Reflections: My first post for 2008!

A bit late in the day but who cares! I was reading Meela's first 2008 post - she was listening to Brunei radio, and one thing the DJs talked about was listing 5 things you're grateful for which happened in the previous year. Meela did exactly that, and now I will follow suit. A nice way to start the new year and hope it'll make one more optimistic about the future.

The 5 things I'm grateful for in 2007 are as follows:

1. All 4 members of my immediate family were together for a significant period of time TWICE in 2007!
2. I managed to keep in regular contact with my family and friends, and also made new friends and discovered new relatives, haha.
   
3. I finally completed my Ph.D. in Chemistry (I didn't think it would ever end!) and graduated in November 2007.
4. I learnt a new language (German).
5. I visited a new country (New Zealand).
6. I started drawing again.

Okay, that's more than 5 but I just had to add the last line, hehe. Anyway, I agree that this is a good way to reflect over one's life in general. And even if you don't have many things to be grateful for in 2007, don't let that deter you - you should try to aim for better things to happen in the future instead. I always believed that perseverance is the key! :D

On a break...

Haha, sounds more like something one would say about one's romantic relationship when it's on the rocks! ;P But alas, no... I literally mean that I'm on a break, a few moments' respite from almost working non-stop! So I decided to update my blog. Last I checked, it's just over a month since my last post. I really should have at least one for the month of January, and since I missed the usual blog on New Year's resolutions, here they are (and not in any prioritised order!):

01) Get a REAL job (haha!) - academia just doesn't count! ;D
02) Get fit and eat healthily.
03) Brush up on at least one of my known languages (i.e. Malay (dear god!), Japanese and French).
04) Read more books (no academic texts this time!).
05) Draw more.
06) Learn CSS (html is obsolete, NOT!).
07) Keep up with current affairs AND history!
08) Keep in touch more regularly with family and friends.
09) Get the "Dr" into my name!
10) Travel more (that includes visiting the friends I haven't seen in so very long!).
11) Take up at least one sport (e.g. go to the gym, badminton, fencing, archery, swimming, running, squash).
12) Act more my age (Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!).
13) Learn to sew.
14) Cook and bake more.
15) Establish a good work routine (basically, no procrastinating!).
16) Learn German

I don't know, I have a feeling I might not have time to achieve most of these things before the end of 2007, but it's good to dream. Hmmm, wonder if it has anything to do with turning the big three-O this July! Ack! :( Anyway, what I might do is put a little section of the side bar stating any resolution that was achieved this year.

Okay, it's almost at the end of my break. I shall wish you all adieu till next time. ;D I'm actually feeling great at the moment (despite everything!), hope it'll be a good year for me and others! :)

Oh, yeah, just a quick update - Stella and Dermot are getting married on the 15th of March 2008! Enough time for me to get fit, hehe! ;P

[anime.character.of.the.blog: syaoran of

tsubasa.reservoir.chronicle]

My first entry!

Well, I gave in - will now start to post stuff on my blog. I'll see how it goes, not sure if this is my kind of thing. I prefer webdesign and the blog gives me a bit of that (although don't know much about CSS yet but I'm a quick learner!) since my website is currently is on hiatus. This blog at least won't take too much time out of work, which suits me at present! :)

Anyway, let's see, what to talk about. Well, I've recently moved to Berlin-Tiergarten after living in good ol' Dublin for almost 10 years! It's a bit strange living in a new country, didn't feel like this when I moved from Brunei to England, and then Ireland for my studies. I guess it's because of the language barrier. I don't know much German yet, so it's tricky to communicate - do I start immediately speaking English to the Germans or attempt to communicate in German? Which is preferred? Who knows! Anyway, I have decided to take lessons in the language in the new year! Can't wait! I love learning languages, although I'm a bit pissed off that my French and Japanese, and even my mother tongue (Malay) are so rusty. Will have to fix that, but one thing at a time, hehe.




Oh yeah, here's a map of Germany - it's actually for me that I put it up. I was chatting to one of my dearest friends (who happens to be German) about Germany before I moved and the topic of where different cities were in the country came up. My knowledge in that field is rather embarrassingly lacking, hence the map, hehe! Anyway, my friend's mum owns a chocolate shop in Aachen! Lucky! Who wouldn't love to have a mother like that! Will have to visit the place one day.


Anyway, that's it for my first entry. Not very exciting, I know but who cares. Hmmm, it seems like I might just keep this up. It's quite relaxing! ;D Auf wiedersehen!