chucks&jeans

Sitting here on December 31 makes me pat myself on the back. Wow, I'm taking the initiative to write this reflection! But I realized that I did not do this reflection last year. I completely missed 2021 in Review...and setting goals for 2022. Looking back through my photos, 2021 was the year that I (and the family) did the following things:

My mom and Celine's grandma took care of Leia for the first half of the year until Leia started at Montessori. What a big girl!

Leia started walking.

We took a trip to Kingston and Montreal to instil a sense of thrill, culture & adventure into the little one. It was cold.

I started a new role as a Product Manager, transitioning of the Product Marketing realm. It was a good move.

We bought bicycles and rode around the city, with Leia in the backseat. She loved the wind in her hair.

We got memberships to the Ripley's Aquarium. Leia loves fishies.

It's too late to go back and grade myself for 2021. It's irrelevant at this point a year later and looking backwards. I enjoyed 2021.

2022 was a tough year at the macro level. This impacted me as an individual, how I see things, and us as a family and society. This year saw war (Ukraine v Russia), strained political relations (overturn of Roe v Wade, human rights in Iran and Afghanistan), uncertain economic conditions (high inflation, high interest rates, falling stock and housing markets), and mass layoffs. In addition, not that it happened in 2022, but I've become more educated on the topic of climate change over the last 2 years and realized how humans are irreversibly harming our planet. All these events and realizations made 2022 a tough pill to swallow. On the home front, 2022 was a year of change and learning. I learned how to be patient (or how I need to be more patient), to be present, to be a father. I want to change to be a better father, husband, son, friend. I want to be a better version of myself.

RELATIONSHIP - A

Celine is my best friend. We talked about it today - if anyone asked me whether she was my best friend, I would say yes without hesitation, in a fraction of a second. I did a good job this year, prioritizing my wife. We spend more time together than ever before. We are together for almost every waking and sleeping moment, from the alarm ringing, to commuting, working (she literally sits either beside me or in the next room), picking up Leia, etc. I love that we get to be so close, and I get to spend so much time with this amazing human being. I admit that I have areas of improvement, to be more patient and attentive. I have and will continue to work on this.

PARENTHOOD - B

I'm still learning to be a father. Leia is almost 3 and in these years, I learned that kids are just silly humans. They just want to play and be happy. It's easy parenting during the fun times. The hard part is when the kids misbehave. I'm learning to be more patient in guiding Leia (and soon, Noah). I'm sure this will be an ever-evolving goal to work towards.

FAMILY - A

We did a good job in 2022 with family. Almost every weekend we see my family and in-laws. It was a good year building familial relationships (albeit this takes a toll on our own time as a family of 4).

FRIENDS - A

With the lockdown over, there are few excuses to not see friends. I continued to make efforts in this area. Those who reciprocate have been easy to plan for at park meetups or casual hangouts. For those that are constantly busy, I made a pronounced effort to create hangouts. These events were initially frustrating, but I am a firm believer that if we don't create these moments today, we will regret them tomorrow.

CAREER - B

I learned a lot at the expense of my sanity. For most of the year, I had to lead and manage a team without cross-functional leadership. While this was a great opportunity to demonstrate my own leadership, it took a toll on my mental health. I often felt like I was just working without a clear career goal in mind. I give myself an A+ for work ethic and output, but a C for clarity for myself.

TRAVEL - A

We spent two weeks in SoCal, exploring San Francisco, Napa, Yosemite and Silicon Valley. Leia loved it (I think!). Celine and I loved traveling again. It was great to breathe mountain air, eat delicious food, sleep in a hotel/B&B and fly again, all while figuring out the logistics with a toddler. Good job :) we also did a short trip to Ottawa.

HEALTH - B

I did very little in 2022. I blame some part of this on hurting myself on multiple occasions (e.g. bruised leg, hand-foot-mouth disease, cut my finger with a knife), but most of it was due to my lack of motivation. I found a rhythm in the Fall with the Peloton/Echelon bike, and recently began calisthenics with parallettes. 2023 will be a year that I rekindle my love for my body.

FINANCE - A

We met expectations in this category. Finances stayed normal, spending was not too high or too low. We continued to put money away, and save for the long term. That said, 2022 was a bad year for ROI as the stock market tumbled, cutting out a lot of the gains we had in our portfolio. We don't plan to crystallize these losses but it still hurts to see. I am glad that we refinanced at a low rate.

PERSONAL - C

I didn't read or think much this year. Compared to 2021 where I read 20-30 books, the number of books I read this year I could count on my fingers. I was not as proactive in 2022, perhaps because the year was characterized by many things to do, including house things, renovations, work stuff, exploring international career roles, parenting stuff, Celine pregnant stuff, etc. Yes, these are excuses. I should be more proactive.

2023 GOALS

RELATIONSHIP

I will be more patient, especially in arguments.

I will proactively think about and do what my wife needs or wants.

I will support my wife in her personal and professional goals.

I will be an attentive and caring husband, and try to be positive in the most difficult situations. I will listen first and offer an opinion if suitable in the situation.

I will be cognizant that my wife is stressed from taking care of the baby and try to relieve her stress as much as possible.

I will recognize milestones and also everyday events because life is short.

I will be present. No phones!

PARENTHOOD

I will be more patient with the kids, especially when they misbehave.

I will read 3 books on parenting techniques.

I will be present. No phones!

FAMILY

I will be present. No phones!

FRIENDS

I will strengthen existing bonds by proactively staying in touch with friends and recognizing special occasions.

CAREER

I will take control and find a path that I am passionate about.

I will consistently evaluate my skills and proactively find ways to fill the gaps, either through structured learning (courses), unstructured (books) and/or experience (asking to lead a project).

TRAVEL

I will plan a trip with Celine and the kids that is >4 weeks.

I will instil a curiosity, adventure and excitement in the kids.

HEALTH

I will workout >3x per week for >30min per session.

I will be able to hold the L-sit for 30s, 45s and then 60s.

I will be able to do a handstand.

I will eat more protein and vegetables, and less sugars.

I will eat more fruits and drink more water (at least 2L daily).

FINANCE

I will continue shifting the finances on a monthly basis to ensure that Celine and I are tracking towards our retirement goals.

I will spend less money on products and more on experiences.

I will cut back on impromptu purchases.

I will continue saving money for myself, Celine and the kids.

PERSONAL

I will read 1 book per month (12 for the year).

I will think about my life and plan proactively to create a meaningful life that I am proud of and happy for.

I will focus on inputs (what I can control) and less on outputs (what I cannot control).

FAVOURITE MOMENTS OF 2022

Watching Leia doing regular, daily things like sleep (and cuddle her blanket), eat fruits (like pomegranate) and dance.

Lying in bed with Leia and Celine on Sunday mornings, rolling around and eating pistachios and yogurt bites.

Riding the bike with Leia to the beach, and watching her kick sand around and throw rocks into the lake.

Hiring someone to cut down the two giant trees in our backyard. it was expensive but heck it was worth it to get rid of the eyesores.

Seeing Noah via ultrasound, then seeing Noah born IRL! He looked so much like me that I had to do a double take.

Going on a date with Leia (while Celine was out with friends). We went to the park, ate pizza and strolled home in the dark.

This has been a challenging year. I say that with the utmost respect for people around the world who have had it way worse that I had but, in all honesty, it’s been tough. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to separate out the days from the months and the weekends from the weekdays. For this year-end review, I thought about going off on a rant. That would have been easy because it was a sh!t year. But, I decided against that. The previous sentence will be the only and last negative thing I’ll pen in this entry because I truly believe that 2020 delivered many moments of positivity and hope for a world that was growing increasingly disconnected. Let’s put the sad stuff away. This means putting aside COVID19, the passing of icons and visionaries (RIP Kobe, Chadwick B, Sean C, RBG, George F), forest fires, political dohickeys, etc. For the first time in many years, humankind was up against common enemies and it united the world. The most uplifting part of 2020 was worth seeing, even if it meant we all had to see it from afar.

My daughter was born in January and I am grateful to see her grow up every single day. She was born the day just before the first COVID19 patient arrived at the very same hospital she was born at. Lucky much! I originally had plans for bachelor parties, work trips, going to the office (which seems outrageous now) and many other things, but I would not trade any of those for my daughter’s time. It has been incredible to share in Leia’s every day with my wonderful wife and mother of my child. I am lost for words when I think about how I will likely spend less time with my next child(ren) when life goes back to normal (fingers crossed). The three of us became closer than I could have ever imagined, and we built those memories in our first home. This home has an abundance of memories of 2020 and I am thankful for this house for keeping us safe, warm and loved. 

RELATIONSHIP - A

Staying at home with a newborn was tough but rewarding for Celine and I. Many friends, family and literature conjure up how draining it is on a relationship to raise a child. It is indeed personally draining physically and mentally, but it is not draining on our relationship. In fact, it has strengthened our relationship. I continue to be impressed every single day with this woman who has brought strength, kindness and patience to our child in addition to being a fantastic partner to me. We were unable to climb big physical mountains this year but we certainly are scaling the mountain of life in a more coordinated and stable fashion than ever before.

PARENTHOOD (new category) - B

Being a father is difficult. The fun stuff is easy - playing, tickling, carrying - but almost everything else is hard. This applies to feeding, pooping, wiping, teaching, and anything else you can think of. I have the basics downpat but I must admit that my ‘intermediate’ parenting skills are lacking. To make up for it, I have read a few books that talk about parenting best practises but I realized that these books are just opinions of other people. There is no one obvious parenting method that trumps all else. I kept the baby alive this year and as the years go by, I’ll need to come up with some specific principles to live by so that I can pass the right values on to her.

FAMILY - A

There have been limited chances for this category to shine in 2020 with various lockdowns in place. I can probably count how many times I have seen family on my toes and fingers and it’s been a constant battle in my head of whether I should listen or not listen to public health guidelines that are telling everyone to not mingle with those outside of your immediate household. During the lockdown, is it better to see family or not see family? Should we just see them anyway because we are family, but risk infection and super spreading? Is one good and the other bad? I don’t know, but for the most part, I have done what I think is best to protect my family, even at the expense of loneliness. I hope that I made the right decision(s).

FRIENDS - A+

With the backdrop of 2020, I think I did a splendid job with friends. I have delivered on my goals of reaching out to friends as much as possible and “hanging out” virtually to play games and chats. I organized a few outdoor gatherings at parts when the lockdown was lifted in the summer. I did good.

CAREER - A

I embarked on a new journey in 2020 and learned new skills and gained new experiences. It was a rewarding year for personal and professional growth. I am proud of myself for managing the fast-paced and always-reorging style of Square. Case in point, I am working for my third manager already in only 12 months in my role. I’ve managed to build strong relationships and inched closer to gaining clarity on my ambitions.

TRAVEL - A

We did a fair bit of exploring in 2020. Despite not being able to travel very far, Celine and I took it upon ourselves to maximize the opportunities that we had. I have let go of my prior country counting practise as I learned that what’s most important about traveling is experiencing new cultures and seeing new things off the beaten path, no matter the country. We became tourists in our own neighbourhood, Toronto and surrounding areas, Prince Edward County, and Bruce County to hike and see everything we could, all while lugging our growing baby. We used a stroller, a front baby carrier, a back baby carrier, and a shoulder baby carrier, hoisting a bag of Leia’s clothes and stuff to see what we could. It was a great year to get used to traveling with a baby. We are ready for international travel once the pandemic is over.

HEALTH - B-

I started a habit with Celine last summer of sharing, just before bed, three things that we are thankful for that day. We call it ‘daily affirmations’. We have built this into daily routine and it has worked very well to inject positivity into our day. Other than this mental wellness commitment, my overall physical health regime was tossed out the window with COVID19 and no access to a gym or proper equipment. I blame COVID19 but I really can only blame myself. I learned that I am very much a gym rat that enjoys quick bursts of workout in 45-60 min sequences. This can be bench press for 3 sets of 10 and squats for the same, but asking me to do HIIT or workout videos in my house with light dumbbells or bodyweight exercises just doesn’t do it for me. I have been bad at adapting to new workout regimes.

FINANCE - A

This year was great for the finances. Not having any ‘extra’ expenses, like vacations, in-person shopping and dining, our spending has never been lower. Celine’s been on mat leave and, surprisingly, despite lower family income, our budget has been healthy. Square stock also did well which delivered unexpected surprises, but this was serendipitous so I am not giving myself credit for that one.

PERSONAL - A+

I had a lot of time this year to “do me”, with the lockdown and all. I did not take as much paid-time off as I would have liked but in the time that I had, I was able to think deeply about my life and what I want to achieve. That’s a big plus. I also read a solid number of books, blowing by my stretch goal of 5 books. I read 11 (list below), with 7 in the last 2-3 weeks, thanks to my new Kobo Clara HD! I find the reading exhilarating and much more useful than watching TV shows, which I did a lot of too this year.

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built - Duncan Clark

Tools of Titans - Tim Ferris

The Innovation Stack - Jim McKelvey

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters - Richard P. Rumelt

To Pixar and Beyond - Lawrence Levy

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother - Amy Chua

How to Raise Successful People - Esther Wojcicki 

The Ride of a Lifetime - Robert Iger

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber - Mike Isaac

Born a Crime - Trevor Noah

How Will You Measure Your Life? - Clayton M. Christensen

Range - David Epstein (currently reading into 2021)

2021 and Stretch Goals

RELATIONSHIP

Preamble: I recently read a book called ‘How Will You Measure Your Life’ and there was a concept that I wanted to implement. It’s called ‘jobs to be done’. It’s a popular framework in the product development world to tangibly describe what a product does for a user a.k.a. what does a user hire a certain product for. What does the customer need the product to do? The book draws connections to marriage such that partners think about the job that their partner needs them to do. For example, instead of “I’ll clean the house so that my wife doesn’t have to”, the concept asks that we first think about “what does my wife need me to be/do”, and then do that. It’s a simple but powerful way of putting the other person first.

I will think about what my wife needs and wants me to do before I make any assumptions using something like the ‘jobs to be done’ concept.

I will support my wife in her personal and career endeavors.

I will encourage my wife to be creative, ambitious and honest with herself so that she can find her path.

I will be an attentive and caring husband, and try to be positive in the most difficult situations. I will listen first and offer an opinion if suitable in the situation.

I will be cognizant that my wife is stressed from taking care of the baby and try to relieve her stress as much as possible.

I will recognize milestones and also everyday events because life is short.

Stretch: I will create and capture more memories outside of Instagram, through writing, photos or videos.

PARENTHOOD

Preamble: There are various schools of thought on parenting that have some similarities but more stark differences. Specifically the “Western” and “Chinese” schools have opposing tenets, and generically there are more studies not specific to raising children that pose another theory. In the coming year, I’ll digest a few more of these parenting hypotheses, come up with a set of strategies and principles, and align with Celine on tactical steps to take to get there.

I will read 2 to 3 more books on parenting techniques.

I will create a set of strategies, goals, principles and priorities for us and Leia to follow.

FAMILY

I will be more present to foster the most harmonious balance where possible.

FRIENDS

I will build on strong social bonds by reaching out, staying in touch, physically or virtually seeing friends, and recognizing special moments.

I will not be non-existent to friends.

I will think about my friends’ ‘jobs to be done’ and try as much as possible not to project my own expectations onto them.

Stretch: hang out with 1 friend per a month and recognize special moments with handwritten cards and gifts.

CAREER

I will continue to think about my career structurally and critically to deliberately plan out my path. I am entering my mid 30s so the next move or two have to be career moves.

I will consistently evaluate my skills and proactively find ways to fill the gaps, either through structured learning (courses), unstructured (books) and/or experience (asking to lead a project).

Stretch: meet at least 2 new people every month who can help me in my career or gives me new ideas; discuss international opportunities with Square

TRAVEL

Find a new travel goal that revolves around cultural exploration. I want to love to travel immensely again and give that gift to Leia.

Go at least one place with Leia on the plane.

Stretch: Take Celine and the baby to San Francisco for a few weeks.

HEALTH

I will find a new workout regime that I am deeply passionate about. It can be cycling or running up and down the street with a box of weights. In any case, I have to love it and stick with it.

I will choose to eat healthy food more often. In particular, this means more fish, chicken, vegetables and legumes, and less red meat, fried foods and dairy products.

I will eat more fruits and drink more water (at least 2L daily).

I will workout at least twice a week.

FINANCE

I will continue shifting the finances on a monthly basis to ensure that Celine and I are tracking towards our retirement goals.

I will spend less money on products and more on experiences.

I will cut back on impromptu purchases.

I will continue saving money for myself, Celine and the baby.

Stretch: plan for investment property.

PERSONAL

I will keep learning what it means to be a husband and father.

I will dedicate time to self-improvement through reading 24 books this year (2 per month) that span a wide range of topics, from non-fiction to fiction.

I will focus on what I can control and push out things that I cannot control. I worry too much so this will help me reduce mental stress.

I will be a better listener and only dish out tough love sparingly.

I will continue documenting my career ambitions and philosophies in my journal at least 2x a month.

I will clean the house once a month. This means wiping the windows, vacuuming and mopping the floors, bleaching the sink, etc.

I will not leave my shoes and jackets everywhere, and will not leave the lights on if I don’t have to.

Stretch: I will read 36 books (3 per month) this year.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS OF 2020

Driving around the city with Celine a week or two before Leia was born. We went for brunch, went shopping, and had some delicious dinner at Pinky’s Ca Phe. It was a simple day but oh so memorable.

The day just before and the day Leia was born. I woke up and Celine “surprised” me by telling me that she thought her water broke (lol?). We rushed to the hospital and the doctor told us to come back at 7pm that night to start the labour process (if it hadn’t started already). We went home, hung out, took a shower, had a quick nap, had pho for a quick dinner and then got ready. It was the beginning of a long night. Then, watching Celine deliver Leia, and holding her in my arms throughout the first night. I was so tired that I was delirious. Maybe that’s why it felt like a dream.

Watching Leia interact with my parents. Leia has taken a liking to them and it fills my heart with warmth and joy. It also feels like I gave my parents one of the best gifts they could ask for - a smart, healthy and happy grandchild.

Hanging out in the basement, which is essentially Leia’s playroom. All of it.

Walking to the beach.

Each and every day that I woke up to my wonderful wife and child. Leia smiles every so widely in the mornings, making cute sounds and greeting me. It’s a shot of caffeine in the morning, even after a possible poor night of sleep filled with Leia making funny noises.

Making trips to Prince Edward County and Bruce County.

Seeing my parents and in-laws after weeks and months of lockdown. Humans are not wired to be alone, and definitely not wired to say no to seeing family or waving to them behind a window.

Hanging out with my boys before Ryan’s wedding and the wedding itself. There was so much love and joy that day.

Doing ‘normal’ things, like going to the mall, eating at a restaurant, playing golf and having out with friends at the park. Seeing friends at the park, even socially distanced, felt amazing.

Seeing a new administration installed at the White House.

PRECURSOR

This is a difficult post to write because there’s a lot to reflect on. Where do I start? Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth whether it makes sense to write these things down. It all started years ago when LiveJournal was popular. I wrote down daily routines and activities that I did during the week. It was remarkably diary-oriented with little thought put into what I wanted out of it. This Tumblr account started 11 years ago in 2008 when I arrived in Singapore to start my semester abroad. I started to document my exchange adventures, foods I ate, sights I saw. It was a means to write down my life so I would not forget it. In more recent times, I continued writing down travel blogs but moved towards using writing as a way to plan for the future. It’s interesting looking back and seeing that my younger self scribbled notes about daily events, then grew into my 20s writing things down to not forget them, and now using writing to plan for the future. I wonder what the next decade in review will look like.

2010-2019 AT A GLANCE

Overall, I give myself A- for this decade.

RELATIONSHIP - A

I spent the first few years of the decade lost. I came out of a long-term relationship and hurt people along the way, myself included. It was a difficult time in my life and I was jaded for a long time. Between the ages of 22 and around 25, I was a quintessential tool that did a lot of things that I thought someone in their early 20s should be doing. Going out, dating random people, not being honest with anyone to protect myself. It took a lot of courage to get out of that state and looking backwards, it was a state that I had to go through. Things changed when I met my wife who pulled me out of that slump and showed me that love could be all powerful. I am so grateful for my past relationships because they all brought me to where I am today. My marriage has evolved from a simple swipe to dating to moving in to signing the papers and soon having our first child. It’s crazy to think back to 2010, what I was doing and thinking back then, and fast forward to today. It’s magical to see what life has to offer and I am only beginning to appreciate all the small things. I started weak but finished the decade strong.

FAMILY - B+

My family is small in Toronto and North America. I love them deeply and when I look back, I don’t think I truly showed them that when I was younger. My parents brought me here, giving up their careers and community, so I could have a better life. I gave them a ton of grief as a teenager and could have done a better job in my 20s to take care of them. As I grew older, I understand why my dad use to say “you’ll know when you’re older”. I use to roll my eyes but now I understand. I hope I can pass this knowledge onto my child(ren) so that they can mature their thinking. Likely, they won’t understand until they are adults too but that’s just how the cookie crumbles. My extended family in Hong Kong - I neglected them for the most part. I spent my 20s traveling around the world and only went back in 2018, 10 years after my last visit. I can’t express how happy I was to see them and at the same time, seeing how the years have taken its toll on them. I hope I still have time to see them and create memories before the winters go by. 

FRIENDS - B+

The definition of friend has changed dramatically. I use to think friends were the ones who I partied with, drank with and ate with. I tried to have as many friends as possible and know as many people as possible. What a silly way to think? People came and gone and I struggled with that, in particular when the fake friends faded away. Real friends faded away too. I can’t say that it came as a surprise but it definitely came. I use to think friends lasted forever - the way we hung out, how often we hung out, how many movies we saw - but now I see, just like everyone said, parties will eventually end. I had to redefine what the word friendship meant to me. Sometimes I look at photographs and see faces of people that I never see or talk to. Friendships evolve and I am glad that there are a handful that I cherish deeply. New friends, old friends, it’s time to think about who are the real friends.

CAREER - A

The beginning of the decade marked the beginning of my career. I started at E&Y in September 2009 so January 2010 was still early days. I just finished the CKE and going into my first busy season before the SOA and UFE exams later in 2010. It was a long time ago but it feels like yesterday. I wonder if 2010 VLiu knew that everything would be okay, that 10 years later, he would be still clueless and figuring things out. So much has happened since then, from being promoted to moving functions to companies. I got lost in a big company and searched for meaning in my work. I learned how to work tools and technology, networked and built relationships. I screwed up, joined the wrong company and returned to a career that I knew was not my passion. I met great people, managed a growing team and launched a business. I did case studies. I learned that my skills defined me but I could learn new skills. I pushed harder than I ever thought possible, mentally and emotionally. This last decade was a blur. What a blur.

TRAVEL - A+

I did well here. After the exchange semester and Europe backpacking trip in 2009, 2010 onwards marked the most active travel itineraries that I could dream of. Years ago I already started jotting down my goals on where to globetrot and as this decade comes to a close, I am proud to have been to 6 of the 7 continents, hiked some of the world’s greatest trails, lived in tiny huts and tents to lush hotels. It was a decade to remember and a passport to cherish. I grew a lot as a person having seen so many things and as I think back, I am very lucky to have had the opportunities, money, time and freedom (and companions) to see these places. Travel is good for the soul, and this part of my soul is happy. I marked Norway as my 50th country with my wife and no longer am I chasing stamps. I am now chasing memories.

HEALTH - B

I am proud of myself for creating a healthy lifestyle for myself early on even before 2010. I have a certain friend to thank for this, but early on in first year university, he inspired me to take up weight training. Since then, I have been dedicated to this activity and it carried through to 2019. I can’t say that I work out as much anymore. From 2010-2015, I probably worked out 5 times a week for at least 60 minutes per session and ate a ton of protein shakes. In more recent years, this has dialed back for reasons I am ashamed to say as laziness. I still go 1-2 times per week but that’s still way less than before. However, I am choosing to eat healthier with less meat which counts for something!

FINANCE - B+

I have been notorious with saving and believing that paying myself first is always the best path forward. I don’t know what the future holds so having a steady contribution to investments was the approach that I have been taking. Hopefully it works. I trust finance theory.

PERSONAL - B+

I am proud of what I’ve accomplished between 2010-2019. I’ve grown as a person personally and professionally. I have matured in how I think about friends and family, and what it means to be happy. I made mistakes along the way and I learned from them. Now, I am in a good place with all aspects of my life. Overall, it was a good 10 years.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS OF THE DECADE

Everything Celine-related: meeting her, getting to know her, building a relationship, planning a wedding, having the wedding, and all the ups and downs in-between. I think back and cannot picture my life without her.

Road trip: the drive from Toronto to LA was monumental and solidified some lifelong friendships that cannot be replicated. The memories are so precious and I am so glad that trip happened.

Buying a house and decorating: the rush of signing papers, moving in and the fun of hanging paintings and measuring furniture. Ah, first homes!

Walking the Highline NYC with Celine: it was just so magical. The sunset, the city, the photo that captured it all.

Weddings: this decade was filled with many joyous celebrations of my friends getting married. It was so beautiful to see them tie the knot and celebrate with old friends. I know I complained about too many weddings, but now that I think about it, I will miss the weddings.

Revisiting Singapore: SG has a special place in my heart. Seeing PGP again too. It feels like a different me but the same me. I miss that part of my life a lot.

Darth and See Lai month: 2015 was a rough year as I chose a terrible boss and made a made career mistake. Luckily for me, I had a network to help me and I got through it. Darth reminds me that most importantly in any career, happiness comes first. Money is a byproduct. The one month spent at home was filled with mom-son time. I loved every second of it, even though I was recovering from a traumatizing experience.

Jamie: Jamie Anderson, the classiest man I know. His deep voice, decisive attitude, and gentleman’s classiness, I will never forget.

Corporate Development: this was a huge career accelerator for me. The people that I met and the deals that I worked on set me up nicely for the rest of my career. Project Laker will always be my pride and joy.

Ventures, Anthony and Derek: Joining RBC Ventures was a life-changing experience. I finally learned that I could learn new skills, and be friends with the people I worked with. I met two of my greatest mentors. It was the time of my life.

Norway: nuff said. Norway 2 aka. Iceland was also great.

Travel stuff: all the places I went this decade were so great.

Duncan and NWTS nights: some of these nights I dragged myself out. Now that I think back, these are the nights I can’t and still remember.

Living in condos: Pinnacle has a special place in my heart. Moving from 12 to 16 Yonge and to 33 Bay several floors. I had fun living in my own filth hehe and eating take-out everyday, walking to the Goodlife at 8pm to workout. Everything has a time and place.

Being a douche in the PATH: slicked hair, fitted suit. Every dude has to try it once!

Mom karaoke parties: always a fun time!

Music festivals: Veld, Swedish House Mafia, Digital Dreams. #awesomesauce

Hanging out at NWS townhouse and walking to BBT with Stella: the summers that I lived downtown had some fun activities after work. The summers were always filled with nighttime fun like bars and drinking and walking Bentley.

Passing UFE: it was pretty cool studying for the exams and passing them!

Cube: club nights.

2019 AT A GLANCE

I am very happy with 2019. My wife and I came out of 2018 with gusto with new energy and dreams. This year had a fair share of ups and downs which taught me resilience and the power of positive thinking. When Steve left the company, I was devastate and had to learn how to deal with it while managing a big team. Celine and I hiked Patagonia and we found out we were expecting a baby. Later in the year, I found a new career direction while preparing for the new baby’s arrival. It was an experiential year with so much to be thankful for.

RELATIONSHIP - A

This was the first full calendar year of marriage. Celine and I are growing day by day and moving on to the next chapter with the arrival of our baby in a few weeks. 2019 was a much “easier” year than 2018 now that the wedding and the house costs are behind us, so we spent a large part of the year enjoying each other’s companies. We spent our honeymoon hiking in Chile, visiting family in Vancouver, and explored Italy, Slovakia and Hungary. We ate at amazing restaurants and created unforgettable memories. A few weeks ago, we ate at Patria, the restaurant where we had our first date, to close a chapter in our lives as a couple and welcomed the next chapter as a family of three. We are ready.

FAMILY - A

I really enjoyed this year because we had the chance to visit family with my parents in Vancouver. It was a very fun trip and one that was long overdue. Without the pressure of the wedding, 2019 was more of a breeze.

FRIENDS - A

We had a fair share of dinners and hangouts this year. Celine also hosted a few DTL sessions at home which was great. I also strengthened friendships with some old friends and new friends, which I am particularly proud of. 

CAREER - A+

There were a ton of ups and downs this year. From Steve leaving the organization to an unnamed person on the team who was a pain to manage, this was year marked with learning how to deal with things. My career was predominantly smooth sailing except for the grief that I cause myself mentally but this year was truly a test on my character and perseverance. I was lucky to have great mentors and friends who coached me through the hard times and I came out the other side a stronger person. Later in the year, I found happiness in a new career direction. I saw this as a culmination of my many sleepless days and nights thinking about what’s next, and an outlet for my trapped ambition. I am at peace with all the bumps that I encountered to get here because now I am here, and I love it.  Earlier in the year, I set out to find a role where I can develop new skills, stimulate my brain, gives me a strong network  and provides a leverage a brand. I can truly say that 2019 was a defining year for my career.

TRAVEL - A

Celine and I flew a fair bit this year from Chile to Vancouver to Europe. Chile was a beauty and brought me back to our road trip days in Norway and Iceland. Hiking in Patagonia, trekking the Atacama and sleeping in a rusty shack near the Magellan Strait are going to be memories of a lifetime. Vancouver, another great trip with family. Europe was a different feel and it was Celine’s first time in the Eastern side of the continent. The cuisine and history was super awesome and I’d go back in a heartbeat. From a work travel perspective, I had the chance to go to New Orleans for a few days and then San Francisco for 11 days for orientation. It was my spending so much time in San Francisco and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to experience it. Now I know that I shouldn’t pick a hotel in Tenderloin to stay in. I did not do well in setting a new travel goal however. After I hit 50 countries, it’s been challenging to think of a tangible target to run towards. I need to do that this year.

HEALTH - B-

This was an average year for health both physically and mentally. Physically, I’ve been going to the gym less and less, maybe 1-2 times per week. I did complete the RBC Race for the Kids 5km though in a pretty decent time, but next year, woooobooooyyy not sure. I spent many nights stressed and sleepless because of the ups and downs at the office so that was not great. However, Celine and I started doing affirmations first thing in the morning and before bed. It’s a chance for us to think about what we are thankful for. It’s become routine for us now, and it’s helped a lot.

FINANCE - B

We did well this year. Aside from being a big under the water after the basement and backyard renovations, which we had to do, we kept our spending in check and continued to save throughout the year. Celine and I are both aligned on how we view finances which is good, and a testament to how a rough 2018 year prepared us for 2019 and beyond (especially with a new baby coming soon).

PERSONAL - C+

I spent the last few years thinking about my career and very little on how to improve myself outside of that realm. I don’t know how much that has impacted me, but I can say at a minimum that it’s kept me up many a nights thinking about my career. Now that my career has been realigned, I should spend more time thinking about my goals from a personal perspective. In 2018, I did accomplish my goal of reading 3 books and writing in my journal 2x per month. These now seem like easy, attainable goals though so nothing to celebrate.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS OF 2019

Celine telling me that she’s pregnant: unspeakable happiness.

Hearing my baby’s heartbeat for the first time with my ear: this was so mind-boggling to me. For the longest time, the baby did not hit me as reality as much as Celine...since she was carrying Leia and all. But hearing her heartbeat changed it all.

Seeing my Uncle 1 and Auntie 1: I haven’t seen them for years...or a decade. I can’t remember now but it was warming to see them again in the same house years later.

At Stephen’s Basilica rooftop: the sunset was beautiful atop the church looking over Budapest. It was not quite Aksla, but it was indeed captivating.

Cuernos and Patagonia: the views, experience, air and water. The hike, although rainy, was perfect.

Borago: World’s 50 Best does not disappoint. My favourite was still the rainwater from Patagonia.

Windy shack in Punta Arenas: the town was lame but the tiny hut that called itself an Airbnb was memorable. The Magellan Strait is very windy and shook the house until Celine and I worried that the roof would fall onto us. Hah.

The day we almost died: Patagonia at its finest.

Steve leaving: this was a rough day for me and the beginning of a rough week. My world fell apart piece by piece and I did not feel career disappointment like this before.

Me leaving: the decision to leave Butter/Ventures was difficult and I weighed the pros and cons. I chose to leave under my criteria which was easy, but actually leaving was very hard. Luckily for me the relationships that mattered are still strong.

Various case studies: LOL.

Interview at Square: I got the first email when I got back from Europe in early September. From then until the final interview on Wednesday, October 23 was a rush. I received the offer verbally on Friday, October 25. I accepted the Saturday. It all moved so quickly.

Seeing NWS super happy about escape rooms: I rarely see NWS that excited and it was fun to see on Ryan’s birthday. Board games and escape rooms - it was more like NWS’ birthday.

GOALS FOR 2020 AND BEYOND

RELATIONSHIP

I will support my wife in her personal and career endeavors. I will encourage her to be creative, ambitious and honest with herself so that she can achieve her maximum potential.

I will be an attentive and caring husband, and try to be positive in the most difficult situations. I will listen first and offer an opinion after if suitable in the situation.

I will be cognizant that my wife is stressed from taking care of the baby and try to relieve her stress as much as possible.

I will recognize milestones and also everyday events because life is short.

Stretch: I will create and capture more memories outside of Instagram, through writing, photos or videos.

By 2029: I will be a model husband that knows how to cook, clean and take care of my wife and family. I will continue celebrating the big and small moments with my wife, remembering anniversaries and birthdays, and continue being the young-love that we have today.

FAMILY

I will be a great father, whatever that means! I don’t know yet but I promise to be a great one.

I will be more present in gatherings and create a balance where possible to bridge the various groups.

I will maintain a strong relationship with family overseas.

Stretch: talk to at least 1 overseas family member once a month

By 2029: I will be the father to 2 beautiful children. I will be supportive and understand them as much as possible, and try not to be a lame dad. I will have great relationships with my family and my in-laws, and maintain a strong connection those overseas. I will be back in HK at least 2 times in this decade.

FRIENDS

I will build on strong social bonds by reaching out, staying in touch, physically going to see friends, and recognizing special moments.

I understand that this aspect of my life may change with a new baby coming but I hope to maintain a relationship with at least my closest friends. I will not be non-existent to friends.

Stretch: hang out with 1 friend per a month

By 2029: I will be a great friend to a small group of people. I will celebrate their big and small moments, and try my best to keep the group close.

CAREER

I will think about my career more critically and plan out my path. Now that I have started a new path at Square, it is important to think about what I am learning here and map that out against where I want to eventually get to. This allows me to think about my career in a more structured way.

I will consistently evaluate my skillset and upgrade/up-skill where I see a gap, through reading books or taking a course.

Stretch: meet at least 2 new people every month who can help me in my career or gives me new ideas and add an international aspect to my experiences; discuss international opportunities with Square

By 2029: I will be managing a small, high-performing team in a career of my choosing. This career will pay well, have great people and culture, and grant me the flexibility to work the way I want to to suit my lifestyle. I will have international work experience.

TRAVEL

Find a new goal that revolves around travel and cultural exploration. I want to love travel immensely again.

Go to at least one place with the new baby on a plane.

Stretch: Take Celine and the baby to San Francisco for a few weeks.

By 2029: I will have been to 60 countries and went on 2 more big hikes (which could mean something like Patagonia). I will have been back to Africa somewhere, Asia and Australia. Europe is fine too but it will have to be Scandinavia or Eastern Europe. Our baby will be well-traveled.

HEALTH

I will choose to eat healthy food more often. In particular, this means more fish, chicken, vegetables and legumes, and less red meat, fried foods and dairy products.

I will eat more fruits and drink more water (at least 2L daily).

I will workout at least twice a week.

Stretch: drink 3L of water daily, workout thrice a week and run one organized 5km-run.

By 2029: my kids would be old enough by this time so that I can go back to a regular gym schedule. Between 2020-2029, I want to maintain a healthy body and mind, great sleep, and no need for drugs. I will have healthy cholesterol and X levels to be able to eat what I want and exercise the way I want. I will look good.

FINANCE

I will continue shifting the finances on a monthly basis to ensure that Celine and I are tracking towards our retirement goals.

I will spend less money on products and more on experiences.

I will cut back on impromptu purchases.

I will continue saving money for myself, Celine and the baby.

Stretch: plan for investment property

By 2029: we will have 2 investment properties and a sizable investment portfolio suitable for our stage in life. We will be have financial freedom defined as having enough money to do what we want largely without financial limitations.

PERSONAL

I will find out what it means to be a husband and father.

I will dedicate time to self-improvement through reading, listening to podcasts, thinking about the future and philosophical topics, and documentaries where I can learn something.

I will focus on what I can control and push out things that I cannot control. I worry too much so this will help me reduce mental stress.

I will be a better listener and only dish out tough love sparingly.

I will continue documenting my career ambitions and philosophies in my journal at least 2x a month.

I will clean the house once a month. This means wiping the windows, vacuuming and mopping the floors, bleaching the sink, etc.

I will not leave my shoes and jackets everywhere, and will not leave the lights on if I don’t have to.

Stretch: I will read 5 books this year.

August 29 - This was the first leg of our trip – and interestingly, our unintended baby moon. Our flight was around 10 so we rushed home after work to quickly eat, shower, turn everything off and rush to the airport. Pearson was busy as usual as it was the Thursday before the last long weekend of the Summer. Everyone was trying to get their last bit of Toronto’s short-lived season. Celine and I were determined to sleep the whole 7 hours there given the red-eye, but that didn’t happen perfectly. We slept a lot of it but planes just don’t let you get that full sleep like on a real bed. I ended up watching they HBO series called Chernobyl. Currently waiting for the return flight to finish the season!

 August 30 - The plane was scheduled to land at 12:15, and then they told us we were going to be one hour early, and then we were stuck on the tarmac for that hour, so we ended up arriving at 12:15. Is that considered late or on time? After disembarking, we hopped on a train to Como Nord Lago, the train station of Lake Como. We ran into some other friends along the way who were also heading to Stacey and Justin’s wedding. By the time we arrived in town, we were exhausted. After quickly grabbing some carbonara and seafood linguine at a nearby restaurant, we took a much needed nap before the pizza party at Villa Geno. Luckily for us, Villa Geno, a beautiful lakefront property, was only 10 minutes away on foot. We arrived and saw the rest of the wedding guests at what was one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen! The lake behind the venue was breathtaking. And of course the pizza and food (including sushi that Celine couldn’t touch) was amazing. Justin and Stacey looked happy and ready for the big day. The evening ended around 10:30 and before Celine and I turned in for the night after we got some gelato (obviously, the first of many to come on this trip).

August 31 - We woke up around 8 to soak in some sights before the wedding festivities. The old town was a short walk away so after breakfast, Celine and I took a morning stroll into the cobblestone town of Como. There was the Duomo di Como, a piazza, the Porta Torre and the city walls. Everything was beautiful and very Italian. An hour or so was more than enough so we decided to take the funicular up to Brunate. We ran into Angela at the top, sipped some coffee and then headed down to get ready for the wedding! We walked to the shuttle pickup and zipped to the Villa Pizzo for what can only be described as a celebrity wedding (same venue as John Legend and Chrissy Teigen). The ceremony and reception overlooked the water and everything was amazing. The decor, chairs, live music, hors d’oeuvres, fresh mozzarella cheese, ham, prosciutto, everything! Man, what a stunning wedding – probably the most expensive wedding we’ll ever attend! Stacey and Justin were so happy to finally tie the knot after a decade of dating. We had a great time celebrating with our friends in such a luxurious setting.

September 1 - Celine and I tried catching the 9:50 train into Milan but apparently the official website for the train was wrong (?). We ended up sitting there until 10:15. Not a huge issue I guess. The train was fast and it got us to Milan Centrale in an hour. Our hotel, the Starhotels Echo, was amazingly 2 minutes away from the main train station on foot and also let us check in early, which was great. After a quick refresh, we headed out to see Milan! Our first stop was Duomo di Milano and the piazza. It was hot and a ton of sketchy men tried to give us “free” bird seed and friendship bracelets. Common scam technique so we rushed by. The sun was scorching and the humidity kept us pretty groggy. We grabbed a quick bite at a stand-up pizza place called Spontini, ducked in and out of museums and shops to avoid the heat but even after a gelato, it proved futile to the humidity. We sat on a bench in front of the Castello Sforzesco for a bit, bought some water, and used the last bit of energy to find a field of grass to sit on in the Parco Sempione. That was relaxing. Then we got up, walked past the Arco della Pace and rushed past a tiny but unbelievably clean Chinatown. We had dinner – the Milano risotto special and an amazing stuffed fowl - at La Cantina di Manuela. Food was good but service could have been better.

September 2 - We caught the 7:50 train to the airport to catch our 10:50 flight to Vienna (a.k.a. the city of Wien). Both of us were pretty tired so slept through the flight. After getting off the plane, we bought a 48-hour transit pass and trained into the city. One of the first things we noticed was the drastic change in the weather – from hot, humid and sticky in Milan to a cool-warm breeze that you’d put on a light jacket to wander around in. Also, the leap from German to English seemed to be much easier than from Italian, and the service and help we received as tourists seemed a lot more genuine. Our hotel, the Fleming’s Selection, is pretty well-located near the Rathaus subway station, so finding it didn’t take long and proved to be quite convenient in the days to come. The weather was definitely chillier than Milan. It hovered around mid-teens throughout the day, which I enjoyed. We saw a bunch of electric scooters around the city so we found a few Bird scooters and tried them out. They were amazing! They are easy to use, well balanced and can go up to ~30km/h. We took them straight into the old town of Vienna using the dedicated bike lanes (separate from pedestrian and vehicle lanes...WHAT??!) where we had a very late lunch at Zum Schwarzen Kameel on the patio. Then we came back to the hotel to nap quickly and then went back out with warmer clothes (Vince only; note Celine was well prepared). It was a lot of wandering around Stephansplatz and the neighboring alleyways (which were beautiful). We both thought Vienna was clean and classy and well laid-out. The fact that we also could take the subway wherever with our pass was also very freeing. We also literally stumbled upon a free organ and soprano concert at Peterskirchen, a beautiful domed church close to the main street and square, so we sat in the pews and listened for about 30 minutes to some pretty heavenly stuff. Then we got dinner nearby at a vegetarian restaurant called Lebenbauer (where the chef was supposedly very well-rated) and then back to the hotel!

 September 3 - It’s been a sleepy trip because we haven’t been sleeping much. So we took advantage of our less-planned day, today, to add a few more Zz’s to our repertoire. Which means...we woke up at 10am! We both felt more well-rested. Starting the day off, we had brunch at Palmenhaus, an ex-tropical greenhouse that’s been turned into a fancy restaurant right next to the Albertina Museum of Fine Arts (later, we found out that this is one of the most Instagram-able places in the world). The food was very affordable and the place quaint in the best kind of way – Vince had a guacamole and cold cut combo, while Celine had hard boiled eggs and toast - and the interior was decorated with plenty of plants and flowers. Highly recommended! We took the train to visit the Schönbrunn Castle, which was very cool. The courtyard and gardens were gigantic. Because we were too cheap to pay the entrance, we wandered to the “free” gardens, which ended up being fantastic, especially the rose garden and trellises. The maze-like design was meticulous and looked glam, like a palace should. Celine and I got bored so we set off to see Naschtmarkt, which was terribly bland, rode in the Bird scooters again, and got sausage-on-a-platter (with generous helpings of horseradish, ketchup and mustard) from the infamous stall, Bitzinger. We popped our heads into the Albertina museum and then continued to bum around Hofburg, Michaelerplatz, and a few of the other fancy buildings. Eventually we got tired so we ordered a smoothie and a gelato (hehe) before heading to dinner on the other side of the Danube at O Boufés. Since there was still light out, we opted again to eat out on the patio. The restaurant was opened by a 2 Michelin-star chef (Konstantine Filippou, the Michelin-rated restaurant was right beside ours) so the food quality was quite high. We had some amazing shrimp to start, beef cheek and a soft fish, before finishing off with a sesame-based “dumpling” dessert (apparently, a specialty in this region). Service was great too. It was a wonderful meal to top off our stay in Vienna.

 September 4 - In the morning, we rolled our luggage to Hauptbahnhof to catch the train to Bratislava. When we got there, we realized the regional luxury buses would be much more convenient so we took the RegioJet at 10:50 towards Bratislava. The cost was 5 euros per person vs. 15, so it was not only cheaper but also faster. The bus literally dropped us off in front of the city centre at the steps of our hotel, the Radisson Park Inn! The location was perfect as we overlooked the Danube and was one block from the start of the old town. The hotel was being dumb and didn’t check us in so we just changed and head out to town. First, we got some delicious food at Fach, a hipster organic food place. The peanut bowl and sandwich were tasty and healthy. Then we walked around the Bratislava Castle and joined the free walking tour with our very enthusiastic guide. The tour took us around the city to see all the sights, which were just a handful, and she provided some great tips and stories about Slovakian democracy and interesting traditions (guys throw water onto girls at their home’s doorway and lightly spank them with olive branches as a fertility and flirting technique during Easter). The city is very small but had lots of history. It was easy to see all of Bratislava (tourist sites of course). After the tour, we went to the hotel to check in, change and then headed out to eat at Houdini Restaurant. Service was impeccable and food was perfecto – Vince had the chef’s 5-course menu (which featured beef tenderloin, duck breast – a lot of pregnancy no-nos haha) while Celine opted for a la carte, just to keep it easy. A wonderful choice and meal to top off our brief stop in Bratislava. We strolled around the city to get some more ice cream (lemon!) and passed by a bar playing the most wonderful lounge music live before heading to back to the hotel for the night.

 September 5 - We started off with some breakfast at Mon Dieu, a local Slovakian chain that served organic and healthy foods. Then we hopped in a Bolt (their taxi service) to get back to the Bratislava train station and waited for our 12pm train. It arrived and we sat in our reserved seats. For some reason, the cabin was hot and stuffy, so pretty uncomfortable. I fell sleep because it was so hot and eventually wandered to the next car. The next car had AC! Wtf! So we moved there for the remainder (~1hr) of the ride. The train pulled into Budapest (welcome to Hungary, Celine’s 40th country!) around 2:30 and we took the subway to the hotel, the Hotel Central Basilica, which ended up being extremely central and near to the best restaurants on the Buda side of town. It was also the first hotel that we’ve stayed in that had automatic blackout blinds for the windows facing the courtyard – a real treat. The first look of the subway was yucky (read: sub-par) but the rest of Budapest proved to be beautiful. After dropping off our bags, we headed to Szimpla Kert, the city’s most popular ruin-bar. It was really hipster! The building was run down but decorated with plants, bath tubs, old art and a bunch of other random stuff and every room was different, which made it even more bizarre. We took photos and then went to Karavan, the food truck place next door, and grabbed a Langos burger. It was tasty, especially the bread. There were a lot of pigeons. Roaming around, we checked out the Jewish Quarter and famous Synagogue, and eventually wound up back around our hotel, where we went to the top of St. Stephen’s Basilica to catch golden hour overlooking the entire city of Budapest. It was really something – a panoramic view of the entire city (even across the Danube) and a sight we would highly recommend! Then we had dinner at one-Michelin-starred Borkonya (our first since our very first brunch in Manhattan at two-star Jean Georges; very reasonable prices – I think it was ~C$120 for both of us that night), one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic cocktail at Mazel Tov (a beautiful vine-laden bar with a soaring rooftop in the ruin-bar area), and then went back to Szimpla Kert to see it at night (of course, it was already bustling at 11PM). Then bed time.

 September 6 - We started the day with an 11am walking tour of Budapest. We saw the parliament, a bunch of Soviet monuments (including Virulji / the False Memorial, of Hungary trying to cover up its involvement with siding with the Nazis), the Shoes on the Danube (a very somber reminder of the Jews that were executed on the banks of the Danube during WWII, marked by 60 pairs of copper shoes that were unveiled on the 60th anniversary of the end), Matthias Church, the Chain Bridge, Fisherman’s Bastion, Liberty Square (with the Ronald Reagan statue because his policies helped enact democratic change in the country) and the Buda Castle. The Danube is quite something (a lot wider than some of the other big-city rivers like the Thames) and apparently the view from the view is a UNESCO World Heritage site in itself. It was quite hot and sunny so fairly uncomfortable to keep walking around in the sun. We learned that the Buda side is the flat one where most of the tourist attractions are vs. the Pest side, which is hilly and houses ~80% of the city’s population (naming the city ‘Budapest’ was a big topic as it turned out because Buda came first). Lunch was pretty average – it was around 2PM by the time we ended the tour and we just picked a random restaurant that had the capacity to seat us immediately. Then we went back to our hotel area to grab a flower-shaped gelato ice cream from Gelarto Rosa before taking a long nap heh. At night, we had a fantastic dinner at Hilda Restaurant (which was designed by the same architect that did St. Stephen’s) and then had an evening stroll along the Danube and Chain Bridge. Budapest is really beautiful at night.

 September 7 - We slept in until 11 hehe. It was raining unfortunately so the day was slow and gloomy. Opting out of the thermal baths (see: pregnant) and seeing the Heroes Square, we spent most of the day at the national museum to dodge the rain. Afterwards we just walked around Vaci Street, the shopping district, and then came back to the hotel to rest a bit. For dinner, we had the 5-course at Mak Bistro, where they were kind enough to adapt the tasting menu for Celine. Walking back, the open area beside St. Stephen’s Basilica was doing an outdoor film marathon where we watched the first few minutes of a weird folklore tale (The Son of the White Mare, as we later Googled) and was showing a Queen concert. Hundreds of people were outside in the rain watching!

 September 8 - Our last day! Mixed feelings. To treat ourselves before our long flight home, we stopped by at Chez Dodo, a gourmet macaron place where we had a few delicious bites. We grabbed a Bolt back to the airport and finally, flew home.

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It’s 8 days into the New Year and I finally set aside some time to reflect on the past year and also set goals for the upcoming 12 months. Disappointingly, I did do this retrospective in 2018, so I am unable to measure whether or not I did well. Broadly speaking, 2018 was a very busy year, but I remember a few years ago, I told myself “no excuses”. With that philosophy, shame on me for not prioritizing an hour or so to think about my own life.

 I read a blog this morning written by an individual who broke down his goals into the following pieces: Career, Personal and Hobbies, Home, Relationship, Friends & Community. I adapted this framework and modified the categories to fit my life. Let’s see how this works out:

 2018 at a glance

The first part of 2018 - before the wedding - was a blur. It was a whirlwind of moving into the house, launching Butter and setting up operations, going to Taiwan, Texas and North Carolina, attending several weddings, and getting things ready for our own wedding. These months were reactive, less-planned, and auto-piloted.

 The latter half of the year - post wedding - was also back-to-back with the mini-moon, Hong Kong and Singapore, post-wedding cleanup, getting the house into shape and then the holidays. Overall, I’d give myself a B+ for 2018. I am proud of myself and my wife for getting through these 12 months in one piece given the heightened intensity and complexity.

 And now, a bit more detail into each aspect:

Relationship

I married the love of my life. This woman complements my strengths and weaknesses and gives me a reason to wake up every morning. There have been times where I chose to be selfish and impatient and I will work on these shortcomings this year.

 As a couple, we went through big life moments, like the wedding, buying a home, getting into a car accident, and melting into one blob unit. It’s an exciting time in my life as I grow into the role of husband.

Family

The past year was characterized by events, parties, plans, schedules, money, accidents, and everything in between. Albeit more happy than sad events, everyone was stressed. It was a testament to what a family is, and finding the definition that works for us. I am happy that I was able to visit Hong Kong in 2018 and see family who I have not seen in a decade. It’s been too long and it was my fault that I prioritized traveling and new experiences over going home in the last 10 years.

Friends

The events of 2018 brought my social circle. From traveling to Taiwan with the boys to bachelor parties to weddings galore, I think this is one aspect of 2018 that I was able to excel in.

Career

I grew a lot professionally and personally. The lines have blurred between work and life as colleagues became friends and vice versa. The skills that I learned in 2018 have been invaluable to my growth, and I am happy to say that I have rounded out my skill set to include product, development and general management in addition to my quantitative background.Some highlights from the year include building and leading a high-performing team to launch a new product in the digital space, presenting in front of 700+ people at TechTO, seeing our product featured on Product Hunt, closing deals with big-name partners, learning basic web development, and winning an award recognizing me as an emerging leader. It’s amazing that it’s still possible to learn something new after a decade being out of school. I use to think that learning meant keeping up with the latest trends in a particular industry and reading the current state of X standards. In reality, it can be so much more than that.

Personal

My early 30s is another chance to redefine my life and character. It happens every 10 years or so, in my mind: at age 0, age 10, age 20, and now, age 30-ish. Life changes quickly but the most pivotal moments occur at the decade marks where I change along with everyone and everything around me. I don’t want to watch life go by and have it spin out of control. I want to take the reins and define for myself who I want to be.

 2018 was so busy that I didn’t sit down and think about life. From a broad-level identity perspective, I can do better. I did do well from a life-skills perspective though. In early 2018, I was uncomfortable drilling holes at home and freaked out over what are now seemingly small tasks. Now I am able to use my toolkit to diagnose, install and fix basic elements around the house. Handyman, not yet, but not an idiot either.

Travel

I flew a lot in 2018: Taiwan for Duncan’s bachelor party, Texas for my bachelor party, Raleigh for work, Mexico for our mini-moon, and Florida for the holidays. To be honest, I lost direction in traveling once I hit my “50 countries before 30 years old” milestone goal. That North Star was what drove me to be creative, bold and adventurous to seek out new places and commit to culture shock. Now, I have no goal and feel directionless, which may or may not be a good thing. On one side, it allows me to seeing things I really want to see, regardless of whether I’ve been to the place before. On the other hand, I don’t have a fire under my butt. Whatever the goal happens to be, I will set one.

Health

I can’t say that it’s been a great year for my mind and body. Stressing out over the many events of 2018, making excuses for not running, spending only 45 minutes at the gym vs. 60 in the past, and indulging in fatty foods more often, this year was bit out of the ordinary. But staying too long in out of the ordinary becomes ordinary, so the fix has to be made immediately. I did switch to meal prepping with the help of my wife which has been great, so kudos to her for that.

Finance

We did well given the wedding and house. Buying the home, procuring the first bit of furniture and supplies, paying vendors, trips here and there, unexpected expenses and daily living costs – these all made it exceptionally hard to balance the books. Cash was tight and we lived through one of the most financially difficult years of our lives to date. It did force us to be on top of our finances though which has given us a great set of skills and dialogue for what life has in store for us.

2019 and Stretch Goals

Relationship

I will continue to support my wife in her endeavors, and challenge her to be better every day. I will be a role model, make healthy and well-balanced choices that help us succeed as a couple, and be less critical. In tough situations, I will control my emotions and focus on the bigger picture, which means taking a step back more often. I will recognize events in our lives and celebrate those because life is too short to have no special moments!

Stretch: I will create and capture more memories outside of Instagram, through writing, photos or videos.

Family

Goal: I will work on being more present in the family and fostering a harmonious balance where possible. Striking a medium is important and I will take initiative on being the family man that I strive to be, which includes my immediate family, my parents, my in-laws and my extended family overseas.

Stretch: talk to at least 1 overseas family member once a month

Friends

Preamble: as the years go by, I am more appreciative of friends who stay in touch. Life gets busy and all around me, people are getting married, buying homes, having kids and moving up in their careers. All these things require constant re-prioritization of time and focus.

I will build on strong social bonds by reaching out, staying in touch, physically going to see friends, and recognizing special moments. This will be a challenge without the aid of weddings and bachelor parties but I am confident. At a more granular level, I will proactively reach out to friends on a more consistent basis either weekly or monthly, seek out those who I have not connected with in a while, and hang out with at least 1 friend once a month.

Stretch: hang out with 2 friends once a month

Career

I will think about my career more critically and plan out my path. Although it’s not possible to predict the future, it’s definitely possible to set goals and have criteria. The opportunity cost of making the wrong career choice is too big now, especially in my early 30s. It will be a blink of an eye before I am in my mid-30s, so from here to there…these need to be fruitful years. The role that I am in must provide me with new skills development, learning and intellectual stimulation, a strong team and network, upward mobility, reasonable compensation and good people. I will not settle for anything less. I will not let 2019 be a year that sails by as I sit idly staring off into the distance – 2019 will be a defining year.

Stretch: meet at least 2 new people every month who can help me in my career or gives me new ideas and add an international aspect to my experiences

Personal

Preamble: identities cannot be created or concluded definitively. It takes time. In my 20s, I don’t think I had a plan but I felt confident in my direction. I have to find that in my 30s.

I want to ignite that flame and give myself opportunities to find enlightenment, for lack of better word. What this practically means: I know who I am, I know what I am doing, and this is where my ship is headed. I will put time into soul searching, mind-exploration exercises, and philosophical debates to have a clearer answer by the end of 2019. I will also learn how to do more things around the house, like gardening (maybe) and doing basic electric (and plumbing?) work. I will read expand and relax my mind, which can span from reading to watching TV to playing video games. I’m not going to rub off video games and TV. I will do these things in moderation and be cognizant that it’s for relaxing the mind. I will write things down in my journal 1x a month and read 3 books this year. And lastly, I will be more organized. I will ask myself “does this make me happy” before buying things.

Stretch: write in journal at least 2x a month and read 6 books this year.

Travel

Preamble: April is the first trip of the year: Chile. It’s been 5+ years since I’ve been back to South America and I’ve always wanted to go to Patagonia so this trip checks multiple boxes. Additionally, the Andean air may give me that jolt and inspiration to LOVE travel again. I still love travel but I want to find that flame…to hit 50 countries…but now a new goal. Is it to try all the cultural flavours of the world? Is it to climb the peaks of the world? Whatever it is, I hope Chile will spark and awaken. Later in the year, the plan is to go to a wedding in Italy and then jet off somewhere nearby afterwards. I have yet to figure that one out. Lastly, there’s a brimming desire to add more of an international flavour to my career. I wonder what life has in store.

Find a new goal that revolves around travel and cultural exploration. I want to love travel immensely again.

Stretch: Eat a weird animal.

Health

Preamble: I am a proponent of making small decisions that eventually lead to bigger ones, which become habits and those then define lifestyle and character. In 2018, I did not make the best decisions and 2019 will mark my climb back to the top. I saw a picture of myself from 5 years ago and I looked great. Age is obviously a contributor to looking different but that’s no excuse to not live a healthy lifestyle.

I will continue to meal prep, choose more vegetables and fish over red meats, push back to 60 minute of gym, and drink more water. And yes, drink at least 2L of water daily. I will hit 158lbs by end of the summer and run an organized 5km run.

Stretch: drink 3L of water daily, 160lbs by end of summer and run an organized 7km run or two 5km runs.

Finance

I will go back to the way I use to plan finances, and have a more holistic and long-term view on how to grow the family net worth. This will mean a dedicated savings plan, an investment portfolio, perhaps a way to make money on the side, and a way to control costs such that we have enough to live and enjoy.

March 27 - Ryan, Duncan and I started our day very early. I was exhausted before we started the journey at 5am. The flight was on time and departed at 9ish so we got there around 7. The first leg was to SFO and Duncan managed to get us an upgrade to premium economy. When we landed, we got another upgrade to Taipei. It was great, considering that we bought the entire round-trip tickets for ~$550! I watched a bunch of movies which made the time go by a bit faster...as fast as 20 hours could go.

March 28 - This day was essentially gone. Given that we passed the date line, we landed after our 20 hour flight at around 7pm local time, and took the MRT to the main station downtown. The MRT was very clean and efficient - as usual, rich Asian country! We met Nic at the Citizen M, a boutique hotel with minimal amenities but great rooms. Everything was controlled from an iPad mini - lights, sound and temperature. It was located conveniently a 5 min walk from Ximending, a lively shopping and food district in the city’s east end. After we changed, we quickly went to grab some beef noodles from a highly-rated restaurant stall (?) down the street. It was amazing! And super cheap. We were stuffed for about $ 400 TWD, which converts out to about $5 CAD per person. Most of our meals were this much, which made it highly budget friendly. We spent the next few hours wandering around to look for a KTV but couldn’t find it. Went to bed...after what seemed like 36 hours since my last real half-assed sleep.

March 29 - We woke up and walked to a famous Doujiang place close by, but it was too busy and we had an 11am meet-up with our driver. We opted for more beef noodles. Our driver, Jacky, picked us up from Citizen M and drove us to a small, picturesque town called Jiufen, what people call the Santorini of Taiwan. An over-exaggeration to that name or low-blow to Greece, Jiufen was indeed very interesting. The small town was built into the mountains, slightly inland from the Pacific Ocean, and was an alley of street vendors and small shops that sold overpriced souvenirs and food to tourists. Nonetheless, it was neat to see and experience. We hiked up the Mount Jilong nearby and saw the breathtaking views of the valley. It looked really similar to Hawaii, which is another of my favourite places. Afterwards, Jacky took us past some waterfall on our way to the Shenoa Elephant Rock. The path there was littered with crap and garbage but the rock itself was cool. It looked like a legit elephant! The last stop was Shifen, a tiny collection of houses and shops beside train tracks. The popular thing to do here is to write wishes & dreams onto a Chinese paper lantern, and let it go into the sky. I’ve seen it on TV and magazines many times, so this was a clear highlight for me. We also walked across the nearby Jingan Suspension Bridge, an old, creaky bridge that took us into the next town over called Nanshan. Afterwards, Jacky dropped us off at the Shilin Night Market where we grabbed more street food and ate a Michelin-guided pork soup place. It was awesome!

March 30 - We started off the morning having breakfast in a district called Yonghe. It was odd because we asked the taxi driver to take us to one place but he didn’t know it, so he took us there. It was a very random neighbourhood, like the Mississauga of Taipei. It was pretty good. After we took a cab to another place to eat Taiwan’s famous stuff pork buns and bubble tea. Then…we went to Taipei 101 and got a number in line to eat at Din Tai Fung. LOL what a jam-packed food day! The line was going to be 45 minutes, so we spent it walking around this massive luxury shopping mall. It was either Gucci or Chanel in there. There was a neat speaker store that sold French speakers for $4000 USD – it was pretty legit. Our 45 minutes went by quickly and we sat down to eat DTF – definitely some of the best dumplings I’ve ever had. Itis sent in and we went back to the hotel for a nap. The nap was much needed. I got up after about 1.5 hours and we all taxied to the Aquatic Addiction Development, a local seafood market and restaurant. There was a ton of fresh seafood to eat, and I settled for sashimi and sushi. T’was tasty! We made our way to the nearby liquor store and bought this bottle of Kaoliang 38 wine. It was nasty. But was a good pre-drink for Karaoke!

March 31 - Duncan and I started the morning walking around Ximending, and Nic and Ryan joined us shortly after. We ended up spending most of our day there eating the local foods and buying stuff. At night we went to a popular hotpot joint which was pretty good. Later, we met up with an old friend at from our Toronto E&Y days, Eugene, who moved to Taipei to pursue a career in entertainment. He brought a few friends, and we started at INHOUSE and moved to Chess. Chess was a club that featured American hip-hop. I found it funny because the DJ was spinning Drake and a bunch of popular songs, but it was clear that the locals did not know the songs, but still liked it. When Eminem and Ed Sheeran came on, they for some reason loved that more. LOL it’s like going back in time. We saw Shawn Yu there so that was neat. Eugene’s friends met some people at the club and they brought us all to Pong, another place, so we went there. We got back to the hotel around 4:30, then went to eat at 7-11, then went back to shower and sleep. What a long night.

April 1 - In the morning, we moved hotels from Citizen M to the W Taipei. We got there a bit early, so we left the luggage at the front desk and set off for the day. We found this local restaurant that sold braised pork rice. Despite it being very oily and fattening, I ate most of it and washed it down with more bubble tea. It was a good amount of food for the rest of the day, which was quite heavy walking. We walked to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, and then hiked up Elephant Mountain to see the sunset. At night, we went to Raohe Night Market and had the Michelin-guided pepper pork buns. It was so worth it. The last venue was Everland Shisha Bar, one of the best shisha places I’ve been to. It was in a hipster basement that served delicious shisha and played hip-hop. After we walked back to the hotel.

April 2 - Our last day in Taipei was super relaxed. Duncan and I woke up to eat at the W Taipei breakfast buffet which was amazing! Next, we wandered around Taipei 101 and the malls surrounding it, taking picture with random cartoon characters and eating random stuff. The trip has been pretty strenuous, so we took 2 hours to chill in the hotel and make use of the amenities. Duncan’s SPG status allowed us to call the front desk to secure a booking to go to the Taipei 101 Starbucks, which was located on the 35th floor and is the world’s highest Starbucks. The view was pretty legit. Dinner was booked at the Tian Hsiang Lo inside the Landis Hotel, a 1 Michelin star restaurant. We ordered several of their popular dishes and particularly worth noting is the Beggar’s Chicken. The chicken had to be ordered 72 hours in advance as it took plenty of preparation. It was marinated and separately slow cooked inside a layer of lotus leaves and clay. Tasty :)

Him

I started my ring search and closed the deal in 2016 so had to find somewhere to put the ring for close to a year before proposing. It was so hectic and stressful! After going to several branded jewellers and comparing to the local jewellers, I found that branded jewellers were just...better. I picked the ring and put half on my card and had the remaining portion spread out over 12 months to make it easier on the cash flow. The ring was still at the store for pretty much the entire time and each month I went in to put down a cheque to pay 1/12 of the balance. It was way safer than keeping it at home! Anyhow I got the blessing from the Ko's so went on the pick up the ring and plan my proposal.

It had to be unforgettable. I mean, the event itself would have been unforgettable, but I wanted it to be experiential! I hummed and hawed over bringing it to Iceland in May 2017 and read every single blog/forum/article about it. Some said don't do it, bring a fake ring, and some said bring the real one. My final choice was to bring it with me and buy insurance coverage. Bringing it over the border was interesting - I put it in the box, then into my gym socks, then into my backpack, then proceeded to load the backpack with a bunch of stuff so if Celine saw the bag, she would be unable to see the ring. I talked to Duncan a million times about it and we calmed down a bit. The ring showed up on the x-ray so I had to divert her attention to some sign behind the officer. It was pretty stressful!

Landing in Iceland was good because I stayed paranoid about someone taking the ring from the bag while I slept on the flight. The chances were low but I still worried. I had to propose as soon as possible. On Day 1, we planned to go to the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach and I wanted to propose there because Celine was excited to see it. We arrived at our B&B around dusk and I quickly changed into something nicer, stuffed my face with food, and rushed to the beach to get the best lighting for the proposal. I got the tripod from Uncle Paul to capture it all on film! When we got there, it was perfect! The sand was black, the sun was setting, and the waves were flowing. It was chilly but doable. Celine didn't like it. I was not impressed! I had everything ready! I asked whether she was kidding...because after all...she was excited to see it. She said that it was a bunch of sand and rocks. Bullocks. I made an excuse to leave so that I could get to the Dyrhólaey Arch to propose. I drove pretty fast, turned on Ed Sheeran to set the mood, and was met with a gate that blocked the road. It was closed for the day. Not cool. I got back to the B&B pretty annoyed and packed the ring away. As I was packing, Celine came into the room looking for a towel. I told her to go shower in a pretty irritated way LOL.

The next day we went to Fjaðrárgljúfur. I thought about doing it here but decided not to because it was gloomy and crowded. I tried Skaftafell next around Svartifoss and the turf houses, but it was too windy. At one point I wanted to do it on the side of the road near a really nice waterfall. I also decided against it. When we finally got to Jökulsárlón, I knew this was the place. I changed out of my hiking gear (with an excuse that my pants were wet from hiking) and told Celine to put on her bright pink jacket (because it was going to rain LOL). We walked up to an overlook point where the glacier was behind us. I knew this was the place. I put the tripod down and turned on the video. I tested it once to make sure it was recording. The second time, I tried to act natural, which turned out very difficult. Celine said that we should turn off the video so I knew this was the moment. I started saying some words about wanting to give her a gift that I had for a while, took out the sock that had a box shape - she thought it was a Rubik's Cube. Then, it happened. I can't remember exactly what happened but I think I said the right things, tried to keep my back straight and got down on one knee. Magic :)

We spent the next few hours soaking it in and had a nice dinner at Pakkhús in Höfn (mmmm Langoustines!). Then we called our parents and close friends. It was a magical day. May 21, 2017.

Her

Vince had been acting extremely odd leading up to our Iceland trip. Suddenly, no, I couldn't help him pack, he was going to put "extra clothes" into his backpack (in the odd chance that we lost our luggage), and we had, just had, to get a tripod (despite having never traveled with one before).

Even though I shrugged it off, I secretly thought, maybe something was up - and as insurance, I got my nails done.

We set off to Iceland and it was everything I could have dreamed of. The landscape was sweeping and gorgeous, and the air was pure - perfect conditions for hiking and discovering waterfalls along the way. I never noticed anything was off - clearly oblivious.

When we pulled up to Jokulsarlon, it was freezing, even at 4:30PM, but likely because it was a bit cloudy. Vince insisted on changing his pants, and suggested that I change my jacket as well. Though part of me was reluctant (it was really cold outside), I figured we would probably take some epic shots and head to our next destination so it would be alright.

We went up to the top of a gravel mound where we could overlook the entire lagoon, and it was breathtaking - icebergs floating gently as far as you could see in a large, almost mirror-like basin of water. We set up the tripod and start recording some of the usual shots we do for our vlogs - traversing the screen, interacting with each other in front of the lens. Then I turned to him and said "Why don't we go and turn off the camera", fully cognizant of how much space 4K video takes up on my phone.

Suddenly, Vince turns to me and says he has a surprise for me. My inner alarm bells go off, but I tried to play it down, simply laughed and asked what it was. He pulls out a sock from the side pocket of his jacket and it looks distinctly like a box, so I joke "Is it a Rubik's cube?" That makes him chuckle - "no, it's not". He pulls off one sock layer, hands it to me, I tuck it into my pocket, then he looks straight up into my eyes and says, a little choked up, "I've been waiting this whole time to give you this". He pulls off the other sock layer, and it's a beautiful, Tiffany blue box. I was totally shocked - and brought my hands up to my mouth.

He says a few things - I can't even remember the words now - then he opens the box, sinks down on one knee, and asks me if his back is straight. I laugh again, tears pooling in my eyes, and he asks the question I've been waiting for.

"Yes."

October 16

We started the trip and early on the Monday and Ubered to the airport. Our Uber guy, Jermaine, was super nice and chatty which started our trip off right. It was pretty early at the airport but for some reason the border control line was super long and I had to line up by myself for 45 minutes or so. I think something must have happened because everyone was on high alert. It was a safe flight so that is all that matters. We had a short layover in Chicago where we stuffed ourselves with food and stole some cup noodles for the next 9 hour flight to Honolulu. This was a smart move because United did not give us food as it was considered a domestic flight (we’re going to try avoiding United from now on…). We watched Pacific Rim which ended up being amazing!

We finally landed in Oahu at around 2 in the afternoon and waited in line for our rental car. They didn’t have our compact car so gave us a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV and it was huge! But overall a fun ride. We quickly found the R&B / hip hop station, found some party jams (Bank Account – 21 Savage; Rake It Up – 21 Yo Gotti; Bodak Yellow – Cardi B; Young Dumb & Broke – Khalid) that stayed on repeat the entire trip. The freeway to our first resort, Aulani Disney, was on the west side of the island. We arrived around 4, got lei’d up properly, and found ourselves in a beautiful room overlooking the pool. Changing quickly into our swim gear, we walked around the beach / infinity pool / lazy river, ate some food, and made a reservation to eat at the restaurant downstairs. At 6 or so, we took a nap and set an alarm for 1 hour, just, as a power nap before dinner. However, the alarm didn’t ring and we woke up at 11 and missed dinner entirely. LOL! We kept sleeping.

October 17

The morning started off nice and early with some good, ol’ Mickey D’s (thanks jet lag). They served spam with the classic Big Breakfast and the most unexpected taro pie (they didn’t have the haupia pie). It was flaky, crispy and gooey inside – yum. We stopped by Pearl Harbour “just because” but it was a bit underwhelming despite its historic influence. The morning was still young so we quickly hopped on the highway and drove to the north shore. The Dole Plantation was our next stop and we got there just as it was opening. No lineups! We took a train ride around the plantation and ate some Dole Whip – it was delicious! So sweet that the pineapple stick on the side seemed sour in comparison, but perfectly cold for the hot day. The crowds and tour buses poured in after so we quickly drove to our next stop, the famous Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck. Celine had the original flavour (a garlic version) but I decided to try the spicy, which came with a warning that you couldn’t get any refunds for it. Big mistake because it was so HOT, I drank the entire bottle of Powerade. We then visited some nearby shops and continued driving along the north shore until we reached the Banzai Pipeline. This is where people surf Hawaii’s biggest waves! It was intense. In our sweaty clothes, we walked around the outlet shops and at night, drove back into Honolulu to eat at this amazing Japanese restaurant called Sushi Murayama. The 10-course omakase dinner was $75 per person and it was amazing and totally worth it! We left full and happy. There was plenty of food, super fresh ingredients, and an entertaining sushi chef. Vince can’t stop thinking about the king clam sushi we had. It was probably one of my best experiences eating. See our food video for highlights. Oh yea the car was parked in one of those automated stacked parking lots which was very cool! Very SF.

October 18

The agenda for this day was optimistic and we accomplished it all! Kick-starting it all was a drive through the rain across the island, through Honolulu and to the east end of the island to hike up the Koko Crater Railway Tracks. We thought starting early would allow us to finish before the sun hit its peak but unfortunately for us the sun started beating down on us as the thousands of steps slowed our pace. The tracks quickly turned from a comfortable walk to almost climbing vertically and at some points, it was dangerous to cross between rails. It was so hot, Celine felt a little lightheaded – definitely different from hiking in Scandinavia! Regardless, we made it to the top and the view was breathtaking from all sides. We saw the entire coastline and enjoyed the fresh air and celebrated our triumphant ascent to the top. Going down was another struggle LOL. By the time we got down it was lunchtime so we ate at a local sushi restaurant.

The next stop was Hanauma Bay to snorkel but the parking lot was full. We ended up driving the cost to the Lanai Lookout and made it all the way to Alan Davis Beach / Pele’s Chair. This tiny beach was certainly off the beaten path and was known for mini cliff diving. It was essentially an edge where you could jump into the ocean, and the rocks off the shore were big enough to block all oncoming waves. It was super fun and we got some great Go Pro shots! Afterwards, we chilled out at Sandy Beach, apparently the beach with the most number of injuries per year due to its dangerous waves. We sat on the beach and watched surfers get battered. Before dinner, we stopped across the resort to buy some magnets and then ate at the Makahiki Buffet inside Aulani. All-you-can-eat oysters! Poke! What a great spread. We tucked in for our last night in Oahu.

October 19

Our flight to Maui was in the early afternoon so we had some time to grab a bite in Honolulu after grabbing breakfast to go from the Ulu Café. We ate at Marukame Udon, one of Celine’s favourites, before taking a short flight to the next island. Our rental car here was a sedan so driving was easier. We got some shave ice, which had peach, strawberry and other citrus flavours, from Ululani's, dropped our stuff off at our hotel – the Maui Beach Hotel (ghetto AF) – and drove up Haleakala National Park to see the sunset. The rode up was very windy and took over an hour. By the time we got to the top, we had to fully gear up and wear every piece of clothing available. The parking was horrendous and most people just parked randomly in the lot or on the winding mountain road. The sunset was beautiful and I would have enjoyed it way more if I was freezing, literally. Vince even put up his hood. I was exhausted on the drive down the mountain and since we arrived at Mama’s Fish House (widely known as the best restaurant on the entire island) an hour before our booking, we took a nap. It was glorious. Much needed before our meal! The cocktail and plates were exceptional, and service was entertaining. I would definitely go back.

October 20

We found this amazing bakery / diner called Stillwell’s in Kahului and had breakfast there. We ordered spam and stuff and a baked good to celebrate Celine’s 28th birthday! Yay! Then we drove around aimlessly to look for the Lahaina Pali Trail but did not find it so ended up getting to Wailea Beach Resort earlier. We dropped down our stuff and went to the beach beside Turtle Town and relaxed a bit. The water was so nice but unfortunately we saw no turtles. Then we went back to the resort and got our room. It was so nice! Architecture and design was minimalist and contemporary and we loved it. We spent the next little while on the private Wailea Beach (which interestingly enough had no little rocks anywhere and had the most perfect sand bottom so you could wade out) and then changed to film our Save the Date video. The sound was prerecorded so we just had to do the video portion – a trade secret. It was a race against time because the sun was setting and every second counted! We finally found a great spot down near the water where the waves were crashing gently against the rocks. It turned out amazing, as predicted. Next we made our way to dinner at the Morimoto at the Andaz Hotel to celebrate Celine’s birthday! We had a fabulous meal of tuna, foie gras and duck, and it was great, but not as surprising and delightful as Murayama.

October 21

Breakfast was memorable this morning. We ate at Nalu’s South Shore Grill where I had an acai berry coconut flake granola bowl. SO AMAZING! Celine chickened out and got an ahi tuna benedict. Then we made our way up the north-west shore of Maui and passed by some really neat little towns. We stopped by the Lahaina Front Street and did some outlet / street shopping. Then we grabbed some poke from a highly-rated alcohol store on Yelp (Tamura’s Fine Wine), dropped off our stuff off at the Aston Maui Kaanapli Villas, and went to our pre-booked Old Lahaina Luau. The weather was perfect and we walked in as VIPs to the luau. It was a premium buffet that featured a roasted pig with a long show showcasing traditional dancing and chanting. It was really beautiful, watching the sun set in the background and having unlimited drinks…except for the men thrusting their junk everywhere during their solo dance and us sometimes getting cramps in our legs because we were sitting in the traditional style on the floor instead of at the tables and chairs. We drove quickly back to Kaanapali and settled in for the night.

October 22

We woke up a bit early to hit the beach first thing before the crowds. The water was a bit chilly but still fantastic. Packing up quickly, we grabbed food at Mickey D’s again before visiting the Dragon’s Teeth attraction beside the fancy, Ritz-Carlton Resort in north Maui. The rocks were jagged and impressive but the most impressive were the waves that devoured the rocks below. I did not want to fall in. Next, we drove up to see the Nakalele Blowhole and heart rock. The sun was brutal but we made it. Sweaty and stuff, we ate back at Lahaina at Longhi’s, and then found a public beach shower to clean ourselves before the flight home with the toiletries from the resort. We found a nice shower that was away from the crowds but still on the edge of the highway. The water was cold but all in all it felt great. Worth it! First time showering in public! Before the flight, we had to eat but Kahului was literally foodless. There was a highly rated sushi restaurant in a nearby town but we drove by and it looked sketchy AF. We ended up eating at Whole Foods: ramen, mochi and a delicious smoothie. Then we flew home.

Today is January 1, 2017, a new day, a new year, and a new start. Each year, I set aside time for myself to reflect on the past year and to plan the next twelve months. What did I do well? What do I need to improve on? How will this year be different? As an introspective person and overly-critical one at that, I beat myself up throughout the year endlessly and tirelessly, which has given to me, for one, more grey hairs. I find inspiration in the oddest of ways and particularly with these reflective posts, I need inspiration. The clock struck midnight and the ball dropped last night and I already began charting out what I wanted to write, and sat at my desk for quite some time before I gave up because there was no spark and went to sleep. There were some ideas, but nothing that kick-started the engine. But this morning, Celine, as she usually does, gave me something to think about.

The catalyst was the IQ Millennial Question by Simon Sinek. Simon analyzed and dissected the millennial phenomenon into thoughtful and digestible portions. This is not meant to be a summary of the 15-minute clip, but the two themes that I took away were relationships and impatience. Each of these themes permeated throughout my 2016, some in good ways and some in bad ways.

In 2016, I learned a lot about human interaction, and how many things in life are left to fate and chance. Growing up, I could not decide whether I believed in fate or destiny because I was taught that if I worked hard, I would succeed, and if I gave it my all, I would reap the rewards in whatever shape of form. This may be true in some cases, but the world has so many moving parts and different people and opinions that this does not always hold true, especially with relationships. I learned that putting in 100% does not always mean that you will get back 100% – or maybe you do, in a way that you did not anticipate. For example, I thought that making time for friends would mean that they would make time for you, but this was not always the case. I struggled with this and it was a difficult lesson to learn, but in the grand scheme of life, I think this was a mandatory course. People have priorities, and you may not be one of them. Deal with it.

Impatience, the second theme, has never been a foreign concept to me. Instant gratification, social media, next-day delivery, and living in the moment – these are all concepts that we grew up with and I was no stranger. I want things now, and I felt like if I put in the time and resources, the benefits would be delivered immediately. If I pay $10 for express mail, I will get my package tomorrow, so why can’t I put in more work and get promoted faster? It doesn’t work that way, it seems. As I think about this now, I realized how damaging this thinking can be on all aspects of my life, notwithstanding my relationships, friendships, career, and on my mental state. I need to learn to be more patient, to relax and let it go with the flow. I think I will have fewer grey hairs this way.

Being an excessively pensive person, I tend to analyze my feelings and vocalize them to a certain extent. This has worked in some aspects of my life, but not in others. There are two sides to every coin, and two edges to every blade. My analysis-paralysis drives me to dig for information and to seek answers, to find the truth and paint the clearest picture. This has taken me on a tremendous journey in a path that hopefully leads towards enlightenment, not in a religious way, per se, but about life as a whole, and certain key aspects of it. I don’t know if I am any closer, but I hope that 2017 brings more answers and clarity to the ever-evolving paradigm of life. One thing that I vow to do more of is read. I took up reading again in 2016, developed an affinity towards entrepreneurs and their stories because it seems like they have it all figured out. They have a book about themselves, so they must have the secret sauce, right?

Don’t get me wrong. 2016 was a great year. I ate too much food, watched too many shows, spent too much money, and made too many excuses. To cap it all off, below are the most memorable moments from 2016:

Eating brunch at Hello Darling – I’m not sure why I remember this day particularly well, but I do. The brunch was delicious, but not unforgettable, so it wasn’t the food. I think it was how comforting and special it was to spend Valentine’s Day with the girlfriend, and waking up to eat brunch with her at a neighbourhood joint that gave me hope for what the future has to come.

Listening to Solomon Jaye aboard our cruise – there was a night where we watched Solomon perform Lay Me Down by Sam Smith that brought so much emotion. I remember closing my eyes, hanging out to each word in the short three minutes. I can still feel the chills.

Being asked to be the best man for my best friend – without a doubt, this has been a bucket list item for me. I want to be a best man once in my life, and I finally have this privilege for the man who I call my best friend. Seeing him fall in love and getting engaged could not bring me more joy.

Pulpit Rock, Kjeragbolten and Trolltunga – Norway marked my 50th country, and allowed me to hit my ambitious goal of 50 countries before my 30th birthday (50 by 30). It was a stretch target, as each subsequent country was harder and harder to get to, but I made it. These three hikes and sights were among the most challenging and rewarding trails that I have ever been on, and the most amazing experiences that I have had in my life thus far. The Norwegian fjords and mountains gave off this sense of freedom and liberation that words cannot describe (and some very delicious glacier water at that!). We used every bit of our physical and mental strength to get to each destination, and when we got there, it was all worth it. Looking out into the skies and seeing the world was an indescribable feeling.

Ålesund – I am not sure if I have ever seen an even more beautiful scene than what we saw at the top of Aksla. Being a port town and all, it is usually rainy and overcast. But that night, we decided to walk up to the highest point of the city and saw the most beautiful sunset. As I stood there with Celine, I did not want to leave because the moment was so perfect. There was light laughter and chatter from the other tourists, the sun was setting over the waters, and the sky was lit with a soft, orange glow. It was magical.

I could go on and on about my favourite moments this year, and add several more from Norway. This country was very special to me, and the trip was just pure bliss, from the food, to the driving, to the people. Every time I close my eyes, I can still see various images float through my head. I left a piece of my heart in Norway, and I will be back to get it back when I yearn for another drink of fresh glacier water.

In the upcoming year, I want to set more ambitious goals for myself. The following are the things that I pledge to accomplish this year:

I will develop and nurture relationships with family, friends, and colleagues by being more helpful, empathetic and sympathetic. I will try to be less selfish and put other first. I will put people first, not technology.

I will wean off my desire for instant gratification and entitlement. Impatience is a vice that I need to improve on by seeing the big picture, and putting in time and effort to get where I need to be.

I will improve myself and be a better person. To do this, I will read more, be more healthy (sleep right, eat right, exercise), seek job satisfaction and fulfilment, pursue my passions (hobbies, travel, adventure), and have fun. I need to be more laissez-faire and be more open to new experiences. This may mean setting time aside each day or week to just think, brainstorm and innovate.

Celine and I started our adventure to Norway and Denmark on June 30. It has been a few years since I have made my way back to Europe and Scandinavia, so I was very excited. Norway has always been a top destination after having read about and seen photos of the fjords, mountains, and natural beauty that the country has to offer. Copenhagen, while merely a short stopover for us, was also a must-do, after hearing all the rave reviews from friends who have gone there on exchange. After work on June 30, we took the UP Express to Pearson and boarded the long flight to Copenhagen!

Denmark – June 30 to July 2

We had very little time in the city but we were tactical. We stayed at an AirBnB in Nørrebro, a suburb slightly northwest of Downtown Copenhagen. Nørreport Station was 5 minutes away which was convenient, but the city itself was very small, so it was accessible by foot. After we got off the plane, we were exhausted (given the time zone difference) so we napped for 2 hours before heading out to see the city! Our stomachs were growling and lucky for us, there was a food market in town called Torvehallene. Similar to the other food markets that we have been to in North America, the food was expensive, but it was also very fresh and tasty. The rest of the day and the day after were spent walking around the city, seeing Nyhavn, Rosenburg Castle, The Little Mermaid, the Opera Houses, City Hall, etc. There was an entertaining university student who took us, along with a group, around on a free walking tour (part of Sandeman) which gave us a short history of the city. That was fun. The most interesting place was the Free State of Christiana, which is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood. There are some intricacies of special law that governs the area, but to us, it was where all the drugs were bought and sold. Despite being covered in graffiti, the neighborhood was a marketplace for cannabis, marijuana, and other drugs that I did not know. It was interesting to see, and definitely cultural. I enjoyed walking through it, although at certain times I felt unsafe. I don’t think the police patrol the area and the “no photography” warnings gave off an uneasy atmosphere. I took out my phone to take a photo but was met with people shouting at me to put the camera away. Needless to say, I put it away after I took the photo! Success! The food in Copenhagen was delectable. We ate at some fantastic restaurants, namely Restaurant Amalie and Kodbyens Fiskebar. I would highly recommend Restaurant Amalie for anyone going to Copenhagen. Not only was this place on the Michelin Guide, the prices were very reasonable!

Norway – July 3 to July 17

July 3 – We left Copenhagen very early on a 7:10 morning flight to Stavanger. We landed shortly after 8:30 in a beautiful airport, and we were instantly impressed by the cleanliness of everything around. The Sixt car rental was ready. Starting at 15,731 km (and eventually driving 2,365 km), we drove aimlessly to our first Norwegian stop, Preikestolen, or commonly known as, Pulpit Rock. Despite having a GPS, we got lost several times, but eventually found our footing. The hike took around 4 hours, but we did it slowly. The long flight from Toronto, the long days in Copenhagen, waking up early to board a flight and skipping lunch was draining on our bodies. But regardless, the hike was a must-do on the itinerary and it did not disappoint! Preikestolen is located near Forsand in the Rogaland county, and is the flat top of a cliff that sits in the Lysefjord. The rock was impressively flat and we found hundreds of other hikers running around taking photos. It was truly impressive sitting and standing on an exceptionally flat piece of rock that overlooks several fjords! The water was turquoise, just the way I like it! The hike itself was not too difficult, and the scenery was also engaging. Later that afternoon, we drove to our B&B in Byrkjedal called Byrkjedalstunet. It was a quaint little place in a “town”, which was not really a town. It was really a parking lot, the B&B and an adjacent restaurant on the side of the road beside some mountains. It was simple and beautiful, and inside, truly a modern suite. We ate dinner at the restaurant that night, and the night after. It was our first taste of delicious Norwegian food at Norwegian prices.

July 4 – we woke up early (again, and a recurring theme on the trip) to drive to our next hike, Kjeragbolten. Our GPS told us to take some ferries, but it ended up that the ferry that it wanted us to take only went once a day. We missed it by 10 minutes because the lady at the ferry terminal gave us the wrong directions. Anyhow, long story short, the day did not start well, but we eventually got there. The drive there was 2.5 hours but very nice. The final stretch before getting to the parking lot was amazing. The road went straight into the top of the mountain ranges, so we saw clouds floating around our car, we saw huge lakes hidden in the peaks, goats on the road, and valleys on the way down. We finally parked and started what we thought would be an “easy” hike. We were wrong. The first part of the hike required us to scale the side of the mountain that was angled and smooth. There were no rock steps or path or anything. They did provide chains bolted into the ground, which was okay. The rest of the hike was a combination of climbing up and down valleys, rocky cliffs, snow covered paths, and hilly ravines. I remember there being 3 steep inclines. Those were brutal. The last bit was also tough as the clouds set in so we could not see where the path was. It felt as if we were walking into Mordor. After a few hours, we finally made it to Kjeragbolten. The site was amazing to see. It is essentially a rock measuring 5 cubic metres wedged between two other rocks. Hikers climb onto the rock to take a photo, and to enjoy the beauty of the Lysefjord below. The site was breathtaking, and so was standing on the actual stone. It was one of those moments where I stepped back and thought about how great God’s work really is. Celine’s knees were shaking for quite some time afterwards (being decently afraid of heights), but it was extremely exhilarating to be there in that moment. It was a definite highlight of our trip. On the way back, we tried to walk faster because we saw a storm cloud on our tails. Luckily, we made it out with a few minutes to spare! If we were 10 minutes slower, we would have been drenched. On the way back to Byrkjedal, we stopped on the side of the road to get some water…from the waterfall that was conveniently beside the highway. The water was SO GOOD, so fresh – it was like free Evian everywhere.

July 5 – this was a drive day. We spent most of the day on the road, and only stopped thrice; once, at Valle to eat lunch, another time to see a rapid, and lastly to see the Låtefossen waterfall. Our destination was the Hardanger Hostel B&B past Odda. We were making great time and had plans to sleep early before our hike the next morning, but ended up being stalled at the side of the road for almost two hours. There was construction happening and the single-lane road/highway only opened intermittently. We ended up getting to the hostel around 8:30 and by that time, everything was closed. Thankfully, a hotel in the next town was still open so we bought some sandwiches. We ate at the outdoor seating area at the hostel overlooking the beautiful Hardangerfjord. After dinner, we tried to get some sleep.

July 6 – we woke up around 4 that morning to eat and drive to the base of the Trolltunga hike. Due to the construction, the road only opened at 5 or so, so we had to only push back our start time. We started the hike to Trolltunga at around 6, and were the first 20 or so people to go up that morning. It was a stunning hike, and we had 9 hours to enjoy it. The initial steep incline up the mountain was backbreaking, but the rest of the hike was manageable. The scenery changed dramatically from rivers, massive valleys, rocky mountains, etc. As we ascended further, we started to see craters and lakes hidden behind the massive mountains. The final stretch before the landmark was snowy and wet, but it was worth it because our first look of Trolltunga was jaw-dropping. Trolltunga is a rock jutting out horizontally into the Hardangerfjord 2,300 feet above sea level. This was definitely the main highlight of the trip. I have never seen anything like it! It was magical, like something out of a movie. I motioned for Celine to take a deep breath and soak in everything, because it is moments like this that we hold on to for a lifetime. The air was piercingly fresh. We took photos on the rock and enjoyed the scenery. I looked over the edge and it was indeed a long way down. I felt the sweat in my palms, as both beauty and anxiety clouded my mind. All my senses were filled to the brim. The walk back was not as exciting (same thing back the other way!), but by the end, seeing the car was just as satisfying as seeing Trolltunga. When we finished the hike, it was past 4. Tired but triumphant, we went to find food! We ate pizza.

July 7/8 – the drive to Bergen was light, about 3 hours or so. Bergen is a city on the west coast of Norway. It is the second largest city, after Oslo, and is also known as the city that always rains (something like that). I don’t like rain much, so our 2 days in Bergen were so-so for me. We stayed at the Scandic Bergen City on one night, and the Grand Terminus the other. Grand Terminus is a considered a “historic hotel” so it was neat to stay in. We visited the Bryggen Wharf, Bergenhus Fortress, KODE Art Museum, the Fjellskal Fisketorget (fish market), Floien, etc. We had some great meals at Pingvinen, Munken Bistro, and Ruccola. Overall, it was a nice city but too much rain. We visited an interesting art exhibition/pop-up shop though.

July 9 – this day was blocked off for taking the Flåmsbana Rail. It was very expensive to ride this train, but it was supposed to be a “must-see” in Norway, being one of the oldest and steepest train lines. I think it is considered an engineering masterpiece. It took us from Flåm to Myrdal, and then back the other way, passing by mountains, waterfalls, small towns, etc. It was nice. On the way to Sogndal, we stopped at the Kaupanger Stave Church – the largest stave church in the county – just to see what a stave church was. It was neat. When we got to Sogndal, we just ate and sat around. The town was a stopover town and had nothing to do. We called it an early night.

July 10 – an hour or so outside of Sogndal was the Nigardsbreen glacier arm of the Jostedalsbreen glacier and the largest glacier in continental Europe. The sun was shining and we were excited to see a real glacier! It did not disappoint. From afar, the glacier was already massive and blue-tinted. But as we moved in closer, it just seemed to keep getting bigger. We did a short ice hike up the glacier and learned from our guides (hired from Nepal) that the ice was blue because the glacier is so heavy, that the top was crushing the bottom and pushing the particles unbelievably close together to refract blue light. It was amazing to see the ice up close and how far it stretched beyond the mountain pass. As we hiked back to the car, we passed beautiful rock formations and waterfalls where we bottled up some water for the road. I must say that the water from the Norwegian glaciers and mountains is top notch. We passed by Lake Jølster, Loen, Stryn, and Hellesylt on our way to the town of Bjørke to stay the night. Bjørke was a very small town that had no restaurants and stores, ironically enough. Our friendly concierge from the Hjørundfjord Vandrerhjem Hostel told us to buy food at the local music festival up the road, so we ended up making our way to a very small music festival and buying a shawarma from the food vendor. It was not very good.

July 11 – we woke up early (like clockwork) to take the Geirangerfjord cruise. The fjord is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site and was a wonder to see. The fjord is extremely narrow and is surrounded by some of the steepest mountains in the region. We passed by the highlights, including the Seven Sisters Falls and the Suitor, the Bridal Veil, and the Eagle Road. It was also rainy and sunny on and off, and that created the effect of clouds hugging the mountains. I have seen clouds and mountains before, but the way that the clouds hugged the mountains so closely, it felt like we were closer to the sky. In the afternoon, we drove out to Trollstigen, a narrow and steeply-inclined road with eleven hairpin turns. It was really neat to see from the top and drive down! It was a busy day and with the rain coming down, we both felt a bit groggy. But oddly enough, in the early evening, we reached Ålesund and the sun came out! Alesund soon became our favourite place. We quickly parked the car, dropped our stuff off at the lovely Hotel Brosundet, and went to eat at Zuuma Sushi. By 9, the sun was still out so we did a short hike up to Aksla and enjoyed the sun set over the magical city. The town of Ålesund is a seaport surrounded by water, filled with Art Nouveau architecture. As the sun slowly descended and the orange glow faded into the backdrop, I could not take my eyes off what they have built here. It was as if God was there all along, holding man’s hand when building this place. I didn’t want to leave because I knew that this sight would only hold true at that moment. It was great having Celine with me because we can now reminisce together that special sunset in that special town. The imagery is forever burned into my mind.

July 12 – we used this day to walk around and explore Ålesund. The town is quite small and we found ourselves traversing the same places more than once. It was a great time to relax though because the first part of the trip was very hectic with the driving and hiking and rushing. It was nice to finally stroll lightly through the streets. We did some shopping, eating, and resting, so all in all it was a good day. We finished off with a dinner at XL Diner, one of the best restaurants in town, to try their bacalao.

July 13 – the last major attraction on our road trip was the Atlantic Ocean Road, an 8km that runs through an archipelago and connects several islands in the peninsula to the mainland. It was cool to see that the government decided to build such an intricate piece of infrastructure, as opposed to building something much easier inland. In the evening, we arrived in Kristiansund and we did nothing because the town had absolutely nothing to do (we even tried to consult a tourist map). We ate at a restaurant that was literally 200 m away from the hotel and slept early to get sufficient rest ahead of another early morning.

July 14 – today was a sad day because we had to return our Nissan. After 12 days of winding through the fjords, we had to say bye! After dropping it off at the Trondheim airport, we took the bus back to Trondheim to explore the city. The city centre was busy and looked more developed than some other places we went to, most likely because it was a university town. But after seeing so many coastal cities and wharves, they all started to look the same. We saw some sights (i.e. Old Bridge, Nidaros Cathedral, Bryggen, and the Archbishop’s Palace), did more shopping and had a great meal at Frida Restaurant for some Mexican food. The hotel, Scandic Nidelven, was fantastic!

July 15 – After grabbing our breakfast-to-go from the front desk, we hopped on an early (yet again) flight to the beautiful city of Oslo. The sun was out, and our spirits were up, even though deep down inside, we knew it was the last stop on our trip. After hopping the subway, we unloaded our luggage at our lovely hotel, the Hotel Christiania Teater, which was conveniently located in the heart of the city, and set off for Vigeland Park, an outdoor garden filled with bronze and smooth marble sculptures of bodies in all shapes and forms. Back to the hotel to change out of our sweaty clothes (we were still in long sleeves and pants after the flight) into shorts, we headed towards Akker Brygg, the beautiful waterfront area, where we stopped for a French lunch at the Albert Bistro. We kept walking along the Pier towards Astrup Fearnley Museum, where we were treated with some absolutely breathtaking architecture. There was even a black pebbled beach along the shore. What a beautiful waterfront! I hope Toronto builds its waterfront to be half as nice. We passed the Nobel Peace Prize museum, City Hall, and finally to the stunning new Oslo Opera House, where we walked all the way up onto the slanted rooftop and admired the stark angles and design. Dinner that night was at the Restaurant Fjord, where we had a four course tasting menu and the most amazing dessert. During dinner, another patron stood up and clinked his glass to introduce himself. It was his birthday and he was on vacation with his family from France. He prayed for the world after the devastating attack in Nice, and toasted everyone in the restaurant to peace, love and friendship. It was a very nice gesture in this time of global turbulence.

July 16 – After a quick buffet breakfast, we headed out to the National Gallery. Unlike KODE, it was more like the Met in NYC, and showcased many Scandinavian masters’ works. We particularly liked the world famous painting The Scream by Edvard Munch and had some fun taking a selfie video with it. Lunch was close by at Kaffistova, where we split a plate of reindeer meatballs, boiled potatoes and veggies covered in thick gravy. Dinner for our last night was at Hanami, which was in Akker Brygg. We came in with a budget per person, and boy, did the restaurant deliver. It was our best meal yet – amazing duck, the freshest sashimi, a perfect fluffy dessert! We even showed our waitress our food video! What a great way to finish off the trip.

July 17 – this was departure day. We checked out of our hotel, hopped on the airport bus, flew out of Oslo, stopped over at Heathrow, and landed in Toronto at around 3 in the afternoon.

Celine here – featured celebrity and guest contributor for Chucks & Jeans today.

Almost one year later, we’re off again on another adventure – but this time, to the sunny Western Caribbean! We left early in the morning on February 21 to catch our 7AM flight to Fort Lauderdale. With a wonderful stroke of luck, the rightmost seat in our three-person row was empty and we were both able to have a restful nap lying down and taking turns resting on each other’s lap. We had lined up our flights and booked the cruise way back in December, and booked our 4-night specialty dinner and two excursions since then, so it was exciting to get started. Furthermore, Vince had received his GoPro Hero+ for his birthday and was pretty stoked to start recording (see video here).

After a quick taxi ride from the airport, and we were at the terminal! The Celebrity Silhouette looked stately and beautiful, even from the outside. After getting our luggage whisked away by a porter, we grabbed a glass of champagne on the way to the specialty restaurant booking desk, confirmed our dinner reservations for the remainder of the trip and headed up to the Deck 14’s Oceanview Café. The buffet selection was impressive: made-to-order pasta station, Mexican options (with guacamole), Indian curries, pizza, cheeses of all types, (we missed one day where it was Jamaican food), you name it.

Our inside room was lovely – and not cramped at all! And perfect for sleeping in complete darkness. We then took to exploring the ship and all its amenities: the library and reading pods on Decks 7 and 8, the Theatre on Decks 4 and 5, the gym and Canyon Ranch spa on Deck 15. And what a beautiful ship she was. Celine had sailed before with Disney and Norwegian, Vince had sailed with Royal Caribbean and Carnival, and this was definitely the most decadent (kudos to the premium branding). I personally found it very interesting that Celebrity had an agreement with LVMH on board.

Our first specialty restaurant was at Murano, a classic French bistro. I had secretly hoped that we had saved it for our anniversary on the 25th, but alas, the cruise had the ability to pick your first seating. It was delicious and on par with fine dining in Toronto! Entry fee aside, once you were seated, you could order as many of the items on the menu, buffet meshed with a la carte. I had a mushroom cappuccino soup, salmon tartine, tableside sole and finished the night off with a Grand Marnier soufflé. Vince had pork belly, tableside lobster and the entire mini dessert flight after seeing it delivered to another table.

After dinner, we wandered into the shopping area, where we became quite familiar throughout the cruise with Sajid at the watch store (who almost convinced Vince to purchase a beautiful Tissot watch – which we later Googled back at our room and realized that it was cheaper online) and Sebastien at the jewelry store (who seemed to think I could afford some very expensive jewelry). And when we realized we would have to turn down all their offers, we tried our best to ignore the area entirely and walk around it (even outside on the deck).

We made a point of eating during the earlier slots to catch the shows on board. The cast of Celebrity, a bunch of singers and dancers that had a quite modern spin (considering the older audience), would put on their own shows, spanning decades of music or themes on life.

By the end of the first night, we had discovered that the average age leaned towards 60. We prided ourselves on being youthful representatives.

At Sea (Feb 22)

After a quick breakfast buffet at Oceanview, we headed to the Grand Cuvee Dining Room on Deck 3 to go to our Galley Tour with Executive Sous-Chef Michael from Jamaica, who we would later see and cook with on our last night. It was pretty neat to see how the kitchens worked behind the scenes. We then headed back down to the shopping area to attend the grand opening of the first-ever Tiffany & Co. duty-free-at-sea shop. The captain was there to cut the ribbon! Next, we ran up to the Lawn Club Grill to listen in on a lesson about how to grill the perfect steak. It was a great seminar, and got us even more excited to eat there on our last night. We eventually found the gym and worked out with a beautiful view of the ocean. After a productive hour, we showered, changed and headed up to the topmost deck, the Solstice Deck, to get some sun and read up (I armed with “Young Money” and Vince with “Thinking Fast and Slow”).

After heading back to the room and changing for dinner, we headed down to the Grand Cuvee. While it was still good (Vince had some duck, I think I had fish, and escargots and salmon tartare for our appetizers), it wasn’t a fair comparison to have sampled Murano the night before. However, we loved our server, Jose, and he was a wonderful addition every night we would eat there. We were also, unfortunately, seated in the back corner and next to the worst couple of all time – they had a camera and flashed every time they took a photo…to the point where I started to get a headache. It made going to Grand Cuvee a bit of a reluctant exercise.

Cozumel, Mexico (Feb 23)

 We docked in Cozumel, and after a quick breakfast, hit the town. It was my first time in Mexico, and it was a lot sketchier than I had imagined. We walked around for an hour mind-numbingly looking at the “row of shops” before we decided we needed to actually do something. It wasn’t long before we hunted down a booth offering a snorkel tour. After some clever negotiating, we were offered the child price (US$25 each vs. $40 for adults) and we set off on a freezing boat ride on the water. We had our backs to the splash, and every time it rushed up, it sent us into a fresh round of shivers. But we sailed by the cruise ship and it was nice to see the shore from the ride.

We then spent the next two hours or so snorkelling about. Our guide, Manuel was a great swimmer, and always had a steady supply of fish food to attract the fish swimming around us. We snorkelled above some great coral reefs, saw some scuba divers and large sunken items (but no ships). Even though it was pretty cold, we had a great time (and used the GoPro for the first time!). We snorkelled in three locations, and it was fun to just paddle around.

Aboard the ship, we headed up to Deck 14 to sit in on an acoustic guitar performance. It was so lovely, with the sun on our faces, lying down on blankets and cushions with the wind blowing all around us. I believe Vince even took a small nap as we were serenaded with some oldies and goodies and even some original tunes from the talented guitarist.

Dinner that night was at Qsine, the “fusion” restaurant. We over-ordered a tiny bit, grabbing seven dishes and being stuffed as we tried to take advantage of the Sushi Lollipops, ceviche trio, three types of beef tenderloin, giant ice cream in a silver bullet and many more. I was uncomfortably stuffed. But it was delicious nonetheless, and a great finish to our first day ashore.

Georgetown, Grand Cayman (Feb 24)

Ah, Grand Cayman – the pinnacle of tax havens. Probably our most lively port, Georgetown was bustling with activity, people, shopping and restaurants. We wandered around until we found two lovely marble turtle magnets at a pretty sketchy shop nearby. We also found an RBC! We made a point of walking inside just to check it out and it was pretty minimal. We even asked the shop vendor where we purchased the magnets, and it was clear RBC was not the top bank for the island.

Then, it was back to the entrance to meet our group and go scuba. We signed some papers and headed on a bus ride out to a pool on the oceanfront. After a sit-down lesson and probably 30 minutes doing a trial run in the pool to make sure we had the hang of it, we squeezed into dive suits and headed down the ladder into the Caribbean Sea.  

It was Vince’s first time scuba diving and he took to it splendidly, like a fish in water. I spent much of my time holding the GoPro just taking videos of him swimming around happily. A definitely highlight of our trip, and by far, the best excursion. The water was clear, fairly warm, and always changing, the further we swam out. We saw every kind of fish you could think of, but no sharks or stingrays or turtles.

We also realized that despite all the fun, scuba diving and snorkelling are quite exhausting, and it was nice to take naps throughout the day and just relax when we got back. We are slowly becoming old people. In fact, we were so tired that night that we stayed in the room instead of heading out to that nights’ show (some sort of 70s rock theme) and watched Hunger Games: Mockingjay instead after realizing our TV was not just a TV (but so much more). Then, we quickly fell into an exhausted sleep.

Falmouth, Jamaica (Feb 25)

We arrived early in the morning in Falmouth, Jamaica – the hometown of Usain Bolt, actually. After wandering around the man-made town, we soon grew bored and started to look for a nearby beach we could go to and relax. We soon were on our way on an air-conditioned bus with our driver, Schoolboy, to Red Stripe Beach (Jamaica’s version of PBR). After driving through a gated area of what seemed to be a metal scrapyard where we would probably be attacked / robbed / both, we pulled onto a sandy beach with turquoise waters.

We then spent the next 2 hours or so eating US$10 jerk chicken and fries, getting into the water, playing with the GoPro and tanning on our US$5 lounge chairs. Every single guest on the beach was carrying some sort of Celebrity merchandise, so it was relatively safe and comfortable (notwithstanding the ride in). A quick bus ride back to Falmouth, we pit-stopped for some Blue Mountain coffee Frappuccino, snagged a pair of magnets and got back on the ship.

We had told the reservations desk when we checked in that today was our anniversary so they were quick to recommend and book a table for two at Tuscan Grille, the steakhouse and Italian grill. I changed into what was quickly determined to be Vince’s favourite dress, he put on a shirt and shoes, and we grabbed a glass of Prosecco. What a fantastic dinner it was. We both had steak, lobster, and the works. We even got a lovely dessert as well, with our anniversary celebration written in chocolate writing. Stuffed, we headed to the theatre.

It was this night that Vince was introduced to his favourite act of the cruise – Solomon Jaye. He expertly danced, sang and entertained his way through a variety of hits throughout the decades, some slow, some fast, some modern, some classic, and we simply loved it. Also, we made sure to sit front and centre, dance in our chairs throughout, and, of course, get a photo with him at the end of his second matinee show.

When we got back to our room, Vince gave me my two-year anniversary gift: a video of him serenading me with the “Lava” song from Pixar / Disney. He had secretly spent the last 7-8 months practicing and learning how to play the ukulele and had sworn all friends and family to secrecy. It was the first time I’ve ever burst into happy tears and I will never forget it. (Later, Andrew Brock was quoted, saying: “Vince needs to step down his game – he’s making the rest of us look bad.”) I just might have the sweetest boyfriend of all time. All in all, a perfect day.

Labadee, Haiti (Feb 26)

However, we woke up the next morning slightly tingly and a shade I would describe as “lobster red”. Thank goodness we’d picked up a huge bottle of aloe vera before leaving. We slathered some on, and then headed out.

Like Falmouth, Labadee looked suspiciously like a man-made theme park. It was very clean and very thought out. And like the other places we’d docked at, it was lined with shops selling watches for men and jewelry for women (we were really starting to get a sense of what retired people shop for).

Then, it was time for our second excursion of the trip – ziplining! The moment Vince saw the item on the Celebrity site, the Dragon’s Flight was labeled as a “must do”, and purchased without a second thought. The Dragon’s Flight is the longest above-water zipline, and we were pretty excited, having ziplined before in other places. Even in our group, we were clearly the youngest and probably most adventurous. We first climbed an unnecessary set of stairs and zipped down a shorter line above ground to get the hang of it. Then, after a rickety truck ride to the higher elevation, we saw the entire shoreline! It was great – we were so high, and we could see the water underneath us, the beach, and the entire outline of the island. Vince got a full shot, the full 1-min or so ride all the way down as we “torpedoed” down. It was such a rush, with such beautiful scenery.

After wandering about for some time in the sun, we headed back to the dock and were back in time to go to a crepe-making lesson at the Café de Bacio. I even got a chance to try my hand at using the wooden tool that spread the crepe batter around on the platter (it was actually a lot more difficult than it looks).

One of the definite highlights of this trip was becoming contestants on the Love & Marriage Comedy Game Show on board. We headed to the theatre on Deck 3 after a quick dinner at Grand Cuvee, and we should have known something was up when we were entering the theatre, and one of the staff was far too eager to ask us if we wanted to put our names in the hat for consideration. The host, Entertainment Director Paul, was also really intent on finding a specific slip for our age category. After a few blunders (and quite a bit of anxiety-driven misunderstanding from Celine), we ended up in second place and took home a sparkly gold canvas tote filled with Celebrity-branded goodies: a lanyard, deck of cards, purse holder, pens and a baseball cap. We were later even featured in the highlights reel at the last show! Even when we were checking out, people would ask us if we were on the show – genuine celebrity status attained!

At Sea (Feb 27)

We started the day off with a quick breakfast and gym session. After, we showered, changed and spent the next two hours or so napping in one of the ship’s “love coves” (our own terminology), enclosed and cushioned pods facing the sea. I sincerely regret not doing this earlier in our trip.

Vince had finally decided he was fed up with eating lunch at Oceanview, so we headed over to the Café de Bacio on Deck 5. It was an extra US$10 per person, but was quite a welcome change. We had French onion soup, massive sandwiches with salad, and of course, crepes for dessert. Vince also took decided to get another chocolate ice cream covered in Smarties because, why not.

For our last night, we headed back up to Deck 15 to eat at the Lawn Club Grill. We got there right before the sunset and took some great photos together despite it being windy. I’m really glad we saved this one for last specialty dinner because it was the most fun. The restaurant staff was cheery, fun, and eager to teach Vince how to throw (and catch) and make flatbread, and me how to perfectly sear our steak, fish, scallops and vegetable kabobs. A great opportunity to put those skills learned from the lesson earlier that week! Executive Sous-Chef Michael was there to help us personally grill, and we had a great time chatting with him and learning more about his family and career on board. After trying to finish a giant chocolate chip cookie, we headed back to a blissful last night of rest.

Fort Lauderdale and home (Feb 28)

We had a slow farewell breakfast on board before heading off. We ended up having to sit in the Grand Cuvee while numbers of groups were called to exit one at a time. The whole process ended up taking almost an hour, and we waved goodbye to the ship. However, there was no way of knowing we’d be in for a bit more adventure than we’d planned.

We got on a taxi and told the driver to take us to Las Olas Boulevard. From our limited research, it was going to be like Fifth Avenue or Magnificent Mile or Bloor St. Long story short: the driver misinterpreted our destination, took us to an outlet mall (like Vaughan Mills) in the middle of nowhere, we had to call a ton of people (including the local cops), and got a ride from a good Samaritan and his family back to Las Olas in the end. Lessons learned? Be clear in where your destination is when communicating to taxis, try to Uber whenever possible, and that Americans aren’t all so bad.

We hung around at the airport, ended up having our flight delayed despite having no weather-related issues, and came back to YYZ around 1 in the morning. Quick kiss goodbye, and back to our beds at home.

Tardiness has never been a habit of mine. I dislike tardiness as much as I dislike procrastination, ignorance, alibis and dependency. To me, these things and plethora of other things equate to failure and who wants to be a failure? Growing up, I have been raised with a sense of urgency and accountability which has made me rather, what do you call it, uptight. Yes, I admit that. And this is why I spent the last few sentences explaining why I feel guilty that I wrote this “end of 2015 / new year 2016” post two weeks late.

My parents, being immigrants and all, raised me in what I would call a typical immigrant household. They were not “tiger” parents by any means, but I could see some attributes of “bear” and “lion” in their attributes. It was natural to work hard and put in time and strive for 95% at the minimum, and as I grew up, now I realize that this has permeated throughout my life. Whether it is with friendships or relationships, at work or in my personal life, the sense of having perfection was the only option. 

I recently read an article called “You probably know to ask yourself, “What do I want?” Here’s a way better question” by Mark Manson. Great piece – it talked about understanding what you want but also understanding the underlying work and costs of your decision. I understand this concept but sometimes it still escapes me. Do I want to be healthy? Yes, so eat right and go workout. Do I want to have strong relationships and friendship? Yes, so put in the time and effort. I find it mind-boggling that, as Mark has indicated, many still want to have their cake and eat it, and on top of that, the cake has to be free. The January gym rush is one example. Lately, it is impossible to find a spot on the bench because the population that wants to bench has increased two/threefold. I don’t worry though, because February will roll around and it will be quiet again, like it always does. I have always been a proponent of being consistent versus being driven by special-situations. Going to Hawaii? Most would work hard and eat healthy because they need the beach bod soon. Then what? After Hawaii, do you stop? I disapprove of the special-situations thinking for lifestyle because it seldom works. Lifestyles need to weather the storm and need to start from the heart.

In the last few years, I have set goals for myself. You know, “to-do” lists. This year, I am starting from scratch and adding a new element borrowed from Mark’s article: what am I willing to do to achieve this goal?

Travel and go to 2 – 3 new countries to expand cultural horizons – will set aside time and money to explore new places vs. go to familiar places that are “easy”

Develop a long-term financial plan – will research investment ideas and allocate money to pay myself first using a well thought-out thesis

Nurture strong relationships and friendships – will proactively make time and plans with the people who matter vs. be reactive

Develop strong goodwill – will work diligently to become an asset to my employer and colleagues

Expand professional network – will reach out to existing and new connections to connect on a personal level

I think this makes sense. 2015 was a great year and to cap it all off, these were the most memorable moments that I will store in my memory bank:

Standing in the rice fields in Vang Vieng with her: the moment that I saw the fields, I stopped in my steps. It was a picture straight out of a postcard – lush fields of tall, green rice paddies with mountains in the backdrop. Whether eating breakfast and seeing the sun peak over the hills or watching dusk roll in, the scene was magical. Of course, I had the love of my life with me which made it even better.

Seeing my friends get married: I had a million weddings to go to this summer but despite how expensive it was, I enjoyed each and every one. It is amazing how far we have all come as friends and individuals, and watching my friends go through the happiest time of their lives was priceless.

Eating very spicy jerk crab and washing it down with a spicy margarita in Montreal: the description says it all. Celine and I stuffed our faces with amazing crab and my tongue was on fire. What’s better than washing it all down with an equally spicy cocktail?

Having Christmas dinner and pub-crawl with my circle: what was an impromptu holiday dinner turned into a very memorable night of good food, laughs and drinks. On top of that, it was very warm.

Jogging along the lake to my hill: I have this love/hate relationship with jogging but during the summer, I find solace in running to my hill near Corus Quay and watching the clouds go by, and burning some sweat as I watch the sun set in the horizon across the lake. It helps me clear my mind and have a moment to myself.

Enjoying the West Coast: I took some trips out to British Columbia and California. It was amazing watching the sun set at Canada Place, cycling around Victoria Island and the Vancouver Sea Wall, overeating at the Boiling Crab, and topping it all off with several days with the boys at a mansion just outside of Los Angeles.

Seeing the fireworks at Epcot with Celine: it was magical.

Celine and I started our SE Asia trip on the morning of February 12. The flights were long but we were nonetheless excited to start our adventure and what better way to do so than aboard Korean Air. The plane was comfortable, the food was decent, and the movie selection was great. The 24-hour commute allowed me to watch several movies (Expendables 3, Maze Runner, Big Hero 6, Gone Girl) so I was happy. We landed in Seoul and ate some food in the amazing food court before buying myself a selfie stick from the electronics store for USD $25. It proved to be very handy. Our first stop was Yangon and after inflating my newly flattened butt, we managed to get back to the hotel and catch some shuteye.

Myanmar (February 14 – February 19)

We woke up and quickly gobbled up breakfast, consisting of noodles, coconut soup, and other continental buffet choices. The trip finally started as we stepped into the sprawling city of Yangon! Similar to that of many other major Asian cities, Yangon was built around a city center, which in this case was Shwedagon Pagoda. Shwedagon is an important religious monument in the country and was constructed over 2,500 years ago, serving as a hub for Buddhists. The pagoda was impressive in size and construction, with a giant golden stupa built directly in the center encircled by multiple smaller temples and stupas. Yangon was a bit anticlimactic as it felt like the typical dirty Asian city. It had an independence monument, a flea market sort of thing, traffic jams, and streets filled with garbage. Was it different from HCMC or Bangkok? Same same but different. Oh yes, there were some also crumbling British colonial buildings. Woopp. Mmmmm we also saw Chauk Htat Gyi, a really big reclining Buddha statue. That was pretty aight. An interesting thing that I learned was how to wear a longyi, a traditional piece of clothing worn by Burmese men around their waste like a skirt.

The next stop was Inle Lake. It was a bit difficult getting here because the closest airport was in Heho, a one hour car ride away from the gateway to the lake, Nyaung Shwe. Once we got into town after an early morning flight, we hopped into a Burmese boat that took us into what can only be described something out of a postcard. Aside from the loud machine sounds coming from our boat motor, the misty glow that hugged the mountains and lakeshore painted a beautiful picture that was nothing short of breathtaking. Farmers and fishermen dotted the waters that soon blended into the blue skies. It was one of the moments where I had to stop and let it all soak in. Life. Ahhhhhh. #datsimplelifedoe The fishermen in this region row in an unusual way. The fishermen would stand on the stern of their wooden boats with one foot with the other foot wrapped around the ore, which was used as a lever to row. Their balance and core strength was incredible to see. The farming technique was also interesting - seaweed would be hoisted into a boat and transported to a nearby farm area where the seaweed would be fastened to large bamboo sticks anchored to the bottom of the lake. This seaweed served as the bed of a floating garden in the middle of the nutrient-rich lake used to plant tomatoes, gourds, and other vegetables. This technique has been around for quite some time! Human intelligence never ceases to amaze me. We stopped for lunch at a floating village in the middle of the lake that had an incredible view of the waters and the mountains. After lunch at the Eyeful Restaurant, we delved deeper into the floating villages and had an opportunity to see how the local people lived. The villages were all built on stilts in the water and although everything was made out of wood, I found the architecture and construction incredible as these people could do so much with so little. Often we would see children paddling by on canoes, old women washing their clothes in the water. I wouldn’t survive a day out here but these people call this home. The sun went down shortly after as we settled overnight at a beautiful place called the Pristine Lotus Spa Resort. We explored the resort area and relaxed before heading off again the next morning to the Indein Villages further in the Inle Lake region. This village was on land and was less tourist-y than the other places we’ve seen. There were many damaged pagodas and stupas everywhere which were interesting to see. This was our last stop before flying to Bagan.

Bagan was again a short one-hour flight away. We got in around sunset and after a quick dinner at a local restaurant (that served amazing fish soup by the way!) we turned in for an early night at the Myanmar Treasure Resort. The room was extremely comfortable but we only got a few hours before hopping onto the sunrise hot-air balloon ride over Bagan. As this was my second hot-air balloon ride, I did a lot of comparing notes to my first balloon ride in Turkey back in 2013. The safety precautions were performed much more thoroughly and professionally here in Myanmar so I was very impressed. I was however very dissatisfied with the landing. I know that I’m jumping to the end here but I wanted to make note that our landing was rough, the basket dragged on the ground at a 45 degree angle for a good 15-20 feet, and ended up tipping over at the end. The pilot blamed the winds. But overall the flight was great. Bagan is an exciting place to do a balloon ride, as the horizon is dotted with thousands of pagodas. After we landed, we quickly ate a real breakfast and started on our long day of exploring this ancient archaeological city. We walked to see the villages and were lucky enough to catch a local festival that happens only once a month where young boys and girls are sent to the monastery as novices. We saw some pagodas, some temples, and some more pagodas and temples. The Ananda Pagoda was cool – it was big and had some big Buddha images. We saw many Buddha images where his left palm faced outward and the other hand touched the ground. We asked our guide what this meant. He told us that this was a popular story of Buddha being attacked by evil spirits led by Mara just before attaining nirvana. Devoted to non-violence, he touched the ground and called for help from the Earth goddess who sprung up from the ground to come to his aid and drowned the evil spirits with water from her hair. I’m not sure why her hair had water but she was Earth, and Earth has water. And yes, the images depicted Earth as a woman. Next, our guide took us to his village to see how the locals lived. Again, very basic but it looks like everyone there was very happy, despite not having something as fundamental and simple as running water. At dusk, we climbed to the top of Shwesandaw Temple to join the crowds in watching the sun finally set after a long day.

The morning flights continued as we jetted off yet again from Bagan to Mandalay. We landed just in time to see the morning alms ceremony at Mahagandayon Monastery where 1,500 monks lined up to collect food donations. We explored the famous monastery a little, watched the monks eat and saw the kitchen. It is a pretty big operation and according to our guide, it costs USD $1 to feed a monk a day so for a donor to donate 1 days worth of food to the monastery costs about $1,500, a substantial amount of money in Myanmar. We ate, saw the U Bein Teak Bridge, some pagodas, some temples, and some pagodas. My favourite was Mahamuni Temple, known to be one of the holiest sites in Myanmar as it housed Buddha’s tooth and hair. There was a big golden Buddha in the middle of the place (surprise, surprise) where people could buy gold leaves and layer them onto the statue as a donation. I got to layer some gold on and it was fun. Celine couldn’t go in because no women were allowed past the gated area. Clearly, me > Celine. Another interesting place was the UNESCO World Heritage Kuthodaw Pagoda that housed the world’s “Biggest Book” (1,460 pages that takes over a year to read!) that was, instead of being written on paper, was inscribed on large stone tablets in tiny Burmese script. At the end of the day, we did something very different. We saw a sunset on top of a hill…Mandalay Hill =D Definitely one of the more beautiful sunsets we witnessed throughout.The next day we started early and went to a market in Mandalay. This market sold everything, from fish to chicken to fruits to blocks of ice. It was a very busy and dirty market, nothing too unexpected from such a city. Markets are always the centre of daily life and it was interesting to see the local people do their morning runs. I most certainly wouldn’t eat anything purchased at this market for the obvious sanitary reasons. We visited a few more temples and monasteries before heading to the jade market where jade was cut and polished and sold to locals and tourists alike. This was an outdoor wholesale factory where Celine purchased a hunk of jade for USD $3. Later at the airport, the customs officers tried to confiscate it on account of the lack of receipt but Celine managed to power her way through to negotiate this piece out of Myanmar. Next we hopped onto our flight to Chiang Rai via Bangkok.

Thailand (February 19 – February 24)

We spent several hours in the Bangkok airport and Celine bought me a birthday bubble tea :) I also bought myself a birthday McDonald’s because I was craving a taste of home. Although I don’t usually eat McDonald’s back home, I needed some Western food! The flight into Chiang Rai arrived late at night and we slept almost immediately after getting off the plane. The next morning we met up with our guide Dtong and driver Yai to start our 4 days in Northern Thailand. We visited Wat Phra Kaew, the temple housing the Emerald Buddha, and made our way to the Golden Triangle, where the rivers connected three countries: Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. China was just up the river as well. Known to be an opium trade route, this place was merely a stop for tourists to take photos of the rivers. Celine and I ended up walking around the small town of Chiang Saen taking pictures of more Buddhas and stuff and that was the day. Our dinner overlooking the river was good though =)

The next day we had a full itinerary, kicking it off by visiting the Karen tribe near Mae Chan. The Karen are native Burmese but fled to Thai borders as refugees during the time of the military regime in Myanmar. They are well known for wearing heavy brass rings around their necks that push their collar bones down and compress the rib cage, creating the illusion that their necks are elongated. They are a nice group of people who appear to be struggling to maintain their cultural identity, resorting to catering to tourists to make a living. Nonetheless, it was an interesting sight to see. Afterwards we explored the White Temple and Black Temple, both art museums created by national Thai artists to personify Heaven and Hell, and the Khun Korn Waterfall. That night we drove through the mountains (which made me a bit car sick) and settled into Rabeang Pasak Treehouse Resort, a hotel built on trees entirely out of wood. The owner of this place was a gifted architect who designed and built each house with the help of his family and villagers. It was amazing to see how he managed to get running water, a functional bathroom, and electricity into each individual room! It was relaxing sleeping with nature with the sounds of the river and crickets in the background. 

We forged on in the morning by visiting the Seven Coloured Springs and Bua Thong Waterfalls. The spring itself was a small cove of water that housed holy water and was a real treat to see. It is hard to describe the spring as it looked as if it contained multiple shades of green and blue. Bua Thong, or the “sticky” waterfalls, was true to its name – it was possible to walk up and down the falls barefoot as the underlying stone had a “non-slip” surface. Celine and I spent some time in and around the falls before grabbing some food and Thai iced tea from 7-Eleven and heading to Tiger Kingdom and the Maesa Elephant Camp, where we petted baby and fully-grown tigers, and went for an elephant ride and quick banana and sugar-cane feeding session. We finally made it to the city of Chiang Mai and after resting for a few hours, we headed out to the Night Market. Originally, we wanted to see the Sunday Night Market that happened only on Sundays, but our shuttle dropped us off at the daily Night Market instead. I’m not sure who made the mistake but I blame the hotel for incorrect signage. Anyway, we ate some delicious food, got a massage, and did some shopping before calling it a night. 

Our last day in Thailand was spent in and around Chiang Mai visiting temples and stuff. We did go to Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, and the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek. In the evening we walked around the downtown core and ate some frozen yogurt before catching a few Muay Thai matches at Thapae Stadium. I wasn’t expecting much and came out both confused and excited. The reason for this was because the first few fights were between children but the last few matches were fought between decent amateurs. I’m not sure how they can put children into a ring and have them fight, albeit they are trained boxers.The next morning we spent some time at the Art in Paradise Museum that showcased some interactive art that proved fun to photograph before flying to Laos.

Laos (February 24 – March 1)

We landed in Luang Prabang in the evening and shuttled into Le Bel Air Resort. It was a quaint little place near the Old Bridge of Luang Prabang. Our room was extremely big and rustic with a large bed. I love large beds. After freshening up, we quickly threw on some clothes and made our way to the night market. This night market was well organized and stretched for a few hundred metres. The stalls sold the typical trinkets, t-shirts, souvenirs and were jam packed with tourists. A narrow alleyway off to the side sold the food. Albeit a bit unsanitary, the food actually looked and tasted pretty good. There was a variety of meats and vegetables served buffet style and were extremely cheap. We munched on some skewers and finished off with coconut baos. Before we ended the night, we bought some freshly baked goods for breakfast the next morning.

We woke up before sunrise the following day to see the monks collect morning alms which was uneventful. Despite being cold and miserable, my selfie stick broke after I accidentally dropped it on the ground. What a terrible start to the day. The morning and early afternoon was spent on a boat that took us along the Mekong River to the Pak Ou Caves. The caves themselves were not that impressive but nonetheless it was an attraction. I found it more exciting to be walking around the Luang Prabang Old Quarters, exploring the many temples that lined the one main road in the city. At night we attended the ballet at the Royal Ballet which was very entertaining. The costumes were elaborate and the dancing was beautiful. The day also happened to be our one year anniversary so we chose a nice restaurant to celebrate. Lucky enough, Trip Advisory suggested a great place called the Blue Lagoon that was both romantic and delicious. The quality of the food was superb and albeit the price was high for Laos, any comparable restaurant back home would have costed triple of quadruple the price. It was a fantastic way to spend our 365th day together.

On our last day, Celine and I took a tuk tuk out to the Kuang Si Waterfalls which is a tiered waterfall that boasted a natural infinity pool. The turquoise water cascaded down mountains, caves and trees and was a magical thing to see. We hiked up the waterfalls, searching for the off-path infinity pool but were unsuccessful. We did however manage to get to the top of the falls and get back down safely, a miracle in my books given that we were both wearing flip flops. The water was cold but we mustered some courage to swim a little in the handful of pools that were open for fun and frolic. On the way back to town, I fell asleep on Celine’s shoulder to battle fatigue and also the constant state of motion sickness that was plaguing me on the trip. Our last stop was climbing to the top of Mount Phousi to see the sunset.

Luang Prabang was historic and beautiful, heavily contrasted to the party city of Vang Vieng. We had no way of getting to Vang Vieng after our flight landed in Vientiane so we had to pay USD $90 to charter a private mini-van. The town itself was unimpressive and owed its popularity mainly to the Nam Song filled with drunk Europeans tubing down the river. The cheap, poor quality food did nothing to help the cause. Celine and I did however have a great time lounging near the riverside, exploring random plots of land filled with cows and poop, kayaking down rapids, and enjoying the beautiful rice field behind our hotel. Vang Vieng was a good place to relax after a hectic few weeks running around SE Asia.

The return to Toronto was brutal. Our first leg was taking a mini van back to Vientiane. After we got off, we had time for a quick massage and dinner before getting to the airport. 26 hours later, we finally made it back to Toronto. Throughout the commute home, I was extremely tired and nauseous. Later I found out that I caught the stomach flu, most likely due to the small mouth of water that I mistakenly gulped down during my short swim in the Nam Song River. Some interesting things did happen that I want to jot down:

Apparently, I am too sexy for passport photos, restaurants, and the temples. In Yangon, we needed to take passport photos for our upcoming application to obtain a Laos visa on arrival. After I took the photo, our photo lady edited my photo to cover my tank top with an image of a suit. At lunch, the waiter told me that I needed to cover my shoulders so I had to put on my jacket. Coincidentally, Celine was in short shorts, which only furthers this argument. In Chiang Mai while entering a temple, the lady behind the information desk rushed over and made me go back outside to put on a robe to cover my shoulders. In conclusion, I am too sexy for Asia.

Old Asian people are annoying. In one example, a middle-aged Chinese man and woman managed to collectively hoark three large mouthfuls of phlegm into some sort of basket. We, along with a nearby French couple, were disgusted at the sight and sound of this. The second example is at the Vientiane airport when a large group of old Korean tourists decided that it was okay to cut the check-in line, and then the customs line, while others have been lining up for a while already. They also ignored the verbal complaints raised by the other travelers. In conclusion, old Asian people need to learn some manners.

There is always a strange turn at what you think is a straight path, and a fork in what you originally thought was an obvious road. When I was in my early 20's, there was a sense of freedom and calm, an optimism and "us against the world" mentality that has now been overshadowed by a developed and distinguished realist that I like to call maturity. Metaphorically, it is the image of young me running in the grassy plains towards the sunset without a care in the world becoming the current me carrying a rain jacket in case it rains and pacing myself to make sure that I can run the whole distance. 

The overarching desire to figure it out has never been stronger but the harder and faster I try to grasp for the ledge, the more clumsy I become. As with most things, I am learning that it sometimes pays to zone out, follow your heart, and wait for the right moment. Life has a clever way of keeping it interesting. It keeps you on your toes. I've never considered a life mantra important until the last few years. Just before I turned 25, I began writing down goals with measurable steps to achieve certain things in life, focusing on family, friends, career, and personal development. There is just slightly more than three months before I turn 28 and I am now realizing that these written goals have shaped my thinking more so than I could have ever imagined.

I often hear that life is a combination of choices and chance. Of course, there is the "life is never a straight line" theory which is true. It may not be a straight line, but it can be if you want it to be. The line can be straight, make a sharp turn suddenly, or shoot backwards. As the carrot dangles in front of the rabbit, it is again the test of patience and devotion that defines this rabbit.