Festive February

February has brought many fun cultural and personal events. Happy Chinese New Year to everyone... Gong Xi Fa Cai. As we all celebrate welcoming the new year of the Pig, it was fantastic to have both Monday and Tuesday off from work, providing a rare four-day weekend. Most Chinese Singaporeans spent the holiday surrounding themselves with family. For the rest of us, it was a perfect time to relax and distance ourselves from work. I used my precious holiday weekend to hit the beach, go for a massive 10 kilometer hike, and take in a fantastic music concert.

Billed as the Good Vibrations Festival, it was held at historic Fort Canning Park and had a mass array of musical artists including headlining band the Beastie Boys. The Beasties rocked and funked the crowd into a frenzy until the wee morning hours. A big surprise for me was being able to hear the band Jurassic 5. These guys were a refreshing hip-hop ensemble from Los Angeles whose knack for finding and driving the groove was intense.

The month also began with my company's annual sales conference in Los Angeles. It is always fun to catch up with friends and former colleagues from around the world, as this event brings over 5,000 people from every geography in the world together at one time. Was nice to see my friends from Europe and the US. I was fortunate enough to be able to fly back to Oregon the weekend after the conference and catch up with even more friends back in Portland.

And since February includes Chinese New Year, and whereby most people gather around family at this special time, I too was able to see my parents while back in Oregon. It was a brief weekend stop, but was definitely well worth it. It is kind of fun to celebrate two New Years per year. Keeping the festive momentum going after Christmas is a nice touch. Looking forward to all the new opportunities this new year of the Pig will bring.