My first month at work coincided with my birthday month. On the morning of my birthday, a calendar notification flashed across my screen. “Get a massage”. I had planned to spoil and pamper myself, but it just wasn’t in the cards when the day came; I was just too exhausted from everything. While this year’s birthday was relatively less happening than last year’s, I’m in a much better place mentally compared to a year ago. That’s still a win in my books.
Although January through March was mostly one long stretch of waiting around at home, April passed in such a flurry of activity that I barely had time to register that it had come and gone. My new title, though, came with some pretty sweet little perks. For a start, I finally got to have my own room. I get to order lunch and a coffee from the cafe once a day, on the house (what’s better than a hot Spanish Latte as a lunchtime pick-me-up? A free hot Spanish Latte, that’s what). And one of my favourites: invitations to their food tastings when they’re sampling new menus. I was served lobster and wagyu beef at one. Here’s a little photo dump of some of the various things I’ve eaten:
The lamb was so delicious and tender. I was sitting there eating free lamb and lobster and wagyu because I finally dared to leave my then-job and apply for a new role that under ordinary circumstances I would have been too filled with self-doubt to even try for.
This was a chilled advocado pureed dessert with fruit. The taste reminded me of their cold honeydew sago desserts.
Anyway, now that I’m one year older, I want to look back on some of the cool stuff I’ve done while I was 31. I know I tend to re-use the same old pictures in my recap posts, but what can I say…those were good memories and I love those pictures. My bullies tried so hard to ruin me, but I still fought to have good moments and leave my old workplace behind in the rearview mirror.
- I went on a trip so I could listen to Ray Chen perform the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. It was beautiful. I cried during the concert. [Link to post: https://www.myhoppyhour.com/2025/06/01/ray-chen-tchaikovsky-violin-concerto-in-d-major-in-bangkok-may-2025/]
2. Took up cello lessons. Since I already play a string instrument, I didn’t struggle too much with learning the cellist bow hold, though it took me far longer to stop holding the neck of the cello like a violin. Unfortunately, at some point my cello toppled over onto the floor while I was out. The resultant gash in the side of the cello body seems to have brought back the wolf tone. My poor cello… My teacher consulted with a luthier and told me to get a hide glue to seal the crack up. The hardware shop I’ve contacted doesn’t have it, so it looks like I’ll have to ship it from abroad, so its viability as a solution remains to be seen. I hope it works, though.
3. Went whitewater rafting and swam (well, not so much swam as floundered) in a river for the first time. I was terrified, as you can see from my reluctance to let go of the rope. But it definitely quenched my thirst for adventure. [Link to post: https://www.myhoppyhour.com/2026/02/18/selangor-white-water-rafting-9th-february-2026/]
4. Started strength training. Ironically it was the only thing that cured my chronic lower back pain. It did wonders for my posture too.
5. Made this lovely cake with the help of my instructor at my very first baking class.
6. Went fruit-picking for the first time. This was in Pahang, Malaysia.
7. Joined my very first painting workshop.
8. Joined my first half-marathon. This was a picture of the view I snapped along the way, while trying not to throw up from the energy gels I was taking.
9. Petted some sweet bunnies at a Rabbit cafe in Bangkok, which brings me to…
10. My first trip to Bangkok. I overcommitted myself with the trip schedule, but despite being constantly exhausted from running from place to place, it was a pretty awesome itinerary, even if I say so myself. [Link to post: https://www.myhoppyhour.com/2025/06/01/32/]
11. Drank strawberry tea in Cameron Highlands (also my first time there). I decided, what the heck, let’s join a group tour up the highlands. I did, however, get a bad sunburn that persisted for the next two to three months. I guess the next time I’m going somewhere that hot, I should buy SPF 100 sunscreen in advance since even liberal amounts of SPF 50+ clearly don’t cut it. [Link to post: https://www.myhoppyhour.com/2026/03/11/pahang-cameron-highlands-day-tour/]
12. Went to this flower-arranging competition on my own. It seems more romantic to go at night, but I was lazy, so I just popped by one Sunday morning around 10 am, on the very last day of the exhibit. Regrettably, it was already super hot by then, so I took my pictures and then left.
13. Got to ‘feed’ a lion an ang pao at a lion dance for the first time. I never really bothered in the past, but I packed one this time for the lion for luck. I mean, it’s not a big deal, but since I’m writing about first-times, I’ll just throw this one in.
14. Went to the Little Prince exhibit in Thailand. (Covered under the same link as point no. 10 above) It felt like a warm hug for the 17-year old version of me who found comfort and solace in the book so long ago. One year later, it’s helped me in its own way to move on from something I couldn’t quite let go of at the time.
That pretty much concludes my stroll down memory lane for the past 12 months.
I haven’t been doing very much lately, though I think I’d like to take a vacation soon. I’ve started listing down some activities I’d like to try on my next trip, but there’s still a lot of fleshing out to do. I’m hoping to do as many novel and exciting things as I did in 2025, but realistically, I still don’t have very many ideas on what constitutes ‘novel’ that I currently have the budget for that I haven’t already done.
Anyway, just for the sake of showcasing something (relatively) new I’ve been working on, here’s a pencil drawing of a violin that I started a few years ago and only continued recently. I used a 2B pencil for the most part, then 7B/a charcoal pencil for the really dark bits and then a black gel pen for some of the finer outlines, like the purfling. If the randomly unfinished sections of the drawing are anything to go by, my drawing style has not changed over the last decade and my attention is all over the place, as usual. And honestly, I have no idea when I’ll finish this. I just don’t feel like doing very much when I get home…except sitting down doing nothing or playing the violin, which is the only thing that feeds my energy after work instead of taking away from it. The more I play, the more it feels like an extension of my actual body, rather than something I control with my arms and fingers. These days, when I pour my heart into my playing, it really feels like I’m one with my instrument.
I’m pleased to see I’ve still retained my skills, after years of not drawing anything.
And just like that, May is almost over. Life really needs to slow down!