Summary of 2010

The Husband has a friend who sends out a summary of his year to all his friends around this time of the year. It is an email The Husband looks forward to every year. I think it is a really cool way to look back at the year AND update your friends about your year at the same time.

And so, I  decided  I will start to do a summary of my year from this year onwards on my blog. As I'm writing this, there is about an hour more of 2010 before 2011 arrives... so I'm in a bit of a hurry to finish off this post.

I started this year knowing that I have hypothyroidism - meaning my body does not have enough thyriod hormones to run the body. The reason is unknownst to me still.. what I need to do is take some thyriod hormones replacement daily.. to up my body's metabolism. Apart from having to take a small tablet every morning (something I still sometimes forget), this condition doesn't really affect my lifestyle at all.

What it does, however, is that it makes me a lot more conscious about exercising. So one of my resolutions for 2010 is to exercise more. The other is to forget about money... or rather.. about making money in 2010.

For the first 3 months of 2010, I was still working on a contract with my ex-company in Beijing. The arrangement started in the beginning of 2009, right after I left the company to return home to Singapore. There were a few projects that required my experience.. so I had a contractual arrangement with the company that meant I had to work a few days each month.. and visit Beijing every 2 - 3 months for a couple of weeks. The arrangement was a win-win for both sides.. but I was very grateful for it because it made leaving Beijing and returning to Singapore that much easier for me.

Beijing airport - an airport I'm very familiar with..

The work was enjoyable and I really liked the occasional visits to Beijing. It meant I could catch up with my friends in Beijing and visit my favourite restaurants - like hotpot and Peking duck.

In my spare time, I went to the gym, cooked, baked and spent my time seriously looking into setting up a small F&B shop. My little dream of owning a little shop of my own didn't materialise, however. In April, I started full-time work again in a bank in Singapore. Work was... confusing at first. It wasn't so much the work but the culture and changes I saw in some old friends. For a while, I thought I wouldn't be able to fit back in. But after a few weeks, I settled in.. and although I have been comprising more and more in terms of working hours, I do feel comfortable where I am right now.

Occasionally, I'd look back and wonder if I'd ever regret not taking that launch to start my own shop. But I know that what I may have missed in terms of a new experience, I gained in having more personal time and a lot less stress..

 One of the pictures an item on the menu for my future shop

Travel wise, I managed a 2 weeks trip to Tohoku and Tokyo in April, before I started work. That trip is my favourite this year. Japan is always a fantastic place to visit.. and April is the best time because it is sakura season. I had a fairly good dose of onsens, ryokans and Japanese cuisine during the trip..

Sakura in April in Tokyo

In October, I visited Haikou with a couple of girlfriends. To be honest, there isn't much in Haikou.. I still can't quite remember what made us decide to go there.. But it was a good break from work and I enjoyed their company a lot.

Then of course, I spent my block leave (a compulsory thing in banking) in Taiwan in December. It was a trip packed with food, food and then more food.. 

The worst thing that happened to me this year was having my things stolen from my home. The culprit never owned up.. and was never caught. It was a horrid experience and I pray I'd never have to go through something like that again.

On a happier note - we had 2 good news in the family this year. The Husband's brother got married in July and we flew to Hong Kong to attend the wedding. Another good news was my little brother's engagement. The wedding would be next year so that would be something to look forward to in Oct 2011.

1 wedding in the family in 2010 and another one next year..

I started out this post thinking 2010 was a relatively quiet year for me.. but actually... it was a rather eventful year.. with lots of changes and a fair bit of travelling.

I've yet to sit down and think about my resolutions for 2011.. but I hope to love more.. laugh more.. and enjoy things that come my way in the year ahead.

A happy new year to you and your family!