If blogging more was my 2019 resolution, I will definitely need to work harder because I’m at least 15 days late for my 2018 year in recap! Since I’m late, let’s jump right into it.
#bestnine2018
The collage above shows my best nine photos from 2018 according to my friends who liked my Instagram photos. While they were definitely great highlights, I realized a lot more things happened in the last 12 months! I am glad that I was quite diligent in making sure my Instagram captured the highlight reels of my year.
Let’s scroll through my 2018 Instagram posts, shall we? (And let’s see how many has blog post to supplement.)
Jan 2018
I hiked solo for the first time ever. Truth be told, I needed to redirect my negative energy elsewhere thus turned it into courage to do something crazy (in my book)! I’m glad I did it because when else will I get such courage and randomness? 💪I hit 2 years of cancer survivorship! In return for the generosity of life, I reciprocated by buying a pretty Sometime backpack (#excuses). A better highlight was actually RK surprising me with flowers. I wonder if he remembers this year… (Hint: 20 Jan) 😉I motivated a stranger to sponsor 2 more children with World Vision! This is a moment I’d remember for a long time to come. I am in no capacity to sponsor 2 or 4 children myself but through my volunteering work, I randomly motivated a child sponsor of 2 to sponsor another 2! Amazing feeling ♥I participated and won two online contests back-to-back! One was with this 1 photo of Life Juice (my favourite juice!) where I won 6 bottles of juice worth RM75. The other was with 7 photos where I won 7 different prizes worth RM7000! 😮I had my first Winter experience and went hiking while at it! It was a bitter sweet trip for many reasons; one of them was playing peek-a-boo with fogs up in the mountains because it was super foggy the whole trip. 😂
Feb 2018
I worked out 3 times during CNY period with this girl. I just realized nothing else happened in Feb on my Instagram other than exercise and Chinese New Year because I spent lots of time with friend who came back from US, who happened to be super motivated about daily fitness. I need her. 😅
Mar 2018
I watched my first ever live musical and it’s a local production! This was supposed to happen in Feb as Valentine’s Day activity but I was sick if I remember it right so we only went in March. Ola Bola The Musical was so good though. So glad that we caught it. 😍I participated in wedding preparation and pre-wedding shoot for the first time! And learned the pre-wedding shoot is super tiring. Now that’s a good reminder to question myself if I want to do it for my own wedding.I was bridesmaid and gave a bridesmaid speech for the first time! Super glad and honored that she had my first. I learned a tonne about life going through this season with her. 🤗I went glamping for the first time and it was amazing! Obviously, the weather was hot. But the activity, the concept and the company was great. Can I go glamping again, please? Actually I don’t mind camping either. 🤔
Apr 2018
I went HIIT boxing for the first time and hugged the punching bag. It was fun. It was super tiring also though. But it’s easier to go through because it was fun. Who wants to drag me to fitness classes this year? 🤼♀️ p/s This was a Young Cancer Survivors Group activity.
May 2018
I teared with many Malaysians the day after election. It’s not my first time voting but it’s the first time Malaysia has seen a change of government for the first time ever since independence 60 years ago. Just incredible to be alive during this historic moment; for better or for worse. 👍 I moved out of my house for the first time in my life! The idea started randomly one month before we physically moved in. Trust RK to execute plans effectively and efficiently. It’s a rented place that is convenient for work and we had to start with cleaning. 🧹I turned 27 and celebrated with another birthday girl for the nth year. Good to be alive yo! I don’t remember when we started having birthday meals together but at least she didn’t (or hasn’t) run away. 😝I visited Angkor Wat while wearing matching shirts with RK. LOL. The second part is a highlight as significant as the first part OK? It may be easier to visit Angkor Wat than to get him to do couple stuff. 😬
June 2018
I had my first Sekeping staycation experience in Ipoh! I loved it because it was so pretty! Plus, all of us girls were so excited to pose around. Good thing we had people with great eyes for photography around to make an awkward poser into a candid poser. I need more (budget) girls trip like this. 🧳I survived a 6-hour karaoke session till past midnight. No idea what we were doing. Did we really sing for 6 hours? How? It’s an achievement, right? 🏅
July 2018
I went for the second public fun run of my life and didn’t run again. My first public fun run was Colour Run, which I didn’t really run. Then my second at Bubble Bridge fun run, where I had fun but didn’t run. 🤫 I was surprised with a proposal and got engaged in Ipoh! If there’s only one highlight for 2018, this was it. I went to Ipoh for the second time in a month for a pre-planned birthday trip (his) and got surprised not just with a proposal but in the presence of many of our friends who travelled 2 hours for this! 💍 p/s It was overwhelming thus no blog post until now. #2019resolution LOL I went for my first watercolour class! I always find watercolour very amusing. Unfortunately, I never graduated to watercolour (or maybe poster colour) class when I was a kid because…ask my mom why she stopped sending me to art class. I am still tempted to buy a beginner watercolour kit till now! 🎨I bumped into a young colorectal cancer survivor at an intimate World Vision event! It’s really rare to meet young colorectal cancer survivor and he’s the youngest I’ve met so far; diagnosed at 22! I had a public presentation about my World Vision volunteering experience! Honestly, I loved it. It made me reflect back about the work that I’ve done, and acknowledge and appreciate the time and effort I entrusted on World Vision. And I met the cancer survivor above through this event! 👏
Aug 2018
I attended my first church wedding and the most well-thought wedding ever! I don’t think anyone I know will beat her in planning such a well-thought wedding. It was a privilege to be invited to this wedding of the decade (literally because they dated close to a decade). 💯
Sept 2018
I visited ESCAPE Penang and loved it to bits! Before I even started playing anything, I already loved everything about the place. I don’t mind going back every year! Who wants to bring me back there, please? 😚I extracted 3 teeth at once, including 2 wisdom tooth. Ouch. This moment is worth framing up on the wall because it took me 5 years to get the courage to walk into the dental clinic for this procedure. Now, when do you think I’d remove my remaining 1 problematic wisdom tooth? 😩I bought lanterns and made my friends play with me. Twice. It was shortly after I settled down at my place after moving out and I had an urge to play lantern with my friends without getting weird looks from my mom. 😆I won my first media award for an entry I wrote myself! It’s not my first media award but it’s the first that I wrote myself and subsequently won. Unexpected win but definitely welcomed. 🏆
Oct 2018
I did a public sharing about cancer survivorship at Humans of Kuala Lumpur’s first exhibition. That’s a first for me to talk only about my cancer experience in a public speaking setting. I’m glad I stepped up to this. 🙂I flew non-budget to Japan and bathed naked the first time with Malaysian friend from US! There were a lot of highlights and milestones achieved during this trip to Japan; my most expensive travel yet also. Check out my best of Japan trip because it’s too long to repeat. 🎎
Dec 2018
I attended my first Malay wedding and travelled to Johor for it! It was so exciting and I don’t remember how many times I had to hold back my tears looking at this beautiful bride friend who is more than a colleague-turned-friend. 😘I rekindled cancer survivorship friendship with a bunch of amazing young survivors over Christmas dinner. Nobody shares and understands this young cancer survivorship journey as much as the bunch from National Cancer Society Malaysia’s support group. 🤟I thirdwheeled a new couple in Penang. It’s supposed to be my friend’s highlight but I think it’s so eventful that it deserved to be my highlight too. Cheers to happily ever after. 🥂
According to my Instagram posts, those were my highlights for the year but I know there were more. For example…
I learned to cook! I think I’m pretty good at basic (and healthy) meals that don’t result in any casualty.
I read the most books (besides textbooks, comics and teen novels) in my adult years. I read 8 books in 2018 vs 1 in 2017! I should consider noting down the books I read and the learnings I gained.
I published 28 blog posts; that’s once every 2 weeks. It’s pretty alright for a side hobby, isn’t it? I’m just gonna say yes even though it’s a 50% from 2 years ago and 30% from a year ago.
Maybe I’d come back and add to the list when things come to my mind. But for now, that’s 2018 wrapped for me!
p/s I noticed I skipped Nov 2018. Can’t recall anything momentous.
Hi! Saw your post about the Young Cancer Survivor Group Activity. Can send me more information about the group?
Hi Aleena! Are you the same Aleena who messaged me on Instagram? I’d text you there instead regarding young cancer survivor group.