This year 2023 has undoubtedly been the most memorable year for our family. So many things happened in just a span of one year, some were even life-changing. Some we hope we experience again, some we pray would be the last time. Here are 5 unforgettable moments from 2023 that will forever stay with our family.
1. Hopesie’s First Cruise Trip
In January, we went on board Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship for a 5 Days 4 Nights voyage. We cruised from Singapore to Penang, then to Phuket and, back to Singapore. We were pretty excited because our last cruise was on board Genting Dream, a cruise to nowhere during the pandemic. The latter was not as exciting as being able to disembark in other countries and explore.
This trip also marked Hopesie’s inaugural cruise experience! While it was not my first time aboard a Royal Caribbean ship, my excitement stemmed from the fact that Royal Caribbean consistently offers excellent food, numerous family-friendly activities, and a delightful crew. What added to the thrill was the opportunity to explore Penang and Phuket. Although Icai and I had been to these places before, it felt particularly special to revisit them with Hopesie, even if just for a day.
The highlight of our journey was undoubtedly our time at Phuket beach, indulging in delicious local Thai food, sipping on mango shake and Thai milk tea, and experiencing the thrill of jet skiing. We really wanted to ride the jet ski because when Icai and I first rode it together in 2019, at Phuket beach too, my GoPro’s memory card got corrupted and we lost all the photos and videos! A total bummer! So we just had to do it again.
5 days was definitely too short and so we look forward to our next Royal Caribbean cruise adventure!
2. Valentine’s Day Dinner at Kubo
While Icai and I are not big in celebrating events like Valentine’s, this year we decided to go to Kubo for their Valentine’s course meal promotion. That was memorable because it was our first time having a course meal together.
Kubo has good ambience, service and food. Icai loved the course meal but for me I think I would have enjoyed their à la carte options. Nevertheless, it was a good experience and we will definitely do more course meals in the future. Watch our Tiktok video about Kubo here.
With course meal, we just loved how we did not have to dwell or think too much on what to order.
Here’s to more course meals!
3. Japan Family Trip
When it comes to travel, the experiences are truly unforgettable, especially when the destination is Japan! In March/April, during Sakura season (slight regret on this timing), we went to Japan and was there for almost 2 weeks!
It was day after day of places to visit and activities do. We were at Osaka first and then did day trips to Nara and Kyoto. One of the memorable experience we had in Osaka was going to Solaniwa Onsen. We had an Onsen bath, massage and had our dinner too. Pretty relaxing night after days of many walking.
After a few days in Osaka region, we took the bullet train to Tokyo. We’re not city people but we love Tokyo, especially Shibuya. The atmosphere is unlike any other city. Even though it was crowded, we enjoyed walking around and doing a little bit of shopping.
Our day at TeamLab Planets Tokyo and Odaiba was one of our favorite days. The experience at TeamLab was surprisingly fun. Icai and I concluded that Odaiba is our favorite place in Tokyo. We loved the huge peaceful park, the DiverCity Tokyo Plaza with its “life-size” Gundam and the area where statue of liberty is. We just enjoyed walking around, especially with the cooling breeze and less crowded.
Another highlight for us was when we booked a day tour to go to places around Mount Fuji 🗻 One of the stops was at Lake Kawaguchiko where we got to admire the majestic beauty of Mt Fuji. We were very fortunate that Mt Fuji showed up entirely! Though it was a short stop, it was definitely one of our favorite places. It is a scenery you will want to admire for hours.
Our nearly two-week stay in Japan felt brief, leaving us with the anticipation of the next visit. Until next time, Japan 🇯🇵
4. Icai’s Hospitalisation
The number of times we have been to the hospital this year is uncountable. What is unforgettable was when Icai was hospitalized for her biopsy surgery. That was the very first time Icai was ever hospitalized in her life, not even when she gave birth to Hopesie was she hospitalized.
Icai was admitted on the 26th of June. She spent half the day going through multiple tests to make sure she was in good condition for surgery. On the 27th at 1pm, she was rolled out of the room in her surgery gown, lying on the bed. It was crazy to think that my wife would be going through surgery. Never would have imagined. The surgery would take about 2 hours.
I had so much in my mind that I needed to go somewhere for me to stop worrying. While praying almost the whole time, I went to have lunch at Aston’s Bugis and I wanted to surprise Icai with a little something when she finished her surgery.. Taylor swift ticket was the craze during that time and Icai really wanted to get them. So while she was having surgery, I went to a nearby UOB bank and opened an account just so we could get a higher chance of getting Taylor Swift tickets. Very productive 2 hours indeed 😆
When we were back in her room, I showed her the UOB card and I think she was pretty happy. Though in the end, we still did not manage to get Taylor Swift tickets 🥲
Icai spent 3 nights sleeping alone in the hospital as they do not allow children to stay overnight. First time for her not to sleep with Hopesie, and for Hopesie and I just the two of us.
But that hopefully would be the first and last Icai would be staying in the hospital.
5. Hopesie’s 2nd Birthday
Last but not least, Hopesie’s 2nd birthday at Kaboodle! What was unforgettable about this was we got to celebrate his birthday the way we wanted it to be; play time with friends. Not for us, but for him.
This was also in step on how we want to live our lives moving forward, being intentional.
2023 has truly been full of challenges but it is the year we have the most unforgettable moments (not exclusive to the 5 we mentioned) that we will forever cherish. We thank God for allowing us to experience all these for our growth. We thank God for the provision; to pay for our everyday needs, travel and even more so the medical bill for Icai’s recovery. It’s been a crazy 2023!
We still have December left, why not we spend it resting and being thankful for the year it has been. Maybe don’t even plan for 2024 yet. Your 2024 resolution can wait until 2024 starts.
