Highlights of 2012!

When I looked at last year's 'highlights of the year' blog post and saw that I wrote "This year was pretty… meh", I couldn't help but think 'bitch please, this year was fabulous!" hahaha. Indeed, this year was extremely eventful and I can't believe everything actually happened in a short span of one year. It seemed so long ago. Anyway. Let's begin with a walk down memory lane of the supposed doomsday year... 2012!



1. Staying in Hall

In my Year 2 Sem 2, I decided to stay in Raffles Hall both for convenience and fun. I got conveniently located in a quiet, isolated part of the hall which was good as I liked my privacy and quiet, good for studying, etc etc.

Besides the obvious perks of living in hall (close proximity to classes, independence from nagging parents, etc), I got to meet some great friends too.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576"] Friends from my block[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="430"] William, my neighbour 2 doors down, an American exchange student from Iowa. Played basketball with him a couple of times (never beat him, 7-4 was my best), pingpong with him many times (beat him, he beats me about 60% though)[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="274"] The camera-shy Soemin, my immediate neighbour. I'm surprised how well we clicked and he's just a funny guy to hang around.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="384"] Friends I got to know through cherie/szehong. Great company![/caption]

It was such a fun time. And convenient. I don't think I will be used to staying off-campus, given how this entire year I have lived on -campus :( If I could afford it I would stay in hall again in a heartbeat. I actually wrote a pretty nice recap about '5 memorable things about hall', you can read it here. The pictures are all broken though so it's just words :(

2) My girlfriend's 21st birthday

To commemorate this momentous occasion, I uploaded a Youtube video of me singing for the first time in my life. It's just a simple Happy Birthday song, and it's really horrible so I am not going to link it. You should be able to find it easily if you know how.

The blog post I wrote is here, but the gist of it is that I got her 21 presents and slowly revealed to her each present throughout the course of the day.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301"] Swenson's gives you free ice cream on your birthday! :)[/caption]

I think she liked it.

.

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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="239"] Right? O.O[/caption]

3) I met Psycho Douchebag.

A horrifying experience that I hope to never experience again, every student's greatest fear - a nightmare project group mate. Except this one is worse than a nightmare. It is a nightmare within a nightmare within a nightmare. That's right, nightmarception.

To tease you up for what he is like, this is a message which he sent me:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300"] Oh wow, there is a convention for using exclamation marks in SMSes! Oh no! Will I get arrested!! For using too many exclamation marks!!![/caption]

The best way to learn about him is just to read my blog post about him. Trust me, you will be entertained. And mortified.

Well, the good thing about this is I have great conversation material. lulz.

4) I passed my IPPT

This is a contrast to last year's blog post when I wrote that I failed my IPPT



The picture of the result slip which shows me passing is broken, but if you are interested in reading my recount of my IPPT, you can go here.

5) I began working out

I'm not sure what led to me making this decision, but it was probably a combination of factors. But I decided to start gymming, and bought a big container of protein powder to boot.

I wrote a whole series of blog posts tracking my progress and talking about related issues, which are categorized under Fitness.

I actually grew from a scrawny 59KG to a more filled-out 68kg in the course of a few months, which included 3-4 times a week of weights and a 5-meal-day diet.



You can see the clear difference - in the left picture you can see my ribcages jutting out disgustingly. Not so gaunt in the right (after) picture.

I kinda slacked off now, I need to start gymming again so I don't lose what I've spent so long building. :|

6) Played Diablo 3

Diablo 3 was finally released after 11 years since the previous instalment of the popular franchise from Blizzard Entertainment. The release date was perfect for me, right after my exams. As expected, I rushed to the max level cap quickly and played it for quite a bit.



I was one of the first to get the discs too, because of a good supplier hehe. Details here.

7) Began writing for Insomniac

Insomniac is an online publication for FASS, and I can't remember how exactly I applied or learnt about it but I began writing for them.

My favourite and proudest article is still 'The Five Stages of Results Day', a humor piece I wrote that drew from Psychology concepts to lighten up the gloomy Results Day.

And I don't mean to be cocky or arrogant or anything, but I think my articles were the most popular and drew the most traffic to the site, something I AM proud of. And it is not because I am a good writer or anything! It is just that my articles had the most mass appeal, being light-hearted and humorous, vs the serious articles that the better writers wrote.

You can check out all my articles here.

8) Went for Arts Camp 2012 as a councillor.

I wrote a pretty long blog post about this here, but most of the pictures are broken so I'm so mad!!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="590"] A pretty nice shot of all the councillors[/caption]

It was a fun couple of days interacting with the freshies and following them as they played stupid games and shouted stupid cheers (I mean stupid in a not too negative way)... and of course disturb them while they played SP (secret pal)



but the biggest milestone in the camp was probably my first time ever clubbing.



It was a very tiring but fun experience, but whether I will go again in the future is another question. You need people who will dance together with you to make it fun y'know. I don't know if I have that. haha. anyway.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350"] Made a new good friend, Susu :)[/caption]

9) Went for Union Camp 2012 as a councillor

If you had told me a few years ago that I would be going for not one but TWO camps as a councillor, I would have thought that you were nuts. But somehow, for some strange fangled reason, I decided to sign up for Union Camp as well.. which would be one of the best decisions I made this year as I got to make some really awesome friends :)

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="378"] yaya, lixia, bb! We still stay in touch and go out from time to time. Love these girls :)[/caption]

I wrote a long post about this so I won't go through it again, but basically I was more chillax this camp and mingled more with the councillors haha.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="516"] da councillors[/caption]

10) Cooked a meal for the girlfriend for the first time

As a farewell / christmas gift for my girlfriend, I decided to cook a meal for her. I don't cook.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="633"] I think she liked it.[/caption]

More details are here. I also sang her a song which moved her to tears hehe. Her about-to-cry face/behaviour is so adorably cute that I will always remember it :)

You realized I said farewell gift.. farewell for what? Well, in August, I left Singapore for USA for my Student Exchange Programme!! Woohoo!!

11) Went to the United States.

This in itself is a big thing for me as I've always wanted to go to America since I was a teenager. Looking back, it seems like just a dream as it was so flitting and short.. but oh wow I was really there!

And while I was there, I accomplished SO many things on my bucket list.

11) Visited San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge



12) Visited West Yellowstone National Park

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="432"] That's a Bison[/caption]





Whole album here https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150998729771356.416188.701936355&type=3

13) Rode a horse. 



14) Visited the Grand Canyon





15) Went to Las Vegas



Vegas is pretty damn cool if it's your first time. Everything looks so glitz and amazing! I got to watch many (Free) shows there, including the famous Bellagio Fountains. I also played in a casino for the first time in my life.. and won $65 in Blackjack! :D

16) Visited Los Angeles

Besides going to the Walk of Fame which is overrated and nothing much, I went to Santa Monica which was nearby, and saw a REAL beach... not those tiny strips of sand we have at East Coast Park/Sentosa.



Also visited The Grove and Griffith's Observatory, thanks to a friend of a friend who had a car and drove us there! (otherwise you have to hike up the hill to the Observatory)

17) Went to Disneyland, Anaheim

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="504"] The famous Disney Castle that you see all the time in the logo[/caption]

Disneyland was really nice.. there's just this happy atmosphere around and you are surrounded by all the classic Disney characters and themes and stuff. I mainly patronized the rides instead of the themed houses, such as Space Mountain, Autopia etc.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576"] Got a picture with the perennial favourite :)[/caption]

And the best part, which has to be a favourite of many people, was the fireworks at night.





The pyrotechnics were amazing, and that, coupled with the familiar, nostalgic Disney music made the whole experience a surreal one. Pictures and videos will never do it justice, you have to be there, standing there yourself, to soak in the awe-filled ambience and display.

I also went to California Adventure Park which was just the adjacent park, and rode a dozen rides. Fun stuff.

18) Celebrated my birthday overseas

I don't think this has ever occurred before. But yea I just organized a little poker game and taught my friends how to play and with the chips that I bought we had a great time. My friend Peter (an Asian American) also surprised me with a yummy cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory >< It was really sweet as I didn't even know him THAT well and he did that for me. I will miss him!



19) Celebrated Halloween for the first time in my life.







Big props to Zoe / Vanessa for hosting this Halloween party with the cute themed goodies!

20) Experienced my first snowfall



It was an unexpected snowfall that lasted the entire day, leaving behind a good few inches of snow. My awestruck recount can be found here.



The lovely people I went out at midnight to play in the snow with ^^

21) Built my first snowman

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="461"] Yes, I know it's pretty ugly[/caption]

22) Went to New York for Thanksgiving

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576"] With these people. Singaporean freshies in BU![/caption]

23) Went up the Empire State Building

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576"] This ain't the top, but pictures don't do the view from the top justice[/caption]

24) Went snowboarding in Killington, Vermont.



Snowboarding is pretty tough, with the balancing and stuff. Skiing is easier, as you are going where you're facing, but snowboarding your back is sometimes facing downslope which is just weiiird. I didn't manage to go down an advanced slope, but I still had fun.

 

25) Built my second snowman... a real kickass one.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="430"] My fellow snowman builders[/caption]

LEGIT SNOWMAN. Not the balls of ice I tried to pass off as one earlier! hahaha.

 

26) Went for a concert



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qo6yyMUCE&feature=youtu.be

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576"] Clara C and David Choi!![/caption]

It was pretty damn amazing. Clara C is sooo pretty and soooo good live haha. <3

27) Went for an NBA game

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576"] No, this is not a screenshot from a TV screen or something. This was taken with my camera (with some zoom)[/caption]



My favourite basketball team, Boston Celtics! They played the Milwaukee Bucks ... and lost pretty convincingly. Hence my sad face.

 

28) Prepare a Christmas dinner with friends



yes, my poached egg is the one that looks like crap.

 

29) Countdown to the new year with the girlfriend



We decided to go to cityhall/esplanade area to watch the fireworks.. NEVER AGAIN.

Well we were there since early like about 7+, and everywhere was already pretty crowded and we had difficulty finding a place to eat. It didn't help that it was raining and everything was gloomy and wet. Then after the countdown, the massive crowd meant many MRT entrances were blocked off and we had to walk for ages before finding an open entrance... which we had to queue for like an hour because of the massive crowd just to ENTER the station. NEVER AGAIN.

We agreed next year to just countdown with sparklers



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Wow. This year was SO eventful! I can't believe so many momentous things happened in just a short year. I think this has to be the most eventful year in my life... in terms of accomplishing things on my bucket list.

Resolutions for 2013? Well... I hope to find meaning in life. Haha ok that sounds so philosophical and deep. But really. I hope to find out what I want / should work as, as a career. Because right now, I am still pretty damn lost.