Rewind 2012.

I think it’s been a while since I last did this kind of lookback of the year, and I think it should be a good time to do this now. 2012 has been a pretty good year for me and while there were always something better that could have happened, I guess I can’t complain too much.

For this year’s review, I think I’ll do away with those that I’ve been doing for the past couple of years – listing the top 10 things that happened, then see what are some of the things that I had wished for and come true… it’s quite subjective anway, so I’ll do something different this time round – I’ll try to look back at how each month went and see if there were anything worth remembering. But just like previous years, if you are in a rush, I suggest that you read it at a later time. So here goes…

January 2012

I started the year in Taiwan, watching the Mayday concert in Taipei Dome. Countdown was done during the concert, though I think it went a bit off as far as the time was concerned. Besides that, perhaps witnessing Mateja Kezman hanging up his boots in Hong Kong was a bit special, though I really wasn’t a big fan of him. Oh yes, Girls Generation was in Hong Kong for their first ever concert here and I was able to watch the girls in person!

February 2012

Silver Shield Final. Losing the second final in a row on penalties was hard to take. And of course, another Valentine’s Day spent alone. This year’s Valentine’s Day seemed to be colder than usual as far as temperature went, but I wasn’t concerned. I spent the day at work and at home playing Winning Eleven!

March 2012

I spent the first two months of the year planning for my department’s work retreat in Foshan, and to be able to pull everything off in March and had everyone happy was something that really pleased me. Of course there would have been improvements here and there, but I was just grateful to be given the chance to do it.

April 2012

The highlight of the month had to be fulfilling my childhood dream of visiting Manchester and watching a game at Old Trafford, as well as at Gigg Lane watching FC United of Manchester. That few days in Mancbhester was a bit surreal even if I were to think about it now. Having been a United fan for the past 20-odd years, to finally be inside Old Trafford watching the Reds in action was just brilliant. At the end of the month, I took on a 24-hour train ride to Beijing to watch Mayday in the Bird’s Nest Stadium. 100,000 people can’t be wrong – the concert was massive!

May 2012

May was probably one of my most exciting month as far as work is concered. I was involved in two fairly big non-local staff development programmes, one to Guangzhou (May) and one to Beijing (June). The Guangzhou one was probably the easier one as I only had to take care of about 10 other colleagues, and also it was only 3 days long. But once I was back from Guangzhou, I had to be on maximum load to organize the Beijing one. Thank God I had many people helping me, so while it was tough, it wasn’t impossible. And of course, catching the Mayday concert in Hong Kong was fairly memorable too. On a down side, my two favourite teams – South China and Manchester United – both finished trophyless for the season. The way United lost the title was particularly cruel, but well, this is football. I just wasn’t happy about City winning it, that’s all.

June 2012

The big staff development trip to Beijing. Everything went perfectly smooth and I thank God for that. It was quite nerve-wrecking at times becase one of the Deputy Directors was among the travelling party which included other high-ranked people. I was glad that everything turned out fine and everyone had a good trip. The subsequent following up was also manageable, which I was really relieved about.

July 2012

Compared to the earlier months, July was actually fairly quiet for me. There wasn’t any football going on, and I had a couple of those Mainland teachers training programmes to handle. Though one happy thing was that my whole family had a dinner together celebrating my sister’s birthday.

August 2012

August was the month of my birthday, and I received about 80 birthday wishes on Facebook, and many others over WhatsApp, SMS, Weibo… though the one I treasured the most actually came late – it arrived at 7:30 am, 1o August. (You guess right, it’s from someone that I’ve liked for a while, though I also know things won’t work out between the two of us because I seem to develop a habit of irritating her way too often).

September 2012

It was a great month for me again, as I went to Korea with my Mum for a holiday. It was Mum’s first ever trip to a country which she doesn’t speak the language, and I think she enjoyed herself very much. The trip was really memorable, not just because me and my Mum appeared on Korean national television (we saw the filming of Running Man at Kwangjang Market), but also during that few days when we were in Busan – you don’t go to Korea to expect a typhoon heading heads on, do you? It was also the month that I finally conjured up enough determination to learn Korean again. As for football, the local league was underway and it was great that South China started the season with a bang, and what better to beat Kitchee (scum) 1-0 in the 7th minute of injury time, and have the goalscorer jumping into the crowd, hugging me in celebration? That moment was priceless.

October 2012

After a massive September, October was slighly quieter. Everything was pretty much as usual… maybe except when Hong Kong lost to Malaysia in a football friendly match and things boiled over at the stands. Some of those people, whom I already wasn’t very close to anyway, are no longer on talking terms with me. Not my loss though.

November 2012

The biggest highlight probably had to be the MNet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong. To be able to see all those Korean stars was just wonderful. Oh, winning a prize on Arirang Radio’s K-Poppin was great too! It still gives me goosebumps now to hear that I won a prize! For work, I was thankful that I got a good score on my annual appraisal. From getting my probation extended to getting this good score, I have to thank everyone around me who has been really encouraging.

December 2012

The past couple of weeks were rather uneventful for a supposedly eventful month. I guess the highlight had to be the trip to Kaohsiung for the Mayday concert last week. Well, maybe if you have to count it, winning a prize again on K-Poppin was also great! And yes, winning my first ever award at work was something to smile about too!

Looking onto 2013…

As I am 32 going on 33 this year, I had a lot of people coming to me – elders, friends, even juniors – asking me when am I going to really find a girlfriend and settle down. Well, first of all, thank you all for your concern, and I am still trying hard. I am hopeful, and I shall continue to try. Realistically, I hope to be able to find someone whom I can see everyday, hear her voice everyday, and endure my irritating nonsense everyday. That means she probably would have to be from Hong Kong. Or maybe she could be a Korean living in Hong Kong. Or maybe a Korean who would be willing to move to Hong Kong for me. Hmm…

But at things stand, I think I am enjoying myself a lot without a woman next to me. I have the love of my family and my friends, and I think I can do with that for the time being. I just hope that in the next year, I would be able to continue having a happy life, be able to wake up every morning, breathe well, eat well, work well, sleep well. If South China and Manchester United could win the leagues again, I’ll be chuffed to pieces.

Have a happy 2013, everyone!