2008 yearender and 2009 bootstrap

Ah... My yearend blog entry... well... not exactly... still got a couple more days before 2008 officially kicks the bucket but I might as well account for it while I still have the time...

Yes... I'm back in SG for 2.5 days because leave allocations are hard to come by... buti nalang medyo may mga... uh... options ako to travel back to Manila for the new year.

Looking back... one thing I did notice about last year's blogging is the significantly reduced frequency of posts... and the increased cryptic nature of how/what I'm writing. Back when I started, I used to blog at least once a week- blabbering about a lot of non/sense... trying to play to the crowd while at the same time remaining relatively unconcealed about what it is I'm talking about. In a way... it was also my attempt to sort my thoughts and to listen to myself.

But last year... My posts winded down to just... what... 1 post a month? It can't just be my schedule... because I did have some stretches of time to think clearly and strategize... but I realize maybe at this stage of life... most of what I've been thinking about revolve around very important life-decisions and moves which I feel would be better served by holding the cards in my hands much closer to myself - maybe I've evolved to listen more to my thoughts - without the public scandal of vocalising too much on my blog. :P Maybe not.

Anyway... Christmas was fantastic. It's been one of the best since I was... a kid. Growing up does tend to suck the life out of the yuletide season... but this time around, things are (hopefully/God-willing) looking up for a whole lifetime of Christmases/New Years...

Taking a page from the nonsense I was typing last year... these were the goals I set for 2008 and beyond...

1. Do well in Grad school- finish the dissertation... YUP CHECK... ITS NOW SITTING NICELY IN THE LIBRARY GATHERING DUST

2. Graduate! UHUH... SEE ABOVE

3. Work with a developer or major multinational firm in Sing (wag sanang pangproduction lang)... HA... YES... WAS ABLE TO GET THIS DONE... BUT CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRED ME TO DEFTLY MANEUVER AND SWITCH JOBS/COMPANIES...

4. Travel :) ... NOT MUCH TRAVEL HERE ASIDE FROM THE (soon to be more frequent) MNL-SG VV TRIP BUT... THINGS ARE LOOKING UP FOR THIS ONE NEXT YEAR... WITH POTENTIAL SHORT STINTS IN BRUNEI, SIKKIM, MALDIVES and VIETNAM... SEE HOW LOH?

5. Start earning and investing more ... YEP... FOR A HANDFUL OF MONTHS... WAS DOING WELL WITH THIS... WHEN THE JOBSHIFT SET ME BACK A COUPLE OF MONTHS... WILL DEFINITELY NEED TO DO THIS... GIVEN THE PLANS I HAVE FOR THE MIDTERM

6. Socialize :) ... UHUH... LEARNING NOT TO TAKE MYSELF TOO SERIOUSLY... PLAYING IT MORE BY EAR NOW...

7. Win new projects for our office - prepare for eventual return to practice in the Philippines... YES... THIS WAS ALWAYS PLAN A... AND IM NOT SETTLING FOR ANY PLAN Bs... AM PLANNING/WORKING TOWARDS THIS.

8. Become more business savvy - with or without the MBA... ETO NA NGA... DUMIDISKARTE NA NGA... PAUNTI-UNTI MUNA... PERO GUSTO KO PARIN MAGARAL... MASKIPAPANO...

9. Teach?... AM CONSIDERING IT NOW AS PART OF PLAN A.

10. Learn another language... HAHA... MAHIRAP TO... PWEDENG... IMPROVE ON THE ONES I CURRENTLY KNOW? AND RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO CODESWITCH TO SINGLISH! WA LAU EH!?!?! KENNA ANYHOW LIKE DAT LOH?!

11. Learn to cook better... WELL... I'VE BEEN EATING BETTER... SO I GUESS WE JUST HAVE TO BALANCE THE EQUATION...

12.Build a relationship <ehem ehem>... UHUH... IN PROGRESS/UNDER CONSTRUCTION... NAIHABOL PA NI LORD ITO. ;) \m/



I left out a few things on the list... but am looking to add to the above for 2009 and beyond:

13. Lose weight (began shifting to a much healthier lifestyle... no more 60 hour workweeks for me... will need to eat less, run more, etc)... will
need to get to fighting fit... Elephants can be nimble too ya know?

14. Pray more... will definitely need this to face a lot of upcoming adversity.

15. Read/Listen more... learning doesn't end with grad school ;) Blog more... about urbanism, architecture, etc.

16. Be more sensible, patient and supportive... got to be a stable rock... ;) \m/

17. Be a better, more wholistic person (eg. son, brother, boyfriend/partner, friend/flatmate, professional, etc.)     Of course we can't be everything to everyone... but these are fundamentally basic.

18. Learn about how all of this works/fits together... Be plugged in. Get that intuition flowing.
 


Here's to 2008... from Singapore to Manila, the Bird's nest in China, to Horton, the whos and the hobbits, to the Normanton+Carribean hometeam,  to Our Lady of the Star and Elizabeth Hotel in Cebu... to wars and IOM's constant stream of refugees, to biochemistry and psychology, to counterpoint  and the palladium... from caleruega to midlands, from bukit batok to the hort park... to friends of friends, to the increasingly small world we live in, to country club girls who have street cred... to faux helipads and araneta centre duets... from P&T and the barangay to Surbana and Jepoy... to the resurgent 49ers and to the forever young Arsenal squad... to cryptic and really bad poetry... to allnighters in the office for projects that never materialise... to reimbursible $10 dinners... to the upstream salmon walk which I miss... but don't want to be part of anymore...  to making choices and choosing to be happy... and choosing to work on it...  to Skype, Yahoo, Cebu Pacific, PAL, and SQ... and everything else in between... 2008 was great... and I pray that it helped prepare all of us to kick-ass in 2009!