my awesome hongkong friends (:

the Golden Gate Bridge

tried skydiving! (:

Yosemite National Park, with its iconic Half Dome in the background

the grandeur of Central Park

the White House

went back to TJC to climb after my final paper.. brought back memories! the wall there looks so much cooler now with all the new volumes and slopey pinchers.. haha.. was nice and breezy there too, can't believe it has been four years since we left that place! The guard was nice, told me I didn't have to sign in lol. :)

well, we're done with exams, but not done with school though.. still got a final EID project presentation coming up next wednesday. taking up my these few days! arghhh.. just when I thought I could climb more.. BOULDERACTIVE HOW? :(

Speaking of which, I realised my shoulder injury has not completely healed yet, sadly, despite the long break from climbing during the exams. went for a TCM massage yesterday and it felt really good, though a bit painful sometimes. I was supposed to do a half-hour one but I was enjoying it so much I asked to extend it to one hour. haha.

Staying in the hostel room feels like you're staying in a hotel room when the aircon is on and you don't have to watch recorded lectures or do tutorials. lol. enjoying the last few nights in Hall 10! next semester I might not be back here anymore. haha. though I've spent the last 2 years at Hall 10 and my current room's location is quite good (the car can drive all the way in till outside my room window), I just felt like having a change of environment and food so I applied for Hall 8. lol.

I'm getting a little bit more interested in photography so I think I shall read up a bit more about it during this holidays! Was a little tempted to get a better camera but I think I shall not rush into it. Will most likely get one within this year or the next I guess?

Having some problems with the scheduling of the interview for the US visa. I really hope it gets processed in time before I fly! If not I'll really be in trouble.

Looking forward to summer! but not looking forward to the release of results... :( think this sem is worse than last sem! not sure if I can say it's because I'm taking more units this sem or coz I have three modules with projects or whether those are just bad excuses. In any case, need to work harder next sem!!! Really hate that feeling whereby you're just a few days away from one of the jialat papers that involves lots of memory work and you know you are more or less screwed. Don't wish to experience that same feeling again next sem!

For now, it's time to relax and have fun. :):)

craziest two weeks of uni life ever! like EVER. since year 1 sem 1.

let's see:

Tuesday (today): tech comm report due
Thursday: setting up of booth in school to promote level one course
Friday: Business report due (4500 words- done by two people)
Onsight Bouldering Championships (Team and Novice)
Saturday: Onsight Bouldering Championships (Open Men)
Sunday: Onsight finals
Monday: Formal Lab report due
Tuesday: Tech comm oral presentation
Thursday: Structures quiz

and I haven't touched other academic stuff. steammmm.

This ship ain't going down without a fight man. BRING IT ON.

wooohooo~! I love school! :D:D


motivation level to train has dropped ever since I got injured. looks like the several trips to the sinseh did not cause it to heal completely. this is going to be one longgg recovery phase.

looking forward to summer school in the USA with limzy! really need a breather. If I were a full-time working adult and I had no constraints of time, I would stay there for the whole of July. but we won't this time. don't wanna spend too much of Dad's money. haha.

May all the good luck continue rolling in! (:(:

wow it's been ages since I last blogged!

Okay, went for my fourth TCM treatment session today for my injured shoulder/back muscle. Tried acupuncture for the first time. It was surprisingly not painful. In fact, I didn't even feel it much when the needle went in. And pretty amazing too, no blood when the needle was pulled out! cool stuff. Now I need lots of rest. Wonder if I will be okay in time for Onsight bouldering comp. Highly doubt it though, considering this was an injury since Gravical! :( so many ppl around getting injured this sem. We must be pretty unlucky!

I'm considering applying for GSS after I didn't get my GIP spot. lol. Mum and family were supportive too. haha. I think it'll be a memorable experience! :) but that would mean I won't be around during Pumpfest. awww.

This sem is one of the busiest so far, with 3 modules that have projects and presentations etc. It is going to be challenging! can't wait for May to come. lol.

I had a really good time at Climb On! this year. Managed to complete much more routes than last year! and with less pump too. :) guess the PT trainings have been rather useful! Our team, comprising Boon, Yijie, Darren and me, came in 5th for Open Enduro Team. No prize though, but nonetheless, I felt we did well! Got really psyched near the end when they were about to close the system for the collecting of points. Went around chionging all the crazy routes. lol. Didn't stay for the campus finals though. It sure looked fun from the photos, with neon tiles and paints and all. :)

Went back early the next morning to guide our very own Acrobatics kids on their routes! Alina and Cameron were put under my care. :) Alina was really strong. When I had to leave around 130pm, Alina was 1st in the lead in the Under-12 category with the 2nd placed girl just 300 points behind her. So exciting! Wished I could have stayed to guide her through the comp but I couldn't. :( really proud of them though! just saw the results:

from Acrobatics,
for Under-12 girls: 1st-Alina, 3rd-Anika, 4th- Ava
Team 1st place: Team Acrobabies- comprising Cameron, Leo, Alina and Ava
(their team managed to win with Cameron going off halfway to fly kites with his dad. haha imagine how strong they were! )

felt a sense of satisfaction after their climbs that day. I see a lot of potential for development in these young kids! :)

Been checking up some of the various exchange universities that I can consider applying for. Kind of feel like going for GIP in year 3 sem 1! anyone interested in going to the States? :) that would mean one sem without climbing, without the acrobatics kids, and without my mum's cooking. lol.

the story of two lovebirds

My pet yellow lovebird just died yesterday, without me getting to see it for the last time. :( It had been a good bird. It flew into our house one day, and my dad took it in and we went to buy a cage and another green lovebird as a companion. They were a loving pair, and we kept them for I think almost or slightly more than 2 years already. It was tame too. Every time the green bird tried to bite our fingers when we stuck them into the side of their cage, the yellow bird would lightly peck at its feet to stop it from biting. Last month, on September 24th, the green bird died. We went to buy another white bird to keep the yellow bird company. but it didn't welcome the white bird into its cage very much; it often tried to peck at the white bird and didn't let it go into its house (a wooden shelter in the cage). I guess it felt lonely, pining for its partner every day for the past 23 days. Maybe it wasn't eating well too, we couldn't have known. Perhaps we were a bit mean to it in its final days because it started to get a bit rebellious with a new bird being put into its cage; it sometimes bit us when we tried taking it out to play. We may have neglected it more since the white bird was bought, coz the white bird was more tame and easier to take out to play with. I hope it didn't feel that way.




















Anyway, I'd like to think that it felt lonely pining for its partner and so it decided to go join it in its faraway land. My mum placed it in a tupperware with some sunflower seeds, as a farewell for the bird. What a love story of two lovebirds.

take good care of your pets guys. they have feelings too.

rest in peace, birdie. :)

haha even though I will need to wake up in like 5 and a half hours time to go out, I decided that I must still post this entry while it is still fresh in my mind. really enjoyed myself just now with all the tjccc peeps celebrating bel's and shalynn's birthday! had dinner at Billy Bombers Cathay, where we saw JJ Lim (seriously!) walking up the escalator wearing a cap. shalynn almost went crazy! (:

then after that headed to the Little Red Dot pub at Clarke Quay for some drinks! we took a while to soak in the atmosphere but after a few drinks everyone was nice and high! it felt really good catching up with everyone else despite their busy schedule and just unwinding and not thinking about anything else. (temporarily! although we all had work waiting for us at home) The singer at the pub looked really familiar to me too, and after we googled we found out it was Charlene Torres-Tan, one of the top 24 contestants in Singapore Idol 2009! guess the competition did do her good. she had quite a nice voice too!

once again, thank you all for today! I had a lot of fun, really. :):) hope you guys did too!

what a crazy past few nights for all of the crew at bouldermania.. route setting and testing till 4+ 5 in the morning, carrying plywood and scaffolding poles like bangalas do, wall painting, competing, route judging, wall crew etc, you name it, we did it! super tiring, especially on the last night where we tested the routes till like 4 plus, went back and slept for 2 and a half hours, then went back to the event place at 815. steam.

it was fun trying out the open men's routes. 2 bonuses out of 6 routes with no tops. haha. Opens cat is all about power endurance, I realised. Even after a few powerful routes, you still need to find a way to rest quickly in between routes and generate just as much power for the next route. not easy, definitely. Ron is really a sick monster! his signature move is to heel hook on nothing at all- the side wall. lol. congrats to weiling and uyanga for winning. pity we couldn't get better sponsors. haha. we had fun last night using the mic and sound system to sing songs at the TCT pavilion area after dinner while waiting for the lorry to transport more stores. doubt we'll ever get more chances like that to sing there again in future. haha. yijie has amazing talent! excellent harmonization skills too. :)

my hall room has now become a temporary storeroom for the bm stores. aching all over, felt like I just got hit by a car or something. lol. need to catch up on work now!

here are some pictures of our newly painted wall. :D hard work okay!




































took the ippt at Bedok Camp with the guys that day.. out of the five of us, only Limzy emerged with a silver. Junyu passed while the rest of us failed, mainly at running. joke! haha. my timing was 14.04 min, 1 min 34 s from pass. Never in my whole life/ army life did I run that kind of timing before.. lol.. looks like I need to attempt it again! :)

after the ippt we went to Park Royal Hotel at Bugis to try their buffet dinner.. it was not bad! :) around $40 per pax after paying with UOB debit to get 20% discount. There was sashimi, oysters, soft shell crabs, prata, roast duck/pork, chilli crabs, cheese, salad, various local dishes, fresh mussels and prawns, and a huge selection of delicious yummy desserts like mousse and fudge cakes and brownies and fondue. imba! :D we really ate our fill. haha.









sashimi and oysters!




















fresh seafood selection









Rockmaster was much better this time for me. Managed to control my nerves and planned my time and routes better so I didn't get as pumped. Flashed three out of five routes in the qualifiers! felt proud of myself. :D first finals spot for me! but the finals was far from good.. haha.. yes the routes were difficult but I made some mistakes that I normally wouldn't have made. Too nervous or too relaxed? I don't really know. haha will aim to get into the finals again next time! it was a refreshing change from the flash format. but three and a half minutes is really quite fast! just some planning, one good attempt, and boom, one minute left. lol. a different experience, I must say. :) a job well done for Joel! came in first despite not climbing in competitions for so long. the NUS climb team will be proud to welcome the new addition to the team haha.








qualifiers results
















finals results

what an eventful past week! helped out at Pumpfest for the whole of last weekend.. it was a tiring but pleasant experience for me... learnt a lot doing route judging and other stuff. Millenia Walk was kind of a little too high class, with not much entertainment /foodcourts in the area. thankfully Marina Square was just nearby. :) I didn't manage to qualify this time again, endurance was really bad! and bad route planning too. lol. tried some of the Opens qualifying routes and they were really sick. there is really a big difference between the Intermediate Mens routes and the Open Mens routes. it's like a whole new level really. haha.

it was a pretty scary experience being the route judge for the Open Men's category too! thank you boonsheng and winson for letting me overcome my fear. okay this was what happened. I made a little mistake in judging a false start on a Novice Men's route earlier on, but luckily boonsheng spotted the mistake and pointed it out to me that it wasn't a false start. so we edited the guys climbing slip and counted it as one less attempt. from then I was a little paranoid that I would make the same mistake again so was kind of hesitant about judging Opens. but boonsheng and winson wanted me to learn something so they asked me to judge Opens, and it was really scary with 300 plus people standing around watching. lol. Ponti held an illegal tile and had this killer look on his face when I had to ask him to come down. like some Maori tribe warrior. haha.

after that it was a 4+ hour sleep and then off I went to tampines one at 4.30am to meet lew and company for breakfast at macs before our bus ride to Genting at 5.45am! the bus was pretty comfortable. :) hotel room was not as fantastic as the previous one at Resort Hotel though.. this time we stayed at First World Hotel.. kenghao wasn't feeling too well so we did not go to the theme park.. spent most of our time at the casino, like a true blue AHS-ian. :D haha!
bought some snacks for the family from the local produce shop at the foot of Genting. kenghao bought RM60 worth of otah! lol.







comfortable bus seat













Kenny Rogers. the macaroni and cheese was nothing compared to Singapore's!


























our shanghainese dinner, courtesy of the big winners. thanks again! :)


and then we worked as bangalas for the almost the whole of yesterday... went back to NTU to paint the walls and wash tiles. thanks to my mum for allowing me to borrow the car! here's an appetiser. forgot to take a photo of the final wall! anyway, minor touches still to be done. lol.

ORD lo... soon! not yet. lol. many things to do from the 18th of May! or rather, I will FIND many things to do. hahaha. :D

it's been a long time since I last climbed... how will be be able to get back into form for Pumpfest? hope the Camp 5 trip will be good for recovery.

allez.

Five years ago, I was only 16 and didn't have a care in the world, definitely not for rallies, at least. Now that we've entered university and some issues and problems that exist become or seem more relevant to me, I start to take some interest in these issues and find politics actually quite interesting. Five years ago, I wouldn't have known what a "seat in parliament" or a "rally" was. I think I even thought a rally was like an auction that sold stuff. lol.

I think it'd be rather interesting to attend one of the rallies these few days but I really do not have the time, with 5 papers in 4 days coming up the following week. Power-packed right! :D

I LOVE STUDYING!

Back in secondary school and JC, I would always feel a little emotional on last days of school. Not as in emo or sad kind of emotional, but as in the 'make me think about stuff' kind of emotional. I would think about the past school year and the fun stuff we used to do as a class together. I would think of the plans for the holidays. The mood would generally be quite a happy and light-hearted one because we would normally get back our report books on the last day, which was always a happy occasion because we would have fun comparing with our friends and also looking and how we have improved or deproved over the last year.

This year, things are a little different. The last day of school seems especially empty, with many people self-declaring a day off. The mood is a little tense as the exams are just around the corner. People dabao back into their hostel rooms instead of sitting down at the canteen for their meals.

9 days to the first paper. I wonder how I will fare this time round. The semester has been generally better than the last one, but this is the crucial and final lap of the race. We can do this, right? We've been here before. See you guys at the finish.

first time donating blood today! sort of overcame the fear for the thick needle. It wasn't that painful after all. accumulated good karma! :D I will need lots of it. haha. the nurse said my blood was high in iron! the maximum level was 18.5 and my blood was 17.8. :):) I am Iron Man. hahaha.

I really could use some breathing space. the recess week will be most welcome indeed.. the past six weeks has flown by just like that. come to think of it, people keep talking about what they are going to do next year (the academic year), which makes it seem so far away.. but itactually isn't too long away from now. lol.

thinking whether I should go for the industrial attachment in year 3 which takes up one sem but allows me to clear 10 AUs(academic units) or whether I should go for the industrial orientation, which is 4 AUs only, but which also means I will have one more sem to spread out my other cores and clear 6 additional AUs.. After all, we can't be certain that in future we'll be working at the company where we did our attachment also right? hmmm..

lots of stuff to think about. I need a plan.

Dentists make good money!

I just visited the NTU Dental Centre this afternoon to get two fillings done.. been feeling some pain recently on the back teeth.. I was amazed at the amount of decay at the back tooth area despite brushing my teeth everyday! But it's true that the toothbrush has a lot of difficulty in reaching into the little crevices on the back molars. anyway, that ten minute session with the dentist cost me $80! so people, take care of your teeth! :D