Hits and misses of 2009

Before I even dare to list out my resolutions for year 2010 (which by the way, should not be fundamentally different from previous years), I think I should review my personal hits and misses of the past 12 months before closure of 2009. It’s my own list based on personal events and matters in general so please –

(a) don’t go into a tirade if some of my ‘misses’ were actually your ‘hits’; and
(b) bear in mind that this entry could be painfully long and boring.

Read at your own peril =)

[Kunming, China]

Ok, so the year started off with a bang. Won a free trip (flight and accommodation) to Kunming, China for two, courtesy of MAS. I went with my mum, this being the first trip to China for both of us. Mum was not that keen (she’s a true London aficionado. Never gotten bored of London despite various trips. Perhaps she’s waiting for the invitation from Buckingham) but since it’s free, what the heck. It was a definite go. However, the trip nearly did not materialize as MAS at that point in time, cancelled their direct flights to Kunming. Worse, they only had the cheek to inform us of the flight cancellation a week before take-off. I was absolutely furious. Wouldn’t you be the same if you’re in my position?

The powers that be were originally adamant that we could not fly to Kunming at the chosen time because they would have to place us with other airlines (read: extra expenses for them than originally thought). We stood our ground. In the end (and after countless polite calls to them), we got to fly to Kunming albeit with a slight twist. Far from the original itinerary, we were now scheduled to fly MAS to Beijing followed by a flight on China Northern Airlines (that’s the name, I think) to Kunming. As for the return flight, we will depart Kunming for Hong Kong vide China Southern Airlines before taking MAS.

That was the flight itinerary. Thank god there was no problem with the hotel. We stayed in Grand Park Kunming which was a fantastic hotel overlooking the Green Lake. Further plus point, it’s a stone throw away from the shopping district. Haha…I need not elaborate how I did extensive damage to my wallet. Oh, but I do need to point out that China has a different system when it comes to credit cards. Over here, all we need to do is swipe the card, sign the bill and we’re off right? Well, China requires every credit card holder to key in their personal code before a transaction may get approved. Mum and I spent quite some time trying to figure out our ‘personal code’ before we gave up and ended up withdrawing the yuans using our credit cards.

Food (which we thought was not a problem as Kunming supposedly has many Chinese Muslims around) became a BIG problem. We did not bring any food at all and to our horror, the Chinese Muslim restaurants are all located at the outskirts of town. The thought of travelling all the way for food didn’t appeal to our rapidly diminishing yuans and we ended up on a self-imposed diet of hotel food and stuff from a nearby Muslim bakery.

The lack of meat intake caused me to become crazy when we finally spotted a stall selling halal Chinese-styled satays. Without regard to the usual advice of being weary of local delicacies, I whacked around 9 sticks of Chinese-muslim satay the night before our departure. Mum only had 1 stick and I finished her portion as well. There’s no point in wasting, especially when one’s hungry. Everything was well until I found myself in the loo almost the entire night after we reached Malaysia. It was then that I discovered I may have become the first victim of ‘Kunming Belly’. Food poisoning led me to miss work for an additional 2 days. Talk about a good ending for a holiday!

[Marriages, kids and death]

2009 also saw 1 cousin getting hitched, 2 cousins getting engaged, 2 cousins and 2 friends becoming parents and the sudden death of a close relative. Let’s talk about my cousin’s marriage first. Hmm…I need to be extra careful here because while what I write is my personal opinion, the contents may just find their way to the unintended parties’ knowledge.

Cousin’s wedding reception was rather grand (probably because it was the first time for my aunt’s family) with a blue theme for family members. As I missed his wife’s reception in Kuching due to work demands, I was obliged to help out with my cousin’s reception. Well, let me put it this way. Weddings can be both a dream affair or a nightmare if meticulous attention is not given to the details. One needs to take care of the dais arrangements, procession of the bride and groom, seating of guests, food to be served, gifts for guests, entertainment, ushers and the list goes on and on and on. On that day, thanks to careful maneuvering on my part, I was merely the girl by the dais in charge of handing out tokens to those who had taken part in the ‘merenjis’ ceremony. Believe me, this job was way easier than that of an emcee. I was cajoled into becoming an emcee for another cousin’s wedding earlier and that experience is well, not worth repeating.

Anyway, everybody in the family including yours truly was dressed in various shades of blue in accordance with the theme. This trend of having a coloured theme wedding seems to be catching on nowadays. While it’s understandable for immediate family members to be dressed in one colour to help guests identify who are the hosts, workers and fellow guests, I do not find logic when the dais and even the bride and groom are decked in the same colour! Come on, the whole point of having a wedding reception is to be the stars of your own special day. Just look at photographs taken from such weddings. Instead of getting the proper attention, the bride and groom are lost among family members with the dais as the background. Perhaps some people like it but not me for sure. There is beauty in a sea of colours.

The aforesaid engagements and births were definitely hits of 2009. Engagements hopefully lead to happily ever afters and births produce what parents hope as beautiful and smart toddlers. Wait, let me rephrase that. Hits ONLY for the ones getting engaged or becoming parents. To me, it became bullets for well-meaning (I’m not sure how well though) people to spurt ridiculous (but expected) questions and comments. Soon enough, I heard strings of ‘when is your turn’ or ‘who’s the (un)lucky guy’ directed towards me. Obviously I had to reply to those queries lest they think I’m hiding sensational news. When I did reply along the lines of ‘Not now’ or ‘No one yet’, I did not find refuge. Instead, it led to a soft but disapproving murmurs of ‘Don’t be too picky la’ or ‘You’re not looking properly’. Hey, may I just add that we make our own choices in life? Just because some choose to marry young and have kids early does not mean that I have to follow suit.

There was also an unexpected death of a close relative. My aunt (Mum’s cousin) was fine right up until the last day before her death. We had a family gathering the night before and I remembered how my aunt sang enthusiastically. She was a good singer and she seemed to be enjoying herself very much. All of that disappeared when we received a phone call the next day. Apparently, my aunt complained of fatigue and passed away while being taken to the hospital. It was too sudden, leaving everyone reeling in the wake.

[Turning 26]

Obviously, nothing much has changed since I turned 26. Yes, it’s another year etched in my life calendar but apart from that, nothing earth shattering to be disclosed here. I’ve tried keeping the few friends that I have, tried maintaining the couple of acquaintances that I know and that’s that.

If any, one notable difference when I turned 26 is that Mum has stopped commenting how she got married to Dad when she was 25. You see, Mum would always tell my siblings and I how she never had a boyfriend during school days and yet, ended up with a better guy than the rest (haha, this is a compliment to you, Abah!). And everytime someone asked me on why I’m still single, Mum would say that she herself never had any boyfriend but still got married at the age of 25. Well, that line worked pretty well in silencing the lips before I turned 26. Until now, my parents have never actually pressured me to settle down but recently, I sensed the slight (or subtle) changes in their nuances.

It’s another a couple of months before I hit 2-7 so perhaps, I should have better things to share about in the coming months.

[Work]

Hmm…in a blink of an eye, I’m reaching the end of my second year in private practice. Frankly, I still find myself in disbelief at the thought of leaving law school in one piece and sanity intact. I can’t say life’s a bed of roses (although I can’t complain about the pay and experience) but I can say that the learning process continues. Clichéd but true. Monday blues is felt most keenly after a good weekend and when the workload gets too hectic, I could only wish that Friday night comes sooner. There were times when I felt that I should have pursued a degree in something other than law. English literature comes to mind and yet, I could never imagine myself as a school ma’am teaching a bunch of kids what Blake had in mind when he wrote the Age of Innocence or what Austen was trying to say when she made Darcy the way he is.

I’ve also made a personal choice of not entering service or judiciary. While I have the highest if not the best regards for those who opted to serve, I do not think my character goes hand-in-hand with the said professions. Having said that, I do suffer from that occasional (quite often) bouts of frustration especially when learned people use their professional position to make personal attacks. I’m bound to still address them by their honorifics but that does not stop me from uttering those words through gritted teeth while the mind runs wild with expletives. As they say, the legal fraternity is indeed a really small world. One encounter with a fellow lawyer today may turn into an appearance before the Judge the next day.

[Travel]

This is definitely a big miss for year 2009. I had originally planned for a great getaway to the UK for the later half of December 2009. My dream was to fly to London, return to Cardiff, check out Paris and if the Euro stretches long enough, to experience Amsterdam or Brussels. I had even told my firm’s partner that I intend to take a long leave for the sojourn. Alas, I did not calculate the mind of an exceptionally eager Judge who took it upon himself to steal the holiday mood of lawyers and fixed a matter for trial between Christmas and New Year. Unbelievable. The icing of the cake definitely has to be the Judge’s reply when he was informed that the last 2 weeks of December is the annual Court’s vacation. In his words (though not verbatim and not in English) – “I have nothing to do during those 2 weeks. Do you expect me to sit around?” Err… how does one respond to that? I could only stare at the Judge, speechless because whatever that I will say will only fall on deaf ears.

One surprising hit was my trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from 19-23 November 2009. It was initially planned as a group outing to coincide with a friend’s wedding. What was planned as an outing with fellow girlfriends did not exactly turn out the way as expected. For one reason of another, none of my girlfriends could fly to KK and I was torn between forfeiting my flight ticket or going to KK alone. As the rest of the story deserves an entry of its own, I shall stop here.

This has been a really really looonnnggg entry (even by my standard). I’m sure there were other things I have missed in which there will be a Part 2, if necessary. But just in case I do not manage to blog another entry before 2010 appears, here’s wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year!