Christmas is here again. And it always marks the coming to an end of the old year.

I shall try to be retrospective and look back into the last year.

As like previous years, 2008 has been another exciting and tumultuous, energizing and enervating, magical and mystifying, clarifying and baffling, as well as gratifying and regretful year for me. Luckily, it has always been more good than bad. =)

This has been the year when I graduated after 4 years in NUS. This was the year when I had my most draining semester trying to complete a thesis in the midst of drama and emotional inertia. I am just glad that I had a lot of support from some rather key friends in my life, notably WT, PQ, XY, Ray, Small Bird, IT Darren and E. And thankfully I got a rather decent grade too! Graduating with a Second Class Upper, I fell short of my goal 4 years back, but like I always tell myself (and usually always on hindsight, shoot for the moon and even if you miss, you would land up among the stars).

Having "retired" from DB, I am always grateful for the experiences. There have been so many good moments and down episodes in both the sport and in OKR. I knew I have grown so much stronger, mentally and physically there. And I have made some really good friends and taught me alot of lessons. Mainly about how much I can push myself if I want to, and how much focus and concentration is needed to accomplish amazing feats.

Simultaneously, DB has also taught me the evil, bitchy, overly competitive, hypocritical, selfish and narrow-mindedness of people. A good stepping stone into the rather cruel world that I will soon be stepping into. Luckily, DB also taught me that there will always be people I can turn to, if I would only just knock on their doors. =)

I also joined Toastmasters in NUS. Best decision ever I should say, in the development of a wider perspective of the working world. Gotten to learn more about public speaking, networking, giving feedback in a positive way and reacting to public embarrassments in a more gracious way. Got to know some really interesting people there too. Most importantly, they have given me the motivation and confidence to speak up before I speak out, and to think through before I speak up.

After graduation, I took up an internship at the Singapore Civil Service College. There I learnt more about the public service and CSCI's functions as a department in this statutory board. I had good mentors who were very kind in guiding me and very flexible in letting me do what needed to be done. At the job, I learned about work productivity through James Allen's book and that spurred me into doing more research about GTD and productivity theory. I cant say that Im now the most organized and productive person in the world, but at least I know where my faults lie.

Been helping out at PPC and am really glad to get to know a more intellectual and social side of the community besides all its usual "vices" (and of course, such judgments is always relative). Wish I can contribute more when I return.

Lastly, the long awaited journey to my trip to Japan. Japanese classes at Bunka were so fun and tiring of course, especially after school or work. But Im glad to have made friends there too, esp. Jade. Hope that we can converse in Japanese when I return!

And of course, the Fall semester here at Waseda is coming to an end real soon. A few more weeks after the Winter Holiday will be the Spring Holiday. Glad to have made a lot of friends with very different perspectives about their own lives, cultures and stories. My Intercultural Communications class, Collapse of Complex Societies class, Global Environmental Systems class, Global Environment Politics and Policies class and of course, my Japanese classes all have been great, enriching and edifying! I believe I have learnt so much, and made really good friends too! People like Satoshi, Michi, Shoji, Arisa, Aya, Junya and so many more. And even outside of classes, I made friends like Masao and Hide through other friends.

Having made friends through the JSA like Eng Seng, Hor See, Stephanie, Ee Phong, Goi and more made me realise that there is more to Japan than just school and sushi. Coming to Japan taught me that its not just about Japan. Its about home too. And of course the Singapore classmates who came along with me. Even though Im older, one should keep an open mind about who's junior and who's senior in hierarchical Japan. They have taught me alot of things too.

And of course, Im so glad to have met Yoshi again after so long. And am thankful for Ms Oochi's guardianship. And also to Eddie who has been so much like my elder brother here in Japan.

Last but not least, I am very grateful for my family. Especially to my parents who have supported me in so many ways. =)

In short, it was a very, very, very good year.

I don't need any more presents. I already got them. =)

Just a sudden spurt of inspiration to pen my unedited thoughts.

Life in Japan has been great. It has been a real learning experience for me so far. For someone who has never been on exchange (having, to some extent, mindlessly devoting myself to my extra curricular activities these last 4 years and severely miscalculating the opportunity costs), this trip to Japan has opened my eyes to many things and issues.

Probably the most salient issue is that of national identity. Being a foreigner in the famous Japan -- that is in some cases subtle and in many blantant, xenophobic -- I have come to understand and appreciate my own identity as a Singaporean a lot more. And even more so when many of the classmates I have met are either foreigners or Japanese with a lot of international exposures. And through their stories (especially in Introduction to Intercultural Communications class), I get to hear many stories and see from their perspectives what it means to be Japanese, or whichever nationality that they come from. And of course, their stories have gotten me to think about what it means for me to be Singaporean.

I sometimes wonder why so many students were encouraged to go abroad for exchanges in NUS. I half suspect that, after going abroad, a sense of national identity and pride swells. Well, it did at least for me. I am very happy to talk about my country, how clean, how efficient and how much cheaper (compared to Tokyo) Singapore is. Of course, I try to objectify Singapore's image and remind them about the high prices for tobacco and alcohol and the death penalty for drug possession. But that only makes me appreciate the policies that the Singapore government has made with regard to these issues.

Perhaps because of me, being who I am, rather than get all hyped up about seeing the beautiful kouyou, or autumn foilage, or the snow covered whiteness of the northern parts, I get more concerned with the human aspects of my own surroundings. Yes, the physical environment is beautiful, but I would rather spend my time drinking coffee inside a warm cafe with friends, or even a (cheap) can of beer on the cold sidewalk along Waseda dori with Tosh. To me, the development of human relationships bears a different kind of beauty. A hello or a smile along the corridor, a touching story of their adapting to foreign environments in ICC class, or even just the silly jesting of nonsensical phrases in Japanese class. These are the moments that get me going.

At the same time, me being a political science major, have this tendency to be bogged down with the more depressing issues of the wider environment. The global recession and its impacts on companies are huge. But take the trickle effects even further, what would be the multiplied effects on the people, especially the poorer segments. And what about the environment that is so intimately linked with poverty? These are issues that bug me and no amount of brown leaves can alleviate the heavy thoughts that weigh my mind.

Of course, as usual, I think too much. =)

I guess being 25, and having to constantly repeat to my friends who ask, that I am 25, pricks my mind to ask, "so what does being 25 mean?" A quarter of my life has passed (assuming I would live till 100) and what am I doing here in Japan that might help me contribute to the betterment of the wider environment? How can I serve and give to making it easier for my fellow humans to breathe better? And this coming from the guy who has yet to find a job, and who might continue to be jobless because of the difficult economic conditions and language barriers.

And again, I think too much. =)

So these some of the issues that I am constantly thinking these last 3 months. Less about where I am going to travel (though I still want to see some specific spots), less about what delicious sashimi I am going to eat (though I really want to try going to Tsukiji Fish Market at 4 am in the morning), less about when I am finally going to fill that bathtub of mind and soak in there for an hour (cos my heater bill eats my money faster than the dropping of oil prices) and less about who I am going to try to get into bed with (cos some foreigners here seem to be more preoccupied with the idea of a more intimate form of "inter-cultural exchange" of the biblical kind). But its nonetheless interesting that I should be so strung up by the tensions of such dialectical brooding.

In conclusion, I am really appreciating and enjoying my time in Japan!