picturesque things I want to do in 2012

In mid-March last year, inspired by  Summer Pierre , I made a list of 100 things I want to do in 2011. Within 8 and a half months, I crossed off 68 items on my list, which left only 32 undone! (if I did my counting right) It is heart-warming to look back and see how far I've come and how much I've grown in less than 300 days. It really feels like quite an accomplishment.

Although the year did not start out on a fantastic note, I am certain that it is all part of learning to accept the fact that life is about working around plans that sometimes go awry, body system that once in a while go haywire when under tremendous amount of stress and too little rest. Today, I am down with a flu and am trying to come up with a list for this year while waiting for the doctor to be available after lunchtime. It's taking me a little longer as I find it so difficult to think of a list of 100 things that can match the awesomeness of last year's. Last year was about the predictable fun; reliving my childhood joy before I turned twenty one.

This year is about discipline and doing what fears me the most. And of course, having fun in the process, and feel the great spontaneity of being alive. As my body and health is the most important thing that belongs to me, I aim to take extra good care of myself this year by eating healthfully, exercising once a week, getting at least 7 hours of rest every night and avoiding excessive caffeine, sugar, trans fat, meat, processed food from the supermarket shelves and fast food. This year is also about consistency. Doing something once is one time not enough. The key is to lather, rinse and repeat. Keep doing what you love; what challenges you; what makes you who you are and what you are ultimately meant to be.

1. Learn to swim.
2. Eat piping hot thick-cut French fries with ketchup as a reward for learning how to swim. (I hope the canteen is still there after 10 odd years)
3. Sign up for driving lessons. (No more letting BTT, FTT and the car parked outside go to waste)
4. Attend a spinning class.
5. Visit the dentist. (Not so fun but it's about reliving my childhood and teenage fear)
6. Build a mini snowman.
7. Eat sushi, ride the shinkansen, shop and navigate around Tokyo.
8. Make a snow angel and snap a picture of it.
9. Create new (positive) memories in a beer factory.
10. Document a hand-made shoe manufacturing process.
11. Bake hot cross bun.
12. Make poached eggs on toast.
13. Wear an outrageous-looking dangling earrings and not feel weird about it.
14. Drink green tea with brown rice. (To replace the morning coffee)
15. Go for an whole body check up. (Blood test, urine test and the full works)
16. Play a game of badminton.
17. Go to bed at 9pm on a weekend.
18. Eat delicious grilled squid in China.
19. Watch Westlife perform live one last time.
20. Study a minimum of 12 hours per week.
21. Buy a hammock.
22. Spend an afternoon swinging and lazing in that said hammock by the seaside.
23. Sleep alone in a hotel room in a foreign country.
24. Take a picture of a cat.
25. Eat ice cream when it's below zero degree Celsius.
26. Complete my first uni examinations.
27. Get wonderfully lost in a shoes wholesale centre.
28. Unsubscribe junk mails from Reebonz, Voucherlicious, Made With Love, The Outnet, Jobs Central, Jobstreet, Expedia and the like. (I always delete those without even reading the subject header)
29. Swing 180 degrees from the swing in the park.
30. Read Roald Dahl 'The Boy' once more.
31. Connect with a few of my favorite authors. (Twitter has allowed me to thank Nick Johnstone and of course, Summer Pierre)
32. Go for a run along hydroponics farms near what I live.
33. Bake my favorite Rococoa cake!
34. Hand-make a gift hamper/kit for someone special.
35. Watch Titanic in 3D!!!
36. Keep a monthly desk calendar and actually make full use of it.
37. Compile my recipes from dozens of tiny notebooks into recipe cards and book.
38. Re-watch A Lot Like Love for the fourth time if it shows again on TV! (which has to be coincidental, because I probably watched a total of 3 hours of TV the whole of last year!!)
39. Dye my hair dark again. Back to my roots, pun intended. (Read about my urge 2 years ago)
40. Kiss a dog.
41. Kiss a baby.
42. Kiss a person.
43. Go on a "date" in London.
44. Snap a picture of an orange sky.
45. Reread one of my favorite childhood novel 'What Katy Did' and finally start on 'What Katy Did Next', which I had put off for more than ten years.
46. Blog with more substance and keep from using the f word. (I hardly use it in real life, promise)
47. Love what I love.

So far, I have 30 47 and I'm think it's enough for now. How in the world did I even come up with 100 things to do in one sitting last year. I'll leave you with one quote!

If life is a really short journey like it is, nothing should ever be considered as a failure. They should be setbacks. Obstacles that prevent us from reaching our destination earlier. Detours that can lead to the greatest things you never thought you will ever find.
- OHX