2011: amazing things that happened this year

in chronological order:

found out in january, albeit long distance, that i'd passed the singapore bar exam. three hours later, and still in a state of euphoric shock, i had my medsch interview. two weeks after that, i started my training contract i.e. work

in february, i was allowed to be an extra pair of hands on a huge case which was going to trial in march, which is when i learnt, while in the throes of trial, that i'd been accepted into medsch on a scholarship, and became really annoying alluding to this 'big thing'. somehow people thought i'd gotten engaged but i remained resolute that Dr. > Mrs. it took every bit of self-restraint to wait till the other side surrendered (3/4 the way through!) before telling boss i wouldn't be staying on. to which boss gave his blessings, and was hugely supportive :)

as part of my new year's resolution to overcome fear (of heat, sweat and failure), i ran in the bench&bar cross country for singapore (not the whole country, just the lawyers). because it wasn't a complete disaster, xj upped the ante and we did the nike*goddess 5km together the week after. psyched, i even went so far as to compete in and complete the great*eastern women's 10km run later in the year. then i hung up my running shoes for good and slipped back into my sedentary lifestyle, or so i thought.

in may, i was proposed to, after said boss gave tkx the green light for a surprise trip! so much for my prior bravado... ;) had originally anticipated being engaged (gah, such a clumsy expression, it makes me sound like a telephone line!) to be life-altering in some ways. yet when it happened to me, apart from increased levels of blissed out contentment, nothing really changed. which was nice :) remain anti-spectacle, anti-big white wedding, anti-fuss, anti-wedding drama so the simple solution is to entrust everything to mr. makes it happen (but more about that later).

in july, i completed my training contract, headed down under (perth & sydney) during call break,  and got called to the singapore bar in august. after which it was with great joy that i kissed the legal industry goodbye.

relocated to the uk in september, moved into my cosy flat and started medsch. grateful to have made good friends in the short few months i've been here. being with graduates is somehow an instant icebreaker. there's this shared understanding of why we're back in school and our stories share a common vein. there is a former quantity surveyor, anthropologist, finnish NSman / english teacher, phD holder and bartender on the course. with such an eclectic mix, is it any surprise that the banter has yet to dry up ;)

in spite of myself, i fell in love with the great outdoors (and wilderness*medics) in october, which was life changing, to say the least. funny how my new-found affinity for the outdoors was more life altering than agreeing to get married. anyhoos, my former sedentary lifestyle is a thing of the past and i'm all keen to scale mountains (ok, hills) now. and in november, i bathed out of a tiny teapot in a stone barn bunkhouse with no hot shower, something i hadn't thought i'd be capable of.

later that month, T and i scored the sweetest deal for our house for year 2. it's literally 200m from medsch (because i'm OCD and google map everything) and a 10minute stroll from the city. plus it's huge (my new room is four times the size of my current o.O) - so spacious that we've started discussing being more sociable to make friends we can later fill our house with, sort of like moving potted plants, you know...

in december, it was mad eurotripping with the folks and the future folk and in the span of three weeks we covered 

zurich 

milan

lake como

parma

verona

innsbruck

salzburg

berlin for christmas and now on to

rejkjavik and around iceland for new year's
lake windemere in the lake district for some top secret business wheeling and dealing ^^

before ending back in london

it's been a fantastic fantastic year and i'm overwhelmed by the goodness i've received. humbled by loving family, wonderful friends and the opportunity to be where i want to be, doing what i want to do. in a great place and thrilled that what seemed like a gamble just over a year ago seems to have paid off in spades. seeing how the desire to apply to medsch germinated on the solo trippin' part of my grad trip, i'm a huge advocate of self-discovery through solo travel. plus it's mega gratifying to have what i anticipated in 2011 to come to pass.

thank you God.

2011 has set the stage for some huge changes in 2012. in a great place now and grateful for the voice of reason's insistence that i only deal with one transition at a time. that said, i'm kinda quite looking forward to getting married, and better yet, not having to lift a finger because the voice of reason also happens to be mr. planner supreme and is single-handedly doing everything for the three (yeah, i know. opulent, huh.) weddings we're having.

however, complicated as that may sound, my to do list has but one item:

turn up at the right place at the right time in a white dress (rinse, wash, repeat!)

and that's when i knew he was a keeper :)

(even though it now seems there's no space for me)

watch this space, and i just might watch my own wedding unfold via video conference.

if you'd like to see, the 2010 review is here, 
and the 2009 review here.

thanks for reading, and wishing you the very best for 2012 :)