So Long, 2015!
"That's what you do when you want something. You don't look for reasons why it won't work. You look for reasons why it will." -- Maybe in Another Life
Books
For some reason, I kept reading up on suicidal teens this year -- not out of my own choosing but because I'd end up on the YA best books of the month page and all of them had the same theme (to some extent) and though it was nice to read some YA (or maybe I wasn't reading the right ones this year) but I read a lot of other awesome non-YA stuff this year.
Case in point: the fanfic-worthy, The Royal We which still owns me up to this day. I will never be over Bex and Nick's love story and am still wishing Freddie gets a spin-off story, too. I also adored Modern Romance just because it opened me up to a whole new way of thinking.
I wish I had read Why Not Me but I didn't instead I read other 'single girl' books like Spinster which was more serious than I had expected but still good and Single, Mellow, Carefree which I also liked more given that I'm not a big short-story fan.
Movies
I had intended on watching 50 movies this year but unemployment and a TV that no one uses at my new place in SG is pretty amazing. And so I reached 100 movies this year.
My flight to the US and back gave me the opportunity to watch a gazillion movies and one of those was A Royal Night Out which killed me. It's my Young Victoria of the year with just how cute it was and a glimpse into royalty. There would have been way more Alicia Vikander movies too on this list but I whittled it down to The Man From UNCLE just because it had Armie Hammer as well and lots of super cute scenes between the two of them.
I also thought that Anne Hathaway and Anders Holm were cute and needed more scenes in The Intern together but I'glad it turned out this way. I also loved Trainwreck just because Bill Hader was A+ in it. He's so dreamy now.
Music
I'm shocked at how much music I liked this year and it was difficult to whittle it down to the 12 (and 10 for my sibling's annual list) but music was amazing this year.
OF course there was Carly Rae Jepsen's E*MO*TION which technically owned my 2015 but more of my US trip. And of course, One Direction's Made in the AM which is a nice little ending before their hiatus.
Then there were the cover albums which really really just gave a different spin to some of my favourite albums last year. Ryan Adams's 1989 and the Bleachers collaboration with all these wonderful female artists for Terrible Thrills vol. 2. I need more of this.
Television
Clearly, it was the year of Netflix and i have to thank my roomies, Mark and Barb for providing this for me. I'm so obsessed with this service. It's not perfect but it's amazingly entertaining and I just can't see life without it now.
For more Aziz Ansari in my life, I really enjoyed Master of None and the different topics it covered all throughout. I can't wait for season 2. Narcos was serious and tiring but had Pedro Pascal and I will watch anything he's in in a heartbeat.
Marvel kept dishing out hits like Daredevil and Jessica Jones and I love how the MCU has just expanded and overtaken even my Netflix-viewing. Good times, seriously. In the Non-Netflix world, I'm glad the CW brought in iZombie because it's been such a nice light show and Quantico has me girl crushing on Priyanka Chopra even more. Plus, it's nice to have so much tension again.
Agent Carter needs more episodes and I can't wait for it to get back on my TV screen and Poldark was also way too short considering I would watch Aidan Turner in anything now. So not a bad year in TV at all.
Real Life
Quarter 1
January was pretty bittersweet just because I spent half of it in Manila and the other half in Singapore. It was weird finally just pack my bags and head to Singapore. Saying goodbye to friends and family in Manila was pretty tough but it was time to move forward. It was wonderful to have dinner with my future roomies and secure my room with them even if I have yet to secure a job.
The first quarter of the year also signalled my job hunt which pretty much consumed me. February is my birthday month but it also showed me the first wave of challenges in looking for work. I had my routines and I had my first deadline coming up. And though it sucked to not find anything so soon, it was nice to be able to go to Bangkok for the first time. Good times with my aunt and cousin for sure.
March was the deadline to finding work and I'm glad I did, but I still needed to exit Singapore one last time (thanks to my tourist 30 day visa). And the best part? I finally got to watch One Direction live with Koko and just generally enjoying Singapore more now that the job hunt was actually getting some positive leads.
Quarter 2
I started my job in April and it was both exciting and really scary. Plus, I moved out of my sister and brother's couch and into my own room at my first place with my roomies. I now had bills to pay and bathrooms to clean (I will never like this chore) but it was fun and new and also very tiring.
I started meeting people and making friends in May with common friends in Singapore that I finally reached out to and colleagues who were kind enough to open up their little circles to me. It was really nice to finally be able to socialise. I also went home to Manila for the first time in a couple of months for Yayay and Steph's wedding and to see my family again. Definitely much needed.
My parents came over for the first time since I moved to Singapore in June and we surprised my dad by flying my little sister in. It was really nice to hang out all together -- almost complete. Plus, Risa came over to visit for a bit and I hadn't seen her in forever so it was wonderful to see each other.
Quarter 3
Quarter 3 had me experiencing the first month of my new role at work since I changed it. So July was pretty busy and stressful and really scary for me. But now I had formed closer friendships with Sayaka and a couple of girls at work which really helped me cope with a lot of things. I said goodbye to colleagues and hello to new ones and things were always so fast paced. I was getting exhausted.
D-day for one of my bigger projects was in August so there was no rest for me even over the SG50 long weekend. But it was nice that my brother Pio and his girlfriend Janina were able to fly over and hang out with us. It was a welcome distraction from all the craziness at work. But we managed to get the project off the road and it was just beginning.
I don't know how I managed it, but I got to take my first leave in September (after getting my holidays and being regularised) and I got to take 10 days on the West Coast from California to Portland and just seeing cousins for the first time in years and making new friends and seeing old ones along the way. Definitely a great way to decompress after the first couple of crazy months at work.
Quarter 4
And just like that, the last quarter of the year comes around -- both quickly and so very slowly October. One of my good friends, Iza came in from Manila and we spent a whole day together and we had more projects to get through before the company Halloween/holiday party which was one for the books. It was nice to dress up but not really dress up because I'm lazy. Plus, it was my first ever Tinder date which was luckily actually good. Achievement unlocked.
And one of the craziest months just yet, November brought not just my parents back to Singapore but my good friend macysfields who was my first visitor to stay with me in my place. It was tiring and fun and had us losing our voices to Taylor Swift's 1989 concert but it was worth it. I also went home for the 2nd time this year for my friend Brei's wedding and it was great to come home for 3 days again.
Finally, December rolled around and just blew past us. I went home again to Manila for the 3rd time for Con and Christer's wedding and my high school reunion and wrapped up things at work before the holidays. The holidays were different this year but not a bad kind of different. I got to go to Cebu for the first time and welcomed my brother's girlfriend Ashna to Manila for the first time as well.
"A wave of intense happiness washed over me, and I told myself to carry this moment as a talisman of a time in my life when I was both truly content and lucky enough to realize it." -- The Royal We
It's been a crazy year, that's for sure. I can't believe how quickly it went by and how many changes I experienced and somehow survived. I like how every year, as I do this, I think of all the amazing things I've experienced and how every year seems to get better. So thank you, for being part of my 2015, everyone. I'm so excited for what 2016 has to give us all. Much love.