Thursday, February 1

The Bullet Train Guide to be Heavy

NUS climbers are always worrying about their weights. I mean, what's the deal man..just eat climb and dun worry so much lah. And there is this recent flurry of BMI thingy and to our amazement, there are climbers who have BMI below 18! This is super thin and super unhealthy, as testified by a Health Promotion Board Officer who replied to Jups mail. Thus being the always helpful guy, I hereby (humbly) present:

Adrian's The Bullet Train Guide to be Heavy

Introduction
You might ask, Adrian you are not fat, how to write a guide? That is true, but I am heavy. Notice the subtle difference between fat and heavy. Fat means bloated, like a puffer fish and your lumps bounce during walking. Lumps on the stomach or legs that is, we do not mind good lumps. Heavy means you can have a normal body, only that you have this thing called weight and an acceptable BMI. And being heavy prevents stretch marks, being fat fast means having stretch marks all over ur body. Not good if you wanna wear little cloth.

One: Old Chang Kee
Go across the street during training and buy some old chang kee products! They are cheaper than outside, and it tastes good! usually the food will be sold out at 9pm, thus go slightly earlier, like during water break. for extra challenge, buy everything on the shelf man, and treat the team so everyone can accompany you during your get heavy campaign.

Two: Eat den sleep
After training, fast fast go home, bath and eat dinner! Must be completed in sequence, cos you need to wait for your hair to dry. Then after eat dinner, your hair is dried already and now, fast fast go sleep! This is the super orgasmic way to get heavy man..you will feel super happy. This is especially good for those muggers who rarely have a good night sleep, you will feel super accomplished!

Three: Footlong sub
Subway's sandwiches got the footlong one. Instead of going old chang kee to buy food, you can go subway which is just beside OCK. Buy the footlong sandwich but do not get the meal! Remember your student card for discount..this is much more worth it than buying the normal 6-inch sub. For extra oomph, go for subs like meatball, turkey, chicken teriyaki. You will defeat the purpose if you buy stuff like veggie delight. -.- totally a turn off. Subway is healthy too thus you will not feel guilty. Try to finish the footlong sub, you can eat it thru out training (outside of the gym) and remember not to 'f***ing throw your food waste in the gym' hahahaha.

Four: Running and swimming is wrong
Why burn off money? You see, food is bought using money, and by running or swimming, you are burning off the food, thus burning off money. But you need to be fit while getting heavy, thus continue to eat and climb. Just climb. Correct de, you can firm up the arms and thighs that was fattened. Imagine those firm arms and hot legs like Mei Fen's. They can be yours too! Still no firm legs? Rally all the engineers in the team, we have like 584 engineers here. Big team hor? Anyway get their timetables and escort each one of us up the Engineering Slope. Inclined at an angle of 30 degrees, escorting everyone of us up for a week can give you those Mei Fen's Legs! They can be yours too!

Five: Ice cream hurhur
Ice cream during training, ice cream tub while studying, ice cream for breakfast, ice cream on bus..eat it wherever you go! If you're rich, go buy Ben and Jerry's. If not..just a local brand will do. Remember to bring some to the gym to share so we can share your guilt. If you start to uh-wekkk (vomit), oh man..you have just hit the sweet spot. Ignore the puke and ice cream foaming at your mouth and continue eating! Spartan training yo. After sometime, it will be totally normal to foam and eat ice cream at the same time, ie the l33t ice cream eater haha.

Conclusion
You will surely have a lot of fun eating behind coach's back during training. It is like satisfying your curiousity. Satisfaction will be attained especially for step two. Once you attained satisfaction, continue step two but in a higher intensity, like sleep longer! Remember to share your food hor. Being underweight has its consequences and really, the.threat.is.real.


GEK1025

Today during the lecture, we were gg thru Chinese landscape painting. And i can't help but think abt Yang Shuo. Esp so after Liu Li showed me those crazy photos on his ever high-tech and high resolution camera-phone. Here's why:





Forces of nature and humans, pls let this trip be a reality!


On another note, its the 1st day of Feb. 2 more months. Like what a hardworking climber always says: "Train hard train safe."

Monday, January 29

Exchange Wat?

It'll be the 3rd wk of training 2dae. And there's already injuries here and there. I'm badly injured too, with a large blood-filled blister (which had healed). Take care people and recover fast. (X-training helps, I guess.)

We had about three school exchanges till now for this sem. And I look forward to every one of them. Its a chance to climb at a different place, to see how other climbers are training or their style, and to learn from others. I think this is like climbing with British pro climbers, but at a level lower, i guess.

But somehow, during exchanges, we tend to keep to ourselves (myself included). It just feels weird to interact with others. Somehow the objective of exchange is lost. So here, let me humbly suggest some not-so good ideas.
  • Ice-breakers. Usually we jus get changed and start climbing asap. How abt gettin the coach and captains / committee to self-intro. This will aid future c0-op.
  • Divide into groups (maybe by category) to increase interaction.
  • Go through the normal training routine, rather than jus free climb. This allows ppl to exchange training pointers; and let them see how other team trains.
  • Pre event route setting. (done last yr)
  • End with free & easy climb.

Point to note: we're a big group and tend to intimidate and occupy large areas wherever we go. Thus we appear obnoxious. (me included)

Just my humble opinions. Its easy to say, but hard to execute.

Comments or ideas, anyone?



Sunday, January 28

Tuesday

Just finished reading Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom.

My canoeing coach braved the rain to cycle to my home just so that he can pass me the book. So I believe it has to be something influential and powerful enough to make someone want to share it with me.

And the book made me ask myself questions over and over again. It's not just once.
It may help in your pursuit of happiness.
Either that, or just head down to the gym.

Wednesday, January 24


Chang Mai - Crazy Horse Buttress

Chang Mai vs Krabi. Seems like there has been some talk going around abt "Why Not Krabi?". To appease the masses, here're some reasons of why the former is as good, or better than the latter.

1. Chang Mai has lots of long nice exposed climbing that takes you into a fantastic view of the area

2. Like Krabi, not as many mozzies as Batu Caves

3. Cooler weather up north

4. Places for bouldering too!

5. Save you from the dangers of the monsoon and the threat of rain in Krabi

6. Prevent you from being extorted by the pirates of Krabi

7. Try something new! Take the path less trodden! Dont keep trying things that pple will just say "seen it, tried it, finished it"!

8. Coz many of the seniors have been to Krabi =] And Clara too. Frankly I havent been to Chang Mai but I think I will be great!

To entice you peepz further, here are some more pics from Chang Mai http://www.thailandclimbing.com/










Tuesday, January 23

Pork??




no offence to the other races in the climbing team...



Saturday, January 20

Food Journey

Now heres something bit different, a food journey that happened on last tuesday, heres some photos for ya'll to drool over (hopefully)...enjoy!

Bak Chor Mee..gone.. Nonya Dumpling! Quite good with the chilli powder





P.S.: Jensen, next time u shld eat less before training..don't waste it by letting it out..




Thursday, January 18

Just stopping by to say that...

Just stopping by to say that...
actually I wanted to climb endurance routes today but it rained so i stayed in.
actually I wanted to climb a bit today but my fingers are still aching from Kiat's training.
actually I wanted to go Tampin but I got 5 mid-terms plus a paper assignment immediately after the hols.

ps, who knows what is the best gift to give to your ex-classmate who is turning 21? she's throwing a birthday party and i no idea on wat to get for her..thanks!

Wednesday, January 17

The ReVenGe of the InJurieS

To all NUS climbers... An Urgent Health Notice. Pls take note... The Curse of the Injuries of the NUS climbing gym is BACK. For all the people that had escaped unscathed last academic year, you would probably only have a vague impression of that dark period. To refresh your memory, think of sprained ankles (notably Adrian's amazing leap of faith during RockMaster qualifiers). IT's BACK. But this time it has morph into WRIST pain. There's a raising number of climbers suffering from it - Liu Li, Edwin, Jansen, me n whoever else. It can also transfigure into the form of pulled finger tendons. Would advise caution to all climbers to stay well aware of this plague.

Ok seriously. You seriously do not want to be afflicted by injury or sorts. Do a Google on 'climbing injuries' and you'll find thousand n 1 articles on it - cause, prevention, maintenance. Find some time to read up ya? Climb Well n Climb Safe people! Meanwhile, might need to change the feng-shui or something again... or burn some joss sticks...

Start II

"Is Adrian here yet?"

Those are the typical lines said during trainings. Thus hereby I present, Why Adrian Seems to be Late for Trainings.
  1. Actually it is the rain. Rain prohibits movements and everything slows down. Training starts at 6.30pm, and I make my move to the PGP bus stop at 5.30pm. Due to the rain, I close my room windows and take my umbrella and walk to bus stop. Walk slowly now as rain makes floor slippery. Reach PGP foyer at 6pm. Rain gets heavier and I walk slower. I missed the bus and had to wait for the next one at 6.40pm. There was traffic jam aso..so when I reach the gym, it was 7pm plus de.
  2. Raining makes waking up more unbearable.
  3. Tutorial registration..my tutorials registered via IVLE and all my faculty mates are kiasus! My tutorial registration starts at 7pm, and by 7.10pm, my prefered slot is full already. Thus I aso kiasu and hog my computer my clicking refresh refresh refresh. Outsiders may think I am some sick gamer but NO. I am actually trying to keep up to some nerds nia.
  4. No bus to climbasia. If you miss the bus to harborfront, u must wait 10 more mins. When you reach the mrt station, you must wait another 6 mins. Thus you will be late for 16 mins.
  5. I forgot my ezlink card, as I am an engineer. So must go back and take.
  6. I forgot my climbasia card too..
  7. My faculty mate called me to ask me about lab -.-
Happy Lunar New Year everyone! Nyam nyam nyam chi-fei wo men muahaha.

Start

This week marks the start of official trainings. Quite glad to see most people back for training, except for some lost and late sheeps. This blog had be seeing its lull of posts; i hope those bloggers out there can post more exciting stuff (eg star blogger like hadrianus who stays at block 3.floor 8.room d). Guys training on monday was tough, at least to me. My back muscles ache terribly today. We did max pull-ups, which saw all the guys and one lone gal pulling to new highs. I went beyond 20 for my very 1st time. We then had three sets of push-ups, dips, leg-raises, tension conditioning, and more pull-ups. If OJW was there, I’ll feel more motivated, not that the people there were not.

Headed back to gym for max hangs. Then the end of training. The juniors are confirm much stronger now and I applaud that. But please get even more stronger (technique, strength, power, endurance), so Liu Li can improve and push to new frontiers. Man, alvin’s blog is so crowded with cool climbing pics that I drool over my laptop as I admire each of them. Then there is the castle hill trip by Ben, Suz, RH and Coy. When it is gonna be me? – the gym rat.

Here’s some pics of Climberland – the gym where Alvin and I climbed in HongKong. Its cosy and you pay by placing your money in this metal box. Good for cheapskates.















(Weimin, its time you post some pictures of beautiful ladies from your side!)

Sunday, January 14

greetings

Hi guys! Now that it's a new semester, holidays are over and results are out, I hope everyone's ready to start the new semester with a better idea of time management! i.e. How to fit school work into climbing life :) I'm really looking forward to see everyone grow into better and more experienced climbers when i get back. Especially hope the juniors can surpass the older climbers like me, zx, ks, weimin soon. For my batch, I feel that we improved due to helping each other and also friendly competition..whatever works for you!

Anyway if you're interested, you can read my blog here. I write about my travels and also a lot about climbing. Currently, I am climbing about 3-4x a week and I think I will buy the 45pound /month unlimited climbing pass at the local bouldering gym here. You can imagine how much that stings after climbing free in NUS for so long.

The climbers here are good. There are 2 guys on the British National squad and they are really REALLY strong. Climbing with them is tough but very enlightening. Other than them, there are LOADS of other climbers stronger than me so I think I can really improve here. Climbing in NUS has made me strong enough that I can climb decently with these guys and not make a fool out of myself. I owe a lot to the NUS gym(always my second home) and all the seniors/dinos who have taught me so much over these 2.5 years.

Thanks!!
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Friday, January 5

Read this article on the Straits Times Life! yesterday(Thurs). Decided to share.

It's written by Ben Hecht(1894-1964), an American journalist, playwright and screenwriter. It's an excerpt from his column titled Testament of a Reporter found in The Penguin Books of Columnists.


I saw (the boxer) Jack Dempsey knock out of the ring in Atlantic City and come back to win.

I saw Chris Happerty of the Association Press (AP) climb an icy telegraph pole in the Dayton flood, tap out his last message: “Dayton, Ohio – AP everywhere”, and slide unconscious to the earth.

I heard Hugo Haase stand up in the first National German Assembly at Weimar and proclaim: “I am a German who believes the might of guns will only win for us an ignoble place in the human family. If this is treason, kill me.” They killed him on the Reichstag steps in Berlin.

I saw Lou Gehrig bat out his last homer with his spine in a knot.

I saw Jesus Maria Lopez, before the firing squad in Chihuahua in 1928, smoke his last cigarette, grin at the leveled rifles, and say: “Your bullets, my friends, will have no effect on the thoughts in my humble head. They will continue in other humble heads.”

I saw Ben Welch, blind as a bat, come prancing out on the Palace Theatre stage and crack jokes that convulsed his audience.

I saw George Gershwin writing his last tunes for the Goldwyn Follies with a brain tumour driving an ice pick through his skull.

I saw a survivor of the Titanic, a servant girl from Galway, who told me how her friends in the steerage had died. Unable to find places in the lifeboats, they had crowded into the forbidden but now deserted precincts of the first-cabin saloon, taken possession of the elegant piano, and played and sung Irish tunes as the ship went down, themselves with it.

I saw an American Expeditionary Force soldier on the hospital cot, with both legs off and a fake jaw riveted to where his face had been, move his mouth stiffly and squeak like a mama doll: “We won.”

I’ve seen these and many things like them.

Along with the endless saga of misfortune that hits the eye of the reporter, he gets to see the queer stamina of little people in big troubles.

He is given a privileged look at the undaunted moments that are the soul of human history.

He sees a lot of disaster and wreckage, but if he keeps his eyes open, he usually gets a look at the flag of man still flapping away above some corner of the shambles.

I’ve seen this flag a hundred times where it never belonged. I’ve seen it come out of the many big and little hells in the hearts of people and straighten up in victory.

Missin'

"When you miss something, you'll know it."

Yeah, that's what I've been told as well. I guess it's brought to you by the same people who insist that "you'll know it when you're in love," and "you'll just know it."

Well, I know it, alright. I know that I'm missing something.

This evening, it rained just as I left the office. The nostalgic dampness in the laden evening air gelled my weary steps. She was beckoning. She had been so patiently waiting for me.

She was my old lover, my once true love; and I found myself thinking of her through the hazy train windows. Ah those times we spent in the comfort of one another; those nights we shared in quiet and in blatant disregard. Perhaps most importantly, the times she gracefullly showed myself to me in ways I couldn't ignore. Her elegant rigidity defeated my contrived agility each time I tried to conquer her.

Whenever things got messy, we'd clear the air, and throw out the trash. Whenever our lives got crowded, she always gave me room for a breather, away from her cozy embrace but never far from her presence. Whenever we had a chance to stand out on the public scene, she'd be there to give us all that she had.

Oh, what true love.

I miss the NUS climbing gym. I've spent some of the best and worst times of my life with that gym and with those silent fibreglass sentinals. They have taught me more than I could have learnt. And yet, they would never ask for me to give anything -- but to return to the one true place for climbing.

Give me a reason not to love climbing, and I'll just introduce you to my great lover.

She still completes me.



JKLM

Saturday, December 30

Kl pics









Here's some pics from kl for your viewing pleasure. Sorry if the pictures are all over the place. Can't be helped lah. I'm too lazy and untalented to work it out.

Jups is like some cliffhanger super hero huh. Check out all that gear sia. How you say... action packet, if you know what I mean.








Special thanks to Clara for her photo taking skills because mine suck.

Must put my big face inside right?





Disclaimer: Pictures have been photoshopped to remove mosquito bites and pimples. Thats why everyone so "hansem". You think you really so hamsen meh?

New YeaR 2007

No witty comments,

No humurous quotes,

No hot YouTube videos.

This is about the New Year and the Year that is passing. On the same line as Jensen on this, that this is a time when thoughts surface and questions form, when reflection probes and uncertainty scares. Consciously or otherwise. How has the Year been for you? Or from a wider perspective, how has the Year changed your life? How have you changed? The list seems endless.

Something more relevant to the blog, a question that Zhengxin once asked, why do we climb? For the juniors, maybe it's a little early to ponder but i feel that somewhere down the line, it's inevitable that it will appear. Why do we devote so much time and energy into this activity? The passion? The nature? Or simply because there isn't anything else to do? A simple question but one that can mould one's drive to climb or make one feel that it's probably time to call it quits.

Why do i climb. One picture sums it up. One of my fav.


In words. It's about the Moment - that Moment when time feels like it's standing still, when nothing else seems to matter - that Moment of beauty, of nature and of climbing - that Moment shared with friends

Just a little poignant moment =]

(watch the movie "The Beach"; might give an idea if you have no idea what i'm talking about here) Happy New Year and a wonderful 2007 ahead!

Tuesday, December 26

xmas

I was wondering who else had no programs for xmas evening and found out that actually quite a few ppl!

So we decided to meet and have a short climb in nus from 6-9, then dinner at holland V. Some of us had zhi char which was only so-so and the rest had western food.






Then everyone went home (wtf!) and the 4 remaining survivors of xmas climbers outing 06 went for some drinks at Wala's...




l-r: alv, eli, jiasheng, weixiang
Jiasheng and weixiang are our non-NUS climbers who actually climb more often in nus then most nus climbers!





Merrrry xmasssss


Take A Look

I'm sure everyone has seen some disappointments and unlikely successes in their lives this year. As the end of 2006 draws near, it is inevitable to think about the year that has passed.

But I say let's not be trapped by the shackles of 2006.

Tell us your wishes (doesn't have to be resolutions) for the new year, say, 3 of them.

I'll start.

  1. Learn to climb with grace and control.
  2. Stay cheerful in the face of adversity ( like flunking exams)
  3. Get to know all you people in the team more, in depth.

I don't like to shoot arrows at unsuspecting people, so I'm not going to tag anyone. If you visit the team blog, just spend a few minutes posting.



Monday, December 25

warmest wishes to YOU!

hey guys n gers~

juz wanna wish everyone a velli MERRY XMAS n happi holidaying~! =)



kellY

Sunday, December 24

KL trip 2006!

Oosh! Greetings to all muahaha merry christmas and happy new year hor. I Adrian Looi, the golden boy of christmas will share my humble experience with the NUS team in KL 18th Dec - 23rd Dec.

Testing the limits
I tested limits this time. Pushing the boundaries will make you improve. I felt I need to know how difficult things are for me to chart the waters.

After testing limits, I realized that Sandra and Mei Fen fiercer this year than last year! This year they gave me no chance to talk or to perform my up-the-cup-motion. When I opened my mouth, they immediately "shuddup adrian" "stop it adrian" "dammit adrian" "yucks adrian." The morale of the story is not to test Sandra's and Meifen's patience..Meifen is extra hot this year too. Might it be due to the short shorts that she was wearing? Looking forward to training yay.

Of course I tested the limits of my climbs too. I tried a 7A+, stupidly thinking that it cannot be too tough as I went quite high in Camp 5's 7A route. My arrogance was rewarded with an early fall. I even resorted to hang-dogging to try the remainder of the 7A+ route in Nanyang wall but kanasai. The footholds are slippery like shit and the handholds were sloper based, with the option of crimping. But at least I know how I should proceed with my climbs now, compared to the past where I have no inkling of how much work to put in for my Tidal Dum project (actually I do have an idea of how much work to put in for Tidal Dum, but I need to convince myself lah).

Curse of the Golden Flower
This is one solid movie hahahahahahahha. I love the expression of the whole team after the movie ended. All 20 plus of them just stared at the screen while the tune of Jay Chou goes on. Super steam haha.

Food
Hmm KL food pales in comparison to the legendary Penang food. See all penang-kias so hensem, thanks to the food. The food in KL expensive too but I guess I enjoyed the company, not the food. The food in Ipoh is better than KL food too, as they are of the same quality but Ipoh's food is much much cheaper. I came from Penang, then Ipoh then finally joined the team in KL, thus I can tell how much the food quality differs.

It is scary that some people can eat a lot. Hoho you know who you are..chi-fei-ni-bah (eat until u fat bah). Nyam nyam nyam I is the fatty monster do you recognise me I eating so much till I put on 100 kg nyam nyam nyam.

Future plans
I want to go back Nanyang wall as that was my first time there. I got a project there le. I wish to expand my climbing moves variation as I felt that I am becoming stagnant in my climbing moves..new moves can make you attack a problem with more creativity and more seh-ness.

Also, the team that went to KL this year was different from the team that went last year..the girls this year wear shorter shorts wuahaha and they are more fierce. The girls of my batch have changed hurhur. Want to know how much more the girls of NUS team will change next KL trip? Stay tune to the 2007 KL trip report from golden boy!

Saturday, December 23

i teared



Sunday, December 17

Entreprises Walls

drool.



Friday, December 15

African Poem

This poem was nominated poem of 2005 for the best poem, written by an African kid!!!

When I born, I Black,
When I grow up, I Black,
When I go in Sun, I Black,
When I scared, I Black,
When I sick, I Black,
And when I die, I still black..
And you White fella,
When you born, you Pink,
When you grow up, you White,
When you go in Sun, you Red,
When you cold, you Blue,
When you scared, you Yellow,
When you sick, you Green,
And when you die, you Gray..
And you calling me Colored ??

Aly El Sahly

Thursday, December 14

Eat. Sleep. Climb

This is long overdued and I have gotten my butt off the ground. So here goes, 5 things u didn’t know about Charles,

I used to be from Saint Joseph’s Instituition and I was a canoeist in Sji. Had a lot of fun canoeing. Capsizing our canoes on purpose to cool off. Discarding our paddles and using our hands as paddles to race instead. Proceeding to Golden Mile Hawker Centre for great food after trainings or going to Shaw Towers for Burger King and then catch a movie and “cool down” in the theatre at the same time.

After that I went to Pioneer Junior College. I was in Odac. One very interesting fact about my time in Odac was that we never ever went on any overseas trip before. I think all we did was sit in our room and crack lame jokes and laugh ourselves silly. My friend called us Idac, indoor activities club instead.

I like reading. It’s 1 of my favourite pastime. However that does not include my textbooks and readings. I read almost everything maybe the genre of books that I don’t read is romance. I read lesser now due to school but since it’s the holidays now I have plenty of time to read! I just finished Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Pretty intriguing story just like most Japanese plots would be. However there’s a lot of sex in it. Pretty ridiculous. But oh well, it’s still a good read. I would recommend Haruki Murakami to anyone who wants a good read.

I like doing sports. Play soccer occassionally. Enjoy most ball games too. Used to play pool very often in my jc days. Skate too and wish to pick up aggressive inline-skating. Climbing made me realized that all sports have a tendency to destroy your body. For example climbing - your fingers, soccer - your ankle and I believe aggressive inline will ruin your knees.

And I want to use fewer vulgarities. Very immoral. Swear so much during training and especially competitions. I believe I exclaimed F*** damn loudly during the mock com when I didn’t see a good hold in front of me. During Climaprix when I missed the miniscule foothold I think I shouted F*** so loudly then the chief route judge walked over and asked me to cool it. So embarrassing. So next time u hear me swear or exclaim an expletive give me a glare or ask me to shushh. I’ll try my best to keep it to a grunt of frustration or a sigh of resignation.

Now I tag Khadijah and Youjie!

Monday, December 11

Came across this pic at moonclimbing.com (check it out if u havent, lots of good pics, videos and info) and just reminded me of the little conversation we had on monos. This pic is dedicated to those whose finger has gain enlightenment.... mmmm....

Just in case u dont know too... this is a picture on Action Direct. N just in case u havent seen a video of the climb, i think u can get it from most of the seniors. Wicked stuff.

Thursday, December 7

Introduce a place that I have never been before



Since it's been a very long time the blog hasn't been updated, I'm going to share something that has bothered me for the last whole semester! It's a famous climbing place that I have never been before, even though it's in china...

I don't know if you have heared Gui Lin province before, but there got the most beautiful rivers and mountains in china(桂林山水甲天下 hehe just some chinese i dun know how to translate).
However, that's not the reason that makes me thinking this place all the time because i can hardly be attracted by bueatiful sceneries. So the strange thing is that almost all the climbers in china kept talking about this place for years in their blogs or msn spaces or lots of climbing webs...

This place is called "Yang Shuo" (阳朔), a very very small town surrounded by numerous rivers and cliffs. A perfect place to relax and climb (I imagine...). I heared there is a street called "西街", west street?? which is filled by bars (most r hosted by foreigners who dun want to leave there) and climb clubs...

Is it perfect? After Krabi, I really think that all a true climber (at least a true liuli)need is just good cliffs and good bars nearby which got cheap and nice cocktails hahaha...

Here is the website for one of the climing clubs in Yangshuo. http://www.xclimber.com/ Im currently planing to go there about the end of june next year. Just cant waite!!!



Saturday, December 2

Hokkien in the house.

to supplement the hokkien stuff we have on this blog.
maybe we should make this our team language instead of thai.




Friday, December 1

nice! dedicated to all those of us still having exams



Tuesday, November 21

verticalclimbing

Hi, to emphasise the importance of proper belaying and lead climbing (i always feel nervous when the juniors lead climb) let me show you what a rope burn is.

A rope burn occurs when the rope rubs against your flesh when you fall. It is usually due to either
1) improper belaying - the belayer stands in the wrong position and hence the rope hangs below you.
2) Reckless climbing - climbing with the rope in a wierd position (not hanging directly between your legs and below you.
3) Certain Routes have more potential of creating rope burns as well.


First the rope burn will appear white cos the skin is gone. It won't hurt at this point in time.




Then, your rope burn will slowly become red as the blood seeps out and it weeps pus and plasma. If it is at a joint like this one is, it takes super duper long to heal because the scab is constantly broken.


What is the big fuss about rope burn you may ask...scars are manly!
1) you may be a girl
2)Your team-mates will be so tempted to put qing cao you on it that they may go to great extents to do so (ask for a video of weimin being tortured in krabi)
3) It's freaking pain - the qing cai you
4) It's freaking pain (when you bathe)
5) It's freaking pain (when you walk)
6) you can't climb for 1-2 weeks!

Monday, November 20

Bluey's Blues


Dear all!
You can call me bluey and I belong to Petzl's make. Recently I've been looking at the way you all treat my metal breathen and I am dismayed at the lack of care that you show towards us. Granted we are cold and hard, but we can give you all pleasure. I hereforth present 'Bluey Basic Metal Care.'

Before use:
Check my breathen for cracks or cuts and try to identify the history of the equipment. If the equipment has been dropped many times by some goon, do not attempt to use it as it may cracks. These cracks are micro-cracks but they can lead to crack propagation and cause bigger cracks upon repeated use. The maximum strength of most metal equipment is 25 kN, crack propagation decreases this maximum weight. Heavy climbers in the team beware haha.

Falling in Nyamuk wall in KL is no joke as it is very secluded and it is difficult to rush you to hospital. Whitish deposits on equipment denote dirty equipment muahaha. It is white due to chalk lah. Please do not drop us (carabiners and quickdraws) as we are constantly being banged on the wall..dropping us only serves to increase our pain sob.


How to clean neh-neh equipment:
Before heading to that trip, visually inspect us for any dirt. Use cloth to wipe us clean. If we are stiff, it might be due to too much porn, I mean, too much dirt. Stiff meaning we cannot snap back normally. There maybe dirt stuck in our joints and use your eyes to see how much dirt is there. Your action may vary from rinsing us in warm water and drying away from heat to a mere lubrication of our parts with silicone based oil. A good oil is the Singer oil, the oil they use for sewing machines.

For those who owns us like Feng and Fen, you might not want to buy Singer oil just to oil us. The gym has singer oil at your convenience.

Maintenance:
Cleaning and lubrication must be done after use in sea based climbing areas, or after 3 months, which ever comes first. Oil our joints but just use 2 drops can already. Too much oil causes chalk and dust to be stuck to our joints. If we still cannot snap back after oiling, it means we are dirty and it is time for warm water bath or the flaking of our joints with toothbrush.


Adrian likes to hear us snap. It might be due to some fettish but weird snapping sounds means our spring is getting rusty, like got creaking sound like that. Oiling well is useful so that we can immediately snap back when you are clipping in during lead climbing.

Do treat Bluey and my friends well
or we will betray you on the wall. We all have souls, and listening to us can provide you with company while you attempt a move 24m up a cliff.


Tuesday, November 14

guys please take note!!! lol

enjoy...



Push Ups

Hey hey the title sounds a bit kinky hurhur but dash those pervertic thoughts from you now! (especially alvin and the torn shirt while belaying thing tsk tsk)

Something came into my mind when i was performing stretching down after training today. Someone told me before that I must do push-ups after each training session as climbing uses a lot of pulling muscles..pull yourself on wall and yank for moves. Thus your pushing muscles will be weak and we cant have one muscle type being so much stronger than the other. It may cause injuries when you attempt movement that includes both type of muscles due to the imbalance.

Do not know if it is true but from now on, I will do some push ups after training during my warm down cos i am afraid of injuring myself. Look around and i see the zombies of injuries roaming about..a tall zombie guy, a short zombie girl, a fierce zombie girl, a hall zombie blablabla. There must be a reason on why i suddenly remember this advice i guess.

Monday, November 13

street figthers



Err this has nothing to do with climbing but it brings back gd memories ya? dun blame me for wasting your time~! HAHAHAHA


And this: Make love not Warcraft (Southpark) is really funny! A must for all gamers



This is only part1 of 3 since youtube has a 100MB upload limit.

part2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfHsSD-v9qU
part3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq7seHx7KLY

Sunday, November 5

CLIMAPRIX

With so many posts/comments on CLIMA already, PLEASE bear with one more from me haha... First off, no matter the result, I really believe that everyone gave their all in this competition n very glad with the effort, determination and sportsmanship displayed by all! We can definintely progressed further from here.

I think I should highlight some of the more serious points in the aftermath of the com too, expecially for the novice climbers since I didnt really watch the serniors climb.

1. Have an idea of what the standard of your competitors are like and what you need to improve on to progress in ur cat

2. Observation - maybe it's just nerves =] but dont jump right straight onto the start tile. Take a step back, look at the whole route, where all the tiles are and take a closer inspection where necessary; dont take too long though. In essence, dont climb blindly.

3. Time - Take a breather before you climb, helps to compose urself (at least for me). If you drop, take a rest before u attempt the route again, give urself some recovery time. And if u c that there isnt sufficient time on the clock to finish an attempt or the move is too difficult or pumpy, dont attempt. Rest may be more important to spare urself from over-pump.

4. Route reading - think the novice climbers need much more experience on this so take note on this k? always try to read routes before trying during trainings. For those who are scratching their head on what exactly is route-reading, visit http://www.planetfear.com/article_detail.asp?a_id=199 (lots of other good articles too) else can always check with the seniors ya?

I have to say this, I think all the juniors climbed more smoothly during the com than I did last time haha... keep it up people! Oh can we have a few words from the girls too? Would like to have a girl's perspective!




climbaprix - jensen's take

i learnt a lot about myself yesterday from just that short half hour competing.

i was a bit nervous before and during isolation, since this is my first competition like charles. it wasn't so much of my expectations of how well i'll climb, but more of just the fact that it's a competition. but the moment i stepped onto the mattress towards Route A, everything seemed like i'm back in the school gym. relaxed, chilled out, funky music and my teammates behind me telling me to push it. i thought i'd panic but luckily everything went so well in terms of nerves. i guess i have balls of steel. but that brings me to my next realisation(not sharma one).

i need to change the way i dyno. i tend to leave one hand on the tile when i throw for the dyno and i think thats why i slipped off the 2 endtiles (and left me falling really unglamly on the first route.basket....face down leh....already not handsome already still kena full force). must climb with grace, but must also fall with grace. i'm not sure if my dyno style is due to fear of not getting the tile or simply because i'm too cocksure that my span is long enough for every dyno. so guys, please screw it into my head the next time i dyno, "commit with 2 hands!".

and of course, kudos to the team for screaming and shouting for everyone else climbing yesterday. the atmosphere was great and i can really see how close-knit the seniors really are. but i think we juniors are quite chummy with each other too. haha. thats the way to go man. now that i have a bad sore throat from all that shouting, you guys will find the gym a little quiet without my bullshit.

well done to those who did well, to all those whose expectations fell short, that's what makes us push ourselves to improve. but let's concentrate on KL! natural rock, oh man....gets me all pumped up and palms sweaty.

reflect

I think climbaprix was a good experience. And there are a couple of things that i have learnt that is quite personal and i need to say it out.
First, i might have expected too much from myself. Thus, i was feeling very stressed out during isolation and during my climb. i jus keep wanting to perform to the standard that i should be performing. i felt that this hindered my climbing performance alot. i was not able to focus and hence perform wierdly. Yup. Maybe i should have relaxed a little cos it is not a major comp right? but somehow no matter how much one can pyscho himself to take it easy, the mind will sub consciously think otherwise.
Next, if you lose out to some of the people out there, does it mean that you are lousier than them?
Maybe we can share our views on that? i feel that maybe tt is not the case because every climbing competition has its own characteristics. Right?

At the end of the day, regardless of the results, if you feel that you have placed 110% effort during your 16mins of climbing, then you should be proud of yourself. Maybe result isn't everything. Enjoy the climb, thats what important?

i am jus feeling weird. need to do some reflection on whats wrong.

Feel free to comment about what i said. i am grateful to the team support today. It feels great to have everyone behind you pushing you on. i am proud of this team that i am in.

ALE.

Saturday, November 4

Recollections of Climbaprix 2006

(note: this is going to sound really weird and noobish and even stupid to some people but hey it’s coming from a person who just participated in his first climbing competition)

This was my first climbing competition and it was certainly an eye-opener. Learnt many things about myself and my climbing. But more importantly I want to thank all those who kept cheering for me and giving me helpful hints. Among those hints are look around which sadly I did not heed, thus missing out a foothold and not completing the 1st route. Another being “COMMIT!”. I believe it came from Jensen and I really did that and I did a humungous throw and completed the last route (Sweet…..) In the midst of looking at my 2nd route, a shout from Jups saying “Come on! it’s easy!” really helped me. Not sure whether it was psychological or not, but I flashed the route =)))) Sound and logical advice from Ningfeng lik “It’s ur last route, do your best” made sense. And all the screams and shouts and cheers certainly helped.

This made me realized how all these shows the team spirit that the team has. Even the Dj mentioned that Nus was always cheering very loudly for their own climbers. Even though during the competition it is just you against the wall but I realized that there are actually a whole bunch of people behind u supporting and encouraging you to push on and to keep going. When u missed a tile and crash on the mat there will b a collective groan and when u top a route there will be a resounding cheer of “YEAAAAA”. What a great community it is.

Actually I wanted to leave after my cat was over but thought maybe I could just give back what others have so graciously given to me. Thought it would be nice if I could cheer my other team-mates on. So the novice guys stayed back and screamed our lungs out for the following people who climbed. Hope it did help u as it did to me. Kinda have a sore throat now. But not too sure why we were kind of muted during the open men’s competition. What a great experience to soak in the feeling of a climbing competition. And I am definitely proud to be part of this climbing team and I wish to continue climbing with you all.

Just some thoughts,
Charles

Thursday, November 2

Ad - play

1. BMW started a newspaper ad-campaign


2. Audi replied.


3. Best of all, my fav car has a comment in place too.


4. The CEO of Bentley looked at the chicken fight and puts his opinion straight!


Tuesday, October 31

Economics

I may not be an economics student during JC but i also know this key principle of economics.. the principle of diminishing returns:
Suppose output is produced with two or more inputs and we increase one input while holding the other input or inputs fixed. Beyond some point—called the point of diminishing returns—output will increase at a decreasing rate.

haha anyone wanna kick me too??

An interesting book

I came across this book on amazon. Does any one have it? "One Move Too Many: How to Understand the Injuries and Overuse Syndroms of Rock Climbing"
http://www.amazon.com/One-Move-Too-Many-Understand/dp/3928026208/sr=1-38/qid=1162132842/ref=sr_1_38/102-3291767-5981759?ie=UTF8&s=books
If not i think I'll be buying it. Looks very useful.

I think everyone knows pain means must rest lah. But some times cannot tahan. Fingers too itchy.
Like me. How you say in economics, must maximize profit man, profit being increase in performance, and stop when marginal cost is greater marginal benefit. Its the universal rule man.
So lets all find our profit maximizing schedules man!

Something like that. Who wants to kick me.

Monday, October 30

Dancing Man

A wise man once told me not to mix endurance training with power training. But I had been doing it for the past few years, always thinking a good workout would include warm-up, boulder problems, then power train, ending with endurance sets. I'm totally wrong! So next time you need advice, ask the person beside me. Whoever it is, he/she will be better.

Time to start studying,esp juniors. But climb you must. So its time to join our study / look-a-see group. Whether your aim is a good cap or a good catch, it doesn't matter. YIH has it all. Confirm by next year will get. (guaranteed by someone).



Remember this?

Commercial break ... found these surfing the web ...



Rock On novice cat 2005 ... big sweep (!) ... sorry ah, I'm just collecting prize for weimin ...

Sunday, October 29

5 things you already know about Shaun

1) I love booze.

I love almost anything and everything alcoholic, except perhaps Tiger beer which tastes suspiciously like drain water. Not that I've tasted drain water before, but I guess it probably tastes and smells like Tiger Beer. Really can't understand why it's a "world acclaimed" beer. I prefer stuff like Erdinger and Hoegaarden or from microbreweries like Brewerkz or Paulaner's. I'm also quite anal in how I drink my beer; from a mug or glass, never from the can or bottle.

2) I love Steaks, in their full bloody glory. Nothing above medium-rare, though I have really bad luck with steaks. It's difficult for me to get a good one cause there seems to be a conspiracy to deprive me of them. Just had really lousy steak at the Swensons in VivoCity. Sent it back once, and it still came back lousy. Down with Swensons! Head to Hog's Breath or Outback Steakhouse for solid steaks. Of course if you're made of money there's always Morton's...

3) I had an exciting time in primary and secondary school. For some strange reason, I absolutely refused to do any homework in primary school and was too principled to copy, so each day I had to cook out ridiculous excuses for why I didn't bring/do my homework for every lesson. Quite stressful, really. My dad would have to make a trip down at least once a year. Then I woke up, and discovered the joys of copying homework =)

4) Like Vanessa, I was always late for school. I didn't have to do any fence climbing though, cause I gather that since prefects are students too, they have classes, so the trick is just to arrive after the first period, then stroll into class before the teacher for the next period comes in!
Oh and since I didn't have homework problems in secondary school due to my superbly fast copying skills, I entertained myself by pissing the shit out of teachers instead. The idea is to stand in a submissive way with your legs slightly apart, and hands behind your back, then look at them with a cheeky smile and deliver insulting lines in a soft and flat tone. When their faces start getting red and their volume rising, say something like "Why're you shouting, sir? I'm talking to you very nicely." or "Relax sir, you sound very stressed." Sigh..those were the days. Now I'm just dying in classes, can't catch up =(

5) Now here's the best one. I got caught shop-lifting a .... yoyo from metro when I was 14. The merciless manager called the police and my sorry ass was hauled to the Bedok police station where they threw me in a cell but didn't even bother locking the door. I got off with only a warning though. Thankfully.

Okay, that's enough embarrassing stuff about me for now. Oh wait, speaking of embarrassing stuff. There's one more. I got into the finals for Boulderactive 2003, novice cat of course. My then-girlfriend couldnt make it to support me, so she sent a winnie the pooh balloon that I had to tie around my chalk bag. So when I appeared from isolation, the Emcee went, "next climber, er, mr winnie the pooh." Damn embarrassing, so die die must do well for the competition. That kind of pressure got me into the finals. Haha.



And now I sent a flying tag to ... Charles.

Friday, October 27

to tempt

Juz to tempt you guys, m'sia not only has natural climbing at batu caves and the artificial wall at Camp 5, there is also natural Bouldering in Tampin!

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Moisturiser

I was using some moisturizer for my hands thinking it would make my skin heal faster. But my callouses seem to be disappearing. What the hell man! My hard earned callouses are disappearing! The other day at climb asia I was having so much fun but my hands were starting to feel really raw, and i had to start avoiding those high friction stuff. Wah lau eh, how to tahan.

So if any girls are worried about rough skin, you can take over my lousy moisturizer. Useless piece of crap.

Don't tell me its all in my head. Who wants to volunteer for an experiment.

Thursday, October 26

V A N E S S A

1. I'm easily frightened.
I fainted from a wisdom tooth operation 2yrs ago. I ended up at the hospital in the middle of the night, only to find out that I didn't faint cos I lost too much blood, but because I was frightened. $300 gone!

Earlier this year when I had to abstract 4 teeth, I cried =/ cos it hurt so bad after the anaesthesia wore out.. =(

And i'm afraid of anyth that crawls. Yuck. I even have to ask my little sis to help me catch the beetle or spider or ask my dog to kill e cockroach if not i wouldn't dare to go into the room/toilet.

I've embarrased myself countless times by jumping suddenly cos I thought it was a cockroach, when it was actually a LEAF on the ground. >1


2.I used to be a tomboy.
I play soccer with my bro. and in pri sch, when e girls are playing five stones, I would play catching with the boys during recess time and before sch.

I got into trouble a lot in sch. I had to go to the principal's office no less than 5 times. Maybe its cos i'm so gullible and silly =( in P1, I saw my friend drawing on another guy's shirt with blue crayons. And he persuaded me to join in! so I took a green crayon and started drawing and I can't remem the details but e guy's mom complained and the principal said I had to bring e shirt home to wash cos there were more GREEN than BLUE marks on the shirt =(

In P3, a friend told me to spray insecticide into the pond (to kill the toads or someth like tt) and I in the end I was brought to the principals office and almost got CANED. He let me off cos I was a girl.

In p5, my friends were really playful and didn't like this chi teacher, so they put chalk and threw rubbish into her handbag. And once again they persuaded me to throw someth into her bag. And before I knew it, I was in the principals office again.

In Secondary sch i had to see the HOD cos i had too many demerit points (alws late for sch). and she said "vanessa, are you eating? you're SHRINKING!"


3. i'm always late for sch
When I was in JC, I was always late for sch, well cos I lived so near, i thought I didn't have to wake up so early. So I was always running to sch and climbing over the fence so I didn't have to do detention. And there was once, my shirt got caught in the fence, and TORE when I jumped. That prob piqued my interest for climbing =P
oh and btw I got like 2nd place for inter-house rock climbing whoaa hehe =P
(edit:out of the 8 who took part, 5 of them didn't even get pass the start tile..)


4. I have 1..2..3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7! Piercings.
So ah lian right? 3 on each ear and a navel piercing which I removed, cos I didn't have time to let it heal.

5. I touched a CONDOM.
I was at MOX this Gay bar at Chinatown area I think. We went there during Arts camp. I was going down the stairs when I saw this Zen-looking balloon, and I was so amused I went to pick it up. it was OILY I only realised what it was when I saw the opening, I hope its not used one! yikes!





























































sorry i took so long! busy la =P
i tag CYNTHIA & SHAUN :)

worries

I see the freshies trg very hard - and im very glad that we got such an enthusiastic bunch.

At the same time, i feel slightly worried (especially for the guys, several of whom have asked me how to increase strength... halt right there, wrong focus!!)

As a novice climber, most important is good technique as it will bring you the fastest improvement in the long term. Overcoming routes by strength bring momentary pleasure but 'zero' gain. Strength training could also potentially lead to injuries if you hop too fast onto the campus board without supervision (pls don't). Injuries will make you very frustrated like our unlucky captain.

The impt qn is how to improve technique? As long as you are willing to learn it will happen - Look at other ppl climb (and then copy like Kakashi), ask others to spot what you are doing wrong, ask others how to do it right, visualise yourself doing it and think think think how different body positions will affect you, what technique is appropriate, experiment!

Wednesday, October 25

CLIMBING & BODY TENSION

Here's something that was ripped off the site http://www.exploreclimbing.com/

Climbing Tips

Move your centre of gravity towards a hold instead of reaching for it. Push instead of pull. As with yoga, when climbing be mindful and focus on the learning rather than the outcome.

Bring your attention to your breathing when climbing. We often hold our breath during crux moves or when we are gripped which creates muscle tension. Muscles need oxygen to replenish their energy state. Your intention should be to breath smoothly and evenly throughout the climb. Exhale as you perform each move and inhale before you reach for the next.

The opposite of force is feeling. Focus on letting go and not controlling. Instead of forcing see if you can feel what is blocking progress (e.g. fear/ tension/ holding breath). As you exhale imagine that your are drawing out the fear or tension.

When the mind goes to where we think the body should be, instead of where it is, we lose our awareness of the moment.

Practise focusing on your feet when climbing. Be precise with where you place your foot. Look at where you have placed your foot before committing. Make sure that your centre of gravity is over your foot. Only place as much of the shoe as you need. Think of a mantra such as 'sticky rubber' and apply it to your footwork. Your feet will stick like glue after practise.

I know it all sound a little zen-nish but it sort of sums up what I've been trying to make the jrs practice, perhaps more clearly. Do try to keep them in mind =] No matter what style of climbing u may have, I think these little pointers will still help.

Sunday, October 22

having fun.

kind of bored.so think shall say something about today's climb in CA.
i always look forward to every saturday training,cos it's stress-free with a very laidback atmosphere anywhere we go.TP,SP,yishun safra,CA have real fun stuff, and definitely more fresh air.
whether we are humping potatoes, doing sick dynos or crimping on barely-there tiles, there's always plenty of crazy things to say and laugh at.especially when you humped a potato,got off the wall and watched another person hump it.try it at level 2 CA.satisfaction guaranteed.haha.
and we seriously should do something together other than climbing.like go window shopping or watch a movie or just chill out somewhere other than hawker centres.maybe this will come after the dreaded exams, or the weekend of climbaprix.yixiang and vanessa,you guys better not disappoint!i'm waiting for some good old-fashioned non-physical fun.
and last monday,when i said climbing is the best part of school, i ain't kidding. 4 days a week isn't enough, but my fingers can't take that much. and my nose hairs are overworked from all the filtering it has to do in the gym apart from working the haze.
2 more weeks to climbaprix, juniors, no stress ah, go there and have fun. during isolation maybe we can have some chick-spotting together.don't have to psyche till you lose your desires.haha.

let's play together till the sun sets on us.then play some more.

Friday, October 20

Dear climbers, besides our shared passion for climbing, which i assume with a high probability is true, what are your other hobbies? Cannot always talk about climbing right. People think we mad or something.

Anyone else love battlestar galactica? I think season 3 is the best so far. I won't give any spoilers but if you want to watch some here's a link. Its streamed. http://tv.peekvid.com/s2843/.
Thank me later.

Wednesday, October 18

C for clara

alrightie...got arrowed....so, 5 things about me!

No. 1
like jensen, im also the let-the-coin-decide-my-fate person. used that for many many many things, whether to pon cca or not(dun worry, tt was only in sec sch, i wont anyhow skip climbing training! (: ), whether to get this or the other present for fren, etc. and of most significant importance, to choose chem engin or take archi. guess the coin made the correct choice for me, although i do still wonder how my life could be if i wasn't in engin. i definitely suck at drawing, but i just like the feeling of not having to do maths, not having do science, but to do those animation stuff on comp, drawing, and those modeling stuff! so fun! and maybe take up some overseas architecture job o/seas! maybe america? :D

No. 2
i like daydreaming. thinking of impossible things (things like above). i can go on forever and ever and ever! oh ya, and even when i am paying attention in class, my frens will think that im stoning or daydreaming! yeah, i've got the daydreaming face huh....i rmmber in jc days, my tchers will go, "clara wong!" and then they will shoot some questions at me, because they think i wasn't paying attention! but, obviously, they were wrong! i do pay attention in class, sometimes.(at least, i tried very hard to) hee....

No. 3
im really forgetful, and blur, and bochap about many things. what makes things worse is i'm all three at the same time!
the very first symptoms of it occured in primary 4. somehow this nightmare was etched deeply in my mind(and hence, im not forgetful?), where my form tcher who was also my chinese tcher, kept calling me "blur like sotong"! as i never had any affinity with tchers, she hated me, and i hated her to the core. But now, i find all these rather bizarre, and stupid of me to even hate her for calling me blur cuz im really really blur. hah.
being forgetful is kindof duh la...as u can see from my tonnes of checklists and my calendars i made to remind myself of things-to-happen. and my room mate can even rmmber which days i start sch at 8 and which days i start 9, while i cant rmmber at all! ridiculous eh! hahah...

No. 4
i eat alot alot of candies. and i seriously do mean alot. hahaha....i known as the candy distributor for quite some time (dunno when this started, maybe sec sch or sth). but now i've cut down on my addiction! cuz we're now free to sleep during lectures and tutorials, and i dun need them to keep me awake anymore! ;) but if u all are feeling bored or need some sugar rush, feel free to ask from me, cuz i almost always have candies with me!

No. 5
cant really think of much stuff to fill in for this last point....hmmm.....so anyways...maybe i can entertain u peeps w some nicknames that my frens gave me over the years...
in jc, im known as: boeing(from my chi name bo yin), jet(plainly bcuz boeing jet) and hence 747 n 777, wong, "huh" (bcuz i use this word alot alot...i heeded my fren's advice and tried to substitute that with words/phrases like "beg your pardon", "come again?", "sorry?", etc. but it was a total fiasco)
in sec sch, im known as: rara, bobo, bowling(there is a simple story behind this...cuz my head is round like a bowling ball!), etc.
if u cant rmmber my name, or get me mixed up with cynthia, feel free to pick any of the above...i'll react to them! heee :D oh ya, if u accidentally call me carla, i'll answer to it too! cuz my senior always think that im a carla and calls me carla(maybe he has short tongue, ttz why) when i did an office job after A's. for 5 whole months, i was a carla! :)

Rightoe...my turn to tag pple!! :) i tag v a n e s s a !!!


Tuesday, October 17

5 boring things about edwin.

ok. here goes. haha. i think it will be a little boring.... but thanks for taking time off reading.

1) ok. not sure if you guys know this..i have been caned by the principal when i was primary 3. haHA. Reason : i played soccer on the basketball court the day after the principal said we were not allowed to do so. SHIT. actually i managed to escape getting caught. but those who got caught mentioned my name. so the principal was annoucing thru the PA system for EDWIN YONG. i cried after the 5 strokes. haHaa

2) hMm.... another thing about me. HAIRSTYLE. i am quite obsessed with short neat hair. those army kind of short. i cut my hair around once every 3 weeks. coz i hate it when it gets all messy aNd long. i used to have ARMANI hairstyle in pri sch. all GEL-ed up and stuff. =) when i was in secondary sch i had the ah beng kind of center partin hairstyle. not very nice becoz my hair wasnt that straight. yeah. what else. oh in Jc my hair was quite short. there was once me and my climbing team cut botak together. haaHah. yeah. then there you have it, my current hairstyle. i am currently trying to allow the hair at the back to grow slightly longer so i Can style it! any comments for me guys???

3) quite boring so far right? next thing about me is that i got drunk once. only once. it was quite bad becoz i was out with my army men. i was the only officer there. so i kena arrowed. made me drink and drink and drink and drink and drink. ok then i jus dropped dead flat. i was dragged out of the club and i remembered myself saying " i am ok. dun worry! i am really not drunk! I JUS CANNOT MOVE MY BODY!" but nobody believed me. haHa. guess thats what you will claim when you get drunk. ok. it wasnt exactly a nice experience with all the puking and hangover and stuff. well.. at least i got the experience.

4)ok! if you guys haven realised, i am quite crappy and talk alot. so PleASe pleASe... pardon me. yeah. ok here are a few signs of my mood. so please take note.
  • when i start talking alot of crap and start to sing like what i did on monday- it means that i am feeling very bored and feeling aimless and kind of down. so please cheer me up and play along with me ok?
  • when i am not talking- it means that i am very unhappy and pissed off. so... please stay away.

i am quite nice la actually. don't you guys think so? easy going.nice to talk to. easy to crap with right? haHAah. hMm... seriously. SERIOUSLY. i am not hostile and DAO, so talk to ME!


5)ok. lastly abit of me when i was in JC. i WAS the captain of the climbing team. i was competitive and i demand alot from my team. hAHa. kind of like Hilter la. yeah. but everyone was happy becoz we all have the climbing spirit. that was what kept us going together as a team. i treasure that team of mine alot, going thru allof tough times and fun times. yixiang was in the team as well. can ask him how much fun we had. climbing the wall without ropes. climbing during recess and every break, den going back to class sweating and having chalky hands! hAHa. So to my present TeaM, let the passion for climbing keep us together aS a team yeah! it will jus something hard to describe when we get to that stage. so till then.

ok. tts all about me. i cant do stunts like jackie and i cant have tattoos like Pyang. what do you expect? i have a DISLOCATED shoulder. =) now i shall tag...................................CLARA!!!!!

Monday, October 16

cinq choses que vous ne savez sur moi

5 things you do not know about me...

1. honestly i didnt think that i would be a rock climber... cuz in JC i was cock sure that i would be joining bowling as a CCA since i learnt the techniques during sec 4 after my 'O' levels... so after i put my name down on the paper at the bowling booth i went with my 2 frens to see other CCAs.. they tot rock-climbing was fun so they went and gave it a try.. i was sitting there like an idiot watching them when someone from the team, a fellow marist like me asked me to give it a go... was kinda reluctant at first but then i decided to give it a shot... and after 3 climbs including one on the overhang, which i completed (with the belayer giving me assist lol) i signed up with them and that was it!! i have never regretted my decision and never will...

2. i was hospitalised during J2 because of something stupid i did... at the time i was a break dancer wannabe so i was always trying "stunts" in my room... happened that i saw this video in which this pro breaker was recommending some exercises to strengthen the upper body.. one of the exercises was to do vertical pushups with your legs leaning against the wall for support.. so i tried a few and then gave up and went back to study not thinking too much about it... a few days later i was in my classroom having a break when i had this "seizure" where i felt weak in the right side of my body... and i couldnt keep my balance... it lasted for a while before it disappeared... it happened again that day and many times 2 days later... so i went to SGH where i was admitted to the stroke ward cuz i was a "stroke query".. during my stay i went for MRI blood test, urine test, ENT (ear nose throat), ECG(brain wave) tests.. and all came out normal... after 5 days they discharged me... hospital bill? $2500.. i then went to a chinese sinseh who said that i probably twitched a nerve in my neck which results in the "seizures".. so he "rearranged" my neck and whats inside... and true enough i didnt encounter any seizures since then... how much did i spend there? $70.. WTF!!! anyway the money is not the point... the point is, before doing any exercises please STRETCH!!!!

3. i know a lot of u think or say that i look like jackie chan.. well u guys are not the first... since young (about 9?) to when i was in secondary sch as well as in JC, people have already said that i look like jackie chan... haha and he is not the only person that i seem to share an uncanny resemblence with.. people also used to call me robbie fowler... in both cases, i reckon its the nose... lol

4. like pengyang, i am a non-smoker but i confessed that i had a few puffs before... not more than 10 though!!! most of it was from clubbing when i was really super ultra high on alcohol and just needed something to relax a bit so i took my fren's stick... but that was it!! i am still considered a non-smoker k!!! lol to smokers out there!!! remember "SMOKING CURES CANCER!!"

5. i seriously seriously cant think of a 5th point... anybody care to help me out??

i will publish the 5th point when i think of one... meanwhile i tag EDWIN!!!

Thursday, October 12

krabi

Aiming to go krabi and completing that 7c?

-->Try going to youtube and search for "chu kai wai" for your krabi routes' beta

Lots of interesting routes like hang ten, baby gorilla (my 2 next projects..im so lucky!), Hee Youn Kang On Chicken - 8b+ (super!), tantrum (8a+) (super!), Old Chicken Makes A Good Soup (8a+). He is really strong and from the way he climbed tidal wave in his video, me and weimin can tell that he onsighted it. (Since we are really familiar with it from trying it so many times, sobz)

Have fun!

Tuesday, October 10

a tip?

Today this British climber on student exchange told me that putting mosituriser on your hands will make it heal faster , prevents pealing and you can get really strong skin.

Hmm, sounds slightly dubious since I've always thought moisturiser will make your skin softer but well worth a try cos i'm running out of skin!!

~~
Been doing PT involving 11kg of weights in a backpack recently, trying 3 exercises:
1. deadhanging on the smallest crimp on our campusrungs, 8s
->trains static finger strength
2. Laddering
->Contact strength and Recruitment
3. Toes hooking around the straps of the backpack, try to raise your legs as high as possible and locking on jug for 10s. (NEW)
->Body Tension/locking. I find this exercise very strenous!

~~
Can't seem to find my small container of gigabyte chalk..did anyone see it in the gym? It has gr8 significance to me! (and im out of chalk) :(

Saturday, October 7

recipe for disaster

Brownies
http://fruitofgod.blogspot.com/2006/07/jensens-fudgy-and-chewy-brownies.html

New York Cheesecake
http://fruitofgod.blogspot.com/2006/07/new-york-cheesecake.html

disclaimer: i am not responsible for any failures.good luck.

Friday, October 6

5 things you don't know about.....jensen

i kena arrow from alvin,so here goes:
  1. I am a freak-accident magnet.yes, it is rather obvious from how i can sprain my finger from an innocent game of captain's ball.back in 2002 when i was in canoeing,just 6 weeks before the inter-school competition,i had a freak accident that killed off any chance of me representing the school.i capsized,on my my way swimming back to shore,i kicked a rock.the next thing i know,there was a huge whole on my ankle,and the blood was flowing like it's free.yeah,so couldn't walk for a month and was kinda depressed.so everyone, please take care, or don't stay near me.
  2. Am sandwiched between 2 sisters.one's 24 and going to become a police officer(she's crazy!can't run for nuts how to catch thieves?!?) the young one is 18 and a poly student who's more interested in playing the guitar than her studies. in between them is a 22 year-old ape.
  3. The reason why i'm in engineering now is very simple.i was caught in a dilemma,to choose engine or bizad.to quicken the decision-making process,i flipped a coin.so here i am.(this is true ok...and i don't recommend anyone to tikam their lives like i did.regret sia...)
  4. i like to bake.brownies,cookies,cheesecakes,trying to venture into cakes.if i had the courage and the money,i'd be in shatec now and off to france for baking school.and it's still my goal to open a bakeshop,regardless of who the baker will be.who wants to invest?
  5. what got me into climbing wasn't real climbing. in 2003, i was watching the X-games when the speedclimbing segment was showing.this rookie thrashed the former champion in the women's category.i was like "what the f**?gotta try this someday."and the first thing i did when i got to NUS (didn't have time during army) was to get the level 1 course.and it all started from there.

that's it! anything else you want to know about me,just ask.

i'm not sure which juniors know about this blog, but i'll tag JACKIE CHAN, mr chen yixiang.Rob-B-Hood rocks!!!



Monday, October 2

hanging up my shoes..

hello hello.

finally. i am off to the beginning of my journey..
a 3 week camp at a tiny offshore island of Pulau Ubin.
so no choice. i gotta hang up my climbing shoes. . a great chance to wash the smelly shoes :)
until i m back again.
i will realli miss all the times i spend in the climbing gym, climbAsia and yishun..
having carefree time to climb, boulder and catch up with all my frens..sobz!
but dun worry, i will be BACK!! heh heh..

haha. so wanna drop u all guys a msg before i m gone..

to all the seniors..
it was great climbing with u all for 2 yrs.. wish it had been longer..
thanks for all the encouragement, help and inspiration u all had given me.
very very very much appreciated!!hehe
those who had started working..
always go back and climb k..
let's always date one another to climb ..
those who are still studying..
cherish ur yrs in NUS k..
even tho it is a last yr or last few months.
climbing time is precious..so climb MORE!

to all the juniors..
i know u all had became seniors.. but u all will always be my beloved juniors..:)
it is great to see how u all had improved thru the year..
realli glad u all are still climbing on. and making great progress. .
u all are always a great company..
noisy and FUN bunch!! will miss u all lots..

to all the juniors juniors..
congrats!! u all had made a great choice in choosing climbing!
wish u all will find the joy and happiness in climbing.. which me, other seniors, juniors had found
hope u have the determination to overcome each obstacle u faced!
climbing is nt jus a sport. it is a lifestyle..u all will learn soon in time..
most imptly.. always have fun!

cheers
lips

Sunday, October 1

More readings!

With all those readings posted here, lemme add on to more of it! Exam fever HOO~!

Climbing Politics by Siu Hang

This article relates the frustration of being a climber during climbing. This article directly involves us too, and it is useful to have people to tell us how we are acting during climbing, as more often than not, we fail to step back once a while to take a good look at things.

http://chillycraps.blogspot.com/2006/09/climbing-politics.html

"are easily identifiable by their team-spirited attire and can always be seen
seated in an auditorium fashion in front of the lanes they hog"
It is called climbing etiquette by the way. Let us all try to be the best loved climbers in the whole universe muahaha.