not sure if i'll be wanted back again. :p theres been up and downs, and i guess ive more or less accepted what this job is all about. im not ready to take on NIE in terms of lesson planning and real classroom situations. i belong out there.. (field vs classroom)
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watching your students run during cross country and coming in the first few positions can be really overwhelming. haha. im such a noob at this teacher shit. but im awesomely proud of them, even my girls.
trainings are kicking in full swing, im coaching on mon tues wed fri. with absolutely no time to watch the vj climbers. just putting my heart and soul into netball right now. the team is not formed, and we just have no luck in player retention. my seniors are under performing, and the competition is in may. i.e. NO TIME! :p despite all that, i find myself praying hard all the time and imagining the day we win our first match. i pray that the girls will play a good game and one that everyone tries their best.
being a coach is not easy, especially when you were a competitor once. its way way easier to play the game because it comes so naturally versus breaking down and teaching every single step. the slow transition of planning trainings and forming a team really requires alot of placing yourself in anothers shoes. to know whether the techniques i teach are correct, sometimes i myself have to try it out in front of them to know. to know whether the intensity is too high, sometimes i have to run with them to feel what theyfeel. if not theres never a sure way to do a certain drill or exercise without knowing the fitness and physical capabilities of the girls. not easy, not easy at all.
my bike has been zhng-ed! haha. finally got to getting a new wheelset albeit a little early.. hope the metallic blue and purple stays on. changed my hubs too, so im doing fixed now. trying not to use the brakes so that my rims remain clean! :) next would be to get a new crankset, with lesser teeth. so that i wont get left behind everytime i need to chiong up a hill. :p haha. but i love the feeling of riding a fixie. just that theres alot of work on the legs... but hopefully this can translate to awesome power runs in the future! haha.
makes me really proud to own my bike. haha. like, finally huh.
passed on my original wheelset to daddy. but hes gotta change some of the bolts to fit the classic mountain bike we have at home. so its gonna be a hybrid. maybe bring him to ride with the group one day! haha.
its a once in a week thing now. not as intensive and obsessive as climbing when it was almost every day. haha. that said, i went to climb today, and somehow, i feel great. in the sense that ive got no pressure to finish a route like how i always thought i should. that i can do certain things despite climbing every 5 day or even a week. this wonderful sense of freedom, i like. i used to think that i would die if i didnt climb.. but now.. i can live without it now and then. does that mean that i have a life now? hahaha.
i dont know what can make me want to climb like i used to last time. feels sad.
maybe i need a trip soon. :p
gravical 2012
Tuesday, January 10 || 10:17 PM
this comp feels different from the others. ive told people around me that i didnt really feel prepared to join it either, until a week before..
went for the expert climbing session with tonde and florian and it totally change my perspective. still, i havent been doing fingerboard, or pullups and even do much climbing during the week like what i usually did. i would have felt stressed and a little desperate towards the comp back then, but this time, i kinda took it as it came. i didnt need to climb more than i already need to. but i guess i was prepared mentally? and felt stronger up there for once. haha.
despite getting 2nd again and losing out by attempts to bonus, i feel pretty satisfied. i sort of maintained.. and sort of got my groove back. yea. :) although im pretty tired and am taking a break from climbing for at least a week? haha. somehow, it feels even better to take part in a comp not feeling competitive and loving the climb. of course during finals and all, i still had to have a focused mind and concentrate on my climbs like normal competitions.. haha. this time, i daresay i won because of my mental strength, not so on my physical. :) ive come a long way i guess.
i feel this need to type somethings out. something recent thats currently been crossing my mind these few days. maybe its because of the holidays. haha. but yea, somehow things have a way of coming together.
i dont know how to say this, but at this point in time, i wonder to myself how likely and possible is it to be so blessed. i just won a boulder comp which i didnt train physically for (another story on this later), im beginning to settle down into my job and begun to accept it, when.. im being offered a chance at something that i could possibly so desire and change what i had settled for myself. im not sure if its an escape route or simply something im blessed to have. but for the past few weeks i have grappled with the idea of not continuing in this line and really just stop working and travelling. of course situations are as such and a filial daughter must never do that.
but here i am now, with 2 seemingly perfect conditions. people would indeed say that im blessed and i truly was delighted and almost dumbfounded to know that somehow it has found its way to me after half a year? haha. i am happy, pleased, excited and all the above. but there are so many things to consider. outdoors to indoors? could i really want that? its not to say i dont love and enjoy teaching. i dont know how to put this.. but this decision and dilemma i face is really tricky. yet why did i feel like my heart was lifted when i heard the news? i convince myself that i can always come back to teach again if i dont like it...
and so i've prayed and still am looking for a right decision. i dont know, i truly dont. i may not even get it at best and will just have to settle with what i have. trying to seperate and jot down the plus and minuses. its not working. :p my heart is biased but my brain says otherwise. people will say that being a pe teacher is the best job you can have if you wanna get involved in sports. this on the other hand, is almost the opposite, more work, less play. still sports, but somehow a little more less contact and almost office-y! hmm.. we'll just see how things go alright. yea.
havent really thought clearly about mine. maybe i should try to send an 8a on lead this year. hahaha. i remember my past years' was to do like 15 pullups or smth. very lame stuff. lol.
oh, and i did finally get a bike.. after waiting for like maybe 6 months. haha. its not the best baby that i can imagine. hope it grows up fly soon. haha.
i dont really need to resolve to quit drinking or smoking or anything. nothing too philosophical or abstract either.
although, i think my new years resolution shall be this: to buy a birthday present for my family this year. christmas was already a success.. so now its time to do it for their birthdays! :)
over the new year weekend, believe it or not, i spent it climbing from 9-4pm. almost a full day save for lunch break in between. we had a mini mock comp on the routes set by the routesetters, in a "World Cup" style.. with big volumes and different moves. plus very very very dificult. when i say difficult, it really means difficult.
the first day, i got 2 bonuses out of 4 routes. as i look around me, i see climbers dropping off the walls like flies. dropping of the 2nd or 3th hold, not the top of the route. we hardly see that of Open climbers and we really got spanked and owned really badly. haha. kudos to the routesetters for setting hard shit man. it was really fun climbing those routes. got to try out whats it like to start ifsc format, with the taping system and stuff, 4 points of contact, etc. it was abit confusing at first.. but i got the hang of t after awhile. on the second day, with almost zero skin left, we were at it again, climbing even more difficult routes. this time i got zero bonuses. haha. hard to think of a time when i got that kinda
there are a few differences between these routes and the ones we usually do. right from the start, the route is just not easy man.. haha. starting the route already requires problem solving. and its not as simple as getting up on the starting jug and moving off. you either have to heel hook or tension or psyche up just to start. and it gets even harder after that.. haha theres no more left right left right kinda movements. alot of adjustment and shifting. and definitely as much pull and locking.
over all, i learned alot in those 2 days, more so especially afer being an OW for so long. got a few take home points that tonde and florian taught us. thought i'd write it down here so i'll remember.
1) breathe dont only do this during the crux, but constantly throughout the whole route.
2) focus age old advice, but sometimes it matters to just put in abit more effort to block out unneccessary things, especially when competing
3) try (really) hard this is something that had an impact on me. tonde and florian would be always asking us to "never give up" when we're on the route. because that 1 try really matters. that single attempt could get you a final or a podium. so dont ever give up when you're on the route already. ESPECIALLY once youve passed the hard parts. its gonna be a bitch to go thru all that again, so just stay on the wall. keep calm and carry on climbing. come to think of it, we always tell people to "come on" and "allez" but "never give up" seems different and more compelling. when we say that, we know that we have to make the effort to give our 100% so that success comes eventually. no such thing as sighing and exclaming and just step off the route, but fight through and really DO the route.
4) find new solutions the routes are always different and especially world cup routes, different from our style of routes bac home. so try to pull out as many beta and solutions that you can think of and use it to work through the route. if one doesnt work and you fall off, use that little bit of info, grasp it in your thoughts and use it to find a new solution.
5) be confident this brings me to somethings that jensen taught us once... about knowing yourself and ur strength and weaknesses.. plays a part in knowing how well you can climb the route. eg. span or moves or holds.
6) fight until the end this is for whe after you've gotten the bonus, or simply pass the hard struggling section of the route. same as previous points, dont just leave it as that! stay focus, breathe and COMPLETE the route.
7) climb well enuff said.
8) have fun agreed. right now, im trying to take things easy, and not be so intense and all... im climbing only when i feel like it and when i want to, not forcing myself to work on things when im tired or do routes because others are doing and i'll feel like im losing out. just trying to take things as it comes and enjoy the process. i had fun even when i clocked in zero bonuses and couldnt start one route. it didnt bother me that others could and i couldnt... i just let it passed and focused on other things. yea. i kinda like this feeling right now. haha. being a little carefree right now until the situation demands of me to perform, like when im actually doing a route, not the whole notion of competing. if you get what i mean? haha.
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went to nus for their mock comp with TP today and tried to apply what i learnt. well, its not 100% that i practiced what i learned... but i took home some things. breathed when i had to, took a break and focused when i needed to. and planned and executed a route withe 100% effort and great success. but then, i also lost focus and let tiredness get to me. i shortcut my planning and didnt think on the route. i made many mistakes, like slips and wrong moves and bad decisions.
but still, im psyched to keep trying to perfect this whole mental process.. as well as physical when i can. i know i lack the power and perfect footwork and strategy. will try to push the standards up when i can too.. haha. we'll see we'll see.
anyone wanna go to rocklands to boulder with me from 28 may to 16 june 2012?
26 &25
Wednesday, December 7 || 9:02 AM
im sitting here nursing sprained ankle, again. just one more day to HK and its just a feeling of disappointment here. sadness aside, ive got to accept this right. maybe climbing trips and i arent meant to be this holiday. :p oh well..
anyways, back to my posts on the things that made my 2011.. haha.
#6: The North Face Boulderactive 2011 @ Marina Square The event of the year. enuff said. haha. this comp, i was starting to feel i had it close to podium finishes. from numerous mistakes, i cut down to a few. i remember sitting one aside anxiously counting the attempts, tops and bonuses of the other clibmbers to measure up my chance in getting the finals. haha but it was a good event by fel and jack. :)
#5: travelling to school instead of staying in hall.
so this being my last sem and due to financial constraints, i left dearest ost alone and moved out of OKR. aww... i'll always miss the convenience ofgoing back to room after trng, or snuggling into my purple covers when it pours crazily in nus. or the random food throwing session into the birthday dude's room. or the late night movie shows we watch on bigscreen in the guys rooms. even the little hthts we have in the room. haha. staying in a double room is the next best thing that happens in nus other than joining climbing. hahha.
anyways, there are times when i totally loathe standing in crowded spaces. so tired, no seat, just dying right there. plus holding on to those white hand holds in the train somehow kills my fingers. maybe i overgrip. lol. plus the need to wake up earlier. urgh. but somehow, all these small things kinda fade away... i like the times when im just plugged in, stoning or reading my book and keeping to myself. this small part of silence on the train, being in my own world - i like. more time to reflect, talk to God and just be alone. :)
going to school from the east to west is not always as bad as it seems.
#4: studied sociology of deviance in my last sem of school
this is probably the best? module ive taken. or one that i really like, other than psych stats. lol. really opened my eyes and helped me understand the people and society around me. gave me additional insights as to how things came to be and what influences and moulds the society to be what it is.
really cool mod, with a cool, old-school prof who uses the OHP. hahaha. didnt get an A for it. but i think i got a B+? haha. makes me wanna go into behavioral and conduct studies and do research.. but alas no honours. :p oh well..
people always say that you'll come back strong after an injury. its hard to even imagine what this is like, especially during the phase where you're injured. but when you look back, somehow it really seems like it does make you stronger; or maybe the outcome is not as bad as you thought it would be.
i remember spraining my thumb during my first IVP match this year. the crucial one against NTU, which we lost in the end.. :p the subsequent games, taped it. but it was still bad. and when i climbed, i couldnt pinch and hold jugs. and then, gravical came up, and i competed with that sprained thumb. i made it to the finals despite the injury. and qualified 5th. i wouldnt bame my sprained thumb for a non-podium finish (i hadnt reach that mark yet anyways). but i was truly thankful for the finals. so yea.. this is on injury i'd remember that sort of proved that i can come out of an injury doing fine and dandy. haha. and i did come back strong, winning 2nd for pumpfest and rockmaster subsequently. haha
the next climbing session, i sprained my ankle 1 X big one. sigh. haha.
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so right now, as i nurse my pulled hamstring again. but different area.. i try not to think abt missing out on climbing, feeling the guilt of not training and just.. rest. haha.
#2 last IVP season, perhaps the last school netball game i'll play.
this year, IVP didnt seem as awesome as the first time i played. maybe coz half my mind was in climbing and managing the climbing team. but still... i enjoyed the trngs and the little team talks and gossips. haha. and am forever grateful to ms chng who always kept me in mind and put me down to play as the main team. she gave me the confidence in knowing that i still have what it takes to play competitive. we got 4th in the end.. :p disappointing lost. so maybe i wouldnt say that this season made my 2011.. (i was disappointed when no one came by RP to watch me play despite the "jio" on blogs and facebook. awww.. it was something that i was proud to be part of and sort of wanted people to recognise my efforts. but.. oh well. haha. its over!) but its definitely something i'll remember and miss dearly in time to come.
its the first of december! thought i'd do something different and list 31 things that made my 2011 before 2011 is over. haha. maybe i'll try to do it as chronological as i can too. so that it flows nice and easy. plus add some pictures to make it colourful :)
now then, the start of the year always heralds a boulder season, so what better way to start to then start with:
#1 gravical OW finals it made my year because: i had really nice photos of it! lol. it was the beginning of my hopefully permanent "entrance" into open woman finals. haha. it used to be a dream to be in the finals. and when im hitting this target every comp, i know im there! ok, competitive streak aside..haha. tsk. endless leh!
i dont know where to begin to describe my journey for sea games 2011. maybe lets start from the beginning :)
never thought i'd be speed climbing or much less climbing for singapore in such a near future. speed climbing was always an adriel-thing. haha. but being a runner and a netballer, i guess speed does give me an edge sometimes. so tried and went for a quite ridiculous speed trials for national team in the early half of this year, with only us 3 nus kiddos trying out our luck. and being 3 and the only 3, more windows and oppurtunities were opened. for that i am grateful.
my first few runs and comps at speed were kind of a flop. but someone once told me that the first flop was a success. haha. think: highjump technique. anyways, begun training for "speed", like stair runs, dynamic pullups, agility (have begun to lose abit of this after i stopped netball. :p) started putting up muscle but upon looking at myself in the mirror last night, it kind of disappeared. hm. haha. i guess it wasnt up till august when i got confirmed a spot in the sea games team that i REALLY started training for speed. specifically the world record route up at climb asia. sometimes i dont know if i should laugh or cry upon knowing im supposed to speed climb for singapore instead of boulder or lead, which were the more popular and main events. and sometimes, i didnt know if i shd be happy that im climbing for singapore under speed versus not having one of the better climber lead or boulder for singapore. ah.. the controversy during then. hmm.
speed training is not easy. it never was. if you look back at me various post in the past leading up to this event, you'll see how i struggled with motivation, psych and physical exhaustion. its not as easy as just doing fingerboard, or endurance routes or bouldering hard. somehow, more technique is involved, more physical required to pull and fly up the wall (more than i had then at least) and definitely more mental strength. we studied slowed-down videos of beta over and over again, mimic the moves on the ground like some weirdo. force ourselves to keep going on the wall as fast as we could.. sometimes till we feel dizzy or feel like puking or just feel plain shit. its not easy.. and whoever said speed climbing is nothing much should try to TRAIN for it. even for track.. it may seem like just double dynos and running up the wall as fast as we can.. but well, i think about the breaths i take, the amount of pull i have to take to reach the next move, the drop knee (bad habit), the minute kick of the feet into the wall so that i dont slip. all these, while moving as fast as i can, making fast decisions to catch the 5th or 7th rung, focusing on the route up ahead, focusing on the constant unchanging visual stimulis that my body has to react to. luckily it lasts for about 15 secs each time.. haha. but still.. the mental load i attritbute to speed climbing is more than what i have experienced climbing other events. so during the time the team trained for this past 3 months, i cut down my timing for speed record from 16 to 15 to constant 14 to 12 sec. i changed beta upon beta, made terrifying jumps that scared the shit out of me in the beginning but flowed and swung like magic in the end.
really got to give it up for adriel, who is always portrayed as the bad guy who steals away my boulder time. haha. unwavering on the determination to train and train, giving up on boulder and training for boulder. despite this, given the glory of a podium finish in SIM! oh how i dreaded the times when i had just begun to warm up to do hard boulder routes in the gym when its time for speed training, dragging my harness and soggy shoes down to the speed wall and setting up the rope. :p but still i did, cos i knew i had to train. no one was gonna climb for me other than myself. and no one could help me best my time other than myself. of course towards october the rains started coming in and it was just a dip in the morale whenever we wanted to train and we couldnt. time was of the essence. it was never enough. to train or enough to speed AND boulder. so i had to sacrifice one, unwillingly.. but still had to.
i was never fast enough for myself when i speed. always faltered and hesitated abit on the footholds, the inflexibility to step high and carry my momentum. the extra pull from the arms to fly abit higher or the fast twitch muscles which i felt that i lost over time from running to many 10km races. i beared the mentality that my 100m sprint was always the best at the start and my legs turned to constant, enduring motion after awhile, like striding instead of sprinting. but looking back at my runs during SEA games.. it seems other wise!
my first event, i took part in place of binbin who couldnt make it in time. it wasnt one i was banking on, for i tried it before and just wasnt powerful enough for it. but my timing from the qualifiers to the 3/4 placing went from a high 14, to a low 14 to a 13 and then a 12! was aiming for a 11 like during IOXC, but my slip in the beginning threw my momentum off. only managed to regain it halfway.. even if malaysia did not slip off the track, i daresay i would be able to reach the top first still. not to say that my intention was to compete against janice.. but i truly tried my best (although not the best i have done before) and was pleased that somehow it worked out. my warm up regime from trial and error during training at climb asia seemed to work. i was ready, prepared to speed and psyched. :)
my team event started off shaky. the practice runs were so-so. although smooth, i was worried for binbin since she hadnt practiced on the route yet. plus i was the last climber and all the pressure kept mounting. unneccessary baggages i place on myself. tsk. during warmups, my starting runs were misstepped, not 100% accurate and simply not perfect. qualifiers saw me slipping up and hesitating. fear of binbin falling off. and i was really feeling like crap. so janice talked to me, plus zaki and adriel and binbin. i told them i felt the pressure.. and they said they felt it too. we were gunning for the silver, pretty obvious comparing our other competitors to ourselves. i could almost smell it! as long as i dont make a mistake. you see, speed climbing is about perfection. about no mistakes, no faltering, no hesitation, no hang-on-a-jug-and-shake-off, no clear-ur-mind-breath-deeply-and-psyched-while-you-chalk-your-hands. its just, GO GO GO GO GO! by knock out rounds, i was still feeling uncertain and jittery.. zaki managed to talk to me for awhile and gave me some morale booster. all unfortunate events aside, i sped up the track smoothly, almost with ease. but more so with urgency :p but i must say that my heart dropped like an atomic bomb when i saw that binbin went before the green light. epic day for my little heart that day.. watching the guys climb and also experiencing my climbs. haha. ;p
after the drama for the speed relay, nearly wanted to evaporate into thin air when they said that the womens speed record event might not take place coz salfarina was injured and there wouldnt be 4 countries minimum to take part in the event. :( heart drop X 2. managed to talked to aizan and somehow the event carried on, giving a disqualification to the absent msian. shaky start indeed. emotional rollercoaster. after all that i had trained for the past 3 months, sacrifices and sweat that ive made.. it almost ended up being nothing. i prayed ever so hard to let the event carry on and it did. Amen! competition jitters took over for awhile, with me constantly asking myself how come i couldnt go faster and hit my 12 this whole time. up until i was sitting on the chair waiting to start, and evi from indonesia, an experienced climber (who had seen me do my runs during practice days) told me not to worry. that it was just me and the wall. and it was. i liquid-chalked my hands, chalked up, walked out looking serious and focused and was absolutely ready! during the knock out rounds against the indons, i truly did feel like i could best her timing! but well, i just plainly didnt and it was me and janice for 3rd and 4th. haha. once again, and since it was my last climb, i pushed for this climb and with a teensy amount of aggression, broke the 13 barrier to hit my 12 again. so jud was happy and contented for fighting it out for this bronze.
here i am, with 3 medals, all bronze. almost 1 silver. but contented. someone once told me that God will give us what is enough to glorify Him. despite a silver, all these is truly enough and more than enough.
i really want to take Climb Asia and Onsight for really supporting us and lettings us use the walls and facilities. the speed wall at Climb Asia or even the grand stand at Onsight. all helped to mould us into SEA games medalists! haha. will be forever grateful. :)
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on events outside of my participation, a little brief summary on what it was like at the site:
the whole layout of the area was good, quite open. no walls blocking each other. but it also got the sun, and abit of rain when it did. but the boulder wall was simply fantastic. the nice, open and colourful kinda layout. i like :) plus quite 3D also. oh how i wish i could even try the routes there.. but well. we couldnt unlike IOXC. haha. anyways, the crowd was much noisy and rowdier compared to IOXC. haha. love it when the audience's voice mimics the climbers moves. every awesome move or unfortunate fall. haha. it was still quite awesome to watch. :) especially when sueann finished the route that no one else finished? yea.. we, or at least the singaporeans cheered like mad! haha. so proud of her man!
then came the lead events, which frankly speaking was boring to watch other than our own climbers. haha. especially when everyone cruises through the route right till the end. :p the front kinda gets dulled after awhile. but the anticipation watching our climbers take their turn.. was immense! i just kept quiet and silently mutter on my breath "allez" for fear that my words will cause them to fall off. haha. in all, i think zul really deserved his medal. his climb was great and really steady. props to suz and sue for trying their best! can see the disappointment in their faces when they came down. :p
other than all these, i watched the 4x400m and 4x100m relay for track&field. really miss running these relays. haha. somehow, not as exciting to shout to compared to climbing. hahaha. ive met friends with the physio and the sports doc.. the food was that fantastic but had to make do. but on days that i won smth, somehow God knew what i wanted and i had tom yam soup for dinner with my plain rice. yay!
so well, this is THE big game that everyones talking about and wanting to go to. good experience really. dont ask me to sum it up in one word or i would have done it already. its just big coz the whole of singapore recognises it. its an honour to participate in this though. esp when the waterpolo guys mutter to themselves behind us in the line as to how come we sport climbing but all so small size. haha. i wont deny that i want more of this.. if oppurtunity permits. :p
you know, when i brought back the bronzes at the airport and saw gymnastics carrying their gold. oh, how shiny it was and i really wanted it. envied their gold, and jay's silver medal. but then i thought to myself that this shdnt be my focus and the reason im competing. had to ground myself back to the basics. really had to tsktsk-ed myself. i should be more than contented with what i already have! and so i am. so i'll say this once again, to remind myself that i shouldnt compete to climb for medals or winnings. i climb because i love it. i love the adrenaline, the excitement, the rush, the change, the experience. the falling, the moves, the pump, the psych, and the people.
im not good at ending stories and this story certainly isnt going to end just yet. :) till next time! or actually, after asian continental champs in china this dec! haha. woohoo!
i know shes awesome. ive seen her climb. totally sensational.
but it makes my hard work at climbing to number 2 seem like not worth it when she just needs to get number 16. :( like my commitment to join all 4 is redundant.
oh well. heads up jud. this cant be all that you're aiming for. why limit yourself to a small hill when theres mountains to climb out there!
just back from speed training today. the pressure i put on myself... i dont know why i do it. managed to hit 2 runs with a 12+.. but the subsequent ones were bad, and simply not perfect. i realise i cant pull myself together on this.. my thoughts just go haywire after that. kept pushing myself to do a perfect set, a fast 100% effort run.. but it just ended up in bad knocks, slips and poor combinations. argh. frustrating indeed.
i want to do this, i can do this.... but sometimes i think.. its time i start playing and stop training. its time to love it for what it is and not because i need to do it (although i really do).
i need to get out of this bubble. listen to my body. i think i beat myself up too much over this. keep pushing myself, physically and mentally. rushing into getting the perfect run.. sometimes i feel like taking a break. but i cant, because i refuse to believe that judith ever gives up on anything. because i feel like theres so much to do but i have no time. because if i dont push myself i will never get it right.
sometimes.. i wish someone would just push me instead. so that i can just follow and suck it up, and i dont need to psyche myself and waste whats left of my mental strength. i want to climb happy.. but i dont know why i keep thinking abt all the negatives.
Indonesia Open X-sports Championships 2011
Wednesday, October 19 || 10:20 AM
report for ioxc 2011 in palembang indonesia!!
i dont know where to begin! haha. hmm.. im accompanied by binbin, janice, adriel and fel for this competition. :) mostly us speeders cos there wasnt any lead wall at palembang although i didnt know why the others didnt wanna come to compete in boulder too. :p ok, the flight there was uncomfortable. take it from me, ive flown many budget flights to thailand and malaysia but this airline tops it all. :p poor binbin had motion sickness? and we had the last row seats which could not recline. bleh.
we reached soekarno-hatta airport in jakarta to be greeted by A&W!! but no time to grab a float. :p but aizan bought krispy kreme.. but none were original glazed. haha. next we transitted and reached SMB airport in palembang by afternoon! greeted by the IOXC banners:
beginning to feel really excited!! haha. :)
we stayed in a hotel called Hotel Duta, with huge rooms which could fit all 5 of us. :) there was wifi and we-who-cannot-live-without-internet singaporeans were always seen with our smartphones out. hahaha. the other atheletes from the various countries were staying there too.. there was malaysia, philippines, thailand, indonesia and india.
anyways, the first day was spent lobo-ing away. we went grocery shopping, bought grapes and yoghurt and stuff.. then we discovered the nice eating place called arema 99, where we had our daily share of crabs and ayam goreng! indonesian food is not bad. haha. i like the rice and chicken.. once in awhile there is soup.. but i did miss yu pian tang and eating fried carrot cake after awhile. haha. :) coke was sort of.. sparse around there.. haha.
we had 1 practice climb day.. which we only spent 2 hours under the sun trying out the speed track route. haha. we made the mistake of leaving around 11am.. where the sun was up and the venue had NO SHELTER. haha. even the indons, who were there early, took to shelter after awhile while we baked under the sun trying out the track. we were slighlt sunburnt and defintely red like a lobster after that.
the first go at the track route was really smth different. it was... scary? seeing who the indons just run started and step up vertically. i had a few test runs myself and had to psyche up to tell myself not to trip or anything. haha. but after awhile.. it got better. although the rungs werent as juggy as i thought it would be (i think so the climbers wont have flappers..), i got used to it after awhile. had to watch the other climbers and remind myself a few tips when im climbing. had to make sure my stepping was perfect so i wont skip a beat, that my arms werent too close and had to be slightly abit opened up so i wont be too far from the wall. and of course, breathe and not hold my breath. we all got it after awhile. :) took videos and counted our steps... but we had the frequency, but lacked the power to fling ourselves up the wall. :p
qualifiers day: it was hot. AGAIN. practise run in the morning coz fel and the msians didnt get a chance to practise. after that, we went back to the hotel to chill, enjoy aircon and take a nap. the competitions in palembang dont start till around 2+, 3pm.. yea. even the skateboarders, BMX-ers and skaters were hanging out in the hotel coz it was too hot out. :p haha.
now, the indon speeders really do take their warm up seriously. i think its time i start to take mine seriously too. their warm ups are always longer than ours, and they really stretch and run.. i feel so ill-prepared at times. tsk! anyways, we had 2 gos at the track wall and they took our best timing. i did my bestest? on my first go, but fell at the top for the 2nd. sigh. hit about 11:39 secs for my first speed track.. i had wanted to go faster for my next, but as i tried to widen my reach each time i pulled, i guess i forgot abt my legs and it just got messed up.. and then i slipped. :p sigh. knowing my ever slimy and wet hands.. it really is inevitable. i was super cautious after i messed up, but i slipped!! arghh... efhewofnkdlnlfadsa. but gd thing was that i clocked a gd timing before that. phew. that placed me at no. 10 qfy..
by the time it was time for boulder, i was feeling abit tired and shag from the hot sun and speeding (although i only spend like 30 secs on the wall? haha) but by the time we started, it was dark outside.. and we had spotlights on the great boulder wall:
haroz says they reused the wall from last year. haha. but i still like it coz of the many contours. haha. really cool. did you know that they change the triangle volumes after each category? yep. so OW and OM qfy routes use different volumes. but the time they took to change the routes was abit draggy. :p haha. anyways, the list went alphabetically.. and i was feeling lethargic when i started. :p we had 5 routes, 5 mins each.
route 1: the first few moves were powerful, with tiny tiny footholds spaced out and my poor footwork gave out on me as i attempted to move left over the bulging out "i" frame. haha. lucky my first route siaaaa.. so i could still hang on. :) i reached the last tile, only to realise my arms were failing and i couldnt undercling the tile to reach down and out to the ending tile. sigh. what is thisss??? hahaha.
route 2: i got tricked the at roof part.. think i lack practise on this kinda surfaces. :p for some strange reason i couldnt get around to holding the tile on the roof in a proper manner for me too reach out. sheesh. by the time i reached the last tile again, i was too pumped even though it wasnt a crimp but a decent-enough hold. sigh. plus the last move was abit more poweful and frontal again, and i couldnt make it up with my height (plus point for being taller than indons not so plus after all. haha).
route 3 and 4: after feeling crushed from the failed 2 routes previously, i heard janice, who was before me flash these 2 routes.. and i knew i could do it too! and i did. haha. :) route 3 was a bridgey kinda route which we always get in local comps for OW and the last route.. somehow had a sidestep. haha.
route 5: i think everyone managed to hit the last tile, but the ending tile was really far up, and we were to throw to an undercling side pull kinda thing. :p only 2 girls managed to finish it. haha. but the front part of the route was so bad.. some mantle, some volumes. this style was alright for me. :)
in the end, i qualified 13th, tied with janice and another indon girl. was disappointed.. coz i thought boulder was my thing. :p sigh. i was bummed that i let my physical tiredness pull me down. my mental that day wasnt strong. :p only liting managed to get into the finals of 6. she tied at 1st place with 2 other indons. theres something that she said about how some of these finalist came for our local comps and didnt even make it to the finals coz their style of climbing was really different from ours. that kinda made me feel better now.. heh. (blame the climbing style. tsk) guess i shdnt be too hard pressed on myself for not doing well. :p allez jud. alex johnson doesnt always get into the finals too..
(fast forward: heres liting during the OW finals. looking abit stress? but thats our queen our there! the competition was really intense and no doubt the other indons were REALLY sick strong. if you though liting was good, wait till you see the indon girls! they're like female ponti(s). hahaha. liting got 4th in the end. well done! she really put up a good fight man!)
finals day came.. and as usual, the events started only in the afternoon so we all slept in. haha :) first up was the Mens boulder finals. which brings me to the hype and psych that does on at our venue.. the extreme sports really had it good with emcees and crazy music. plus the stunts were crazy and awesome to watch. everyone was crowding around there.. but back at our majestic ioxc wall... not a sound. not a blip of music or amplified voice other than to prepare the next climber. this competition was really.. non-psyched. haha. i dont know how the guys can do it man. i guess its all in the mind. anyways, back here in sg, i doubt there was ever a time when OM was before OW. haha. but this time, it was. haha. and i guess not much attention was given to our side of the venue. quite sad. only time when we hear anything at all, was when miel or zam climbed. and the msians and singaporeans would cheer and edge them on. miel qualified 6th and was always the first to go. with no pressure.. he eased up the wall. no kick at all! he won in the end, with zam coming in 2nd. i'd like to climb like that.. no pressure at all. but sometimes i know we cant avoid it. just gotta tackle it and take in in our stride then!
speed finals was disappointed for me. being 10th our of 16.. i was somewhere in the middle and definitely had a 50-50 chance at getting into the top 8. it was a knock out round and as long as i didnt fall.. it would be good! and i didnt fall! but my movements were retarded. hahaha. yea. i say that because my legs and hands werent doing what i did the day before during qfy.. they werent flying up the wall, pushing off and really moving consistently. it was horrible! i think my lack of practise before hand (as in during the qfy day) really brought my timing down. both runs were about 15 secs.. 4 secs slowly. thats like 30m of sprinting distance.. or even 1/3 of the track wall. sigh. i knew i could beat my opponent.. but my nervousness and lack of "feeling" my moves really threw me off man. my steps were smaller and my arms didnt even straigheten to throw for the rungs.. it was too... cautious! argh. adriel on the other hand did an aweoms 7.8 personal best. haha. (y) but he fell on the 2nd run.. :p so we all didnt really win anything. :p felt down about it. but.. oh well.
anyways, i enjoyed my 5 days with my teammates!! haha. we always cracked each others back at night and gave each other massages. lol the ache from the day before seems to accumulate man. pfft.. im so going to bring an icepack and heatpack for sea games. haha.
to end this all... im even more determined to train for speed.. i feel that we still have a chance! (although our asses got kicked up most of the indons there.. sea games is only 2. :) hahaha) plus im gonna try to maintain my finger strength and boulder. cos i guess it kinda keeps me happy and reminds me of why i keep climbing. much as this comp brought disappointing results, it brought me much more experiences competing overseas. :) i want moreeeee!
over the weekend, i went to malaysia for an invitational comp @ The Curve. :) got 2nd for SBL so i got invited by CA to take part in this comp. about 7 of us went up to KL to compete in the Zenergy Boulder Craze. it was awesome. haha :) first time im competing in a boulder comp overseas! was really excited and looking forward to it all week. more to come i hope! :)
the few of us singaporeans in busy KL!
took a late night bus up with hakeem and dennis and kinda just read my book during the whole bus ride. haha tried to get some shut eye, but despite the nice cushy spacious seats, i couldnt seem to get a gd spot. :p oh well. reached Times Square and immediately headed for krispy kreme already. we 3 musketeers just sat down, ordered 2 donuts each and stoned for awhile before taking a cab towards our hotel.
accoms were paid for along with transport to the mall.. me and dor had our own room coz liting went to stay with marcus. but everyone complained of hard pillows the next day. haha.
woke up the next day feeling sleepy and met fareeda from thailand. i guess she was there at BA this yr when she saw me, but for the few moments i was kinda stunned and stoned when she came up to say hi to me. haha. still in a sleepy mode i guess, not that i was trying to be antisocial or anything. she told me the thailand climbers went clubbing the night before. very hapz indeed.
:)
the girls were given red columbia shirts and black alex-puccio-kinda tights while the guys had yellow tops and black pt kinda shorts. lol. in the end no one wore the shorts that we were sponsored. :p lucky i brought my purple columbia pants. :) the red columbia top was supposed to be tight fitting.. but we 4 sg girls kinda just drowned in them. :p compared to the other muscular ladies from hk or msia.
and we had name tags! printed on cloth with our full name and flag. coolshites yo.
seems like a total of 5 diff countries were participating.. malaysia, singapore, thailand, philippines and hongkong. but just 12 climbers per category. haha.
qfys went by really quicklyy.. haha. but the finals was really something man. it wasnt the routes or difficulty. qualifying first for the finals, i was the last to go. well, its been a long time since i bouldered so this kind of comes weird to me. din know how to handle it. :p i guess it was really a mental game, strengths aside. 6 finalists, hearing the 3 before top or even flash the route, boy, it was really demanding to keep my head in the game. :p constantly needing to keep myself calm amidst the booming rocking music, needing to psych myself. (and chalk my hands!) lots of thoughts and gears moving in my head when i was waiting for my turn. was pretty exhausted mentally after that. :p bleh.
the guys who watched told me after that i had some really crazy beta going on during the finals. heh. :p i guess i wanted to make every move count. but i did realise that climbing more really helps. having been speeding more and at most bouldering once a week, i din have this pool of climbing moves in my head that i can tap on whenever i read the route. so there i was, always hesitant and unsure if my beta was really the correct one. plus i wasnt sure all the time that i could do the moves. yea. i guess strength can sort of help me out in this, but next time? maybe not so lucky.. haha. and the prize was totally wicked! haha. Columbia vouchers, cash prize and a petzl harness.. which i sold to jw the next day! ;)
but congrats to all the winners. :) once again, i really was happy when i got 2nd. haha. (compared to winning 2nd in east zone or nationals and knowing u made shit loads of mistakes during the game and u still feel like crap despite wearing that medal)
the atmosphere at The Curve was awesome. lights camera and action just like the World Cups we see on youtube. haha.
back home, teamNUS was kicking a storm! and word was going around abt jw and yix, the winners of the PCP comp happening in the region that same day. haha. facebook was full of psych going around. and it seemed like STS is going regional. haha.
glad that im breaking that 14 barrier! best at a 13.6 now. almost a silver. :)
just gotta maintain! allez jud.
retail therapy
Wednesday, September 7 || 10:47 PM
ultimate shiokness
my best buy was a pair of purple nike socks... but i cant find a picture of it. :p haha
looking ahead
Saturday, August 27 || 11:44 PM
teaching PE its been almost 4 weeks since i started out in the school already! out of these 4 weeks even lesser was spent teaching actual PE lessons. i guess its this time of the year when things start to die down along with the start of exams, etc.
been assigned a class each session to teach either netball, handball, or basketball. a few anomalies are touch rugby and hocky. o.0 haha. i guess on my side, its abit different in that my lessons are longer than tpn, yx and dors. its about 1 hour of nonstop play and watching over the students, making them learn new skills, etc. it was quite hard in the beginning, not used to having 20+ students looking at you; compared to like 15 girls in the nus gym. hahaha. but i had to find things for them to do to fill up the lesson slot though. but im getting the hang of it. not too bad afterall! :) (especially when im teaching netball and handball - endless number of drills and new skills and techniques to teach them!) learnt new things along the way, like how to keep ALL of them occupied, teaching court positions, getting them into groups, knowing what games and warmup drills interest them. of course morning lightning alerts are sometimes welcomed and everyone adjorns to the hall to do mass PE and static exercises. haha.
i love teaching the IPs cos they are so enthu and love to play. hahaha. the good classes that i take really makes my day sometimes. of course there are some non-compliant girls who totally dont like PE and guys whom you just have to show off some skills for them to respect you and make them wanna learn that new technique. haha.
school spirit i think only the pe dept in this school actively plays volleyball after lessons. or go for runs or play studentVSteacher soccer matches. haha. the lame jokes during brekafast and lunch and endless nonsense talk in the office really makes working there so much more livelier. haha. plus point is when i found out that majority of the office are fellow christians. usually i think we're the minority.. :p so i think this is really a blessing to me! :) yep.. listening to worship songs on the way to lunch. haha. im slowly blending in and i think i absorbed some lame juice along the way. :p haha.
expectations its only been a month, so i do feel lost at sometimes. especially when im teaching something that i dont fully know. i do wish NIE comes faster so i can get my experience and knowledge level up. haha. of course "classroom" management is a whole new ball game. try as i can, sometimes i just cant do it as well as the others.. :p but this is part of the learning experience (i tell myself)! while i love how my main focus is entirely on PE, i fear and worry about the possibility of me taking on a real classroom and not a field or basketball court. :p surely i wouldnt have had much experience then. hmm..
along the way, ive made big mistakes and small mistakes. sometimes i do get stressed once in awhile.. but i thank God that things have been good and not tragic :p haha. but yea.. i hope i dont make more mistakes now! allez jud!
climbing the games are only like 2 months away and training has started off in full force. :p it does seem like a pro climber kind of lifestyle.. except coupled with early morning assemblies and late night dinners, i think my body is feeling the effects. haha. 5 hours or less of sleep a day, plus back muscle aches and raw fingers and what i wake up to every morning. i am doing what i like, but at the same time it IS tiring. really. but im getting better! really. you should see me! haha. :)
but i know all these will be shortlived, things that are meant to be sacrificed. coz my commitment would have to lie elsewhere, and coaching and trainings would take up the bulk of my time in the later part of the year. :p so i guess this might be goodbye to my dreams and aspirations and hello motivating teacher and coach? haha. yea.. im brought in for a reason and i definitely have to work my way up to stay.
so that roughly sums up what ive been going through this first part of my new phase in life. haha.
im watching the videos, learning the moves..
i dont know if i can do this. im afraid.
what if its not good enough?
make me happy
Monday, August 8 || 11:13 PM
YAY! :)
free periods
Saturday, August 6 || 5:15 PM
its been a week since i first started my new found job. :) everyones been asking me how it is, and how vj is. haha. im proud to tell everyone that i enjoy my job. i enjoy the company and absolutely love what i do.
when i talk with the others who like me are new, they too cant wait to go into nie. i cant wait to start learning what i need to know and love to know, so that i can teach better and make lessons more interesting. i love it when the kids take what is taught to them and apply it. you see them dribble the ball better, have better court movement and appreciate knowing more about the game.
i dont adore the times when i have no paperwork or admin to do.. although it means i can go out the back gate to ECP to run, or do my PT and pullups being the hall. however, i do i find myself struggling slightly to jumpstart my brain every first session in the morning. finding games and drills for students to do, keeping them occupied and having everything go smoothly. somehow, i do feel insecure that im young. :p that im 22 and everyone else is older and more experienced. it doesnt help that i look young either. :p i guess it'll all pass soon. haha.
indeed, i feel blessed. :)
speaking of school, long weekend now, saturday till wednesday. la la la la la. :) and from 27 aug, another long break to come which includes sept hols. woohoo!
apart from that, im beginning to train hard again. :) (last stopped somewhere beginning of may. gasp!) now that i have the time, i guess i can afford to climb at night a few times a week. except for expensive entry fees and zero season passes, i hope i can keep this up! allez jud! i want to do this!
went to visit the railway before it was closed. haha. it was a pretty impromptu thing and certainly was dressed right for it. :p (think sandals on stones and jeans in hot weather) got many lovely photos from chris! haha. and mr lwee brought his girl. awww.
so that night after i went to walk along the railway, i went home and packed my bags for krabi! haha.
the people i went on the trip with, spent late nights watching movies, sulking at the bad weather and eating awesome thai food:
so in krabi, i mentioned i did some hardshite stuff.. feeling really pleased and somehow satisfied.. but it kinda makes me want more. :) this photo here was taken when i happen to try a route called Elephant that hafiz and the guys were working on. seconded it and managed only the first clip. really LOL. haha. but ive got my taste of the level of difficulty and im aching to work on more of those.
met a bunch of new friends from london in krabi. :) tiff, scott and seb. haha. they were seasoned climbers and we had many conversations and nights playing pool with them. just ytd, they came to climb with us at Climb Asia since they were in singapore. :) really made my day! haha.\so glad they came. and we had an awesome time climbing with them. cant wait till the day when its my turn to go over to their side. haha. maybe join some comps or go on a boulder trip. yay!
of course, krabi would be incomplete without our dearest saleebanoon. and new addition nongda! these little 4 year old tykes really made our days after climbing. haha. they'll ask us to pick them up, and we'll carry and swing them around, do bicep curls and hang them upside down using one arm. they way the speak thai to us is just super cute! although the 2 of them often quarrel abt getting attention from us. haha. and the guys are all queuing up to marry salee when she grows up.
just got back from my 3rd krabi trip! :) im thinking i gotta pen down some thoughts before i forget. heh. hmm.. how shd i go about this, retrospective or prospective day-by-day? haha.
BUT FIRST OF ALL: on day 1 of krabi, i received news that my posting has been out. so i searched for free wifi, made a few smses and paid for expensive internet to find out where (with much anticipation) i would be posted too. received an email from MOE that i got psoted to VJC! rejoice!! :) from the comments and likes on my fb status, i guess this is a good thing afterall! Praise God!
back to updates on the krabi trip.....
first time going on a non-NUS climbing trip. almost couldnt have my macs breakfast before i checked in. haha. tsktsk. set down on tonsai sand on day 1, feeling a smile creep up on my face when i imagine seeing saleebanoon again. haha. managed to persuade the gang to stay in the great big aircon place thats walking distance to freedom bar. :) din get to climb on the first day although i was itching to climb. haha. but lynnette and i went swimming instead. the weather was good and sunny. :)
this trip, i think i climbed mainly around Dum's Kitchen and Tyrolean Wall. haha. my kinda styled routes. till now, ive yet to send anything on Tonsai Roof. heh. :p (come on jud, gotta break out of that comfort zone)
i redpointed lars&lars on my first climbing day. made me really happy especially putting up the clips on the way up. haha. woohoo. :) on of my fav routes. heh. beginning to start on some 7bs then, soft ones first. i would say its a big step from my last trip when i only aimed at 7as. i guess this time, i feel stronger and ready to push myself more. slowly i tried more and more hard stuff. i think i like doing the hard climbs now. haha with the clips up and seeing the guys try it, i took a turn at Wake & Bake at Dum's Kitchen, some bridgey kinda route. real scary with the smearing and all, giving myself more hip problems as if i just ran 42km again. haha. the next few climbs were at Tyrolean, with bad weather getting on my nerves. :p
with much pride and happiness and saying this with a smile, i sent K1 and Tyrolean Air. woohoo! these 2 routes are what ive pulled out retrospectively from my unevenly consolidated memory of the guys doing on the last trip. din think much of projecting it, but decided to give it a try. even daring to a point of putting up the clips on my own! (a first! heh.) alas the first few moves of K1 were too daunting without beta. thankfully marcus was there to put up the clips for me before the rain came down upon us and we had to scoot off miserably to Tonsai Roof. the next day, gloomy me went for breakfast harping on my wet runners and lousy weather. luckily those msians had a stronger will than i and they went off after breakfast in the slight drizzle, tempting me to dawn my harness and trek through the wet sand over to Tyrolean. no regrets really. :) for the black mamba came along with nic, eager and full of psyche, to work on the problem with me. for sure i was all smiles the moment i clipped in the last runner on K1. it felt awesome! haha. and great deal of accomplishment. heh.
tyrolean air was the first route Master lwee and winfred did on their day 1 of krabi. haha. after watching their beta, decided to give it a try the next day. warmed up on No Have, 7b+ before giving a go on that route, i was pretty exhausted mentally.. especially after pushing myself to climb the traverse and risk a dangerous fall. No Have had a little roof thingy like tidal wave. urgh. when it was my turn on tyrolean air, i hang-dogged like crazy, to find that despite the similar grade to k1, this route really IS harder in more ways than one. (speaking of hang-dogging, i realise on this trip how i HATE to hang-dog. although sometimes its really inevitable, it gets on my nerves and makes me even more irritated. haha. i would just shake out and keeping pushing on, making myself climb through the pump. although at times, i guess im too tired to go beyond the clip above me and the whole cycle continues.) anyways, it seems my beta for T.A is different from the guys, having smaller fingers to stuff them into pocket underclings. haha. same went for Baby Gorilla. on my last day at tonsai, with a whoop of delight: "send liao!" before i even clip in my second last runner, i sent Tyrolean Air! haha. LOL. it was smth i had to do lah.. we were talking abt it the other day. very winfred kinda style by saying this.
a pity i didnt have time to do ASP, i dont like to leave things unfinished. but this time, it gives me more reason to go back to krabi with a project in mind. ;) and of course, try to put up clips on my own too. haha.
climbing aside, spending some time with a new bunch of ppl is quite cool i guess. haha. apart from hazlee who keeps disturbing us girls, and the endless second-hand smoke (more than ive ever inhaled in my past 22 years), i guess all went well. haha. everynight, eat dinner at the back alley, drink thai iced tea w/o milk. watch movies until late at night or even play pool at freedom bar. lynnette and me cooked our own dinner on the last night. haha. quite fun. and we made more friends there.... new baby girl addition of nongda from the minimart, who always quarrels with salee. haha. played vball once this time only. :p the tide was unfavourable this season. haha. despite the wet days, i think we managed to get abit of tanning done. haha.
during the time i was in krabi, i missed the singapore SEACF circuit that went on during the weekend. im happy to know that the singapore team managed to pull out more names to ssc. like, liting got 2nd! and janice got 1st for her speed. yea. damn cool! yet at the same time, makes me sigh on the oppurtunity that ive missed. :p dont know when another will come by again. but then again, if i didnt go for this krabi trip, i may not have done those awesome routes. :) makes me love leading more than ever. with regards to all this national hooha, i guess im moving on to the next phase of my life anyways: working. haha. :p dun know how much longer i can hold on to this either. someone once said on facebook: "Don’t exchange what you want the most for what you want at the moment". in this case, it seems like i somehow did exchange what i wanted more (nationals) for what i wanted at the moment (krabi). but was it worth it? i feel sort of alright with it at the moment. haha. what do u think?
hoho. i have officially graduated! thanks to chris for the many photos, and the climbers for coming down on that day! one of my bestest days ever! :) woohoo!!
psychology majors and the girls.
thanks to auntie susan that i got the matching bear! haha. yay! :) super cute. the pink sash looks kinda pleasing to the eyes. heh. and i got sunflower from zx! and geberas from elybear and doris! :) thanks!!
the last quarter and overtime for the finals between NZ and Aus.
looking at 13:33 and the few seconds that leaded up to it, i know how it feels like to be in NZ's shoes. the anticipation for that one single shot, so far from the post, yet desperate to get it in. thinking: should we pass it out and risk an interception or take the risk getting the goal in. BUT its so far from the post! and then the moment the shot gets rebounded, oh.. how the heart sinks and the feeling is just.. indescribable. thousands of mental prep and positive psychology cannot seem to lift the spirits in that one precious millisecond. it just happens.
not that i've had intense moments like these with a tiebreaker shot at the last 10 seconds, but many shots like these, i have felt over my career. as i look in from the outside of the circle with desperation as i watched my teammates during these crucial moments in important games.
netball. some sad moments seem to stay imprinted in my memores longer than happy ones.
adoras: 5 jul, 10am - Bachelor of Science (Nursing)
Dr. claudia: 5 jul, 3pm - Doctor of Philosophy - Computer Science
crystal & gerry: 7 jul, 8pm - Bachelor of Science - Life Sciences / Bachelor of Science with Honours - Life Sciences
jud & reg & daffy: 9 jul, 10am - Bachelor of Arts - Psychology / Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours - Psychology
shu & d & cass: 9 jul, 3pm - Bachelor of Arts - Communications and New Media
bert: 10 jul, 3pm - Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)
ken & HH: 11 jul, 3pm - Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering)
doris & shaoting: 12 jul, 10am - Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical Engineering)/Bachelor of Engineering (Bioengineering)
discover
Monday, June 27 || 3:11 PM
im back with happy news! once again, managed to get a podium finish in this last boulder comp that completes the league. woohoo! :) grinning like this again: :D
it was awesome possum! hahaha. qualifiers on saturday din start of solid. taken aback by the sudden incline on wall 2, in which the hardest route was on, and i din finish!! argh. so i had to be serious and managed to flash the remaining routes. yep. but all was good as i managed to qualify 3rd for finals. but with this, i knew theres gonna be more pressure on myself than other comps coz i had to wait long for my turn on the wall.
finals was 4 routes for once. luckily for the current format, we got to rest.. if not im sure my power endurance sure deplete damn fast. :p hahaha. hearing people start cheering upon doris onwards for the topping of routes, i knew it was a flash, and yep, send train coming. told myself that the route is flashable. and so i flash. up until the last route... muahahaha. until my turn, ive heard screams from dor and suz, yet no cheers for a finish. happy me stepped up to this challenge and knew i was gonna be the one to send it! muahaha. (ego. lol) i love these kinda challenges. eager beaver.
i must admit that having flash the first 3 routes along with 5 other girls, this last route would be THE ONE. (how come the guys one all so fun? :p)
so i took 3 tries to finish the last route.. inexperienced me took 3. when imaginary experienced jud would have flashed it. distractions of the decoy tile. argh. but still, it was a happy finish. cos i knew it secured me a podium. woohoo! and nus is champion! la la la.
today my pastor was telling us about how acheivements are nothing, but its the discoveries in our lives that count. so today, i discovered that doris gets high on redbull, i prefer to close my eyes to focus and can get really serious during comps. but seriously, i discovered that i can actually climb quite well. wow. Amen to that! haha. and that by trusting God whole heartedly, he answers my many prayers of calmness and strength.
im telling myself that this is probably the last comp i might join. other than boulderactive next year (if it happens..). haha. we'll see.
Jesus you're my great adventure, You're my everything
rolling in the deep
Sunday, June 19 || 10:32 PM
opps. i think its time for some updates. haha.
let see, in no random order other than the order in which i happened to upload the photos:
jups wedding attending jups & ruix wedding dinner at sentosa cove at ONEdegree15. it was a pretty cool place with all the yatcht and atas looking interior. and the hotel rooms did look really fancy and posh. it was nice to see a bunch of climbers coming together for this happy celebration. :)
real happy for the 2 of them! haha. ruix looks exceptionally pretty. but shu got more blown away by the grooms brother. hahaha. and doris ended up abit cuckoo after awhile. and we had jam as souveniers!
some of us exco members with the groom.
kite flying went on a random fly kite date with some of the girls. haha. quite shiok to just nua in the sun and not do anything. daffy and siying most busy with untying the knot in yuxin's kite reel though. :p but we had ham and cheese sandwiches made by doris! and usual unglam moments of ost. and im proud of my easy-to-fly big kite! haha. and it was nice to catch up with siying again esp after she got back from her trip.
ok, this photo was random. but dor was commenting once about finishing a route and then ending with 2 hands and looking down or up to smile at the camera with a "binbin smile". so i had to put it up to remind myself to smile like binbin as such:
HAHA
pumpfest as seen from my shameless exclamation in my previous post about pumpfest, i did win 2nd! and im very much proud of my first podium finish in the open category. :) for a few days after that, i felt pretty awesome and felt like telling the whole world. haha. the routes were very different, not so strength based.. but one thing that really got to me was the distracting cheers for ponti who was climbing along with me during the finals. man, it made me abit frustrated and hopeless at one point in time. although i managed to finish all 3 routes, it was a real struggle on that one attempt to get it right and good. i guess playing various semis and finals in loud cheering rjc/vjc infested enclosed stadiums really trained me for this little moment. haha. (and of course who can forget the never ending screams from coaches on court)
i hope to see more from myself in the next few comps.. but makes me wonder if im gonna keep competing man. i guess im still "young" in this sport, so i wont be retiring so soon. but after playing competitive netball for 10 years, i wonder if i'ld still be climbing after 10 years. maybe this time it'll be different... coz no more 2.4km runs every training, early in the morning, struggling to best our previous timings. now theres even free water breaks, can go buy 100plus or kitkat even.
arvins farewell lunch met up with some peeps for lunch at the garden slug with arvin. sort of a farewell before he goes to india. haha.
everyones off on their little adventure. the SEA gang had a fun time. the US gang just got back. aww.. but the krabi gang is going off! ms coasta rica flew off too. so did mr mexico and porter ng. wonder when will it be my turn. even edwin is going to US in august. haha.
right now, its no work for me at the moment.. waiting the time out till august. at the same time, climbing quite often most of the time. :p competitions are coming, must cease the moment and climb everyday. lol.
anyways, met up with my dearest nat for lunch today. :) its been a few months since we last met... (and probably a few years since us both saw jaz too. :p) had lunch at this nice angel cafe beside spotlight. (remember we went there for tea once? shu melly rae) good catch up session! haha. and brainstorming abt wedding ideas too.
polaroid! and the hugs & kisses trinklet we bought..
ta-dah! had to take this. haha. ;) the woman with the ring. awww.
so well, im taking a break from climbing until this weekend, whereby Pumpfest is gonna be at Milennia Walk and i'll be climbing on saturday morning. ytd was an intense uncontrollable whacking of gorgeous routes at Onsight Climbing. haha. the tiles are pretty rough this time, walls smoother. i like the super open space other there. :) me and liting was like saying that they shd hold those boulder comps there. got grandstand and everything. pretty awesome! just like those overseas comps! :)
photo take from chew! yep. vast open space to watch and fall? haha. there are more walls behind even.
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SEACF circuit update:
took a bus on friday night up to Nilai where we stayed in Allson Hotel. reached at around 2am. :p me and fel just concussed on the bed. haha.
first day was lead qualifiers first. din do too badly.. first time i went quite high up in the route. feeling good about it. alas the indonesians really kicked our ass and owned us like nobodys business. haha. anyways, it was rules to have 26 semi-finalist.. since there were only 20 girls, we all went thru! hahaha.
semi-finals was abit more inclined, got abit of fright on my first few clips, but it was smooth throughout until near the second mini roof when i pumped out. :p pfft. once again, feeling pretty good coz i went quite high up again. and once again, the indons are really making their mark and topping the routes one after the other. given some special rule system, maximum of 3 from each country can go into the finals. so yep, i wasnt in the finals. haha.
oh oh! before my lead semis, was my speed qualifiers (tiring day huh). it was nerve wrecking just trying not to get my palms too sweaty thinking abt the adrenaline and stuff. :p the indonesians are really whipping us man. the wall sequence was very different, less laddering. so i really din know how to "read" the sequence and imagine my body to follow (having been speeding only at CA). gan cheong spider sia. but well.. when the time came, my qualifiers for speed came and went quickly. everyone tells me i din do too badly. that i got 10th overall (out of 18? :p hmm) but i dont know.. i did wish i had more trng to learn this technique properly. anyways, because of the special ruling, the 3 of us (binbin chloe and me) got into the finals. yep, was pretty psyched at given a second chance. plus feeling happy to about my lead climbs. haha.
second day, had 2 bowls of kokokrunch, toast and 3 samosas for breakfast. woohoo. PLUS, i had a bottle of vanilla coke. :)
my speed finals was abit draggy.. coz the panel of judges were kinda new? yea. was up against salfarina who just finished her lead finals climb. scary. :p looking back at my videos, she and i were quite tight one the first climb, but my lousy sequence made me lag behind. :p second climb was tiring and my foot kept slipping. really horrible footwork. yucks. sadly the 3 of us were knocked out without a doubt. :p
overall, i think this comp was a good experience. :) glad yixiong was there too, friendly face to have around. aww. suz and adriel got 3rd for lead and speed respectively. but most imba would be jay who beat the indons and got 1st! yeps. shows that singapore still has it in her somewhere. but maybe only after pushing the standards for 10 years? :p heh.) now, i have 2 friends who are no.1! haha. (jay & fel)
pretty cool huh.
congrats all!
team singapore
me and lynette during observation for qualifiers
going through the competition together
binbin and me! who lent me her book to read on the bus back from putra to sg, in which i finished reading within that 4 hour journey. and who also had her chinese exam the next day. :p
yay. picture of me on the wall. i hope to post my speed video up somehow. but its embarassingly slow. :p
im back from the SEACF circuit in KL, putrajaya! haha. reached home at 2am ytd. :p lucky firoz came to fetch chloe and i managed to get a ride back.
and then my results got sms-ed in at 7.28am! haha. of course i din wake up then, was too dead tired.
i got: PL3281 Cognitive Psychology Lab - B SC2101 Sociology Research Methods - B+ ST1131 Intro to Statistics - B+ SC2222 Sociology of Sports and Leisure - B SC2212 Sociology of Deviance - B
and my CAP now stands at a merit of 3.43! improved by 0.1.. haha. good good. last sem slack so much, studied little, crapped alot and ta-dah! its good to do well without stress.
in which i'll blog more abt the competition laters. haha.
this weekend im heading up to putrajaya for my first overseas comp.
prepared to speed! although i must admit im feeling abit low morale thinking about my experience and all. :p havent gotten the time to lead properly. very contradictory categories. :p we'll see i guess. yeps.
working in a retail shop really makes you wanna shop more. :p its getting boring nowadays, no climbing of shelves and whatnots.
plus seeing this everyday doesnt make it feel better:
RAHH (already chosen, reserved and hidden nicely in the cupboards. haha. purple ftw!)
opps. endless advertisement. lol.
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so retail therapy this month is sky high. gulp. really GG this time. haha. "shopping" increase by 180% since last month, as did the amt spent on food. :p haha.
today i went for the RI interview. i was early. 1 hour early. i didnt intend to be. :p but i was. the circle line is really truly faster than taking 168 to woodlands. anyways, i spent that 1 hour watching martha steward on the tv in the GO. martha steward thinks shes so cool. always cutting in at ppl talking.
anyways, i wasnt the only one there as usual. but watching tv for that 1 hour really made me lose focus somehow. haha. before i stepped in, i was like ohno ohno ohno. strangely my heart wasnt there. maybe it was because i was hungry, and i wanted something to eat after watching martha prepare 2 dishes of pasta and cake. plus my heels were breaking apart and i had a tiny memo in my head to get myself a new pair or just wear some flats next time forgoodnesssakes.
ive been thinking after my first interview and talking to the student dev head there.. that going to nie is not so bad afterall. i used to think that going there means im bound to be a teacher forever and ever. so RI's post was really smth that i wanted to make a grab for. but i realised that i can do more than just teach after the short stint (of 3 years?!). so if i didnt get this RI thing, i wouldnt mind. except i needed to change my 2nd subject asap. coz i know what i would love to do, and will be working towards it.
and then, today, suddenly the light bulb above my small head turned on again. and being all that i am as s8930934d, i guess going to nie might really be a direction that i might take. i.e. being certified, opening some doors, closing some doors. getting some "experimental" time. yea. i wonder how much the dep principals at RI is gonna believe me at my interview today. :p i believe i wasnt very convincing.. given all these thoughts in my mind. and a growling stomach (which was satisfied with northen thai tom yam fish soup later) but if that student dev head can go from teaching pe to what he is now, and uncle loh can do what he does now, maybe i can too... especially after going thru this nie thing. hmm. then maybe i can combine both. pe and that!
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side track: QX is getting married?! ok, only ROM already. but zomg! haha. the prcs netballers were like always speculating that maybe weiqing or joyce will get married first. got got bf alr or most matured, etc. haha. but qx really shocked me! in a gd way. haha :) angie, ur turn soon? haha.
