Frankly, I do not like New years. all the screaming countdowns, the huge party (ok, minus the fireworks, which were pretty awesome on TV), the road blocks, and the new year itself. I dono how to put it into words. Just that i do not see any significance with the crossing of a new year. It's just like any other day! if the person who standardised the calender (Julius Caesar, no?) tot that the new year should start on another day, then all the celebration can just be moved. it's like Christmas being moved to its current date to coincide with the Pagan holiday, despite Jesus being born in the summer (ha! i learnt that from the Big Bang Theory) The new date is just a reminder that the years are passing. when i was young, it took me a month (or more, probably) to get use to the fact that it's '3/1/1997 1998'. and summore we had to write the full date so many times on all the worksheets and workbook exercises and art pieces and what not.

nevertheless, i am in no power to stop time. so the next best thing is to reflect on the past and highlight the Top 10 moments/events /lessons of 2009. No ranking, they just appear in i-do-as-i-please order

This trip was to fulfill my desire for a beach holiday after a hellish semester. while it was more expensive that the Redang trip (which was heaven btw), it was just as good. and i've learnt that no matter where the place may be, it's the company that determines the awesomeness of the trip :)

Yep, coz zuji screwed up our hotel choices and we ended up in phuket when we were suppose to go to krabi. so being singaporeans, we complain to zuji. but there was no news so the next best thing to make us feel better was to write to the Straits Times online forum.

This was on another online forum. i wrote it but a future lawyer and English teacher edited it, so it was exaggerated in a pro english way to the max. someone copied it to bitch bout this matter. and ppl replied! see below:

Bo Liao forum contributor #1

Bo Liao forum contributor #2

So now we are SPGs with ang moh bf. i worry for my future coz employers will now search the internet for this kinda things le. i found this forum while googling my name.

Bo Liao forum contributor #3

i don get the part about SPGs running Temasek or bubble tea stall. what's the link?

Bo Liao forum contributor #4

Eh! we learnt bout winds, climate, plates and pollution in geography, nothing bout the location of places! true, we didn't search the location before booking. but that is cos zuji was suppose to generate the right hotels for us when we enter krabi as a search term.

Bo Liao forum contributor #5

It's only right if meihui and i call each other 'ah hui'.

Bo Liao forum contributor #5

wad are sinkies? anyway, wouldn't the hotel be much more expensive that the taxi fare?

BUT! as the title says, all those ppl can go suck thumb and die long long. coz zuji immediately called us once that article was published and offered us a full refund, plus cab fare! so essentially, we had a free holiday and all we had to spend on was the day tours and the misc expenses. WAHAHA!

My first hotel job. it reassured me that the hospitality industry is where i would want to go into after i graduate. perhaps not in the same hotel, but another five star one will be excellent. and this reminds me that 2010 will be the year that i'll step into the working world. it'll be much faster than most of my peers from JC and sec sch. and it'll be a real real job - full-time pay, full-time commitment, long-term planning, office politics, CPF, investments... am i ready? i ask myself that ever so often.

well, i have to admit. the presents i got was half the fun bout the party. the other half was seeing all my frens/family who have been with me for the past 21 years.

well, it did burn a big big hole in my pocket. especially for the ones who had their bday in 2008 and in the 1st few months of 2009, the budget for each of their presents was bigger. some were not so fun, but some were great. it boils down to, once again, the company. my favs were the st john ones coz we're just damn zai to come in early, wish e bday girl/boy happy bday, eat, then immediately settle down at some obscure corner/room and proceed to do stupid stuff (like colouring SJ logo or cards) and make a lot of noise without appearing at all until the birthday song part. it's not that we are rude k, we are just so comfy with each other that manners don matter anymore. rite rite?!

new team, new training experience, new routine. it can never be the same as the miracle team of 2008/9 (omg, that was good), but nonetheless, we did our best and that is all that mattered. choosing not to do it again this year was one of the hardest decision i had to make in 2009 and so many thoughts haunted me for quite some time before and after i made the final decision. sometimes, when i know that there is training on for that night, it makes me damn gian that i am at home writing some stupid report or watching TV and not on the mats. but well, the knee refuses to feel well and i needed the time. it's time to let it go and live on without regrets.

hey, this is a big thing k, considering how much time and effort i have spent in hall since mid 2007. so it was a drastic change to spend so much more time at home. damn good part: well, the fact that i'm at home at night! home-cooked dinner on mondays, TV, comfy bed, access to the whole wardrobe everyday, access to the city and malls in tamp everyday, save $$ on breakfast and dinner, seeing my mom more. not so good part: more money spent on shopping and transport (but i guess it equates to savings of hostel fees) damn sucky part: having to spend so so so so much freaking time on the fucking train from tampines to boonlay!!! it used to be damn shiok to be able to go back to hall after lessons end at 4.30pm and chill till dinner time. but now, by the time i got home after lessons ended at 4.3o, it is dinner time. sianzz!

#3 lesson of the year: nothing is forever.

Be it relationships or friendships or impressions of a person or a preconceived notion or an assumed arrangement - everything changes and you better be prepared for it. for if you're left stranded, you have only yourself to blame for not expecting the wave.

#2 lesson of the year: during emo times, turn to american drama and sitcoms

Gossip Girl, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Friends, The Nanny... seriously, the thought that new episodes will be out that particular night or that i have time to watch an episode makes me happy throughout the day and i'll just look forward to loading it on the comp and watching it (sometimes more than once). it's like my form of dark chocolate for the stressed out working woman. but mine is free (don count utilities bill) and free of calories :)

#1 lesson of the year: the devil is in the details

well, it is said that complacency is the extinguisher of one's passion. but going too much into the details of the competition is just mad blinding. all those comparison of individual exam grades, project grades, internship prestige, out of classroom activities etc etc... true, they had been able to drive me to do my very best, but at the end of the day, it's really tiring. the last semester did not yield the results that i had expected. i was disappointed but it made me look at the bigger picture to realise that going too much into the details of one's grades as compared to the others just frustrates me to no end. so as long as we will all grad with a 2nd upper, i very much doubt potential employers will look at the tiny zero point something diff in our GPA

well, this long post took me about 3 days to write it. gasp! it shall end here.