Hello 2024! Is anyone still saying “Happy New Year”? Because I was still wishing my friend that yesterday. :)
I have always shared my “year in review” post on New Year’s Eve, but couldn’t make it in 2023, so decided to just let it go and hopefully share it before January 2024 ended! When I look back at 2023, I see a busy and fun year where I got up to a lot of different plans. In the early months of 2023, I bought tickets for a trip to Hong Kong, a trip that I’ve been waiting a long time for and looked forward to all year. :) In 2023, I had the luxury to spend almost two weeks in my favourite city and I truly had the best time. :) I cannot wait for my next trip!
Overall, it’s been a good year in many ways and I’m incredibly grateful for life’s blessings: such as good health, wonderful family and friends, steady employment, great colleagues and my favourite cafes and bookstores!
As the year ended, there were moments where I felt deflated, probably because there are elements of my life still “missing” or because I feel like I didn’t have any particular successes to celebrate or made big steps of progress in any area of my life. I happened to come across a piece while I was reading about how it’s so much easier for the mind to focus on the negative things we’re not satisfied with and it struck me how true that is!
I tried to take a step back and shift my focus on to the many small wins and joys in my year instead. Perhaps, all my small wins add up to a big one after all.
Here are a selection of snapshots (narrowed down to a photo per month) that represent the small joys. Bye 2023, let’s see what 2024 holds.
January: January is art season in Singapore, so there are plenty of art events to choose from and a scattering of art around the city! One of my personal favourites was seeing these popular and fun lobster character artworks by British artist Philip Colbert, presented by Saatchi Gallery London. 🦞 Quite a sight to behold, seeing these large sculptures with the backdrop of our skyscrapers behind them. February: Musicals and live performances are coming back in full force!! I’m so glad because I’ve missed them! I went to see Disney’s Frozen musical and it was pretty good. I’d give it 4/5 stars, but it’s not my personal favourite.March: I went to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience in Singapore (see my post here!) and loved it! :) I love this updated way of re-introducing artworks to a new generation of audiences. April: The Peranakan Museum reopened after its revamp and of course I had to visit this popular museum! Do visit if you haven’t! :) P.S. I’m frequently asked if museums in Singapore offer free entry. Yes! Many museums in Singapore offer free entry for Singaporeans and Singapore PRs! (See the list here)May: Speaking of visiting museums, this was one of my favourite museum exhibitions from 2023, a travel themed exhibition by the National Museum of Singapore. :) I absolutely loved seeing the actual old departures flip board from Changi Airport displayed right at the entrance lobby of the museum! June: A snapshot I captured one morning that I really loved. :) I took this on the SMU campus. July: A good friend of mine from Hong Kong whom I haven’t seen in six years came to Singapore on holiday! It was so lovely catching up over some afternoon tea. :)August: I attended my first Candlelight Concert (A Tribute to ABBA) at the Victoria Concert Hall! It was lovely and I wished it went on longer. :)September: To the musicals again! This time I watched & Juliet, which was so much fun, really high energy and funny! I LOVED IT! I’d recommend this one over Frozen.October: Checking out the beautiful lanterns at Gardens by the Bay for the Mid-Autumn Festival. 🥮 The lanterns were so pretty and well done, but it was a very very crowded event! And because it’s Singapore, there’s no lovely autumn breeze, it was just humidity and sweat..!November: It’s been a while since I was last here, so I visited Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest (with the Avatar Experience) with my family.December: Ending my 2023 year in review in Hong Kong, the city I love with no real explanation. :) Two weeks in my favourite city was such a joy, I cannot wait to be back again! ✨ (This snapshot was taken from M+ Museum’s viewing deck.)This was taken around 7pm, already dark in Hong Kong’s early winter, but I captured the sky when it was this brilliant shade of purple/pink (taken from the Hong Kong Palace Museum). There’s nothing quite like Hong Kong’s famed skyline. :)
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