Review: 2006

Studies
2006 was a defining year for me because it marked the end of my studying life and the start of my working life. I'm truly blessed because I managed to graduate with the kind of grades that I didnt think I could achieve back in Beta Trimester 1. After much hard work and perseverance, everything worked out real well for me. I'm glad my Final Year Project received very favourable grading from my supervisor and my moderator. It really helped push my CGPA higher. Overall, I graduated from university with many funny memories of lecturers (Elvis Koay, Lembut Ibrahim, etc.) and fond memories of my uni mates.

Travelling
My first trip for 2006 was the KL-Penang-Cameron Highlands-KL road trip I had with Ashwin, Choo and Keng Mun. We started the trip right after our final exam papers. We stuffed ourselves crazy in Penang with ikan bakar, char kuey tiow, cendol, dim sum and had a great time staying by the beach at Batu Ferringhi. Then, we enjoyed the jungle trekking in Cameron, filling our lungs with fresh highland air and black diesel exhaust from the 4X4s. That's also where I had my best ever cup of teh tarik, which is at the Boh Tea Plantation cafeteria.

The next trip was the Genting trip with Ashwin, Choo, Gary, Siew Lin, and Siew Har, right after the end of the World Cup. We spent the time there playing Uno, sharing stories, singing karaoke till our throats got sore and screaming our lungs out playing the outdoor rides. Genting was also the place where we noticed that Choo spent most of his time sms-ing. Something must be on with the guy and our guesses were correct after all.

Then I was off to South Korea with my family. The autumn temperature was very cool and refreshing, away from the haze affecting Malaysia at that time. The scenery was beautiful, the people were not (those handsome guys and pretty gals you see in the TV are a real rare species). The food was great for the first 3 days, then I got tired of it. There's no beating the wide variety of food you can get here in Malaysia.

The last trip was just 10 days ago. I went to Singapore with Ashwin, Allen, Choo+Alyssa, Chek, Stella and Wei Lee. Siew Har was our tour guide there, taking us to Suntec City, err...that's all I guess. We went to the Science Centre and Orchard Road by ourselves. Hahaha. The Science Centre was really good with so many interesting stuff but sadly I didnt manage to see every exhibit. Counting down Christmas at Orchard was wet and "snowy" due to the fake snow that everyone was spraying on each other every other minute. The lightings and decorations were nice but I think when you've seen it once, you wouldn't need to come back every Christmas to see it again.

Work
I started job hunting after the World Cup ended and was targeting only a specific industry, the oil and gas industry. After more than a month without any replies or interviews, everyone told me that I should try looking at other industries. I took their advise with a heavy heart because the oil and gas industry is the most exciting engineering industry out there. However, I'm lucky I finally landed a job in a company that provides services to the oil and gas industry. I'm really enjoying my work now and I'm looking forward to learning more things everyday.

Football
Football was a sensitive issue to me in 2006. Rehabilitation was a long and arduous programme and it takes a lot of patience, hard work and perseverance to go through it. However, the thought of playing football again gave me the strength and focus to continue with my rehab. Watching Man Utd, the World Cup and especially watching my friends play was really hard for me. The lowest point in my life happened in October 2006. After completing 1 year of rehabilitation, I decided that my knee was strong enough to start playing football again. My first game was a futsal game between a group of my friends and Audrey's cousins. Unbeknown to me, the muscles surrounding my left knee were still not strong enough for contact sports which require rapid cutting and twisting motion. I injured my knee again 10 minutes into the game. The pain I felt was so familiar that I couldn't believe I was experiencing it again.

In the days following the injury, I was at my lowest and I even contemplated walking away from football. I thought of giving up the game that I loved playing, the game that I fell in love with when I was in primary school, completely. I was prepared to give it all up so that I wont have to go through the injury again. However, a simple sentence, uttered to me by a friend of mine, managed to save me from my depression. So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Siew Lin for saying "the Glenn that I know wont give up so easily". That sentence still rings clearly in my mind and I now use it to motivate myself when I exercise my leg. Looking back, I couldn't believe that I actually contemplated giving up football, one of the 3 things that mean so much to me (the others being family and friends). Thankfully I have friends to help me through that difficult time and get me back on track again.

So, my only target for 2007 would be to return to football again after a slight delay in 2006. Hahaha.