Favourite Things of 2024
In 2024, a set of plates across nostalgia, creativity, and growth shaped a year for new things. Sukiya's Gyudon Bowl became a comforting ritual amidst chaos, while the Nikon ZF camera revived a youthful love for storytelling through photography. Barakkath frames transformed memories into shared art, and the Gemini Flash model seamlessly wove technology into daily life, enhancing both efficiency and imagination. Even Lego Fortnite reimagined play as a blend of exploration and fun. These moments, rooted in tradition yet forward-looking, offered a glimpse into a year where my past and future seemed to converge and enrich the present.
Yakiniku Bowl from Sukiya
There’s something endlessly comforting about the Gyudon bowl from Sukiya. Like a dependable source of warmth, a gastro-inspired respite from the strange decisions and tremors of work and personal life. I’ve made a point for it to be a weekly ritual. Every Friday, my work-from-home day, I make my way to the Sukiya outlet at Bukit Panjang’s Hillion Mall. The dish itself is a joy to describe: tender slices of beef layered over fluffy rice, paired with vibrant green veggies generously sprinkled with garlic, all lovingly draped with soy sauce.
The setting adds its own charm. The tight, communal seating often turns into an unintentional theatre of overheard lives. There’s a family debating curfews and video games, and a few weeks later a new couple quietly conspiring about their secret trip to Japan. Each visit offers the same delicious consistency, this comforting anchor amidst life’s unpredictable chaos, smoothing over the jagged edges of a week gone awry.
Nikon Z F Camera
The Nikon Z F camera is perhaps one of the most extraordinary gifts I’ve ever received, not just because of what it is, but because of what it has given back to me. Photography, with its quiet presence, has always lingered at the edges, something I considered when choosing a phone or reflecting on memories of the past year. But this camera has reignited something deeper, something long dormant. Because it feels as though I’ve been transported back in time to my teenage self. He was eager, always playful, and deliberate, a young boy gushing with first love who held his breath to make each frame perfect.
I can already recall moments where I had the camera in hand, capturing moments so gracious and invisible that it could have slipped through time and our memory. I think of the time my colleague brought her son to the office, and we all watched in quiet awe as he danced, his body moving with a joy so naturally it made us smile without thinking. I remember a night at the climbing gym, capturing my partner and his friend studying a route together, their hands tracing holds, exchanging faces with curiosity and camaraderie.
With the Nikon Z F in hand, every glance transformed into a search for balance and beauty; every walk became a story waiting to be told. I allowed even the simplest images to carry layers of narrative, lines and structures brimming with meaning, empty rooms and pockets of space whispering memories of past lives. This camera has inspired me to create again, to explore imagery and the words that naturally follow. It’s astonishing to think how much life can come from something as small as a lens, the way it gives me a chance to hug my younger self once more.
Frames from Barakkath
When my partner and I began moving in together, one of the first things he asked was for me to fill the empty walls of his home. It felt like an enormous task, but I knew I could start with photographs and artwork prints that held meaning for us. I first thought back to Max Dupain, whose work I first encountered in high school. In Sydney, we brought home a print by Lesley Dumbrell, enchanted by her meticulous incorporation of line and mathematics into her art. More recently, I captured moments from our time in Taipei, creating images that begged to be printed and shared with friends.
Each piece has found its place within frames from Barakkath, where their array of frame styles and corners has become something of a fascination. The shop itself feels like a treasure trove of possibilities; walls lined with polished wood frames, gilded corners catching the light, and swatches of vibrant matboards fanned out like paint chips on a counter.
I love how framing has its own ritual, the way it starts with my prints and photographs laid out on a long, large table. Deciphering, examining, and brainstorming options with the framers becomes a creative collaboration, a quest for the right colour, the right tone, even the space of white that stretches between the image and their fine treated wood. And with every frame, we’re putting life into these walls, piece by piece, memory by memory. Together, we are building a home—always remembering, always documenting this shared life.
Gemini Flash
In 2024, large language models (LLMs) have become my companions in both my work and personal routines. I’ve designed Custom GPTs tailored to the contours of my life, co-creating interventions for counselling sessions, polishing social media content, and managing everyday exchanges. Beyond work, my relationship with information itself has changed. Searching has transformed into conversing, whether I’m pondering recipes for fridge leftovers or grappling with new concepts that spark curiosity.
Among the many players in this competitive field, Google’s Gemini Flash models have quietly stood out to me this year. This lean, affordable model continues to inspire me with its nuance and versatility. Gemini Flash has supported my creative processes with practicality, helping me brainstorm ideas, refine passages, and transform emails into clear correspondence with speed and minimal revisions. On platforms like OpenRouter, where comparisons with other models like GPT-4o-mini and Llama 3 are effortless, Gemini Flash consistently proves itself by its speed and quality of tone. It handles tasks with an efficiency that’s almost intuitive, and its outputs often surprise me, not just in their effectiveness but in the subtle ways they encourage me to think differently, to expand my perspective.
I’ve always believed in welcoming new technologies, in seeing them not as disruptions but as invitations for me to grow, to create, and to connect. Gemini Flash exemplifies this potential, supporting my daily work and inspiring new ideas. The pace of this industry is dizzying, but I feel grateful to witness it, to be part of it. In a world where LLMs have become multimodal and increasingly autonomous, the possibilities are boundless. And I hope these tools become our allies, shaping how we live, work, and imagine.
Lego Fortnite
Seven years on, Fortnite remains a vibrant, evolving tapestry of identities, continuously expanding to embrace the diversity of its players. From its roots as a battle royale phenomenon, it has grown into an ecosystem that defies categorisation, incorporating a variety of game mechanics and experiences, from high-octane street racing to rhythm-based stages reminiscent of Guitar Hero.
But it’s Lego Fortnite that has truly resonated with me. As someone with limited time for gaming and little interest in the FPS mechanics that have long defined Fortnite, the introduction of this new chapter Odyssey feels like a revelation. This long-term partnership with Lego as transformative and successful. It opens the door to new audiences and reimagines what Fortnite can be, unshackling it from the competitive edge of building and shooting. The recent release of Lego Fortnite: Brick Life takes this ethos even further, offering an open-world social life simulator that turns simple moments into meaningful gameplay. Whether I’m exploring, travelling, or engaging in low-stakes activities, I’m steadily growing my experience for the battle pass while savouring the small joys of the game.
What I love most is how it fits into the cracks of my day. A quick session before bed, a moment of exploration during my commute. On some days, I can dive into Lego Fortnite for its tranquil creativity, while on others, I can return to the adrenaline of Zero Build for quests and shootouts. This flexibility, this ability to reflect my mood and pace, the ability to satisfy the complexities of my video gaming identity, makes Lego Fortnite not just a game, but one of my most cherished forms of entertainment this year.