Recently I started watching some of the real estate related videos and there’s 1 part of the video that really hits me.

“Buying a property is not just investment centric or own-stay centric. It is also psychology centric. When you owns an asset, it trains you to save because now you have a responsibility… A home also has psychological factors because the moment you start to own a home, you need to maintain it. You need to pay property tax, monthly conservancy or MCST, electrical bills, Internet bills and stuff like that. That will give you like an internal, healthy motivation to be hardworking because you now have a responsibility.”

Wow, like just wow. Can any property owners relate to it?

Happy New Year! I’m quite happy that 2023 has ended. It was one of the toughest year in my life and on hindsight, I have grown and learned so much in the year. Nevertheless, I don’t want to go through more surgeries in my life anymore…

I’m going back to setting new year resolutions. 🙂

1. Put myself first – my physical, mental and financial health are more important than everything else.
2. Have more confidence in myself when it comes to trusting my gut and my ability in managing my financial health.
3. Don’t be too hard on myself this year – this is especially important when I have to do major packing and unpacking at the end of the year. I’m dreading it now as I am trying my best to declutter as much as I can… I need to remind myself that very little progress I made is still a progress!

I was reviewing my finances last night and is shocked at how much I have achieved. 🙂 I managed to undo the bad investment decisions I made back in 2022 and now it is back on track. 😀 Sometimes I just need to have more faith in myself. I’m pretty awesome and amazing that I surprised myself when I do the final calculations…

I injured my index finger on my right hand end of 2023 then injured my wrist at the start of 2024. I’m glad that both are on the road to recovery. No, I did not take medical leave for any of the injuries because I have too much work to clear when I am out for my vacation in LA and SF then medical leave due to a really bad flu (down for fever for 4 days) then a surgery.

I felt like I pushed myself too hard after my breakup last year. Yes, I did achieved what I want and got my life back on track. Yes, I managed to fix the delays in life goals in a few months which shocked many of my friends and acquaintances whom I recently met. But all these are at the expense of my body complaining and making me fall sick so many times last year… I had insomnia issues for putting too much pressure on myself as well. Well, what a normal person will take to achieve in years were completed by me in less than 3 months. It’s no wonder my body is complaining so much given the amount of pressure that I am under to get all fixed.

After the cancer scare, it’s time to prioritise my health more. I’m not sure if I will still be in Singapore when I review my 2024 year but let’s see how things turn out. 🙂 I’m already excited for the upcoming year. 😀

Yay, it is my last day of leave! Well, I am quite bored and is ready to go back to work. Unfortunately I injured my finger and now I wonder how to use the mouse. Oh well. Got to use other fingers for it then.

I’m going for my regular dermatologist appointment this week and have to tell her that I have another surgery scar that she has to manage/handle. Haha. It’s like giving her more work lol.

I can’t wait for the year to end. This year has been too hectic and stressful for me. I did manage to achieve new records this year too so life is not all bad after all.

Saying hi to all the work stuff as I am starting to clear some work emails now…

Whee! It’s my birthday again. I know I should be a bit sad that I am older by a year now but nevertheless I am still quite excited. I finally can unbox my birthday gift that I got for myself in January this year.

I got myself a Van Cleef and Arpels 5 motif bracelet in hammered yellow gold this year. Yes, it is quite a splurge and I paid full deposit in January thinking that I will have to wait for a year to receive it. It ended up coming in a week. The power of paying full deposit instead of just waitlisting it. Also helps to have a helpful SA who is willing to take in full deposit when the time window opens. Well, I must thank my SA for letting me know that the window has opened so I can pay full deposit for it. Otherwise, I highly doubt I can get the bracelet till now. Hammered gold pieces are not made in huge quantities as compared to the crystal/gemstones versions…

I managed to fly back to Singapore a few days earlier before my birthday. Unfortunately I ended up falling very sick. That’s after my bloody accident in US. I managed to avoid wound infection while in US but didn’t manage to escape flu bug when I am in Singapore. Gahhh. Luckily I managed to get better by my birthday and was able to drag myself out of the house to buy my own birthday cake – an important tradition for myself haha. I treated myself a cup of Koi black tea latte too. After 2.5 weeks of having horrible and super expensive bubble tea in US, I certainly welcome having one of my favourite bubble tea in Singapore.

This year has been transformative for me as I hit several major milestones in life. I will leave the details in another blog post in future as I reflect in 2023.

I’m finally on my return flights back home! Well, I have to take 2 flights home since I am flying back from San Francisco. I am so done with flying for the year. I think I took the most number of flights in this year as compared to other years. By the end of this trip, I would have taken 11 flights. Now I am on my 10th flight for this year. Well, I had my personal trip in Seoul back in May 2023. Then a business trip in October 2023 in Seoul followed by another business trip and personal trips in November and December 2023.

I also spent the most money this year as well. 2024 will be a year of major change in my life – hopefully positive changes.