2006: A Year in Review
Today is New Years Eve, the final day for 2006...I cannot believe how fast an entire year has gone by :P seems like only yesterday I was @ Michelle's house for a delicious steam boat, MJ and then the fireworks at the Esplanade in Singapore to celebrate the coming of 2006. I remember it well. Those were good times and very memorable. Now I am in Sydney and certain circumstances have changed from those times, with a new career ahead of me, new friends, new activities to do, and definitely have grown from the past year's experiences. Tough and very difficult decisions have been made, perhaps life-changing ones...whether it turns out to be the right one, who knows? Well I suppose there is real no right answer, its better that a decision is made rather than no decision and you 'just go with the flow' for which later you will regret that you didn't make that choice when you were younger/opportunities were open/circumstances were right, etc. Even now there are some times when I am thinking about things that have happened to me during the year , I do question some of my choices now, but as I keep telling myself (and my close friends have also) that a decision/choice has been made and well I am just going to have to live with it and have no regrets :) Ok enough of this I will now review some of the more memorable moments for me for 2006 (the details are all in my prev posts):
Leaving sunny Singapore and PwC (my first job). This was a big decision which I thought at the time was a good one for the better (a tough call). Made plenty of good friends there from PwC and did meet someone special ;). Was comfortable with what I was doing (but didn't really see myself in audit for LT), enjoyed the lifestyle, definitely the S'pore food (durian, chicken rice, roti prata, etc), and was staying with relatives (with a maid...so no need to do washing, laundry, ironing, etc). Like I said it was a comfortable life.
Coming to Sydney from Perth. At this point I was indifferent whether I worked in Perth or Sydney. Sydney is definitely more alive than Perth and of course the job market was much better. I had just gotten a call from my recruitment agent saying that there was an opportunity in Sydney...so I was on the first flight to Sydney :) and luckily I got the job! (my second job) :) haha..
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Working at Westpac with a great bunch of people, one of which introduced me to a new circle of friends here in Sydney. Initially I was pretty lonely here in Sydney, but thanks to Leo and his friendship he got me into volleyball and the volleyball group which really helped me through a somewhat tough time :P. While the pay and hours were good @ Westpac, I suppose the reason why I left audit came up again while working at Westpac...it was boring work (producing reports, recons, journals, etc) and I would have preferred audit :P mainly coz of the client interaction. At least it did give me an insight to what I didn't want to be doing, and I could have at least said that I gave banking/PC a try :) again...no regrets. 
Snowboarding in Thredbo. It was about a year ago when I was in Sydney to snowboard, but only this time friends from Perth came over for an action packed weekend of snowboarding. I had just gotten myself some of the snowboarding gear and was anxious to try it out on the slopes. Now, this year there was no good snow (the effects of Global Warming, shifting climate, etc)...hopefully 2007 the snow will be better :). Think I did improve in my snowboarding skills and will definitely consider going to other countries where the snow is much better...much much better than the Sydney stuff..haha.
- August 2006, now that was a month where things seemed to have happened and it was just a miserable month for me. One of the most testing times I have ever faced in my life :P Don't know what I would have done without the support of my close friends and family...and definitely their patience and understanding with me. This was the time where I was really doubting myself, my future and the decisions I have made..and wishing with all my heart that I could somehow go back and change it.
Definitely my team the West Coast Eagles winning the Grand Final of the AFL was one of the highlights of the year. It was the end of Sept and I don't think I could have handled another disappointment and it was a beauty of a game. It was one of the best games I had ever seen particularly since my team came up on top at the end beating a Sydney team by 1 point. I still remember the disapointment last year when it was the reverse, and Sydney won by 4 points in the 2005 GF. I still remember what I was doing the exact same day in 2005...yes I do have a fondness for remembering memorable days in my time. I was in Singapore and had just finished watching Harry Potter 3 in Singapore at an outdoor cinema under a cloudless Singapore sky at night :) sigh. Anyway, the Eagles are won and I am just so happy that they did!
2006 can be remembered for my numerous interstate trips...Melbourne, Brisbane and even back to Perth. Plenty of rest and relaxation in those trips. This was mainly in the later half of the year after my cancelled planned surprise trip to Singapore :P. Out of all the capital cities I have visited, I would like to go back to Melbourne again sometime this time in maybe different circumstances and an improved attitude :P. Melbourne is a pretty cool place and hopefully in 2007 I can go back there when the Eagles are playing a Victorian team there at the MCG (and can convince Mich, Yishan to go too haha) and support them...
The Good Neighbour volleyball tournament in Canberra. My first ever volleyball tournament. What made it even more special was that I was with my friends (players and groupies alike) and it was definitely a wake-up call to what sort of areas in my game needs improving :). The weekend was all fun, games, volleyball, even clubbing in Canberra (yes I never thought it was possible). Whilst we unfortunately didn't win the tournament...it was more the time spent with a group of cool people that was more important. Still miss my Wed night S'pore volleyball sessions tho :P haha.
Being a lawyer. Finally after deciding on a career change while working at Westpac, and months of applying (getting rejected) I have finally got a law job and will start 2007 as a graduate at law, doing a year of studies :P while working and finally hopefully getting admitted to the NSW Supreme Court at the end of 2007. This was totally unexpected and really has given me hope for the future and restored my confidence in myself. If I do decide to go back to Singapore next year (or the year after? or never?) I can finally say that I am a 'lawyer' ;) and be somebody...with a career, future, cash (hopefully haha...) and more importantly having found something that I would enjoy doing for the next 30+ years :P haha..
So in 2006, I have relocated across two continents, changed jobs twice, made new friends, visited other cities in Australia, found out lots about myself and how the real world really works. My confidence and faith in myself has been tested, and somehow fate has decided to shine favourably on me (for once?) and its slowly being restored. Who knows what 2007 will bring careerwise, lifewise, friendshipwise :) but you know what 2007 is a new beginning and so lets see what it throws us :)
Have a Happy 2007 my friends! posted by Darren at
8:48 AM
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