I found some worthy quotes, and would like to share it with you:

The desire to improve must come from within, not because your team is pushing you - Nancy Coulter-Parker, an avid outdoor athlete for more than 20 years. She is also managing editor of WomanOutdoors.com

This quote is so apt for us. This is one binding principle that SWET adhere to. We need to be self-motivated and be self-reliant.  Set expectation on yourself and not on others.

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe - Anatole France, Writer, critic, one of the major figures of French literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1921.

Yes, believe in yourself, because …

Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right - Henry Ford, the American founder of the Ford Motor Company.

Yay, finally, I have some breakthrough!

I managed a 10km run below 60mins, not once, but twice!

What’s next?

MacRitchie loop. Cut another minute. But to qualify to be a MR25 runner, I’ll need to cut another 2mins or so for my first 5km.

Uphill task. But can be done! Don’t know when. I’ll try.

*grin*

Of course, I have been following closely on the climbing news of Mount Everest this season. We seem to have missed the best climbing season of all. Never mind, I reminded myself, the mountain is always there.

And of course, I followed Linda’s progress on her attempt on Mount Everest. She is the first woman climber from Singapore to climb the world’s highest.

Linda did not just make an attempt on Mount Everest, she climbed it. It does not matter if one summit or not, the journey in itself is remarkable. In 1998, David Lim led the first Singapore team to scale Mount Everest, and he had successfully placed two climbers on the summit. David did not summit Mount Everest in 1998, he led another expedition in year 2000, and again, he did not get to the top. However, often in our local reports on mountaineering related matters, it has always been reported that David Lim has climbed Mount Everest. Well, I have no doubts about it. Therefore, the same connotation shall be accorded to Linda as well. Linda Tan has climbed Mount Everest. No one can take that away from her.

In a recent report on AsiaOne about Linda’s Everest quest, I read comments posted by readers. As in most cases, there are some who would support, some would condemn. For those with kind words, we thank them; to those who condemn, we can ignore it and move on. But we cannot ignore the fact that those condemning remarks can be hurting. If one cannot understand why climbers climb, and still want an answer to it, then try looking at it from a different view. Why are there people who would commit time and money to do a MBA, a PHD? Why would people stay in a queue for hours or even days just so to be mocked by the superstar judges? I do not have the answers for that and I will not question them. I admire their efforts, their guts. I admire them for taking action. I respect their intention, I respect their dreams.

Why climb? I have posted this quote before:

One cannot stay on the summit forever
One has to come down again.
So why bother in the first place? Just this.

What is above knows what is below
But what is below does not know what is above.
One climbs, one sees
One descends and sees no longer
But one has seen!

There is an art of conducting one’s self in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up.

When one can no longer see,
One does at least still know.

~ Rene Daumal

Climbing is a metaphor to our life journey. Climbing is more than having an awesome view; it is more than a thrill; it is beyond the summit.

Frankly, if you asked me why I choose to climb Mount Everest, (other than being the world’s highest and that it is a mountain) I cannot give you an absolute answer to it. As my teammate, Lihui, said “Mt. Everest is a mountain, not the mountain’.

We explore challenges and test our limits in different ways. There is no one challenge that is greater than the other. Each of us has our own Everest.

• ~ Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
• ~ Be decisive even if it means you will sometimes be wrong.
• ~ Know when to keep silent; know when to speak up.
• ~ Have a grateful heart, acknowledge those who help you. No one makes it alone.
• ~ Take charge of your attitude; do not let someone else choose it for you.
• ~ Happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
• ~ Focus on making things better, not bigger.
• ~ Do not be afraid to say: “I don’t know”, “I made a mistake”, “I need help”.
• ~ Never give up on the things you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts!

I have heard of friends who told me that they have met a “mini-joanne” somewhere out there. Once, Jane and Yihui told me that they have a friend from NUS who looks like me. I was wondering if the circle of friends were refering to the same person.

I have been curious about this “mini-joanne”. What is meant by “mini-joanne”? Is she a mini version of me? and in what ways?

Ironically, she has already presented herself around me for quite sometime just that I was slow to notice. She is Chew Yien, a bubbly sunshine girl. Like Jane and Yihui, Chew Yien is also one of the NUS Make It Real programme participants. Apart from mountaineering, she does adventure racing, I think she dives too (ok, I only know this much of her so far:)) She took part in the adventure races I organised, mainly Ace Adventure Challenge, Adventure Singapore, SAFRA AVventura Race…wow.. the lists never end! This little iron lady is very active in all the adventure activities! (ahem .. so am I!)

I finally took noticed of her at the SAFRA AVventura Race in 2006. She took part in the race, and I have captured her in my camera. When browsing through the photos, I spotted her and mistook her as me. I was curious about how I would appeared in the race as a participant when I was one of the race officials. At that instance, I fully agree that she resembles me in appearance to some extend, and I could finally put her face to “mini-joanne”!

Joanne or Chew Yien?

Well, as if looking alike is not enough, we do have the same interest, at least on mountain climbing & adventure racing. We have met in Lombok climbing the same mountain just weeks ago. Of course, we would not let the chance slip, we took a photo together.

Chew Yien and Joanne, photo courtesy of Melissa Mak

I must say, the above photo did not fully portray the resemblance in us. You probably need to see us in person. Anyway, Chew Yien was whining about being nicknamed as “mini-joanne” and that I should be nicknamed as “Big Chew Yien” instead. Hello girl, yours truly existed before you, so it’s obvious you know!

Have you ever wonder how two person can be alike when they have no connections in all ways other than sharing the same interest?

Work, training and regular meet up for team matters had taken up lots of personal space. I can hardly breathe, and have been trying very hard to finish a book I have started months ago – Untill I Find You by John Irving. I have come to realize that having a good time reading a good book is a luxury for many of us. Nevertheless, my recent work trip to Mount Rinjani in Lombok was a good break. That was my 7^th trip to Lombok since 1997.

Lombok, situated west of Bali, has much similarity with Bali. At least, both islands have a beach called KUTA. Over the years, Lombok has increased its visibility to tourists and promotes itself as an “unspoiled Bali”. The infamous Bali bomb in 2002 had affected Lombok’s tourism in some ways.

Lombok is dominated by centrally located Mount Rinjani, which rises to 3726m. The island’s inhabitants are mostly the Sasak people, who are closely related to the Balinese (language & race), except that the Sasak people are Muslim, while the Balinese are Hindus. There are also a small percentage of Chinese, and Javanese in Lombok.

Landscape of Sembalun Lawang (photo courtesy of Ms. Hayati Sofian)

 

I have only been to Bali once and that was in 1998. I am not sure if the beaches in Lombok are better than Bali, but Lombok has a bigger volcano, and varied landscapes.

Bali’s highest point is Gunung Agung at 3142m. The weather of the surrounding rainforests of Bali is almost always cloudy, and the potentially awesome view of the entire island spread out beneath is extremely rare. On the other hand, Mount Rinjani is often visible above the clouds.

Here, I’ll share with you the scenic views surrounding Mount Rinjani, and perhaps, perhaps one day, you will consider Lombok as one of your climb & travel destinations. Getting to Lombok is easy, SilkAir has direct flights to Lombok.

 

And not forgetting to introduce the wonderful climbing mates I have with me this time .

 

 

The Flora

 

and Fauna

 

 

 

The start of trek to base camp

With Eng Kiat, Cindy and Claris

With Xiao Ping

Adeline & Belle

Siti & Lee Ing

My good trekking Buddy!

At the Crater Rim, 2600m a.s.l. (Polar AXN 300), view of summit trail on the background

View of Segara Anak at dusk

Base camp (courtesy of Ms. Hayati)

Start of trek to the summit at 3.30am, with Irene in the lead

Hayati, with her camera enroute to summit

Susan, enroute to summit, going strong

Ariffin, the self-motivated chap who can go without sleep for 48hrs and still perform his best.

Clouds surrounding Mt. Rinjani (courtesy of Ms. Hayati)

A line of determined people trekking up to the summit

Summit view of Segara Anak (courtesy of Ms. Hayati)

With Kyan at the summit of Mt. Rinjani (courtesy of Mr. Nicholas Kwok)

With my trekking guides & crew

Descent with Jaslin from summit

Another beautiful view of Segara Anak (courtesy of Ms. Hayati)

With Sharlene, a positive young lady, enroute to the lake

The lake, Segara Anak (courtesy of Ms. Hayati)

The team, at the campsite at Segara Anak

The team, at the summit of Mt. Rinjani

The successful ascent of Mount Rinjani by more than 20 climbers did not come by chance. The team trained for 3 months prior to the trip. It was a total commitment by everyone - Thursday evening stairs climb at Commonwealth 40-storey HDB block, and Saturday trek circuit at Bukit Timah! Kudos to everyone.

If you ever wonder are they regular trekkers, I can tell you, more than 50% of them are trekking for the first time or have little exposure to climbing mountains. Their determination and humility on Mount Rinjani will guide me through my journey to scale Mount Everest.

Say Cheese, everybody! You too can climb a mountain.

We are back from China.  We spent 4 fruitful days in Shuang-Qiao-Gou to ice climb.  What made this trip more interesting was that there were other Singaporeans ice climbing with us.  The SWET team was never lonely

                                        The group making our way from the airport to Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel.

We stayed one night in Chengdu, and the following morning, we headed direct to Shuang-Qiao-Gou (3400m a.s.l).

                                         We stayed at the Tibetan homestay lodge.

Each day, we made day trips out to the nearby ice falls to ice climb, and return to the lodge for dinner.  Shuang-Qiao-Gou offers interesting trails that lead to various ice falls.  For one of the ice falls, we had to cross a “half-frozen” river … 

                                      Kim Boon set up a line to make crossing easier. We crossed it the way Peh Gee did … but … 

                                       Yihui chose to do it differently :p

We took another 30mins to trek up the overgrown trails and the majestic ice falls appeared right before our eyes.

                                        The icey slope - our play field!

We were geared with Marmot shell (top & bottom), Marmot beanie, Black Diamond helmet & ice axes, Smith sunshades & goggles, and Buff neck warmers …

                                          All ready to hit the ice fall!

We started with ascending on fixed rope with an ice axe.  For the first two days, we moved around the ice fall without carrying a pack.

                                     Yihui making her way up a near vertical ice fall [Good front point technique is crutial].

                                                                  That’s me, abseiling off the ice fall.

                                                Peh Gee lock-off on an abseil using a French-prussik.

                                                                      Karen and Marzuki went up the ice slope too. 

The remaining two days, we trained with a 16-18kg load (we put rocks into our packs to make the weight).  Kim Boon and his technical crew fixed up a 400m fixed rope circuit for us to practice.  On an average, we took about 1hr 20mins to complete one circuit. The time taken is equivalent to a 12km road run.  We managed 4 circuits, about 1.6km of fixed ropes at 3,600m a.s.l.  The ice climbing trip was to prepare ourselves for a 1.3km fixed ropes at Lotse Face of Mount Everest at above 7,500m.

                                                Jane, leading the team on the fixed rope circuit.

                                        Peh Gee ascending with a 18kg load.

                                                                      Esther was preparing to abseil after a traverse.

                                         That’s me again, a photo with Ren-Qing (one of the 3 technical support crew) while waiting for Esther to clear the abseil line.

For lunch, we had tibetan bread, eggs, and PowerBar gels from Hivelocity!

                                    Esther & Yihui with their hard-boiled eggs and getting comfortable with their Smith goggles.

                                                                         Lihui so engrossed with peeling the egg shell …

                                               Jane & me, fighting to have the biggest bite on the tibetan bread.

                                                   SWET with Kim Boon, and the three technical support crew from Chuan-Zang Gao-Shan Xie-Zuo Dui.

Ice climbing is a sport enjoyed by many, and over the years, I have made new friends.

                                       Alvin Low, a fellow Singaporean and an outdoor enthusiat, was in Shuang-Qiao-Gou too!

                                                         Shang-Zhu (centre), a tibetan, is one of the climbing instructors from the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA).  I climbed with him in winter 2004.  He is part of the CMA team to conduct advance ice climbing course this winter.

                                    Another climbing instructor from CMA, Xiao-Fei.  I met her in Beijing, 2005 winter.

We returned to Chengdu on the 26th Jan.  Back to the city, we unwind with a foot massage, and enjoyed the many good food in Chengdu.

                                                 The group unwind at Shamrock, an Iris pub in Chengdu.

                                                                                                                  Bacardi breezer, 25Rmb (=S$5) per bottle.

                                                                    Our most respectable Lin-Jiao-Lian.  Mr Lim Kim Boon, the mountain man, he is the one who taught many Singaporeans how to ice climb! Kudos! 

We have less than 50 days to departing for Nepal.  It is now back to stairs climb, running and trail circuit.  Way to go!

Mountain climbing is somewhat different from many sports. Perhaps it is not thought of as a sport by some.Unlike triathlons and running races or even racquet games, where there are throngs of people watching, to see how one performs at different stages, and more so to cheer, to welcome athletes at the finishing. When we climb, we are pretty much on our own, no spectators to greet us at the summit.

There is no competition in mountain climbing. I mean, we don’t race to get to the top, and hence, there’s no excitement to that extend, therefore, no audience to woo.

In principle, it is between me and the forces of nature, or me and my weakness. No other forms of human considerations, my decision dictate my fate in the mountains. It is this simplicity that draws me to want to keep climbing.

I am thrilled by the view and sense of achievement when I stood on top of a mountain. Instinctively, I know that it is only half a journey done, I still have the other half of the journey to battle with.

Whatever, there is no podium to stand on, no medals to win, no spectators to wave to. There is no glory for mountaineers, and I am perfectly fine with that.

I am feeling high.  2007 has been a great year for me.  I summitted Cho Oyu, the world’s 6th highest mountain, ran the Great Eastern Women 10k Run (clock my personal best), completed the Singapore Marathon, and finished an Ultra Marathon yesterday!  

Never in my dreams that I will ever run two marathons within a month.  This is really amazing for me, for I am not exactly incline to running.  

With an SMS invitation to join the Ultra run by my dear friend Ivy, just a few days before Christmas, I said “YES” to her without much hesitation, er…without knowing what I was getting myself into actually.  

To prepare for the Ultra run, Ivy, Serene and myself, we ran a 21km MacRitchie-Bukit Timah-MacRitchie on Christmas day.  To be more exact, Serene joined us for the 21km run just so that she don’t feel idling at home, and only decided to run the Ultra 2 days before. Super girl.  

The Ultra Marathon is organised by MR25. One need to run a minimum of 5 rounds to qualify for a certificate and a finisher T. We have proven that when you are determine to do something, you will make it! We did it! We ran 5 rounds at MacRitchie trail, other ultra runners did 6 rounds, some even clock up to 9 rounds. Kudos to all Ultra runners.

  Our number tags. 

                                                    Ivy and me, taking a break after 21km (2 rounds)

                                               Our best supporting crew! June and Karen.  They brought us power drinks & food like Redbull, Milo, Pocari Sweat, GU gels and Power Gels, raisins, buns …

                                        Still looking good after the 4th round (42km)

                               Serene’s the other half, Larry, he accompanied us for the last 2.5km.  Yah, ONLY 2.5km! ^0^ Still, the last stretch was less mundane with him around.  Thanks Larry!

                                   FINALLY, we completed the 5 rounds, strongly, covering a total distance of 52.5km.  Clap, clap, clap!

                                       June is trying to keep a distance from us, she said we stink! **bish**

I am happy that I ended this year with an ultra run.  As we usher in 2008, may happiness brighten your days, success and good health be with you in everything you do. 

I look forward to year 2008. 

One cannot stay on the summit forever
One has to come down again.
So why bother in the first place? Just this.

What is above knows what is below
But what is below does not know what is above.
One climbs, one sees
One descends and sees no longer
But one has seen!

There is an art of conducting one’s self in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up.

When one can no longer see,
One does at least still know.

~ Rene Daumal