2024 so far..

 Alhamdulillah all is good, not super great not super bad, just good. 

Though I do feel a little bit frustrated I got my period on the last 10 nights of Ramadhan (managed to at least pray full taraweeh on night of 21st but then have to endure 2 days of painful stomach cramp. But sickness washes away our sins hopefully.

Pray to God I can reach next year Ramadhan.

This year is also the year where my career is doing good and my boss have high hopes for me, feels weird people have expectation on you but I actually AM at that age where people starts looking up to you and expects u to lead the way and deliver. 

Funny how life is, you've been wondering what to do for years since you're graduating, hoping somebody can give you advice on what to do, what path to take in life, and when there's nobody to guide you, you just wing it and see what's work,  and one day u just cant wait for advice anymore cos you're freakin 37, But you still have so many unresolved questions!

So again, I'm torn between having to work well at my job and maintaining my climbing life. I know a huge chunk of the earth population will say why would you still want to climb(play) at this age? Focus on your work.

But climbing makes me happy, it is my identity, what I'm good at and the most important thing, it keeps me healthy going forward later in life. 

And Im not letting go of my work this time as it is the perfect job i have been looking for a long time. 

Now its just the matter of ME managing my time and attention. 

I can do this. 

I've been living my life without having any guidance/people to seek advice for the rest of my life, so what difference it makes now? I'll just press on as I always do. InsyaAllah.

Sama-Sama Orang Kampung

 I totally TOTALLY believe this was just a case of hormonal haywire.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Wnjek onsighted this route on Day 7, Berg almost onsighted it but fell on last quickdraw, Acaan tried it with rests but convinced that he can send it the next day. 

So Day 8 me and Pian plan to join Acaan projecting it within that half a day, before we move on to Bukit Jernih crag in the afternoon. 

So Pian flashed it, and then and Acaan sent it like he said he would. So I have some confidence that I can send the route at that same morning, within that same hour. And for some reason I have this huge out-of-no-where made-up responsibility to sent the route at the time. Like the last cherry on top of the cake to bring home after sending my main projects. 

But the route was effing long, compared to Keretapi and Zamboney which were just 18m, this route was probably double that height. It anchors were almost the same line as Mata Timur.

The hard moves were just the first 4 quickdraws, monos and weirdly positioned pockets back to back. Acaan said once I figured that first 4, the rest are just endurance fest, only the anchor is tricky because you need to do a bit of a dynamic moves before getting to the anchor and reminded me when Berg lost his onsight because of that. He told me to utilize all the rest points that the route has.

So, I passed the first 4 qds, and just working my way up. After about half way, after 18m I realized that I haven't been climbing long routes in awhile, and I'm getting nervous. I'm getting nervous if I'm not able to send this routes like all the boys did. 

So I took an effing long time at the rest points to make sure I have enough gas to do the anchor moves.

The noon sun was starting to show and Acaan was starting to get hot down there since I took my time to rest. But I really wanted to send the route.

And then I reached the last quickdraw, my mental was 100% scared at this time, not scared of falling but scared of failing. I REALLY WANTED THIS SEND. I REALLY WANTED THIS FREAKING CHERRY. 

Whoever was on Mata section at the time, Pian, Kev who were about to repel down to the ground. And also Thong Pak and Alex, was shouting allez! and Pian was trying his best to give his beta(while descending to the ground). But I'm too afraid to fail the move that I'm scared to even attempt it. 

Many time I regress back to the resting point to calm my thought and slowed down my breath but my wanting too much really affected me to attempt and when I finally tried, I failed to catch the jug.

Aaaaand like I said, I cried like I did when my kitten died.

Totally can't control it.

Hence I do believe it wasnt me, its the fucking hormones that betrayed me like it always does.

Anyway, I tried it couple of time, and I though atleast I topped it since I cant send it today, it was already noon.

And I topped it.

But I realize, my current fitness level/endurance level is really not enough send that route in just 2 attempts. And my mental expectation was making it worse.

If we were to stay, and I were to try it again after lunch, yes I would send it. 

But not in the span of an hour.

Well not yet atleast.

So thats the drama .

But I learned my lesson where I can, and the hormone parts, there's nothing I can do about my emotional outburst.

Lets hope it will be milder next time.

But this time I appreciate Acaan's effort belaying me in the hot sun. 

  

 And I cried like a crazy person.

Keretapi 7a+, Bukit Keteri

Some routes have the crux that you know the beta, but you know you can't do it because you're not strong enough or don't have enough endurance for it.

But Keretapi, I really don't know how to do the crux, its not about endurance, definitely not about power, but I do question my finger strength, but in the end its not even that, its just figuring out how to hold the holds the most efficient way, balancing, and trusting your foot.

But the most important part I think for me, is who's down there supporting me.

I've starting to realize that, I don't do well if there's a lot of people down there, watching me and throwing all sorts of beta at me. When I thrive, is when there's ONE person, focusing on me, helping me figure out the beta, figuring out what I might've done wrong, pushing me when I'm on the edge of giving up and praising me when I succeed. 

Since I don't have a specific climbing partner, its hard for me to ask someone to spend a chunk of their time on me working on a project. Especially the one I have problem on, cos they might have their projects too.

But at the time, Berg was there and he's trying his best to help me. 

He was suggesting this and that, whatever he can think of he will shout it out, trying to lay out all the possibilities that I can try. 

Of course not all can be applied up there, but his suggestions made my mind work actively and made me able to see things that I missed before.

And all of the sudden, I thought of holding a hold in a different way, breathe, and carefully execute all the sequence. 

And I finally figure out the crux.

And then when I wanted to come down, he asked me to stay and try the crux move again, and again. After my moves were solid, he asked me to brush all the holds that matters before lowering down. 

I rested for a while, try again, and I send it.

 

I remembered when he helped me specifically on my first project, Nov 61, when I was clueless on what projecting was, and on Chess, when I unnecessarily put too much pressure on myself. And I remember countless of time he helped others as well. He just have that supportive vibe from him, rock climbing wise. Maybe cos he's been climbing for 10 years, and he knows what it takes, what it made you, how it challenges you.

So that's my story on Keretapi, though I would love myself to be independent, I do believe that people need support, specific support, at times, to move forward. 

Really appreciate all the dedicated belayers who spend their time and put an effort to help fellow climbers overcome their struggles.

But for this particular post, Thank you Berg!

Post-Keteri fever

 Arggh so many nice things to talk about my Keteri trip, met my goal but malas nak transfer gambar ke laptop lagi😅

I'm in my resting mode still after I had my ganglion cyst remove right after Keteri, but I don't feel grumpy I didn't get to climb for 2weeks till my stitch got better, I just felt okay. So in short, it was a great trip.

I aim to send Keretapi,7a+ and Zamboney, 7b+. I sent both.

I also sent Jepun, 7a, and almost send Sama-Sama Orang Kampung, 7a, on the last day. 

I wanna talk about Keretapi and Sama-Sama Orang Kampung actually. So that will be a separate post each. haha

Day 1 Saturday, 18 Dec

No climb for me.

When we reached on Saturday, some of them went straight to climb but I did not have energy to climb since I didn't manage to get any sleep the night before, trying to be a good co-driver, even when they stopped at RNR I didn't managed to shut my eye. 

Day 2 Sunday, 19 Dec

Tried Keretapi for the first time.

I straight away jumped to Keretapi on Sunday, with everyone, straight away couldn't do the crux move. Watching Pian and Acan do to figure out the beta.

Day 3 Monday, 20 Dec

Sent Jepun.

Since he's done with Keretapi and Zamboney, Pian wanted to go to Mata section, Kev's project Mata Timur,8b+ is also up there, everyone else wanted to go, so I went along. Najjar was projecting Jepun, so me and Diddy joined in. Moves were bouldery and 2 dynamic moves on the first 2 quickdraws, but very doable. First attempt my hand was sweating profusely, but after lunch, I send it after I get over the dyno parts. Berg says it should be downgraded to 6C right after I send it (darn it) but for me, if you have to place a quickdraws with you, and considering the dynos and the long run up to the anchor it is a (somewhat) soft 7a.

Day 4 Tuesday, 21 Dec

Back on Keretapi, still no luck.

I continue Keretapi again Tuesday, getting restless at this point cos Pian sent it days ago, and Acaan sent it today. And I still couldn't figure out the crux move. Can't do Pian's beta, can't do Acaan's beta, and after I saw Apiz try the crux part, I got a little idea, so I tried again a few times, and I managed to do the crux part, but still quite shaky and the moves are not solid and not really controlled.

So I'm getting stressed. So when Apiz planned to go jalan-jalan the next day I'm somewhat reluctant cos I came here with goals and I've been here almost half the time and I haven't get one of my goals yet.

Before I came, I thought I'm gonna be spending just one or two days on Keretapi and the rest I'll be spending on projecting Zamboney. But now its day 4 and I haven't send Keretapi.

Day 5 Wednesday, 22 Dec

Sent Keretapi.

On Wednesday, everyone else went to Mata, except Berg and JC and Diyan, cos JC and Diyan's projects were down here, after I set up draws on Diyan's project route, Siti, and helped her project it, Berg helped me with Keretapi. I managed to figure out the crux move, rest for about 45 minutes, and on the next attempt I sent Keretapi. Will write more on this on separate post. 

Later that same evening, I tried Zamboney for the first time and call it a day.

Day 6 Thursday, 23 Dec

Sent Zamboney.

I was somewhat positive from sending Keretapi yesterday and was in a good mood to start projecting Zamboney. 

Many people were there at the time, Wanjek just arrived, Najjar came back to settle Zamboney, cos he fell going to the anchor on Day 4 or something and had to go back to KL. Acan was also projecting Zamboney since the day before. I had to work in the morning so I spend most of the morning at nearby restaurant  working, and I missed Najjar and Acaan send the route. 

After lunch and after my job was done, I work on Zamboney again, workout all the hard parts, and after I felt okay, I rest, and then I try it again and I sent it. 

Really glad.

I worked on Keretapi, a 7a+ route for 3 days with countless attempts but send a 7b+ route in a day with 3 attempts, grades ARE subjectives but of course, it depends on the risk on the routes and the climber's style. Zamboney have a couple of monos, continuous hard-but-doable moves the entire route.

Keretapi only have that one freakin hard crux. 

So I felt relieved that I send my goal routes on Day 6.

Day 7 Friday, 24 Dec

Leisure climbs.

The next day I just leisurely follow everyone, Mekwan came from Kedah that day so I accompany her to climb what she wants, I sent Lorenz, a 6A+ route, follow them to Robot Wall, had caving experience along the way, belay others again and after we came down from Robot Wall, had a chance to try Belly Button Window for the first 6 quickdraws and got an awesome sunset shot there.

Day 8 Saturday, 25 Dec

Attempted Sama-sama Orang Kampung.

They plan to go to Bukit Jernih in the afternoon, but in the morning Pian Acan and me plan to project Sama-sama Orang Kampung since Wanjek onsighted it the day before. So I felt that its doable to be sent in half a day.

So Pian flashed it, and Acaan sent it, so for some reason I have this huge out-of-no-where made-up responsibility to sent the route at the time. The route was effing long, the hard moves were just the first 4 quickdraws, monos and crimps again, long story short, I did not send it, I fell going to the anchor. And I cried like a crazy person. That will be a different blog post. heh.

So after lunch we went to Bukit Jernih and the boys tried King of North, a newly bolted 8a route so I just watch the show.

Day 9 Sunday, 26 Dec

Bye Keteri.

They head back to KL, I continue to mend my wounded heart in Langkawi with Chaoi. hahaha

Overall its a great rock trip for me including the crying part. hahaha

Pics will upload later 

Raya Eve 2021

Am I dead inside if people are busy thinking about raya and the fact that we can’t go visiting our families but all I can think about is how am I gonna train when all the gyms are closed and how do I train at home and the fact that Osmosis is in my head 24/7 for the past.. I don’t know.. week?

Love? Passion? Obsession?

I never thought I could love something this much. 

I thought about it when I wake up, I thought about it when I eat, when Im in the shower, when Im driving, It’s always in my prayers to God 5times a day, and It was my last thought before I fell asleep at night. 

Its surreal how deep I am into this.

Into climbing.

The unexpected - Stigmata, Nyamuk Wall

Having just sent Chess 4 days ago, I came back to Nyamuk today to work out on my next project, Stigmata.

Stigmata, 7b, 30m, 11bolts + anchor

2 cruxes at the bottom, one right after the first quickdraw a balancing problem, and the second crux is after the 4th draw where u need to hold a series of coin sized crimps and then launch to a huge jug from a 3mm crimp on your left hand and a sidepull crimp on your right.

The rest of the way up is all endurance, similar(albeit a little longer) to Le Futur.

I’ve attempted the route the same day I tried Chess for the first time, one is trying the crux moves, and then another topping the whole thing. That’s when I realised I need to train my endurance first cos I know the whole top part after the launch is going to be a problem for me. So I shift my focus to Chess first.

Today I planned to do the same, work out the cruxes and try and smoothen the endurance part. 

First time I tried is at about 10pm and the morning sun was scorching on my back so I can’t even get the 2nd crux done cos its so hot I got a headache 😅

The second time I tried I managed to top it again and learn the moves. But I tight on every draw.

The 3rd time I tried I was hoping to clean the cruxes and see how far I can sustain at the top. 

After I passed the second crux, the launch, I tried to rest the best as I can before gearing up the top part. And one moves after another, I feel like I can managed the pump well. And I managed to find a good position to rest. And when I got past the crack section, I started to think, Hey if I’m relaxed enough, I could probably send this thing today.🤷🏻‍♀️

So I breathe and try to relax and I send it!

It’s the total opposite with Chess where I expect to send it in a few tries but I don’t. And Stigmata, I expect I’ll take a while to send it, probably spend the whole next week to send it but I got it earlier than I thought. 

Thank God.

So I should probably think what am I going to work on the next week. Foreign Investment? Prophylaxys or straight to Osmosis?

All for the iconic roof - Chess, Nyamuk Wall

Eversince I send Pear, I have been looking at this route thinking I would totally enjoy climbing this one. The iconic roof is so inviting not mentioning the instagram-worthy shot when you’re cut loose -ing on the roof.😍😎

But the other guys advised me to straight away move to Harry’s Code first since it is the same style with Pear. 

So after I send Harry’s Code, I decide to not follow the Acan-Pian-Hatta send train by doing Stigmata, instead I wanted to do something on my own first, so I can experience the feeling of figuring out the beta all by myself. So I choose Chess.

Chess, 7a

9 bolts + anchor, sketchy slab start with slopers and pinches, until 3rd draw, overhanging until 7th draw, roof section, crack, crimps section then anchor.

2cruxes, one is going out from the roof, second one is from the 9th draw to the anchor.

Some don’t consider going out of the roof as the crux, so it depends on individual style and strength.

So last Saturday, I tried placing the draw first, expectedly I couldn’t get past the roof. The move going out from the roof feels too powerful to me. 

Then I tried again on Sunday, this time I managed to go out from the roof by jamming my knee, and I managed to place the quickdraw after the roof. Tbh the efficient way to save energy going out from the roof is by not cutting loose of your feet while on the roof. 🤷🏻‍♀️ So the cut loose is just basically for the ‘gram. 😅

After roof part’s done, I still have no idea how to navigate the crack that follows.

So I tried the move, and I managed to topped the route, I felt that its totally doable. We even got the roof shot on Sunday since everyone’s in the mood to climb and shoot.📸

Now that all the draws are placed, I tried again on Tuesday, I was like 92% confident that I can send it on Tuesday when after the first attempt I managed to clip the 9th quickdraw but fell when going to the anchor. But 2 tries after that, I still fell at the same place and got majorly discouraged.😅 I thought I could send it in few attempts but apparently I underestimated the second crux.

So I try it again today make sure I totally get the sequence of the crack, where to hold, where my feet goes, where to clip, how to do the crux move and happy I got to send it today.

So next, I will be back following their send train by projecting Stigmata. Wish me luck!😊

Continuing the momentum - Harry’s Code, Nyamuk Wall

Harry’s Code, 7b

10 bolts + anchor, Slab/face, crimps and pockets, 2 cruxes.

I thought after Pear I need to do several more different style of 7a climbs before projecting a grade harder, but the other advised me that even though Harry’s Code is 7b, but the style is super  similar to Pear that it is good to jump to it right away while you still fresh from Pear’s move. 

I gotta agree on the similarity. First 5 quickdraws are relatively easy, then the first crux starts, before sustaining to more pockets and crimps till the 9th quickdraw (second crux) after the 10th bolt to the anchor is easy jugs again, similar to Pear but both have long run outs to the anchor so be careful.

My strategy for this one is the same as Pear, to try and remember the sequence that suites me. But its trickier because if Pear the crux is only from quickdraw 5 to 6, Harry’s Codes crux are all the way from quickdraw 5 to 9. 😅 Here I learn not only to have a precise foot placement and best way to hold the crimps and pockets (microbeta), but I learned a subtle change in movement can save energy enough to last you through the anchor. 

This one was a challenge for me and I’m happy I managed to ‘unlock the code’.😊

So what’s next?

2020 Recap

Oh my God 2020 what a year!

When I was a kid, everytime I think about the year 2020, I would imagine I would be a 30 something mom with 4 kids. It was not a year I was looking forward to cos I thought I would be old and my life wouldn’t be anymore interesting that it already is. What a weird thinking.

So 2020 started off great when I send my project on that PCP big wall in January. I was so looking forward to training for some competitions later on the year but before that I was busy training for Kinabalu in March. Little did I know, after Kinabalu all my climbing progress were put on halt.

I already wrote a post on how depressed I was going through the first mco. All March to June I just watch that video of me sending the Blue route over and over and over. Wishing that wouldn’t be the last of it.

But after that, things were not as bad. Great actually. 2020 marks a lot of my firsts, some achievements that I did not think I’d achieve. I would summarise 2020 as a year of ‘growth’. The year when I go out of my comfort zone. Get out from PCP, climb elsewhere, make friends with new people and that new people expose me to new environment.

July - It started with me joining Battle of The Boulders in Utropolis. Where I met with Pian and Acan, whom are rock climbers and since its on and off lockdown and we can’t climb in gyms, they brought me to climb outdoors.

So that’s when my rock climbing  journey begin. 

August - went to One Utama to pursue my red key goal.

September - I’m halfway to getting the red key by sending a 6c route. My first indoor 6c ever!

September - Joined the National Selection. My first lead comp. And my first boulder podium. 

October - Second mco happened, my rock journey continues. I was still adjusting to climbing rocks and still getting used to all the hikings and the dirts and the scary falls but slowly falling in love with it.

November - They brought me to my first multipitch climb in Nanyang Wall. A 3pitch route called Circumcision, 6b/+.

When the mco is lifted, I went straight back to One Utama and complete my red key mission when I send a 6c+ route. My first 6c+ indoors.

November - On the 28th, I send my first outdoor project, Nov 61, 6c in Whitewall. Honoring the month the route aptly named.

When the guys first brought me to climb outdoors, they tasked me to project this classic route, Le Futur, 6c in Nyamuk Wall. They said Le Futur is a benchmark for those who just started to climb in Nyamuk. You send Le Futur first, you are en route to send everything else in Nyamuk Wall.

December - After the lockdown lifted, after Nov61, I came back to Nyamuk Wall and send Le Futur on 8th December.

Then they say I should be able to proceed and try Pear, 7a. If it were on a different circumstances, I might not be as confident to try a 7a route, but these guys do more than convince me that I’m able to do it. So I send Pear, my very first 7a on 20th December and say goodbye to a hell of rollercoaster ride of 2020. 

I am super grateful for this year despite everything that happened, when I thought my climbing will be put on hold, it turned out to be the other way around.

So so grateful of the experience, the people I met, Alhamdulillah I still have a lot to improve in my climbing and I hope this momentum will carry on in 2021. InsyaAllah.

Love

I love looking at my hardened fingertips, 

my swollen knuckles, 

how wide my forearm is, 

all the veins popping out from the back of my hand, 

all the scars and bruises on my legs, and 

how messed up my toes look.😅

I love that I have all that.

Cos that means I’m a climber.🥰

National Selection 2020 - Bouldering

After that horrible performance in lead. I was down as far as down goes, cried like I had never cried before, even considered bailing the bouldering final tomorrow and stop climbing all together. Thinking that I’m not good at it and I was never going to be good at anything in life. I’m just a grain of dust in a vast dessert. 

But then I woke up in the middle of the night, I prayed and I thank God for all the experience and I wholeheartedly accept what that has been decreed by God to me. Saya redha, ini rezeki saya. 

So the next morning I plucked up my courage to wake up and go for the bouldering finals, though thinking it would be hopeless considering I’m up against better and experienced boulderers. 

Me and Shin Yee has this plan, where we can expect how hard the final boulders will be, so we will only aim for the zone.

That was my mindset prior to the finals. Aim for the zone. 

I had zero expectation, no burden, no hope, just happy chatting up other girls in isolation room and hope to get this over with.

So the first boulder problem, when I got the zone, I was pinching in as hard as I could as long as I could to make sure I truly got it down pat. And expectedly didn’t get any more zones for the next 2 problems.

Unexpectedly, when I went down to met other girls after its all over, all of them told me that nobody else got the zone except for Amoi and my jaw just dropped.

I ended up 2nd place next to Amoi. 

Took me a while to believe it actually happened.

Me getting podium in a bouldering comp when I only started bouldering once a week in May. 

What I can think of is that, that doesn’t mean I’m strong still, I know 90% of the girls ( if not all ) are stronger, way stronger than me, I’ve seen them in action, I KNOW that fact. 

Now what the competition thought me this time around is that competition doesn’t always come down to strength. 

The style of the problems, mind/mental game and probably there’s a little bit of luck comes in play. 

When I boulder with some of the girls, I can see some of them really have the brute power, crushing all the power problems, some are exceptional at slabs problem and some are good at crimps or slopers or coordination styles. There are some problems that they can do that I can’t do and some problems that I can do that they can’t do. So the competitions are down to whether that problems suites/play to your strength or other girls strength. 

I honestly don’t know what my style is yet, but the problem that I managed to zone was a slab and it doesn’t require much power where I know I’m lacking.

Of course if you are really good, you can do all kinds of style.  you NEED to be able to do all kinds of style to be the BEST. But as of know, that’s how I see where my level is. The problem just happened to suit me best. 

And of course I’m going to boulder more now that I know that you don’t have to lead 2-3 times a week for 2 years to get where I am at at lead now, you just have to boulder. (Still hard to say it though) But yes that is the general direction I’m going.

National Selection 2020 - What competition has thought me

 So 2020 turned out to be quite a roller coaster of experiences, and its only October.

I went from topping my longtime project route in January, shifting to climbing mountains in March to a depressing and hopeless 2months in movement control order, then starting bouldering once a week, to Battle of The Boulders, and the biggest event of them all, National Selection 2020.

Lead Climbing

It will be the first lead competition for me and I’m so looking forward to it. I did not looking forward to win it though, looking at the list of the competitors, I’m not even looking forward to be in the finals. I know some of the girls who are an exceptional lead climber and some other girls who are known as a excellent boulderer but judging by their bouldering caliber, I’m sure they have enough strength to last on a lead wall longer than me. So I was expecting to be in the middle of the pack at least.

But turned day of event, I was at the BOTTOM of the pack. I know I shouldn’t compare but it’s hard not to when you’re in a competition and you know who you’re against. 

I (who lead climb 2-3times a week for 2 freaking years) did worse than boulderers who I never seen climbed a lead wall - ever.

So what gives?

It was the lowest moment of my climbing life but I still have to swallow that fact. 

So competition thought me, if you love lead climbing, you lead climb. But if you want to get stronger, lead climbing alone (unfortunately) is not the answer, you need to boulder.

I did not get stronger because of lead climbing. What I have is just muscle memory of repeating a movement. Repeat that many time enough the move will be easy for you. 

Seems like a bitter fact to fathom but that’s apparently the truth. 

Or maybe I’m not built for competitions, maybe I don’t need to be stronger, or better than everybody else, if I just love lead climbing, maybe I just lead climb, day in and day out, not having to worry about getting stronger.

So I have to decide what I actually want in climbing? 

1. To just enjoy it?

2. To get stronger enough to progress to harder route?

3. To get stronger for competitions?

The answers are,

1. Just lead climb.

2. Lead climb + boulder + training 

3. Every kind of training there is in the world. Coaching/mentoring. 

So I have to reflect.

Anyhow, I learned a lot of things.

To be continued...

#mcodiary Day 39 58 Days without climbing

This Movement Control Order just made me realize what I really want in climbing.

I don't want to be in any competition.
I don't want glory.
I don't want to be the strongest.
I'm not interested in competing.
I was never born a competitor.

I just want to look at that high wall in PCP and Camp5, and I want to try hard to top that route.

That's about it.

For now I can only look at my own videos, which is not much to begin with. (Mental note, record your climbs in the future)

Like the video above, is where I finally top one of my project in the high wall in PCP.
After countless of tries, I finally able to top the route without falling. The feeling you get when you reached the top, there's no word to explain it. Just surreal.


I hope this wouldn't be the last time I get to do that.

Ragas Sports Climbing Championship 2019

Of 2019 Climbing Comps - TheVerdict

So lets compare notes.

Adrenaline Fest 2018 - December 2018
Format - Endurance Competition, Points collection. 4hours.
12 Top Rope routes and 12 Boulder routes, climb (and top) all the routes as many time as you can. One try per route per round
Category - I mistakenly joined the Open category, cos I thought Novice is for students. (This is my first time ever registering for comps, so twas an honest mistake).
My thoughts - I can top 11 out of the 12 top rope routes but only 3 out of the 12 boulder routes.
My mistake I think is that I started with top rope routes where the queuing lines are longer. I wasted a lot of time waiting in line.
Result - I placed 5th out of 7 women in Open category. My points are a mere 116 for a 4 hr time.
Strategy - At the time my strategy for next year is to do boulder first to reduce the waiting time, so I can do more routes.

Pertandingan Mendaki Peringkat Negeri Selangor - May 2019
Format - 4 boulders in qualification, 3 boulders in final.
Category - Novice
My thoughts - Did ok in quali but mental pressure got the best of me in finals. Couldn't top the last boulder during final cost me the win.
Result - 1st in Speed, 2nd in Boulder.
Strategy - Get the right state of mind, be in control of my own emotion.

Volume Control - July 2019 
Format - Point collection. 40 boulders, climb the best 15 problems in 2 hours.
Category - One category
My thoughts - This comp is part of South East Asia League, and its kind of a big thing and it attracts a lot of Singaporeans climber. I am 90% recovered from my wrist injury at the time but I'm still a bit cautious because I haven't do boulder for 2 solid months after the last comp cos of the injury.
I'm actually clueless during the day and have no idea where to start. I  planned to start with the lowest point boulder and just move up from there, but a girl said to me, just go for the ones with more points. And another one of my weakness is that I don't know how to decide if the routes are doable to me. I spent a long time making decision or looking at others. My guideline is that if I see a girl that I think is stronger than me can't do a route, I will not be able to do it. So I just stick to the lower points route, and I don't even get 15 routes by the end. I get only 14 done.
Its a terrible thing because by the end, I realized there are routes that other girls can't do that I can do. People strength and weaknesses are not the same. So comparing with others is a big no-no. Good thing is I met new girl climbers there.
Result - 17 out of 17 girls.
Strategy - I should target mid range point boulders instead of lower point boulder. And learn to decide which route that I can do.

Selangor Showdown -12 October 2019
Format - Point collection. 40 boulders, climb the best 10 problems in 4hours.
Category - One category
My thoughts - Since this is similar format to Volume Control, I already targeted to aim for the middle points routes instead. Managed to get all 10 problems done but there are 3 higher points routes that I've tried that could've give me more points if I were able to finish them. 2 of them is a slab. One is a sloper top hold that I could not match.
Result - shared 10th out of 25 girls.
Strategy - Work on slabs, foot work, pistol squats and YES, slopers.

Adrenaline Fest 2018 - Oct 2019
Format - Endurance Competition, points collection. 3.5hours.
Category - Novice
My thoughts - I can top all 12 top rope routes but still only 3 out of the 12 boulders.
This time I started with boulder first, but I still have to wait in line for the top rope routes.  The top rope routes are super easy that almost everyone can do them, so to be on top of the pack the deal breakers are the boulders.
Result - I placed 5th out of 34 women in Novice category. My points are 156. I'm a bit bummed not to get podium this time around.
Strategy - This time around my strategy is just be way better at boulders and get the endurance down pat.

National Sports Climbing Competition - Oct 2019
Format - 6 boulders in qualification. Flash Format. 30 minutes
Category - Interstate
My thoughts - I got 3 Tops and 4 zones out of the 6 in quali. The no.3 until 10 girls are all having 3 Tops, the difference are just on zones and number of attempts. I burned a whopping 12 attempts to top and another 10 on zones. I was relieved to top the 3rd boulder but I had a feeling that I can at least have zone on the remaining 2. All and all I was in the right state of mind, its just that I need to be more relax, not burning too much attempts and just get stronger in general.  One of the girl who made final is the girl who shared 10th place with me during Selangor Showdown. So the thoughts of me being in a final is not too far fetch of an idea.
Result - 10th out of 35 girls
Strategy - Route Reading and just train/boulder more.

So in general, I still need to do more boulders to get use of the various movement and style of bouldering.

One more thing I noticed, starting 2018, there are many girls competing compared to the previous years. Most likely because of many new bouldering gym opening. So the current field is getting bigger with like 20 or so familiar faces. Not like couple of years ago where you knew like 5 big names and  they are the ones who compete in almost every competition. Now, there actually is a competition.

And after getting to know some other girls, I learned how to be competitive. You just cannot join a competition and not be competitive. The competitiveness is what makes you train harder, train seriously and effectively.

And getting better at boulder equals getting better at lead. And there is where the ultimate goal is.

Looking forward to the next boulder comp and hopefully I got the opportunity to join a lead comp someday.

Now its time to revise the training plan.

Of 2019 Climbing Comps - the hard path

When I first started climbing in 2015, I've never ever thought that I would join any kind of sports competition. I'm not good at any sports in school and uni so it never came up in my mind.
After about 2 years, some friend did suggest I enter a competition as there are not many female climbers around and those who joined competitions are even lesser. So the chances of winning are high.
As a person who is not at all competitive, I think joining competition after just 2 years of climbing is a crazy idea. I at least want to feel that I'm capable before I think of joining a comp.
When I started climbing, I started with top rope, and then went on to lead. I just climb leisurely, once a week or 2 weeks once. I never do bouldering. And most of the competition at the time is a bouldering comp.
So competition is not on my mind. I just focus on finishing my projects routes.
Its not until they held the National Competition for Asean Games selection in February 2018 that I thought, hey, there really are not many girls competing. And those who get through, they will get the chance to train under MSN program. So the price is actually an opportunity to get even better at climbing. Proper training, proper guidance, proper everything. Of course that one is to choose athlete for Asian Games but hey, if you got in for the training itself its already a huge opportunity.
At the time I already improve on my lead climb, so I feel that I too can compete and fight for the opportunity to train with the best.
So I vow not miss any next comps and try to compete.
So the next competition after that is Adrenaline Fest in Oct 2018. That was an endurance comp not like normal comp. But it's good to see where your climbing fitness at.

And then next is Battle of the Boulder on April 2019. But that one is a 4 week event where you have to collect points for the 4 weeks before getting to final. I'm staying far from Camp5 Utropolis and since I'm working, its not really feasible for me to join.

And then I started to hear about these State organized competitions. But I only know them after they are done. One thing I noticed when I start looking for competition is that its hard to get info on competition here. There are no posters in PCP or any social media, even though I started following many climbing accounts.
I knew they were gonna do one in Perak, but I have no info on who can join. But other states are doing closed comp and they were strict on the participants. Only those who stayed in that state or born there can join.
Then I look for KL, but I know about KL a little too late, and they already closed the registration. Then I ask if the person knew about Selangor. He told me to ask JBS Selangor. So I called JBS Selangor the next day and they told me its going to be held on 3-4 May 2019. That date we already booked a light and accomodation to Phuket actually, but since there's the only state I can join, we burned the tickets and everything.
I don't know if anybody have the same amount of difficulty getting info on comps. But that's how its been for me and how I got into the Selangor State comp.

Then I joined Volume Control on July 2019. This was a last minute decision cos I just got over from my wrist injury I get after the Selangor State Comp. More on this later.
So fast forward few months, to add up spice in my story, despite winning 1st and 2nd on the Selangor State, I did not get a call from the organizer or the Nationals. So does the other winner. So we took the initiative to ask the organizer ourselves. Then only he gave us the registration form. He told us he lost our names. That's like a month before the Nationals.

And then the next week, we heard about Selangor Showdown competition that will be held 2 weeks before the Nationals where the winner from there are the one who's going to represent Selangor, not us from the Selangor State comp in May. I try to clarify this issue with the organizer but after a not so convincing answer from him and my attempt to not missed out on Nationals, I take my own initiative to contact the Perak Team, since I am a Perakian and I know their athlete when I climb in Batu Kurau, and fortunately for me, they accepted me to join the Perak team.

So I go to National.

Now on to the competition itself in the next post.

My first climbing competition

So last May, I joined my first climbing competition (with isolation and all).
It was a bouldering and speed comp for the state of Selangor.

I myself is more of a Lead Climber, cos I love lead climbing. But I heard that every state is helding this event and those who win this competition would have a chance to compete in the Nationals by the end of the year. So I registered.
To be completely honest I thought this would be similar to the 2018 competition with Lead, Bouldr and Speed Category. I'm curious as why lead is not included but foreseeing it might have lead category when they do the nationals later on, I just registered anyway even though I'm not used to bouldering and speed climbing.

I don't mind doing bouldering sometime, as it could improve my technique during lead climb.

So what I can conclude from these few weeks of bouldering, I can note some weakness points.

Apart from the apparent strength you need for bouldering, there are few other things need to be considered for bouldering competitions.

1. Route reading.
Sometimes I can read a route sometimes I have no idea even how to start. And sometimes you just got to go and climb to figure it out.
The thing about competition climbing, is you got to finish a particular boulder in 4 minutes. With little attempts as possible. So if you don't know how to read a route, you will waste time and number of attempts.
In a  normal day in a bouldering gym, you can rest as long as you want in between climb. You got one whole day to top a route, if you can't get it that day, you can try again tomorrow.

So its totally different.

2. Mental game
For me in a comp, mental game is crucial. If you're positive, you enjoy the climb, everything will be fine. But if you're overthinking, you will not be able to top  a route you normally can.
And in a comp, there will be pressure. And you will be affected if you can't control your mental game.

So in short, if you want to excel in bouldering, you have to boulder a lot, if you want to excel in competition, you have to join a lot of competition.
Get use to the time constraint and the mental game.

I end up 1st place in the speed category. And 2nd place in boulder category.

I don't know how I won the Speed category cos that is literally the first time I touched the speed wall and do the speed climb. Mostly luck.

But boulder is where I got my mental game tested.
I flashed all 4 qualification routes but in the final, I feel pressured cos I came out last, and I feel like I need to do the best to win. I flashed the first route, could not even get a zone on 2nd route that really made me stuck thinking why I cant do well at the 2nd route and affected my performance on the 3rd route. So I didn't managed to Top it and placed 2nd.

I joined the competition just to try different style of climbing, meet other people and learn their technique so I could apply it to my lead climbing, and able to top my lead project.

At the moment, I will try to focus on my next bouldering competition. Wish me luck.

Climbing goals 2018

I don't have a lot of aims this year. Just 3 main ones for different aspect of my life.
First being Financial goal, Second is beauty&health goals (since I'm already in 3 series need to start being more health conscious) and last but not least Climbing goals.

I don't post much about my climbing in this blog but I've been climbing since 2015. I did write a post about it here.

Starting with Top Rope and then I upgraded to Lead Climb in September the same year. 2016 and first half of 2017 I had been climbing leisurely, i.e once a week or once every two weeks, mainly due to my life at the time was a bit disorganized, what with moving houses, changing jobs and prior to April 2017, wedding preparations.
So towards the end of 2017, when everything is settled and life is getting calmer, only I realized I have been stuck with no progress with my lead climb for so long.

In lead climb, climbing once a week, with no other exercise in between really wont get you anywhere. So I vow to myself to do this climbing thing seriously, no more leisure climb.
So starting November 2017 we went climbing 3 times a week, Wednesdays nights, Fridays nights and either Saturday or Sunday. And we did some PT at home (core exercises, pull ups etc.), change our diet and do boulder once in a while.
The hubs was on board with all this thank God. And by February we did see some improvements.

These are some of my target by the start of 2018 and I managed to clean 3 of them.

Route 2 on 19th Jan, 

Route 1 on 31st Jan, and 

Route 4 on 7th Feb. 

I was honestly so stoked to be able to finish 4 since I always had trouble at the crux.

I might have been able to clean 3 as well since its similar to 4 but the some of the holds are lose so I KIV that until they screw those holds back. 

My personal project is route 5 which I've been attempting since 2016 and stuck on the roof part for a year.(Leisure climb ain't going nowhere remember)

But on 9th Feb, I actually managed to climb over the roof part and clipped the 9th runner before my arms got too pumped and I fell on attempt to reach the last hold.

But honest to God I was so stoked, because I've been trying to get over the roof for so long.

Plus I donated my blood 7 hours before so I'm a little amazed to be able to do my best at unexpected timing.

Anyway I will keep that as a record since they've already modified some of the holds on the routes for Asean Games Qualification on 10th and 11th Feb so the route is no longer the same.

I will keep trying for the other two routes and look for new project route next.

I love climbing!

Turkiye/Greece 2015 - Kos & Kalymnos

At the very beginning, I actually wanted to go to Santorini. Heck, the whole idea of my Turkey trip is actually because I wanted to go to Santorini. Turkey was just a gateway since flight tickets to Athens was more expensive than to Istanbul. So I built my itinerary based on the idea.
The plan was: Istanbul > Denizli >  Bodrum > Kos >Santorini. 
And maybe Paros or Mykonos. Fethiye is not in the picture yet.

But after researching, Santorini is 5-6 hours boat away from Kos and the whole expenses going to Santorini is quite expensive for a backpackers budget. And there's not much I can do there other than wanting to witness the Blue Dome view at Oia and sunset from the caldera at Imerovigli. I can climb at Kamari though but if climbing is what I want to do, I better go to Kalymnos which is 30minutes boat away from Kos. And there's not many beaches there in Santorini since the place is elevated and the beach and sea are down below. If I want to go to both Kalymnos and Santorini, it'll get more complicated since the boat times doesn't suit my schedule so I have to reduce days at other places and spend more at the other where I don't intend to. Plus the flight back to Istanbul through Athens will cost me another day for transiting in Athens at NIGHT. Not day, I couldn't find DAY transit in Athens at the time. Going back through Kos back to Denizli airport is certainly not an option since I have to endure 5 hours boat and 5 hours bus again. Normally in most of my travels I don't really like to go back the same way I came. I always like to find a different route so I can discover more places.
(This is before I figured out about Dalaman Airport, but still its 2hrs 45 minutes from Bodrum)

I have no issue with 5-6 hours boats since I've done the 8hours one in El Nido - Coron. But I think Santorini is a place i'll go when i'm older. Not 80 years old older but like I dont know, 35? 40? When I'm not on backpacking mode and I want to just, relax.
For now I wanted adventure. So I dropped Santorini and plan other things for Greece.

After that I stumbled upon article about the less known beautiful island in Greece - Ikaria. It's 3hours boat ride from Kos. But again, timing is off. Ferries going to Ikaria from Kos available only twice a week and none of the days match my timing  to go there.
So again I dropped Ikaria, and then I found Rhodes. But Bodrum to Rhodes is a bit far hence the tickets were a bit pricey, and I should take a boat from Marmaris to Rhodes to get cheaper price. But from research there's nothing in Marmaris that I can do or like. \
Then I look for Fethiye to Rhodes. There are one mosque in Rhodes that I wanted to visit, and there's one beautiful lagoon or some sort that I can go as well. But then same issue arises, conflicting ferry dates.
There I got stucked again, until I stumble upon something in Fethiye that makes me feel OK to not go to Rhodes - Paragliding.

So I decided to just go climbing in Kalymnos and go through Kos, since there are no ferries departing from Bodrum to Kalymnos at the time.

Day 4 - 6th Oct 2015 (Tuesday)

From Bodrum, I took a ferry that departs from Bodrum Port(Bodrum Castle). And go through the custom checks. (Return tickets Bodrum-Kos are booked online a month before.) I arrived in Kos 45minutes later and go through customs again.

And Kos island is indeed beautiful.
Granted I din't spent much time in Kos, but I can feel the essence of the small island and really glad I went there.

I was actually super rush in Bodrum since I had a misunderstanding with the bus operator in Denizli that told me bus from Bodrum to Denizli is only 4 hours. In the end, the bus reached Bodrum around 3.45pm and I've to run like hell with my backpacks and all from the Bodrum Otogar(bus station) to the Port which was supposed to be a 15minutes walk. But I ran, so I managed to reached the ticket counter in time before my ferry departs.

Ferries departing from Bodrum Port to Kos Island. 

View of Bodrum Castle from my ferry.

Maria Star ferry, arrives at Kos Port.

So after I got off my ferry at Kos port, meet a nice custom official that lightens up once he sees my Malaysian passport and says he knows my birthplace Kuala Lumpur and spent 30 seconds talking about Sepang circuit, KL tower and stuffs,  I walked along the Kos castle into the Kos town to wait for my bus to my hotel in Marmari.

I really fell in love with the small town, I took my time searching for the bus station to just take a 360 degree view of my surrounding. People walks, ride bikes, kids playing, people having tea at the beautiful cafes. Tell me this is not a small town where people can relax.

But as you know when I'm travelling alone, I have this 'travelling chicken' attitude where I will try to get to my hotel room before dark, furthermore I don't really know the location of my hotel yet. So I reluctantly move on to the bus station ignoring my desire to just sit back and take a break at one of those pretty little cafes admiring the small town for an hour or so.
The bus cost 2.1Euro and it took about 25minutes to get to Marmari.

I checked in Summer Village Hotel and call it a day.

My room, the bottom unit.

I love Summer Village's garden environment.

The Entrance

I even got the hotel's fridge magnet when I checked out. 

Free souvenir. Yeay!

I'm very proud to see that Summer Village uses ABB MCB. (^_^)

Day 5 - 7th Oct 2015 (Wednesday)

So the very next morning, I woke up around 6am, get out from my room at 7am to catch my 8.10am ferry to Kalymnos. One thing I had not foreseen is that Summer Village hotel is a bit far off from the main road. The receptionist said  if I wanna go to the main road to take a bus to Mastichari Port (where the ferries departs to Kalymnos) on foot is very far it will took me almost half and hour to get to the main road. So I have to take a cab which costs me 16Euro since I don't have that 30 minutes to walk and at the time it's already 7.15am.

And another thing that I failed to do was to convert my money properly. At the time, I only have USDs with me for some reason, and no money changer at the hotel so I have to ask the cab driver to pay him in USD. But of course they will charge more, so after speaking with the boss through his phone, he agreed if I pay 20USD. I know it's really a waste of money, but I'm desperate to get to Mastichari and someone has to learned a hard lesson for not managing money wisely before going abroad. So 20USD gone just like that.(T__T)

But to ease my tense a little, the cab driver Michalis, who speaks like 30-40% English, was quite a nice man. He tries to speak with me as much as he could, telling me stories about him a 34 year old guy, with 2 kids, a girl of 8 and a boy of 3, his 29 year old wife, his home in Pyli.then he asked about me and where I came from and even tought me some of the Greek words.

I list some here for future reference.

Yes - Nai(neh)

No - Ochi(oshi)

Good - Bravo (more to 'well done!')

Good Morning - Kalimera

Good Afternoon - Kalispera

Good Night - Kalinychta

Thank You - Efcharisto

You're welcome - Parakalo 

I thought Greek is easier to learn since I know these words on the second day I'm in Greece but I didn't even know how to say 'Thank You' in Turkish until now. 

So anyway, the ride from Marmari to Mastichari only took around 10-15 minutes and the ferry ticket booth hasn't even opened yet, so Michalis asked me to have a coffee with him and his fellow cab drivers at this restaurant just opposite the pier while waiting for the departure time at 8.10am. The lady who owns the restaurant was very friendly and speaks perfect English with an Australian accent, she asked me which kind of coffee I want and how I wanted it, so I asked for Greek coffee with sweetener. She sometimes will come to our table and pretend to listen to what the cab drivers were saying and teasingly comments on their pronunciation. 

The other cab drivers are younger and speaks better English, so I had a decent Q&A session with them about Malaysian culture and religion, Greek football (Olympiakos just beaten Arsenal in Champions League couple of nights before so there's a story there).

One of them Nektarios asked if I had a boyfriend. (I said yes though to avoid further trouble) and Michalis showed me pictures of his kids.

He even paid for my coffee. Well I just paid him 20USD for a 10 minutes cab ride so a 1.5Euro coffee won't matter much does it?:P

Not the usual coffee I had in Malaysia of course.

So at 8am all of them asked me to get the ticket at the booth, and after saying thanks to the nice lady owner of the restaurant, saying goodbye to Michalis, and Nektarios saying that he will come to Malaysia to ask me to ditch my boyfriend and married him, I went off to the ferry.

(The tickets are also bought online prior to the trip, I just need to take the official tickets at the booth)

It was only a 30minutes ride to reach Kalymnos.

Kalymnos however, is entirely different thing. The whole island is dedicated for climbing. And according to my guide Tania, you couldn't even spend your entire lifetime to climb all the routes in Kalymnos. It's a climbing heaven, all climbers around the world will go there to climb for weeks or month. I feel stupid going there to climb just for a day.

After arriving, I took a bus from Kalymnos port (Pothia) to Armeos Village where I will meet LoreDana and Tania to climb. It cost 2Euro and around 25minutes.

  

Armeos Village is somewhere nearby Mirties. And Pothia is Kalymnos Port.

I met this Italian girl I knew from Climb Kalymnos forum, LoreDana and she introduced me to our climbing guide Tania Matsouka, a Cyprus born but now staying in Kalymnos to do what she love most, climbing.

Hiking in my Converse.

LoreDana and me on our hike up.

As I reached Armeos Village at around 9.30am, we did a little hike to the climbing spot. Granted its a little hike, but me having not warmed up or anything for days prior to the climb, lose my breathe for a while there. How embarrassing.

See that kid over there, he climbs too.

Telendos Island as seen from Kalymnos. 

Its a 10 minutes boat ride away and its part of the climbing spots in Kalymnos as well.

LoreDana

The kids is already on the rock.

Groups of English.

Boss is here. Making rounds of spot checks i think.

Goats there aren't very friendly, we weren't allowed to even make eye contact. He will just raid your bags if he thinks you got some food in it. 

Setting up the gears with our instructor Tania. 

She is a very experienced climber, she has been climbing for 12 years and she shares a lot of knowledge with me and LoreDana.

This is my second time doing lead climb, and my very first time on the rock.

What a great feeling. I can't Thank God enough for this opportunity.

Alhamdulillah.

Some warming up routes. 

Trying the Insomnia route.

And then Yo-Yo route.

The Kalymnos Climbing guidebook. Tania's copy.

Me and Dana are roughly newbies in climbing. We both has just been climbing seriously for a year and we both having trouble finding (girl) friends to do this back home. We have more or less the same level in top rope, so Tania chooses those routes above according to our level of experience.

We both have no trouble doing lead on a 5C. I don't know how hard rock climbing would be compared to top roping indoor, so I just follow whatever Tania suggested given I only have one day.

If I had more days, I would love to try more than 5C. I believe Dana thinks the same.

If you can see there's a guy there on the edge doing multipitched climb.

Other angle from my Yo-Yo route, taken by Dana.

Some guy attempting the cave. I believe the cave are 8A or something.

Dana on the rock.

During our hike down.

So we settled at about 4pm and hiked down back to Armeos village. Dana and Tania were both staying on the Island while I need to take a bus back to Pothia to catch my 6pm ferry back to Kos.

Armeos Village.

Ferry back to Kos.

 Sunset during the ride.

Honestly, I thought Kalymnos was the best decision I made on this Greece trip. I certainly don't need to go to Santorini at this time, It was really worth all the hassle. Couldn't be grateful enough.

When I reached Kos. its already dark and there's no bus going to Marmari. Just to Kos town, but it does stop at the main road in Marmari just as the receptionist in the hotel mentioned. But I'm not gonna hire a cab again so I just try to walk the road and see how far it is.

It's a 23 minute walk according to the map. So it is quite far (not very far) and it's actually doable.

Day 6 - 8th Oct 2015 (Thursday)

The next morning, I checked out early and walked to bus station from my hotel (which is not as far as the main road) to catch a bus to Kos Port for my 9am ferry back to Bodrum.
Note that the bus does go in and stop at the bus stand in Marmari to pick people going to Kos Town, but no bus get inside the Marmari town to get to Mastichari. This is the information I missed.

Anywho, I'm in no rush so I could enjoy Kos Island in the cold morning. Very serene and quite place indeed. 

Ferry to Bodrum.

Bodrum Castle.

Next stop - Fethiye.