Fierce

I was ‘reputated (or should I say infamous) to be the fiercest among all my peers. Many Product Managers have suffered at my hand – the two most well-known being M and Brother. Brother, being on closer relationship with me, has sometimes asked me why I was so fierce to him on those days when he faced a tirade of scoldings from me for not doing his work.

For those who have the ‘misfortune’ of to work with me, they know that I will never hide my disagreement. However, I believe I am not being unreasonable. Strangely, those who have ‘suffered the worst fate were those with whom we have built up a good working and lasting relationship. 5050 was the one I quarreled most in my ex-job, but he has since become one of my trusted working partners especially in terms of IT projects. In fact, he is also one of my most trusted friends as I know he is always candid in his opinions, not just in terms of ideas for work but also my people relationship skills. Even till today, if I ever have any IT problem, the first person I will consult is still him.

Now, Brother is another person. In fact, we have started on a bad note. After clearing the misunderstanding, we are better aware of each other’s working style and expectations. We can now share information more freely with each other, including the occasional jokes and gossips.

Yes, I proudly admit I am the fiercest among the group of accountant. Perhaps I am trying to defend myself for my fierce attitude. Yet, I can openly confess that I hold no grudge and bear no hard feelings. I am more of a task oriented rather than people oriented person. In my rush to get things done, I may be quick with my words but they are never meant to be personal nor lasting.

I am glad for 5050 to have tolerated me in the past and Brother and M for tolerating me currently.

P.S. Although none of the above mentioned will ever see this, I just feel like thanking them, especially when I suddenly received a ‘thank you’ note from Brother. For a while, I was worried, thinking that maybe he has tendered and thus the expressed gratitude out of the blue. Fortunately, it turned up to be a false alarm.

Truth and Lie

Lie

It sounded so real – an astrological phenomenon in ‘x’ number of years, ie those that you would only see once in your life time.

We would see 2 moons because one of the planets would be so near earth that the reflection of light from the sun would create the illusion of double moons. The speed with which this was forwarded via email was fastest that you could say ‘hippopotamus’.

It turned up to be a hoax. Apparently, it has always been forwarded in August since a couple of years ago.

Truth

Red moon eclipse was real. The day after the two moons was to appear, there was really a red moon eclipse. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see in Singapore.

Shortly after I forwarded the lie, I received email from Brother with 3 URLs stating that it was not real. Oops, I was also one of the culprits, or should I say victim, who has aided in this widespread lie.

The day after the two moons was to appear, some of my colleagues who have received the forwarded email asked if I have seen the moons.

Regardless, I have ended work around nine or later, so I could not attest to either the truth or the lie with my naked eye.

Therapeutic Menial Tasks

Some people opt for spas while others prefer to sweat it out to de-stress. Me? I prefer to do something – something that cleanses. Nope, I am not taking about long showers. In fact, my record holding shower time barely stretches beyond half an hour. Neither am I referring to facial. My tolerance of pain is low when it comes to face.

I prefer to
a) spring clean
b) file my feet
c) iron clothes

Alright, may the third has nothing to do with cleaning, but it is more to do with putting something in order.

Spring Cleaning
Getting rid of unwanted stuff and organizing the remaining so as to achieve a more organized space. Perfect. It is always difficult in the beginning while we go through the motion of deliberating should we or should we not continue keeping. Once we get into the momentum, hmm most things will belong to the ‘throw’ category, especially when we know that we have retained them for yet another year without ever touching them.

I am quite a garang guni, ie I keep things for a long time. My A-level-and-before notes and textbooks were only thrown away last year because I moved into a smaller space where space is the scarce resource. I have kept them year after year thinking that maybe I will need to ‘consult’ them. Yet, year after year, they remained in my drawers gathering dust (no cobwebs, because I cleaned quite often, so spiders did not have a high chance of survival). Let me share with you a secret. My university notes are still with me, even though I almost never refer to them since I graduated. Shh……

Spring cleaning helps to remove the unwanted stuffs, including stress. A cleaner environment brings immense satisfaction. Sweat out to improve the home is definitely a worthy cause. Hey, I am also an advocate for minimalist (aiming, but not attaining it yet).

Filing My Feet
As age catches up with me, dead skin gathers at twice the speed. As the saying goes, there is not ugly woman, there is only lazy woman. Our feet have to carry our weight and support us in our life journey, so we must really take care of them.

Filing my feet is another therapeutic motion. The “sa-sa” of the file on my soles and the flakes of dead skin falling out remove the grim on my feet and the stress in my mind - another thoroughly brainless motion that results in another useful outcome. I am not saying that my feet become baby soft after this manual task but at least the calluses are less visible.

Ironing Clothes
Flattening the creases can be frustrating, but full concentration on this task at hand helps block away our mundane problems. It is as effective as mediation. It also helps to train one’s patience. Speed can work against you in ironing. If you go too fast, the flattening is not permanent and creases can form easily. If you go too fast before you straighten the fabric, you may end up forming a crease with your iron which is even harder to remove.

While one sweats with the ironing, the stress is sweated out. The complex thoughts are given a rest. After the exercise, one seems to have a clearer mind.

The above may sound abit unorthodox, but it works for me. Do you have your own unorthodox ways of de-stressing? Perhaps you can share and next time, I can give those ‘remedies’ a trial.

Jie Mei’s Lunch Out

It has been a long week. We were tired from meeting the numerous deadlines. There was only one word to describe us – “Sian” (tired).

We have not had lunch together for a long time because one of us would have lunch meeting or projects to do. It was a Friday – wind down mood. After discussion with Angela, we decided to initiate a jie mei men’s (Chinese, means sisters) lunch out. There were ten of us in total. Almost everyone could make it, except for two.

Just as we were looking forward to a walk along Orchard Road, it started to pour. This called for an immediate change of plan. We decided to go to our canteen for lunch instead.

As we adjourned for an earlier lunch, it was perfect timing to try our famous Korean food – most shiok for eating there and then because of the sizzling hot plate. Normally, there would be a long queue for the food. No queue was apparent as we were there at 1130, 1 hour before the official lunch hour.

It was a good 1.5 hour of catching up. We would have stayed longer if not for my boss looking for me to attend to a conference call at 1 pm.

Secret Dreams

It was a day where the entire team had headed off to the Quarterly Communication session while the three of us stay put because we had meetings.

Again, our favourite topic – travel, surfaced. Hong Kong seemed to be the choice destination of the year with four (including my boss and I) in our team of twelve had gone to this shopping paradise for vacation. Planning for a vacation is always the most exciting as we anticipate the impending fun. Reminiscing about our most recent vacation is second-best as we transport ourselves back to the places of happy memories.

One of them was sharing about a farm stay in Taiwan and how she wished she could stay there for a while without coming back. The friendly farmers, their slower pace in life and the simple and wholesome lifestyle attracted her immensely. The three of us were busy nodding our heads. Yes, this was also our ideal lifestyle. After enduring prolonged hectic schedules, such living would be a welcoming change.

Perhaps we sounded a tad too unabashedly laid-back, even though we are only in our late twenties to early thirties. Instead of forging ahead in our career, we were secretly dreaming of seeking recluse in a farm. We longed to take a year off work and travel the world. Sometimes, we would stare at our notebook screen and questioned the meaning of work.

I have always envied others who could drop everything to trek around the globe. Their independence and courage are what I hope I will acquire over time. I admire those who can even stay and work in a foreign place and truly immerse themselves in the different culture.

Am I an escapist? Am I bored with my life?

I don’t know. What I do know is I want to find out how it is in different corners of the world. What I am certain of is I want a taste of a different lifestyle? Perhaps I will be soon bored with the too-simple lifestyle, having been an urban kid so far. Perhaps I will get weary of travel and prefer the settled feeling since I have never been the most adventurous person.

Yet, I will never know if I never try. Perhaps one day, these will not be secret dreams anymore…

Colourful Languages

Living in a multicultural and multiracial means that life is never monotonous, especially in the culinary and lingua aspects.

We always display our languages dexterity through our daily expression (both spoken and written), with a predominant English statement peppered with a smattering of Malay and Dialect. Sometimes, we may also be speaking in our mother tongues but replaced certain vocabulary with their English counterparts, mainly because at the critical moment, the mother-tongue word simply eludes us.

Some of the more creative ones even included our own local expression which involves a combination of different languages. Common expressions include “Buay Tahan” (Buay = (Hokkien) cannot, no, not; Tahan = (Malay) tolerate, bear).

Brother is again one of the most ‘outstanding’, in terms of coming out with incredulous expressions. Some of his recent inventions nearly caused me choking on my laughter. Imagine if I had laughed out loud reading my emails, my colleagues would have thought I have gone insane from the workload, so I had to control my laughter. I am not certain if they are his inventions or if he has simply heard these expressions somewhere.

Buah Long Long
- In normal context, it refers to a tropical fruit.
- In Brother’s context, Buah Long Long refers to a behaviour, eg, That XX really knows how to act, don’t know how to do but always buah long long in front of bosses.

Zhoon Zhoon Jiak Bee Hoon
- In normal context, zhoon zhoon and jiak bee hoon are separately used. Zhoon zhoon (Hokkien) means accurate. Jiak Bee Hoon (Hokkien) means eating rice vermicelli.
- In Brother’s context, this refers to so accurate that it is unbelievable, eg, Your business case shows $ x. Mine also shows $ x. Zhoon Zhoon Jiak Bee Hoon!

His inventions can even rhyme in Hokkien! They may not be those which will make it to Collin’s or Oxford Dictionary, but they are simply harmlessly funny and colloquial.

With such expressive languages, who says Singaporeans are boring.

Marina Square Food Court

I always hold a soft spot for this food court, not so much for its local delicacy but more for its view.

The food Court overlooks the Esplanade to One Fullerton to the skyscrapers which line the southern bay of Singapore. Dining is not just a commodity but has evolved to an experience. A nice view will lift one’s spirits and enhance the entire dining experience. Hence, there are people who are willing to pay a high price in exchange of a good ambience.

At Marina Square Food Court, one needs not pay a hefty price for the experience to soak up the city view of Singapore in the comfort of one’s T-shirt and shorts.

Escalator Scare

It was the peak hour crowd.

The escalator was filled from end-to-end with people with minimal space from person to person.

Then someone fell at the end of the escalator. People who are immediately behind do not have time to react and tumble over the person. People slightly behind panicked. It was either move upwards in the escalator or be squeezed and pushed to fall in front. Looking behind, there is no leeway for escape. The entire row of escalator was filled with people. People behind were oblivious to the happening and remained in their line.

I am nearing the end of the escalator. The commotion in front has not cleared. The poor person who fell remained at the foot of the escalator. The fall and injury seems imminent.

Just at this critical moment, someone pressed the emergency stop button and the escalator stopped so that all the people could file to safe ground orderly and slowly.

Phew! It was such a scare.

Although I have escaped injury-free, there were a couple of people who were not as fortunate.

The next time you took the escalator when there was a lot of crowd, please try to keep a safe distance from the person in front. If one is feeling unwell, or who is carrying bulky items, please take the elevator as a safety measure for oneself and the fellow commuters.

Different Lives, Growing Apart

We might be a close-knitted clique in school, always huddling together when we had breaks. We might help each other cover up when one of the girls skipped lectures. We went shopping together for our wardrobe of working clothes before we graduated. We posed in one another’s graduation photos.

However, different life and working experiences seem to drive a wedge in the bond.

I am not saying that we are no longer close. Notwithstanding, we still share the same food when we meet and conscientiously meet for one another’s birthday celebration and wedding dinner, ‘frequency’ has slightly misaligned.

We no longer like the same things. Sometimes I don’t even know what they like these days and birthday gifts now conveniently take the form of vouchers. We no longer are concerned about the same issues. I am concerned about work load and job prospects while they are concerned about marriage, kids and in-laws issues.

Does this happen to all friendships?

Are friends groups of people who happen to meet at a certain place at the same time and have the same interests? When they gradually move away from each other in pursuit of their own life goals, the bond has also weakened?

Few friendships can withstand the test of times despite putting in efforts. When we undergo different life experiences, our personalities, interests and thoughts change. In the past, we could read each other’s mind and help each other finish her sentences. Now, despite explicit expression, I may not even understand fully the message conveyed.

Do you experience the same?

I am sure I am not alone because a friend has once shared with me similar sentiments…

New Keyboard and Mouse

After procrastinating for many many moons, I have finally bought my mouse and keyboard.

My mouse is small and retractable and wears a cute read coating with pink flowers. My keyboard is slim and in glistening black.

Too used to the keypad of the notebook. It takes a while to get used to the feel of the new keyboard and the location of the various keys. Prior to this, it means that you will hear me pressing the key pretty often.

SSO @ Vivocity

In celebration of the National Day, SSO will be holding 2 free concerts. The first was held at the Vivocity amphitheatre last night.

Crowds gathered at the amphitheatre long before the start of the concert. When we reached half an hour before the start of the concert, the seats were all taken up. We could only stand behind.

Familiar tunes from Carmen, Midsummer Night’s Dreams and even a medley of the local tunes of Home and Chan Mali Chan reverberated throughout the rooftop of Vivocity. Many members of the audience tapped their feet along with the familiar melodies. The Solo performance of Violinist – See Ian Ike captivated the crowd as he delivered Carmen.

Who says Singaporeans are not supportive of the Arts and Music? The strong crowd at the SSO concert has already proven the statement wrong. *Grin*

Another Gathering at Central

The second half of the year is often my ‘peak’ in social calendar sense. Well, many of my friends are born in the second half of the year. Now, they also choose to get hitched in the second half of the year.

It was the celebration of Margaret and Lisa’s birthday. The unigirls often like novelty in terms of places for gathering. So far, we have never been to the same venue twice. They have also introduced me to various places where I have never known existed - from Esmirada’s Mediterranean dinner to Da Paolo’s Italian pasta; from a priceless view of Singapore night scenery from Equinox to a girlish time at the Tea Loft. This time, it was at Central @ Clarke Quay.

Although it was not the first time I have been to Central, they have yet again introduced me to something different. Lunch was Japanese-Italian fusion cuisines at Pasta Café de Waraku. The seats overlook Singapore River and Clarke Quay.

While the girls opted for the cream sauce pasta, I have decided to give the Wafu sauce a trial. Wafu, when translated to Japanese, stands for Japanese style. It was a clear based, slightly salted Asian sauce, sprinkled with garlic. My choice was a scallop and asparagus fettucine with Wafu sauce. The garnish was also familiarly Japanese. While for authentic Italian food, paisley and rosemary and other herbs might be used, dried seaweed was used.

Dessert was at Paisley and Cream. The bright pink coloured walls attracted our attention. Hanging on the wall are many pictures of Audrey Hepburn, including those for Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

(The bread pudding and the cheese cake which we shared)

With this birthday celebration, the next one will be in a month’s time for SL and Vim’s birthday. We can celebrate the birth of Nat’s baby in October and Lisa’s in December, together with MX’s birthday. During this ‘interlude’, Margaret will be flying off for a 3-week plus vacation in Europe, while SL continues her busy MBA schedules. Till next time…

There’s No Place I’d Rather Be

It is another song perfomed by Kit Chan after 10 years. It is one of the few (or even the precedent) songs which does not feature the word “Singapore” in its lyrics. Nonetheless, it is a song certainly deeply felt by many, especially the more mobile workforce of these days.

We may have traveled far and wide, immersed ourselves in various cultures around the world, be captivated by the beauty of the different seasons. Yet, it will always be Singapore who is constantly in our minds. At this point, many may have started shaking their heads, especially if one felt that there are many inadequacies of Singapore. Precisely. Regardless of whether one feels that Singapore has done well in certain areas or needs improvements in others, the fact that one has been making comparisons show that Singapore has always been in our thoughts.

How can we not?

We may be awed by the long history of one of the oldest civilizations of the world – China. We may be tempted by the tantalizing aroma of the fish and chips of Australia. We may go wild with the sleepless cities of Hong Kong and Taipei. We may look forward to skiing in Switzerland.

Often, we miss the richness of the multi-culture of Singapore while we admire the Chinese history. We miss char kway teow alongside the fish and chips. We miss our family and friends while we party in Hong Kong. We miss the warm climate amidst the cold of the snow.

There’s no other place I’d rather be.

Happy National Day

There are many firsts to this year’s NDP.

First time at Marina Bay
First time on a floating stage
First time there is performances on the sea
First time there are fireworks coming out of the pinnacle of buildings

I like this year’s parade, even though I am watching in my living room from the TV, seemingly very detached from the live ambience. Yet, I could still feel my patriotism rising and my cheers with the fireworks. My heart skipped a little when the skater missed a step and fell, but it soon turned into respect when he quickly stood up and continued with the performance.

Besides the performance, there are also touching stories of the compassion of fellow Singaporeans.

An elder Singaporean who has recovered from cancer has wished to see NDP live but has always failed in the ballot. Due to her long-fought illness and age, she wondered whether she would ever get to attend the parade in her life. Upon hearing her stories, fellow Singaporeans who have had the tickets donated their tickets to her to help her fulfill her dreams.

Good work, Singapore; good work, Singaporeans!

Helen’s Farewell

Another colleague is leaving us for greener pasture. In the current job market, everyone tends to want a new challenge every few years. Although we may be sad when your ‘comrades’ who have braved through demanding deadlines with you leave, we are also happy for them having found a better job.

The farewell party is being held at Carousel at the Park Royal Plaza at Scotts. It has been more than a year since I last visited this place. The place has since been renovated. The buffet spread has also changed from a more local fare to international style. Now, the food counters can be found at 3 corners – one for the cold dish, one for the warm food and one for the desserts. The ambience is cozy. The staff are helpful.

There is good variety of the cold dish and the desserts. The hot food pales in comparison to the former. The cold dish includes sushi, sashimi – with salmon, tuna and yellowfin. There are also cold crab, crayfish, prawns, mussels, scallops and a few other shell fish. The salad bar is equally tempting. The hot fish has a good blend of Western and Asian cuisines. The Western selection includes chicken pie, roast chicken, steak and pasta. The Asian cuisines included Chinese dim sums, Malay briyani, Thai sweet and sour fish, etc. My favourite are the slightly spicy mackerel and the garlic prawns.

There is a chocolate fondue at the dessert counter, in addition to a wide selection of cakes and fruits. My favourite is the fruit yogurt mousse. The slight sourish taste is a refreshing change from all the sweetness.

All the best, Helen.

Bottle Tree Park

I have vaguely recalled being introduced by a “City Beat”-like TV programme to this place. Bottle Tree is a kind of tree found in the Australia. The owner of the park who has deep fondness of the tree has decided to bring the tree to Singapore. It is so named because it has a thick trunk that resembles a bottle.

(Bottle Tree)

Bottle Tree Park is a private park with a seafood restaurant and a fishing pond off Yishun. The park is visible when one takes the MRT between Yio Chu Kang and Khatib stations.


(Rambutan Tree)

The park is like an oasis among the concrete jungle, with very ‘kampong-like’ surroundings. In addition to the fish pond where both adults and children have a whopping good time fishing or netting fishes, there is also a small field where vegetables are planted. In a short distance away, the rambutan trees are flourishing with succulent fruits.


For those who have grown up in the eighties, we have neither seen vegetables which are still in the soil or rambutans which are still swinging on the trees. The trip to Bottle Tree Park is a trip back to nature.

Secondary School Friends Gathering

It has been a long time since all of us could turn up together. Before we graduated, we had naively imagined a more frequent gathering after we started work. Never did we know that we have less freedom in our time as a working adult compared to as an aspiring student.

A few of us were the more “sua gu” (mountain tortoise, country bumpkin) bunch. Although Chjimes as a hip dining area has been around for many years, we have yet to set foot in Chjimes. It was the first time for a couple of us. It was also a pleasant surprise to discover Esmirada amidst the many eateries. I have fond memories of this Mediterranean restaurant which was formerly at Orchard Hotel, especially of its plate breaking dance before the close of the restaurant.

Well, the ambience was definitely good and conducive for a quiet catching up with close friends. There were many types of cuisines being proffered within each eye-catching decorated and themed restaurant. After a tour of the place, we settled on western cuisine in a café where the waitresses were dressed as maids – black dresses with white aprons and blond wig with a white head scarf.

As night descended and the skies darkened, the candlelight created a cozy environment for reminiscing of our school days, our recent developments and admiring the wedding photo shoots of Hui. As Jess and Sharon are teachers, hearing them share about how different the students these days are made us wonder if we have behaved similarly during our uniformed days.

Linda, who has missed many of past outings, has commented that we still looked the same. Likewise, we have said the same of her. Somehow, we reached the conclusion that certain things do not change. This comment drew mixed feelings from me. I wondered if it was for the better or worse.

- In a time where change is the only constant, by remaining the same, have we fallen behind times?
- Perhaps we may look the same on the exterior, we are no longer the same in the interior?
- With age, we are supposed to look more mature and wise, does this mean we are still looking very idealistic and juvenile?

On the other hand, allow me to be more thick-skinned in the interpretation of the above comment.
- Perhaps this means we still look as youthful as before?
- Despite being inundated with work challenges, does it mean we have not since closed our hearts and become totally jaded?

Regardless, with so many girls gathered on one table, we were back to the rowdy bunch we were back in our blue-pinafored days where we seemed to have endless to say to each other. Unlike the past when we could say all we want to each other daily, now we could only summarise what to say during our rather infrequent gatherings.

New Workstation

After 2 weeks of enduring glue and paint smell, the work was finally completed. It was time to move to our new seats and new workstations.

At the new workstation, we will no longer have tall and single partitions. It is more open concept. The disadvantage is that we will no longer have as much privacy. Moreover, discussions at our workstations will no longer be viable because there will no longer be visitor chairs.

The advantage is that it will be new furniture. No more collapsing cabinets. No more drawers where the keys cannot be found. In addition, a more open concept will also mean easier interaction with my peers and colleagues. In the past, we are isolated in our cubicle during working hours. Now, we can just stand up and talk to each other.

The biggest headache was the move.

I decided to move all my things to the new place and just haphazardly placed them on my table for the time being. The new worktable is large enough to accommodate all my ‘barangs barangs’. After all the things were moved, then I would slowly pack them into the drawers.

When my boss walked past my table, he jokingly commented that I was messier than him. Well, not for long. I was a fast packer. Within 30 minutes, the things were neatly placed in my drawers. I stressed it was indeed neatly placed. I did not just chuck them into the drawers and just closed the drawers shut.

Then, it was my time to tease him back. Good-naturedly, of course. After all, it was end of the day, we could definitely wind down with some jokes and laughter. *Smile*

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

Happy Birthday to you, blurqueensj.blogspot.com!

Alright, I confess. It is cliché to say time flies. Yet, I am sure you share this sentiment deeply with me. So, just indulge me a little and let me shout out loud.

TIME FLIES!

Hey, this is better.

Looking back at the past one year, I was in better control of my time. This is especially so between work and personal life.

Note. This is not to say I have a more lobo job.

In fact, on the contrary, I face more pressing deadlines and even longer hours on work days. The deadlines are really “drop dead” deadlines, no negotiation allowed. Once the meeting time with senior management is arranged, it can never be moved unless it was moved by the senior management’s PA. All efforts would have to be channeled to meeting that deadline. I never have to work beyond 10 pm previously. Now, working beyond 10 pm and beyond is extremely normal during budget time. Starting meeting at 8 am in the morning was almost unheard of in my ex job. Now, it can be the only way to secure time with your bosses or the senior management especially with their tight schedules.

Notwithstanding the adrenalin rush required to meet the deadlines, this adrenalin seemed to “spill over” to the “play side. Well, another cliché saying is apparent – “Work hard and play harder”. *Grin.*

I managed to go to more places for leisure, be in local or overseas. I have gone to two countries and three regions (Hong Kong and China are in the same country) in a single year. Well, rather ashamedly, at the age of 27, the places I have been to are so few that I can finish counting with the fingers on my two hands. Traveling brings about new exposures, challenges and experiences. It nudges me out of my comfort zone and widens my perspectives. I cannot help but chuckle to myself how I have given in to my long-suppressed ‘vacation bug’. It was almost as if I have, quoting my ex-colleague, ‘taken revenge’ for my deprivation. In my previous job, I have only traveled to three times in four years.

I also got to meet my friends more often, even though I still have not quite succeeded to seeing some friends as often as I wish. Time is always the scarce resources. To tell the truth, I am still desperately trying to improve my balance between family, friends and personal time. Some friends may still feel neglected but I am still trying to make up for lost time. Hopefully, they have not given up on me yet. *Praying hard*

I also have time to pursue other interests. At least, I have started a blog and managed to maintain it. Writing helps me to express my thoughts on the various issues that I have been confronted with. It is an avenue for me to be open about likes and dislikes. It is also a ‘memory stick’ for the sights and the adventures. Simultaneously, it becomes a platform for sharing of thoughts, especially through the comments friends left for some of the entries. Some of these comments might not have been posted on the blog but informally through chit chat.

Enough of me and my thoughts.

What about you? How was the last one year for you? Was it exciting? Or was it a year filled with drudgery and menial tasks? Was it a memorable year?