Saturday, January 1, 2011

2010 in review

here are a few highlights from our favorite moments in this year.

daniel wanted a little say in this entry and suggested we put it in concise point form. his suggestions were as follows:

number of countries visited: 7
number of apartments: 3
number of weddings: 2
number of weddings attended: too many
number of foster dogs: 1

and it would end right about there... but since im the one typing it, i'll continue my way.. (thanks daniel for your input. we loved it!) 

in january, we rang in the new year in a short whizz-bang trip to bangkok with the girls and made belated but very realistic resolutions for 2010. just for the records, all done except for kota kinabalu. we'll try for mount fuji this year instead! we did a little bit more long-distancing and decided that we would never do that ever again. (be apart and pour half of our paychecks into jetstar flights.. *grumble*)



we also started learning tango for our wedding dance and i started waltzing with my dad. one of the best things we did for our wedding. it was pure fun. we also jumped head into full-on wedding planning. meanwhile, we were still living in chuk-chuk cambodia, riding out ghetto bicycle and eating the shonkiest food. but we enjoyed fruit from the garden, cheap handmade shoes and ultra inexpensive manicures!!


in spring, we attended our best man (& best lady's) wedding in little town of robe. we had a great time catching up with mummy and running wedding related errands.

then we were whisked off to korea for daniel's work where i spent one lovely week in the company of the bestfriend, we caught a glimpse of her swanky home and kick-ass cooking and relived my korean soap opera fantasies! then yingjie got married in singapore. we flew home for the festivities but daniel was called back urgently and missed the dinner entirely. but at least he caught this hilarious picture of the entourage at the airport chilling out...



then at mid-year, we decided to take a pre-wedding moon to take our minds off the crazy and incessant "winter white or ecru" wedding turmoils. also in time to catch lorreine & mikey's wedding over july 4th weekend. the entire trip was a whirlwind of shopping sprees, central park picnics, baseball games and huge parties. we left america missing it even more...




and found the BEST crab shack!

we also shared our anniversary (solemnization) with our best friends. we were so happy for them, i shed a tear or two.

then our wedding ate us away for one whole month! but we moved our whole world to into the cold winter of melbourne and had a huge party with everyone.




and we finally got married!!! and did our wedding dance ok!

then we brought everyone back to singapore and celebrated one more time, chinese-style! and then we were done and done. also on the week of our wedding, daniel was headhunted and his new job moved both of us to japan! it was such exciting news but a little overwhelming at that time. i remember tripping over him trying to get to our place-cards as he was scrambling to get our original wedding certs couriered overnight to japan. we gave each other hi-5s and delegated duties. i was in-charge of the wedding and him, our relocation. it was craziness and we look back with such fond memories.


we made it to japan, babe! :)

in october, we moved. and settled into our new life with such ease. i was very comforted that we got this opportunity to do so cos i always felt like i owed daniel a job in japan because when we first started dating, he gave up this awesome job because i wasn't ready to move. but looking back, i guess it all happened for a good reason. i also started a new job and career in my first week in japan! it has been very exciting and everyday is an adventure!

we moved into our little apartment and welcomed our first guests one week later. i've also jumped right into bento-making, sewing, japanese crafting.. everything but the language. but needless to say, im completely in love with japan now. its beauty blows me away! i've yet to post pictures of our japanese apartment.. till now its not completely decorated and it keeps evolving. maybe one day...


meanwhile, i've been writing more religiously and this has become my little happy space. it fills me with joy when i hear from people who pop in and when blog-pals become real friends!

towards the end of 2010, my entire family flew in from around the world. we heaved a huge sigh of relief each time someone's flight lands especially when brother #2 caught one of the 2 flights leaving heathrow airport. and we were united on christmas eve!! christmas was great but we unfortunately didn't take care of our christmas tree very well...



in the middle of the year, i talked a little about our parental instincts and our dream puppy dog but we got sent this little baby instead. he spent a short and sweet christmas with the family and we're all completely in love with this munchkin and decided that HE was our dream puppy. so we did our due diligence, immigration research & some financial calculation and are putting in the paperwork to adopt him today. we hope he will officially be ours soon cos that would completely make our year! :)



what a year (and entry...) it has been! it has been filled with such lovely memories and blessings. as i speak, my family is out picking up beer and champagne glasses, musashi is fussing around waiting for his new year treats and daniel is working on a huge pot of yummy soup!! 

i have no idea how but i already know that 2011 will be better and filled with new surprises. i wish you health, and strong family ties and love and heaps of adventures to keep your heart singing! may the year to come be better than the last. it's with so much happiness & love that i sign off this final entry of the year!

happy new year, my loves! the best is yet to be! :)

xx,
zhing in tokyo

29 comments:

  1. you & D have such exciting lives!!
    mine pale soooo much in comparison!!
    and OMG! Musashi is YOURS to keep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. happy new year Zhing!!! and congratulations on your decision to keep your little handsome boy...he's so lucky. am at your disposal if you need any help with training!!!

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  3. Happy 2011 babe!
    Indeed the best is yet to be! Have fun snowboarding :)

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  4. Well-said babe! The best is yet to be!
    Happy new year Zhiying and Daniel, have heaps of fun and laughter in 2011!

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  5. hahaha! we all live our own adventures! im sure you and your husband can do the same if you chose to!
    even though its great fun living as expats, its kinda sad to be so far away from home... :(

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  6. thanks sweets! same to your family!!
    do you have exciting plans for the new year?

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  7. happy new year to you too! i can't wait to see clover!!
    xx

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  8. thanks so much hon! he's good so far..
    he's a scarey-cat when we take him for walks! needs dog training i reckon!! :)

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  9. same to you honey! :)
    hope your 2011 will be filled with love! xx

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  10. happy 2011 babe, may it be filled with more adventures and awesome blog entries and beautiful pictures!!!
    love chewy + justin

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  11. what's he react to when he walks? to other dogs?

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  12. same to you two love birds!!! :) it'll be a great year for new beginnings!!
    xx

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  13. moving cars, noisy things.. he walks in a straight line next to something solid and in between us.
    he ignores other pets and dogs. he pretends he doesn't see them. hmm...

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  14. What a year! Thanks for sharing, love reading your posts babe. I believe in "the best is yet to be" wholeheartedly :)

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  15. true innit!? :)
    hope you have a more awesome 2011!
    p.s. i share your exact sentiments and am dealing my career anxiety. but it will pass babe!! hope you find your calling soon!! xx

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  16. Yupz, really hope that a project that I'm embarking on would take off! I need to stop the procrastination mainly. And...perhaps I should start a new blog again, after so many failed attempts, haha...

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  17. Aw, congrats babe, you did it!! Musashi is SO lucky.
    Whats the crab shack called?

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  18. joe's crab shack!!!! its awesome. get the basic platter and thats enough to fill 2!!!
    we are so lucky to have him! :) but he is misbehaving as i type so we put him in time-out!!!

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  19. zhing, i tell you! its SO bizzare to read/hear klkl being referred to as my HUSBAND!! my head exploded with "huh?! are you kidding me?!?!?!" HAHA :P

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  20. woohoo!! sounds exciting! good luck and keep me posted on it!!
    blog sounds good too! helps me keep track of thoughts!

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  21. hahaa! :) it does take a while to get used too! i only refer to daniel as husband when applying for credit cards! haha! :)

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  22. im quite resistent to that term, much to klkl's dismay. he enjoys teasing me with "MY WIFE!!" randomly. -.-;;

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  23. I managed to google that too! Thanks babe, think the nearest is still in Plainfield NJ. Sigh, i did a search and it over an hour away. But we are going to make a stop there cos it looks good.

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  24. hahah!!! :) you'll love it!! :)
    or if you're visiting boston, make sure you have lobster and crabs!! they are known for their seafood!

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  25. that's fine i reckon...at least he's not going beserk barking! i don't like moving cars and noisy things either :)

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  26. he doesn't bark at all! :) so i guess thats a good thing!

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  27. What an amazing year. What amazing pictures.

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  28. thanks joan! :)
    hope you had a great 2010 too! here to greater adventures in 2011! xx
    come visit us if your travels take you our way! we'd love to have little claire too if she doesn't mind our little musashi!

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