2012: all the places we'll go to

2012 will be quite amazing because of a number of things:

• February - Hong Kong and Macau
• April - Boracay 
• May - I turn 22!
• November - Thanksgiving in New York then Canada

Okay, so November is still quite ambitious, but just humor us for a sec, okay? My best friend is leaving in June to live in Canada with her family, and because she expects to miss everyone so much, she says I just have to fly out to see her. I've got relatives in New York, so we'll meet there, and after some time I'll go with her to Toronto, since it's only about an 8-hour drive away. Right now we'll just have to figure out where to get all the money to fund this insanity, then we're all set to go!

I'm already booked to Hong Kong and Borcacay, both of which I'm going to with my friends, so I'm pretty excited! Not to mention it will be my first time in both places and out of the country. I will be traveling alone to and from Hong Kong since my friends already booked their flights two months earlier. More than scared, I think I am more excited flying alone and reaching a foreign land by myself. I'll have to find my way to our hotel alone as well, because my friends arrive hours before I do. I can already picture myself walking down a street with signages I can't understand, asking strangers who barely speak English the way to our hotel. Why am I so fascinated with the idea of being lost? I never get lost. When I was a kid, I'd intentionally wander away my mom when she was busy talking to the salesman at the department store. I'd walk wherever my feet takes me, but in the end I always find my way back. I feel both relieved and disappointed every time.

I turn 22 in May. I feel old. But then again, I like feeling old. Because every time, I feel wiser as well. I have yet thought of any plans, but like every year, I just want a simple, intimate dinner which, coincidentally, never happens. Someone always ends up throwing me a party. If not my mom, it's my aunt and cousins, or my friends suddenly show up at my doorstep. I am not complaining though. I feel very blessed.

It's already two days past half of January, and this is the first time I've put up an official 2012 entry. I've been meaning to post something here, but I guess this month has just been a plain mixture of business and [what feels like a] mumblecore.

The Chinese New Year is in a few weeks. Feng Shui masters say that 2012 will be a great year for us born in the Year of the Horse. They said that this is the time for us to do things, because victory will be on our side. Though I've never been superstitious, I must say, after some shitty past years, that's rather comforting to hear.

I don't really believe in New Year's Resolutions, but I'm coming up with this list instead:

This year I will...

1. ...strive to be more happy and thankful.
2. ...pray more.
3. ...write and play music again.
4. ...be brave.

So here's to a good year ahead.