I realized I will always write something at the start of the year, so this year will be no different. The past days have been spent out partying with friends and I haven't had time to sit down and pen a entry.
On New Year's Eve, I had tuition lessons in the morning, before embarking on a shopping spree in Orchard. Bought a pair of jeans, a leather wallet, a leather bag, and a t-shirt, and it all came up to more than $250. Would have been more if not for promotions/discounts of about 20-30% on average. Haha. At night, I headed to Sengkang West for the countdown to New Year, or rather, for the fireworks lah. I must admit that the fireworks were pretty, but throughout the show, I couldn't help but wondered how much money was spent.
On New Year's Day, I had to wake up early to head down to my grandpa's place and also for lunch with family. After lunch, I went to Jonathan's house for Mahjong with Eugene and Edwin. We managed to play 2 full games, surprisingly broke even after the first game, but some luck in the second game allowed me to return home $10 richer. Should be one of my best and smoothest days, as my "ting pai" to "hu" rate is very high. Almost always.
On 2 January, I met my NS friends for lunch and frisbee at Sentosa. The meeting time was 1200h, and when I arrived at 1201h, I was the first out of 6. This is not the first time I'm the first to arrive and when everyone is late, and I was quite irritated. Next time, I will just be late for frisbee meetings. My time is just as precious as anyone else's, and I don't see why I should be the one waiting for most of the time. Anyway, I was quite surprised at my poor fitness level, considering I did exercise in the past few weeks. Oh well, the frisbee was still fun lah.
The last 3 days have been pretty happening for me right? Hehe.
In 2011, I said 2010 was a great year for me. In 2012, I wouldn't say that 2011 was fantastic. If there was a word to describe the year, it would be 'busy'. The whole year was full of dramatic ups and downs, which means there were times when I felt very lousy, but there were also special moments that I will remember for the rest of the life.
For my studies, my CAP has dipped slightly in 2011 but it's understandable. I shall not be misleading, it only dropped by 0.01. I have one more semester to go, and 2 more months to the submission of my Honours Thesis, and it's time to work hard on my FYP.
For my finances, the past year was definitely a major boost! I'm glad I have comfortably surpassed my pre-Mexico levels! As you would have guessed, it's largely due to the 361 hours of tuition, which contributed to 77% of my income. 12% came from the internship, 9% from parents' allowance, and 2% from miscellaneous stuff such as CNY angbao.
However, my expenses for this year have been very high as well. Increased daily spending, together with one-off purchases of laptop, handphone, and my overseas trips. Thankfully, I still managed to save up 44% of my total income.
For my career, I feel very fortunate, lucky, and relieved that I have secured a job upon graduation. Started job hunting in August, and after going through rounds of tests, interviews, meals, and two rejections, I had three awesome job offers to consider. It was extremely difficult to decide because of various reasons, but I made my decision after thorough evalulations which resulted in some sleepless nights, as well as consultations with my parents, brother and friends. I think my parents seemed pretty happy that their dear son has found a decent job, but for me, I'm just excited to start work in June and learn new stuff at work, because it's getting a little boring in school already. Lol.
For my social circle, I have 'lost' friends and 'gained' friends this year, which is pretty normal. My top 20 friends in 2011 have seen 6 new names, as compared to 2010. The main core of my social circle is relatively consistent, although 3 new names broke into the top 10 in 2011. The average length of time I have known the top 20 friends in 2011 is 6.25 years (down from 6.45 years in 2010) and the figure is 7.8 years (down from 7.9 in 2010) for the top 10 friends.
Hmm, what else is there to add? Overseas trips? I have no concrete plans at the moment, but it seems pretty likely that I will be heading overseas in May or June before I start work, and maybe in December since I will need to clear leave as well. Haha. Relationship status? I'm still single, as my Facebook profile suggests. Lol.
So, happy new year to all my readers!