A bid to keep to my 2010 new year's resolutions...

During the 2nd week, we went through a day of abseiling part 1 and then 4 days of fun-packed days of Wilderness Medical First Responder Levels 1 and 2. It was mentally and physically challenging as we were cramped with theories and principles of medical issues and first aid. The fun thing however was the simulations that w had go go through after the day ends.. These simulations include participants falling from height, fractures during horse-plays and the best still was doing CPR on a moving speed-boat!!

During the 3rd week, we went through abseiling proficiency 1 and 2 as well as sports climbing levels 1 and 2. It was the first time im doing these activities but it was damn fun ah to do height activities! The feeling of climbing up right to the top and touching the top mark with my lactic-filled forearms and butt i as exhilarating as it gets.. Making use of all these usually under-used muscles also results in funny occurences such as Involuntary Muscle Spasms and Rib Cramps(got such things?)

At certain points of time during a difficult climb... I felt like wanting to just give up and fall back but a few things stopped me. First and foremost, my desire and ego to want to reach the top. Second, to fight this 'giving up' devil in me.. and Third, to hear the sounds of the cheers coming from under me.. Hahaha...

I learnt plenty of things from those days of climbing..

1. Momentum... use it to our advantage. When you make use of momentum that was built-up along the way, you need much lesser energy than you'd need if you were to keep stopping along the way and hence, rely upon brute force!

2. Realise anatomical disadvantages and use it to discover new strengths... Being vertically challenged, i cannot just stretch out and reach for the handholds like my 1.92m tall colleague could! Hahaha... so i had to make use of my legs more than my hands. Finding good footholds were more important for me than stretching for that 'Thank God' hold high above.

3. Grace. They dun call sports climbing the 'Vertical Dancefloor' for nothing... hahaha. I still need to develop grace!

4. Good friends. Blessings of God. They're there to support you.. They sound off to you and help you point out stuffs you don't see (especially when ur flat against the wall..plus the air up there IS different..) and they hold on tight to your rope lest you fall unexpectedly or expectedly... with this kind of support, you won't fear falling cause you know there will always be people to hold you up.

Then, there was IPPT and dragon boat competition yesterday... thought it would be fun just to do something i havn't done before. Anyway, it seems Bobby enjoyed it last time... so maybe, just give it a try. Having lactic build-up in your arms dun really help in this... Hahaha.. but 300m was manageable. Dunno how much time we clocked but who the hell cares! Hahaha... i still think its a bull-sport anyway. Hahaha.. below are the team mates who either willingly sacrificed their weekend (or coerced into sacrificing their weekend)..