Torch Bearer

And for the second time during his duty as the guardian of the temple, Arundal lights the torch and stands vigilant in the dead of winter. Light from the torch cast shadows around him and his dark cloak fluttered as the wind blew winter chill. But Arundal's face is a mask, expressionless, unyielding. His eyes shows a calm resolution, faith that The One will one day return to release him of his duty.

Twenty Eleven Plus One

Another year has come to past and the river of time has not slowed its pace. Many things have occurred in 2011, but many too seems like it was just yesterday. At the end of 2010, I said that I was looking forward to 2011, thinking that life will be better, much better. What a surprised it turned out to be.

Let's just say that the journey wasn't as smooth as the one I have hoped for. And I'm now back at the same position as I was last year, saying the same thing again, just that it's now for twenty-eleven-plus-one. I'm hoping that this will be a much better year.

2011 hasn't been so great after all. Too much unnecessary personal stuff, got myself into situations where I had no control over, and lost of interest with work. Confident was low and everything looked bleak. I'm just glad that it's over and it's time to gear up again.

I'm sounding melancholic. But as I sit here, thinking and typing, I do recall some brighter sides to the year. And in a way, these memories helps to remind me that there are always a more positive side to life and that how a year goes by really depends on how we make the best of it. The rest of the stuff, you just have to deal with it as they come along - as they always do.

Here are some good things to note for the year:

• Visited New York (more like Lower Manhattan) - short holiday after a business trip to the US. Missed the Chinese New Year's eve dinner though, but it couldn't be helped. Memorable for the 60+ hours getting back from New York to Penang.
• First time watching a live baseball match in the US during the summer, which was part of a team outing and the match was between the Cubs and Marlins. The Cubs won that match :)
• Have a new work partner, after the last one decided to graze in greener pastures. Yes, I'm talking about you good friend - make sure you let me know when there is an opening :P
• Went to Phuket with a bunch of friends, had lots of laughter and fun, especially when we had TGO around. It was simply good quality time with some really good friends. Spent a lot of time soul-searching too, which kind of led to some of the decisions I have made for 2012.
• Ran two half marathons in the span of two weeks - One was the Penang Bridge International Marathon and the other was the Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore. Completed both below 3 hours - pretty good considering my usually poor cardio level.
• Work was good and not-so-good. Good - being rewarded for work done on projects and also non-project related stuff (always nice to know that you have not been forgotten). The not-so-good part was due to delays in projects, which in turn allowed me to have too much time at hand - made me think too much. I slowed down a lot during the last half of the year and the brain has started to exhibit a layer of rust. 

It could have been a much better year, considering the many opportunities that presented themselves. But we can't have everything, can we? ;)

2011 is still a very memorable year for me, despite the bittersweet-ness of it all.

Reminder to self, yet again: What's done is done. Just do better in 2012.

Happy New Year 2012 everyone!