Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017!

The new year is finally here, it's already 2017 and I feel that 2016 went by in a blink of an eye. All in all, I would say 2016 is a year whereby I learned a lot about myself through all the ups and downs that I've gone through.

I spent yesterday just looking back on my Instagram posts over the year, and realised that 2016 had truly been a year full of wanderlust. It's like I almost forgot to be thankful for it all, I almost forgot that the person I am at the beginning of the year is nothing like the person I am now and that the time in between has shaped me into a better individual, and I had no idea how it happened but it did. 

Time is an amazing thing, it really does make all the difference. 

I remember writing a post in the beginning of last year about the things that I'm thankful for (click here to read) and the highlights of the year. Reading back reminded me of how 2015 had been a year that I achieved the goals that I never knew were possible for me- and till now, I feel that I'm still indebted to God for all that He has given me, it's more than I deserve.

And this year, is a year whereby I feel the most secure about my place in life. I feel like I finally got my shit together and it truly has been a year that I've made it to my dream destinations because my job made it all possible. I'm not sure how I'm going to go about with the highlights of 2016 because the whole year itself is already a highlight for me, but I'll see how it unfolds as I write.

1. A whole year of being in SIA

I still remember when I was starry-eyed, waiting for my time to start training and I would ogle at the beautiful stewardesses in the airport just to have a glance and thinking, "someday it would be me".

Now, it's already been more than a year since I've been flying and the progression has been so fast that I'm also business class trained, and soon to be 4-fleeted, meaning that I will be able to fly in all the fleets that that SIA has. Although I find that the progression is a little too fast, I am thankful for it all because this would mean that I will be able to fly to all destinations that SQ flies to, and more destinations mean more of the world to explore and that's always something to be excited about. Working in business class is still a challenge for me, but I am certain that experience is the best teacher of all and that with practice, I will get better in time. 

The whole year had been a year whereby I spent most of my time away from my family and Luke, and I had to miss a few important dates because of work commitment. I guess a job like this comes with perks, but it also comes with a lot of sacrifice. You'll never guess where my favourite station is- it's Singapore, this is home, yes, truly. 

Nothing beats the feeling of seeing my parents the moment I step out of the gate, knowing that I can finally call it a day and rest to my heart's content in the comfort of my bed. These days, one of my best joys in life to me is drinking tea in the morning while having breakfast and watching pointless videos or scrolling through Pinterest. I look forward to that every single time I come back after a flight, yes I'm getting old.

All in all, this job has provided me with more than I could ever ask for- I had my fair share of good and bad days, and ultimately, it has impacted my growth the most. 

2. Travelling to my dream destinations

It's amazing. It's only a year, only 365 days, but so much can happen within that frame of time. I didn't realise how many cities I have been until I sat down and looked back on all the places that I was blessed enough to see. It really brings back my best memories of flying. 

This year, I fell in love with the clear blue waters of Male, I still can remember how life just seemed like bliss because we were in Maldives- there's no ounce of stress in that little island, it really felt like a dream. I can't wait to be back, it's one of those layovers that makes you feel like you're going on an actual getaway instead of working.

In Christchurch, despite the short stay we had, we went out on a road trip. It was one of the best set of crew I've ever flown with, so much laughter and happiness. We had a fuel scare in the middle of the night, with no petrol kiosks open and our cards got rejected. That almost meant that we wouldn't be able to make it back to our resort on time before our flight, and to operate a flight with five crew down would mean deep shit for us all. But of course, miracles do happen and one of us was a lucky charm and her card worked and we got back safely just hours before our flight back, whew!

2016 was also the year I was lucky enough to see so many sights in Italy. My Milan trip was one of the most happening ever, I not only got to venture around Milan, but I got to see one of my dream cities, Venice! And I never knew of Cinque Terre until this trip and I fell so absolutely in love with its beauty. A couple months later, I was also rostered for Rome with my batch girl and I was so excited to be back in Italy.

Another unforgettable trip would be when I was rostered for Istanbul, and without planning anything at all, we decided to book flight tickets and accommodation to Cappadocia upon touching down after our 12 hour flight just to experience the hot air balloon ride- talk about being impromptu! 

2016 is the year, I was also lucky enough to visit three different cities in the states. I was lucky enough to be rostered to San Francisco,  Los Angeles and New York. And the states will always be one of my favourite countries because it just feels different when you're in America. I will always look forward to it.

Although I look forward most to Europe or States station, I find myself falling in love more and more with Japan and South Korea. I love everything about Japan- its people, food, culture, cleanliness and especially their hospitality. As for South Korea, I became obsessed with their skincare and bought so many face masks in bulk because it's seriously the best. I don't get a lot of Japan/Korea stations for some reason, so I will always look forward to these stations.

Many of these places that I've listed were my very first time, and I know that coming back the second time isn't going to feel the same as how it is when you don't know what to expect. That's how these memories are so precious to me- it's that innocence, that rawness, that excitement that I know I can never feel again. 

There are still so many places I've yet to visit and I hope that 2017 is going to be the year where I'll create new memories and new stories to share with all of you. Here are some pictures that I've taken all around the world in 2016:

Christchurch, New Zealand

Munich, Germany

Male, Maldives

 First road trip in Christchurch, New Zealand, one of the best flights ever!

 Uncountable times in London throughout the whole year, and it still remains to be one of my favourite stations. On my 3rd trip here, I finally headed down to the Harry Potter Studio- finally able to check it off my bucket list!

 Cinque Terre, Italy

Venice, Italy

Milan, Italy

Copenhagen, Denmark

San Francisco, California, USA

Seoul, South Korea 

 Cappadocia, Turkey

Rome, Italy

Beijing, China

Osaka, Japan

 Los Angeles, California, USA

Tokyo, Japan

 My 4th time in London, still ain't sick of it

 Zurich, Switzerland 

 Frankfurt, Germany

 New York, USA

 My last London for the year, just before Christmas- and my 1st time experiencing Winter Wonderland!

3. Strengthening bonds with loved ones

This year, I went on two vacations with my family and Luke. Like I said, I'm rarely at home, so it really means a lot to me when I get to be around my loved ones even if it's only for a few days.

This year, during my annual leave, I went to Bali and Krabi with my family. Of course, you can guess who is the mastermind of all these vacations- yes, it's me. I love relaxing getaways, anywhere with beaches, it just takes my mind of the hustle and bustle of the city life. And after every vacay, I just come back as a happier person and that always makes me feel better about going back to work, knowing that I'm feeling 100% again.

Bali, Indonesia

The first trip with my family this year was to Bali! I was super stoked about this trip because I've heard so much about what Bali has to offer. I booked a villa for us to stay at a really good price because it was a little out of the way but we got ourselves a really friendly driver to bring us to the places we'd like to go. 

I really wanted to climb Mt Batur, and it's one of the things that we did for the trip! My brother, Luke and I woke up at 3am in the morning, got ourselves ready to climb this active volcano and that, to me, was the highlight of the trip. And we all absolutely underestimated the climb, it was one of the physically hardest hike I've ever done in my life and I'm not sure if I ever want to do it again.  

 Krabi, Thailand

Our second vacation this year as a family is to Krabi, Thailand. We had the hardest time deciding where to go and decided on Krabi at the very last minute- but all's good because Krabi has become one of my favourite places ever. The beauty of the beaches that we visited were phenomenal. Although nothing beats the fact that this trip had truly strengthened our bond as a family, and it's the first time in a long time that we all had so much fun outdoors together. I think that's my favourite memory of all. 

I'm just thankful. So thankful that God has blessed us with so much in the year of 2016, and brought so much happiness into our lives. Although flying takes me away from my family, somehow it has also brought my heart closer to home than ever before. I find myself appreciating my parents a lot more now, and I want to do everything I can to make their lives easier and I want to always make them proud. 

I've grown really attached to my parents, and I just pray that God will give them many more years of life to see my brothers and I get married, have families and give birth to little joys in the form of grandchildren for them. And I pray that I will be strong enough to take care of them when I'm older, and love them as much as they have loved me all their lives and make them realise that their sacrifices as parents as they were raising us were indeed worth it. I really believe life is nothing but a cycle, and when you're blessed with the greatest things in life, you have to work harder to give back a little more. My parents are the most incredible human beings in the entire world, and I would give them the whole world if I could. I've never met anyone who could love so selflessly like how my parents have loved us all these while. 

God bless these two beautiful souls who have given me life, and much more. 

4. Five beautiful years with Luke 

You know they say that falling in love is easy, but staying in love is where the challenge is. Well it's different with Luke, somehow he makes it so easy for me to still stay so in love with this goof of a man, who makes life a infinity times more colourful with his presence. We're polar opposites, but somehow it worked. 

I think everybody in the world knows how much Luke means to me, it's no secret. But I won't let that stop me from writing more, and I'll keep writing about Luke even when nobody cares to read it anymore, I'll keep writing about Luke even when I'll be repeating the same ol', same ol' every single time I do- because it's these things that I keep talking about that keeps me staying so deeply in love with this man, and he makes my heart so happy, every single day. He's truly the reason why there's never a dull day in my life, and I can't imagine a life without Luke. 

Honestly, Luke and I are probably the most boring couple in the planet. But oh god, I love doing all sorts of boring shit with him. It really doesn't matter what we're doing for the day, but I'm that silly girl who would be smiling to myself when I'm sitting on my crew seat during landing, just thinking about how excited I am to be seeing Luke again after a few days. We can be eating at the same ol' restaurant we'd frequent to, watching a new movie that's out in the cinemas and just walking around town and spending time together- and my day has already been made. Because truly fancy dates don't mean a thing to me anymore, I've realised that I actually really enjoy doing boring shit with Luke because... it's with Luke. 

I could be in so many places in the world but my heart can never feel complete because I'd always think, "if only Luke was here with me". But we could be in the middle of town, sharing a bingsu together and I'd feel like there's no where else I'd rather be and no one else I'd rather be with. It's pretty freaking cheesy, I know, but my heart still feels this way about Luke.

I know it's been a while, and I guess everybody's wondering when will the wedding bells be ringing but great things take time. 

Am I ready to be somebody's wife? Hell yeah I'd be Luke's wife anytime, but realistically, I know deep down the time is not now. Of course the time will come eventually. But for now, I guess the best thing for Luke and I is to focus on our end goal and the journey to get there. When the day finally comes, I want us to be ready. Ready to settle down completely, ready to tackle the upcoming household issues that we will have to deal with- together, ready to move in to our new home, to be financially ready at least for the next few years of our married life, and ready to discuss issues like having a family and ready to be each other's partners for the rest of our lives. 

A marriage takes a lot of commitment, and I feel like any couple who's ready to dive into it have amazing strength because it's not easy. It's not easy to transit from only thinking about you and and your needs, to thinking for two people. Your decisions are no longer your decisions solely, but you will have to consider your spouse's feelings too. You cannot afford to be selfish anymore, because now your responsibility become much greater. All these are the reality of being tied down, and I know that one day, when Luke and I decided to get married- I will be ready. I will be ready to be somebody's wife. 

I think there are a lot of beauty in settling down with the person that you love, and I trust that Luke is the right one, and when the time comes, I would want nothing more than to dive into the next phase of life with him because he's the only one who has seen me through all my ups and downs, and still stick around. I've never loved someone with all my heart just as how I love Luke, and I pray that God has nothing but great plans for us both.

5. Learning to love myself

All in all, I think 2016 is the year I finally learn what it really means to love myself. 

Of course, that's still something that is a work in progress. There are days when some things still get me down, and days that I'll be a little too hard on myself. But ultimately, I'm still learning to be completely okay with the person that I am- my strengths, my flaws, my insecurities, my personality. I find solace in writing, and I've been doing that a lot, apart from this blog. I'm that girl who would keep a few diaries and re-read them to stay in touch with myself and remember what got me down and how I got back up. I'm that girl who kinda prefers to find out the solution to my problems by myself by dissecting my own thoughts and feelings and analysing it on my own. I'm that girl who finds it a little too hard to confide in others, because I find difficulty in sharing my weakness unless I truly trust you. Often times, only Luke hears my deepest most honest thoughts. Yes, I'm that girl. 

I find a lot of comfort in inspirational and motivational quotes- it's what keeps my spirits up when I need that extra push. There are so many times I'm way too lazy to get my butt up to workout or run, but doing this helps me a lot. Or when I'm feeling under the weather and I just need some positivity in my life, reading quotes will always be my life-saver. 

I focused a lot on taking care of myself and my feelings because when you're out there all by yourself, you have no one to depend on except for yourself. So I decided that I have to be kind to myself, and treat myself right, otherwise it would't be wise to expect others to treat you the way you want to be treated. I've realised a lot of things starts with the mind, such a powerful thing our brilliant mind is. 

It's finally 2017. 

It took me a while to put this post together, I spent days keeping it in my draft and writing bit by bit as I go along because I wasn't sure what I was going to write for the first post of the year. But I'm so glad I finally got to the end of it. It's definitely wordy, but if any of you have gotten to this point of the post and read through every single thing that's written, kudos to you. 

You'll see how I was in January 2016 is a completely different person than I am in December 2016. It's only a year, and so much can happen to a person. What would 2017 have in store for all of us? God knows. But I do trust that it's nothing but amazing things. Good or bad, it will be amazing nonetheless. 

What I've learned so far is that life isn't meant to be perfect. 

Life isn't meant to fall into place just as how you'd imagined it in your head. Life isn't a fairytale, and often times it's not even a properly-structured story. It's a journey, full of ups and downs, it makes sure that you'll never stay in one place for too long. One moment you could feel like you're on top of the world, and then you'll find yourself hitting rock bottom the next. But life truly depends on how you choose to see it, whether you'll let that moment define you or you'll say "fuck no, I'm not taking shit from life anymore- I'm going to make my life a beautiful one whether you like it or not" and be a goddamn boss that you know you are. 

I'm still learning. 

I'm still learning to love life as it is- as this crazy imperfect, and ever-changing thing that it is. I know my best days have yet to come, so as my darkest days. But I'm ready, to conquer whatever life has got to offer. And love my life as how God has planned out for me. That's all I can do- try to make the best out of everything. This year will be the year we all will grow, we'll all have our amazing stories to share. May this year be a year I'll take more risks, challenge myself to no limits and grow wiser through it all. 

Cheers to all of us for getting through another year, now let's kick ass in 2017! 

God bless. 

Love,

Ashhy