Google

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 4): Spiderman & Clumsy Gecko Rock Climbing

Flat ground never looked so good... D and I spent about 6 hours climbing today at some rock walls at the Blue Mountains. After all that upward motion, sore fingers and tired muscles, parched lips and shivers, we made it back to safety and in one piece. Both of us had kind of conquered our fear of heights, in a way at least, having climbed 50-metres sandstone walls and perched precariously on ledges and little caves some 30m above the ground. I tried to take in the sights of the Jamison Valley and the surrounding huge walls that make up the Blue Mountains metres above ground. It's a beautiful and majestic sight from where we were, with the temperate rainforest far below... I remembered thinking to myself that it's a long way to fall. Well, I suppose I did somewhat conquer my fear of heights (possibly same for D), but the fear of falling is ever present in our minds. I remember looking at D when we were both seated in this little cave, waiting for our guide, David (this cute and tall Aussie guy), to give us the go-ahead to climb, when the wind began to howl all around us. We were about 30 m above the ground, having done the first pitch and waiting to climb the next 20m. I was shivering in the wind chill and wondered if I could continue the climb, with my fingers numbed from holding onto the ledge just above me, afraid that I would be blown off by the wind. D couldn't say more than 10 words and I could see fear in his eyes as we just sat there. Yeah, on looking back, it's stuff that we are going to remember for a long time to come, but at that moment, it's just nerve-wrecking and frightening. Why, u may ask, do we put ourselves into this? I reckon it's just that I don't want to be so caught up with fear that I forget to live. It's a necessary evil. Some people do bungee, sky diving or are just contented to sit around and not leave their confort zone, but I can't. I must not forget to live. Life's too short and besides, I want to create these memories & stories that D and I can reminisce and tell our kids and grandchildren. We had originally planned to do a two-day climb, but decided to utilise our time in Blue Mountains by doing the touristy things for one day and climbing the next. We met our guide, David (sigh, the day started well, nice blue skies, warm sun in the middle of Aussie winter & cute guy to look at) who had climbed for about 13 years. After the initial introductions and getting our helmets and harness, we packed everything and left in a van. D & I gave David our climbing background: we only started climbing in Mar; mostly climbed indoors and the highest height I had climbed was 13m whilst D had climbed 18-metres wall. Upon hearing this, David gave us two choices: 1) Two 50-m climbs: Simple enough for us at Grades 10 (Sweet Irish) & 12 (Eyrie which has that small lil' cave I mentioned earlier) respectively 2) Adventure climbing on a 150m wall near the Three Sisters We took the first one, thinking that we will just take this slowly. We had to hike down a bushwalk track with lots of loose stones, where certain sections were quite steep. And being the most clumsy gecko on the planet now, I was basically using my bum to move down those steep slopes gingerly.
To get to those 50-metres walls, we had to abseil down a 7m wall and hike downhill. This was my first time abseiling, and frankly I was filled with dread. I don't know why, but i reckon this was something that needed to be done. So, Dave "volunteered" me to abseil first and went through all the safety aspects, reassuring me that I was also tied to a safety rope which would protect me should I let go of my abseiling rope.
The hardest and scariest part of abseiling is the first step over the edge of the cliff, and I remembered each step I took towards the edge to be excruciatingly slow and every part of me screamed "This is dangerous!" Dave reminded me to keep my legs apart and parallel, feet against the wall, lean backwards into my harness, and allow the abseil rope to slip through my left hand slowly while "walking" down the wall. I kept my eyes fixed on the wall in front of me, and took baby steps down the wall. I finally made it on the horizontal ground 7 metres below, on a small rocky platform that was to be the beginning of the next stage of the climb. We had to abseil down this wall a few times during the next few hours as we continue our little adventure.
Anyway, D & I stretched our climbing abilities a few notches up, climbing these huge rock walls and in the Blue Mountains no less. Also, I had a taste of "cleaning" the walls of David's natural wall gears like the cams and nuts. After those 2 50-metres climb, I decided I had enough climbing and scares; while Dave persuaded D to climb another 50-metre wall (Grade 15). I was hooked up to a safety line and stood as close to the edge of this wall, alternating between taking stills and video. D was lowered onto the foot of the wall and proceeded to climb it. For a long while, D looked miniscule and only his white helmet and orange tee could be seen. I was worried for him but trusted Dave's skills. The crux of this wall was the holds were small and far apart, and D nearly gave up. In the end, after lots of pushing and encouragement from Dave, D made it past the crux and finally threw his tired body over the top of the wall.
We were both proud of each other after this experience, and feel that we had done something that we never thought we could, albeit the fear and worries. We had crossed the threshold, moved out of our comfort zone into a larger world out there. The adrenaline of going over the edge; pushing myself mentally and not give up readily ... we made it and it's such a wonderful feeling.
To reach the top of the wall, on our own, even when we thought it to be impossible, is something that will be etched in our minds for a long time, and which we will use to remind ourselves when the going gets tough.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 3)

This is the 2nd night that I am spending in Katoomba, Blue Mountains. D and I left Club Med Lindeman (very sad that we had to leave that beautiful island, lots of fun times and rich food... more on that later wif pics) for Sydney on 29th Jul Friday morning.
While at Lindeman, we went on an excursion to the Great Barrier Reef by ferry, did some snorkling in the cold waters and flew back to Lindeman Island on a helicopter (our most extravagant expenditure to date). We saw the magnificence of the Great Barrier Reef both in the waters and over the air, and I reckon this is one thing that I don't regret doing. Incidentally, I was considering repeatedly whether to snorkel there 'cos I was terrified of the cold, but after D's repeated prodding, I finally decided and spent an additional AUD25 to do a guided snorkel tour with a marine biologist who showed and talked about the "residents" in the Great Barrier Reef. There were also the endless sunbathing/napping in the sun at the beach & pool, sometimes interrupted by the occasional sailing competition and mass dancing at night.
It was chilly at times in Lindeman, around 21-25 degrees Celsius, but it's frigid in the Blue Mountains. Right now, it's at 7 degrees Celsius at night, and I am glad that both of us are nice and warm in the Youth Hostel (it has central heating and I can control the level in my room... wish HK apts have something like that during winter).
I woke up to the most glorious sun rise at 6-something and the rest of the day was excellent. Clear blue skies, quite cold temperatures but excellent to walk miles and miles at different Blue Mountains locations. We bought the Explorer Bus tics at AUD25 each which gives us unlimited boarding and alighting at different locations. Never walked so much in the past few days, definitely worked out all that rich Club Med food. D took lots of pics with his Canon 20D and I with my Sony Handycam. Lots of editing to do when I go back to HK.
Tomorrow, we will be doing our climbing course with an instructor attached to the Australian School Of Mountaineering. Looking forward to trying out some flagging, laybacks, crimpings etc at Blue Mountains. Will write again if I manage to survive tomorrow.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 2)

Weather here has been quite good, lots of sunshine but darn cold and windy siah... need to wear a jacket and air con is not needed.
Our first night in Club Med was quite a blast. We watched a trapeze performance and had danced the night away at the disco (theme: 60s and 70s... sound so familiar). Booze isn't a problem here, in fact, it's free-flowing and included in the package. Cool...
This morning, we basically woke up around 9.30am just in time for breakfast. After that, we hanged around the pool and did some sailing, which kinda freaked me out because the waves were so big, wind so strong and water a blistering 22-degrees Celsius. Cold siah.
Took some photos but I can only upload them when I get to some place where I can get better Internet access. Right now, I am using dialup.
Our plan so far is to just chill out, make no plans as much as possible and just rest lots. This is what holidays should be. Quite enjoying it so far, but I find not checking my emails and not using the internet to be quite disturbing.
Incidentally, there are 2 S'poreans, Doris & Izzie, working here and we chatted quite a bit, especially S'pore food. D and I consider ourselves fortunate to still taste some authentic chinese food but Doris and Izzie do really miss such food. Doris has been working for Club Med for a few years now, and has been with Club Med Lindeman as a Groups Coordinator (handle events etc) for about 14 mths. Izzie has been with Club Med for about 4 years and currently is in charge of the Cirus/Trapeze school here in Lindeman.
Tonight, the theme for dinner is "Pirates"and everyone in the Club Med team is involved in a stage performance. Saw the stage, quite impressive.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 1)

Visa... what visa? D and I had our first shock of the day when we checked in at the Chep Lap Kok Airport. The nice guy manning the Australian Airlines counter wanted to see our visas and we were caught in a bind. We didn't know we needed visas to get into Australia; our fault actually since we didn't check assuming that our high and mighty S'pore passports would get us anywhere and everywhere. D was peeved that the Club Med customer service lady didn't inform us that S'poreans need visas to go to Oz; but when we double-checked our itinerary, we saw the finer print "Please check your passport has six months validity and you have a visa where required, depending on the citizenship","right at the bottom. Dang, drats, duh... the first thoughts were "Why didn't that Club Med lady tell/remind us of this detail?", "Call the lady and scold her"... but at the end of the day, we agreed that it's our fault and we shouldn't have assumed. In fact, it didn't occur to us that we needed to get visas. So the nice guy at the Australian Airlines counter told us to wait while he tried to apply visas for us. The next 10 minutes were quite torturous as D and I prayed silently on our own, hoping that this will be sorted out in a positive manner. I remembered thinking if we can't go, so be it... no point getting all upset and angry. Live and learn, it's our fault anyway. That guy came running towards us after 10 minutes telling us that it's ok, that he had applied for the visas electronically which were approved immediately because we are S'poreans. According to him, some countries are in this Oz Visa System, and I reckon Australia considers S'pore to be a nice and friendly country, and therefore our last-minute visa application was successful. He also advised us that should we have friends travelling to Oz, we should remind them to get visas. The flight was generally ok, a few bumps and rattles here and there, but I couldn't sleep even though we were on the plane from 7.15pm to 2am (HK time). Reason being my current bedtime is usually after 1 am, so this flight is really messing up my beauty sleep. As I am typing this, it's now 5.30am Cairns time, which is 3.30 am HK time and I still can't sleep. We landed in Cairns International Airport at 4am but we needed to wait another 3 hours before our transfer flight to Hamilton Island (Duration: 1h 20min) and thereafter a 25-minute catamaran ride to Lindeman Island. Security at Cairns Airport seemed tight, or maybe it's just us. Still it was way too early to have my passport checked by 2 different persons and answering lots of questions on "Where did we come from?", "What do we intend to do?", "What are our occupations?", "How long have we stayed in HK?", "How long have I been teaching?", "Do I have any friends in Australia?" etc. D thinks that I fumbled with my answers but this entire episode was just too much to handle in the wee hourso f the morning. Besides this isn't my idea of a good start to the holiday, especially after the visa issue. Hopefully the rest of the holiday will get better. So sleepy now...

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

iTunes Wiped Out My Songs... Argh

I am writing this entry while the program, FreeRip, is ripping my CDs into MP3. This is a long drawn process since I used to have like 700+ songs on my iPod Mini, which have all been wiped out. And the fact is I had originally just wanted to update my Mini with the 2 new CDs I had bought, which shouldn't take too long I thought. It should take at most 20 minutes and I would be out of the house to pick up my work visa from school an hour and a half ago.
Now that I am in a zen mode and not spewing unrated language at my PC, I had analysed this entire matter.
It all boiled down to the fact that the hard disk on my other notebook had crashed the other day, and I couldn't used the iTunes on that notebook. My iTunes library, with the 700+ songs are stored on that hard disk, is now a goner. Drats. Thus I had to use the PC which has iTunes, and I vaguely remembered clicking "ok" to a message which appeared on the screen. Can't quite remember what the message was, though I saw the words "iTune Library" a few times and didn't bother to read it too closely. I reckon that just sent my 700+ songs to their digital demise.
Double sigh.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Secondary Mates

The best years of my life were spent in MGS ... those tumultous stormy adolescent years; pigging out in fast food joints, waffles and Swensen's Earthquakes; going to the ladies not in ones or twos but in "gangs" of at least 5 girls. In between, we studied and did well. Of all those friends who came and went out of my life, there are still the few that lasted through the years like these gals... can't believe we are all way past teens, but we still look good, young and all.
Oisan & I
Elaine & Anthea
Till now, we would still meet at least a couple of times each year over more food and desserts. Just last evening, the four of us met at NYDC, Wheelock Place. Some things just don't change. There are actually 2 more members in this group, Charlene and Sharon, both of whom are in Vancouver and LA respectively. It will be great if we could all gather back together and just hang out like years ago. Do I think of the past often? Yes, in a way although sometimes things get a little hazy and I can't remember some things. Did I wonder, in secondary school, what we would all be like when we are all 29? Not quite since it was already tough thinking about the O-levels at that time. I don't really like to think too far ahead, 'cos plans do change, things do happen. Still, it is interesting to think about what we will be like in 10 years' time.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

DUH Sign in S'pore

Here's a sign that I saw somewhere in Tanjong Pagar, the financial district in S'pore:

Wassup with that sign? See the nice shady trees, paved walkways, green fields... it's such a nice spot in the midst of Singapore's financial district. What's the risk? And here's a list of "risks" my imagination has come up with:

1. Snapped tree branches that will land on one's head

2. Mysterious holes that will swallow unsuspecting pedestrians

3. Bermuda Triangle

4. Our capable and well-camouflaged "Thinking Soldiers"

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Back In S'pore For Summer Hols

Just a quick update... currently at my parents' place waiting for my mum to finish cooking dinner and for the bird nest soup that she prepared earlier to cool before D and I drink it.
Both of us left our respective workplaces last Friday around 3-plus in the afternoon to catch the 1830 SQ flight. Dinner on board was good, inflight entertainment was ok (watched a comedy which was quite funny but have forgotten the name at this point in time). We experienced some turbulence during the flight, especially during our dinner. Both of us were quite hungry so the "bumpy air" didn't affect our appetite too much.
The 1st thing we did yesterday was breakfast at Ah Kun and had kaya & butter toast, kopi and teh-peng, half-boiled eggs and Cheezy French Toast... missed Ah Kun lots. After that, I made some impromptu arrangement to meet up with some friends for Dim Sum lunch before dropping by at my ex-school. Reason being my friend had to report to school to take her class to the Padang for the NDP Preview. Later at night, we found out that an experienced parachutist from the Commandos had a bad landing and broke his leg during the NDP Preview.
After that D and I went to Creative in some far flung part of S'pore to replace his Zen Micro which has a faulty headphone jack. It was a free exchange as his Zen Micro was still under warranty.
The 3rd thing we did yesterday was to do some climbing at an indoor climbing gym called Climb Adventure... there were a number of routes with walls up to 5.5m high and most importantly, airconditioned.
Another week to go before we return to HK on the 17th Jul when D will return to work while I continue to bum for at least 6 weeks... yeah, summer hols is great ;) Can't wait to go for our Club Med hols at Lindeman Island and climbing in the Blue Mountains on the 23rd Jul to 2nd Aug. More on that when we get there... in the meantime, it's meeting up with friends and family in S'pore.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Play Shots

Here are some shots I took for fun: 1. Entrance To A Pet Shop:

2. Beautiful Day in HK:

Dinosaur Fossils Exhibition

After an extremely long SEM meeting today, I dropped by to view some dinosaurs and fossils at a shopping mall. For those S'porean trs reading this... I thought I had "escaped" from SEM, but didn't even tho' I am miles away from home. Btw, I am doing Criterion 2 Strategic Planning stuff. I can't say I enjoy it lots, tho' I learnt much about the school that I am currently teaching and its people. I used to do Criterion 4.5 Partnership With Suppliers, which is in a way easier to do than Strategic Planning. Just some background, these dino and fossils are from the Beijing Natural History Museum and the Sichuan Zigong DInosaur Museum respectively. Anyway, it's not always such dino and fossils are exhibited in malls, and well, it's FOC. Cheapo S'pore here. If it's back home and the exhibition is held somewhere like the Science Centre, I will not be bothered to visit. Here are some shots of the dino & fossils: