2017: Year in Review
12 Highs and Lows of Last Year
2017 for me was a long, long year. I thought moving to Berlin was in 2016 when actually, it wasn’t even a year ago.
Initially I was thinking of quietly skipping this annual series, lest it might turn out to be a post choke full of emo guff. To my own surprise, as I attempted this draft, I realized I went to 11 countries (5 new), 50 cities old and new, yet still managed to spend a lot of time with my family!
Below is a rundown of my 2017 highs and lows, because life is not all about fluffy unicorns farting rainbows.
January
High: É made an effort to get some time off work when he was based in Germany to celebrate Chinese New Year with me and my family at my hometown, Labis.
Low: Missing É for a HUGE part of January.
February
High: I ‘moved’ to Berlin for 1/4 of the year to be with É and experienced the best Valentine’s Day dinner I ever had so far.
Low: Germany was too cold for my liking.
March
High: I visited unique Warsaw, Poland and London for the very first time, thanks to my sweet sister-in-law who bought us flights!
Low: Started to feel seriously homesick. Food in Berlin is generally horrible, especially their Asian cuisine. Had to co-exist with racist female butchers at the supermarket where I lived. Decided I would never live in Germany even if my life was sponsored till the end of time.
April
High: É and I went to Bratislava, before I traveled solo to Brussels, Bruges, and Amsterdam. Devoured the best angmoh goose in Slovakia, went beer trippin’ at the world’s biggest beer selection bar in Belgium, and was beyond thrilled to meet my ex colleagues from Netherlands.
Low: Instead of naturally feeling grateful and lucky, somehow it was a constant battle to remind myself to be and feel that way.
May
High: Back in Cingapore, I made sure É’s birthday is worth a 5-star experience. Better still when the surprise with friends turned out to be a success.
Low: The truth here is unspeakable. Upon our return, I was also horrified to find Cinga overweight, on top of missing a huge part of her growing up as a kitten.
June
High: I made my first batch of Cingaporean friends on an AirAsia media trip to Sarawak to experience Gawai for the first time.
Low: I lost a friend.
July
High: We found our lost cat.
Low: We lost our cat.
August
High: É took me on a 3-week road trip throughout Portugal so that I could get to know my ‘new country’. I didn’t know it is SUCH a beautiful secret piece of heaven with great quality food!
Low: That one afternoon at a beach in Algarve with É’s family where everyone was playing in the sun, I was the only Asian alien desperately trying to find shelter. To my horror, there was NONE.
September
High: I finally ticked off Gili Island from my travel list. Back home, I learned how to use Lightroom and Final Cut Pro X the long, hard way on my own. All my photos and video content you see today, regardless of whether they are good enough, are results of my sweat and tears!
Low: Re-battling a creeping 30’s life crisis.
October
High: I was selected amongst many Malaysian bloggers to be part of a South East Asia project by the Embassy of Spain named ‘Hola‘. For me, this marked a very important achievement in my blogging career as I have always ADORED Spain to the extent of learning the language few years backs. You can watch all 6 episodes I made here.
Low: I got my first job in Cingapore (the 2nd worse thing that happened in 2017), which I left after half a month (best decision made ever). I never received my contract since the day I joined. Had 2 bosses who weren’t aligned and each had different tasks plus expectations from me, which also means double the work for the pathetic pay of one. Given a target no one they hired before ever hit. It was 2 long weeks of hiatus, ridiculousness, suffer and full of negativity.
Quote: “If it no longer works for you, then leave. It’s never worth staying at a job that makes you miserable and doesn’t help you become a better person.”
November
High: Officially the BEST month of the year, always. From a sponsored romantic staycation by YTL Hotels at Pangkor Laut Resort to a family trip to Hong Kong and Macau, for 30 days I was surrounded and showered with love from loved ones. #priceless
Low: 0
December
High: I finally decided on having my wedding gown custom made as my dream dress is fabricated of many ideas. Killing two birds with one stone, I returned to Malaysia for a meeting with my designer and to celebrate mum’s birthday. This is the video I made, dedicated to her.
Low: Another unspeakable thing reoccurred . . . I was facing the new year with fear that it would follow me again into 2018. Well, it did.
