2012 - A year of two halves
So many posts unwritten or in draft form and here we are in the new year. I don't think I'm ever going to catch up with my backlog so I'm just going to do a brief summary of each month of 2012.
January
The flatmate went away for a work attachment. I took the opportunity to turn the flat into a training den. You see, I had stupidly signed up for the Singapore 70.3, which meant winter training. Given that I've never trained in winter before, it would be an interesting experiment...
February
Flatmate still away, still training for the Singapore 70.3. Beginning to realise that the pros of winter training are: (1) you don't have to deal with humidity; (2) spinning indoor means you can sleep in and watch tv. Cons of winter training - wetsuit swimming and strong headwinds when riding outside.
March
Did my first hometown race, the Singapore 70.3. While it was nice to host some of the club mates, I don't like racing in Singapore. It's way too hot and murky warm seawater does nothing for me.
April
Still training... This time for my second half ironman, the Busselton 70.3. Body was breaking down a little so didn't manage to get a solid block of training in for busso this month. When I could train, I do remember having one of my best training rides ever with the tri club. Basically, reaped some winter training dividends!
May
Did the Busso 70.3 with the flatmate. Ticked off one of my tri to-dos, to race in oz. Ticked off two to-dos with the flatmate: (1) do a road trip together; and (2) visit Perth at the same time. We got a awesome deal for accoms, race entry and a wine tour. Tough race but great trip.
Also attended a colleague's wedding in Phuket. It was a Indian wedding and probably the most fun I've ever had at a wedding.
June
Work started picking up after busso. June was chock-filled with work, work trip to Taiwan and cycling. I was busy cycling in my free time as we had signed up for a cycling trip in Italy. Rode by myself on weekday mornings, some spinning, saturday morning rides and rode with the sky blue people on Sunday mornings. At the end of June, I went back to Singapore for my sister's wedding.
July
I left right after my sister got married for the Italy cycling trip. Have to say that this was one of my best holidays ever. The trip was organised by a HK-based Italian triathlete and private chef. Suffice to say, it was great riding, fantastic food and pretty luxe accoms. It was a steal for what we paid. I had major post-holiday blues after this trip.
July was also a sad month as my beloved Oreo passed away suddenly while I was in Italy. It was utterly gut wrenching that I could not get a ticket home to spend his last few moments with him. He was waiting for me though. Once he heard my voice over Skype and I said my goodbyes, he went. I've never cried so much in my life. It still kills me that I wasn't be his side at the end. I'm sorry boy.
August
Any form of physical exercise basically tailed off after the cycling trip. Work was pretty insane this month as my timesheet will attest. There were advantages to the downtime from training though as when I had free time, I hung out with the flatmate, my neglected friends, chilled at the beach, etc.
September
Pretty much the same as August but worse as work intensity went up and I had another work trip to Taiwan. At the end of the month, I did manage to squeeze in a short weekend trip to shanghai. Basically, the flatmate went for work and I decided to tack on. We met up with a friend who used to be based in HK, ate lots and slept lots.
October
This was my birthday month. Apparently turning 30 is a big deal. I think the celebrations pretty much lasted the whole month?? The flatmate organised a birthday junk and seafood lunch for me and some of my closest friends in HK. I really enjoyed this. Junks = HK summers for me. Swimming, seafood, sun and fun. The flatmate also organised a trip to bkk for the two of us. Four days of cheap food, massages and lazing around. Bliss! G bought me a nice dinner at Le Salon. My big boss bought me and some of my close friends a Japanese BBQ beef dinner, which was a nice touch I thought.
November
It seems nothing much happened in November. I did my final Singapore run for the year at the end of this month and that seems about it. I think I sort of started running again this month as it became cooler in HK.
December
My brother came to spend Christmas with me as my parents were away. I really enjoyed hanging out with him and tried not to treat him like my personal Christmas elf. Heh. I like to think he had a good time in HK too!
After Christmas, the flatmate and I did a Tokyo run with some friends to usher in the new year. Suffice to say there was mainly a lot of eating. Sushi, sashimi, oden, ramen, Yakitori, beer, etc. I was perpetually full but so happy. Great way to end and start the year.
Conclusion
2012 was generally an amazing year. The only two things that I wished I could really change: (1) that Oreo was still here; and (2) that I was a little more consistent at training. But we can't have everything in life can we? So more of 2012's good bits in 2013 please and I should be quite a happy camper at the end of 2013.
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