Thank you to all my friends and followers for voting for Retire – Do What? in the Singapore Blog Awards. I am honoured to be amongst its top ten finalists, and although I missed the gold medal for the Best Individual Blog, it’s been a great learning experience for me.

Most importantly, I found out just how many loyal supporters I have – thank you all for reading, sharing and voting!

Also, I’ve learnt that the competition is tough. There are just so many other great blogs out there – My congratulations go to the winners of this year’s Singapore Blog Awards 2014! #omysba2014 

The youthful energy of the finalists at the award ceremony made a great impression on me. Surprisingly, most of the awards went to first-time winners. I send them my congratulations for the simple reason that I can only get better by reading their blog contents and get more inspirations for my own retiredowhat.com blog.

1. Thanks to All the Winners:

Best Family Blog: Mum in the Making

Best Fashion Blog: Shopping Queen’s Haven

Best Food Blog: Johor Kaki (He’s the only one here who had won in previous years). Congratulations Tony, the Johor Kaki!

Best Individual Blog: 女飞侠. I am a top ten finalist in this category. In this category, I lost the gold!

Best Lifestyle Blog: Smith’s Blog

Best New Blog: Travelled Paths (my voting partner Simon Chan. Congrats Simon for winning the Best New Blog title)

Best Photography Blog: 龟头部落

Best Topical Blog: Seriously Man

Best Travel Blog: Allyoffduty

2. Thanks to My New Blogging Friends 

Since I have entered the blogosphere, why not use the promise of the internet age and plunge into a brave new world? So I did. And these are my new friends from the year:

** The Ninja Girls

The Ninja Girls, dressed in “giddy-up” fashion for the awards ceremony, and I were top ten finalists in the Best Individual Blog category.

In my airline days, I had two postings to Japan, first to Osaka and then later to Tokyo. So I seek out these ladies  from Japan to make my acquaintance and to exchange views about living overseas. Although we did not bag the Best Individual Blog title, the Ninja Girls won the  Favourite YouTube Channel title.

** Regina Chow of Shopping Queen’s Haven

Grace Tan, winner of the Best Individual Blog last year, introduced Regina to me whilst we were in the registration queue. Regina, a veteran in the blog awards competition, won the Best Fashion Blog this time round with her Shopping Queen’s Haven blog. Well done! Success comes from hard work and resilience 🙂

** The Ladies In Black of  Petite Travellers

At the registration queue, I took this photo of these ladies and wish them good luck too. Their Petite Travellers collaborative blog about family-friendly holidays for discerning little people was one of the top ten finalists in the Best New Blog category. See how well they had dressed for the ceremony – synchronising their black dresses and distinctive hair blings!

**Gina & Daniel of Sunrise Odyssey

Thank you Gina and Daniel for coming over to me and introduced yourselves – after the winners had been announced on stage. I shall remember you both for complimenting me for being “cool” to be blogging at this phase of my life and that you find my blog inspiring and positive. I’d like to wish you a safe backpacking adventure for your current one-year journey from China to Europe.

** Jamie Chan of No Foreign Lands

Like Gina and Daniel, I was touched by Jamie’s friendship. Jamie is a traveller, visual storyteller as well as a musician and divides her time between Singapore and Melbourne. See you again Jamie at the Singapore Blog Awards 2015! Keep going.

3. Thanks to The Omy.sg Team And The Judges

4.  My Friends,  Readers And Supporters

And to my friends in the Blog Club, the many other Facebook groups as well as my family’s Grandma’s 24 group – a big thank you. As for my many other supporters who are “strangers” (my Retire Do What? definition of a stranger is a friend whom you have yet to meet) a big thank you. Thank you all for reading, sharing and voting!

I shall endeavour to focus on the central theme of my blog – to “Stay positive in Life.”