The Obligatory 2012 Highlights And Reflection Post

There is still a day before 31st and something huge (like winning the lottery) might happen from now till then, but I am just going to go ahead and name my top highlights for 2012.

Children's Fest
After attending CEFC for about 3 years, both of us finally decided that perhaps we should start serving in church and contribute in a more meaningful way rather than just "shut up and take my money!" (Fry, Futurama 2010). What better than Children's Fest, CEFC annual mini funfair for the community.

Not particularly because we love children. In fact, we were placed at the registration counter where the interaction with the children and/or community is quite minimal. But it was a good start. And we got a "We were at Children's Fest" T-shirt too!

Nah the T-shirt actually says "newlife.org" and in awesome bright attention grabbing green colour too but it was still good. So for 2013, we will definitely avail ourselves for Children's Fest again and perhaps take part in some of the other events CEFC organises like breakthrough weekends and even the church camp in 2014. Note the dates. 10-13 June 2014.

Video games
Video games are big part of my life. I admit I play more games than necessary but 2012 however was a dull year.

Apart from a short fray into Diablo 3 and World of Warcraft, and a quick skirmish in Starcraft 2, there is nothing of note other than the breaking news of Starcraft 2 "Heart of the Swarm" which will be out in March 2013. So if this blog went quiet suddenly from March onwards, you know why.

Boracay Island
For quite awhile, we have heard of Boracay Island but never actually planned to go for a visit. But after getting a tip on deals and recommendation from a wife's colleague, we decided that we will give the place a try.

White Beach
As the name implies, the beach is filled with powdery white sand. Apart from the seasonal green algae, the water is crystal clear. And it stretches out for a good 40-50m before sloping into depths good for people wanting to discover scuba. In other words, long and broad stretch of beach with gentle waves. Good for families with young children wanting to experience beach without getting swept away every 10 secs.

Cheap and Nice Food Served by Friendly Locals
On the island, there is a huge variety of cuisine ranging from the familiar chinese food ala Tze Char to Mediterranean food, sushi and modern filipino. If none of these suits you, there are burger joints which offer mouth watering quick fixes way better than those fast-food chains you are familiar with. If you want to get fat why not do it the more delicious way, right?

All above mentioned are available to any hungry tourists for just about half the price compared to those in Singapore. And not served up by "foreign talents" who can't speak gud engrish, but by friendly smiling Boracay locals who will do everything within their power (short of giving free massages) to make you visit them again.

"Ok but where can I go and do on the island?"
Sure the island is small and there are no 500 year old gothic buildings built by some famous european privateer who was out to discover the "new world". But there are tons to do if you are into water-related activities. All of them for half the price compared to a certain country which goes "Sawadee Ka" every 30 secs or so. Jet ski, parasailing, scuba diving, blah blah blah. Tons to do.

So will we go back soon? 
Travelling from Singapore can be a hassle especially for people like me who doesn't like transits. It is a sg - manila - caticlan - boracay trip. Not so straight forward. So no, we won't go back real soon. But who knows.

Scuba diving
One of the biggest highlights for me this year was the dives I did. 5 dives total this year making it the most since 6 years ago. And the best dive gotta be the deep wreck dive I did in Boracay. 1950s Japanese fishing vessel purposely sunk in Boracay to promote marine life, sitting upright in sandy bottom 30 metres deep.

Reminded me of why I loved diving. Hopefully as my health and fitness improves, I will be able to do more in the new calendar year.

Productivity
Best thing about working from home is, the liberty to make time for just about anything at all. And one of the best things I have done is involving my brother-in-law to do simple administrative tasks. May not be much but his help can free me from some weekly and monthly obligations. Plus it keeps him occupied and my father-in-law is more than happy to know he is involved in the family business in some ways.

As technology advances, gadgets are getting smaller and information is exchanged faster. People are getting connected in a huge way through the internet. Most old fashion business including ours are still using typewriters and fax machines.

The challenge for the new year for me will be, how can I put my web design and database admin skills to help this 30 year old business reach the 21st century? Coming soon: guankeebeancurd.com

Health
Ever since ORD-ing from the Police Force, I have been indulging a little too much in food. For years, I have been telling myself at every December to "Lose weight in the new year", only to find myself gaining more 12 months later.

Then the vanity and health bug bit me late last year. Time to get serious about it or die young, for I can't keep buying clothes only from stores with signs that says "Sizes S to XXXXXXXXL Available!".

So from January to late March 2012, I dropped a whole 10kg clean. I am able to fit into clothes I wore 10 years ago! (Yeah I kept those clothes.) Then the whole kidney and blood-in-urine issue came. I got cautious and the whole weight-loss thing stagnate. Plus I loosened up the belt and enjoyed the occasional indulgence. Good thing is I kept monitoring the blood pressure and weight. Definitely don't want to go back where I was. At this writing, my total weight-loss is about 12kg, sitting at about 97kg, I have about 30kg before I reach the ideal BMI of 69kg.

Looking forward, I am aiming to be physically fitter and at the same time, monitoring my blood pressure more consistently than ever before.

To the new year!