Goodbye 2017, and hello there 2018!

I have officially neglected my blog! In 2017, I have published a grand total of….7 blog posts! Not exactly proud of it, but 2017 has been a relatively interesting year. I started the year with grand plans of achieving a lot – travel and fitness wise.. but as fate would have it. None of it sorta materialised.

First up, one of my first goals for 2017 was to attain a Spartan Trifecta, having closed 2016 with a Spartan race in Bintan. I only managed 1 pathetic race in the entire 2017, in Semenyih, Malaysia, with a fever to boot while at it. I was coughing for months before the race, and almost didn’t make it, but I did. But I still wasn’t well enough for the 2nd race that rolled along and everyone around me told me not to be crazy to attempt it. And, eventually, I just wasn’t cut for it at all throughout the months that rolled along. So, 2017 Spartan Trifecta dream dashed. As for 2018, not thinking about it for now. I’ll take it as it comes.

Travel wise, I managed to do some trips still. Quite a fair bit of new cities that I have never been to actually so it’s a small win.  I made it to Jeju (new), Busan (new) & Seoul and caught some amazing sights and awesome food.

I also went to Penang (new) and stayed in my friend’s home which was an interesting experience in itself. Of cos, I had to do the touristy thing of taking pictures of the signature wall murals, much to the agony of my friends (who have been there, done that).

And there was Hokkaido (new!), which is an item off my bucket list! Back to back with the Penang trip, with me having a little over 4 hrs to head home to change, and head back to the airport for another flight.

If you are wondering why the sudden black & white pictures during the trip, it is because a family member passed away and I was unfortunately, not able to join and be a part of. So it was my only way of paying respect somehow and having my thoughts with the family. The farm stay and the cherry picking in Hokkaido had to be the best highlights of the trip, none of which I documented in any social media so I really should buck up on my blog postings!

I also did the craziest thing ever (or so many think) and flew to bangkok twice within a month. Once with 2 of my girlfriends as a perk-me-up kinda trip for one of the girls, and just spent time gorging ourselves silly and pampering ourselves with manicures and shopping.. and then another time with my kids just so I can clock in a quick family vacation that I have been dreaming about for the longest time.

My luck ran out after. My Surabaya (new city again!) trip got messed up somewhat. I had to cancel my Mt Semeru climb that I booked in the earlier part of the year, and settled for Mt Bromo instead for health safety reasons. Since my flight was already booked, I had 2 days to myself all alone, without internet in the mountains. It was really a test of my sanity because I was told that there is a telco tower and there will be signals, but there wasn’t so I kinda disappeared into nowhere without telling my close ones my location and that worried me quite a bit. I never felt happier when I finally got connected to the internet to report my safety! Ahhh, I know. Reliance on technology that I can’t live without.

That kind of ended my travel adventures in 2017. I originally had a caving trip in Vietnam planned in Dec, but had to bail out of it because I simply couldn’t go.

I also spent 2017 trying to be more present for my kids, blogged less about them since they seemed to be growing up quite a bit and I wanted to protect their privacy somewhat so only random anecdotes on my IG. Guess that somewhat shows in my #2017bestnine. 7 out of 9 squares are kids-related. And oh, the tooth fairy was also damn sore when my kid’s tooth fell out during school and the teacher had told my kid to throw his teeth away in the dustbin. ARGH! So I lost one of Jerry’s milk teeth just like that. Was so mad, but helpless at the situation. Despite being in this motherhood journey for a while now, this year, I found it extremely challenging as a mum. I struggled with teaching my boys the right stuff – attitude, behaviours and everything else. They are at the age where they pick up things really fast from everywhere – friends/internet/people on the streets/tv just because they *think* it’s cool and I am struggling to cope to help them understand what’s good and what’s not, what’s right or otherwise and also correcting some unpleasant behaviours. It’s very trying at times, and I am almost pulling all my hair out these days. Some days, I lose it totally and then feel damn guilty about it. I want to tell myself to let it go sometimes, but I am not getting there yet.

Work wise was pretty much stressful at times, but I think I have grown and learnt to be a lot happier with the work that I do and be more at ease with myself. I think I have finally found the direction that I should be moving towards to, and have received much encouragement in the past year for it. For that, I am extremely thankful and will continue to strive to be better. There has been so much changes in the past year, and more to come in 2018. I wonder what changes there will be and if I will still be around to witness it. What comes may, I guess.

So 2017 ended a little on the quiet side, with only a small Christmas party that I hosted for 2 other classmates of Jerry’s, simply because he is going to part with his best friends in the coming new year since they are all going to different schools. It was a short gathering but I think all the kids and parents had a great bonding session over the few hours. Hopefully, we’ll keep in touch in the coming years.

We also spent the month of December spring cleaning the house and shopping for some new furniture for the household and the boys now have their own loft bed! Hoping to boot them out of my bedroom completely in 2018. I’m halfway there. One kid is still sleeping with me, but at least there is some progress! There is also less clutter around the house and I took some weeks to sort out all my craft stuff into neat drawers at one corner in the storeroom. Threw out loads of junk too.

So the new year comes with new beginnings. If you are still with me on this post blog, here’s the big news. In 2018, in fact, in just a couple more weeks.. a tiny being will soon join my household. I can’t wait. Hello 2018! 🙂