Happy New Year!

Time flies so quickly; before I knew it, I was attending a NYE celebration party at an ex-colleague's home, and I took opportunity of the public holiday on 1st Jan 2013 to visit a colleague who's on maternity leave. 

Lemme list some of the memorable events in 2012:

1) Undertook ABRSM Grade 5 music exam for violin
- I'm proud to say that I scored a distinction in this exam, which is amazing seeing that I felt I bungled some notes and I ended up using my beginner violin (after a merry goose chase borrowing "better" violins from others)
- I scored 134/150, which is considered a high-scorer list. I was not selected to perform at the ABRSM High Scorer concert but I've a cert and the score sheet to gloat over :D
- I'm ambitious enough to buy the Grade 7 book and since the repertoire is valid until 2015, I plan to prepare for at least a year before partaking the exam in 2014/2015...Wish me luck!

2) Welcome aboard Ichthys
- This is the biggest career milestone to date. Ichthys is the name given to a gas field in Australia due to the tangram outlining the field resembling a fish. Working with a multinational team, this project is ongoing and giving me a lot of exposure to dealing with clients, as well as added technical knowledge. 
- The interesting feature of this project is that we're building a ship (Floating Processing, S and Offloading) to process the condensate before transferring to a processing platform. The concept is so fascinating and it tickles me to tell others that "my project is about building a ship" :D

3) Smartphone mania
- I admit that I'm a Nokia fan: despite the input from various friends and reading so many reviews, I settled on a Nokia Lumia 610 smartphone. This phone runs on Windows 7 and the Live Tiles is a refreshing change from typical smartphone interfaces. 
- Unfortunately I lost the phone in a cinema (I guess the phone-losing habit doesn't die off), and I considered reverting back to a candybar phone (eg the Nokia C1) but I was unsuccessful in finding the phone as it was going obsolete (oh noes)...so I opted for a Nokia Lumia 710. 
- I'm trying out different apps but I think this phone is the right choice for me: it's not obnoxious, it has the features and the specs I require, and it's different. Go me! 

4) Ankle sprain
- This has been a recurrent problem for me: I've sprained both ankles several times (on separate occasions) and I finally decided to seek advice from a specialist at KL Sports Medicine Centre. The foot and ankle specialist concluded that my ankles are quite alright; it was a good thing to exercise and use my muscles after injury, or it would've weakened them. He prescribed physiotherapy and I attended 1 session; it was something new and I got an exercise band to perform the therapy at home. So here's to strengthening my muscles and avoiding potential injury :)

5) Diet

- I lost weight participating in the company's Charity Weight Loss Program; though it made me feel positive about myself, only "bigger" people will understand the sense of loss I feel when I don't feel my lumps around me! 
- Post-CNY I put on weight and it's a challenge to get back to pre-CNY weight but I like to think that my regular exercise and healthy eating is working fine for me; I've gone beef-free for most of 2012 and I aim to continue. Also I aim to cut down on unnecessary carbs, drink more water and cut down on cholesterol. 

Looking forward, I feel there's a lot in store for me in the year of the Snake. I've grown out of making resolutions; they tend to be the same every year and it feels like a commercialized practice. So let's get real; every day counts, make every day matter and don't forget to appreciate the small things in life. Being negative never helps and helping others also helps you. 

I wish everyone a happy new year and may it be better than the last :)