19th to 21st January 2007

19.01 - Happy Birthday Carolyn Tan! =)

Over the weekends, I went up to KL for a climbing trip with 13 other climbers. Though the trip was short, it was fun! I enjoyed myself to the point that I dread coming back. Why can’t my holidays be longer???

This climbing trip was organized by Aikhim, Julin and friends. Many thanks to them for organizing such a memorable trip, and for bringing me along. I was in as a ‘passenger’, along with Daniel. Hence we just showed up and went with the flow.

The trip started on Friday night, with Daniel, Julin and I meeting up at Lavender Bus Terminal to take the express bus towards KL. The first mistake I made was to bring all my climbing gear EXCEPT for my harness and belaying device. Damn it. To make up for it, I’ve to rent the harness over at Camp 5. Argh!

When we reached KL, we made our way to the Backpackers Lodge near Bukit Bintang. This was to be our residence for the night and Saturday night. At the lodge, the guys stayed in a dorm which had 8 beds in it. Pretty comfortable. The rest shared another room/dorm.

On Saturday, 5 of us (Julin, QX, Devan, Daniel and I) headed to Camp 5 for our climbing pleasure while the rest headed to Batu Caves. Camp 5 is a climbing gym located in One Utama in Bandar Utama, Damansara. It’s about 20minutes drive up from KL city. Pretty awesome place! The routes here are more challenging and different than the ones in Singapore. However, I was quite tired from the lack of sleep and slept for a while after lunch. After resting, I joined the rest to climb and we continued climbing till about 8pm. Thereafter we rewarded ourselves with a meal at A&W! In between climbs we took some pictures as well.

When we got back to the lodge, we changed and went out to walk around Bukit Bintang area. Most of the places were already closing since it was getting late, but the city was still very much alive! It’s Saturday night after all. But we didn’t stay up too late as everyone was tired from their climbs.

On Sunday, after a heavy breakfast, it was climb, nap, climb and more climbs! All the way till it was time to leave. Daniel and I left first as our return bus was earlier, at about 5.30pm. We slept most of the journey. Our bodies ache but spirits were high.

Climbers at Camp 5!

Can’t wait to go back again! Hahaha…

14th January 2007

A well-spent weekend is one spent relaxing at home. Hectic week coming up. Here's a preview:

Monday - Dinner with friend.

Tuesday - Training.

Wednesday - Dinner with SPF.

Thursday - Last Climb at Climb Adventure.

Friday till Sunday - Off to KL for Climbing Trip!

Woot~~~ I am looking forward to this week already! =)

13th January 2007

The Night of Movie Hunting

I met up with the climbing gang and we headed to Marina Square. The plan was simple: to catch Pan's Labyrinth in GV Marina at 9.30pm.

By the time we got to the cinema and proceeded to buy the tickets, the cinema had only 2 seats left. There were 5 of us (Kelly, Ronghui, Zonghao, Zhijie and myself). Baoyan was with us too, to hang out. She had watched the show the day before.

Anyway with the show being almost sold out at the cinema, we became undecided on what to do. Eventually two options came up. First, there was another slot at 0020hrs, and that slot doesn't seem occupied. Second, it was suggested that we watch another show, Stranger Than Fiction. There's been good reviews about that show, though most of us don't have a clue as to what the show is about. However, GV Marina isn't showing Stranger Than Fiction. Cineleisure Orchard is.

I wasn't really keen on catching Stranger Than Fiction as I had really wanted to watch Pan's Labyrinth. I tried my best to convince most of them to catch the midnight show but to no avail. Hence we found ourselves moving towards Orchard. =\

We stopped at Dhoby Ghaut instead of heading to Cineleisure Orchard because there were two big cinemas in that area and we would have a better chance of catching a show in that area. By then the rain had started to fall again, dampening my mood. Stranger Than Fiction was not showing at The Cathay, so we made our way to Plaza Singapura. In the rain. When we got there, we found out the movie wasn't showing there as well. And Pan's Labyrinth (at 2350hrs) had been left with only 3 seats. Sucks. Is it so hard to catch a show? Seems that way.

Zonghao checked a GV ticketing machine nearby and found out that tickets at other GV cinemas were not sold out yet. There and then we decided to give it a go at GV Vivo City and took a train down. When we got there, we bought the tickets and watched the show.

All in all 5 of us travelled to 4 cinemas in 4 different locations so that we can watch 1 show. It's a good thing most of us had something interesting to do to occupy the time. And the show is good, so everything is worth it in the end.

A Lucky Find

I was walking towards the toilet with Ronghui when I bumped into Davania! Very lucky indeed. Been trying to find her and the place that she's working at (in Vivo City) but to no avail. That is until tonight. Lucky~~ Anyway she was doing closing hence we weren't able to talk much. All in good time.

'Pan's Labyrinth' Synopsis

"Pan's Labyrinth" is the story of a young girl who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944, after Franco's victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own.

'Pan's Labyrinth' Review

According to the Internet, this movie is receiving a string of nominations for various awards and was given a 20minutes standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival. In other words, this movie is damn good and a must watched! The director blended the fantasy world and the 'real' world beautifully, so much so that you can't help but feel for the little girl. The background story of the girl, explained from the beginning, creates an anticipation of the story that keeps one riveted to the movie and the plot. The music is hauntingly memorable too. If you have only one show to watch for the weekends, this show is it!

Lesson reminded today: Life is simple. People make it complicated.

12th January 2007

I love Fridays

Not just because weekends are coming. But also because things are rather relax over at work. Even the attire. I came to work in slippers today. Feels good to wash my feet in the rain.

Speaking of rain, the rain has not stopped since yesterday night. Not even for a minute. Someone important must have passed on, for Heaven is still shedding tears.

Today I went for my first climbing session in Yishun SAFRA for the year 2007. SHIOK! It's partly a leisure climb and partly a welcome gathering. A welcome gathering for Jean who had gone to Japan and whom I've not seen since 2006. I've not seen Siyi, Melisa, Mingdao, Adrian Wong, Kim Seng and Kim Yi since 2006 till today too!

Anyway today's session was fun! Then again, since when is climbing not fun? =P

Climbing is fun!

11th January 2007

So sad. Today Hanyutzz Gang met up for a trip to Batam. And I am unable to join! =(

Wish me luck?

After much thinking, I submitted my resume to my manager to apply for a permanent position in Timberland. Let's see how this goes. ;)

When I Grow Up...

When we were young, there's always a job that would interest us and inspire us. We would be so inspired that we would go around acting out what the job seems to us, telling our family and friends about it, drawing it out and so much more.

Interesting enough, what we aspire to be usually goes against what our parents wants us to be. For example, I wanted to be a pilot but my father wanted me to be a doctor. My friend wanted to be a firefighter but his parents want him to run the family business. As a result, most of us end up confused and unsure of what we should be when we grow up.

Some eventually do find something to aspire to be. Most, unfortunately, end up unsure still of what to work as. Like a friend of mine. He told me that he thinks he is better at writing than with crunching numbers. So he asked me what job would he be suited for. Before I answered him, I asked him,' What do you want to be? Your future is in your hands.'

Sounds cliche eh? But it's true. Ask yourself, what do you really want to do? The most common answer: make money lor! The only thing that motivates people to find a job is for the money. Everyone wants a job that pays well. And that's a problem. Because if one is so focused on the pay, one will overlook other factors that makes a job worthy.

So look beyond the pay. More importantly, find out what you really want to work as. Then start looking. You can't go places if you don't know where you're going. ;)

Borat in Britain

It's about 30mins long, full of laughter. Enjoy!