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.

I discovered my love for Popcorners in my last US trip in 2022. It was available in the office pantry and I had the Sweet and Salty flavour. Then I went back to the same pantry this year and I couldn’t find it anymore. I wasn’t able to find it in Sprouts too. I nearly forgot about it until I saw it in Google office pantry. Many thanks for my friend/ex-colleague Daniyal for inviting me for a lunch at his office. I had an office tour, tea and even snacks haul when I was visiting San Francisco as part of my personal vacation. 🙂 He told me I can get it from Costco but I don’t have Costco membership. He told me next time he will bring 3kg worth of Popcorners for me since I love it so much. Hahaha! Anyway, I managed to find it in Safeway in the end and I brought 4 big packs of Popcorners home. Feeling quite happy.

One of my favourite Korean YouTubers, Kieun Choi, also likes Popcorners too haha.

I have an interesting story in my hunt for Popcorners actually. After I went to visit Daniyal in the Spear Street office then I walked to Ferry Building to get my matcha latte from Blue Bottle Coffee. I don’t drink coffee but Blue Bottle Coffee is so ironic and I felt I should get something from there. I usually get hot chocolate but I wanted a change. In my effort for more changes, I opt for almond milk instead of normal whole milk. It’s not very nice so be warned – don’t pick almond milk when it comes to matcha latte. :/ Anyway, it is like 13 degrees Celsius and I somehow decided to drink iced matcha latte instead of hot. Then I took an Uber ride to Golden Gate Bridge and was quite pleased with myself for ordering the iced version. However, Golden Gate Bridge is quite cold. Folks who visit San Francisco before would know that the fog and temperature is usually the lowest in Golden Gate Bridge. Here I am – drinking iced matcha latte and walking on the bridge. Not exactly a wise choice but hey, it turned out to be a good choice because I was sweating on the bridge. Well, I was wearing my thin collar short sleeve shirt from Uniqlo (meant for Singapore weather), my baby blue cardigan from SPAO (my recent purchase from my Seoul business trip a few weeks back), my relatively new down jacket from The North Face and my new 100% cashmere scarf from Hermes. The cashmere scarf turns out to be too hot for the 11 to 13 degree Celsius weather on the bridge. I was basically sweating on my neck and arms. To be honest, I don’t think I will sweat without the Hermes scarf. Well, that proved to be very worthwhile purchase I guess. The iced matcha latte helped to keep me cool.

Then I stayed on to watch the sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge since I realised it is going to be sunset and it isn’t as crowded. Probably because it is much colder than usual or by SF standards and also a work day so less locals are there. The sunset in California is always very beautiful. The paddle pop sky is very pretty.

Then I decided to hunt for Popcorners since I have some time before going back to meet Gulabi for dinner. I originally wanted to take Uber to go there but I happened to see a bus at that time. So I decided to ask the driver if that’s the same bus that is going to the direction where Safeway is. Luckily I asked because it was the wrong direction. Lol. So I waited for the right bus and board it to go to Safeway. Unfortunately, I am supposed to alight before the bus goes into Golden Gate Park but I missed the stop so it went into the Golden Gate Park and exited it on the other end. I could have retrace back the route but it is quite dark and Golden Gate Park looks quite dark and scary. So I immediately went to find another Safeway that is slightly further but I can take another bus from the other side of the Golden Gate Park and avoid the dark and scary route of Golden Gate Park. When I reached the bus stop, I realised the bus I am taking is arriving much later. So I took the bus that came earlier and boarded it with everyone else in the same bus stop. The unfortunate part? I have to walk 6 streets/junctions before I can reach Safeway. Well, the roads are dark but since it is like the residential area, it doesn’t feel as scary. Furthermore, that area is relatively rich neighbourhood so it is unlikely to be dangerous. Scary – yes. Dangerous – no. Unfortunately it is a upslope route so that was a good workout since I haven’t been working out for some time. I’m still wearing the same Hermes scarf that is causing me to sweat earlier. However, the temperature has dropped and there is no sun to generate heat so it is actually quite cold. I’m thankful for the scarf at that time.

By the time I reached Safeway, it’s like close to 7pm. I managed to find my Popcorners at the store and it makes all these adventures pretty worth it haha.

It’s interesting how some stuff seems to be messed up at the start – like my “bad” decisions on the iced matcha latte or the missed bus stop for my bus ride to Safeway turned out to be a good decision in the end. Life is interesting, isn’t it?