Hello, 2025! As per Shinilola.com tradition, I’m sharing my annual recap, reflecting on the highlights of 2024. Last year was truly challenging, with new obstacles to overcome, and wow — time flew by so quickly! I hope 2025 brings more challenges to help me grow and improve. Keep reading to discover all that unfolded in my 2024 journey!
Travelled to 2 Countries
You might wonder why I only travelled to two countries last year, considering how much I usually travel. Due to my pregnancy, I had to cancel some trips to avoid inconvenience. Remember my annual goal of visiting at least one new country? Unfortunately, I didn’t achieve it last year. Hopefully, I can make up for it in 2025! In 2024, I visited South Korea and Japan — my fourth trip to South Korea and my tenth to Japan, haha. I’ll explain the purpose of these visits in the next paragraph.
Attending the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games
If you read my previous post about the Top 16 Things to do in Gangwon, then you should know I was invited to attend the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games. The 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, officially known as the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games and commonly called Gangwon 2024, were held between January 19 and February 1, 2024, in Gangwon Province, South Korea. This event marked the third time South Korea hosted the Olympic Games, following the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Being invited to an event like this was truly an honour, and the experience was incredible! I've always enjoyed working abroad and deeply appreciate opportunities like this. During my pregnancy, I had to turn down several business trips, but I’m hopeful that 2025 will bring similar opportunities again.
Travelled to Japan For One Month
Yes, it was crazy, I know but we did it! My husband has always said how much he loves Japan and dreamed of spending an entire month there. Since his job is flexible, he could make it happen anytime. For me, though, it was a different story because I had to go to the office for work. After much thought, I decided to quit my job and pursue this goal. After all, how many chances do we get to do something like this in our lifetime, right? Plus, I wanted to make sure we achieved this dream before having kids—and that’s exactly what we did!
We spent a month travelling through Tokyo, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa. If you're curious about our itineraries, feel free to check out the blog posts below :
Being Featured on British Publishing House Ltd
I am deeply honoured to have been invited by the British Publishing House Ltd to be featured among the highly accredited personalities in the sixth edition of their encyclopedia, "Successful People in Malaysia & Singapore". While their headquarters is based in London, this marks the sixth edition dedicated to Malaysia and Singapore.
Honestly, I’m just an ordinary person. You could probably Google me, but you'd only find a few mentions here and there. So, when I received their invitation email, I was completely shocked! I kept wondering, why me? because I don’t see myself as someone successful. Confident? Yes, but definitely not successful haha! Regardless, I’ve already received the certification, and I’m excited for the book to be published later this year.
Pregnancy
As I mentioned earlier, last year, I became a mother. After five years of marriage, I finally felt ready to take on this new role. It’s definitely been challenging, knowing how much my life would change, but after careful consideration, we decided to embrace parenthood. I had also set a personal goal for myself — if I didn’t get pregnant before turning 35, I would move on from the idea of becoming a parent and focus on enjoying life with just the two of us.
If you’d like to know more about my pregnancy journey, feel free to check out the hashtag #MiniLolaBaby on Instagram.
Mini Lola . Motherhood
On October 14, 2024, Mini Lola arrived! We named her Sachiko, which means "happy child" in Japanese, and we truly hope to bring her endless happiness. This adorable, chubby little baby has completely transformed our lives and daily routines — no more "me time" or restful moments for us! We knew the newborn phase would be challenging, and every day, we’re doing our best to adapt to our new roles as parents. She is so cute if you want to see more of her, you may follow her on Instagram : @minilolababy
I can’t believe Sachiko will be 3 months old in just two weeks. She’s no longer a newborn, and I’m gradually settling into motherhood. We’re also considering moving to a bigger house and hiring a maid to help with house chores and caring for Sachiko while I’m at work. Hopefully, everything will fall into place smoothly.
If you missed my birth vlog, feel free to watch it here : My Birth Vlog (YouTube)
That concludes my 2024 recap. There are still more experiences and stories I'd love to share with you all, but those will have to wait until next year. If you're interested in my previous year's recap, feel free to read them as follows :
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