I just saw a text file named "Best of 2010" in the My Documents folder in my computer. I'd completely forgotten about it -- it was something I'd written up for this blog a year ago, but never posted it. Here are the contents of that file:

Best purchase
Tweezerman tweezers
AirOptix contact lenses

Best trip
Trip home in October

Best decision
To start running

Best show
Keane at Fox Theater, Oakland

Best family time
Playing Beatles: Rock Band 

Most delicious meal outside of Malaysia
Any of the meals I had at NYC

Best lab moment
Successfully differentiating fat cells

Best gift received
Black harem pants

Best yumcha session
Papparich at Kota Damansara in October 

Best thing I learnt
Swimming freestyle

I chuckled as I read through this. Each one of these entries have a vivid memory attached to it. Oh my, how things have changed since then. One year seems to just fly by at this age that you often forget that so many things ... so much shit goes down in 365 days.

I can't even begin to list down every little highlight of 2011. 2011 was ... an amazing year. Soooo many things happened that I keep thinking half of them happened in 2010! I remember I had this great, long list of things I wanted to achieve in 2011 a year ago. Accomplishing most of them was great, but what made the year more amazing were things that I didn't plan for.

Yes, I did things I wanted to, such as:
- Passed my Qualifying Exam
- Produced data in my research project
- Ran 10.6 miles at the Big Sur Marathon, and a half marathon at the SF Nike Women's Marathon
- Picked up rock climbing
- Became physically fit and toned
- Traveled to new places
- Saw Foo Fighters and Incubus in concert 
- Started volunteering at the Raptor Center again
- Got certified as a scuba diver
- Realized my dream to see soft corals in Fiji
- Realized my dream to dive in kelp forests

Most of all, what made 2011 special for me was ... relationships. New relationships were built, and existing relationships were strengthened. I'm happy to have gotten to know more people this year. I'm elated to have gotten to know some really awesome people. I can't walk around in Meyer Hall without stopping to talk to someone. I'm talking so much and having so much fun at work now that I'm finding it extremely hard to be productive XD.

Now, it's 2012. This year, I am setting very few goals. One large, overarching goal that is extremely important ... and three smaller, accessory ones:

GOAL OF 2012: Finish, graduate and acquire a PhD in Genetics from University of California, Davis.

Accessory goals of 2012:
1. Dive more in the Americas before I leave this part of the globe for good.
2. Buy a BCD, regulator set and dive computer to complete my gear.
3. Earn/Save enough money to accomplish all this, and still have enough money to not completely forgo my other hobbies and to wrap things up at the end of the year.

*takes a deep breath* I can do this.

Happy new year, everyone. 

Surprising.

I told myself I would work on my Excel spreadsheet for a few minutes, and then start playing my new game. I donned my stereo headphones, hit play on my Foo Fighters playlist on Spotify and started crunching numbers.

It's been 1 hour now, and I still feel like working on the numbers. Mostly because I don't want to stop listening to great music. It's like hey -- the Foos are making me productive, so I might as well stay productive!

Yes, I'm obsessing. But how can I not, after going to the most amazing concert ever? After jumping and screaming for almost 3 hours? After beholding one of my favorite bands with my very own eyes and hearing my favorite tunes live, reverberating through me? 

Thanks to Spotify, I have 112 tracks (pretty much their discography in its entirety) in one playlist and I can listen to all of them on command. Fucking awesome.

And Uncharted 3, the game I've been looking forward to, is sitting next to my PS3, waiting its turn. Shocking! :)  

Grasshopper the Swainson's Hawk took a nap on my glove today. That was after he preened himself for half an hour, probably trying to make himself look handsome before getting shown off to the visitors, but actually messing up his feathers and making him look more goofy. He'd get tiny bits of feather on his beak and he'd try to shake them off unsuccessfully, then he'd lick 'em a lil bit before spitting them out. And when we were outside talking to visitors, he had his head bowed, staring at the flies on his feet. Once in a while, he'd peck at them but always miss, drawing laughter from me and the visitors.

What a precious bird. Such an adorable boy.

And he lives in a facility that had just lost its funding from the university and is now operating solely on donations. And this facility also recently lost another $20,000 worth of donations, in the form of mice (food for the birds), from a company that got bought over.

I don't think the California Raptor Center can take another hit. At this rate, we will only last another year. The birds need your help. Not only the resident birds, but the 200+ injured and orphaned birds we rescue every year.

The CRC needs your help. Every penny counts. http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/calraptor/support/index.cfm

Online shopping is hard. When you have the World Wide Web at your "window-shopping" disposal, the choices available to you just seem limitless.

As someone who is not rich but has pretty decent (if not exceedingly good, ha!) taste, I consider myself a careful and discerning buyer. I would rather take ages to plow through every single selection until I find one that strikes a chord. This is why it took me 3 years to finally replace a wallet that I had lost. And also why it took me 5 years to finally buy a backpack that I liked. 

As a geek, I would take quality, functionality and practicality into consideration. I read reviews on multiple websites before I start formulating a decision. I want badass tech. 

As a girl, I also place great importance in aesthetics. I would prefer buying something that looks as cute as it is great in functionality. I want to look awesome.

Caution + Practicality + Aesthetics = online shopping NIGHTMARE. Argh! And I've been doing lots of it. I'm so sick of it.

Over the summer, I was prepping for my SWV trip. So, I spent weeks poring over websites to look for my wetsuit. Then, I spent weeks looking for the perfect set of rashguards. Then, I spent some more time looking for another swimsuit. 

Now, I've been prepping for my next diving trip. I've been spending the last month looking for fins, a mask strap cover, a new Buff headwear to match my mask, and the biggest source of my headache: a camera and underwater housing.

So far, I have been happy with all my purchases. But I'm just a little ehh about my camera. I spent so much time splitting my head over camera choices and talking to people, before I finally decided on a model and bought it last week. I got it in the mail yesterday and have been testing it. I came back home a few hours ago and went back to my head-splitting mode -- opening multiple tabs of different websites to investigate if I'd made a good purchase. I was about to get sucked into the endless spiral of camera reviews again when it suddenly came to me that I should check my bank account.

And I did. I realized that I forgot to account for the fact that I also recently bought a pair of compression tights for running and that I have to buy a couple of games that are coming out soon. So I stopped looking. I am settling with this camera. Just because it is what I can afford for now. :(

Money. Makes your decisions for you.

And also: goddamn me and my multiple interests!!! *shakes fist*

It's been getting harder to leave KL, especially in the past few years. Which is odd, since Davis is practically my second home already. This probably means I'm ready to move back home ...

I got teary-eyed when I said goodbye to a certain friend in a shopping mall. I turned away and rode the escalator down, trying to wipe my tears off without ruining my eye makeup.

Less than 24 hours ago, I was also teary-eyed going down an escalator -- this time at the airport. I turned back to wave one last time at my parents, but my vision was so blurred that I only saw their silhouettes.

But I'm not gonna whine this year. I did complain for a while, but I stopped and kicked myself inwardly. What am I talking about? I am 1-2 years from getting a PhD, I am healthy, and I am not even 27 yet. I am fortunate, so I should shut the fuck up.

So I rode the plane with very dry eyes. Spent time updating my dive logbook, watching movies, staring out the window, and sleeping. Then, I rode the shuttle home, staring at the Northern California landscape and not feeling repulsed by it at all. When I turned my key into my apartment building and walked into it, the smell of it was unexpectedly comforting.

I am home. Year 2011-2012, bring it on.