2016 Wrap Up!

2016 is arguably one of the best years in my books -- I love the freedom that I had last year which made me possible to enjoy, experience, and cherish a lot of good things!

The first quarter: family, anniversaries, and back to blogging!

Family. I welcomed 2016 with my family. This is special, you may ask why, is because my family rarely gets complete as my dad and I are living in Singapore, while my mum and sisters are back in the Philippines. We even got 'complete-r' as my boyfriend also flew in from Manila.

Anniversaries. My boyfriend and I celebrate our anniversary every first day of the year (I kid you not). Last year was the first time we were together on the day of our anniversary since, for the previous years, we were with our families to celebrate the New Year. So for me, our celebration last year was very meaningful. Other anniversaries which are worth noting was my first year anniversary of living in Singapore and my first year anniversary at work.

Back to blogging. It was February of last year when I decided to go back to blogging, and this blog was established. I am so happy that my blog and I are still here and going strong lol! But seriously, this is one of the things I am proud of about last year. I think I deserve a tap on the back for being somehow consistent in posting (I have posted at least one post per month), but I'll try to be better this year!

The second quarter: 24th birthday, Olympus, and sports!

24th birthday. If I can choose a number where to stop ageing, it would be 24. It is an age when a person is neither too young or old -- the age is just right. This is random, but I love the sound of 24, even my 16-year-old self can attest to that as I have chosen that age to be the recipient of my letter from the past. But anyway, my 24th birthday is special because my boyfriend flew in to celebrate it with me! We had a weekend-long celebration: went to Legoland Malaysia, went biking and went to Night Safari, and had a nice birthday dinner.

Olympus. I got myself a new camera, which is an Olympus Pen E-PL7. This is one of the best purchases I did last year! It is a very good camera -- it is relatively cheap, easy to use, and perfect for travelling!

Sports. If you have been following me on Twitter, you may be aware of my love for tennis and Formula 1. Last year was the year when I got into Formula 1, and last year at Wimbledon, Roger Federer was able to get past until the semis, which is a very, very good thing. On a personal level, I got into cycling, and I achieved a feat of cycling from East Coast Part to Marina Barrage which covers a distance of more than 16 kilometres!

The third quarter: Simple Plan!!!

Simple Plan. This is one of the major highlights of my last year. It has been my long dream to see Simple Plan perform live, and I finally did, and I experienced it with my boyfriend, who again flew in to Singapore only for this occasion!

The final quarter: Philippines, Japan, and work!

Philippines. I was able to go back home to the Philippines for a 3-week vacation, which I thoroughly enjoyed -- I was able to spend longer time with my family, met up with friends, and I basically relaxed.

Japan. The very highlight of my 2016. Japan is one of my and my boyfriend's ultimate travel destination. The trip was damn expensive, but everything was worth it! We visited three cities: Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo (posts coming soon!). To make it more special, we went to Japan during the autumn season, which is our first time! I really went all out on all my outfits, as I have always wanted to wear coats! Haha. I love, love Japan, and I can't wait to go back soon!

Work. I rarely talk about work here on my blog, but this one is worth mentioning: the big project I am handling went live, and with that, my team got bonuses! It was such an amazing feeling; all the hard work, stresses and pressures endured, and overtimes we rendered were paid off!

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That was how my 2016 went. It is such a good feeling to reminisce because there are really lots of good things happened to me and my family last year. I hope 2017 will be even better! I can't wait!

How was 2016 for you? :)