The year that was.

For 2011, I did a "the year that was" post, so I thought I'd try to uphold the tradition and do one for 2012 as well. Writing this at 11.39pm, I'm feeling mentally drained and still nursing a 30-hour headache from the chaos of grad school applications - but I still want to push myself to write this post. History is important! Our past makes us who we are. :)

So, flipping through my 2012 desk calendar, in 2012...

• The increased crime rate in neighbourhoods and malls wrapped a wet blanket around what little social life I had to begin with. One of my best friends got her car window smashed and her bag stolen while she was on the way to my house. My petrol cap got stolen while my car was parked at Monash University's guarded parking area. :(
• Went out 43 times with friends, doubling the number of times I went out for fun in 2011. :o Maybe I took a couple of steps out of nerdville this year!
• Made it a point to celebrate An's birthday, and I did! Yay!
• Travelled to Singapore with Jayne from 24th to 27th December, all on our own! :D Met up with 5 good friends I know through the Internet: Serene, Ning, Jo, Faris, and Fiona. :P

• Learned how to make scrambled eggs using the microwave.
• Started teaching myself how to play the ukulele, which Willi named Hoku ("star"). :D
• The end of 2012 marks 17 months with Willi. Woohoo! \o/
• Started going for facials again to fix my right cheek, but it's still broken (albeit healing).
• Became a working plus-sized model. Haha! And always have a lot of fun doing it!
• Colored my hair brown myself with the bubble hair dye, and failed - my hair is still very, very dark!
• My beloved grandfather passed away. :'( I miss him all the time.
• Upheld mine and An's tradition of going to Comic Fiesta every year, despite the crowd and queues! 

• Wrote a freakin' Honours thesis of about 20,000 words about online identity construction of Malaysian female bloggers.
• Took two standardized exams - GRE and TOEFL - while doing assignments and writing said freakin' thesis.
• Tutored TOEFL test takers, and loved it. Made one really good friend all the way in Brazil because of this, too!
• Started playing Rage of Bahamut, but finding less and less time to play any games at all with my academic workload increasing constantly. :( Realized that I've made a lot of good friends through games, that I've kept until now even when I don't play the games anymore. Yay :)
• Got a hamster again, and named her Kayaball! xD

In 2013, I hope...

• I will get into graduate school in the U.S.
• I will learn to be more independent.
• I will not forget to love and appreciate my parents.
• I will be calmer, more patient, kinder, more matured.
• I will be healthier. 

Happy New Year! :)