It’s cold and chilly the entire weekend – a rare weather treat in the usually hot and tropical island. It has been raining every day for the past week and the forecast seems to suggest that it will continue to rain for the following week. I guess the gloomy weather does set the right mood and space for my annual reflection, which seems to be a ‘tradition’ that I have maintained for many years. Every December, I spend some time to pen down my thoughts for the year which seems pretty much ‘the same’ for the post-covid years. Nevertheless, I know ‘me’ in the future will be reading this anyway, so I just got to do what I got to do.
2025. A pretty significant year for me because I am finally ‘of age’ to purchase a (public housing) property in Singapore. Have read many articles on reddit with regards to the singles’ tax / punishment we get just by not being married. Well, this is the somewhat negative way of saying but the more normalised thing to say is that there are many benefits you can enjoy if you are married, and even more if you have kids. Although there are times that I do feel the ‘unfairness’ in things, I don’t actually regret any decision I’ve made in my life thus far with regards to my relationship status. Of course, I do see happy marriages and stuff like that but my character ain’t the most easygoing one out there and I just don’t see the need to ‘try hard’ to ensure that I conform to the society’s expectations. I guess in a way I’m kind of privileged cause I don’t get any pressure from anywhere plus I am fairly independent enough to enjoy and appreciate the solitude. While I don’t see how things would be changing anytime in the near future, I’m still excited to know how this next stage of life would be for me – when I actually move out and stay in a place all by myself. I’m excited and a little scared to be honest, but I know I need to experience this earlier, than later in life. I hope to share more of my home journey in the year ahead and hopefully I won’t have much issues. The purchase was not exactly an easy journey as I had many doubts about the initial unit but sometimes you can never be too sure about everything and you got to just bite the bullet and deal with the outcome.
Another thing that has stayed constant across the past 3 years is that I am still crocheting my nights away. It has somewhat become a habit of mine to always be doing something with my hands – and i found that crocheting is definitely better than phone scrolling. I’ve lost count on the number of projects I’ve doen this year but I’m glad to share that I still derieve joy from it. I used my own crochet scarf in Tokyo last year and I’m making another one for myself this year. Feels pretty excessive for that once-a-year usage but oh wells, I just can’t seem to stop my hands =p I’ve also made a couple more bags this year and it’s nice to receive compliments whenever I carry them. I love handmade items and I love it even more when I do it myself. Somehow I really do have that pride in using/making my own stuff. Heh.
Similar to last year, or perhaps I have sunk further into the f1 craze, the f1 fever in me still remains. I believe I watched all 24 races of the season, even when I was having dinner outside a convenience shop in Seoul. I’ve learned to schedule my plans/trips around the f1 calendar and on days I can’t, I simply ask for forgiveness in multi-tasking. It feels pretty crazy to let myself so ‘loose’ in this fervent passion of mine but then again, if it is something that makes me really happy, why shoud I stop it? 2026 is going to be a crazy year cause I’ve bought and paid for tickets for 2 races already – of which one is overseas *screams for holiday*. Side note, the driver that I had been supporting since I started watching f1 about 2.5 years ago won the prestigious ‘World Driver Champion’ award this year. It feels kind of insane as when I chose him as my favourite driver, he was just mid-tier and suddenly the car became a rocketship and last season he came in second and finally for the first time ever, he won the champion position by just 2 points. The entire season had a hell lot of controversies and weird decisions as a result of the so called ‘papaya rules’, but a win is still a win and a champion will forever be remembered as a champion. What draw me to him initially was not him being fast or good, but it was for him warm and relatable character that I could identify strongly with. Something along the lines of wanting to do things ‘his way’, to not be overly aggressive, to not be hated and to only do the ‘right’ things even if it meant not reaching the final goal at the end. Thank you for making the world believe that nice guys can still be champions too. So much to love about and so much more to give and share with the world – your happiness, your smile and your real-ness – is something that is not common in the world of competitive sports. Hope I’ll still have interest in the sport in the year ahead. It’s something that has brought me a lot of emotions throughout the year.
Holidays are a huge part of my life too and I’m sad to share that I didn’t visit any new countries this year. Alright it is not so much of a sad thing but facts are just.. facts. As always, I visited the usual suspects – Japan, Korea, Taiwan and even went to Hong Kong with my 20+ years friends (oh gosh we are really that old). I’ve known them for more than half my life? wow. Then, there was a bangkok and that’s it for the year. In my mind, I’m always hoping and wanting to travel more but for some reason I just don’t take any action at all. 2026 is gonna be so busy as I’ve got a Japan + Europe trip scheduled. Korea will happen again as it is pretty much an annual affair for me and everything else we will just have to take it when it comes. The financials ain’t looking too good for next year but then again everyday I remind myself that money is.. for spending. So I just need to be a little easy when it comes to money. That being said, I did buy my very first art print this year. It feels pretty insane to really finally make up my mind to buy it cause at the back of my mind I always wonder why am I paying so much for a piece of paper but then, at the same time, I’m also paying for the story behind the painting so I guess it is more than just a piece of paper. Can’t wait to hang it up on the walls of my new home.
In life, there’s always an equilabrium so now it’s time for me to go down smoothly from all that highs. Yea my career is pretty much the same as many years which also means that it is still, a mess. I have finally passed the ‘record’ of staying the longest in a company and guess what, in 2026 there is going to be another re-org AGAIN. I’m onwards to my 4th manager in 4 years which is pretty much align with the saying that ‘change is the only constant’. I don’t really feel that good about it with all the anxiety (cause I have no idea what is my new scope of work nor do I know who will be my new manager), but then again, perhaps it is because of all these ever-changing plans that keeps things ‘fresh’ for me, such that I’m still staying ‘put’. In all honesty, the job market is still in pretty bad shape and if I compare all the pros and cons, I don’t think I’m at a point where I feel the urgent desperation to have a change, but then this is just the ‘me’ now. Everything might change with the new org chart so who knows right? At the end of the day, I constantly remind myself that work is just the means to get money which is something I need to function on earth. Don’t need to overcomplicate things and just.. suck it up =p
Which brings me to remind myself of the saddest thing that happened this year – where I lost a colleague/friend – to cancer. It’s crazy how such terminal illness can just strike and wipe out someone from the surface of the earth in an instant. It is even crazier to know that apart from my colleague, there was another person (my age), who was my friend’s close friend, also losing her life to cancer after battling it for 5+ years. On top of it, my friend lost her aunt (not that old), but also to an illness plus another friend’s mum got really ill this year as well. The fragility of life simply just reminds me constantly to live life with no regrets. With every possible opportunity, I try to treasure every free time that I can have with my parents. Just yesterday, I made them go out for dinner and we did a similar routine that we had done just a year ago. We had dinner, and then went shoe-shopping. Because this shoe shop always have like bundle promotions, they both had to buy one each in order to get that extra 20% and somewhere in my mind, the same situation happened some time ago. It was the usual dinner > shopping > groceries > home plan. Something so simple but forgotten once we get older. As much as I hope it wouldn’t happen, when I move out, such opportunities will likely become rarer so I really do treasure such moments even though I don’t often talk about it. They frustrate me all the time (most days) but at the end of the day they are still family, which will standby you no matter what. I don’t know what is the situation for you out there but if you still have the chance, do check in on your parents/family members more often. Even if the words are limited, the presence is still something that really matters.
Lastly, I’m still glad that I persisted with this blog of mine despite losing interest in writing about viral topics. It is still a useful outlet for me to share my creativity, to pen my thoughts, to air my complaints and to contribute something that will seek to entertain my future self. This year, I also gave up on forcing myself to write something every month and decided to be more fluid and open to whatever that comes. I don’t want to be bouded by anything anymore (though I am put myself into one by calling this a december tradition). Wherever you are in the world, whatever you are feeling right now, just remember that someone out there cares for you and is interested in what you have to say. That person could just be you, but you just don’t know it yet.
^^ Cheers and see you again in 2026. Or perhaps I might be back earlier if I have something more to say.