Some people have a eurosummer. I had a different kind of summer. But it was great. I tried a lot of things, and I’m pretty content.

This was a welcome change from startup life. I’d say what I worked on was challenging enough to require some thought and analysis, but not to the point that it was completely out of my capability. So in that sense it was quite fulfilling.

From claude-maxxing to debugging docker deployment 47382 times to suddenly becoming important at work in my very last work week, these are honestly just some of the usual situations in a real job. So it’s good to experience them now.

Thanks to my awesome colleagues for making lunch break fun. There’s just so much food at Somerset that I’ve probably only tried like 20% of the places. We’ll be back.

Portal was pretty cool. and fun. Met some great guys there. I definitely got exposed to plenty of challenges, which was intense. I also got drenched running the Marina Bay Loop for marathon prep lol.

But I met Matt Parker!

Man I miss this so much.

Staying in the tallest tower in Australia. Eating 2x Vietnamese Pho, Hungry Jacks double cheeseburger and 百味小馆 within a span of 5 hours (what season is it?). Running for 5 hours straight with hundreds of people you’ve never met before shouting your name as you push through. The running culture really is different in Gold Coast.

This past year made me realise that you don’t have to wait to do something you want to do – just do it (not a Nike ad). And so I tried my first marathon. Considering I was literally injured leading up to race day, I’d say I actually did alright. It was expectedly painful. But it’s an unforgettable experience, with the best bunch. Maybe someday I’ll do it again.

Also we played a lot of Dou Dizhu. Like a lot. Reason being before the run, we stayed at home a lot because we didn’t want to walk too much. Then after the run, we still stayed at home a lot because we (ok actually I) were so cooked that we couldn’t walk. Funnily enough, this might be the most memorable experience out of the whole trip. 炸弹要不要？

Oh yeah I wore the Argentina jersey to the race convention and there were these Argentinian guys who every time they passed me, just started shouting Messi, Messi! Then I just shouted it back at them. And believe they passed me quite a few times.

Haha, Orbital joke. Ok but I learnt Bridge. I also debugged WebSockets and (kind of) learnt Rust for the first time. Definitely worth the effort.

It’s still live if you wanna check it out: https://bridge-club.properrobotics.org/

This project is also giving me some further ideas of my own — stay tuned.

As always, meeting up with friends. Catching up is rare nowadays especially if we study in different countries, but I really appreciate all of you. Sharing fun little laughs and anecdotes here and there. They really mean a lot, amidst the daily hustle of life. Whatever path we are taking now, I hope it all turns out well in end.

Or at least, Lebron did, seeing as he joined the 76ers (coincidentally, I am now a 76ers fan). This was a great summer, filled with excitement and growth. Sure some things might not have gone my way. But now is not the time for regret. We have a system, and we have our values. I’m gonna stick to it, put in the hours. To quote Atomic Habits — “The best rewards of hard work are often delayed. “ Don’t ever be disheartened. If you’ve already given your all, what more can you ask for?

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Vamos!!!

Here’s to a great Year 2. Thanks for the support.