and death.

I wish that when I wake up in the morning, I will realise it is but a nightmare.

Still, my girlfriend is most amazing for the support she has given me.

emergency money

Overheard while I was on my way to lunch this afternoon:

"Mommy, I spent my $12 emergency money today... On sponge books..."

I do not know what "sponge books" is supposed to mean, it's probably something that has to do with school since his class just ended, and I could have heard wrongly because I wasn't paying much attention to this primary school child who is probably less than 10 years old, but I felt something in me that was special.

Here is a kid, talking into his mobile phone (a mobile phone at such a young age! I only had a pager!) and telling his mum that he has spent an amount of money that is reserved for emergency purposes only.

And I resolved in my heart that I am going to raise my kid this way, to teach him/her the importance of having budget, the importance of having monies stored away for emergency.

a very late new year post

The new year has come and gone, and as my friends have said during our mini-countdown party involving sukiyaki, barley, streetfighter IV, fireworks off in the distant Malaysia, and new year resolutions, "there will never be a new year but an old one."

So it probably doesn't matter whether this post is late by a day or late by 7 days. But still, I decided that something written in this manner and nature would be more appropriate to be given the title of "First Blog Post of 2011."

Personally, I felt that 2010 has been a really good year. It's been a year of challenges, surprises, and finally closing with rest. It's a good feeling, to feel that the year has ended, and that nothing too major, or urgent, or bad has been brought over to the next. It feels as if I can start the new year as new. Alright, it's just a feeling. Of course I am still having studies to be worried about, amidst other things, well.

A look back on the year:

School

2010 marked the promotion from Year 1 to Year 2. The jump in difficulty was really quite significant. Where I thought Year 1 Sem 2 was pretty tough, Year 2 Sem 1 only proved to be so much tougher. Still, I thank God for pulling me through, and I am only glad that the semester is over (even if that means I have another one to look forward to). Thank God for wonderful group mates during the first half of the year, people whom I have befriended and can really depend on for the rest of my time in SCI. Group work in 2nd half wasn't that great, but I still thank God that we have had our moments of superb inspirations and creativity, which until now I am still quite proud of. Overall, school in 2010 had been fun, and I hope it will still be in 2011.

CCA

2010 kicked off with the Singapore Canoe Marathon (which will also kick off 2011 on 9th Jan as well). Didn't exactly do very well, but considering that I had barely any experience and it being my first competition, I comfort myself by saying that at least I was in the middle rankings. Had a few more competitions - MR500, Round Ubin Kayak Race. The year closed with the Round Ubin Kayak Race 2010, which I felt we did really well. Got 5th, and the team overall won the Seniors Champion. And that was a good closing, in my opinion. 2011 - same competitions, but I hope we will do so much better. To start it off, again, Singapore Canoe Marathon, and I will be doing 31km this time. God bless me.

Church

Hasn't been the greatest of years in church, for a number of reasons. I joined the YCG Ministry in March, and until today, I felt that it's been both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is that I have so much more opportunities to serve God, to be active in the planning phase, and to help out people who matters to me. It's much more than that, but I should probably keep it short. The bad thing - it's draining my fire. Sometimes, I get so disillusioned by the number of things I need to do that I lose sight of what really mattered at first. The number of events really took a toll on me, and sometimes I would just ask myself in the middle of the night, "just what on earth am I doing all these for?" There are other things, but I'll leave it at that. Still, it's been good to see the YCG moving on to a different level of things under new leadership, and I have so much more to learn for this year.

Singapore Youth Olympic Games

Volunteered my time to help out during the games, and served in the position of Marshals Supervisor. Well, I have to say that it wasn't easy, because it requires me to lead other volunteers, whom I don't even know well. To wake up at 4.30am (just like in the army days) in order to reach NTU by 5am, planning the roster for the day and making sure everyone's welfare is taken care of. And then to attend the ops meeting, and then to walk about to ensure that everything is in order. And before you know it, it's lunch and then it's home time. It's been fun. Ops meeting really opened up my eyes to how complicated and difficult it is to organise an event such as the YOG. And I also got to meet so many other people from so many other countries, an opportunity which I don't think will come very often. Still, the uniform changing thing, ugh, don't remind me.

Part Time Jobs

Took up part time jobs, like really part time jobs, for the first time since I left the military. Tried the telemarketing line, but had a really bad experience. Didn't like it at all, simply because it was really boring. Calling numbers after numbers and getting rejected again and again simply wasn't a good feeling. Besides, I hated telemarketers myself. Moved on to work as an assistant chef, and that proved to be a much more rewarding experience. Not only did I learn very relevant kitchen skills and cooking experience, I also made friends whom I really enjoyed working with. On top of that, I was able to eat free food. :P In 2011, however, I think I am not going back to the kitchen, or at least not Coffee Club, because the people I worked with has left. And I am looking forward more to internships, either at SPH, or with the government service.

House Moving

Moved twice this year. First to Taman Jurong, which was a really bad experience, and then back to a different part of Yew Tee. The new house is pretty nice, and though I still miss the old one, I have found that I am starting to love this place over the past month. New furniture always feels good, and my room is so much neater now with refreshing colours. I thank God and all my friends, and especially ST for being with me through the difficult time of house moving, and hope that the next time I move, it will be a much more pleasant experience than this one.

The Year In General

In sum, the year has been a pretty good year. At the top of the list - girlfriend. But I shall not elaborate much on this public blog. And then there was Taiwan, which reminds me that I should probably write out a travel journal or post on the trip, since this blog recorded nothing concerning Taiwan, which has been a really fantastic and memorable trip for me. I wanna go travelling in 2011 again! And which also reminds me, that I haven't even uploaded the Taiwan photos on Facebook yet. Gosh, I am really fail.

2011

I want 2011 to be an even better year, or at least something of similar quality to 2010. I want to learn new things. First to come would be to learn driving, and after that, to really set my nerves down to pick up my dusty guitar and really learn it, again. I want to improve my relationships with the people around me. I want to repair what has been broken in my family, and love, or at least try to, my parents again. I want to do even better for school, and though unrealistic, I would like to try for First Class Honours. Okay, might not actually achieve it, but nothing wrong with aiming high, in my opinion. And of course, to love everyone around me, to see everyone happy, to make more friends, to read more books and know more things. That it would be a good year.