Top 10 Memories of 2022

In the order that I recalled first: 

1) I started mermaiding! 

A very niche and expensive hobby that has cost me ~$2,000 in one year for lessons, the tails, pool rentals, and other equipment! This is an unexpected and serious dip into my savings. But I'm enjoying it and the added advantage of learning basic free diving. 

2) My paternal grandfather died at 103 years old on National Day. This was my first time witnessing someone pass away, and the experience was quite surreal. I have no more living grandparents. I love this grandfather and wish I spoke Cantonese so that we could have communicated better. 

3) On the topic of family, I became a "blood" aunt this year to my adorable niece and nephew! Both my sisters gave birth two weeks apart. I ADORE being an aunt (they call me 姨妈/"Yee Ma") and am thrilled that these two spirits chose to join our family. 

4) I traveled back to the States in October to spend time with my sisters and new niece and nephew. I visited my alma mater, Brigham Young University, and it felt different to be on campus as a working adult alumni than a student. So many (mostly good) memories came rushing back, and I could finally afford the expensive BYU paraphernalia.😁 In addition I was blessed to only encounter gorgeous fall weather and foliage (thank you God!).

5) Speaking of fall foliage, I never knew how much wide open spaces of untouched land meant to me and was essential for my soul (see THIS POST).

6) While in the US, I visited three LDS temple again after a long hiatus (Covid travel restrictions...urgh!). The last time I entered the temple was in October 2019, and I never knew how much my soul needed the temple until it was taken away. I was so blessed to  visit the Provo City, Idaho Falls, and Spanish Fork temples. The Spanish Fork temple is BEAUTIFUL. 

7) After 3.5 years, I was finally released as my ward's Young Women President. I love my girls but it was time. Sometimes you just run out of ideas and have nothing left to give. I'm still an AOA though and busy with that.

8) Work has been CRAZY busy with my boss involving me in many more projects now. But as always, people forge bonds during intensive refining periods, and this was no exception. I made so many new work-friends that I feel comfortable talking and working with, and gone on more hang out lunches with them.

9) Speaking of hang out lunches, I grew much closer to my maternal cousins this year. From late-night dinners to KTV singing to Dirty Santa snatching to binge watching... I finally feel as if I have a wider net of siblings to hang out with.

10) Sis Jean B. Bingham and Sis Connie H Gordon visited Singapore in April 2022, and I had the pleasure of hosting a meeting and lunch for them. They also gave a devotional for the women in the Church that was inspiring and relit my spiritual fire. You can tell that they are women of God who are steadfast and immovable, and a genuine love for the gospel and those around them.

Honourable Mentions: Musical box museum, SSO Baroque Christmas fundraiser concert, Singapore Food Festival, Sentosa Food Truck Festival. Small events that aren't at the top but made 2022 fun and excuses for me to hang out with friends. 

My Soul Breathed

Land -- a commodity so scarce in Singapore that people pay exorbitant amounts of money to own it. In my mind, land = money. This is also why owning a big home never appealed to me because I equated it with wasted time, effort and money spent cleaning the interior and maintaining the exterior. Even when I lived in the States, whilst people saw owning a home with a white picket fence and large open yard as freedom and bliss, I only saw money down the drain. 

But something changed during my trip to the United States in October last year, where I went on 3 road trips: 

1. My youngest sister, nephew and I made the 4-hour drive to Idaho Falls to see my other sister and new niece;
2. Solo trip to the Salt Flats for an Instagram photoshoot (shot by Yours Truly✌);
3. Solo drive to visit Andrew S. and his family. [Andrew is also a Church member, and we coincidentally entered the PhD programme at OSU in the same semester. I cannot stress how much his family was a bright spot during my time there. A few years after we graduated, his family decided to eschew the "modern life" and bought a farm in very rural Holden, UT. Holden is so small it doesn't have traffic lights, only "Stop" signs. Driving through felt surreal.] 

Part of the Bonneville Salt Flats

You must understand that I dislike driving. It induces my anxiety, and despite being a seasoned road-tripper (remember this ultimate 27-hour trip done alone...twice?), road trips are nothing more than the means to get me to my destinations.

Thus, I was taken aback by the wonderment that enveloped me as I drove to the Salt Flats and Holden. With the car eating up the miles through untouched land with nary a person in sight, I was awestruck by the never-ending miles of golden-brown land, and the towering mountains in the distant horizon backdropped against the unimpeded wide azure sky. As I gazed upon the rugged yet magnificent far-off landscape, I felt a shudder through my body, and a breathe through my soul. It was a literal sigh of relief. 

One of the moments I felt that "sigh". I was driving back from Holden and nearing the I-15.

Living in urban, populous and too-manicured city-Singapore had taken an unconscious toll on my soul. I didn't realise how much I craved the isolation in wide open spaces. 

View from the airplane to the States, so not from a roadtrip. But the principle remains -- miles of untouched land makes my soul sing!

To be clear, I don't want to own the land. Too much maintenance and the anxiety-prone me will always feel insecure about serial killers, carnivorous animals, natural fires, etc. And I'm still a true-blue city girl all the way!

But to be able to run away from city life and people for a few hours, and be surrounded by acres upon acres of land untouched by the human hand? Yes. 

Owned land is money. But unowned land is gold. 

Bought a selfie-tripod with bluetooth clicker for my photoshoot at the Bonneville Salt Flats. One of the best travel accessories I've invested in! 

(Note: Of course, a fun road trips must include blasting music, the GPS, snacks, and a reliable car with good gas mileage. So even activities related to unowned land will cost money. But such costs are more incidental and incremental.) 

Top 10 Memories of 2021

Note: This is a LONG overdue post but I figured I better publish this before the 2022 edition. So enjoy what I can remember of 2021!

 2021 - oh what a year.

1) The year started out with a bang: my sister had her wedding reception at Marriott Hotel Orchard on 01 January 2021. It was SO FUN to have her and her husband, and my youngest sister back for the reception. Food was great, and so was the programme. 

2) First cruise ever! My parents, two sisters and I went on a 3-day/2-night Cruise to Nowhere a few days after the wedding reception. Love that it was just the 5 of us (probably the last time ever), and we had so much fun eating, hanging out, lazing around, playing virtual reality games, and going for shows. 

3) Pandemic fatigue and prolonged semi-lockdown with a stupid "2-people rule". We had several months in which each household could only have 2 visitors per day, and we could only meet in groups of 2 in public. Try organising youth activities around this rule. Thank goodness the government loosened the rule near the end of 2021, otherwise it would have driven people MAD.

4)  I got vaccinated. Felt okay after the first shot, developed a one-day fever after the second. Will go for the booster sometime this month or next. (Update: booster shot done!)

5) My youngest sister came back to Singapore again in December, and I LOVED having her here. I really miss both of my sisters. 

6)  I was called as one of the six Area Organisation Advisors for the Asia Area (new calling). No idea what I'm doing, and I'm suppose to take direction from the Asia Area Presidency anyway. But I feel like I can be doing more...

7) I've gone to more exhibitions and performances this year than I have in the past 3 years (even pre-Covid...LOL). Some of the more memorable ones:

• Dale Chihuly exhibition at Gardens by the Bay (in love with his works!)
• S.E.A. Aquarium 
• Singapore Repertory Theatre's performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
• National Art Gallery
• Walked the Southern Ridges trail, aka Henderson Wave trail

8) The year I finally loved my calling as a Young Women President. There is an idiom in Chinese "不知不觉". It means "unknowing and unfeeling to you". I have struggled with various aspects of this calling for almost 3 years now, but  不知不觉 I somehow learned to love it. I think it's because of the young women. I know they struggle with the gospel and life. But they are trying, and they bring so much positive energy into my life. 

9) I finally checked off the goal of exploring the Joo Chiat/Katong historical area. I'm such a history nerd - other people look at historic buildings for 5 minutes and move on. I spend at least 3x as long looking at the exact things! 😁 This area is beautiful, and I'm so glad I got to take a few people there and show off its historical significance. 

10) Staycation at Goodwood Park Hotel with Vera during a May long weekend. A nice break from the stress and bustle of work without going far because of the travel restrictions. We ate A LOT, swam in the pool, and "nua-ed" a lot. Loved it.  

Honourable mention: I started driving in Singapore. I dislike driving (even in the States) and driving in Singapore makes me anxious because of the narrow lanes and parking facilities. But I've survived so far. I better learn to get comfortable with it because I'll soon be listed as the main driver whenever we rent a car. 

Now on to my 2022 edition...