Symphony in the Park

Another blazing hot day. Back again at Dairy Farm, this time with a bunch of other folks. Fruitful climbs today – four routes, including 1 I attempted to lead before but bailed out on, and 1 new route. Super fun.

I was so exhausted from the heat and the climbing though, that when I finally got home in the late afternoon, I just wanted to crash. Alas, I only had enough time to take a cold shower and a 10 minute nap before I hurriedly put together a picnic basket of sorts for the evening out at the Botanical Gardens with Peirui and Janice. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Brass was putting up a concert there.

I had packed a bottle of South African late harvest Riesling, some pate from Paris, a basket of fresh strawberries. Peirui and I also went to Dempsey and Seven-Eleven to pick up some creamy blue cheese and bread, juice, chips and salsa. By the time we found parking and made our way over to the green, Janice was already there, sitting amongst hundreds of others on the slopes, listening to the Chinese Orchestra play some pieces from Carmen.

I like Carmen, so it was enjoyable, though we thought the music sounded a little muted coming from Chinese instruments. And the orchestra did sound tons more lively when they finally switched back to a Chinese piece. While we listened, we also lay back and started munching on the food. The blue cheese was delicious, and paired really, really well with the grapes that Janice brought.

The brass section came on nearly 40 minutes later than scheduled, so by the time they started playing, the families amongst the crowd was starting to pack up their restless toddlers to go home. There were only 5 musicians – so their sound was a lot softer than the orchestra, but they had some fun jazz pieces.

So, totally enjoyable weekend. Very chill way to round off the evening.

Frying under the tropical sun

Fwooooooh. So blardy hot today. Thesun has not been so brilliantly intense in a while. I am sitting under the blessed shade of a tree and just staring out at the reflection of the grass in direct sunlight hurts my eyes.

Didn’t go windsurfing again. Couldn’t find any buddies. Then again, it’s Deepavali so I don’t even know if the surfing center would have been opened in the first place. Would have been nice to cool down in the water though.

So I went climbing instead. I arrived early at Dairy Farm, so I decided to check put the mountain biking trail loop that circled the Singapore Quarry. Thankfully, after a half hour of walking in the sun, the trail led into a narrow, rocky and steep dirt path under the cover of trees. Wah quite a scary trail. I definitely wouldn’t dare to do it on a bike. But I guess this is also where the national mountain biking championship is being held. Anyway it took me another twenty minutes of trashing through the jungle that I finally found myself in the open field of Dairy Farm Quarry.

By this time I am almost too tired already to climb. What I wouldn’t do for an ice cold Coke now!

On wine and climbing – just another weekend

It was an intimate wine tasting; just six of us. With seven bottles of wines though. Spanish wines, paired with homemade paella and sausages. For over six hours, we sipped, chatted, and laughed. Some of us may have just met the other for the first time that night, some for the second time. But isn’t it delightful how wine acts as a social lubricant, such that everyone parted as friends by the end of the evening?

I woke up feeling slightly groggy, and wishing I could still snooze a little more. But climbing beckoned. So with a slightly heavy head, I donned on my sunglasses and trudged to Dairy Farm, to meet Vincent and Jack for a spot of climbing.

The boys had chosen a new area to climb this time – some unknown route at ABCD wall. Jack had spotted the route, and was keen to red point it, even though we weren’t sure how long it was, where it ended, or what rating it was.

The route started out pretty easy at first, but halfway up, he got stuck. The crux was a tricky move, on slabby slopers, without solid handholds or footholds. He perserved for a long time, but in the end, gave it up to Vincent to try. Vincent managed to advance one more clip, but was then stymied. Like Jack, he persevered, spending upwards of a half hour trying to figure out the move. Finally, exhausted, he told me to give it a go. I got to the crux pretty easily, without much effort. But then, when I had to move above the last draw, pacnic set in. My breaths became ragged and my heart started beating really fast. I could feel the beads of perspiration running down my face, my arms, my stomach. I found a handhold, and pulled. But the rope dragged me down a little. I yelled for some slack, and moved to push myself up. But the easing of tension in the rope terrified me. I haven’t led in much too long a time. I couldn’t go on. I was up on the route for all of five minutes, then I yelled for the boys to let me down. I think I could execute the move. I could see the steps; I could see safety just four moves away. But I chickened out. No leading for me. No free falling, no swinging into the rock, and bouncing off it. It was too bad; Jack gave it another go, and he nearly made it this time, but it wasn’t enough. I shall need to get back on the wall and start leading again. Conquer this fear. Still, it was a fun morning out.

Jumpin’ June

What started out as a sleepy month has suddenly become tons busier.

Golf with clients in Bintan tomorrow; eep, not really looking forward to stewing in the sun while fruitlessly trying to whack tiny little balls, but what to do.

I will be away for work in China from June 15 through June 25. This will be my first marketing trip there; hopefully things go well and I’ll come away feeling inspired and raring to go.

In between, I will be meeting up with Eugene and Miguel in Hong Kong. Miguel is in Macau/HK for the month of June, and Eugene in Seoul and Shanghai for work. Perfect opportunities to meet up for some crazy times (too bad TPR couldn’t screw work and join us). We were toying with the idea of meeting somewhere in the region to go climbing – our favorite activity together, along with drinking (or was it right after?). Ideas tossed up: Yang Shuo, Krabi, Batu Caves, Hong Kong. In the end, Hong Kong seemed the best idea, since flights were the cheapest. I suppose if we’d done a better job planning earlier, we could have met up in Shanghai instead, since both Eugene and I will already be there. But oh well, at least I’ll get to visit Hong Kong for the first time, AND go climbing there. Derek has generously hooked me up with one of his buddies in HK, who has even more generously invited us to crash a climbing course he is conducting in Shek O that same weekend. Yippee!!!

And then, LASIK surgery on the 26, right after I return. I figured I’d best get that out of the way as soon as possible, since I’ve signed up for a diving trip over National Day. The downside – I have a class gathering at noon the next day; and I’m trying to organize a night cycling trip for the evening of the 27. It mightn’t be so bad, except that I’m not supposed to wash my hair for two days after the surgery. Eep.

98 degrees and rising

It’s been so humid and warm in Singapore lately, I wanted to clobber Jeff on the head when he complained about perspiring after a stroll in the balmy 70-degree weather that Chicago is enjoying right now. Ok, not really, but still. Heh. Yesterday evening, my mum, aunt, Cristalle and I went for a jaunt at the Botanic Gardens in the evening and minutes after we’d stepped out of the car, we were all sticky with sweat. Bleah. The air was so completely still and thick that even breathing seemed a little difficult.

This afternoon, although I was keenly tempted to just lie in bed with the air con at full blast, I roused myself to go for a couple climbs. It was just as muggy, with the occasional warm breeze that passed through. The wall was crowded, surprising for such a stifling day, but the words, omg it’s so damn hot, kept on reverberating on people’s lips. And this is from a group of outdoor enthusiasts in tropical Singapore.

Anyway, enough with the complaining – I’ll leave with you a couple of pictures with the newly born birds in my garden. My mum has been keeping watch on the nest in our back garden, and on Saturday, excitedly pulled me to look at the two chicks, which has just hatched:

From Random

From Random

Jeff Wines: Wine for Climbers

Our definition of a really fun weekend: climbing and lounging outdoors, surrounded by beautiful and intriguing cliffs, and bathed in a gentle breeze even as the sun warms our skin. And in the evening, hanging out in a rustic cabin, stuffing our faces full of baked rice and pizza, washed down with bottles of wine.

Which is why Jeff’s recent find of the Clif Family Winery (yes, the maker of Clif and Luna bars) Climber series wines would be the perfect companions on such a weekend. How better to get into the mood than with a wine by a family of winemakers who understands (or at the very least, know how to market) wine for people who enjoy the outdoors as much as the next glass of wine?

2004 Climber Red, Clif Bar Family Winery

A blend of 5 different varietals, it is a robust red with a dark ruby color and a big nose of dark berries and black currant. There is a hint of spiciness, with a smooth body and a great finish. A good standby table wine.

Good pacing

If the first weekend of 2009 is anything to go by, it will be a good year.

Friday, met up with Wellian, who has moved to Singapore; yay.

Saturday, Derek, the guy we met in Batu caves and whom I went climbing with on New Year’s day, invited me out to Safra Yishun to climb with his group of kakis. Man, these people are hard core climbers; but all super cool.

Saturday evening, Wei invited me for a night cycling trip with a bunch of her friends. We did the Pasir Ris-Changi-East Coast-Siglap-Pasir Ris route; probably plus minus 30 km in total. Fun! It was a good night to be out too, with a nice steady breeze on our backs the entire way.

Sunday afternoon, after I caught up on barely enough sleep, met Bijuan and gang for more climbing. Now my hands are feeling tight and raw, and I’m already ready to go to bed, but it’s been a great weekend.

Another page

Unlike my big pig party last new year’s eve, with my closest Chicago friends and blasts from the pasts (secondary school, JC, and college) this was a quiet one. It’s different back here in Singapore; where most of my old friends have their own groups of people to hang out with now, their own programs and entertainment, so that I didn’t even try (too hard) to rustle together a group for a wild countdown.

Nonetheless, it was a great way to end 2008 and greet 2009: an omakase dinner with TPR in a tiny little sushi restaurant downtown, where we splurged on chilled sake and super fresh and sweet sashimi. Even though we never manage to take our annual trip together in 2008, I’m grateful that we still managed to find plenty of opportunities to hang out: dinners, an opera and a musical, and dragon boating. Thank you for all the awesome times!

Afterwards, Bijuan joined us at my place for a couple of movies, and so in this way, we passed into the new year, not realizing it until a phone call alerted us to the fact.

This morning, I opened my eyes and heralded the new year by heading down to Dairy Farm for a few climbs on an impromptu and random invitation from this guy we met while climbing in Batu Caves, Malaysia. I got my ass kicked on most of the routes, but yet, it was a great way to begin the year on.

So here’s to another page of the same chapter.

Phuket and Krabi in Pictures

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Lantern light up, Phuket

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Night scene in Phuket town

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Approaching Krabi

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Climbing at the Lost Wall

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Sunrise over Tonsai

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Sea kayaking and a spot of bouldering

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Sunset over West Railay beach

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Sunrise at 1-2-3 crag

From Phuket and Krabi 2008

Hanging off the anchors at Esher Wall

Climbing in Krabi

Back to the grind in Singapore, and down with a slight cold. The climbing in Krabi was amazing though, and quite possibly trumps the other spots I’ve been to this year: Kentucky, Vegas, Tahoe, Malaysia, and Singapore. It’s difficult to beat the combination of rock climbing and sea kayaking, especially if you could do both at the same time – think deep water soloing. We didn’t quite do any soloing, given that we went out to sea during the low tide, and the super sharp barnacles prevented us from going beyond posing for a couple shots posed on the rock above the waves. Pose we did though, and I think it was that that gave us all the sore arms and legs, not so much the paddling and climbing.

Great trip. Spectacular climbing on four crags, each one more picturesque than the last: Lost Wall on Tonsai (2 5s and 2 6As), Wee’s Present Wall (1 5 and 1 6A+ chimney climb), 1-2-3 (2 recommended 5s and 1 6A+), Escher Wall (1 5 and 1 6b). It was hot climbing at Escher Wall because we were under the direct sunlight, but the scenery made it all worth the while. Up at the anchors, I had a great view of the cove and the two little islands we paddled around on our kayaks the day before.

It was fun to meet up with Chuck again too, albeit briefly for a couple days (drat the protests in Bangkok that resulted in his flight delaying by a day). It’s a little surprising to note that I haven’t actually seen him in six months; it doesn’t seem that long since we still keep in active communication over the Internet. Bless Gmail, Gchat, and FB. It was a blast too, to be vacationing with the Rovers again. The silly ribbing and laughter was in constant flow the entire trip.

Other highlights:

Spelunking in Phuket. We took small inflatable boats into the Phung Chang (Elephant Stomach) Cave and then transferred to bamboo rafts before we disembarked and waded through knee deep water. At a few points we turned off all our headlamps and tried walking in the pitch black. It’s funny how our eyes started to hurt after a while from the futile strain of dilating too much. It was definitely my coolest caving experience to date though!

ATV Riding. Our guide had at first suggested that we pair up for this activity – guys driving with the girls riding as passengers. Excuse me! This was obviously quickly and derisively shot down though, so everyone got his own ATV to drive. Hmm, I have to say, it was not that exciting of an experience, given all the safety warnings we had. Still, I’m glad I tried it though… I wonder if it’s any like snow mobiling.

Paintball. We played this in the rain, since it refused to let up. I think this isn’t really my cup of tea – maybe laser tag would have been better. Hehe. I was too much of a coward to play attack, and was in defensive position the entire time for fear of getting those coin-sized welts that Yilin so proudly sported. Oof.

White Water Rafting. Having done Class 4-5 rapids, and even gone down Class 2-3 rapids on my own, sitting in a raft controlled by not one, but two guides wasn’t much of a thrill. In fact, we didn’t really need our paddles to help steer the boat, so we concentrated on using them to splash water at other rafts. Heh.