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| 2017 New Year's Countdown over drinks and live music in Snail Bar, Bangkok, Thailand |
Looking back on 2016
2016 has been a fruitful year for the both of us. It marked a year which saw us begin building our shared experiences together, be it through travels or activities. The year saw us both exploring two Southeast Asian countries together, surviving through an extended period of being apart, and generally building that much needed understanding and respect for each other.
For L, on the work front, this was a year where she was exposed to new horizons. Spending an extended period of time in the Philippines working on a capital markets transaction gave her insight into new cultures and ways of life. This spurred that fervour in her to further put herself out there, and again she was rewarded by being selected for a 2017 placement in Europe. It is not every day that an opportunity like this comes knocking – as such, she will be off for this year long placement at the end of February, which she is extremely excited about.
On my end, 2016 was a generally smooth sailing year in both my personal life and career. It saw me stepping out of my usual social circle, reconnecting with previously lost acquaintances and meeting new people from all walks of life. As usual, work saw me constantly travelling to the usual suspects like Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, but also saw me venturing to Tokyo and Hong Kong which were refreshing breaths of new scenery. Being more senior at work also required me to take on new hats, mentoring and guiding the juniors and interns, along with maintaining and developing client relationships.
Looking ahead
2017 will be a year of excitement and challenges for us, both separately and as a couple. With L heading off to Europe in a month’s time, we will be reverting back to a long distance relationship state, this time more pronounced due to the time difference and for a more extended period of time. However, I trust that the foundations we have built and the understanding that we have established between ourselves, will prevail and even strengthen the bonds between us. On the flipside, it also offers the opportunity for me to again explore Europe when I eventually make the journey west to visit!
We will both be spending time developing our careers and related skillsets, at the same time each seeking out new experiences at our different sides of the globe whilst looking forward to our planned holidays together.
As tough as it may seem from a relationship standpoint to be apart for such an extended period, I have no doubt that the year will go by in a blink of an eye and that we will always look back on this period with fond memories.
Overview of our 2017 resolutions
D
Setting resolutions have never been a thing of habit for me. I don’t believe I have ever penned down resolutions ever! I guess there always is a first for everything and I honestly do not think that it is a bad thing afterall.
I have coincidentally and very nicely categorised what I would like to achieve musically – Do-Re-Mi(e)-Fa. Well “Fa” doesn’t quite work, but we shall give it some oversight and stick with the flow here. It may appear that these goals are rather difficult to quantify, but the end of the day and in my opinion, these are guidelines which I intend to stick to, to the extent reasonably possible. The real test would be looking back a year later to assess these goals for what they were initially conceptualised upon. So here goes:
First experience surfing at Wavehouse Sentosa in December 2016
Doing more through sports and participating in outdoor activities – L has been incredibly encouraging in this over the past few months and we have together explored many new and exciting activities together. With her departure to Europe imminent, I am rather determined to maintain the active lifestyle by taking part in sport clubs and exercising solo
L
New year’s resolutions are a funny thing. You either set out on a high note, ambitious with what the new year and abundant time presents, or go into a new year without one and leave with no disappointments at the end of the year. I am a believer of the former and in fact, enjoy creating plans and seeing them materialize.
This year, my five resolutions are largely shaped by two aspects: (i) Longer term lifestyle goals that I had started in previous years, and (ii) The 1 year international assignment that I had chosen to take up in Poland, which will happen in approximately a month’s time.
Resolution 1: Explore Central Eastern Europe (CEE) through its cultures
Travelling, for me, has been a major perk of adulthood. I do enjoy the excitement
of exploring new places, especially since my mum is not a big fan of travelling.
Hence, I had not visited many countries until I entered University. I had stepped into Europe
only 1.5 years ago, and since visited Croatia, Greece and Spain. The CEE region
is an underrated travel destination, as compared to its more developed Western European
brothers. However, it is deeply enriched with historical war remnants, and this
is one thing that I would love to learn more about.
Resolution 2: Attain ABRSM Grade 2 on the piano
Learning a musical instrument and being good at it had been a childhood dream. I recall watching in envy my primary school friends who could play the piano fluently in the school canteen. D had once sent me a video of him playing a beautiful jazz piece on the piano, and I could not stop replaying that. He is amazingly talented in the musical field, having learnt the piano at a young age and picking up the er-hu when he was in secondary school, which he attained a diploma in just a short span of three years - inspiration indeed. I had been exposed to the keyboard, recorder and violin in different phases of my education, but nothing really extended beyond one semester of learning that instrument as part of the school curriculum. The piano is an elegant instrument, and I feel this is something I can pursue for a long time and in my free time in Poland. Besides, Chopin came from Poland right?
Resolution 3: Run (or do a workout) 3 times a week (and work towards a sprint triathlon in 2018)
Sports have been a big part of my life since my teenage years. I enjoy
trying out a variety of sports / workouts and have been playing tennis for more
than half my life now. But a sport / workout that I really cannot live without
is running. The thoughts of completing a triathlon first came up last year, and
I should really start working towards it, with the aim of a sprint triathlon
when I return to Singapore next year!
I enjoy reading because it increases your perspective on things. It makes
you reflect on issues that you normally would not have thought about. This year,
the challenge would be to increase my perspective on issues but still retain
the joy of reading. Hence, I will be picking my book read genres as follows:
(i) Fiction, (ii) Work-related / Investments, (iii) Self Help. The plan would
be to complete 1 book a month, which should allow me to go through four from
each of the above genres by year end. Status
Check: For the month of January, I have completed “Plain Truth” by Jodi
Picoult and am currently halfway through “The Green and the Black – The Complete
Story of the Shale Revolution, the Fight over Fracking, and the Future of
Energy”. Looks like I am still in good shape to maintain this goal!
Resolution 5: Be happy and contented with what I have
This resolution was initially along the lines of “adopt a healthier lifestyle” or “learn to cook and eat healthier”. But considering how 24 hours a day, seven days a week is pretty limited time, and how much I want to achieve above, this final resolution for 2017 might do good for my overall well-being! This extends to working hard to achieving work related goals, and the above resolutions set out and being appreciative with what I have in tangibles and intangibles – building and maintaining relationships with people who matter and I hold dear to.
Now begs the question on how one should go about adhering to these resolutions. Typically set out early into a new year, we have all experiences or heard stories of how such aspirational goals then to fade away. In part this blog post serves as a yardstick for ourselves – a year later, we can both look back and ascertain how much we have achieved or the extent to which we have deviated from our goals. Beyond that, it serves as a constant reminder of what we set out for ourselves.
Here’s wishing a fruitful, healthy and peaceful 2017 to everyone from the both of us!
Love,
D & L
Resolution 2: Re
Reading more and widely – L has a penchant for books and whilst she has been breezing through multiple titles over the past months, I have been languishing behind on the same philosophy book since October. Hence some impetus to accelerate my reading pace would be most welcome, as is the desire to be more well read in other aspects outside of my pre-existing interests
Resolution 3: Me
Random jumpshot whilst relaxing on the beach in Vietnam
Meeting more people either through work or by expanding my social circle – my take on this is that there are always positives to take away from others, selectively, and you will never know where your paths will cross again in the future. To this, there is no harm in knowing more people given how small Singapore is in general
Resolution 4: Fa
Beautiful scenery of Halong Bay from our cruise during our Vietnam trip
Explore more by trying new things as incorporated, in part, above. However, this point expands from simply outdoor activities – be it food, travel, work, I believe it is important to step out the box from time to time. From past experience, such situations are the ones which we would all approach with trepidation due to various forms of uncertainty. Very often, being able to achieve the desired results despite the great unknowns always give the greatest learning opportunities and sense of satisfaction, and this is what I am aiming for with this resolution
L
New year’s resolutions are a funny thing. You either set out on a high note, ambitious with what the new year and abundant time presents, or go into a new year without one and leave with no disappointments at the end of the year. I am a believer of the former and in fact, enjoy creating plans and seeing them materialize.
This year, my five resolutions are largely shaped by two aspects: (i) Longer term lifestyle goals that I had started in previous years, and (ii) The 1 year international assignment that I had chosen to take up in Poland, which will happen in approximately a month’s time.
Resolution 1: Explore Central Eastern Europe (CEE) through its cultures
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| Greece in August 2016 |
Resolution 2: Attain ABRSM Grade 2 on the piano
Learning a musical instrument and being good at it had been a childhood dream. I recall watching in envy my primary school friends who could play the piano fluently in the school canteen. D had once sent me a video of him playing a beautiful jazz piece on the piano, and I could not stop replaying that. He is amazingly talented in the musical field, having learnt the piano at a young age and picking up the er-hu when he was in secondary school, which he attained a diploma in just a short span of three years - inspiration indeed. I had been exposed to the keyboard, recorder and violin in different phases of my education, but nothing really extended beyond one semester of learning that instrument as part of the school curriculum. The piano is an elegant instrument, and I feel this is something I can pursue for a long time and in my free time in Poland. Besides, Chopin came from Poland right?
Resolution 3: Run (or do a workout) 3 times a week (and work towards a sprint triathlon in 2018)
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| First major cycling event (OCBC cycle) which D enrolled both of us in last year |
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| One of the major titles that I had read last year. A birthday gift from D. |
Resolution 5: Be happy and contented with what I have
This resolution was initially along the lines of “adopt a healthier lifestyle” or “learn to cook and eat healthier”. But considering how 24 hours a day, seven days a week is pretty limited time, and how much I want to achieve above, this final resolution for 2017 might do good for my overall well-being! This extends to working hard to achieving work related goals, and the above resolutions set out and being appreciative with what I have in tangibles and intangibles – building and maintaining relationships with people who matter and I hold dear to.
Now begs the question on how one should go about adhering to these resolutions. Typically set out early into a new year, we have all experiences or heard stories of how such aspirational goals then to fade away. In part this blog post serves as a yardstick for ourselves – a year later, we can both look back and ascertain how much we have achieved or the extent to which we have deviated from our goals. Beyond that, it serves as a constant reminder of what we set out for ourselves.
Here’s wishing a fruitful, healthy and peaceful 2017 to everyone from the both of us!
Love,
D & L
