2018 - What a year

It’s always fun - albeit daunting – to look back at the year and figure out what the heck happened to it all. This was a fun year. Challenging at times no doubt but eventful and memorable.

Autumn in Hokkaido: Family vacations are a big deal for us. We made our first visit ever to Hokkaido basking in the autumn feelz and eating one too many soft serves. Japan never fails us, I swear. I’m afraid we are running of out places to visit in Japan. Ahhh, help!

Sidenote: We have booked our trip next June. #earlybird I'm rather pretty super excited!

Staycation at Shangri la: Well I also realized my boys absolutely love hotels. They’ve memorized all our rooms numbers since Tokyo 2015. Due to a last minute change in travel plans, we decided to do a staycation and it was a h-i-t. We stayed at Shangri La for sentimental reasons (we got married there), but now we love it as the boys had a blast. I know some people don't get staycations but we might just make it an annual thing.

New job: I changed jobs this year. Again. I joked with KW that this is my 6th job since we have been together while he’s still at his first. I won’t say too much about my job but things are good. Fingers crossed. The boys had a ball of a time on Kids@Work day and they are looking forward to the next.

A weekend in Bangkok: New job equals new colleagues. I took a trip with my colleagues to Bangkok. I never got people who travelling with their colleagues for fun. But that’s because, I also meet a bunch of folks I could well tolerate beyond Mondays to Fridays. Bangkok was a blast and it made me feel like an annual girls’ trip is much needed.

First trip to India: It travelled to India for the first time for work! I must admit, it's a country I need to ease myself in gently HEH. The food has been amazing as I've discovered I've quite the palate for Indian food. Though I've been in a cloistered environment but the locals I’ve met here are amazingly hospitable and I'm utterly hooked on masala chai.

Lucas' 3rd birthday: We kicked off the year with Lucas’ birthday celebrations at home and in school. My baby is turning 4 soon. 4 going on 14.

Russell's 6th birthday: Russell loved Lucas’ monster cake so much, he decided to have the exact same cake in green. For his home celebration, together, we made a 2-tiered chocolate beetroot cake. I absolutely love this recipe. Such a treat and wholesome one too!

Sam Smith Live: I bought tickets to Sam Smith's concert for KW's birthday and he was absolutely amazing! Such incredible talent - one of those who sound better live than recorded.

Flower power: I think I upped my flower game this year. While there weren’t a whole bunch of opportunities to get my hands dirty, creating those beauties and Chinese New Year and my mums’ choir performance felt like incredibly gratifying.

Dish of the Months: Speaking of getting my hands dirty, I challenged myself in the kitchen this year by creating 12 signature Dish of the Months (DOTM), in a bid to add some variety to my repertoire. From deep crunch pork belly to Lemony Bundt Cake, I learnt a lot from researching and creating these dishes. Next year, I’m really hoping to up my game and perhaps tryout ingredients such as lamb and scallops.

As always, thank you for reading. Hope you all have a fabulous 2019!