Awakened
Friday, January 30, 2009 12:11 AM
Had my first mock comp of the year about 3 hrs ago. Well, certainly not my best performance. In fact, I haven performed well in a mock comp for over a year now. Did I mention that I was last? Kinda expected it anyway. Erm not that I really care about the ranking. I know where I stand among the climbers in the team. Its a long way to go for me. But I can only get stronger. Slowly but surely I will.
Analysis of my climbs today.
Route 1: Nice route. Well I must say that the foothold was rather deceiving. So big that I myself perceived it to be a handhold. And with that toe hook which was just enough to get to the green sloper with my left hand, I almost strained my quadriceps while trying to match. After looking at a few betas, I realised that heel hooking the starting handhold was the most direct and effective method and true enough I matched the sloper but it was only after a few attempts did I manage to stick it and bring my right leg up to the foothold. I got the next handhold but still 2 tiles short of the ending. I should send it by next thursday.
Route 2: Interesting route. But I am just plain weak. I suck at deadhanging on shitty handholds. But of course I will keep working till I can do that move effortlessly.
Route 3: Very nice sequence of moves. I still have to work on my balance. I fell twice and it was before the crux. Though I manage to do the semi cross, my sequence was wrong. And it was at the last minute did I manage to work out the sequence though it was all too late. But nonetheless, it will not be too long before I send this route too, which in my opinion is probably the easiest of the 4.
Route 4: Very direct. No confusion over the sequence. My mistake, controlling my swing, and probably my left hand not being able to pinch the little round purple tile. Other than that, I dun think I should have difficulty finishing it.
I have a confession to make. I miss training on the campus board. I miss putting weights on myself and doing hangs on shitty rungs and holds. All this cause of a moment of stupidity. I still hate myself for doing that. I can never put in 100% during training. I haven been for a long time. But I guess I will have to make do with what I have. Its not the end of the world yet.
SLOWLY BUT SURELY, I WILL
MONOKURO BOO♥
Toys
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:02 AM
As you all know, this is probably my most expensive toy to date.
Presenting:
.
..
...
....
.....
......
.......
........
.........
..........
Canon EOS 40D
Well, technically it aint really mine. My dad bought it a week or so before my Hokkaido trip so I guess we share it. Hence, I didnt even get the chance to even know the functions and capabilities of a DSLR. Throughout the entire trip, I used the preset functions like what most people would do on a digital compact camera. Thankfully another photography enthusiast was in the same tour group as I am and he taught me how to adjust ISO. My camera was set to Av mode. That was the first time I used any of the creative settings. Since after the trip, I have been taking lots of pictures and uploading every single one as well. Have a look at my facebook albums for Rockmaster and Pumpfest and you'll see. Then I signed up for the EOS DSLR Camera Training which is complimentary to Canon cameras that are bought in Singapore. In the 2 hours, I learnt the consequences of increasing/decreasing aperture size, shutter speed and ISO and many other features like using autofocus, what image stabiliser means and the other settings I can change on the camera. Been bringing out my camera should the presence of a (however noob) photographer be required and snapping away like nobody's business. Thankfully there are a few camera enthusiasts in the team like Daryl and Claudia who have been taking pictures for a long time (well at least longer than me).
Fast forwarding, my 40D has been rather lonely. Hence, my dad bought a slave flash (picture coming up soon) Its quite a cool device. You can leave it on its own. One of its many uses was to ensure that areas that are dark and out of range from the camera's flash are litted up. Yeah its kind of difficult to explain it now. So ask me for it and try it out yourself!
And then a few days later, TADA!!!!
Canon Speedlite 580EX II
The latest addition to my (hopefully) ever-growing camera kit. Been using it during the first day of Chinese New Year. Testing the bouncing of light. Well as easy as it may sound, sometimes the pictures just do not come out the way you want them to be. I need even MORE practise!! Maybe I should start doing freelancing. But I dun really wanna do it alone. Anyone wanna accompany me? Or volunteer to be my model? Let me know!!
Next up on the list, will be a lens. A really Really REALLY good one!
Till then!
MONOKURO BOO♥
OP
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 9:29 AM
OP
OP
OP
OP
OP
OPTIMUS PRIME!!
I am coming to get ya!!!
MONOKURO BOO♥
sch sch sch
Friday, January 16, 2009 11:35 PM
Sch has started, much to my dismay.. I still aint in the mood to study, but I guess I have to pick up the pace soon. The first week was pretty stale. Not many lectures to attend. Nearly fell asleep cuz it was an after lunch lecture. The science of music lecture was pretty boring. Maybe cuz I understand all that he is talking about so far. Physics and mathematics, and thanks to my meagre yet nonetheless useful grade 2 piano standard (I quit 15 years ago). Oh in case you people didnt know, I chose to take LAJ201, which is Japanese 1. The first lecture is quite interesting. This is a module where you have to consistently revise and prepare for the next tutorial/lecture cuz CA accounts for 70% of the total grade while the final exam only takes up 30%. Gotta work hard YX.
Monday's training was ok. But due to the fact that I didnt stretch after training and before I sleep, my body ached for 3 days, all the way into thursday's sausage party + 1x Charlene +1x Shu(2)Mei(3) training.
Let's digress a little. My friend once taught me what a pun (pronounced "pahn") was. She said:" Did you know of that guy whose entire left side was cut off? He is all right now (pun intended)." Well, if I didnt actually type out the sentence, you would actually hear me say alright instead of all right. Essentially, both sound the same but have different meanings! Think about it =p
Ok back to me. Why did I type out the above paragraph? Ok the left side of my body is not chopped off. But my entire left side is like injured in one way or another. Let me list them from from head to toe:
1. Left forearm tendon. STILL not ok.
2. Left shoulder. Makes a sound whenever I rotate my arm above my head in one big circle.
3. Left hamstring. I cant remember when I pulled it, but it feels damn tight nowadays.
4. Left knee. Keeps "cracking" every now and then and I cant remember when I injured it.
5. Left heel. Still hurts after 2 years. ZZZ.
Quite an exhaustive list. Thats why I am all right (alright, but apparently not) now. T_T
MONOKURO BOO♥
mega
Thursday, January 8, 2009 11:26 PM
Science of music for a bloody 750 points!!! Last semester, I barely missed getting that module by like 20 points, and the winning bid was 444 points. I wonder what made everyone wanna bid for it this semester, jacking up the bid points like nobody's business. Oh wells, I decided that I had to take that module sooner or later, and because Bert and Zhaoxiu decided to not bid for GEM2901. Now I face a similar situation as last semester. What other module can I take? I was thinking, why not take a language? Actually I have been considering 2 language modules. French and Jap. Think I will probably go for jap this semester. And I have many people whom I can practise with!! In fact, my neighbour is a japanese! Maybe I can finally converse with her in jap. But all this talking, and I haven even bidded for the mod. Oh wells, shall do it when round 2B opens tomorrow.
Watched Ong Bak 2 today with the angel that didnt write to me. Haha ok that was an old joke. Anyways the fight scenes were good but other than that, I must say that the story was rather predictable, because frankly speaking the movie had a shity storyline. And it didnt help with the "WTF?" ending. So you can watch it for the fight scenes only.
Went out with my usual gang minus Chan De Hunk (again). We chilled at Timbre@Arts House. The band was good! I can't remember their name. However, when their lead singer was talking to the diners/chillers/audience, she was spouting words so fast, with an accent, and barely pronouncing any of the words properly that I (and possibly many others) could not understand her. But anyways, she sang quite well and I enjoyed their performance.
Erdinger Beer. I always enjoyed drinking from this glass. I drank 2 by the way.
Italian Pizza. As thin as it looks, it is actually rather filling.
Buffalo Wing(s). Spicy!!
The band that was performing.
Presenting my gang:
Edwin!
Vincent!
Charlene!
Michelle!
Matthew!!
(no pictures cuz even if he was there, the camera cant capture his image cuz is too damn black!)
The night was fun!! We went to see big, very very big houses. Though the night didnt end on a happy note. Nice being around you guys!
MONOKURO BOO♥
first post of 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 12:23 AM
This is gonna be another boring post... let's see
2009 didnt start out very well for me... Kenna pang sehed by a friend who joined another project group leaving me to doing with strangers. Oh well, nothing I can do about it. Let's say that I foresaw it coming and was mentally prepared. Whatever man. I shall stick to my study plan. 4 mods per semester till i graduate. Special semester for EE2001.
Had steamboat dinner at Charlene's place on New Year's Eve. Edwin, Vincent and Ultra Black Matthew Chan The Hunk. JJ, Joyce and Chuanwen joined in later in the night. After that, it was another mad rush to Raffles Place to watch the fireworks display. Unfortunately, we were a few minutes late. Though we managed to see it, we didnt view it from the place we intended. Hence we did not get a clear unblocked view of the display but i guess thats ok too.. Its the company that I am in. Thats more than enough. Camwhored around that area. Went back to Kovan to get the cars and drove to east coast park, where we chilled at this bar by the sea (I cant recall the name cuz I was very tired). Went home after that.
Been climbing once every 2-3 days. I think that my climbing style is slowly changing. But I have to modify it even more. Now its not about finishing routes. Rather I will ensure that I complete the route properly, no unecessary cutting loose, footwork must be precise, climbing musnt be noisy. Also, I have the habit of setting my own routes to work on my weaknesses. What are my weaknesses? I wonder. Every damn thing!! Less than 3 months to boulderactive. Anyone care to give me advice on how I should train??
MONOKURO BOO♥
