CH144: New Year 2013

Happy New year everybody. As I said in Facebook, 2012 really came down as a fantastic year for me for all different reasons.

Career wise, I moved back to IBM and worked for one of the biggest companies in the world BHP Billiton - to work in their project of integrating their businesses into 1SAP.

Love life, well, I've written about it, and despite the challenges that may not have been put into writing, I can only say that it's okay and growing stronger.

Personal life, in terms of family, I would have to say is one of my bigger successes for 2012. A vacation to the US with my family for 1 month. My sister's wedding. My getting close to mum and sis and being free and acknowledged.

Financially speaking, I was able to save aside money more than I did for 2011. I believe I was able to manage my money better for 2012.

There's just so many things to be thankful and grateful about last 2012. Despite me saying early on about plans of moving to NZ for 2013, well, that decision has to be put on hold at the moment (or perhaps changed to something else).

In welcoming 2013, CP and I went to the Siloso Beach Party in Sentosa for their countdown. All in all, despite us both saying that we should tone down the alcholol drinking and saving more money, we spent quite an amount drinking vodka + cokes (our preferred poison gin + tonic was not available).

More for Photos!

Went down to the event around 10pm, and it was cool and drizzly which was perfect considering the surprising number of our south asian neighbors. :-)

Got to go in to my first foam party. Haha, super fun. And in the drunken revelry, well, it was wet , wild and fun....save for the part that since it was in the beach, a lot of sand eventually got into the pit.

Party and music was nice. But definitely is not as nice nor as magnificent as zoukout 2011. Crowd wise, well, not really worth comparing.

Fireworks

Fireworks

Lastly, I remember mentioning before about my planned resolution to learn how to cook. Last night, after a bit of research on what to cook up as well as to prepare, I made my own version of beef salpicao! :-)

Beef Salpicao with onions, sauteed carrots and blanched brocolli.,

The dish turned out well (in my taste) and as acknowledged by CP. I didnt have time to marinate the beef given it was only soaking for 30 mins in the freezer. So, to make up for it and not make the meat too dry (I assumed it would be), while cooking, I drizzled the marinade I made on the beef to make a sauce out of it. Then at the last minute or so, I added in the onions. It was fun experimenting since a lot of decisions were made impromptu...like thinking to added chopped garlic as well in butter before cooking the meat...or blanching the brocolli since we didnt have a steamer.