit up in fireworks, albeit a little short.
Milestones: After having written "learn to play the guitar / learn to swim" 3 years in a row in 2017, 2018 and 2019, I am glad I finally signed up for guitar lessons. It is not easy I must say but I must persevere and make progress! I will leave swimming to the later half of this year which I hope I will figure out my next step with.
I GOT MY CFA CHARTER CERTIFICATION FINALLY!
Another milestone which I have hit (but not in my 2019 NY resolution) is to finally bring Granny to Japan. I took a 3 weeks break from work while making the transition from Dubai to London and we went on a trip to Hokkaido. It was not easy with Granny being hardly able to walk but thankfully we could use the wheelchair whenever we could (though pushing her was not an easy feat) and a road trip definitely helps. Being on the trip made me realise the many right decisions that I made along my life, some in the previous decade and some in this: learning how to drive when I turned 18 even though I was poor and had to scrimp and save to make it happened; YOLO solo trip to Canada in 2011 for only a week, surviving two 24h flights within 10 days to make it happened and consequently driving on my own overseas for the first time, road trip to Hokkaido with YL back in 2014 after I decided to quit my job. All these decisions led to experiences which gave me confidence to drive on the left. I believe I ticked off one of Granny's bucket list item - "Visit Japan". No doubt it was 8 years late (from 2011 to 2019) but better late than never.
The 3rd milestone would be making our 10 year anniversary trip to Taiwan. It is amazing how we managed to pull it off despite the 5 of us having such differing interests, schedules, etc. and also having Doggie onboard with us this time round. We try to recreate some of the photos we took back in 2009 but in my mind, the memories never faded. It was not about the pose or the place, but rather the people and the company that made a difference. Thank you for my sister, cousins and Doggie for being such great companions growing up and while travelling. I hope it will not be another 10 years that we do a trip together again. Going to Mayday concert in Taiwan after 10 years; enjoyed the old songs that they sang from their first 3 albums - one of my favourite songs being REN SHENG HAI HAI in their old album and probably the trigger into my Mayday fanhood and growing to like two others - YI KE PING GUO and AI QING DE MO YANG
Last but not least, I am glad I returned home for the year end countdown and brought back the present exchange tradition that we had for almost 8 or 9 years starting from 2005 or 2006. Ever since I left Singapore to pursue my ambitions abroad, this tradition has stalled. We did it differently this time round, playing the Secret Santa game, being positive by having guess the Secret Santa and doing away with the "Lousiest present award" as it can be quite detrimental to the confidence of some people (being afraid to buy a lousy present and get mocked at). I know that my family are very critical and competitive people, out of kind and good intentions to improve, but I really hope that we can seek improvement in a more positive way. Maybe it is coincidence, maybe it is fated but it seems like we received presents from people that we closely knitted with e.g. my Secret Santa being Rattie, bro's secret Santa being Er Jie, Er Jie's Secret Santa being Ade (jokes about her buying inappropriate gifts for Er Jie), etc. I really like the present a lot as I am at an age whereby I have everything that I need and have to buy the luxuries by myself so personalised items are my favourite these days. :)
I relocated from Dubai to London and it was a very difficult decision to suffer a 50% paycut knowing how much I was loving the extra cash to prepare for my flat purchase and having a strong support network in Dubai from my badminton friends. However, I am glad that I made the move as I get to learn new things and it has been such a pleasure to work with CD - how he focuses on solving problems they arise rather than fault finding, actively being involved in the brainstorming, learning from each other (albeit more of me learning from him). Moving here though made me realise that London is not as wonderful / great to live in as perceived by others. It is constantly cold and I miss the sunlight so much.
As for my interests, I made some really good friends in Dubai through badminton - K, KK, J. K really treats me like a good friend and I really appreciate his friendship! KK is fun and relaxed to hang around with and I enjoy being friends with people like him with no burden / ulterior motives. J is a great badminton partner on the court and also always reaches out to say HI. Knowing them fuelled my passion for badminton further - wanting to see myself improve, becoming a much better mixed doubles player in the span of six months with me going for 2 months of coaching. Unfortunately, I ended the "season" (year) with an ankle sprain again and I have to stop badminton (for 4 weeks now but i will rest up to 6 weeks). The injury made me more conscious of my own well-being as I believe fatigue had caused me to be injured - not sleeping much the entire week as I rush to finish my work before the holidays, rushing to the airport, rushing from the airport to meet different people and ended up not having lunch. With my muscles and body all tired and hungry, I guess I just could not sustain the single rally. I will make sure to take care of my own body better going forward. My injury also made me understand the pains that Granny has to go through - legs not having any strength to walk, not wanting to climb any flight of steps (descending is the most painful), simply wanting to sit and rest at every available opportunity. Indeed, we need to travel while we are young and fit; the money can wait; accumulation of wealth can wait but not our energy and physical strength neither can time.
Reflecting on the entire decade - so much has happened in my life:
- Started my professional career and quitting after 4.5 years
- Fulfilled my ambition to become a global citizen - having studied my Masters in Europe and eventually working in New York, Dubai and now London
- Interned at the UN to have a glimpse of the work of international organisations
- Lived in so many different countries in the last decade - Singapore, UK, Spain, Brazil, US and UAE
- Attained the CFA charter finally in Oct 2019 after the thought of getting it first seeded in 2012 as I told myself that I have to move on to a 2nd career which interests me more; 3 years of reading over 30,000 pages of the exam materials, hours buried in the JE library after work, on the weekends and what not, sleeping 1 hour before CFA II exams and worried that I could not pass
- Starting a 2nd career in IB - this was one thing that I would never have expected a decade ago, not even 7 years ago when I signed up for the CFA examinations or 5 years ago when I packed my bag to pursue my dreams thousand of miles away from home
- Crossed the mark of visiting 60 countries truly being a globetrotter now
The people and experiences that have left a mark on me in this decade:
- Overseas adventures - Africa, Bhutan, Balkans, South America
- Doggie's decade
- YL, N, Tom, K (more for sure but so far these few) plus not forgetting my CDGJ buddies
- Love story of SJK/ SHK and probably AS/JC - embodiment of love and fairy tales when they first got together but their divorce really shocked me and made me wonder if true love really exists? AS / JC - not sure if there is really love but if indeed yes, what stops them from pursuing it? What are the chances of us meeting someone that we really love and gets love in return? It happens but I have very little faith in these things
I can go on and on but I would need to sleep soon. I sum up my decade with the following:
No one has the right to judge you because no one really knows what you have been through. They might have heard the stories, but they didn't feel what you felt in your heart.
Moving forward, I hope I continue to live a fulfilling life in this brand new decade:
- Master one song on the guitar - preferably Mayday's song
- Visit Russia
- Go on a family trip with my nieces (C, A) though this is probably beyond my control
- Live a healthier lifestyle - sleep earlier, more fruits (twice per week?) / vegetables, less chocolates and sweets, cutting away my snacking behaviour of eating chocolates everyday HAHAHA!
- Figure out my next step for this new decade - where next? what next?
- Look beyond others' judgment and live life / deal with work such that I am not subjected to anyone's whims and fancies
- I hope my skin condition (face) improves - have been plagued by this acne problem ever since I left Singapore and sometimes I do not even want to look at myself in the mirror anymore :(
We keep moving forward, opening new doors and new things, because we are curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
I hope it is not just me that live by the above, but also my family and dear friends, that we will always keep a curious mind and keep becoming a better person. I know more awaits me in the new decade; probably a flat eventually, going home, etc.
2020, bring it on and I am ready!
