Dear TomHa,
This is absolutely hilarious!

Got it from Mr. Brown's website. See It! Watch it!
And I agree with Mr. Brown, this is really why, together with Hard Gay, why Japanese TV shows kick Singaporean shows' butt...

Yellow... Red... But where's the green?

Dear TomHa,
Oh my god, it appears to me that Russian referees are really good at dishing cards. Perhaps they had been too good at playing Russian Roulette and just can't hold themselves back to distribute cards? Wait.. Last thing I know, Russian Roulette is played with a gun.. Blah. Anyway, the Portugal-Netherlands match was like a super ugly match. 16 yellows? 4 sent-offs? No total football, no oranje or Portugese flair, barring the one moment of rather sublime touch from Maniche, who, ironically sucked at Chelsea. Anyway, it was not even a football match, it is ice hockey at its best! Hacking people from behind, hacking people from in front, headbutts here and there, Fifa might even impose rules to make soccer players wear armours like those American football dudes if all matches end up this way. Seriously, this WC second round is turning to be rather stale. Ever since Argentina's 2-1 win over Mexico, and Germany's double KO of Sweden, all the matches had been either 1-0 or worse, 0-0 as exemplified by Ukraine vs Switzerland yesternight or rather morning. Lucky I never get out of bed to watch. Come on, all people want from the World Cup is goals. Play beautiful, win in style, be more crowd pleasing like Brazil or even, Spain in the first round can or not? Last thing I heard, Marco van Basten was a striker and not a Muay Thai coach before taking the reins of Holland.

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These days of Holidaying in Singapore had been going on rather monotonously. Days are spent between making choices of going to Sungei Buloh to look at birds and lizards, and well, to stay at home to watch, well.., either LOTR for the I-have-no-idea how many times or Full Metal Alchemist. I just simply do not bother myself with anything that has to do with MIR suddenly, I am the person who is supposed to do the video??. Designing a better layout for the website, as seriously, just looking at it puts me off. Don't believe? Check This Out Just looking at the gallery turns me off as well. No wonder we never had much sponsors after the MIR2. The website just shows a lack of passion and commitment. _{Afterall the seniors designed it...} So other than looking at birds and lizards and the occassional plant that I had never seen before, I am reading up on HTML furiously. Given that just typing a link to other pages would have taken a lot of juices out of me, this commitment that I am showing to take up the post of website IC should be quite encouraging eh? Haha.

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Ever wondered why 左 is written as it is? Is it because people of ancient china always use their left hands to work and their right hands to eat? Hmmm....

Playing in the Cold
Dear TomHa,
Sometimes it gets pretty frustrating when you go up to an acquaintance, friend or anyone you know and wax lyrically about mountaineering, something you enjoy only to have them say irresponsible things like "Mountaineering very easy one", "No point one la", "I don't think it is a sport". Sigh... little wonder that few mountaineers have a very great social life. Our ideals just don't fit into the everyday people life. Social outcast as I would say.

Damn it, I want to go for Coldplay's concert but it is freaking sold out! Fuck it, sometimes when I want to spend money, people don't want to let me spend! Like my predicament when buying shoes like that. Everytime I see some shoes that I like, they do not have my size! Damn, like it is my fault that feet is so long. Well, here's a clip of Coldplay in action. Enjoy.



I just love it when the audience sing it together with the singer. The effect just makes hair stands. I think that's the best effect that a concert can ever conjure. No wonder Coldplay always say that they have the best job in the world after every concert.

The Climb Down

Dear TomHa,
Look at those buggers' face. Yep, this is the scene right after we had come out of Tentu Gully, a freaking freaky place. The slopes are super steep, the snow is out of this world, and guess what, there are ashes, I think over there. Do not ask me how those black stuff found their way to such a freaky place, because I do not know. All I know is that they make the whole slope rather slippery and thus make the whole climb down more than !ncred!ble.
That's not all! As we progress painstakingly down that freaking slope, it becomes incredibly white-out. That's not all, Hem-ji and Weisheng, who are leading in front, disappear in this freaky setting. I super panicked. I increased my pace and guessed what, I could not see BJ who had been behind me! Kaozz... If you all had seen sleepy hollow before, that is exactly how the white out turned out to be in Tentu Gully. Worst still, a lot of the stones appeared to look like Hem-ji and walking towards them to only see that they apparate into stones is very traumatising. So, I called out to Weisheng. Not in the handphone or walkie talkie sense, but in the shouting sense. No reply, so I shouted again. This time there was a reply, but it was from behind. Had I passed Weisheng? A million questions raced through my mind, and compounded with the fear of getting lost in some god-forsaken land, I traced back, in the direction of the reply. I see BJ instead. Damn it. BJ must have heard some noise and replied to it instead. So back to tracing the footsteps in the snow and continue. Until a point when I walked out of the white out, some 1.5h later, I think, finally, I see hope. There is WS, some distance below waving. Phew... this is a classic case of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Glissade down the slope to see more people! Never have I been so scared and relief in such a short span of time ever before in my life. Super freaky experience.
Then, it was rest and relax, as we spent some days at Beas Kund and then Dundee and then Manali. I walked pretty fast downhill, through the rocky morraines and vegetation. It's always a happy experience to walk downhill, although it would mean saying goodbye to the mountains and hello to knee pain. Campfire was at Dundee. Had a super big lamb leg that is roasted over the campfire. Not very well done, but it was super tasty and extremely nice. The Indian guides were extremely generous with their whiskeys and there were like a lot more whiskies in the cup than the pepsi. Eeewwww... Given that I am an extrememly inexperienced drinker, I was so stunned by the amount of alcohol that went into my digestive system. The traditional rice wine was a lot worse. I think it is called rice wine because they put in 1 grain of rice into a whole bottle of alcohol. Super freaky. More freaky than the one I had at Manali village. Instant knockout. I became rather high, although I jolly well know what I was doing at the point of time. We danced and sang round the campfire. Super happy.
So that's all about the expedition as I am too lazy to type out the R and R in details. It was pretty boring, compounded by the fact that 7 guys had seen each other for too many days and nights! Luckily, none of us is a brokeback or Ang Lee would have called us up for an audition for Borkeback Mountain II: The Indian Experience.
Woohoo!

Saturday Night Live
Dear TomHa,
I wonder when is the last time I stayed home on a saturday night. Had a run, watched the evening sky on the rocks outside Gombak stadium, wondered into my old hunt at Little Guilin. Life's good.

I have many hobbies. None of which is what I would call fervent though. Of these hobbies, one had stuck with me since secondary I do not know what. That is to collect photos off magazines and newspapers and sticking them in scrapbooks. Haha... Quite a childish activity, I know, but what came off as a means by which to improve my photography skills in the past had turn out to be a rather enjoyable experience, cutting and pasting without the mechanical and rather contrived mouse, but with scissors and glue. Although I must stress that I have no idea where my past scrapbooks are, as my room is now in full emergency state status, but as I huffed and puffed my stuff over to my brother's room with an overwhelmingly many stuff (ironically, my younger brother has a bigger room) as my sister has grown up to sleep alone, I should think that I would be able to find them out, I hope, or I would have to enlist the searchdog's help to locate them. Perhaps, I should build up a database of the locations of my things at home... The Kheng-gle-hoo! search engine... sounds not bad eh?
Speaking of this hobby, today's papers is really a godsend. In the world section of the Saturday Times, I think that's what they call it, the ST published a photojournal of 3 ST photographers' work in Yogyarkata. I like most of the pictures. Very nice and meaningful. So what are the 3 boys doing up there? Afterall, I should be liking pictures that reflect more of the pictures that reflect the reality overthere. But what I see from this picture is cheer from a disaster-struck side. That these boys can still smile is really heart-warming. Not to mention that they are wearing SCDF helmets, an occupation that until now, is what I see myself to be doing after I finish my bond with the SAF. I certainly hope to join some volunteering mission to Yogyarkata this year end. Mum would not be too happy to hear me going to some other places with mountains and in this case, worse, volcanoes just a few weeks after India. EEwwww...
More National Geographic Adventure! Woohoo! Venture into deep and dark places through literature and picture!

World Cup...
Dear TomHa,
Woohoo! World Cup starts and I guess we would be seeing a lot of dark rings around many people's eyes from tonight onwards. Guess it would be a major worry for many bosses, supervisors and perhaps teachers when school starts. My money is for Netherlands, although they had never won a major trophy despite the talent. Oh and Germany just scored a goal against Costa Rica. Quite a cracker. The German crowd must be so pleased but they have like 85 more minutes. Haha, nothing's for certain. Let's just hope that the German's will to suceed will pull them through.
Speaking of World Cup, ie to say talking about soccer, people who are familiar about the Sports Column of the Straits Times shouldn't be unfamiliar with the name Rob Hughes. I had always liked his reviews and commentaries. Very insightful and takes you thinking. He wrote more about soccer but basically, he writes about every damn sport. However, his column on the Ethics on Mountaineering last saturday really sets me thinking. In case you have no idea what I am talking about, Costa Rica just levelled the score, last week, there was this Australian Everester who was on this expedition with a Russian-led team, when on his way down, I can't remember for whatever reason, on the way down after the summit, was left for dead by his team mates and sherpas, only to be saved and brought down to base camp comforts and treatment in Kathmandu by another team who spotted him while attempting the summit (Correct me if I had been incorrect about the chain of events). But that is not the point, Rob Hughes pointed out the ethics of mountaineering that should be adhered by mountaineers especially for an expedition of Everest-scale! Being a mountaineer-wanna-be, I was rather affected by his insights. The Germans scored again! A Klose tap-in Having tasted altitude not too long ago, I have some idea of how altitude can affect the physiology of a person's body. Particularly if you had lived all your life at sea level, at most, 168m. You pant like a dog, your heartbeat is at a faster tempo than Flight of the Bumblebee, you cannot feel your extremities (Toes, fingers, ears, nose), you have winds wanting to blow you out, snow that want to drown you, slopes that want to kill you. You are constantly fighting the conditions that aren't entirely friendly. So, in an event that one of your team mate is down. Would you give up your goal of summiting and accompany him down, forsaking all the hard work that you had done, and I am not talking about the work getting to that altitude alone, and worse still, when taking care of yourself is hard enough, would you even attmept to risk an extra burden?
Ok, back to watch more World Cup. I think I go subscribe SCV tmmorrow liao.
Woohoo!

Incradible !ndia... Really...
Dear TomHa,
I am back, finally, from an arduous journey into the west. Yes, I, like Tripitaka (Tang San Zang's english name I think...) and his fellow disciples, had ventured into India with a team of fine men. However, unlike him, who had an agenda to save the world from devastation, I went to India to climb a mountain called Hanuman Tibba, which will turn out to be an experience that I will never ever forget.
We went by Air Sahara, an Indian Airline company which had its stewardess in Sarees or Saris, however you'll like to spell it. The services were not bad, at least you won't get stewards who tell you things like "A lot of people die there" as what one of the Air New Zealand Stewards remarked when we told him that we were going to Mt Cook the other time. The food was not bad, and as there were very few people on the plane at that time, we splitted ourselves into occupying whole rows of seats, which means that you can literally lie down on three seats and sleep. very cool.
Incredible rating: 3 Dahls
Unlike in NZ where the cold that greeted us freaked us out, the sheer heat that accompanied the dust and wind freaked me out totally as I stepped out of the airport that is rather deserted on that Sunday afternoon. The heat was terrible. When I sat down, the heat that was trapped by my cotton cargo Giordano pants would then give my legs a 'sauna-tic' experience. Had lunch, which would turn out to be the kind of things that we would have for a lot of days to come. Nan, chapartis, dahl (lentils.. the team got so sick of it that one remarked that the sight of it would make him puke... funnily, I kinda enjoyed it... freaky...) and others. These are our staple for the rest of the time in India.
Incredible rating: 5 Dahls (full marks)
Toured around, saw the Gate of India, din think it was any impressive.. just a memorial structure that resembled the I forgot-what-name-thing in France, and surely, that is the only stretch of road which would make you feel that India is on its development track. You'll have old woman/man bringing their kids around to up the 'sad and poor' factor to beg you for money... I am super heartless towards beggars, I do not know why. Somehow, I just believe that you will always have to work for your money. No way am I going to give money for free. If you can walk and is healthy, you bloody go and find something to do. If you are crippled and disabled...ermm ok this one still can...
Well.. here is a picture of the Gate of India...

Incredible rating: 2 Dahls
Took an overnight coach to Manali. Freaking 16h ride. What the... But I slept through it anyway. Also, luckily, it is an overnight coach, time passes quickly and before you know it, morning comes and you open your eyes to great scenery outside the window. Some of the sights along the route to Manali resembled Namche bazaar. Kinda made up for not going Nepal.
Incredible rating: 4 Dahls
We went into a village at night in Manali as there is a festival going on and during this period, everyone is a guest and you can just enter anyone house and they will greet you with great hospitality. We went into a guide's house and binge on their food and drink, thus a free dinner that night. Haha, added quite a bit of rice... Very happy. A full man is a happy man has been my mantra for the whole of the trip and I made sure of that all the time. Haha
Incredible rating: 3.5 Dahls (Free food and festival and an in-depth understanding of Manali people only to be disheartened by the rain and traffic jam on the bridge)
Woke up next morning to the start of the expedition. So excited. Went to Irvinder's house and after some logistical nightmare, trek-in begins and wow! India is really a beautiful country that boasts scenery that you'll normally see in National Geographic Adventures. Really. The pine trees that line up the way, the valleys, the rocky hills and the snow-capped mountains. Woohoo! First day of track did not have us hitting snow. The speed was rather fast though. Our guides were mad which we would find out in the many days to come. Although nothing too difficult, I still huffed and puffed all the way up and down to campsite number 1. Guess I was still acclimatising. The porters were way fast, as they had already pitched the dining tent and set up the campsite properly by the time we reached. What a relief to reach campsite! It was a happy feeling for a weary first time mountaineer. Food was good. Ram-ji is a very good cook. The chicken was just out of this world. I had like 4 plates of rice. Super greedy and hungry. And so... my life for the next ermm... eighteen days would be the same in nature. Wake up, grab ice axe to do big business, brush teeth, have breakfast, break camp, move out, move a lot more, keep moving some more, stop to have a bit of lunch, continue moving, until camp site is reached. In a way, it is super monotonous but yet, I had never find it boring or whatsoever. It is funny, as all I had been doing is to put one step in front of the other all the time. Cannot put words to describe it. It is monotonous, yet so interesting. In any case, we hit snow on the second day at Ranni Sui. Started camping on snow after Phulan Got. It is difficult and more importanly, troublesome to pen down the happenings of all the trek, and hence, I shan't bore you with the details although to get to Phulan Got, we had to descend a slope that is really mad. We had to bash through thich rhododendrons and then a slope so steep that every step I descend makes me rather scared. But i plunged all the way down anyway. However, the porters had it tough. It was not a porter friendly slope. Called mum via the satellite phone on Mother's Day. She sounded extremely worried and I felt extremely unfilial. Sometimes I just feel bad to make the whole village so worried about me, which they will worry more as we are forbidden from using the phone henceforth as Mother's Day is just a special exception to our emergency phone. Walk and walk and walk and walk and walk. Hit Camp III. The penultimate camp for the summit push.
Incredible rating: 5 Dahls
Suffer and suffer. Pay good money to suffer. Sometimes, as the wind howls and the sky hails, you just wonder if it is Mother Nature's way of saying "Fuck off". 20th is summit day and from CampIII, Hanuman Tibba certainly does not look easy and it gets pretty worrying. You'll just imagine yourself to be going to war. Very sucky feeling. That in the end, you have to go to the frontlines to risk your life for an objective, albeit voluntary in my case, leaving your loved ones at home worried sick. Yeah. Woke up at 12 am, had tea, 3 bowls of Maggi Mee, pack up and left at around 0130. The pace was really fast and I could barely keep up with the pace. The speed was blistering and the temperature was sub zero. I thought I could not make it. Howver,it just turned out that I was warming up. As I caught my breath and started to walk more properly, I got to be so fast that I got fucked by Mohan. Fingers were numbed throughout and I doubt that I could feel my toes at that moment. It was that cold. Kept twitching my nose and ears to make sure that they are there. Walk and walk and walk. Side stepping with crampons is a very painful experience. My ankles, that were sprained god knows how many times hurt quite badly, but, it is more dangerous to go down at that point, and they do not hurt on flat ground, so I just hecked it and climbed. Everything was still within my physical limit until I could see the summit. I do not know what happened, but I became damn shacked out, spent. I slowed down considerably and Dannies overtook me. Then came a 70 degrees slope with soft snow. At 5800++, this is no joke. We begun to crawl on all fours, anchor ice axe, front point, anchor ice axe, front point and on and on again, like this as Weisheng took a picture of me from below. Guess I was resting off the anchored ice axe. I think I rested every 10 steps and pant and pant and pant. It is super tiring to climb up this way, although it is the safest. All that was going through my mind was that I cannot summit. It is impossible, I am at my limit. This is usually the scenario that god would appear and give you a divine helping hand as what we normally see in the movies and TV shows. But no leh, I don't have. In the end, Mohan was my inspiration as he was the front person after Dannies had fell off the slope, failing to self-arrest properly. Luckily, there is some area beneath the slope that was quite flat that stopped his fall. Discussed about not seeing god with Jiarong over MSN the other day and I remarked that I am going to remain un-pious towards my religion and she said that it IS because I am not pious that resulted in me not having divine help up there. Quite true... And then huffed and puffed along the fixed line and reached the summit. The pain, the suffering and the recollection of how I got there in the first place confounded into rivulets of teardrops. I wonder when was the last time I cried. Above me was nothing but clear, blue sky. The view was fantastic. But I did not bring my camera! Too tired to carry it... SLRs on the mountains is such a chore. Wonder how E-Fung did it with his on Everest.
So here is me attempting to front dagger my way up...

And here is Hanuman Tibba:

The climb down on the next episode....