24 January 2017

CNY2017: Arrival

Dear Pipsqueaks,

The day started very early - for me anyway - at 5:30am. Not to mention I only got to bed around 1am. But yes, I had to wake up to wrap all the chocolates in the fridge so they'd stay cold enough until I reach Taipei. Didn't want them to melt out of shape, would we?! After finishing up with packing, I literally had 5 minutes to change into my clothes before heading down to meet Mr. Goh aka my taxi driver.

I like my taxi driver. He's a morning person so he's quite cheery when he sees me for these morning flights. We'd chat for a little while, then he'd let me doze off into my own little world - either listening to music or taking a short nap. It's never for long though because he takes his driving very seriously. We left my place around 7am, expecting to arrive around 8am with the morning traffic. You know when we arrived? 7:38am.

It only took me 5 minutes to check in, and by 7:45am, I was wandering what to do to kill 1hr15mins before having to board my flight at 9am. Which of course wasn't the real boarding time - try 9:30am. So yes, I made a loop around KLIA2, and to my surprise, most shops were already open for business by then. Quite unusual in comparison to the 10am-10pm hours in the city. Anyway, I was already carrying too much, so I wasn't in the mood to buy anything else.

22 January 2017

Ready for CNY2017

Dear Pipsqueaks,

Can't say I'm ready for CNY but I'm definitely ready to bring the load of snacks to my parent's house! The collection has been taking up a floor in the fridge and a box in the living room - they need to be EATEN! And not by me because them dang sugar levels. Anyway, it's been...OMG! It's been more than 6 months since I've spent some time with my parents and le sister?! What in the world...though I did briefly see them on my way to Vancouver for a wedding in September. But that can't count. I've gotta do better than that.

Which is why I'm only going to be attending 6 tournaments this year:
- All England Open (Birmingham)
- Sudirman Cup (Gold Coast)
- Indonesia Open (Jakarta)
- World Championships (Glasgow)
- French Open (Paris)
- Dubai Finals (Dubai)

20 January 2017

Selamat 2017

Dear Pipsqueaks,

I'm not going to start by saying, "it's been a long time since I last updated here!", because that's lame! Not going to start the first post of 2017 that way, and I certainly want to stop writing that. I need to find time and space in my mind to just sit down and write write write. Just yesterday, a friend had asked me about blogging, and the weirdest thing happened. I found myself talking non-stop about how amazing it is to blog, why she should do it, and how to set up the blog. I suppose that's what passionate people are like?

Yes, I'm passionate about blogging! Can't you tell? Okay, if you can't tell that I've changed to a whole new template, then you're a horrendous subscriber! Well, actually it's not completely your fault. I just haven't written anything for so long...brain becomes a bit scared to go full out. That's also not healthy because it just means my brain is STUCK! I don't want it to be stuck...so here I am! New look and feel which will hopefully bring me back to writing-mode.

So before I move into 2017, I want to highlight a few things about 2016:
  • attended Thai friend wedding in Bangkok
  • moved into a new area - new condo
  • met up with baddy girls Monica Mui and Alice Man in Singapore
  • hosted my friend Alice Man (hopefully she enjoyed her mini-KL getaway)
  • played tennis for the first time in YEARS at Lake Club
  • took a photoshoot session in Taipei
  • included Cheng Wen Hsing into our Tuesday baddy group
  • visited Macau and Hong Kong with the parents and le sister
  • celebrated my birthday in Rio
  • attended Bon/Steve's wedding back in Vancouver
  • got a new windshield for my car
  • watched 21 movies
  • assisted at 9 tournaments last year - 11 weeks of work travel
  • participated in my 3rd Olympic Games at Rio2016
  • managed two successful dinners - Kunshan & Dubai
  • delivered 99% of all promo activity requests from hosts/sponsors
  • spent New Year's countdown in Hokkaido

Yup, definitely accomplished and experienced a bunch in 2016. Wasn't an easy year - I combed through my calendar and all I could see were what I labelled as "Work Reflections", which were mostly a recap of an incident at work that I just needed to write down to forget. Ironic eh? Writing it down to forget it. But hey, it works. Best part is, I can't even remember most of those incidents by looking at their titles - that normally doesn't happen as I do brag at times about my amazing memory of all things experienced. Yes, not always the most important things, but I remember them anyway.

So here we are in 2017. What the heck does that mean? It means, I've started my new approach to life. I've taken up bullet journaling - and I can't wait to go back to Taiwan for Chinese New Year because the bookstores are full of colorful pens to write with and stickers to go into my book; started to exercise more regularly and watch my health; and most importantly, take myself less seriously and learn to enjoy life. Whatever it offers.

Anyhoos, time to hit the gym. It's taken you a good 10 minutes to read this so time to move your bottoms too, peeps! Let's not just start strong - continue strong! Together.