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Saturday, December 24, 2016

A Bittersweet 2016


As the year is coming to an end, I thought I'd write one last post for the year. 

It's been an absolutely amazing year if you ask me, despite the fact that my first half of 2016 was pretty shitty haha. Sure, I lost quite a bit of friends and I went through a break up. It was really dramatic for the first 5 months of the year. But looking back at it now, all I can do is just laugh at how silly everything was. There have been people who ask me how I can be so "chill" about the break up, though the truth is far from that. Thankfully, I had the best friend to help me pull through that tough period. And of course, it was nice to see that there are people concerned about me. Thanks guys :') But that's enough about the unkind things 2016 had for me.

Now, on to the good things that this year has given me, starting from the amazing people I've met at Flor Patisserie. Even though I've only worked for about two to three months there, but I won't deny that I had a hell of a time there. It was a part time job that I really enjoyed, and it was made better by the company (and cakes) there. I have to really thank Jimmy for all the fun I had there, I'd never forget his lewd and dirty jokes HAHA. While some people would find it offensive, I think it's an admirable thing to be able to express his thoughts so freely without being afraid of being judged. I feel that I learned something from him during my time there. 

If we're talking about 2016, then I can't leave out my enlistment, can I? It's been a real roller coaster throughout the past few months. I started out dreading army life, then I aspired to go for SCS like my many friends. Things were going quite smoothly till I injured my back, and then everything went down. I'm lucky to have been able to POP, but it really was a tough period when I was constantly on status, and knowing that I would never make it to SCS anymore. Long story short, I've accepted my fate and have decided to think of it as a good thing since I wanted to be able to spend more time with my family and SCS would have prevented that. Throughout my status life, I met Lee Koon and Sean Foo, who have become my status buddies. If it weren't for them, being on status would have been the most boring thing ever. But having them to talk to everyday made it more bearable.

This year is also the year where I finally got to dive into my hobbies entirely. You have no idea how happy I was when I found out that there were people I know who play card games still (Randell, Neo Guan, and Edgar). We might be a small group, but it's a community where I find great pleasure in. Growing up, playing with cards was my favourite thing to do, and I looked forward to it every time. It might be a costly hobby, but at least I'm enjoying what I'm doing, something which I couldn't do before due to the lack of friends to play with. Then there is the Nintendo 3DS that I bought as well. I've never owned a game console in my life before, other than a Gameboy Advance which was handed down to me from my cousin. It's something that's been on my bucket list for a long time, and to be able to finally check it off that list after so long, it feels like an achievement to me. Apart from games, there is photography as well. After working part time at Flor, I managed to save up enough to get myself a 35mm f/1.8G after getting a 50mm f/1.8G earlier this year. Which also means it's a complete set-up, having both the 35 and 50. I can now cover anything from street photography to portraiture and indoor events with these two lenses, so I'm hoping I'd have more opportunities to shoot next year. 

Lastly, it's also been a year of interpersonal relationships. Not in the sense of making new friends, but catching up with old friends and meeting my best friend (though I'll leave that for another post). For the past two years, I probably never had much time to catch up with my friends because reasons, but I'm glad that I have all the time in the world now to catch up with them. Be it my secondary school friends, or friends I've met along the way in poly, whether they are close friends or not. Of course, it makes me regret having neglected these friends of mine. So hopefully I won't do that again in future. Keyword: hopefully. Of course, when it comes to interpersonal relationships, I can't leave out my family. I won't say much for this one, but once again, I've realized the importance of family. 

All in all, my second half of 2016 more than made up for the pain and hurt I went through in the first half of the year. I'm thankful for everything that has happened so far, from the lessons I learned to the people I've met. 2016 was amazing, and I'm sure 2017 will be outstanding, no matter what is in stored for me. With that, Merry Christmas folks, I hope your 2016 was amazing as well.

Sean

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