So 2012 kicked off for awhile now.

And I still haven’t exactly reviewed my 2011 in detailed, neither did I really put much effort into thinking about my goals in 2012. There comes a point in time where you’ve done so much that you wanted to do, but then it kind feels rather empty. You start doing things for the sake of doing them, and you kinda forget why the heck you did them in the first place. Which brings to mind of course, where is that sense of direction? Where am I taking this body and soul to? What place do I want to find myself within the next few months? How am I going to achieve this elusive thing called true joy and satisfaction?

Again we ask, what, why, where, when and how. This is something that I haven’t exactly sat down to do all that much. But that’s not entirely true either. Looking at 2011, there’s been plenty done in terms of personal fulfillment since my graduation. I have practically been able to get back a lot of things that I have lost while I was studying so damn hard for my degree. Which is, a hell lot of rest, and a lot more play time. Which although might sound pretty meaningless to others, but absolutely essential to bringing back my sense of sanity after a really long spell of hardship doing the part time degree.

Yeah sure, lots of you people might think, “Hey its just a degree, no big deal, you didn’t aim to go for the first class or second class blah blah blah” I wouldn’t call that an unfair statement, but I just don’t friggin care about what you think about my situation anyway. Sure some would’ve worked a lot harder and got the results… but if anyone where to say I didn’t work hard… I didn’t do it for anyone. I did it for me and my future.

Since graduation, I finally got a custom cue with a design that I had always wanted. 4 flamed ebony points on BEM with fancy rings at all segments with hoppe ring at the bottom, ivory spear inlays, and lizard wrapped handle. And it hits like a gem too. I managed to start playing pool seriously again in early 2011, and went on to progress to the quarterfinals in a medium sized tournament. Despite not making it to the nationals, I have made decent decisions to hold off pool, and just concentrate on resting up more, improve my well being, and stop feeling so stressed up compared to past years. I truly felt that I needed to stop running at full speed, otherwise I would have just burnt myself out badly by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, I also managed to find more time to be with G, and spend more time on planning our new flat renovations, deciding on budgets and furniture, and also finalized on our ROM date. It has been such a different year from all the other years.

Of course on the downside, all that rest contributed to significant weight gain. From 75kg to 80kg to 85kg. 10 kg of weight gain within the past 2 years. Sounds very similar to the time when I entered poly and came out 10 kg heavier.

It was also a good year in terms of material wants. I got a new phone, an entire new gaming rig, bunch of really hot games in which I found that I really have hardly anytime to immerse myself in. A new BK2 break cue, which is my dream break cue. I paid up fully for my macbook pro. Bought new Babolat rackets and tennis gear. And above all, proposed to G with the best proposal ring that I could possibly afford, and also bought some new clothes. Not to mention, cooked a lot of steaks and giant prawns… and finally had the chance to make an awesome spanish seafood paella, and finally went on a few short getaways with my fiancee.

It was a good “recovery” year for me. Which was much needed considering that I had endured excessive years of exams. I could finally celebrate my birthday without any exam stress since 2005. Thank God for that. 2011 wasn’t the best year in terms of achievements, but nonetheless a decent year.

Lets look at what I wanted to do last year… and see if I got to do them

1) A short getaway to Bali or anywhere nearby with my gf. – check! We went to Batam… twice!

2) Organize a seafood bbq for just 4-5 pple. Including the fresh huge tiger prawns, maybe lobster if available, grilled salmon, chicken chops and vegetables. Oh… and of cos cheese sausages and bratwursts. Roasted peppers and cheesy mushrooms.  Wines only. – check! We had 2-3 bbqs at E’s place, with awesome steak, and the most recent occasion, a nice serving of large prawns, scallops and drumlets along with great steaks too!

3) Have another bigger bbq for 6-8 pple. Steaks, pork, chicken, bratwursts, potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits, vegetables, grilled fish. unlimited booze. – Didn’t manage to do this as it was too hard to find a venue, and pretty stressful to cook for so many folks.

4) Be 5 kg lighter despite after eating all that food. – what was I thinking? LOL

5) Train for national pool championships – made it to quarterfinals in SPGG 9 ball tournament, which I trained for very hard at the beginning of the year. Subsequently took a step backward as national standards were too high, and it did not make sense to sacrifice that much to do well at the national level. Goal is under KIV.

6) Organize YEC pool west zone challenge – no longer viable as this was only possible if I was single and could afford the time to do volunteer work.

7) Complete Killzone 2, God of War 1 to 3, Resistance 2, Bayonetta, Final Fantasy 13, Uncharted 2 – Out of this list, I have only completed Killzone 2. Just hard to find that much time to complete games.

8) Archive all my god damn notes! – Check! Got rid of them. =p

9) Start rollerblading again – OMG, I absolutely did not touch them in 2011.

10) Meet up with friends who lost contact since my exam prep. – Finally met up with WQ, G and I… and especially glad to hear that I is getting married!

11) Reinstate movie marathons every month. – not a practical goal since there is limited time to spend with my fiancee. But we still do catch the good movies when we can.

12) Eat with family at least once a week. For the first 2 weeks after my exams, have dinner with my family wherever possible. – I think I managed to do this. But recently not so much.

13) Reinstate early morning tennis on Sundays – that worked out for a short while, but since W gave up only managed to sustain a few weeks with JG. On the bright side, I started to go for tennis lessons in the last quarter of 2011.

14) Reinstate badminton sessions on Saturdays – this was too difficult as it always clashed with time with my fiancee.

15) Read more books – Read Freakanomics. I should definitely read more in 2012.

16) Apply for new jobs – no longer necessary as future seems more secure in current company.

So out of so many things I wanted to do in 2011… a lot of them did not happen… but what did happen was..

1) I proposed and she accepted

2) Our parents finally met each other on more than 1 occasion

3) We planned our budget for the new house and the ROM

4) I got a new gaming rig and finally got into Starcraft 2

5) Made closer foreign friends in the form of Y from ANZ, J from HK, R & A from CHI.

6) Maintained friendships with pool buddies, and made new friends via tennis.

All in all… a decent year for 2011. Time to think about 2012.