2006 - A Retrospect.

I must say, 2006, was a year that had an unusual number of events happening to me. Events that I never knew I could achieve before. Even till the very last minutes of the year, I was doing something that I've never done before and was enjoying every single moment of it, by being the commentator (the person who announces practically everything like, 'please stand' and the likes) for the New Year's Eve mass animated by the church's Multimedia Youth Group. I've been serving the Lord as a lector for the 3 years (4th this year) now and I've never tried my hands on commentating and I was already starting to think that I'll never have the courage to do so. Surprisingly, when I was called to do the job, I didn't even refuse or hesitate. Not even when I had no prior practice, I didn't put my hands up and decide to skip mass in the last minute. And I'm not regretting by doing so. I was really enjoying myself, to have total control over the crowd gathered that night and I was damn proud of myself when my job was completed. Likewise when I had to represent my class this year for an elocution at school. Man, wasn't that an achievement?

2006 also saw me getting my photographs published in a local photography magazine (DCM) and also the local newspapers (STAR Thumbnails) for a couple of times. I've never mentioned anything about it before as I thought it was a really small matter (and it wasn't on a glossy page) but I guess it's safe to call it an achievement now. All of these wouldn't have happened in the first place if I hadn't got my camera for my 16th birthday. I assume that my photographs must have improved (even the tiniest little bit) since the day I got my camera up till now. Getting my camera lead me to creating another blog for me to post my pride and joy photos, where there isn't any limit to how many photos can be published, unlike Flickr. Still, if ever I was to make a thank you speech on my photograph, Flickr will be mentioned as it was the place I grew. Of course, there is always mom and dad to thank for the camera and also a few good bloggers whom I stumble into this year. Namely, PinkFrog, smashpOp, Rames and Asryaf Lee, all whom are great photographers that I learned and go inspired from from their showcases of their work.

Another few of the things that I could be proud of was getting myself into BRATs and SONY camp. Yeah, those were definitely memorable in 2006 - meeting new and wonderful people along the way while widening my experience. Never believed in myself that I could've ever gotten into BRATs but I did it and getting into those camps certainly required hardwork and personal effort. Oh, the joy in me when I received the letter of notification. And I also made it in the papers and CLICK! magazine for both the camps, albeit just a little bit. That reminds me, last year was also a year that I submitted more application forms for various things, entered quite a number of competitions, and took participation in certain events than I usually do. For instance, the first time I got involved in an AsiaExplorers activity when I visited the Chew Jetty Trip. Speaking of which, the number of KL trips I took last year was also a considerable amount, not forgetting the impromptu flight we had to take to KL for Grace's varsity interview!

2006 witnessed the death of two of my family members - kong kong and tua pek - both of which are equally painful to bear. Not to mention the deaths of many during the pilgrimage to St. Anne earlier last year, not forgetting the recent floods in Johor and the surrounding states. Though mom still misses kong kong every now and then, amah is still trying hard to accept the fact that she had lost her son. I also had to deal with the departure of some of the closest people to me - Grace, akak and Uncle G. Though, Grace's and akak's departure was simply temporary, learning to deal with the loss of companion and loneliness made me appreciate them more. Grace's departure was more like a license for free trips to KL while akak's departure gave me a chance of running the house my way! And Uncle G has finally moved to Singapore. I doubt it will be the last we'll see of him and I have no idea what will become off the choir. Despite the deaths and departure, 2006 also welcomed the birth of a new member of the family, Amelia. I can't say much about how these have affected my life but encountering the deaths, departures and birth all in one year definitely made me stronger.

Personally, 2006 was a year that held many changes for me. Through changes, I've grown. It shows when I changed a few things on the blog itself. I managed to change the title and the blog template for a couple of times, before I settled with this one. I guess I can say that all those changes I went through were part of my self discovery to define my personality and identity through the blog. Looking back, sieving through my blog archive and reading what I wrote for the year, and fairly amused by most of it, I realized that I've changed. Heck, that time when I caught Lee Hom live and decided capitalizing, I was already changing! Somewhere along the line too, I discovered a few things about myself. Take for instance, the fact that I complain a lot about my homework, I was too self conscious, I'm silent and unknown, I'm still not into teenage relationships, still a sore loser, I appreciate my parents, I have nothing to complain about, I'm cynical, I still have stage fright, I hate Chinese medication, I'm not a normal teen, I'm a survivor, and I'm still full of zits and I have an entire family who loves me for the way that I am! But still, the one prominent change I had in me was the courage to learn new things. I picked up Photoshop and tried my hands on baking, unknowingly, fulfilling my list of I-wouldn't-knows!

Now, wasn't that quite the year isn't it?

PS: 2007's already here and I might've just been too late for my new year's resolution. Plus, I was never good at keeping those damn resolutions!