2008 In A Flash

Yours truly is back, in a much much better state of mind.

Sorry peeps for making all of you worried, especially those who knew what happened to me. Thanks a lot for the concerns. I promise no much such thing in 2009 =)

First of all, Happy New Year 2009 to all of you once again. I know it is already the 3rd day of 2009, but this is the time when we reflect on ourselves over the high and lows throughout the year as the new year approaches. As a chinese saying always quotes, "there's no new when there's no old", thus this is when we continue to improve on the good things we achieved, and simultaneously learn from past mistakes. So in my opinion, instead of making tonnes of resolutions which are meant-to-be-broken, for example

"I want to go down by 5 kgs" and you end up eating four meals a day.

"I must save more money" which of course, you spend more instead.

the realistic thing to do is to look back at your past and improve on what you are good at, and not repeat the mistakes made previously. For me, 2008 had been a very meaningful year to me.

1) Business Plan @ HSBC YEA Award

Capital Youths

This, will remain long in my memory for a long time as I had so many good memories in this event, organized by none other than the HSBC Bank which focuses on nurturing students in preparing a proper business plan to be viewed by judges from big firms, locally and internationally. The whole journey which was a year ago in November 2007, started from a simple statement made by Pretib and Boey,

" Eh bro want to join a? The prizes damn ON weh!"

Without a single sense of seriousness in the statement, I tagged along as I also thought that I would just be toying around. Little did we know, it went a long way. Firstly we won the second prize in the college competition, which later spurred us on the join the lucrative YEA Award. Although we just managed a Bronze Award in the end, it was enough to send our team to Hong Kong with flight and accommodation fully paid for A WEEK!

Cathay Pacific Airways and Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel FREE FOR A WEEK. NO JOKES OKAY!

But what really did embed in my mind was the fact that I learnt so much especially on the ways to set up a business, sharpening up of our presentation skills as well as useful advice from the CEOs of big companies. Most importantly, I learnt that success doesn't come along without effort, and teamwork. Working together with them in a team was really memorable, as we knew how to relax and chill despite last minute work XD Not forgetting Ms Alice, our mentor, who was the backbone of the success.

2) Hong Kong Trip

That led us to the trip which was soooooooooooooooooooooooo anticipated especially for the "katak bawah tempurung" like me LOL. It amazed me that despite the size of the country (or an island), I can actually feel that Hong Kong's development is way ahead of Malaysia in many ways. The infrastructures there are enough to make Malaysia's Twin Towers ashamed, and I only have ONE word for their public transport system.

Efficient.

Notably the commuter system, the extent of efficiency is so good that 70% of Hongkies walk on foot literally to train stations to take the train as it connects everywhere. Signboards are well-placed in the stations, which was so convenient even for a first-timers like me.

In Malaysia, the officers might not be able to help you also lol.

Besides the trip, the main purpose of the trip was to witness the regional finals competed by the Gold Award winners from 6 other countries as they seek to impress the much-bigger shots, including the CEO of HSBC Group Sandy Flockhart as the judge. Impressive huh?

The awesome background of the venue.

In the end, surprisingly Thailand was the overall winners with performance so splendid which blew the crowd away.

The Thai team. Beauties with brains.

Also during the trip I got to visit Disneyland, Ocean Park, Victoria Peak and of course, the famous Mong Kok Street aka Ladies Street. And even more remarkably, was the time in hanging out with my other mates in Hong Kong. I must also mention Boey, my hotel roommate who took good care of me as if I'm his girlfriend. Okay enough said.

XD XD HAHAHAHA. And also not to mention the FREEDOM we have there in going to pubs and clubbing late at night without parental supervision LOL. =P Don't worry, I know my limits =)

3) Adventurace

The Kimbaps trying hard haha.

Another memorable event which tested the ability of the competitors to be resillient besides standing up to be counted during crucial times. But that wasn't in our minds at all as Vi-vian, Sara and I joined this race, which adopted the concept of Amazing Race of reaching the finishing line as the fastest as tasks are completed along the way via going around Malacca before returning to KL in one day.

What struck my mind so clearly was the ability to remain calm, cool and collected even though we made mistakes during the tasks. We NEVER scolded nor argued, and we took good care of each other. I must compliment Vi-vian and Sara as to me they were the best partners under such circumstances, and they were the perfect balance to the occasionally-impatient attitude of mine. =D And thanks to them we could finish the crucial task of anyaman (not sure in English) in which we could move on to finish 7th in the race.

Not too bad for fat people like me huh? =P

4) Daniel & Fern's Wedding

The blessed couple =)

You may think I'm weird, but it's certainly a pleasant feeling to see your friends getting married, more so if the couple has been dating with each other for a long period of time. This happens to this newly-wed couple, and though I didn't know how long they knew each other, they have been together for years. Furthermore, they are my fellow church friends which pleased me even more to see them tying the knot finally. Thus it was an honour for my cell group to perform for this couple.

I hope that our singing wasn't too bad HAHAHAHAHA XD

May God bless you both. Go prove that everlasting love still exists =)

So happy he was that he had to put his face in the money notes HAHA.

5) Internship @ HSBC

Words could not describe how I felt when I received the reply from one of the most established foreign banks in Malaysia offering me an opportunity to undergo an internship. A post on my internship experience will be up later on. =)

6) The Unimaginable Year End

Like I said, every year has its highs and lows. This certainly was the low of my year, as it occured during the festive period. No doubt it was the worst year end of my life so far. The feeling of having everything uncertain suddenly wasn't a good feeling at all, and I began to lose touch with God.

Despite that, I took time to realize that God's fair, and He may have wanted me to learn a harsh lesson. It's not point dwelling over spilt milk, and truly indeed I must accept that this was my time to falter. Most importantly, I had seen God's strength once more in building myself up through this difficult period, and I knew the only way to help myself is to return to God's arms in being a better person.

Thus that was my year. It was much more exciting, but I surely would run out of space writing all of them. In a nutshell it was a wonderful year for me, and I'll make sure I come into the new year with renewed confidence to finish off the last year of my studies. Happy 2009 everyone and may you enjoy another fruitful year ahead . =)