Just the fourth day of the Dragon Year and strangely, I've never encountered anyone who talks about shallow things such as fashion trends, lucky colours and what's-new-with-you-this-year-questions. Very good. Since Monday, all I talk about with friends are things that matter: career, continuing education, yeah a shift in priorities. I'm getting mature after all. We are all getting mature.
Between munching on oranges (the free ones given away with the ang paos), my roommie, Carmela, and I are in a serious discussion about taking up some master's degrees overseas. And I know that when we plan things like this, it's going to materialise in months. Just like what happened when we said we wanted to travel to Australia and Thailand last year! Talk about focus. But this time, there are lots of saving up to do, several sacrifices (less travel this year) and some tests.
Between aiming for strikes and spares, Alan and I also discussed some seminars and workshops last Tuesday. "Why not do that in Singapore?" he asked after we cheered on Cathy in her mission for three consecutive bowling strikes. "I need to do it somewhere else," I said.
Somewhere else. Ah, the weight of these words. I love Singapore to bits, it's just that I need to do some things, somewhere.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Ambition 2012
I realised that for me to be able to make some things possible, I need to write them down and constantly remind myself to do all of them.
So after the awesomeness of 2011, let's get more ambitious this year!
12 goals for 2012
1. Travel more and far! Go to one Asian country (beyond SEA), one Philippine destination (not counting Manila and Southern Luzon) and one country outside Asia. Come back to Chiang Mai to see the sky lanterns, you've postponed this trip for sooo many years and it should be about time to fulfill it. The world is big, go see what's beyond the border.
2. Be braver at work. Face your problems, be vigilant, be patient, know when to say yes and no. Own up to your mistakes, or better, avoid mistakes all together. Write full features. Don't settle for one-pagers. Go out there, observe and write about what you've seen. Go for enrichment courses, learn what you can.
3 Come home mid-year and spend Christmas at home. I know you want to see the world, but take time to visit your hometown and your family. It's always worth it.
4. Take up swimming lessons. No excuses. Do it.
5. Make your birthday memorable. Purchase your return tickets to some place and buy a Polaroid camera. If you're going to make memories, better snap and print on the spot. You can easily forget them when they're hidden in your hard drives and stored somewhere.
6. Eat healthy. Lessen soda intake and drink more juices. Sweets are fine, just don't overindulge. Be active, cycle at the parks more often. Sleep for 7-8 hours daily.
7. Fall in love. Don't settle for someone lesser than expectations, but don't set too high a standard. Be considerate, be appreciative and don't assume.
8. Improve your Mandarin. You've already overcome the initial difficulty of tones and pronunciation, now it's time to take it a notch higher: learn how to write.
9. Volunteer. Do something meaningful.
10. Say hello to the kitchen more than you've done in the past. Brush up on your cooking skills. Should be beyond pasta recipes!
11. Call home often, keep in touch with friends, send random emails of hellos. Constantly meet up with friends in Singapore.
12. Save, save, save. Don't neglect the opportunity to prepare for the future!
It's time to be braver, wiser and better. Cheers to another great year and to dear friends and family, let's make these things happen together :D
So after the awesomeness of 2011, let's get more ambitious this year!
12 goals for 2012
1. Travel more and far! Go to one Asian country (beyond SEA), one Philippine destination (not counting Manila and Southern Luzon) and one country outside Asia. Come back to Chiang Mai to see the sky lanterns, you've postponed this trip for sooo many years and it should be about time to fulfill it. The world is big, go see what's beyond the border.
2. Be braver at work. Face your problems, be vigilant, be patient, know when to say yes and no. Own up to your mistakes, or better, avoid mistakes all together. Write full features. Don't settle for one-pagers. Go out there, observe and write about what you've seen. Go for enrichment courses, learn what you can.
3 Come home mid-year and spend Christmas at home. I know you want to see the world, but take time to visit your hometown and your family. It's always worth it.
4. Take up swimming lessons. No excuses. Do it.
5. Make your birthday memorable. Purchase your return tickets to some place and buy a Polaroid camera. If you're going to make memories, better snap and print on the spot. You can easily forget them when they're hidden in your hard drives and stored somewhere.
6. Eat healthy. Lessen soda intake and drink more juices. Sweets are fine, just don't overindulge. Be active, cycle at the parks more often. Sleep for 7-8 hours daily.
7. Fall in love. Don't settle for someone lesser than expectations, but don't set too high a standard. Be considerate, be appreciative and don't assume.
8. Improve your Mandarin. You've already overcome the initial difficulty of tones and pronunciation, now it's time to take it a notch higher: learn how to write.
9. Volunteer. Do something meaningful.
10. Say hello to the kitchen more than you've done in the past. Brush up on your cooking skills. Should be beyond pasta recipes!
11. Call home often, keep in touch with friends, send random emails of hellos. Constantly meet up with friends in Singapore.
12. Save, save, save. Don't neglect the opportunity to prepare for the future!
It's time to be braver, wiser and better. Cheers to another great year and to dear friends and family, let's make these things happen together :D
Saturday, January 07, 2012
I asked for 11 things, I got so much more
Now's the time to be thankful. I wasn't able to post a status report on 31 December 2011 as promised, but I haven't forgotten. I listed down 11 things I had hoped will come true, be achieved and find their way to me this year here, and as we welcome 2012, I'd like to look back at 2011 and say thanks, smile and appreciate all the good things that have been showered on me in this awesome year.
1. Travel to three countries in Asia (preferably Indonesia, Thailand and China) and go back to Sagada.
2011 is for wanderlust fulfilled. Passport stamps aplenty! Though I wasn't able to go to China and Sagada (eventually ending the Sagada-every-2-years cycle that started in 2007), I am still thankful for the the places I had never imagined I will reach this year. I went to Bali, Indonesia in March; come back home in June; Western Australia and Melbourne in September; Chiang Mai, Thailand in November and went back home for the holidays in December. Big thanks to the semi-free tickets (I only needed to pay taxes) from our office lucky draw that allowed me to come to Thailand and hop from Davao to Cebu!
Locally, I have done my fair share of being a tourist in Singapura. Went to Jurong Bird Park (free tickets from Ate Hazel!), rode the Singapore Flyer (free tickets from the office!), came back to the Universal Studios (media pass yay! ) and visited St. John's Island.
Due to my travels this year, I had gone below the equator for the first time in my life, gone skiing and sandboarding, fell from a raft on Class 3 rapids, travelled solo, met backpackers, been to Changi Airport many times and just gone out there in the world. The travel gods are really nice to me this year!
2. Stop my corporate detour and find my way back to journalism.
Check! It may not be the hardcore journalism I had studied for, but being in custom publishing is a small step closer to journalism. At least, I'm standing in the midst of the sad brutality of the corporate world and the creative freedom of magazine writing. It may not be the best of both worlds, but I'm thriving career-wise.
3. Celebrate my birthday with a pint of Ben & Jerry's plus a big pack of potato chips without worrying about how unhealthy this combo is.
I deviated from the plan. My birthday started with Skype with dear friends and reading emails from my family and SMSs from friends. Munched fast food for lunch, asked Ate Joy to cook her version of hokkien mee for me and went all the way to East Coast Park with friends and cycled till sundown.
4. Study Mandarin regularly and by the end of the year, I should be able to converse fluently with someone who doesn't speak a word of English.
Sadly, my vocabulary is still limited to a few sentences. During the first part of the year, I'm still dedicated to it. But my dear lao shi got a boyfriend and Tin and I are too shy to ask her to teach us regularly anymore. We don't want to steal her precious time with Tony, so I'll rely on podcasts for now. :)
5. Drink more green tea and less coffee.
I'm a writer, caffeine helps me string words and meet deadlines, so I couldn't ditch coffee. But yes, I drank too much green tea this year and one friend even commented that it may be the reason why I'm thin.
6. Wake up early on weekends and go on food trips in Singapore. Go to Church every Sunday.
Oops, not really. I have tried to become a morning person to no avail. My guilty pleasure is still sleeping in till 10am on weekends so my Saturdays usually meant long brunches at home, cleaning the room and going to the mall in the afternoon to buy groceries. As for the other two goals, yes I have gone to several food trips this year, both in Singapore and overseas. But I still haven't gone back to my regular Sunday mass habit *insert apologetic puppy dog eyes here*
7. Call home often. Send random SMS to old friends, keep in touch with them.
Finally bought a Philippine roaming SIM! And since sometimes I was lazy to reply via email or Facebook chats, I have sent too many global SMSs this year. A SingTel billing officer even encouraged me to avail of their promo, something to the tune of 100 global messages a month for only 3 Sing dollars (which equates to about 72 Sing dollars saved each year!) See, my telco provider is even encouraging me to send more and more messages to friends in the Philippines! Yay!
8. Volunteer. It doesn't matter where and how, just do it.
I've done this only once this year, and I should really really do more of it in 2012.
9. Save, save, save. For my 2012 Big Travel Plan and for my future.
To be honest, my last-minute trips have been tough on my bank account. Not to mention I have moved to a new flat in August and all the expenses related to it messed up my budget. My trip to Australia prevented me from saving wisely, and if I had learned something in 2011, that is to be very very careful in computations (and being nice to myself especially when it comes to budgets). My debit card greatly helped me to be financially responsible, and I'm still veering away from using credit cards to I could feel the crunch every time I purchase something.
My Big Travel Plan was supposed to be the London Olympics 2012, but with airfare to Europe still too expensive for me, I'm adjusting my trips to somewhere geographically closer and financially more feasible. :)
10. Fall in love.
But this is actually beyond my control (Universe, are you listening?)
One of the conversations that stood out this year was the one I had with Ate Hazel and Ate Jing at Jurong Bird Park. Ate Jing told me not to look for "the one" because "he will just come when you least expect him to appear".
Yeah, someone did come along. (Or to be specific, two guys came along, the other one I sort of "dismissed", to use April's word, so we could save our good friendship) Then the first guy left, with promises of keeping in touch and coming back. He's still not in Singapore as of this writing, so I guess this goal's still in my 2012 list :)
11. Celebrate Fiesta, Christmas Eve and New Year's Day at home in Batangas! :D
I wasn't able to celebrate Fiesta in the Philippines, but I'm soo glad I was home for the holidays!
There you go, my thanks would not be enough for the awesomeness of this year. I'm really glad with how the year turned out for me. It started with a new job, new hair and new hopes. 2011 then ended on a high note, albeit some problems at work, but I am grateful for everything it has brought me. Thanks for my family for being so supportive and for dear friends who never fail to cheer me up and keep in touch. I am ready for 2012, and I hope it could rival 2011 for its awesomeness.
1. Travel to three countries in Asia (preferably Indonesia, Thailand and China) and go back to Sagada.
2011 is for wanderlust fulfilled. Passport stamps aplenty! Though I wasn't able to go to China and Sagada (eventually ending the Sagada-every-2-years cycle that started in 2007), I am still thankful for the the places I had never imagined I will reach this year. I went to Bali, Indonesia in March; come back home in June; Western Australia and Melbourne in September; Chiang Mai, Thailand in November and went back home for the holidays in December. Big thanks to the semi-free tickets (I only needed to pay taxes) from our office lucky draw that allowed me to come to Thailand and hop from Davao to Cebu!
Locally, I have done my fair share of being a tourist in Singapura. Went to Jurong Bird Park (free tickets from Ate Hazel!), rode the Singapore Flyer (free tickets from the office!), came back to the Universal Studios (media pass yay! ) and visited St. John's Island.
Due to my travels this year, I had gone below the equator for the first time in my life, gone skiing and sandboarding, fell from a raft on Class 3 rapids, travelled solo, met backpackers, been to Changi Airport many times and just gone out there in the world. The travel gods are really nice to me this year!
2. Stop my corporate detour and find my way back to journalism.
Check! It may not be the hardcore journalism I had studied for, but being in custom publishing is a small step closer to journalism. At least, I'm standing in the midst of the sad brutality of the corporate world and the creative freedom of magazine writing. It may not be the best of both worlds, but I'm thriving career-wise.
3. Celebrate my birthday with a pint of Ben & Jerry's plus a big pack of potato chips without worrying about how unhealthy this combo is.
I deviated from the plan. My birthday started with Skype with dear friends and reading emails from my family and SMSs from friends. Munched fast food for lunch, asked Ate Joy to cook her version of hokkien mee for me and went all the way to East Coast Park with friends and cycled till sundown.
4. Study Mandarin regularly and by the end of the year, I should be able to converse fluently with someone who doesn't speak a word of English.
Sadly, my vocabulary is still limited to a few sentences. During the first part of the year, I'm still dedicated to it. But my dear lao shi got a boyfriend and Tin and I are too shy to ask her to teach us regularly anymore. We don't want to steal her precious time with Tony, so I'll rely on podcasts for now. :)
5. Drink more green tea and less coffee.
I'm a writer, caffeine helps me string words and meet deadlines, so I couldn't ditch coffee. But yes, I drank too much green tea this year and one friend even commented that it may be the reason why I'm thin.
6. Wake up early on weekends and go on food trips in Singapore. Go to Church every Sunday.
Oops, not really. I have tried to become a morning person to no avail. My guilty pleasure is still sleeping in till 10am on weekends so my Saturdays usually meant long brunches at home, cleaning the room and going to the mall in the afternoon to buy groceries. As for the other two goals, yes I have gone to several food trips this year, both in Singapore and overseas. But I still haven't gone back to my regular Sunday mass habit *insert apologetic puppy dog eyes here*
7. Call home often. Send random SMS to old friends, keep in touch with them.
Finally bought a Philippine roaming SIM! And since sometimes I was lazy to reply via email or Facebook chats, I have sent too many global SMSs this year. A SingTel billing officer even encouraged me to avail of their promo, something to the tune of 100 global messages a month for only 3 Sing dollars (which equates to about 72 Sing dollars saved each year!) See, my telco provider is even encouraging me to send more and more messages to friends in the Philippines! Yay!
8. Volunteer. It doesn't matter where and how, just do it.
I've done this only once this year, and I should really really do more of it in 2012.
9. Save, save, save. For my 2012 Big Travel Plan and for my future.
To be honest, my last-minute trips have been tough on my bank account. Not to mention I have moved to a new flat in August and all the expenses related to it messed up my budget. My trip to Australia prevented me from saving wisely, and if I had learned something in 2011, that is to be very very careful in computations (and being nice to myself especially when it comes to budgets). My debit card greatly helped me to be financially responsible, and I'm still veering away from using credit cards to I could feel the crunch every time I purchase something.
My Big Travel Plan was supposed to be the London Olympics 2012, but with airfare to Europe still too expensive for me, I'm adjusting my trips to somewhere geographically closer and financially more feasible. :)
10. Fall in love.
But this is actually beyond my control (Universe, are you listening?)
One of the conversations that stood out this year was the one I had with Ate Hazel and Ate Jing at Jurong Bird Park. Ate Jing told me not to look for "the one" because "he will just come when you least expect him to appear".
Yeah, someone did come along. (Or to be specific, two guys came along, the other one I sort of "dismissed", to use April's word, so we could save our good friendship) Then the first guy left, with promises of keeping in touch and coming back. He's still not in Singapore as of this writing, so I guess this goal's still in my 2012 list :)
11. Celebrate Fiesta, Christmas Eve and New Year's Day at home in Batangas! :D
I wasn't able to celebrate Fiesta in the Philippines, but I'm soo glad I was home for the holidays!
There you go, my thanks would not be enough for the awesomeness of this year. I'm really glad with how the year turned out for me. It started with a new job, new hair and new hopes. 2011 then ended on a high note, albeit some problems at work, but I am grateful for everything it has brought me. Thanks for my family for being so supportive and for dear friends who never fail to cheer me up and keep in touch. I am ready for 2012, and I hope it could rival 2011 for its awesomeness.
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