I was asking K what's one or two of the most memorable things that happened for him this year, and he said "hmm doing up this house... and probably the trip to San Sebastian".
I think I would have the same answers as him. And more. This post being a reflection of the year gone by, is gonna be a long one.
The Home
We moved in beginning of this year. If you remember, the house was cold and uninviting. We struggled with the temperatures and the frequency of train services. Today, I'm proud to say that we have turned the house into a home, and it is finally warm (literally temperature wise because we got a gas engineer to come to fix the central heating - yay). We still struggle with the lousy train frequencies and the frequent delays and cancellations… but I see it as the price to pay for space. We also spent the first Christmas celebrating in this house, where we invited a group of friends over for a Christmas party a few weeks ago if you remember that.
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| Our LOVE wall |
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| Our home |
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| In our garden |
The Trips
We had our fair share of small trips this year, and like what K said, the trip to San Sebastian in Spain was probably the highlight for us. We took 4 days out and even though it was a short 4 day trip, we have had beautiful memories etched in our minds. The weather, the food and the company was fantastic.
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| Chilling on Playa de la Concha |
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| No filter here |
I had a few blog posts written about this trip, such as
http://www.belindagoeslondon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/san-sebastian.html
Another great trip was with my girl friends to the Czech Republic in June. We went home with Marketa where she planned a 4 day holiday for us, spending time at her dad's summer house, and we were treated so well - so much food everyday. Her dad's summer house is in this tiny sleepy village in the mountains called Arnostov, and in their local pub on the first night we were there, we were the centre of attraction because they have not met anyone from Singapore, Ecuador, or Scotland. They said they never thought they would have to use English to converse in this tiny place! We probably met half the village people that night in that pub haha.
http://www.belindagoeslondon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/czech-out-our-girly-trip-part-1.html
http://www.belindagoeslondon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/czech-out-our-girl-trip-part-2.html
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| The summer house |
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| In Prague |
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| In the UNESCO Heritage site of Cesky Krumlov |
Of course I made my annual trip back home to Singapore: alone in March for my grandma's 90th, and again in October for two weeks with K. We even visited my grand aunt (grnadma's cousin) whom I have not seen for a long time at her place.
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| Love this old lady |
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| The younger generation with grandma |
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| With my SG girl friends |
The Family
And of course in August this year we welcomed baby Sarah Zoe into our Goh family. What a bundle of joy she is. We call her our little angel because ever since she was born, she has brought much laughter and joy to our family. Seriously she is so beautiful… and such a chilled out baby which I like very much.
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| She was so fragile when I met her |
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| Pose pose! |
The trip back in October allowed me to celebrate my birthday with my family and friends, and also meet baby Sarah for the first time. Another first for me, was when I stayed with K's family (since we were both back together) and got to know them better. They are really welcoming which is very nice. It showed me a glimpse of how a "normal family" is like, having a mum and a strong father figure, something very new to me.
Meeting the President of Singapore
It shall not be taken for granted that we met with the president in October at a reception organised by the High Commission of Singapore. Everyone we knew who were going were pretty excited (some admittedly excited at the array of local food to be served to us). Which reminds me, I need to email them asking for the photo K and I took with President Tony and his wife Mary. Was elated when his wife Mary asked if I were studying in London. lol
Pursuing my new hobby - Flower arrangement
This has been a growing interest of mine since doing my wedding flowers with Gabby last year. I signed up for 2 separate courses - hand tied bouquet and a Christmas table centre piece - both of which I enjoyed very much. I hope to learn more this year and who knows, this might take me somewhere in the future?
The Job
This, I leave for last. Work this year has been - let's say - tough. It is not easy to survive in our industry these days. This year I've learnt and observed that in order to do well, you need certain characteristics. I can probably blog one whole post on this topic but in short… in my view, you need to be (1) aggressive - bulldoze your way through no matter what. Unreasonable? That's ok too. (2) be loud - this goes very well with (1). Loud as in volume. This is very useful in meetings because as long as you say something (doesn't matter what), people leave with an impression that "oh he/she contributed to the meeting. (3) Another point which I've also observed is… the art of talking a lot, but actually not saying anything. You know… when someone is able to talk around a topic for ages, but not directly at it. After you leave the meeting you get the odd feeling of "did he/she address the issue at all? Why do I feel that nothing was said? Unfortunately I'm not such a person of any of the qualities mentioned above, which is why I'm getting more jaded at this whole work situation. Everything is based on perception and I remember an ex-colleague left the team because she worked really hard but the perception people had of her was only lukewarm. She told me "Perception is a b*tch" before she left. I really pray that Jesus would guide me this new year; to give me clear signs to what my next job/role should be. And for me to have faith, to believe that the next one will be a much better one, with pleasant team mates, and with a reasonable work life balance.
Overall, work aside, I think it has been another great year. I continue to pray for God's protection over my family and loved ones. Health is of utmost importance. I pray for His continued blessings over our lives, for us to experience soul prosperity and be joyful always. I continue to remind myself that Jesus has gone before us, so I can be rest assured that all will be well and shalom in 2015. Amen :)
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