Jan:
- Hosted my first BBQ since moving to Singapore - was a lot of fun but also exposed me to some weird local understanding of BYO (i.e. they bring juice but drink alcohol?)
- Played in the Singapore office team that beat the Malaysian office (shhhh....) team in the annual football challenge. Did not win the man-of-the-match award
- Eating trip to HK + Shenzen (one of many trips this year) - some serious heavy eating man... (thanks to Yan!)
- Explored Bangkok's Grand Palace
- Learned how dangerous it is to cycle on slicks in heavy downpour (no accidents!)
- Finished a "What's your purpose in life" quiz and it's WORLD DOMINATION!
- Caught up with almost all my cousins at a family gathering for the first time in more than 10 years! My they have all grown (some taller than me) and some have kids now!
- Celebrated yet another birthday (I'm getting old!)
- Bike accident, lost a tooth, chipped another, 13 stitches in lips. Taxi driver decided to test the strength of my bicycle frame (and my body) and made an illegal U-turn to execute the test. I'm still waiting for my insurance money!
- First time in Brunei - what a s***hole. I think the people here have a case of severe chronic lethargy(-ism?). 'nuff said...
- Julia visited - my second overseas guest! (after Pete and Eva)
- Attended cousing Cheow Seng's wedding - good to catch up with all the cousins again
- Went to Bali for a weekend break. Still nice but waaaay to commercialised. It was more expensive to eat seafood here than it is in Singapore!
- Went to Penang for the first time since 1993. The food is exquisite!
- Back to Lahore. The customer decided to get lunch for me everyday which was KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC!
- My housemate brought back Four-and-Twenty meat pies from Australia!!!! Bless him...
- Weekend trip to Tioman Island with bunch of friends - rushed but relaxing...
- Finished reading Philip Pullman's Northern Lights series - arghhhh what a lame ending
- Cut a nice big chunk of scar tissue from my lips today (from the bike accident)
- Spent 3 weeks backpacking around Japan (Tokyo, Kawaguchi-ko, Fuji-san, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka) and Korea (Busan, Seoul)
- Failed to summit Mt Fuji during the off-season so I'LL BE BACK
- Visited the Atomic Dome in Hiroshima
- Discovered just how nice the Asahi Beer Garden is in Fukuoka - all you can eat yakiniku and all you can drink Asahi drinks (I had the beer and stout yummmmmm)
- Ate weird Japanese food without knowing what it was (I don't want to know!)
- Was 2.5km away from North Korea during my visit to the DMZ and peeked through binoculars for closer look
- Went to watch my very first baseball game in Yokohama - very lively experience!
- Went for dinner with an ex-colleague who took me to a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo (doh!!!)
- My brother moves to London
- Attended a cooking class in Bangkok - good fun! (and delicious haha)
- Gave up on diet wager with colleague after dinner at Angelini's in Bangkok. This is reputedly best Italian restaurant in South East Asia
- My first river cruise dinner in Bangkok on the Chao Phraya
- Ate at the Dome in Bangkok - almost got a heart attack at the wine prices (read price range of SGD$2,000 - SGD$20,000)
- P & J Visit! My third overseas guests! Whitty, when are you gonna get your arse here??
- Took a bunch of friends back to visit my hometown. We ate a lot (the usual)
- Visited Ocean Park in Hong Kong for the first time in 20 years?? It was HOT!
- Found Justin on Facebook - someone I haven't seen since I was 14??
- Watched the Singapore GP on TV - boring race
- Moved to a new role at work to cover Asia Pacific (even more travelling!)
- Went to the Singapore Flyer - good view of Singapore
- Moved house - I now have a fantastic view from my room in the top floor of the building
- Greg and Tanya's Maya is born
- Been labelled Mr Mocha for some reason even though my favourite coffee is still a good Cappuccino anytime!
- First family holiday in years. We went to Lijiang and as far as Shangri-la near the border to Tibet
- Caught up with some old friends in Hong Kong - one of them was my housemate back in 1995!
- More overseas visitors! This time the gang from Hong Kong and we went back to my hometown again. Driving in monsoonal rains was NOT fun
- Missed a flight for the first time since I can remember due to stupidness of blog author
- First trip to Chiangmai. Suprised it's so pleasant and different from Bangkok and is definitely like the adventure capital of Thailand or something. Worth a return visit!
- Finally bought my very first iPod (only the 1GB shuffle)
- Still waiting for insurance money from my bicycle accident
- Found a gazillion old friends on Facebook, the first social networking site I've ever joined!
Nice wines that I tasted this year (the ones I can remember):
- 1998 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron (very nice)
- 2005 Penfolds Bin 2 Shiraz-Mourvèdre
- 2007 Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc
- 2002 Heath Wines Cabernet-Merlot Lizard Flat
- 2002 Château Fonréaud (veerryyy nice)
- 2005 Don Sebastiani & Sons Chardonnay Aquinas Napa Valley
- 2005 Saintsbury Pinot Noir Carneros
- 2006 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Crianza
- 2005 Bodegas Castaño Monastrell
- 2006 Viña Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva
What about the rest? Anyhow...HAPPY NEW YEAR and may you enjoy a healthy and prosperous 2009!!!
chet
3 comments:
It was good to read what you got up to in 2008!
Happy New Year! :)
Yeah. It's funny how I travelled so much in 2008 and didn't realise it?
Very impressive summary! Wish I had time to do the same...
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