Like\u00a0one’s annual appraisal at work, I like to review the year gone by at the end of\u00a0each year. My highlights for 2013:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0Getting accepted into\u00a0a part-time Masters programme for\u00a0environmental science and management at\u00a0a university in Hong Kong. Honestly, I\u00a0had thought I wouldn’t be accepted as it’s totally unrelated to what I’m doing and I have no background in that area.\u00a0I’m\u00a0studying\u00a0it out of interest for the moment,\u00a0but hopefully I’ll\u00a0be able to\u00a0do something with it once I graduate as I’m finding the topics really interesting.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0My new job which came about very unexpectedly. It’s a good change from my previous company where I didn’t see any prospects for advancement. Now, I’ve found myself in a team which is in charge of business development. I never thought I’d ever be associated with the term ‘business development’. Like, me? Really? Apparently so. Ha.<\/p>\n
3. My Ottoman Odyssey was simply amazing. Turkey is such a beautiful country with so much history and culture. The mosques from the Ottoman empire are simply stunning as is the natural scenery of this nation. It was also the first trip\u00a0I made with a really good friend and both of us had a blast, what with being up in a hot air balloon with probably 100 other balloons and an interesting experience at a traditional Turkish bath for a scrub-down.<\/p>\n
4. Taking part in Moontrekker Moonlit 27 event which saw me hiking throughout the night in Lantau island, up Lantau Peak (HK’s second highest peak at 934m) and finishing before sunrise. The aim was to beat the sun.\u00a0I was surprised that I managed to do it in 6 hours and even managed to squeeze in at 98th position overall\u00a0for the event and 27th position in the gender category. Not too bad considering the fact that I didn’t train all that much for it.<\/p>\n
5. My parents visited me in Hong Kong for the first time since I’ve worked here and I got to show them where I lived, worked and go to school.<\/p>\n
6. My uncle, aunt and cousins visited from Sydney and it was good\u00a0catching up with them in Hong Kong. Also found out that I actually have some relatives in Hong Kong on my mum’s side of the family.<\/p>\n
My hopes for 2014? Survive school and maintain a GPA of at least 2.85, hike at least three times a week\u00a0and maintain some semblance of fitness, and socialise more. Perhaps like work, I should be setting quantifiable KPIs with regards to\u00a0my social life, e.g. go to a social event once every fortnight.<\/p>\n
Thank you and goodbye 2013, and here’s to an amazing 2014! Happy New Year everyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Like\u00a0one’s annual appraisal at work, I like to review the year gone by at the end of\u00a0each year. My highlights for 2013: 1.\u00a0Getting accepted into\u00a0a part-time Masters programme for\u00a0environmental science and management at\u00a0a university in Hong Kong. Honestly, I\u00a0had thought … Continue reading