Looking back at 2014

Just as I have done in the past, I will start off the new year by looking back at some the highlights of the previous year.

2014 was a year of many first for me, including the following:

• It was the first time in 17 years that I did not travel to another country during the year. I had my first international trip back in 1998 and since then I had always flown to at least one country every year. That is, until 2014.
• I got to visit Kalinga province for the first time.
• In relation to that trip, I got to rappel and shoot a handgun for the first time.
• I received my first delivery from Forexworld (I placed my order late in 2013 but I got it in early 2014). Since then, I've used their services two more times.
• I converted my old film negatives to digital photos.
• I stayed in two hotels within Metro Manila for the first time: Crowne Plaza in Ortigas and Tune Hotel in Quezon City.
• I also got to try several new restaurants: Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen, Tim Ho Wan, Alqueria Restaurante + Chocolateria, Yabu, Lola Cafe, Ukokkei Ramen Ron, Rambla, Kos Greek Ouzeri, Lucca, Brotzeit, Pamana in Tagaytay, P.F. Chang's, Greeka Kouzina, Paul, and Clubhouse (the last two, I haven't written about yet). I also got to try the S&R pizza for the first time.

While I may not have travelled abroad in 2014, I visited a lot of places in the Philippines. I already mentioned my first trip to Kalinga but I also revisited Batanes, Corregidor, and Tagaytay (twice). This included my third annual Tagaytay food trip, which I have yet to write about.

I also got to enjoy lots of great experiences with my family, including my nephew'sgraduation, my cousin's debut, our fun day at Enchanted Kingdom, my cousin'swedding, Nanay's birthday in Tagaytay, and our family trip to Corregidor.

There were also reunions with great friends who now live abroad, including Amy, Eugene, Anne, Cesar, and Suzanne and Nenen.

While there were a lot of very joyous moments during the year, there were also sad moments. I experienced three losses: my friend Liza, my cousin Doyle, and Tito Roy.

A few milestones I achieved in this blog:

• I published my 1,000th blog post.
• I recorded the most number of posts in year with 161 (my previous record was 156 which I achieved twice, in both 2013 and 2010).
• I achieved my second "perfect blogging month" last January.
• As a result of that, I have a new record for most number of hits in a month, with 2,720.
• I also finally changed the look of my blog.

Other memorable moments and experiences: I watched Wicked and Chicago, Rafa Nadal won his record-shattering 9th French Open, the Gilas Pilipinas basketball team left a mark and earned legions international fans in the FIBA Basketball World Championships, I performed in another dance competition at work, I purchased my 400^th online discount voucher, I used my 400thonline discount voucher, and I took on a new role at work.

That was a pretty good and full year. Hopefully, 2015 will be just as amazing as 2014, if not even better.