Hampi-India

wow.havent blogged since the start of exams. just returned from a bouldering trip to Hampi- India. and yes, alot if on my mind now.want to jot them all down before they get lost somewhere in my big big brain.haha

quick summary: India is where you learn about lane changing, getting 'toked"(cheated), how to deal with diarrhea

AND FANTASTIC CLIMBING.

oh yes, for all of you who do not know about Hampi, watch THE MYTH by Jackie Chan. some of the places they acted in, we had been to as well!honour man!=)

okay.lets see; we arrived in Bangalore on 5th dec 11pm, it was the nearest airport to Hampi. it was a cold cold night. managed to get a room at Hotel Swagath which was pretty decent for a back alley hotel.haha.Bangalore's expressways/highways have speed bumps. really high ones.and this was the night where i learnt that the lines that are drawn on the roads, are just for decorative purpose. because never before have i seen such weaving in and out of lanes for all the vehicles there. but the people horn every 5 sec. my ears were just starting to get used to all the honking. the cars drive without opening up their side mirrors!reason: they all drive right next to you. if your mirror was out, it would be gone. in the auto-rickshaws, the cars were soo near us that we could reach out and just open their doors or probably kick the bikes coming beside us. but i didnt wanto lose a leg in the process.its amazing that admist all the chaotic lanes, i hadnt seen a single accident the whole time i was in India. gosh.and to think i see at least 1 accident everyday in singapore. was telling the rest that when i go back to singapore, i might be so used to the honking that if someone honks me, i wont bother. only difference is that in singapore, people only horn when death is impending, while in India, honking is a way of telling people you are beside them and "get out of my way".

couldnt get a train ticket to hospet/hampi. appearently, it was better to book everything online. and yes, India's system of bureaucracy is something different from SIngapore's. for example. at the railway station, ground level had an office where all the train information and departure timings and destination was, BUT, to buy a ticket, you had to push with everyone ( result of a non- existent queue), stick your hand into the counter and shout for a form. this was a matter of whose hand was the longest. henghong succedded in pushing past the other locals and managed to get the forms. after filling them out, we went to the counter to buy the tickets only to find out that we had to still "queue up" at the line where there was a mad rush for the forms to book a place. i really dont know why they have 2 different tasks for the same person. when we finally got our turn after abit of jostling, we were told we had to be put on the waiting list, there were over 200 people on the waiting list. gosh. we were then told to go 2nd floor to get our names into the waiting list. the woman on the 1st floor only had the task of telling us how many people were on the list, but we had to go to the 2nd floor to get a queue number to get a waiting list number for the train. i shall stop elaborating because we simply got pushed to one person to another. no one ever seems to know what their colleague is doing.

WE DIDNT GET THE TICKETS.instead, we booked a bus, and this was where we got cheated the most. the bus tickets only cost $1500 rupees in total on the receipt. but we had to pay $3200 rupees to the man who bought us the tickets. starting of our discovery of the world of "MIDDLEMEN".

we were soon on our way to Hampi. bumpy bus ride but managed to sleep alil. reached Hampi early in the morning. the minute we alighted from the bus, we were bombarded by a dozen rickshaw drivers all requesting to take us to our destination, with the same fare.HOW TO DECIDE LIKE THAT.haha.heng hong said he would choose the one who gave him a map first, immediately, a dozen hands shot out a map infront of heng hong.we were shocked. when we finally chose our driver, the rest walked away muttering.

we stayed at GOAN Corner lodge. very nice and quiet lodge, all the way to the end. i love that place. it was like living in a farm, it had pigs,ducks,hens, cocks, turkeys, dogs, cats, and yes,houseflies and mozzies a plentyful.regina would surely die there.hahaha.the food was pretty decent, but alil too salty.and oily.

the boulders in Hampi are so vast, so vast it will prob take me 10 lifetimes to discover it. unfortunately, i think we only climbed 1/10000000000000000 boulders there. still, we cldnt even finish the boulders found in the topo.sigh.the granite stones in Hampi are are quite something. sharp at every touch, but strangely enough, the minute you are up on the rock, all the adrenaline numbs the pain on the fingers. the problem was getting myself lifted up from the rock.haha.manage to attempt some of the 7a/7b routes which the guys easily finished.haha.found myself at a huge disadvantage with my height problem. couldnt even start on the Goan Corner Boulder.sad.but felt good being able to touch it.

was particularly pleased with myself at having completed a particular arete route. took me at least 10 tries, but im glad i didnt give up on trying. the feeling of sending a route is indescribable! especially when i kept falling in the first half of the route.

we made friends with plenty of international climbers. french,scandinavian, scottish, americans, italians, swedish. the climbing world is really quite something!=)they are really strong. but of course, our singaporean climbers namely heng hong,brian,jansen and jia wei can easily match them. i was pretty proud of them when they finished particularly challenging problems that most of the other climbers couldnt do. but we could still do with a lot of guidance from these climbers who have had plenty of experience in natural rocks and climbing trips. most of them were in India for at least 2 months and more, while we could only afford 2 weeks.pathetic. im soo looking forward to the day where i can easily spend 4 -5 months in a climbing "haven" and not worrying about having to rush back home for work. some of the climbers had allegedly quit their jobs to travel. no worries man!but i guess its a different culture for us singaporeans. needing to return back to the dreadful rat race of who gets the best paying job, has the most successful family, etc. for these people, its just explore and climb, worry about everything else later. we couldnt help but worry about our exam grades during the trip.ha


i discovered treasure there. you know all those clothing in British India shops? yea, you can easily find them in Hampi, and for a fraction of the cost as well. made plenty of clothing over there. the cloth and tailors are in abundance over there. i literally went crazy having tailormade dresses and pants. pity my bag and money ran out before the cloth in india ran out.so i was stuck with only a few.sigh.

we finally did take the train from Hospet to Bangalore. i have always dreamt of taking a train in India, and yes, many an expectation i had for the trains. but it all went down the minute i got into the train. it was small, it smelled and best, crammed. 3 bunk beds in a row, above each other. the first bunk was for jansen, the middle for me, and the 3rd for a stranger. the wierd thing was.jansen and i could only sleep as long as the 3rd bunker agreed.he had to go all the way up to his bed before we could bring out beds out.tsk. imagine u met a meanie who didnt want to sit on his bed.and yes, should you still wanto take the trains in India, pray hard you do not get a bunk near a SNORER. unfortunate enough for us, we had to bear the 120decibel loud snores of a nearby bunker. it was as if he had a mike beside his snores. could hardly catch forty winks that night. it was a long, bumpy and noisy train ride.bad for the sleep. a once in a lifetime experience. and i mean it when i say once in a lifetime. nxt ride: FIRST CLASS ONLY!

my summary:

INCREDIBLE INDIA


BREATHTAKING BOULDERS


PEERLESS PEOPLE



i guess i shall end this post here, uploading more pictures on my next post.im getting a little lazy right now.

grateful from the heart.

managed to whip out my camera in time to see Elliot thinking he was a lizard. watch the tongue. never failed to make me smile whenever i see this video!=)enjoy!

the secret to getting your dog doing the lizard tongue. make sure a piece of food is stuck under his chin!and especially if your dog is as greedy as my elliot, he would most likely be doing the same thing=)

Climbaprix 2009 just ended. im glad i managed to push myself this time round!got 2nd!=)yay.its my first time winning a boulder comp. never in my life had i expected to win. and yes, i am very happy and i really Thank God, HE gave me the strength during this comp, considering that i didnt climb much during the past 2 weeks. was down with the flu, so down with trg as well. and my joints were hurting, didnt do much hardcore routes or trg as well. but im grateful for Jansen, he allowed me to join in his "sekreeet" training with jia wei. haha.i managed to squeeze some time to join them for 1,2 sessions. =)

and yes, the prize is $30 cash and $30 prana voucher!Blessing from God.i lost my prana pants. was feeling a little sad a while ago.but now i can go get a new one!yay!!=) and Jansen got 2nd as well!big big coincidence!hahaha.good job my dear!=)



upon reflection and looking at my videos, i know i made a few booboos during the comp, careless and kan cheong. i would think it had taught me to be more careful after the mistake was made. but i realised how hard it is. its not in my habit to be real careful and precise with my moves. hence the swinging and wasting of strength. i need to improve on these weaknesses mannn!and yes, my endurance, need to improve on it too.haha.the routes were really long today. got pumped real quickly.need to work on that as well.

oh yes, want to thank NUS for coming down to support all of us!esp those who didnt take part!it was heartening to see them staying all the way till late to support us. it counts.alot=) love this team and never want to trade it for any other team!!

ok. 1st mini boulder comp just ended. heads up for Climb on and Rock On!haha.many many "Ons". and back to school work!spent the whole of this weekend at SP and didnt even look at my books!!!=(project deadlines all piling up these 2 weeks. GO FEL GO!!!

Sunday outings make me hate Mondays.

went to PS this afternoon with a huge anticipation for the GREAT JOHN LITTLE SALE!!!newspaper claimed a 90% off storewide. guess what.it was only 20% storewide when we got there, and only a handful of brands had additional discount.booo.disappointing.

ended up with a loot from Cotton On, watsons, John Little,OP (yea.u must be wondering what the hell i am doing with OP stuff at 21 yrs old. found the tshirt really cute, so yea,gave in.tried to choose the smallest logo alr.haha)

had dinner at Pizza Hut, decided to give their pasta a try. the advertisement on the tube on making people guess the pasta they were eating were from. yes,that got me attracted to try.so i give it a thumbs up for the advertising!hahaha.it did lure me to try the pasta.



while waiting for the pasta which took pretty long.




Garlic Clam Broth!
10 stars upon 10 for this soup!worth the topping up of $1 more from the normal boring cream of chicken soup!=)it was rich in clam taste and generous in garlic too!soft and OooOhhhh.

PEP N SPICE PASTA
not too bad for a pizza hut pasta. generous once again on the ingredients!=)



Jansen and myself thought of how to get a free pizza by spotting really hard for a staff that didnt smile.haha.thought of dropping plates on the floor and see if they would sweep them up with a smile.evil thought which never came to pass.dont worry=)

but then again, who would dare to inform the staff that one of their colleague didnt smile and we wanted our next pizza free?haha.seriously. i think its a publicity advert to show that Pizza Hut's service will definitely be so good that you need not complain about.

for your 411, i did catch a few of the staff not smiling all the time.hahaha

enjoyed myself soo much, that i realised i got tons of work piling up=(

Oh i Thank God!=)

Today was the last day of my temp job for F1!and i must really thank God for the rain. it was drizzling a little by the time reg and i reached the tent to report to. both of us were praying soooo hard that the rain would come down. coz, we might not need to work!who works in the rain?and yes, after 2 hours into the job, guess what?it started to drizzle heavier!and yes, we decided to pack up and go into ION!!!we would wait for our boss's reply.and her reply was " just call me and pack up when it rains and you may go!" this was probably one of the best lines i heard today=) and i think we are still paid for 5 hours of job for 2 hours of work!coolest!we excitedly went on our shopping spree!walked so much, browsed and tried on sooo many clothing


and went home empty handed=(

i think i have become extremely fussy in shopping, i keep thinking i can get better clothing and price at the next shop.this is what becomes of u after u have been to bangkok and have seen the cheapest clothing around.sigh.i want to go back there with an empty bag and 15 kg load to play around with!!!!!!!!!!!

saw Derek on our way to work. he was snapping pics of singtel people who were giving out flyers. we asked him what he was doing. apparently, hes in charge of these people!cool!and the best part was, their pay was $20 an hour!oh my gosh!reg and i were only paid $10 for our flyer job la!siannn.we made derek call us when he had jobs for us!it made our pay look so lousy!same job, and their uniform is way more casual than us, singetl tshirt and jeans!gosh!

went to eat at the ION food level at B4!



this is the baby abalone noodles!$6.80!the baby abalone was really tiny!!!!but it was gooooooood!thumbs up for the noodles!handmade la mian=)

yes, this is the size of 1 baby abalone.haha.


random: saw this huge dog near Climb Asia, opp the La Mian coffeeshop!hes gorgeous and huge!=)

it kept licking me all over, as though he was cleaning me up.but i was very sure i had my bath alr=)

going for dinner to sunset grill with jansen's family tomorrow night!yay!i hope someone orders level 0 buffalo wings.hahhaa.last time i went with the climbing team.they ordered level 7, i took a lick of the sauce, and went crazy for the water pitcher.sigh.i wanto learn how to eat spicy food!!!!but i always end up doing a painful and hot big business the next day when i eat spicy food.hahaha.not enjoyable at all the aftermath of eating.

weather is a huge change from the past few days where it was all hazy and horribly warm!thank God for the rain!cleared up the air around!i can slp well 2nite!yay!

Blessings from above=)

just broke camp that started on monday!didnt enjoy myself throughly coz that time of the month came.=(experienced the "oh shitty pain" cramps.so didnt go for the wet games. went to send my dad off at the airport, i now have the honda airwave officially for the whole of this week!but, since i was in sch from mon-wed, didnt get to use the car much. work in orchard will not really see me using the car.coz of the crazy parking rates plus the many many erp gentrys!=(

and yes, today was the first day of my part time job as a TOTAL promoter for the F1 season. didnt get to take much pictures on the job. didnt bring my cam, too heavy to lug around. its all happening in town, along wheelock to Hilton hotel. great photos.but the uniform.crap.i shant say much.the photos will speak for itself.

anw, it was my 2nd time in orchard ion, and yes, heard all the hype on Bread Society, decided to make a trip down and see how good isit!

reg and i were sooo cash strapped that we bought bread which we were afraid we didnt have enough money for. the total price was $6.90. i had $6.70 only.reg had no cash.the shop didnt accept card.so we had to dig thru our bags and wallets once more to squeeze the last 20 cents out.and it was a miracle that we managed to find 20cents!gosh.it was embarrassing having to dig thru wallet after wallet,coin purse after coin purse. and we left bread society with a bag full of bread for our lunch and dinner AND WITH AN EMPTY WALLET.


heard sooo much about the spinach bun, just had to try it!felt really healthy after eating it!

every mouthful has spinach and CHEESE IN IT!=)mmm


the mini tomato bun. wasnt that fantastic.




BEST BREAD OF THE DAY.dont look at its tiny size, but its chock full of flavour, bursting with cheese on top, and inside the mini bun, no bigger than a "siew mai"!=0

because this was the first bun we tried, our expectations went sky high, only to see them plummet by the time i ate the 3rd bun of the day: double cheese.(no biggie=()


reg, very very very very happy with her buy.


and something good happened today!

reg and i went to Dr Coffee, some atas coffee place which we thought would be cheaper than starbucks, but we were wrong. the minimum price was $7.50 for a tall cup. and yes, add whip cream, add $1 lor!=(reg was a little unhappy, but the guy behind the counter said, "nvm, for u free!"hahaha.must be her charms.

and while we were walking along wheelock, giving out the discount vouchers for engine oil change from TOTAL, i was bored, decided to give the guy behind the Orange Julius counter a copy. after i gave it to him, he asked if i wanted ice cream. i said i was gona buy it after work. but he said"nvm, i give u now".i was pleasantly surprised!!!haha.reg and i were betting if we would get anything from the stalls along the road today.coz we kept walking up and down!and yes, i enjoyed my very very delicious vanilla cone which would have normally cost $2.50!!!(God must have knew i was broke.haha)

and i wasnt sure if i looked very hungry and poor to the orange julius guy.

gona sleep soon. need to do lots of sleep catching up!!!!and yes, im halfway thru my mid term break=(didnt wish it would end so soon.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

hahaha.i am so happy and proud that i have to write this down in my blog. history made on 18 september 2009!

MY DAD ALLOWED ME TO DRIVE HIS CAR WITHOUT HIM IN IT!!!!!!

oh my gosh.hahaha.eversince i passed, he has never allowed me to sit behind the wheel on my own=(i remember how i started driving his car. when i just passed. when i had the wheel.


these would be his habits whenever i was behind the wheel:
1. hand constantly on handbrake.
2. before i can step on the brake, :" slow down, brake,red light"
3."let me park the car"
4. "why u turn so wide?". "why you cannot brake earlier?"

he did improve on point number 1,2 recently.

but the biggie was when he finally let me drive without him last night!hahaha. although he made sure Jansen was with me in the car, the thing was he wasnt in the car!!hahaha.i was overjoyed. but it was really stressful, because i had to take my dads trust NOT FOR GRANTED!hahaha.i was driving pretty precariously man.i wasnt used to it, usually when i drive other people's car. i am SAFE AND COMFORTABLE.but last night, i was super not comfortable, i was too concerned over protecting the car man.hahaha.i had to make sure my dad would be able to trust me with the car alone in future. big reputation to maintain man!

having my 3rd flea market for this year!and i really enjoy flea markets, can get rid of stuff i dont need, earn money to make way for new ones!hahaha.where else can i do that?

for tomorrow, it will be at 8D Dempsey Road, from 1pm onwards!!!do drop by!im sure everyone can find something for a steal 2ml!esp at my shop.hahaha.i usually sell stuff way below its resale value la!i think.im just happy to be able to get rid of it. the value that i get back is a bonus.coz otherwise, i would just give it away.

more details here

finger joints hurting pretty badly recently. It doesnt affect me when im climbing, but it hurts when i finish climbing.i dont wanto end my climbing stint so soon!!!=(i still havent reached my peak yet.

the one week break is here!!hahaha.having a rockclimbing camp from mon-wed, and from wed-sun!i will be working as a F1 promoter!yay!for a brand TOTAL. not sure what it is though. and yes, hope i get to wear cool uniforms.pay is decent. can go into my savings for my year end climbing trip to INDIA! (Hampi)

shall stop here. i want to play with the stuff i bought from DIASO just now!!daiso rocks.

those childhood days.

had a good climb at Safra on saturday!though i only did 2 climbs, remind me not to bother queuing on saturdays, the human traffic is worse than a traffic jam on a expressway. there was an invisible queue system going on, which u either had to be super calculative or good memory to remember the order of your climb.sigh.

but i must have perspired enough to make me feel like i did quite a bit of climbing. managed to onsight a under 18 route on one of the walls. i was really glad i did not request to rest on the wall like i would normally do. i nvr really liked to feel pumped till i lost grip on the tiles, so i rather shout "tight" and just let go. i didnt like the feeling of getting so pumped that my fingers gave way and i would either fall a little or fall alot.depending on how much rope has been slacked for me. but this time round, i was feeling surprisingly "strong", didnt feel pumped enough to downclimb and rest.haha.Jansen's encouragement helped me a little because each time he cheered me on, i knew i was getting closer to finishing the route. and when i finally did end!i was pumped. enough to make myself rest!and there!i did it!my first onsight at Safra. though i ouught not to feel all proud and all. after all the route was meant for competitiors UNDER 18!hahaha.i am 21, so i shdnt be too happy upon finishing it. but its a good confidence booster=)

after a hearty lunch at Northpoint and went on my little date with jansen!haha.had free tickets, decided to watch the proposal at Marina Square!7pm show when we had bought the tickets at 4.40pm.we had just about over 2 hours to kill. and we were on our way to KILL TIME! you know at marina square, how they had one whole level dedicated to those "star catcher" machines, where you plonk in your hard earned money to wish with all your might that you might get something out of the machines?how those machines cheat you of your life savings?the ones where each time you tried and failed, but it made you want to try once more because u think u can get it IF you try again???

well, jansen and myself fell victims to it.

we must have spent about $12 during that 1 hour of killing time, yea we also killed our pockets during that fateful 1 hour!=(

it was interesting looking at other people play the machines, knowing fully well that the claw is super duper weak and cannot hold the weight of the stuffed toy for long. but the fact that each time u feel u are closer to getting it, makes u wanto try playing it again!brilliant inventors of this game.seriously. there was this group of girls, who were at the same machine as we were, they must have spent about 20 bucks but managed to get 3 puny stuffed sesame street figurines!?!?!while jansen and myself spent 6 bucks and got 2!ok.we were lucky.haha.



the movie THE PROPOSAL was really good!i give it 4/5!=)

as usual, i have always loved Sandra Bullock, theres something about her attitude that makes me wana be like her. shes gorgeous, not the normal sweet lil thing, but gorgeous but tough lady. something which reminds me of me.hah.okok.not that im gorgeous. but i like to think of myself as tough. i was telling some of my friends the other day that i want to get a subaru or Mit car in future. i especially love the sports rim and the super high spoiler kind, with an additional spoiler in front.haha.i know its totally AH BENG, but i am definitely not an Ah lian! winfred and reg said my kind of car was ugly=(.

after watchin the proposal, i went on to meet vincent,reg,winfred for another movie!FINAL DESTINATION!reg was cool,she went ahead with this movie without knowing much about it. and yes, 3/4 of the movie was spent seeing her burying her head in her shirt!she kept asking me what happened which i refused to.i wanted to make her watch everything, esp the gory parts!haha.i rmb how one scene scared me that i jumped and that made reg and winfred beside me jump as well.it was hilarious.it was a movie with good effects, but lousy plot. i thought it was something different from the previous final destination movie 1,2,3.but it was totally the same. different cast,different scenes but same plot.sigh.disappointing.why couldnt they have titled the movie final destination 4!?!?!

and yes, after the movie, as usual, everything we walked past or saw, we got sensitive and began scaring each other that we were gona die. guess the movie had achieved in scaring the audience that "IT HAS COME" ( death, in this case i think!)

ok.got tons of work to do!finally, work is piling up.haha.not like it nvr was.but its the 4th week.time to mug.=(

once again.....

okies.i finally found time to update my blog once again.

today,my lecturer was asking us whether we blog. very few replied. as usual, no one wants to say anything, either they are shy, or lazy or shy, or lazy.hahaha. then he said " those people who blog, alot of things to say hor".haha.not true. for me, my blog is a way of reminding myself of the significant events that happened in my life. esp since i have failed to keep a handwritten journal of my own. i think i tried a few times. but failed to enter the 2nd day in my diary.haha.typing is so much easier! and i can put photos to remind myself of the memories. you know how they say "a picture speaks a thousand words". so there.

school has just started. this final year for me is pretty easy goin. with 4 modules, though they all come with projects, i am glad i do not have school on Friday!yay!long weekend. not looking forward to ending my study in NUS. i think i will miss going to lectures with my friends. eating at every hour when i can with the cheap and good food all over NUS. i will definitely miss training in the climbing gym.sigh.

was thinking of getting my own car a while ago. saw this Mazda Funtop 121 that was priced at 8k.cheap deal.but maybe not, once u consider paying for road tax, servicing, petrol,parking, etc.haha.but it was nice going down with jansen to a 2nd hand car shop.gosh.they have got sooooo many cars on sale there!tsk tsk.and this is just one of the shops, there must be at least a hundred over in Singapore itself!saw this gorgeous Peugeot sports limegreen car.made me salivate!!!

and to be frank, having driven a car around for a month plus, i think back on my thoughts when i was younger. how i would not need a car coz public transport is good enough. and before i knew it, after getting my license and being able to borrow Jay's car for a while, i came to realise to joys of driving a car. apart from the woes i experienced. i guess its human greed.haha.one thing leads to another. but heck, i m free to imagine what kind of a car i want to drive in future!

okies.im getting a little tired from typing alr.Kenneth passed a movie to me he managed to help me get hold of

THE NEVER ENDING STORY!i watched it as a young child. and i still rmb the movie,bits and pieces of it.its a great show!if u can, try and get hold of it!=)

back from thailand!

I finally found the time to update my dear blog once again!eversince I came back from Thailand I was stuck with having to rush out my assignment due in 4 days time.cant believe I was stuck at home for at least 2 days doing it up.its not so bad when everyone else is doing it, but it sucks when only you are stuck at home with it.haha.but Im not complaining anymore.BECAUSE I AM DONE WITH IT!

Lets see what happened on my first trip to Krabi- Thailand!=)

On Day 1 arrived at phuket excited and not so happy with my bag load.but I couldn’t wait to visit the famous Tonsai island which almost all of my climbing friends have been to and I have not. Once we exited the airport, swarms of taxi drivers “devoured” Jansen and I with offers to take us to Ao Nang pier where we would take a long tail boat to Tonsai. We rejected all of them because we wanted to take a cheaper means of transport. Didn’t mind the wait, but along came this super super insistent cabbie who kept lowering his offer to take us to the pier. Finally, he ended giving us the offer of 200 THB to Krabi bus station!which was not too far off from Ao Nang Pier. Jansen and I looked at each other and said yes without thinking. Ok.we thought for a little, but it was such a great offer we couldn’t resist.

We were in the cab for less than 5 mins when the driver stopped us along the road and beside the bus stop and said we were here. Jansen was shocked because that was not the Krabi bus stop he knew.we clarified with the driver and he said he told us he would take us to one of the bus stop that we could TAKE A BUS TO KRABI BUS STOP!

CONCLUSION: we got “toked”

“toked” means to be cheated, especially when it involves money.

We could have easily gone to the bus stop on our own way cheaper.but yea.hard lesson learnt.

Routes that I onsighted:
1.Groove Tube (firewall), I climbed up with my whole bag of stuff and reached the first pitch!it was breathtaking up on the first pitch of groove tube!i could see the whole of tonsai beach! Perspiring and shaky me had to learn how to tie a prusik chord and abseil down!all learnt in about 10 mins???? And yes, on the way down the abseil line, I kept telling Jansen I didn’t want to die. And I didn’t!=)
2. climb of the ancient mariner (melting wall)
3. Schlingel Moritz (at the tonsai beach)

routes I sent!=)
1. Schlingel Max (Dums kitchen)

routes attempted:=(

- at the Nest wall.
1. Technobug: it was my first route I attempted in Tonsai. Was a total noob. Scared of this. Scared of that.gosh.looking back, I wish I wasn’t so lousy.haha.it was just a simple 6a that Jansen breezed past!
2. Banana hammock
3. Little fish
4. Britishly White. My first 7a!and yes, I hang dogged the route!Jansen very kindly offered me to clear the clips and yes I went up feeling butterflies in my stomach. The starting left me off the ground and overhanging!i didn’t want to fall before the first clip and break my back on the rock!haha. the rope drag on this route is freaking bad!it took two people to pull the rope down!it was a 7a route on its own to clear the rope.

- at Melting wall
5. Captain hook

- at Tonsai Beach wall
6. Lion king! My first 6c route!heard so much about it, wanted to challenge myself on this route. The beginning was alrite. But when I reached the lions head. I had practically nothing to step on!blame my lousy footwork and hole in the shoes!hahaha.i was afraid to even load any weight on my feet and ended up stressing my upper body. I took a long time on this route! But I want to send it on my next trip!something scary happened on this route, I was supposed to clear the clips for the person who left it up. And when I finally reached the top I realized I forgot to bring a crabiner to top out!i looked down on Jansen who was belaying me and asked him what to do. I was shaking up there by now. He told me to take out my belay rope and tie in again. I was scared when I heard it man!it was a totally unorthodox method and never tried before by me!he had to warn me that if I lost the rope while untying it, I would be stuck up there forever. To take out my belay rope meant that I was relying only on my sling which was clipped into the ring anchor at the end!if any of those gave way. I would say good bye to everyone. And so with my fingers shaking and my breath becoming irregular I untied the belay rope and tried in vain to tie a new figure of 8. The frustrating thing was I could not tie a figure of 8 at all while I was up there!i was panicking too much to be able to tie one properly. I kept looking down at Jansen for help. But he couldn’t really help much except just look. Desperate I shouted at Jansen for help!he told me to take the quickdraw and tie a double figure of 8 and attach it to my harness. I did it. And yes.strange enough, I was able to tie a double figure of 8!and so with my body still shaking, I was lowered down.finally!was alittle upset at myself on this route for forgetting how to tie a figure of 8. and Jansen thought I was angry. Resulted in a little misunderstanding. But we cleared it up.
7. Hang Ten.A 7C route which Jansen promised me a PRADA HANDBAG if I could clip all the way till the 3rd clip!i agreed. Did ok for the first 2 clips. At the 3rd clip. My left hand had to hold a lousy slopper and I struggled to pull in rope to clip.by the time I managed to pull enough rope to clip.my left hand gave way alr!dar.i missed the PRADA BAG!=(

Spent the last 2 days in Tonsai Bay resort feeding our bodies to bed bugs!had 2 sleepless nights in a row from bed bugs bite. Could hardly sleep. My whole body was itching like mad. I had like 5 bites in a row.wonder how those puny little disgusting things could cause so much damage to my body. The minute I closed my eyes, my body would start itching. At first, on the first night, I thought it was mosquitoes flying around.i got up in the wee hours of the morning to light the coil.couldnt sleep after that.played with my Nintendo DS till daylight. The next night was not better. Jansen spammed the beds with the NS repellent. The infamour green tubes which is reputed to burn through skin FAILED! We were still getting the bites. We gave up.slept at the beach.it was freezing and all. We experimented with the repellent. We caught a bed bug and put a circle of repellent gel around it to see if he could get past. At first it tried to avoid it.but after about 5 seconds, the bug happily scurried across the “line” of defense. I smeared more all over it. And the more I smeared, the faster the bug ran over the “lines”.darn. I should have know it didn’t work.haha.

Moved over to Railay beach just next to Tonsai beach.got up super early in the morning to trek over with our barang barang because it was low tide.could cross over all the barnacles and sand without getting wet. Had to make 2 trips coz we had too many stuff to carry. It was a move slightly more manageable than moving out of hall=)

At Railay Muay Thai wall:

Onsighted:
1. Nuat Hin

At 123 wall:
Onsighted:
1. king cobra.
This is a route which all the schools bring their students to try it. Good and easy warm up route. But the rocks are well polished.makes gripping hard.so smooth la!
2. Make a way.
good long route!28 m!we had just enough clips for this route.phew.

Sent:
1. short and savage.
Was about to give up on this route after failing to send it 2 times. But Jansen urged me to give it another try. And so I did, and I sent it!yay!i finally knew the feeling of sending a route which I thought was almost impossible.yes.i will always remember this feeling and always look forward to it!

I did a short summary of my thoughts while up on this route:

1st attempt: “where the heck are the holds?”
2nd attempt:” hmm, I think I know where the good holds are and when to rest, I know I can do it.” ---the next minute, “ jansen, can I rest?” darn.
3rd attempt: “ I know I can do it!—SENT!

Trekked over to the low tide wall

Onsighted:
1. walk in the park
- name suggests it all!

Attempted:
1. Narsilon!it was a 7a which I wanted to just give it a try with no expectations!i saw a good rest spot in the middle of the 28/30 m long route and aimed to go all the way there first. Did pretty ok for the first part. I didn’t expect to finish the beginning and reached the spot to rest!the crux was just about to happen. Tried for a few times and finally got it. And the second half of the route, I began to hang after every clip!ahaha.i suck!

We got stranded after doing these 2 pathetic routes because of the high tide. We slept around the rocks and I played with all the sand and water I could find.took random pictures of the sand,sun,sea. We were stuck doing nothing for 5 hours!i was never so bored.decided to pack up and leave at about 6pm because the sun was setting. I didn’t want to be stuck on this beach at night! We started to trek, the tide was still high.i slipped and fell and guess what.my beautiful havianas broke!darn.had to break at this timing. How could I continue walking barefooted when I could not see what I was stepping on?and mind u, the rocks at the bottom were sharp.i was scared.jansen was already waist high into the body. Just then a boat came and offered to help us!PRAISE THE LORD!we arrived on shore safe and sound and half wet, and I was still missing a slipper=(

Left Krabi for Bangkok on the 31 July 2009!

Stupid plane got delayed.we were stuck at the airport playin the Nintendo for 2 hours. Got onto the taxi to a cheap inn. Poor jansen, left his hp in the taxi and couldn’t do anything about it.

Finally, the day of shopping had begun!took a train and got off at Mot Chit station. The station that leads to the shopping heaven!haha.THE FAMOUR CHATUCHAK MARKET!the place is humoungous!3500 stalls!we didn’t know where to begin. We decided to split up for the good of both.and yes.i never did so much shopping in my life!


Day 2 in Bangkok saw us goin to platinum mall!another shopping heaven!but this time, its better with more people coz the prices become wholesale= sickly cheap when u buy more than 3 pieces of clothing in that stall! I could only buy so much before my pockets burned. Amazingly, jansen ran out of money before me!muahaha.gave him the rest of my money to buy him a spanking pair of white shoes!=)

We bought so much that we shipped a box worth 10kg back to Singapore because we were severely overweight in baggage from our climbing gears. Cost us 74 bucks but I guess it was worth!=)

MORE SHOPPING TO BE DONE in Bangkok

And yes, I enjoyed myself in this trip.i learnt a lot of climbing techniques and the dos and donts thanks to Jansen=) he taught me with patience how to abseil, top out, etc.thank you!cannot wait to go back to krabi again!

I AM SORRY.......

last saturday had a very very good dinner with reg,ken,jiahua,shaoting,marissa with surprise guest alvin and eli!haha.we went to Castel's Pizza! at Ang Mo kio. some ulu coffeeshop which u will never expect to eat good italian food. but I DID!=) THE FOOD WAS NOT ONLY SUPERB BUT VERY VERY AFFORDABLE AS WELL. i daresay i would be willing to fork out about $14 for my past. but guess how much i paid? $6 only!no gst no service charge!!!

http://sfigato-pizza.com/

heres the website.go check it out!=) this is a thumbs up recommendation. parking can be at 2 different multi storey car parks. or if you are garang enough, can just park beside the coffeeshop and wait like those ah peks. who park their taxis and eat and wait anxiously for the '"fatimahs" to come and fine them.hahaha.


Puttanseca! number 27!!!one of the chef's recommendation!

not too creamy and slightly spicy!the mushrooms and olives and anchovies were a great combination!

pity my camera was out of batt, else i would have taken more photos. my poor cam mustered enough power to last this one shot=(

i really cannot wait to go back there and eat agaiN!


anyway, reg was so amazed i actually bought PINK DOLPHIN to quench my thirst instead of just water that she insisted i took a picture of it.haha.the reason was, water in Cheers was more expensive than Pink Dolphin!call me a cheapo. but i had a whole bottle in the car. lazy to get only.but dying of thirst at that time. and hmm.Pink Dolphin didnt turn out too bad.haha.not too sweet.just nice. now i know where reg gets her water of life from. coming from the girl who hardly touches water. its Pink Dolphin that gets her going!!hahah.

but i will choose water over anything to quench my thirst!=)


anyways, im down to my last week of placement!!!!i cant believe 9 weeks has passed sooo quickly. i remember when i first started out, i was complaining about waking up so early and having to travel all the way down to Changi Prison. but actually, i am still complaining now.haha.i guess complaining is a way for me to vent off my frustration of not having enough sleep!!! but im still alive!very much!

this last week is gona be so hectic and crazy for me.trying to rush my assignments that are actually due 2 weeks later just so i can make it for my krabi trip enjoy it without worrying abt the assignments. but yes. my hair might turn white before i get to relax!sigh.

can you believe it!I ACTUALLY BROUGHT WORK HOME!

I AM SO SORRY TO MYSELF! I realised if i dont bring work home tonight, i might not be able to finish everything by this fri.

and this brings this post to an end.coz its WORK TIME!groans.

long long ago.

gosh.its July alr!and my last post was 10 june!sorry for not updating dear blog.haha.was lazy to even log in at times.

well, now that i have abit of time to spare.shall attempt to write some of the most impt events that happened to me in June till now!sit back,relax and enjoy!=)

remember to look at something distant or something green for a few minutes after staring at the computer screen after half an hour alrite!take good care of your eyes!

AYG
alrites!this is something new and exciting that happened in my life. i got the chance to take part in the opening ceremony of the 1st Singapore Asian Youth Games!yippee!my friend melvin needed skaters and asked me if i was interested.i knew it was too irresistable an offer to reject.so on wednesday, 24 june 2009, i went for my first rehersal. was new to all the other skaters because they all knew each other before that. they were trainers from Singapore Inline skating school!whoaaa.these guys and girls are really pro skaters. i took my hat off to them while i saw them skating.kinda made me feel inferior. here i was supposed to perform in the AYG ceremony when all i had were trainer skates!hahaha.those that had the brakes in them.so NOOB!all the others had like blades WITHOUT BRAKES!coz they could do the T-brake.i could do it too.but fumbling alittle.and yes.did i mention i felt like a noob with my old school blades?i bought them when i was in sec 2!can u imagine that!!!!learnt to skate better during the rehersals and i learnt how to blade in a circle!=)weeee.

and on the day of the full dress rehersal, my good ole blades had to break the first strap of the blades!leaving me unable to wear them further!i was so pai seh, but thank God my friend lent me her blades.the PRO ONES!and yes, u can guess, they came WITHOUT BRAKES!haha.they were so much lighter!i could hop around in them!i was given the role of the one skating out to the middle and lying down waitin to be "killed".oops.take it back.waiting for my friend to jump over me. suffered a few bruises because my cool blader friend "decided" to only jump when they hit me.so i suffered la!haha.but they were all sooo good!jumping over 5 bodies!gosh.i wish i could do it.

on the day of the openin ceremony, we all got psyched up for the grand opening of our show. it was a flop.not on our part. the organisers last minute told us they had been giving us the wrong music all this time to practice on. we now officially had an additional 12 seconds to do something!my leader michael went crazy. he was so mad with them.but nothing we could do. all we had to do was to think of something to do for the 12 seconds. the kids at bendemeer and bukit panjang had practised for too long to try out new stuff. so my boss, gathered his lil kids and they did the extra 12 secs!phew.

crowd was disappointing, im sure many of u have read the reviews on the newspaper. the poor emcees were tryin to make the crowd cheer, but sad to say, their voices on the mike were so much louder than the crowd.so much for the supposed 7000 crowd present at the opening ceremony.so little publicity was given.even my friends didnt know there was an AYG opening ceremony when i told them i was involved. they only started advertising for it on saturday, probably after they received the footage from the full dress rehersal on friday!

the best and most memorable part of the opening ceremony!!?!?the 2 most pro skaters who bravely jumped over 5 bodies were not captured on camera!gosh. the camera man had to move his filming over to the dancers who were just coming up for the next performance. whats there to see when the dancers hadnt started their dance yet?the fireworks on the bladers lighted up so late that the whole performance was delayed. probably causing the cameraman to shift his attention as well. and best part. i couldnt see myself on tv.haha.not that i was dying to be.but at least a glimpse would have been interesting=)and yes. it was a huge disappointment for us!but through this, i made many new friends, and reignited my love for skating. new blades here i come!this time without the brakes=)

FLEA MARKET
had my very first flea market on saturday!=)went with 1/4 of my wardrobe excitedly with keshin to get rid of them. the venue was sweltering with heat!the air conditioners couldnt work coz the crowd was way too big.good for them and us, but bad coz everyone was perspiring like mad. i managed to sell off close to $100 of my 2nd hand clothes!=)very very happy!looking forward to more shopping in BANGKOK!cant wait for the nxt flea market!haha.

and speaking of fleas, my next topic.

STUPID ELLIOT'S TICKS
spent the past few days removing ticks from ELLIOT.gosh.the amount of ticks he had, i believe could cover his whole body one shot!poor boy. only we were capable of removing them.hada pinch the bodies and just pull it out.along with abit of Elliot's hair.haha.i hate them.those horrible bloodsuckers.jansen and i had a fine time removing them yesterday!got rid of so many, we didnt feel like counting them anymore.i wonder how it feels like to have so many ticks on your body?hmmm.

MUAY THAI COMP
didnt get to take part in my muay thai comp which i had trained and waited impatiently for almost a year!!!=(due to the horrible fall i had in school 2 weeks ago. left my left shin and right thigh horribly bruised!so bruised that everyone almost died when they saw it. my shin was swollen, my ankle was affected as well. sad sad sad.but NUS won overall for the school championship!so happy for them=)looks like i got 1 more year of training at least!=)

ROCKMASTER
didnt do very well for my last bouldering comp!didnt have a good chance to train coz of work and my stupid finger injury from pumpfest. and so wasnt hoping for much.but i have to admit the walls were big and beautiful!

HANDPHONE DYING
and yes, my poor samsung D900 which is almost 4 years old is dying. its lifespan is less than one day!gosh.i apologise for not being able to return smses and calls because very often, my phone dies when im out!so if i dont reply u! or reply u real late. time for you to get me a new phone=)haha

MY MOST SLACK DAY EVER.
i think i might have just set a record for the slackest day every!was at jansen's hse. woke up,read ARCHIE COMICS.slept.woke up.ate a bun for breakfast.read another ARCHIE comic, watched TV,had lunch,read another ARCHIE comic, slept,woke up to leave for FACIAL!haha.my most unproductive day ever ever.

These are a few of my NOT-SO-FAVOURITE- things!

after having been exposed to a few activities that i never got the chance to do so in the past, i have found dislike for them!and the best part?

THAT I ALWAYS THOUGHT I COULD DO THEM FOREVER.

according to FELster's international Dictionary, this phrase means:

"i always thought i could do them forever, rain or shine, with food, no food and at times i wished i was doing it instead of studying or working."

and yes, i WAS wrong.

and here goes the list of my NOT-SO-FAVOURITE things:

1) WASHING A CAR IS TIRING! i remember when i was young, i used to beg my dad to let me wash his car. but for wierd reasons, he wouldnt budge. even when i purposely changed into my crap clothes to get dirtied in, he would chase me home=( sounds sad rite.haha.and so since young, i always thought:"boy, i could wash cars foreever! they look so fun! can get all wet and soapy" i washed Jansens car with him, strange, it seemed fun at that time, maybe coz it was my first time as well. and yes, his car is abit, JUST ABIT LA. smaller=)

reason: i washed Jay's car today. not like i shampooed the car or splashed water all over it, coz i didnt get easy access to water at the carpark under my block. hence, i just brought a pail down and used a cloth to wipe the car clean. boy, it was BACK BREAKING!and mark my words. i felt worse than an 80 year old woman.I THINK.

2) WAXING A CAR TOTALLY SUCKS! i always saw how my dad wax and polish his car, i loved the smell of a freshly polished car. and now i have come to appreciate why i loved the smell!

reason: BECAUSE i did not lay a hand in polishing the car!i tried doing it after cleaning the car. and yes, another back breaking experience, and worse, i had to breathe in the "fragrance" of the polish. at first it smelt good. it brought back sweet memories of sitting in a freshly polished car. DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT HAVE TO LIFT A FINGER TO ENJOY THE AROMA OF THE POLISH. but somehow, after i polished the whole car, i felt like vomitting!it was too much. gosh. i really admire those people who run a car polish company! i wonder if one can get addicted to inhaling too much of the polish.haha. my arms felt like breaking off, i had to rub so hard!!!!!!and my left shoulder bore much brunt of that "exercise". i must have strained it while climbing last night.darn.

3) A car is FREAKING CONVENIENT.and yes, it is ONLY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT! besides being able to take shorter time to reach to your destination, one must bear in mind the following:

- no parking lot
- the dilemma of putting 50cent or more than 1 dollar coupon? want to save money, yet scared kena FINED! which i already experienced.
- petrol
- accidents on the road which cause jams, if that happens, the point of taking a shorter time to reach one place can become void.
-stupid birdshit! once it dries, very hard to remove.
-you drive with the fear of car breaking down, tyre puncture, even getting into an accident!
-gota wash and polish the car! (as mentioned above)
-send for monthy servicing. otherwise you can forget about the car serving you.


and i havent mentioned the high cost of a car in SINGAPORE!HAHAHA.

and yes, after all these have been mentioned, im beginning to wonder if i still like a car. it is convenient, you can just dump everything and drive around without having to worry about lugging it around. but yes, PROS and CONS. i guess it depends on how much "troubles" you dont mind that comes along with the possible benefits of a car.

and yes, you may wonder why i have been blogging so much about cars these few days. forgive me la. its my first time taking ownership of a car temporary and yes, still learning the ropes=)

FRIDAY is halfday!!!coz the Prison's counselling dept will be merging with the Psychology dept in July, and so this friday we will be having lunch together to mark the end of the "lonely" counselling dept. and yes, looking forward to it!FREE MA=) going to Cafe le Claire, the middle east restaurant which i patronised with the rockclimbing team last year!=) gona order the same food again. sue me.im boring. i like to go for my favourite food.

beginning to get ambivalent feelings about my attachment in prison. on one hand, i enjoy meeting inmates, counselling them and experiencing the joys of knowing you have played a part in their rehabiitation. and yet, i really dislike desk-bound activities. i have to file my observations, do case reports, etc. all in the office, with a computer which i have never trusted my life with. haha. and yes, do i really want such a career in future? will the intangible rewards of working with the inmates be more than the tangible burden that comes together with it? everyday i experience different feelings. some days, i hate goin to work. some days, i go home happy. because i had a good case. is this how my future career will look like?

i am fantasizing about opening up an ice cream cafe right now. i even drew up a proposal while conducting an interview with an inmate with my supervisor.OOPS. but it didnt affect me. i am seriously quite good at multi- tasking.haha.

each time i think of you
reminds me of our past
how we enjoyed each other's
company that we dont get now
what happened to this friendship?
was it meant to crumble?
or so i mumble
silently to my heart
now shipwrecked

tell me please
i want it all to cease
a silent war in my heart
was it on my part
that today came now
it aint a wow
perhaps
just perhaps.

Felicia's series of unfortunate events.

gosh.my week has never been worse!!!!

firstly, ever since i got the car from Jay, i managed to "collect" a mounting debt of $80 worth of parking fines!one for failure to have a season parking pass at my own house, 2 for parking past my coupons!

$80 bucks according to jansen could get me a new dress!=(

and yes, had a little adventure with the car that got me forking out $420 to somebody else's pocket.and an additional of $120 for him to enjoy ease of transport while his original mode of transport underwent cosmetic surgery. STUPID VAIN CAR.

and today, i went for a "joyride" around the east side. was supposed to go back to changi prison for work aft the seminar in school. went to harbourfront first to get my camera repaired coz last night, my nalgene water bottle decided to drown my handphone and camera in my handbag.thankfully, the hp survived. my canon didnt do too well. the camera wouldnt budge and i thought it was officially dead. so after sch, i rushed down to harbourfront, walked across 3 harbourfront towers because i stupidly parked in vivocity. went all the way there to let the service girl put her own battery in to see it being switched on!viola!!!my camera WAS WORKING. and so i had to make haste in goin back to my car because i was almost late for work alr.

drove thru ECP,KPE PIE and the lunch i had made me sleepy, so sleepy till i missed the upper changi road exit and went on to changi airport. i panicked and turned into ECP (CITY) and realised it was one crap long ride to the nearest exit which i was familiar with. BEDOK.and yes, i thought i was familiar with Bedok. turns out i was wrong. because i followed the wrong PIE sign, it was to Tuas. so i went one big round around Bedok. all this time, the merciless afternoon sun was beating down on my arms. i finally found the upper changi road exit and happily turned into it. and i realised i entered the wrong PIE again!this time, it was for real to changi airport. drove one big round around terminal 2, wanted to drop by and say hi to regina.haha.but no time. left for PIE again. this time i was finally right!gosh. i must have travelled for over 40 km since i left vivocity!

and guess what. i was not only extremely tired from entering and exiting wrong expressways i also had to wait to go into the prison complex. because some smart guy thought "hey, now is a good time to do construction work" and drove 1 mega long lorry into a 1 way entrance to the prison carpark.i was stranded outside, couldnt enter for that time being. i waited patiently for 15 mins, and my hand made its way to the horn when the lorry started to unload. i was a little angry by this time because i was already very late. and tired. i horned loud enough for some guy to tell me to wait 5 mins AGAIN. and so i did. and when the lorry moved like an inch away?i managed to squeeze through. and got myself a parking lot right under the beautiful HOT sun!

and yes, i am in my office right now.no, i am in some computer room where this is the only place i can get internet access. phew.

i need a breather. pls.help.

a car may be convenient, but it certainly puts on a whole lot of different problems that you would get with taking public transport. parking tickets.ERP,petrol,car wash,etc.gosh.hard lesson learnt, coz i found myself broke when the month of june has just started.

though i dont think my week cannot get any worser, i am still thankful i managed to survive. Thank You Lord, for giving me the strength to go through all this.

my muay thai comp is postponed to 27 june which means it wont clash with Rockmaster. then again, im probably not taking part in Rockmaster coz my pully injury aint quite healed yet.sobs.

FREEBIES!

okies.recently joined a few competitions and managed to amass some pretty good vouchers.dont really need it, so i am advertising for it!hahaha.

ITS FREE=)

and i shall begin listing them down.if you are interested in taking it, dont hesitate to email me or msn me at thebigcrumb@hotmail.com

1. complimentary kickboxing class worth $35 at Hilton Fitness Center. expires 30 june 2009.
2.$10 voucher for Singapore Inline Skating School. (can buy blades or sign up for skating lessons)
3.20% storewide for Deuter products at Queensway SHopping Centre. expires 31 dec 2009
4.15& discount for Xboundaries at Novena Square. valid till 30 sep 2009
5.NUM vouchers, from $5-20 off depending on products=)theres a whole range. valid till 31 Oct 2009.
6. 1 complimentary entry ticket to ZOUK from 28 may to 25 june 2009 on thur night and Saturdays=)
7.$10 cash voucher for exponentasia at Toh Guan. good for climbing and outdoor gear=)valid till 31 july 2009
8. $60 Taka cash voucher goin for only $55=)you save $5!
9.$20 Kinokuniya cash voucher in exchange for $20 cash=)

didnt want to see these vouchers goin to the wastepaper bin.so if you are interested.do contact me!!=)

Welcome Home Elliot!=)

say hello to Elliot!=) the CAIRN TERRIER from the SPCA. after searching for soo long.managed to set my eyes on Elliot.=)

went to the SPCA on Saturday, the place was packed.public holiday crowd.haha.walked around to see the dogs available. set my eyes on Elliot.strange, no one stopped by his cage to look.i guess everyone else was fixed on a maltease and 2 shitzhus.haha.Elliot saw me, started to lick my fingers. He was really tame and gentle. i asked the person in charge what happened to him and they said he was a lost dog.poor thing. the minute i saw him, i fell in love with him. my dad said ok as well.and all we had to do was to bring my mum down the next day to finish up the adoption procedure.

Sunday( Today) came. i excitedly left church for SPCA. finished up the paperwork, and headed down to Pet Lovers Centre to give Elliot a haircut and nail trim!haha.he was pretty well behaved in the car, in the shopping centre and in the groomers as well. i had to carry him in VIVO with curious stares from all the shoppers. and my gosh.HE IS HEAVY. I would say he is about 7-10kg?haha.i carried him for about 5 minutes and my arms felt like it was about to break off from my shoulder socket!bought Elliot a new leash and harness!combs and one big bag of food!maintaining a dog seriously aint cheap man.spent about 200 in total in one day!

Elliot came home. as usual, sniffed all around. and not once did he make trouble.cept for the time he sneakily climbed up the stairs though we told him NO.haha. very very gentle and tame. he did not give us trouble SO FAR=).


Elliot the lazy dog.

had a simple home cooked dinner today, coz we celebrated Mother's day last saturday alr where the whole extended family could make it.GUESS WHAT MUM MADE!!







you guessed it!CRABS

=)


haha.kudos to mum's chilli crabs.made my mouth water non stop!and yes. i was the only one in the family to polish the crabs off!everyone else was too full.haha.

thick juicy meat,with slight spicyness and the "everymouth got egg" feeling ROCKS!

today was a good day!and i am very thankful for it!thankful for Elliot, for my parents in going through all the trouble to get me this dog and thankful for my mum and her superb culinary skills=)

CRAB CRAB CRAB.

1 week has passed really fast. and i have effectively "enjoyed" my first week of the holidays.haha.while some people have just started theirs.ok.i am not GLOATING HERE!but yea.the drawback of ending the exams earlier than everyone else is u got no friends to go out with!ahaha.but nothing beats sleeping in LATE=)

did alot of climbing this week.getting back my strength.slowly.and praise the Lord.my pulley injury doesnt hurt as much as before BUT my middle finger's knuckle is pretty inflammed.so inflammed that i cannot straighten it=(but yea.thats the price to pay for climbing.but that will not stop me!

had dinner with reg,jud and ely at Thai Express last night.jansen backed out.he sensed a "girls outing" at work.haha.had my all time favourite soft shell curried crab.but the portion was not only SMALL.but the curry gravy was so little the whole meal tasted DRY.sigh.thai express is clearly losing their standard.

I HAD CHILLI CRAB FOR DINNER TODAY!jansen and i went into some ulu area.yio chu kang or yishun i cannot remember!hahha.some famous seafood restaurant (Ban Leong).saw the BIG CRAB SIGN!asked for the price of the crabs.past our budget!=(i gave a sad look.haha.but we went ahead to order our ordinary fried rice and bee hoon.we were almost through with our food.all around me.people were eating crabs.i couldnt take it.i gave a sad and pathetic face to jansen and asked if we can order a small crab.i didnt mind paying for it.the craving was too strong.haha.he relented!i grinned from ear to ear.and ordered the famous CHILLI CRAB!

IT FINALLY CAME....and guess what.the chilli was really chilli crab!i though it would be more sweet than spicy.i took one mouth and almost died.but i knew i couldnt give up!haha.jansen kept laughin at me.but yes.i did enjoy the crab.cant wait to eat crabs again!.

had a good day out with him today.holidays rock.

and good news.my attachment to the prison has been postponed to 18 may instead of 11 may!yay!1 more week of holiday!haha

I LOVE CRABS.

Praise the Lord=)

yay!guess what is my first topic for my blog!



















YOU GUESSED IT.




I am So done for the semester year of 2008/2009!woohoo.ended my exams yesterday at 7pm.didnt rejoice outwardly i guess.haha.coz it was an open book exam..so i kinda rejoiced on Monday, when i ended my second last paper.lets just say SW3201 was kinda easy till it became hard to do.if you guys out there know what i mean=)haha.OPEN BOOK+straightforward questions=recipe for disaster because you want to write everything in, yet no enough time.boo

ok.enough abt exams otherwise the other poor people who still have 2 or 3 more papers will come after me.haha.

Celebrated my Grandmother's birthday at Paris Restaurant, and since Mother's day is always after my grandma's birthday, the whole family have always celebrated it together.haha.so this year it was at Paris.

went there with high expectations, coz the buffet per person is supposed to be pretty ex.and the first thing i saw was OYSTERS!yummy,my favourite food of the day.followed by SALMON SASHIMI!mmmm.and then the crabs which got snatched up everytime a newplatter was displayed.which reminds me. i need to complain of the ugliness of the Singaporean attitude towards a buffet

it disgusted me so much, swarms of people flew to the poor pathetic crab platter with all the aunties rushing in to snatch up the crabs.i was queuing up and i got pushed out of the queue.i was pissed. thank God for my long hands. i used another set of thongs from the next dish to scoop some crabs onto my plate.without disturbing anyone. there was this particular aunty who barged in, said SORRY ARH!TOOK A WHOLE PLATE OF CRABS and passed the thong onto the next person.THE NEXT BEST THING SHE DID:"excuse me, can you help me grab the nutcracker?"the one used to crack the crab shell.not only did she CUT QUEUE, but she made others take stuff for her when she could have gone round to the other side, which was only 5cm away?gosh.such sights are better kept at home.seriously.

i broke a plate. some woman bumped into me, she was rushing for food.as if the food would run away.but then again, yes.food does run, and the people are the ones "taking them out for the run".ok.its ok if u dont get the joke.haha=)the plate fell out of my hand and landed right infront of my cousin's feet.it shattered into a million pieces.thank God my cousin didnt get any cuts. i was so embarrassed. and yea.thank God it was my cousin whom the plate fell onto.if it was on some uncle or aunty. i think i would have been dead.

but amidst the gross behaviour of these people, heres wishing my grandma HAPPY BIRTHDAY!=)



went to climb asia after lunch.climbed with suemay,adriel and chris.and of course, in CLimb Asia, you will never get bored.every climber knows each other.and everyone is friendly.did some crazy routes.ok.maybe not crazy to everyone.but crazy for me.considering that i have not climbed for almost 3 weeks!haha.with a pulley injury still on the road to recovery.and my forever swollen and inflammed middle finger knuckle=(sighh.

i always thought the more you work out, the fitter and healthier you are.so why am i getting all the aches,back pain,swollen joints,etc when i work out.haha.tell me tell me.somebody.i guess thats the drawback when you push your body too much.but yes.i do feel a lil,just a lil stronger after today's climb.i realised my skin on my hand is kinda thin.less than 2 hours of boulderin and i felt as if every tile i held was a sharp knife piercing into my fingers!it was really that bad=(booo.

time to moisturise my hands less.haha.but i still want smooth hands!and still climb well.can i?=)

ok.i shall stop here.im nursing a very strained neck.not sure if it was how i slept last night.i cannot turn to my right.gota turn my whole body. i was kinda worried when i drove my dad's car today. i was afraid i couldnt turn my head to check my blind spot.thank God for mirrors,and the relative empty roads today.hahaha.


AND YES.ALL THE BEST TO ALL WHO ARE STILL MUGGING HARD FOR YOUR EXAMS.jia you=)and that includes u jansen.stop beast waring!haha.=)

REMIND ME NEVER TO EAT A MCSPICY EVER AGAIN!~

This is one big major reminder for me not to ever eat MCSPICY ever agaiN!

had it for lunch before my Perfume and Cosmetics paper.i teared through the whole meal while studyin for my paper.LAST MINUTE AS USUAL.and yes, not very enjoyable at all.

did horribly for my paper.

i guessed almost all of my 80 MCQ questions!

smoked my way through for the 40 short question fill in the blanks

and finally i crapped for the 2 short essay questions

Result: FAIL.or let me get a minimum C so i can S/U!pls pls pls

after the paper, went to disturb jansen.haha.we watched ong bak 2 in vincent's beautiful air conditioned room in PGP. watched abit of BEAST WARS!??!?!?!(according to Jansen, it is part of transformers. it amused me quite a bit to see a rat,scorpion, king kong, t-rex,etc as part of the transformers gang).haha.and once again, it proved my point that CARTOONS ARENT MEANT FOR CHILDREN!the words they use are not meant for kids to understand.seriously. wondering if its possible for kids to write their own script for cartoons.ahha.it would probably be

Spongebob: "yo patrick!"
Patrick:" yo spongebob"
Spongebob:"what do you feel like doing today?"
Patrick:"duhhhh.i want to eat ice cream NOW!"
Spongebob:"lets look for the ice cream man!"
Spongebob's mother:"Spongebob!Patrick!dont run about!otherwise the GARANG GUNI MAN will catch you!"
Spongebob:" but mum, we want ice cream!!!"
Spongebob's mother:" eat after you have finished your homework!"

ok.that sounded boring!see.my point.let kids do their own cartoons and let them entertain their own peers=)

anw, after dinner, thats when all the trouble started, my tummy started hurting. i told jansen i wanted to poop at the central lib where the toilets are air conditioned.haha.but too late. had to do it in PGP. HOT and Gross PGP. i got the sitting cubicle. while halfway through my business, a girl entered the cubicle beside me and complained to herself :"gosh, its freaking hot."MY SENTIMENTS.

managed to survive the 1 hour long journey on 151. had to stop at a bus stop opposite toapayoh, while waiting for 139, the dreaded tummy pain came again. i panicked. all around me was concrete jungle and PIE. how to do it!?!!?i called my dad and begged him to pick me up. he agreed. i walked to a car park, with each step in excruciating pain.clutching my tummy, my mind went wild. imagine i had to do it in the carpark.where can i go!?!,my eyes darting left and right, my bag was weighing me down. no one was around. but i told myself to hang on!!!

finally, after what seemed like eternity, my dad came.i ran to the car.opened the door and told him to speed away. he kept asking if i was alright.i let out a weak "ok".i called my mum, told her to prepare the door, for it to be wide opened.

i reached the block. ran up as fast as i could. THANK GOD I LIVE ON THE 2ND FLOOR!rushed in and sat on "HEAVEN'S CHAIR". or so it seemed to me at that crucial point.haha.and yes.i am ok right now.FOR NOW.

cant wait for thur to come!im down to MY LAST PAPER!

and i am looking forward to my pathetic 11 day break before i start my attachment at the SIngapore prison on 11 may.booo.kind of looking forward to it, but yet, dreading the early start of my attachment=(

okies.im taking a break from all the horrible papers so far. am gona relax my eyes.indulge in some f4 meteor garden drama!hahaha.i realised i have watched this series almost every sem at least once. and it is always during my exams.i wonder why=)

Thank You for the cross Lord.

whoa.i see virtual cobwebs collecting on its own once again.

fear not.fel the hero is here to clean it up!or maybe fel the cleaner.haha.

anyways, its the break for the exams right now. started studying alr.DUH!i dont want my CAP to sink any lower. like what jia wei said, its like worms in the toilet bowl?struggling to crawl out?haha.nvm that. 2 papers this sat, one on mon, and on wed and IM DONE!by the 30 april!this is probably my earliest that i end my exams. usually, im always the last few to end. but this time, among most of my friends, im one of the earliest!YAY!cant wait.

this morning, Rev Abel Thomas came to speak in my service. he touched on a very common topic for all christians. on How much time are we giving God and how can we give him more time that he deserves.

i liked the quote he said"
WE MUST HEAR GOD IN QUIET TIMES (in our own bedrooms, when we do our quiet time) BEFORE WE CAN HEAR GOD IN THE SYMPHONY OF LIFE.

this is so true. many a times, we expect to be able to hear God speaking to us when we are so busy in our lives. how can we expect to hear God to speak to us, when we do not even hear him when we do our quiet time with HIM?=)

Rev Thomas named 8 distractions that we should try to overcome:
1)stop being busy.
2)stop having messed up priorities
3)stop the desire to climb the ladder of success.
(i liked it when he said only 1 person can be number 1, someone has to be number 2,3,4,etc. so why be number 1 in the world when you can be number 1 in your race for God=).haha.i admit, i never like being number 1, maybe coz i was shy to receive the prize.really!no kidding.haha.i remember when i was about 6 years old. i won an art contest for some national day theme drawing. i got 1st!but i was so shy that i ran home and cried. i didnt dare to receive the prize at all. my mum had to go home to drag me back to the prize presentation place. teary- eyed i went to take my trohpy. my first gold trophy and the best part was i got a whole set of legos. AIRPORT theme. with cool looking lego men, airplanes and runway track!haha.i preferred that to the trophy.)
4)stop hungering and thirsting for things that do not feed our soul.
5)stop disbelieving.
6)we do have the lack of examples around us. good christians to lead the way. few there are. but we must perservere=) it takes guts to say no to what everyone else in the world is doing.
7)stop being more self- reliant than dependent on God when faced with a problem. God is definitely bigger than us and the problem so why worry when he can worry for us=)
8)did we forget our first love?that is Jesus Christ? if we have, think of how God sacrificed his first love to die for our sins.

and yes, we have to overcome these 8 distractions. with prayer, encouragement from friends as well as God's strength, we can walk close with God.

"Dear Lord, i pray that each day as i overcome these distractions, i pray that you be my guide and my source of strength when i am too tired to carry on. i pray that i will be a testimony to all my friends out there that you have made a difference in my life and they can experience it for themselves once they have You in their lives. Thank you for loving me first. In Jesus's name i pray. AMEN"


ok.random time. i am very very sad because while running for the stupid bus 124 outside wisma today, i dropped my coach scarf!!!!!=(i only realised it when i had boarded the bus and the bus uncle was driving off alr.siighhh.it was a birthday present from Aunty Doreen. i am very very sad. why did i not tie the scarf tighter. why did i have to run for the bus.why did i shop in wisma for so long that when i came out, i had to run for the bus. why did i even have money in my wallet to shop in the first place.haha.ok.i shall stop here. bye.

and all the best to all studying for the finals=)JIA YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME=)

im finally 21 21 21 21 21 21!

gosh, i have been looking forward to this day since i was born?but now when the day has finally arrived. i wonder why all the hype over becoming 21.because i absolutely do not feel older or younger. was it just a facade that i've been disillusioned with all my life?that when i become 21, i can do everything and anything i like.and like how my life will suddenly be transformed?my foot!haha.maybe transformed by the wrinkly and saggy fairy.they always say once u turn 21, the rest of your years zoom past you.and yes, with old age comes great wrinkles and sag!

okies.abit gloomy for a newly turned 21 year old!haha.shall write a little about my past parties!yes, i had 2 parties to celebrate my birthday.the first was with my church. together with rachel and germaine. it was great!the "loot"(presents) was shiok!haha.i loved all my presents!and the amazing thing was i received a total of 5 different bags!i know i like bags. but i didnt expect a total of 5 different bags!now i can safely use one bag for everyday!hahaha.yes.i adore bags,shoes and clothes.

had a party 2 days ago on 5 april.this one was for my family,and my sec sch friends,jc,workplace as well as NUS.well.the theme was suppposed to be SUPERHEROES.buuuut, only the NUS people dressed up!hahaha.sad man..they were all after my head after the party coz they were the only ones who dressed up.i suffered too!i had to tie 2 retarded buns on my head to look like CHUN LI!haha.so beat that.my 21st looking like an idiot=(but i had fun.loot was pretttty good as well.but presents aside, i was very happy when my friends came!despite being lost!i know some of them went all the way to tekong.and was lost for like an hour?but still made it. some worse.took cab to aloha LOYANG!when my party was at Changi!and had to turn back.THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING MY PARTY POSSIBLE.because you came=)

woke up on 7 april.LATE!had to rush down for a evaluation from my teacher for our project.i was telling jansen, gosh,"21 alr.still late"groans.God, pls help me to break out of my cycle of sleeping TOO MUCH!i really love sleeping.but i gota force myself to wake up past the snooze button!!!!!!had a good dinner with jansen at RAMEN RAMEN at the Upper Bukit Timah, THE RAIL MALL.their ramen was fantastic!the portion was just nice!and the prices JUST NICE AS WELL!for under $9, can get a good bowl of ramen!=)

and i guess im done here!shall return to blog when i feel like it!hahaha


and this is a personal reminder for felicia lim

zw: Oh yeah, GUYS PLEASE CUT DOWN ON WEIGHT BEFORE the first training.. we will be weighed and submitted on the 1st trainng. Please PLEASE PLEASE do some running starting of may/exams ended!

thi was a message from my muay thai captain!die!really gota start losing weight!!=(weight loss really really starts TOMORROW!8 april 2009!!!

=)

The Ant and the Contact Lens:

a true story



Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens . 'Great', she thought. 'Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry.'
She looked and looked, hoping
that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.
She felt the panic
rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse 'The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.'

She thought, 'Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me.'

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, 'Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?'

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, 'Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You.'

I think it would do all of us some good to say, 'God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it an d it's awfully heavy. But, if You
want me to
carry it, I will.'

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him... I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)