I can't believe it - I've gone (nearly) a year without an entry to the blog! And while the to say that it's a reflection of how crazy the year has been, the truth is just that I haven't had the motivation to pop by with what I've always pushed off as mediocre life things. But that was until I looked back at the pictures and videos of the year to realize that 2024 was in fact huge! How huge you ask? Well...
I went home for Chinese New Year
And took my red packet in person!
After spending 4 Chinese New Year celebrations away, we finally it a point to return home for the festivities this year. It also marked the first year that my other half and I were giving out red packets officially, as we had left Malaysia not too long after we got married so we never really did Chinese New Year at home.
Bonus: I got to celebrate my brother's birthday in person too!
Bonus 2: We got to update this extended family portrait since our last visit.
Bonus 3: My other half and I got to play tourists, visiting the KLCC because no local person does these things ever???
From the endless house visits to the scrumptious meals and the noisy yee sang sessions, I'd never realized how much I missed the chaos of this celebration. Sure, there were times where things were absurdly overwhelming and it just got so difficult to maneuver through malls because it was so freaking busy everyday - but there was just some sort of magical feeling that you'd never get outside of these times.
My parents visited The Netherlands
Just in time for King's Day too!
Flying my parents out to The Netherlands had been in our books since we moved 5 years ago, but of course with the pandemic happening and the lack of space to house them comfortably (we were living in a little studio when we first moved), it just became a lot harder to work around. Fast forward to 2023 though when my brother and I were talking about the possibility to let them visit since I had moved into a bigger home and we had the extra room - and BAM - a year later, they were here in person to see everything I kept telling them about!
We got to visit Keukenhof before it closed for the year...
And were joined by my father's friends who live in The Netherlands and England respectively
I also got to take mum to see the Van Gogh Museum
Given that they had flown halfway across the world, my other half and I got to keep my parents in The Netherlands for 2 months - except for the 2 week trip when they visited London with their friends. For mum, visiting Keukenhof had been something she was looking forward to, as she'd missed it the last time she came to Europe with her sisters. It felt like such an accomplishment to have made this happen in the end and she obviously took a billion photos for her many WhatsApp groups.
We got to visit the Heineken Experience for some fresh beer
For my dad who's a huge beer drinker, I'd specifically arranged for a visit to the Heineken Experience, because what's a visit to The Netherlands if you don't get a sip of where the brand had originated from? We also had countless evenings of drinking at home, allowing him to try out every variety possible from the supermarket to his liking - resulting in...
This picture!
If there was just one downfall to their trip, it would have had to been the extremely uncooperative Dutch weather as it was the coldest "summer" ever. Having picked the end of April until mid June for their visit, we had all expected temperatures to rise and the sun to peek out more often. But I guess you can never predict what nature wants because my parents were subjected to nothing but single digit colds and rainy days on end. Fun!
It obviously didn't hamper their experience completely, but I've been told to specifically only pick less rainy months for future visits. I guess that means they're not sick of The Netherlands yet!
A new family member has entered the chat!
We adopted a kitten!
As my other half grew up in a household where they'd always had pets, we knew that we'd want a furry friend join us in The Netherlands eventually. Bringing a kitten home had been a point of discussion for us for a while, but it was previously impossible while we were in the studio.
On his second day home
So after my parents left The Netherlands, something clicked inside and we somehow felt the time was right to look into adopting a little one. And while this little guy was not our first pick, fate (or the cat distribution system meme would put it) had its own ways in who we would bring home. You see, we were fully prepared to bring home a black female kitten, but while we were on our way to the shelter, we received a call that it wasn't feeling too well. We still went ahead in hopes of just visiting the other kittens and somehow he was the only one who would come close to us.
Meet Kroket!
It was in August that we adopted him at 3 months old, and watching him grow up feels exactly like watching a child...except maybe a lot more reliant on us to keep him alive. Some of my curtains are wrecked and the condition of my couch is now questionable, but his constant purrs and sorry head nudges probably make up for it and I wouldn't trade him for the world today.
We've hit 5 years in The Netherlands!
Picture irrelevant
As of 16th October 2024, we've been officially been in Amsterdam for 5 years! Well, the date is actually much earlier for my other half who moved around June 2019 but hey let's just assume we've been here for an equal amount of time. Unfortunately while one of my goals for the year was to finish our integration process as we hit this milestone, we're still left with our final exam to sit for before we can start the application paperwork.
I'm still really proud of us for having passed 4 other papers this year though, passing the Dutch language with speaking, writing, listening, and reading tests with decent grades. Perhaps our goal for 2025 should be to study and pass our last paper called Knowledge of Dutch Society, so definitely wish us luck!
I got another tattoo!
Max is with me forever now
When I got my first tattoo, an ex-colleague told me that I was opening a can of worms because I'd want more and more along the way. I brushed him off back then but I guess I'm totally eating my words now because I've got another piece done! This time, I engaged a traveling artist from Hong Kong because she fit the style I was looking for and it's been something I've always wanted to do.
Long time readers would know I have this stuffed toy named Max who's been with me for ages at this point - having traveled to countless places with him including Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo, Bali, London, Venice, Salzburg, and Paris just to name a few. One of my biggest fears has always been that he would be stolen during any of these travels so I'm now contemplating to no longer bring him on my trips. I guess I'll see what happens for future situations but at least I also have Max with me at work now!
I had a good year
And kept my promise with my niece to take her ice skating ft. my wifey
In summary, I guess 2024 has been a year where I've been absent on the blog but happily present in different aspects of life. I'm thankful for all the opportunities I've had - be it spending time with family and friends or in the challenges I've faced at work because it helped me grow. And I know I say this every year, but maybe next year will be THE year of even greater things? We'll never know until December 2025 I guess.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, CANTUSLUPUS!
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