The Last of 2023

Time passed and it’s coming to the end of 2023.

What have I achieved so far?

I have changed my job last year and now I have been working in Singapore Institute of Management for almost 2 years (2 more months to 2 years). Life has been good to me. We went for a few holidays, Japan in May, Taiwai in August, Europe in November/December and ended my holidays by attending a wedding in Hanoi.

Let’s probably begin sharing from beginning of the year?

Home Improvement Program (HIP) took place in Mar/Apr’23 and we had to move our cats to our friends’ house because it’s gonna be dirty and dusty at home. And thank God for their help, we managed to get through the difficult part. Totally in love with the new kitchen!

New kitchen! 😍

We went to Japan for 10 days during the HIP. And it’s been awhile since we went for a holiday since COVID. We spent a good 10 days in Tokyo.

1) Went to have our Ichiran Ramen

2) Went to Hakone

3) Went to TeamLab Planets

4) Went to Monster Hunter Cafe

5) Went to Mipig Cafe

6) Went to Disneyland

And other many other places! And also we made a new friend in the homestay we were staying.

Work has been busy and I am in the Recreational Committee this year. And we planned for the SIM Family Day. This year we went to the new opened Bird Paradise!

Bird Paradise Waterfall

Maiden trip with Vivien to Taipei! This time is to catch Hebe Tien’s concert! So glad that we managed to get her concert ticket! We had truly enjoyed ourselves with the eating and shopping although it was a short trip.

Celebrated my birthday with my favourite people! 😘🥰

My ex-colleagues from NUS ISS and my lgg~

Then it’s our long awaited Europe trip! It’s filled with excitement, anxiety, fun and laughter! Seeing snow for the first time, and it became our nightmare when the train was disrupted, day trip to the Disney castle cancelled because of the road condition and we almost couldn’t make it to Salzburg due to train disruption.

Took Business Class for the first time! I couldn’t ask for more. It was the best experience I had (except when the yoghurt splashed onto my clothes and hair) and there is a hole in the luggage. Experienced snow for the first time and of course we gotta build a snowman!
There were many people at the train station waiting for the train to Salzburg. But sadly, the train was cancelled the whole day, and we have to make a last minute hotel reservation nearby the train station so we can rest for the night and make plan on the alternative route to Salzburg. Thank God! We managed to book a bus (but we have to split into 2 groups because of the limited number of bus tickets)
No photos in Salzburg because we were literally there for a night, and we moved on to St Anton the next day. We were in luck when we were told there will be a Devil’s Parade at St Anton. It was scary and funny that we were laughing and screaming at the same time when the devil came to us and whipping us. After that, we moved on to Luzern! And a passerby came and join in our group photo! How funny is that!
Then it’s time for the mountains! Went to Mt Titlis for some spectacular view. Explore the area around our hotel and we head to Interlaken. Paragliding was cancelled due to bad weather, so lgg improvised his own paragliding. And he also finally tried the cheese fondue.
Went to Lauter Brunnen and it was drizzling. So we just walk around, took some photos and head back for the day. Finally went to Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe! It’s freezing cold -14 degrees outside and the snow was like literally slapping our face and the fear of falling down the slope. But we truly enjoyed the magneficient view!
Time for another mountain! This time, it’s the Matterhorn! We almost thought we won’t be able to see the mountain because it was cloudy when we reached, and the train was disrupted due to strong wind. Lucky we had a long brunch, and by the time we wanted to leave, the train resumed again! The magneficient view of the mountain.
Moving on to Montreux and finally see the flying Santa LIVE! We went to Bern old town, it was beautiful. And we totally forgotten that bears hibernates in winter so we can only take photo with the bear figurines. And then we went to Zurich. Visited many Christmas Markets this trip. And I am loving it!

Everyone in Europe that we met are really nice! There was a guy who told me the entrance of the hotel while we were standing at the traffic light. There was a lady who offered to help us take a group photo. We are definitely very blessed. After our Europe trip, we went to Hanoi for my lovely friends’ wedding! I am so happy for them!

After touching down from Switzerland, we quickly head back home and re-pack our luggage for Hanoi. By the time we reached hotel was around 7ish pm, so we head out for dinner and a massage and then rest for the night. The next day was our friend’s wedding. And bumped into Jessie Hoo and Wankey! Stay blissful my friends! I love you guys! Thanks for having us!
Joined in the after wedding party. It was new experience (never clubbed in Vietnam before). It was always great to catch up with old friends and/or colleagues. We will probably be back in Hanoi since we spent most of the time sleeping (due to jetlag and shag-ness from the Europe trip). Then it’s back home to our cats!

Really thankful for colleagues who covered me during my long holidays. And I wish everyone best in health and wealth in the coming new year!

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