Phew! What an amazing year! 2010 is definitely one of those year which is full of fond memories.
First off - work has been awesome! Secured a full time gig at PMP Digital - working for a client (The Good Guys). Initially, I started off as a designer, supposedly working on press ads and catalogs, doing changes etc. After a month here, I realised the job I'm doing is more of a senior designer. I'm happy doing that honestly, cos that means I get to be more creative and not get bored doing tedious price changes. But now, after having a new studio manager and changes of the process on how catalogs are created, I'm now officially one of the art directors. And of course, it came with a pay rise! Atmosphere at work is normally fun, we tend to make the best out of a bad situation by joking about it. 'You're all idiots' is one of the joke we have around the studio and every now and then, someone still use that line.... (pic: top row, center) Why so serious eh?
Then, the move. Both Peter and I moved to Footscray, which is populated by Viets. I really don't mind this place at all. It's close to the train station (not that I catch the train much) and Vietnamese restaurants and market. The only complain would be it's facing the main road, the traffic noise takes a while to get used to. And like all move, it involves shopping for new furniture etc and I must say, we did pretty well (pic: top row second from right).
Oh, not forgetting this little incident - when we moved to this new house, the cat, Rascal (pic: top row, far right), escaped after the first night. He was gone for 2 weeks and we pretty much lost hope of ever finding him. Maybe he was eaten by some Viets (just joking) but eventually, he showed up.
Next up... at long last... I bought the dream car! Well actually not dream cos it has never occur to me that one day, I'll be driving a Mercedes yet alone a SLK (pic: top row, second from left). Yes, it might be a used SLK but still, from driving a beat up Honda Civic Coupe to driving this, the difference is massive. I"M LOVING IT!
Another fond memory, Little Drew and her obsession with markers (pic: bottom row, far left), well actually obsession with getting her arms, legs and feet inked! She absolutely loves it. Whenever she comes around, the first thing she will do is go straight to her little box where all her toys and markers are kept, give my shirt a little tug and get me to ink her. I told her mom she might grow up being a tattoo artist or at least get tattooed
And then, there's Peter (pic: bottom row, center) and his support on my tattooing hobby/business. He's the first one who agreed on giving up his left arm for me to experiment on new techniques in tattooing. It is still an on going project though so hopefully, I get the time to do more work on his arm (pic: bottom row, far right). And with his support, a few other people, contacted me via email to get work done on them. It is situation like these that boost my self esteem and gave me the confidence to go all out and do a good job. Money made from these tattoo sessions were invested in getting more supplies and better equipment. It's all working out great and I've got at least 4 more cllients that wants work done in early 2011 so tune in for updates!
Last but not least, Hamish (pic: bottom row, second from left) and Ritchie (pic: bottom row, second from right). Over the year, I did multiple trips to Sydney, for both work (freelance, check out the website I designed from scratch at http://www.flatearth.com.au) and visiting old friends and most of the time, I stayed with Ritchie. He is the one who gave me his tattoo machine to do work on. I wouldn't be tattooing today if it weren't for him. So thank you Ritchie (love ya bra!) and Hamish - the retriever who sleeps with me when I stayed with Ritchie. On one occasion, when I was drunk, I thought the dog died beside me cos he was shaking then stopped with his mouth open slightly, on his back with his legs all stiff pointing upwards. And that gave me the biggest scare in 2010! (Hamish was just playing dead I was told later on, what a bastard!)
P/S: A big thank you for those who made this an awesome year... Peter Knight for being the best housemate, Ritchie Isherwood & Stilliano Doussis for being the best buddies, George and Cliff for my updates of Sydney, Tim Stranks for the tattoo books, Max Croft for being my regular client (tattoos), Hilary Grant and Peter Reid for the opportunity to work on your company profile and website, all Airport West PMP Digital colleagues, my sister for her instant noodles supplies, Mom & Dad for the support - mentally and financially and all you other party animals out there whom we've partied together!