another year, another post.

lets roll.

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job-wise, it's okay.

this year was kind of topsy-turvy in terms of staff turnover, with my senior engineer leaving for a client-side company (and very likely in a better state), leaving me to basically cover the remainder of the project on my own. brings a whole new meaning to the term accelerated learning.



can't say that i'm a fan on how he was treated prior to his departure.

there has been quite a fair amount of colleagues who have also left for greener pastures, while there is also an influx of new people in too. it feels... different, as nebulous as that sounds.

there has also been quite a fair bit of hiccups over the year for several projects, mostly due to change in requirements from client-side, but at least the delay isnt attributed to me.


sometime near the fourth quarter of the year, i got thrust into a new project, and with it, a (sudden) business trip to malaysia. (of all places right? jokes aside, its just that people generally associate malaysia with leisure/play, rather than work but i digress)

granted, the trip was not really long (about 3-4 days), but it was semi-nerve wrecking in the sense that i was the only process representative, and having only been into the project with less than 1 month, my knowledge of the project is unmistakably shoddy.

all things considered, i guess it went fine; it could have gone pear-shaped rather easily i guess.

having only set foot in malaysia previously during primary school times, it was an interesting experience nevertheless (it probably sounds rather inane to the typical person, who has gone over countless times for shopping, etc).

i would personally think of malaysia as time-warping back to singapore in the early 90s, with roadside zichar stalls with wooden decor, accompanied by mongrels eyeing for food laid on the table.

that said, the place that i went to was pretty modern by malaysia's standard, with macdonalds, kenny rogers and starbucks no further than five minutes' walk from the hotel/service apartment. goodness though, the pricing is almost no different from singapore (~18ringgit for a mocha cappuccino, ~15 ringgit for a mcwings set). if i only used starbucks and macdonalds as a basis for cost comparison, i would had thought that 1 ringgit = 1 singapore dollar.

food's alright by my standard, kind of liked the kampung fried rice with those ikan billis.

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next year will likely to be a pivotal year for me, as i will have to decide whether i shall continue along this career path, or swap to an alternative option.

3 years of working experience is kind of the threshold between an 'experienced' individual and 'fresh graduate'; once you exceed that time, you'll find that many graduate programs/scholarships will no longer consider you.

frankly speaking, i think i'm ok with the current job where i am.

but, being contented frankly should not be the goal here - i need to push, and advance further. to be contented is simply to accept and maintain status quo, which feels like a death knell to any career progression.

besides, the remuneration isn't that hot either, and i've been chided by my friends (quite fairly too) for settling for such a level.

its funny, isn't it? two and a half years ago, i've wrestled with this same problem on what career path/industry to choose.

the only difference this time now is that i have nothing to lose by trying.


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well, i've prepped my resume again to include new stuff.

now to see it through and formulate cover letters.

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i've managed to clear my JLPT N4 qualification last year, just a bit of margin above the passing grade.

not pretty, but i'll have to settle for that, considering that i had to juggle with that sudden performance test run at that point in time.

i've since tried to study for N3, but unfortunately i've made minimal headways on it. originally wanted to take the N3 exam this december, but i'll probably have to settle for 2019 december instead.

i've got a long ways to go to improve my japanese grammar if i want to forge upwards.

speaking of which, i need to push myself to find some sort of a native japanese penpal to converse in japanese to improve on it.

i can kind of get the gist of some japanese technical documentation (albeit in a VERY limited capacity), but it is good to have some sort of conversational capacity.

guess that is one of the major flaws in self-studying a language - such a 'live' skill can never be truly honed unless utilized on other people.

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at the same time, i've also cleared grade 6 theory for piano.

didn't do too bad, although every segment had a bit of error here and there, which accumulated and ultimately leading to just a pass grade. talk about death by a thousand cuts!

started work on grade 7, but goodness that difficulty spike is noticable.

well, i'm not going to shy away from it but this will take a while.

will be doing practical in a few months time, not sure how it will work out, but i'll do whatever i can to enjoy the process at least.

off-topic, but i really, really want to get a full-fledged digital piano but i dont have the space in the room to house it. zzz.

additionally, i've started trying several non-classical pieces, mainly those from i am setsuna (いけにえと雪のセツナ) as well as granblue fantasy. the former has a rather sombre mode, while the latter has a more calming, relaxing tone to it.

thats part of the fun isn't it, to play tunes that you like.

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i finally started doing investments, with an initial allotment into the government's saving bonds, one singapore-based etf, and one developed economy-based etf.

etfs wise, both took a rather hard hit a few days ago due to jitters from trump and the us/china economy, but i'm confident that the fundamentals are still there, and find no reason to bolt.

i'm probably overweighted in saving bonds, but given the existing volatility in the market, i'm cool with it.

on the plus side, my exposure is also largely mitigated with dollar-cost averaging, so i dont really need time the market, but the past few days have made me pause temporarily.

small steps, they are. but they are no doubt invaluable steps in this long haul.

and i'm in it for the long, loooooooooooong haul.

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my manuscript got finally published!

its currently in a japanese-based journal, and although the impact factor pales in comparison to top-tier chemical engineering journals such as AiChE, i'm cool with it as my first publication.

i mean, i wasn't even expecting one to begin with, so any publication is a bonus.

my thanks to my professor who had seen it through all these time.

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i've been also trying to push my physical fitness too this year.

typically, during my weekly swim i usually do 20 laps (20 x 50m) and call it a day. however, over the course of several months, i've been ramping up gradually, culminating in 30 laps within an hours time.

i wonder if i can try to push to 40 laps in one sitting, but goodness, by the 25th or 26th lap things start to get rather dicey.

guess thats one tangible sign of ageing huh, gary?

running wise, i've hovering between 12.5~13 minutes, and am trying to push for 12 minutes, but this is even more of a struggle than swimming, ha.

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through this year, i've been reading a bunch of books on the train.

i've also started tossing fiction books into the pool as well, and there were two of them which deserves commendation as follow:

1. travelling cat chronicles (hiro arikawa)
2. confessions (kanae minato)

they were rather enjoyable short reads, and i'm glad i've added fiction books in the mix.

for non-fiction, there was a book published by a construction worker which provided insight on the live of a construction worker, and their plights. title's 'stranger to myself: diary of a bangladeshi in singapore' by sharif uddin.

sometimes, you're oblivious to one's troubles and worries until you're exposed to it.

that said, my overall diet still revolves around non-fiction, and i dont think i'll dive into 'deep' fiction anytime soon.

i kind of liked reading marie kondo's book on cleaning up, and reading it gave me that impetus to re-evaluate my position on life/career.

why keep things when they dont spark joy/happiness?
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so yes, in essence, 2018 feels rather mediocre.

it could had been better, but i count my lucky stars on the n+1 ways things could go wrong.

to put things simply, i need to push, and see things through to completion, and enjoying the process.

lets charge forward, gary to another year!