Today marks the last month of 2024, and I’ve noticed many platforms are posting their annual recaps, like Reddit and others. I also want to write a year-end summary to document the events of this year.

2024 Year-End Summary

In the blink of an eye, I’ve been in Singapore for three and a half years. From the initial excitement to the day-to-day life now, I can say this place has become my second home. The overall feeling in Singapore in 2024 has been calm. Although I am often shocked by the price increases following the GST hike, life in Singapore is generally very comfortable.

Work

Since I didn’t write a year-end summary in 2023, I didn’t mention on Twitter or elsewhere that I actually changed jobs at the end of 2023, leaving Shopee to join a large Chinese company. I’ve been working at this company for over a year now, and I can clearly feel a change. At Shopee, I was responsible for gateway control surface development, but now I’m working on something similar to an internal system development. So, each launch or release isn’t as nerve-wracking as it was at Shopee. However, because of this, I feel my technical skills haven’t improved significantly.

I did make some efforts, such as uploading Neovim tutorial videos on Bilibili, which, in hindsight, benefited many people. But Neovim is ultimately just a tool, and I think I should focus more on my tech stack. So, in the second half of 2024, I started learning some AWS knowledge and obtained a simple CLF certification. Although this certification isn’t particularly useful for me, I see it as a beginning. I should focus more on my tech stack and competitiveness in the market.

Health

From the first half of 2024 to the first part of the second half, I consistently exercised, going to the gym at least twice a week and hiring a personal trainer to create a training plan for me. This ensured I could gradually increase weights in the gym. I also had a habit of consuming protein daily, like at least two protein shakes a day. Indeed, during this period, my weight increased, and my physical condition was excellent. Unfortunately, in the second half of the year, considering the high cost of personal trainers in Singapore, I decided not to renew my sessions and rarely went to the gym, leading to a decrease in my weight. I also noticeably felt more fatigued, which made me realize the importance of exercise for the body. Nonetheless, it was a good attempt because I learned that for a skinny person wanting to gain muscle, a relatively simple way is to ensure sufficient protein intake while consistently lifting heavier weights.

希望能够在 25 年继续保持锻炼的习惯吧。

旅游

因为明显的感觉到新加坡的物价的提升，所以在 24 年的时候我们选择去了周边物价便宜的国家。 我们出去旅游一般主要是采用自由行的方式，因为这样可以更加自由地安排行程，事先会先在小红书，reddit 等地方做好功课，然后在 google map 上面标记好一些地点，在闹市区附近找一个酒店，然后每一天探索不同的区域，也就是说每一天先去一个地方，然后在 google map 上找附近标记的地点，这样就不用往返长距离了。

马来西亚

嗯，其实说去大马并不算是正经意义上的旅游，因为我们日常总是去的是 JB，甚至在高峰期的时候我们会两周去一次 JB，主要是一些物价低的服务吧，例如 JB 的按摩，做指甲，吃饭等。

台湾

台湾的确是一个让我很惊喜的地方，我主要总结几点吧： 1. 入台证真的还是挺难办的，我们自己 DIY 的，需要填写一些父母的资料，公司名片啥的，而且当时是先买的机票，然后再去办的入台证，所以有一点风险。不过我和对象经过了多次的补材料最后还是拿到了单次的入台证。 2. 台北的交通方便，我们住在西门町，所以每天都是捷运，公交，台铁，uber，真的很方便。 3. 台湾的美食没有科技与狠活，吃得挺放心的，物价也不贵。

这里也不写太多了，因为我觉得台湾是一个值得去的地方，我觉得每个人都应该去一次。

韩国

在韩国我们主要去的是首尔，这里物价其实和新加坡比还是便宜很多的，最让人印象深刻的是韩国的牛肠烤肉，约 20 新币就能让两个人吃饱，而且味道真的不腻，我们去了 7 天每天都吃。不好的地方是，韩国就算是首尔这么国际化的城市，英文的使用率还是很低，所以我们在韩国的时候还是有一些不方便的地方。

越南

越南的确是在东南亚也能算的上号的物价便宜的国家了，我们去的胡志明市，尝了当地的法棍，他们的法棍是会在里面加青辣椒，酸白萝卜，以及比较腻的鸡肝酱，味道很独特，因为你会感觉到腻的鸡肝酱被青辣椒和酸白萝卜中和了，所以吃起来不会腻。带对象去吃了一次之后，在越南每天早饭就是法棍了。另外我在越南吃了他们的米粉也就是 pho，感觉非常好吃，我觉的是比新加坡的米粉好吃，因为他们会把薄荷叶放在里面，趁着热汤喝下去，感觉非常清爽。

总之我感觉旅游的目的不只是为了放松，而是对美食设立一个标杆，这样当在其他地方吃到相同的菜的时候，就能够对比出哪里的更好吃。

生活

hands-on

慢慢感觉自己动手能力增强了。在新加坡租的房子里，很多东西坏掉了，但我们不想请人来修，因为费用动辄上百新币。 在这里我自己修了包括但不限于：

  1. 花洒
  2. 过滤器
  3. 扫地机器人（换电池）
  4. 天花板的灯
  5. 球形锁
  6. HHKB 键盘进水失灵问题

慢慢地发现自己不只是一个码农，除了帮周边的人解决软件上的问题，也能够帮自己解决一些生活上的问题。

购物

  • Shokz OpenSwim: 这是作为生日礼物送给对象的，希望她能够多游泳，效果非常不错，只不过没有蓝牙功能，只能预载歌曲。个人感觉是我送过最适合的礼物了。
  • Steam Deck: 这是我在台湾买的 deck，当时 steam 没什么游戏，拿它玩完了黑神话悟空，并且因为是 linux 系统，我也折腾了挺多有意思的东西。
  • Acer 显示器：支持反向充电，这样我就省掉了一个 macos 的电源线。买的最便宜的 1080p 同样可以反向充电的我 steam deck。只用了 170 新币。

另外强烈推荐买电子产品的时候可以去 reddit 上面查一下，因为 reddit 有点赞和踩，对产品的评价比较准确。现在我要买东西我都会在谷歌关键字之后加 reddit，看看 reddit 上面的评价。

读书

今年的确没有看太多书了，看得最多的是小红书，关闭个性化推荐，当搜索引擎用了。

学习/技术

lingq

上半年的时候非常喜欢使用 lingq，因为 lingq 有很多的听力材料，而且可以自己上传材料，所以我就把一些我喜欢的 podcast，电子书上传到 lingq 上面。当时写了脚本上传了成吨的高质量电子书，并且保证这些电子书是公开的，所以 lingq 账号一直会被世界各地的人关注，因为他们很喜欢我上传的电子书。同样 lingq 也给我返了很多 lingq 点数，现在我的 lingq 目前是免费使用的。令人感动的是也有中国人在使用 lingq 专门找到我的 skype，告诉我每次看到电子书是我上传的就会非常开心，让我感觉到自己的付出是有价值的，我的确改变了一点点世界。

竞技体育

今年 T1 夺冠了呀，的确是被李哥打服了，当时 BLG 2：1 领先的时候，全网都在开香槟，但是我的想法是没有彻底赢就别庆祝，果然 T1 3：2 逆转了。人生啊，就是这样，失败是常态，成功是偶然。可能很多人会问为什么不支持 T1，因为我是 S2 开始看比赛的，所以从最开始我就支持的是 LPL，我不能因为一个队一直赢就斯德哥尔摩综合症发作支持 SKT T1吧，但是对于 faker 我是尊重的，他是那个 GOAT。

Back to the Spurs, last year the Spurs selected Wembanyama, and this year they picked Castle, along with Chris Paul, so they still have a shot at the playoffs this season. I like to support a team long-term; only by experiencing the lows can you fully appreciate the sweetness of success. Supporting a team long-term is indeed like life; most of the time, it’s about the lows, but if you keep going, success will come one day.

I love the San Antonio Spurs, and I believe they will win the championship 🏆 – The Simpsons

Games

Played this year:

  • Elden Ring + DLC
  • Dark Souls 1
  • Lies of P
  • Sekiro
  • Black Myth: Wukong
  • Dark Souls 3
  • Dark Souls 2

You can see I really enjoy playing Souls-like games because their high difficulty easily puts you in a flow state, making you feel immersed. However, I slowly realized that Souls-like games are not like life. Although life is full of failures, life is harsher because each failure comes at a cost, be it time, money, or health. In Souls-like games, failure just means running back to the boss from the bonfire, so I don’t think Souls-like games are a reflection of life; games are ultimately just games.

END

I hope everyone who reads this article, including me, my family, friends, and colleagues, will have their wishes come true in 2025, all the best in 2025.