This year was a year of constant learning and growth for me. I broke some bones, escaped my comfort zone, and learned so much! Here’s a quick recap of what went down this year.
January
I started my year by going on a company trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The first time I visited KK, it was their monsoon season so I couldn’t island hop. This time, I managed to enjoy resting on the shores with whitish sand between my toes and turquoise waters in front of me.
I even got to immerse myself in the local culture (in a very touristy way, of course).
February
This month was filled with spontaneity. First, I went on a spontaneous trip to Port Dickson’s Tanjung Biru beach. My friend and I bought food and snacks for a mini picnic there and drove there. We didn’t manage to finish all the food we brought, but left after making new friends (both the human and furry kinds).
Another not-so-spontaneous trip was the trip Syafiqah and I took to Batam, Indonesia. Our journey started with Syafiqah driving us to the Iskandar Puteri port in Johor, then going on a 2+ hour ferry ride to Batam Island. The whole experience was amazing (except for the part where we were mistaken for Singaporeans).
To end a month full of spontaneity, I went to two separate light shows over two consecutive days (28 & 29 February), first with Dv, then with Yun Ni.
Dv and I didn’t even plan it; we went for a late night coffee sesh and impulsively decided to get Muhiilesh to drive us to the light show in Serdang.
With Yun, it was slightly more planned because we decided we wanted to see the lights a week before we went.
March
I went go-karting for the first time ever (woohoo!)…
…and ended up breaking the knuckle bones on both my pinky fingers (not woohoo). I did it less than 24 hours before my family trip to Vietnam too!
Because of this little mishap, I couldn’t really enjoy the Vietnam trip as much as I wanted because I was high on painkillers for a majority of the trip.
April
I didn’t do much this month, other than focus on my recovery. The good thing was that I was out of my cast at the end of April.
Oh, and I got a new job offer, so after A LOT of thought, I decided that a change would be good for me.
May
My birth month, which has always been my favourite month for obvious reasons, was really bittersweet this year. It marked the end of my time at the company I was working at.
I went on for my last ever team building with the team at Sunway Lagoon and had a blast even though I couldn’t go on most of the rides.
My friends threw me a cool farewell party…
…which doubled as an early birthday celebration.
On my actual birthday, I was already unemployed so my friends organised a birthday party for me in Melaka. Unfortunately, my grandaunt passed away that morning, so I had to cancel on them and attend her funeral in KL. It wasn’t all bad though, because I got gelato!
June
My unemployment ended early June, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t do fun stuff during everyone else’s 9-to-5!
I found somewhat authentic bun cha at Ăn Viet @The Gardens Mall. Even though it didn’t taste as good as the one in Hanoi, it was the best one I could find in Malaysia.
Keeshaav finally turned 21 so we surprised him while he was on his date (his date was in on the surprise too), then went for a karaoke session.
I explored Jonker Street cafes with Fahmi, and I was adopted then immediately attacked by this bird at Loukot Cafe. This cafe has amazing tea and the owner is friendly too!
Since I’ve started working closer to the KL area, I decided that this would be a great time to catch up with friends. Syahirah and I went for dinner one night after work at Nasi Lemak Burung Hantu, then she took me to this cool cafe where we had a colouring book menu. We spent most of the time talking while colouring (mostly complaining about the quality of the colour pencils like the spoiled children we are).
July
Dv and I went on our annual trip in early July, this time to Kuching, Sarawak. It was a short trip but we both ended up having a great time (and got some AMAZING pics).
In mid-July, Syafiqah decided to remind me of god by bringing me to the Batu Caves temple in the wee hours of the morning. I even ironed and wore pakaian tradisional for the occasion (because bukan selalu orang ajak jadi orang baik)! After climbing the steep steps all the way to the top, we sat and talked for a while, before coming back down.
Then, we met up with Qeera, Andy and his friends for lunch and a Hauntu session at The LINC. We all travelled back in time and had to stay at this haunted hotel the day before Merdeka. Don’t worry, we all survived, except Aidil’s brother who unfortunately was sacrificed.
I ended this month strong by putting on my acting hat once more for Krate’s The Great Gossip and was transported to 1920’s Malacca with Qeera. Saw my favourite lecturer killing it as the main character and ate at the Tok Panjang with the other nosy business partners.
August
Elisya brought me on a super random drive to Genting Highlands in the middle of the night. It was 14°C and I was having a great time sipping coffee and spilling tea, reminiscing about the past with her.
On the night of 12 August, the Cyber gang (Muhiilesh, Keeshaav, Prishya, and I) took a drive to the Sungai Long viewpoint to watch the meteor shower. Spoiler: We didn’t get to see anything, but we got some fake artsy pictures from that night.
I caught up with Qeera and Cassandra at a cute little cat cafe in KL called Monster. A Garden Cafe. Most of them were asleep because we visited during their nap time, so we just ate and took pictures of the cats that came to us.
Then, we walked around Bukit Bintang and explored the streets a bit.
We even had a free tea tasting!
On one of the weekends this month, Muhiilesh, Keeshaav, and I were dessert-hunting and ended up in Petaling Jaya. Our hunt brought us to Tang Fei Dessert.
Keeshaav helped me order their Signature Box (because I have no self control when it comes to desserts) and Muhiilesh ordered mango sago. The three of us struggled to finish all of this, not because it was bad, but because it was so filling!
This month ended with Elisya bringing me to a rooftop bar (how romantic!) and talking crap all night long. She almost (ALMOST) made me forget that it was a Tuesday night and I had to wake up early to go to work the next day.
September
Dv and I started September with a bang (in our wallets). We went to the MATTA Fair and decided to travel to Taiwan next year for my birthday! As a travel bug, I was in heaven and I was lucky I didn’t have a lot of money, or else, I would have signed up for every tour (and Dv would have joined me too!).
Then, on the 14th of September, we had the Kajang gang’s birthday bash (which was actually a surprise birthday party for ammayi!).
Speaking of September babies, Muhiilesh also celebrated his birthday with a Coffee Bean cake (I got one too!).
Towards the end of September, I took Muhiilesh to appreciate art with me at REXKL. The REXperience was breathtaking, all three exhibits were captivating (though Muhiilesh didn’t quite get the second one).
After the REXperience, we went to Pasar Seni and I may have accidentally bought a bunch of stuff (food, among others).
The last day of the month was the first day of my Northern Vietnam trip with Yun Ni. I had to go again because my memory of the family trip was quite hazy, thanks to the medication. Hanoi was an EXPERIENCE, especially the tuktuk!
October
My month started in Vietnam with Yun Ni. The weather in Sapa was AMAZING (my favourite weather). Ninh Binh was beautiful but my headache from the drastic shift in temperature slightly distracted me.
Dv and I also went to Haidilao for the first time in October. We tried doing the secret phrases, but our Chinese wasn’t Chinese-ing, so the servers laughed at us before giving us the goodies (and the performances). 10/10 service
October was also the month Andrina and I used public transport to go cafe hopping. We tried Grumpy Bagels, then went exploring the area…
…before ending up in Matcha Eight TRX for drinks.
To keep to my “one artsy thing a month” streak, Qeera and I went for the Art & Symphony exhibition. It was all great, except for the AI-generated portraits that couldn’t get our features right.
At the end of the month, it was Deepavali break, so I got to play tourist with Syafiqah…
…and had breakfast at tea time with Nadia.
November
November 2024 was filled with Snoopy visits.
We also bought into the Chagee anniversary hype (and got boring prizes after waiting for almost 3 hours).
After being disappointed by Chagee, we went for 3 rounds of bowling with the Kajang peeps. My first time bowling since my hands broke, but I managed to not lose! Couldn’t really keep the momentum going because my hand started hurting.
This was also the month I went for my first ever concert. Qeera fought and won the ticket battle and managed to kind of convert me into a casual Dua Lipa fan.
December
I ended the year by attending the convocation of my closest friends who got their Master’s degrees (and ended up signing up for my own that very night).
During the Convofest, I got to watch Bunkface perform live for free!
I got to catch up with Yun Ni and have authentic Thai mookata. We also took turns trauma dumping on each other and got jumpscared by a group of carollers.
Christmas Eve is always fun in Melaka, and this year was no different. Andrina and I went for a Christmas Eve buffet at Swan Garden Hotel.
Then, I met up with Elisya as the clock struck midnight; there were fireworks when we looked at each other (always a romantic time with this one). We walked around the Settlement and exchanged gifts.
On Christmas Day, Dv and I had a hi-tea party at Krate. We underestimated the amount of food we ordered and ended up feeling bloated after.
Even though 2024 had its ups and downs, I’m a better person because of it and can’t wait to see what 2025 brings (please more ups and less downs).