January 15, 2020vigotsocial

2019 in review

2019 was a full year of the transition started in 2018 as we didn’t get our PR in Singapore… but applied for another one. Watch this space 2020!

If you know me, you know I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. In 2019, I’m proud that:

> We got a puppy and became proud furry parents of a 33kg big baby chocolate lab Zookie

> I continued to stay healthy with my keto diet (discovered lots of new recipes); got my allergies under control after 5 years of taking allergy pills (life changing!) with a daily routine of nasal and eyes sprays, gels… and dust mite control at home, thanks to an amazing allergist focusing on prevention

> continued training with my personal pilates trainer in addition to my swimming (oh yeah and I tried WeBarre after their promotion at SheSaysSG but didn’t enjoy it as much as pilates)

> achieved my Wharton online Business Strategy certificate on EdX and completed another course Learning How To Learn on Coursera

> grew SheSaysSG Who’s your Momma community to 76 mentees and 33 mentors in addition to the 9 events we organised in 2019 (despite losing our beautiful friend Julaina):

  • 23 Jan 2019 Find the Right Balance with FitBit John Gillman, UFIT Wendy Riddell, F45 Luciano Tesoriero and fitness blogger Nattylifts fitness
  • 20 Feb 2019 Social night
  • 16 March 2019 IWD Festival with workshops, panels, speed recruitment drive, and the relaunch of Who’s your Momma mentorship programme
  • 17 April 2019 Social night
  • 19 June 2019 Find your grit with Melanie Cook, Meera Jane Nava, Bianca Stringuini and Cheryl Guzman Ng who shared their stories and experiences that wake us, show us a different perspective and make us stronger. They talked through their experiences, finding their strength, the power of community and tips on navigating your way to success.
  • 24 July 2019 Social night
  • 28 Aug 2019 Changing gear, changing lane with our panelists from the music, marketing technology, technology, and service design industries Lauren Hendry Parsons , Ee Rong Chong and Jianjia that gave insight into:
    – Making a career shift
    – Creating a new direction with work and beyond
    – Changing industries and ensuring you’re ready to move
    – Tips to getting ready for the next move
  • 25 Sep 2019 Social night
  • 27 Nov 2019 Juggling your day job and side hustles with our panelists from the advertising, tech and food industries Vicky Chen, LynetteWong, Nicolas Chaussin and Ramya Ragupathi

> and attended other 9 events:

> went to 12 concerts, shows, exhibitions:

  • 25 Jan 2019 Bob Sinclair at CE LA VI (MBS)
  • 5 Apr 2019 Cuisine & Dependance play (Alliance Francaise)
  • 22 May 2019 Omara Portuondo from the Buena Vista Social Club (at Capitol theatre)
  • 11 July 2019 Jose Gonzales (at Capitol theatre)
  • 13 July 2019 Dimitri from Paris at Surf Cove by Wave House Sentosa.
  • 16 July 2019 Cirque du Soleil Kurios at MBS (even better than the water inspired previous show)
  • 12 August 2019 Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture at ACM
  • 7 Sep 2019 The Future is Today at the National Museum of Singapore
  • 20 Sep 2019 Swedish House Mafia at F1
  • 9 Nov 2019 discovered Cartoons Underground, the independent Southeast Asia animation festival, organised by the amazing Vicky Chen
  • 8 Dec 2019 Chromeo at Monti
  • 13 Dec 2019 Martin Solveig at CE LA VI (MBS)

And discovered online this amazing and poetic tribute to Miyazaki 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki. 

> Read 6 issues of The New Yorker: 2019 highlights (2018 highlights and 2017 highlights are here too)

> Got serious with podcasts and added to 2018’s discoveries (see previous post in 2018 review)

  • After Hours (new favorite with Harvard Professors debating and disagreeing with respect Youngme Moon, Mihir Desai and Felix Oberholzer-Gee; you can sense their friendship through their voices)
  • HBR Ideacast
  • For your innovation by Ark Invest
  • Exponential View
  • Eat Sleep Work Repeat
  • Revisionist History by the amazing Malcolm Gladwell

> Tried (notably) 11 restaurants

  • Bakalaki in our neighbourhood became a favorite and we’re there every 2-3 weeks since Xmas 2018
  • PS Café Petit (also in the neighbourhood) has nice wine tastings from McLaren Vale
  • 1919 Waterboat house – wine tasting with eWine Asia and Piedmont producer was amazing)
  • Sofi café was another nice wine tasting with Famiglia Cecchi Wine dinner
  • Tanjong Beach Club became a Sunday habit as we’re swimming with Zookie
  • Wildseed café at Alkaff Mansion is also a good dog-friendly option for weekends (which used to be my favorite romantic restaurant in SG before it closed)
  • Discovered the posh afternoon tea at the newly reopened Raffles hotel and went to the official re-opening festival testing out all the restaurants and free-flow champagne
  • Celebrated Anushka and Steve’s civil wedding at the Ritz afternoon tea
  • Re-discovered Vineyard at HortPark for our project celebration
  • Publico in River Valley is another dog-friendly Sunday option
  • Canopy Garden Dining (next to the dog run) in Bishan Park is nice too

> travelled to 9 countries and reconnected with 4 friends visiting Singapore (cousin Jean-Mi who stopped by on his way to Cambodia, not knowing I would see him back home at his secret birthday party organised for 6 months; we discovered the Sunday champagne brunch at Conrad – very good, the decoration is just not as fancy as the Ritz, and a second visit after his trip in Thailand; Spiro, Pierre my brother-in-law and Rob)

  • Started 2019 at home in Singapore with my sister in law visiting from France, discovering Atlas gin afternoon tea (yum!) on 2nd Jan (way to start the year)
  • Philipines (El Nido, Cebu) for our 10-year anniversary celebration – where we decided to adopt a puppy (Zookie) born on the day after our anniversary
  • Hong-Kong (for work and fun)
  • Brisbane to visit our then 8-week old puppy
  • India for Anushka & Steve wedding at Jaisalmer
  • Dublin and Edinburgh as a family trip with my sister in memory of my father (discovering Edinburgh Gin, nicely placed by the Kimpton next to the record player in our townhouse and Alnwick where Downton Abbey few episodes and Harry Potter were shot)
  • Britanny for the cousin’s secret big birthday party

… travel stopped in May as our puppy arrived from Oz …

  • 24-hour in Bintan (for our dating anniversary) testing for a night the daycare where Zookie goes (they take really good care of her)
  • Malaysia with a tour back to my favorite spots in Cameron Highlands (staying at the homy Lakehouse), Penang (staying at the E&O) and Langkawi (staying at the Datai)
  • South Australia with Barossa, McLaren and Clare Vale wine countries (yum)

2020 started on a high with:

  • Improv tasting session (Improv 101 scheduled in Q1) 4th Jan 2020
  • The intense Business Transformation module from Hyper Island Master 9-12 Jan 2020
  • My PG in Business Management scheduled for March 2020