New (Lunar) Year

I've been meaning to write this post for a while (since Lunar New Year started?) but I procrastinated, as usual. Right now I'm procrastinating looking at my school work by writing this blog post HAH. New year, same me. :(

Anyway, I realised that most people wrote about what happened during the past year for their new year's blog post. Since all I did for the New Year (the dương lịch one lol) was the music countdown (which I always do by the way so there's no problem with that) I shall write about things that I've done in the past year (2012 - năm Nhâm Thìn), and then just some random thoughts.

1. TEDxYouth@Hanoi
Since I was a lazy bum in Vietnam for 8 months doing totally nothing but watching TV, going online and going out (rarely), I decided to join TEDxYouth@Hanoi. It was an interesting journey to organise 3 TEDx talks, I got the chance to meet really, really, really amazing people who are nothing short of drive and intelligence. I must say I wasn't too involved with the process overall, but just being there and giving my opinions, being involved on the event days themselves were a good experience. It kind of also made me realise how awesome the young generation of Vietnam is, and again bring up the big question of what would I have done if I weren't going to Singapore to study. But seriously that was 5 years ago (OMG time flies) and now I'm content with where I am (which leads to the next "life event of the year"), and I'm grateful to be a part of this awesome group of people.

Pretty cool photo, isn't it?

2. University

So by the end of April I was kind of sure that I would go to NUS. Not that NUS isn't a great school and all, but honestly I wasn't 100% happy with the decision, or rather the outcome that life has given me. I believe that I myself was the reason why I missed out on other opportunities, whether by being not committed and hard-working enough to invest more time into the US applications, being too systematic about everything which leads to a missed opportunity in HKU (I was offered to apply for some additional scholarship AFTER I rejected the school because I couldn't afford it with their initial offer. How lame lol), being too lazy to even apply for YNC (which is probably the worst decision ever), or my last minute change of mind to go to NUS's FASS instead of NTU's WKWSCI (which has always been in my mind whenever I thought about uni choices in Singapore). Lol I bet some people reading this would be like BITCH PLEASE at least you got the chance to even study in Singapore under a scholarship you ungrateful blah blah, and I AGREE with you wholeheartedly, cruel judgmental people. See the thing is, it will probably take me some time to get over the fact that I myself wasn't putting in enough effort to pursue what I really want. I'm probably being hard on myself and not blaming, I don't know, circumstances or whatever, that somehow "prevented" me from those great places that I could've gone to. Especially with YNC, because my awesome friends are going there and it just seems to be this great place that I could've at least TRIED by applying. Haha yeah these things still pop up in my head sometimes, so I hope as the new year continues I will focus more on what's important in front of me, and leave the past behind. Like we all should do! :)

This was kind of nice too HAHA wow how humble am I.

3. Eusoff

Eusoff is another example of a lazy and rash decision that I made in 2012. I hesitantly chose Eusoff as my first and second hostel choice simply because it is opposite FASS, my faculty of study. I knew it was a sports hall and I wasn't too comfortable with that (I'd always wanted to go to Sheares actually because I had stayed there before and I liked the room HAHA) but I was like, heck, distance matters. And while distance didn't turn out to be a huge advantage as my semester 1's classes are ALWAYS in UTown, which means I have to take the bus everyday to go to class anyway #FAIL, Eusoff turned out to be a great place to stay. Hearing what people from other halls do / have to do regarding things like making friends and hall cultures, I'm glad that I chose Eusoff, the place where I find great friends (like REALLY GREAT FRIENDS), don't feel too pressurised to be talkative or loud or extroverted or whatever, have the experience of talking to my friends until 4 5am in the morning and yet still have days that I can just be alone and, um, slacking by myself lol. I just regret not joining sports (I'm not the only one anyway and there's no pressure, really), so maybe next year if I can still stay. I get to do things I love still, like singing and dancing haha. Hall life is hella busy, but I don't feel so lonely coz other people are just as, if not more busy than I am lol. And is it a plus that Eusoff's rooms are apparently the biggest among other halls (besides Temasek's), and we have WAFFLES and CEREAL for breakfast? (Totally selling it right now). Oh and of course I must mention my return to the big stage with Eusoff Hall Dance Production 12/13: This Thing of Ours HAHA yeah right I appeared on stage for like 10 minutes, but it was fun to dance and perform again. Of course it was another journey of its own with late night practices, me sending angsty text messages to people who don't turn up for rehearsals (I was a dance IC yo, a lazy one though), to getting a nifty "most enthusiastic" award which I still have no idea why. 

I'm in the middle with an ugly posture LOL

4. Radio Pulze

WOOOOOOO this place is CRAZEH y'all. If you know me you know I'm not a crazy or loud or talkative person, but somehow I want to work in broadcast journalism and be one of those news anchors on CNN lol, so this is kind of the next best thing that is available in NUS. But it's certainly not the next best thing to anything in NUS because it's just a crazy awesome CCA. I knew you were trouble. (lol) when I walked into the welcome tea haha, listening to how they talk and everything. But it got worse when I actually got into the CCA HAHA. Wow these people can really talk, I thought. Sometimes I'm crazy and sometimes (most of the time) I'm not, but this place tends to fish out my crazy side and I am just constantly amazed with the people in Radio, about how they talk, what they talk about, and ya. A place that I'm totally fascinated with and grateful to be a part of, and I will try to be less quiet ok. :D

Is this crazeh enough? Anyhew like our show's Facebook page HERE and HERE :D

Hmm what else have I done the past year. Jersey Boys. Ah yes of course how can I forget the 3 hours that changed my life (in a way haha). I finally understood how a real, live, professional musical can be so amazing, spectacular and breathtaking, like how people describe it. Too bad that it is always so expensive. My nephew made me understand why people always adore little children even though they cry and poop haha. Maybe I don't hate children after all (I could hold my nephew quite well :p) but it's just hard to communicate with them, like how I failed at speaking gibberish to my nephew to make him stop crying (that's a pretty horrible fail if you think about it). I also got to drive this year, quite a lot actually considering the trip from my house to my sister's apartment which is like 14km in the sub 10oC weather, it was fun (more fun when I blast Azealia Banks' "212" in the earphones while driving).

Lots of things have happened over the past year, and as much as I like to remain "traditional" and "routine" (like going to the temple every first day of Lunar New Year that I'm in Singapore), things have to and will change. Here's to hope for more positive changes than negative ones, because the world could use some (a lot) of those :)

And here's to me trying to end this blog post with some deep and meaningful sentences.

CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI. HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR. 新年快乐!