(Note: This is a very personal blog, so please bear with me, as I am trying hard to tone down the excitement.)
When my friends asked me what could be fun, I said nothing beats blogging. I believe that if things aren’t fun, they’re not worth doing. Since early 2007, blogging has been my favourite pastime. Journalism is merely something I do for a living. I kicked off my first blog journey by writing about what happens around me, and I still do this till today. With this absolutely fun and knowledge-enriching tool, as a self-publisher or blogger, I put down my thoughts into words. Have I told you that it feels incredible to be able to see how much you’ve grown up? I still spend time reading my old blog posts sometimes!
It’s even more amazing and rewarding to find out that my blog is read and talked about by people and the media in Cambodia as well as other countries. As of early 2012, I have been blogging for 5 good years. There’s hardly anything else in the world that can replace blogging in my life. Aside from my offline or real life, blogging has been a big part of my online life. I might sound as if I were exaggerating, but if you want to find out whether you’d ever feel the same way, I dare you to blog. <3
They say learning by doing is the best of all, and I concur that by keeping blogging despite busyness and negative feelings that sometimes exist, I certainly acquire a whole new feeling about myself and the know-how of writing and living alike. A few words to sum up my blogging experiences would be: I’ve gained friends but never enemies, love but never hate.
2011 flies away so fast. I know you feel the same, but I am not ready for it yet! Politically and socially, 2011 is a year of transition and the year of omnipotence of social media worldwide. I have heard a lot about the Arab Spring in the middle east that has attracted tremendous attention from people and the media. I have met a person who protested at Tahrir square to help oust Mubarak from his long-standing grip on power. Why should we ignore the good things that social media bring to individuals, companies, organizations and countries?
Personally, 2011 means so much to do providing that the most memorable persons, things, experiences and memories came into existence. I have promised myself to post things I have and have not achieved at the age of 23, one day before 2012.
Best thing I’ve done
I incessantly and excessively applied for many programs, fellowships, conferences and courses online. And, I really meant it. You would find me with my laptop typing away my answers together with detailed information about myself and sending my applications off immediately while waiting for a reply in anticipation. [I was suggested to write about how to successfully apply for a fellowship or program abroad. Will do soon.] As a result, within 2011, I have flown 10 times out of Cambodia to 11 countries and have been to about 40 cities ( USA, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Qatar, Indonesia.) I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, which is fine.You don’t have to be a millionaire to travel, do you? Because I couldn’t afford to go to those places with the income my writing job earns, I chose to rely on applying for grants to study, travel and work for them.
Best person of year 2011
Person of the Year: his smile is irresistible! (2011)
A lot of people inquired how I met Ani. We both met at a blogging conference in Malaysia, but we had quite known each other way before that, well, since 2008, as Facebook friends. Anirudh has been a very huge part of my happiness this year and years to come! He has been a loving boyfriend, a guru who teaches me all trades, a friend I laugh with, a comedian who entertains me when I am bored and sad, a pair of warm shoulders for me to cry on, and a teddy bear to hug when I want warmth and comfort. Above all else, he came to Cambodia for me. Doesn’t he deserve this honorable title? <3
We are playmates, too! (May, 2011)
