Boulderactive and me

heyy im HengHong, nothing much too interesting about myself , but im here to talk about Boulderactive and why i still feel like part of Boulderactive,

  

ive been actively involved in Boulderactive 2008 - 2011, from PD to PD's moral supporter, both on-site and as part of the organizing comittee. of coz also part of the route judging, moving, building, slacking, competing, cleaning, ushering, thrashtalking group

2008 Boulderactive was themed Rated-X coz it was the 10th year of Boulderactive, it was the last year we could get the dhoby ghaut atrium area to hold our event. i was year one then and  i remember painting the walls and getting scolded by Ivan for popping T-nuts, all the year ones were super excited about having the event as our own, all volunteered to stay back thru the night, there were a huge bunch of us

2009 Boulderactive "Limit Break", was wet, very wet, i think everyone remembered the rain , but how come i still remember the chicken rice we had on the last day? and something else that i remembered, daniel walking rounds around the isolation area talking with his twin brother like 11pm at night the day before the event
"y dun u all sit down and talk?" - hh
"we like talking as we walk" - twins

2009 was really hard work, sweeping water, emceeing , competiting, i liked it alot cos i felt that i was doing alot that mattered. and above all i still managed to perform and win, novice and team event, it was a great boulderactive for me.

2010 Boulderactive "Prepare for Lockoff", the well thought out theme no one got, i have to explain again here: its played on the words prepare for take off, thats why you see all our designs have the speed tracks and our posters is the lined up chalkbags with the red "remove before climb" tags (tags turned out to be a nice bag accessory instead of the chalkbag accessory it was meant to be, yet another one of my screwups.hahaha.)

I remember lala and cass HARD selling the tags to people, too bad for those who didnt buy it, its limited edition now. hahhaa

i was a miracle we managed to get this one up. im definately not one to be a good PD.. wall painting throughout the night, and then change into working attire and back to office (on a side note, if anyone wants to work at Apple their toilet is super clean and nice to sleep. HAHAHA) and after work straight back for route setting. almost everything that could have a problem had one, but eventually we still managed to make the event not look too problematic from the eyes of a competitor/spectator.

Thanks for all the help!

2011 Boulderactive - definately the best Boulderactive at least for the nxt few days, excellent location and beautiful walls, great atmosphere. Jack and Fel did a great job at getting everything to fall in place, we totally showed the rest of the comps that we could bring Boulderactive to the next level . We attracted a ridiculous amount of crowd and everything seemed so perfect.  i think 2011 was the BA i was least involved in,  doing only work i was tasked to and hopping onto the music playing when i was free. but everything seemed to be going so well they didnt need my help at all. =)

and heres the end to that hh-cass love story..lol

HH's Boulderactive Hall of Fame

Best Boulderactive wall (technical) - 2011

Best Boulderactive wall (aesthetics) - 2009

Best Location - 2011

Most Memorable Boulderactive - 2009

Best Food - 2008 (2009 was great as well)

Favourite Boulderactive event organiser Tee - 2010

Favourite Boulderactive event climber Tee - 2010

Boulderactive is big now, its really big now, last year it was the biggest ever, this year its the biggest ever again and they're right. 

Boulderactive, the event, is the realization of a dream , and as all dreams, it can be as big as you dream it to be.

Boulderactive is also a school, rewarding you with new skills and knowledge, if only you will step out of your comfort zone to learn them.

Boulderactive is a place to forge friendships, i think the other posts talk plenty about this, 

Boulderactive is a service to the community , its a display of our NUS culture , and should be something that we want to do.

Boulderactive, is something that NUS can be and should be proud of

Boulderactive is in good hands, your hands. My time to watch over it is over, i just decided to stick around for awhile incase u all needed any extra help. 

Boob please?

Hello everyone! If you do not already know by now, I am Cass the boobie grabber! (: And because I am constantly doing it, it is a 99.8% chance that most of my pictures have me and boobs in them. This post is from a BA senior to BA junior to create your own fun with everyone. (: I am not discounting any other viewpoints but its just what I think! (:

 Year 2009, when I just entered NUS as a seemingly naive and innocent young pretty babe. I was assigned to do guard duty to look after the walls and i-dunno-what. My partner -- Heng Hong. You should know that I have never spoken to HH for more than 10 mins during my NUS time so I was afraid he would fall in love with me. OMG. In the end, we had a scary HTHT/zham movie playing/play-weird-question-games, with others who volunteered to stay over (like Kenneth, I secretly thought he liked me too) and slept overnight on the mattress beside the walls. We slept so late that we didnt wake up early enough the next morning. When I opened my beautiful eyes to see the world again, there were working adults walking around us. It was close to 11am ++. Damn weird and MALU. It was one of the times I truly felt like part of HH, I mean part of a team to share such experiences. (:

 Year 2011, when I am a veteran in NUS as a very sweet young lady about to mature. HAHA. We were being banglahs by carrying all the scaffolding from loading bay to the comp site. When you are tired, you say shit things like how D***** complain the volumes are too heavy when the girls can carry one of the same one on their own. But the best is when *aniel was supposed to fit the long pole into the sockets while standing on one of the poles. It was heavy so you must be careful not to lean back otherwise GGXX. He happened to lose his balance for a while and for that moment, the girls below helping him, including me, thought we were going to die. And afterwards, he shared with us in this sombre secret circle of trust that he saw his life flash past him in that 2 seconds. OMG. We laughed like hell and whoever that was still in Marina Square during that unearthly hour, can hear my laughter. 


Moral of a story: BA is not just that 3 days of event. Lots of background work has to be done to make it a successful one. Since we are spending so much time together and sometimes it can be damn boring,it will be up to us to make it fun! So for the juniors, when you work with the seniors, dont be PAI SEH! Do stupid things with us and create your own special BA memories. The real reason why I squeeze boobs is to create my own fun. A day can be so boring but I figured if I squeeze someone's boobs and make them shocked but secretly happy. Why not? Usually after the squeeze, the next few moments between the fortunate victims and the unfortunate bystanders, is about how ridiculous I am and that powerful squeeze. Every small joke/gesture can make a difference to bond us together.


 P.S. Having gone to Summit, a camp for all sports leaders, once as a participant and 3 more other times as a facilitator, I can tell you how envious other sports teams are when they find out we hold such a large scale competition yearly. Many of them would crave for such a chance because of its many benefits for the team. And so, we are really blessed to have this opportunity to bond as a team, work together and make it special. The one thing I have learnt from that camp -- the more effort you give, the more you receive. So look at our memories and draw inspiration to create your own. (: And dont forget to share the fun, the more the merrier.

Evidence of our FUN!

 Beloved, Boobie grabber

BA Time to top up the psyche =)

Finally managed to find some time to write this post!!!

BA has always been an exciting time of the year for me, getting to see strong climbers crush on routes that look ridiculous!! Furthermore as NUS climbers we can relate to the sickness of the routes even better as we have been climbing on these tiles ourselves.

I can never forget the memories and experiences we had during BA. For example in 2009 we actually stayed over at the venue to take care of our stuff as it was outdoors at Velocity (Guard Duty style). The epic moment when it stormed and the scaffolding came crashing down and landed 2 metres in front of HH but all he could think of was his EE design project -.-|||. Also we were all worried whether the comp could carry on as it rained epically and the ground was literally flooded. The wind howled with such a force that judith almost flew backwards as she was trying to hold down the canvas in the picture she posted!! BA 2009 was also the comp where the term "don't do a Khairul Hafiz" was coined when in his joy he forgot to match hands to seal the deal....

Here are some videos of the open men finals cat from way back!



Khairul Hafiz trying hard on a undercling madness route. Sick shit



Homeboy Haroz crushing!

BA 2010 was another exciting BA in a sense that for a while it seemed like it might have not happened. With all the budget constraints that year it was amazing that HH managed to pull this rabbit outta the hat. After that BA I think we all agreed that Orchard Central is a less than ideal place to hold a climbing comp. Nevertheless our very own Jansen shows of his middle finger power ;) with the crowd roaring at the back.



On to BA 2011!! This BA was the first one we had to serve as Banglahs. Though it wasn't suppose to happen, it was an experience nonetheless as walking around the scaffold carrying up those heavy ass pipes really were a workout. From what I can remember it is also the first BA we had a professional climber come down to route set. Despite the tsunami incident back at home Mr Obi still came down and showed us how sick climbers could perform at the world stage. After seeing so many world cup videos, getting to see him in action was definately a treat. I doubt any of us could forget the excitement we felt when we knew Marina Sq was our venue, as it was a sure sign that BA was going somewhere and the sport was progressing =)

Personally BA is simply a great time to have fun and have your mind blown at what climbers can do. Long live BA and the psyched crew that powers each and every event!!!

Next up can we have CASS!!!! Our resident booby grabber!!

i love boulderactive season!

Yixiong asked us seniors and graduated climbers to post a little something about boulderactive during this period, leading up to our 2012 boulderactive. A little something on how organising and being part of this event is what I feel makes me an NUS climber, bringing us all together to work on something spectacular.

Also to revive this little blog here, especially after everythings turned to facebook. I guess coming here already brings some sort of little floating memories and of course I get to type more words here too.
So heres about 5 things about boulderactive that me (as a graduated nus climber) reminisce about:

1) That big lorry that we always load our mattresses and tiles and whatnots onto. Since I came in, it’s the big container truck and not the usual lorry that previous batches take by squeezing in between the mattresses. I mean sure, I never really loaded up a huge ass mother big lorry.. but doing all that saikang with your fellow teammates, actually finding out how much stuff is jam packed into that smelly gym or ours and knowing every little effort counts. That’s team work isn’t it? And that’s the difference between NUS climbers and the other school teams out there.



2) My first BA was in 2009. My first official climbing competition too. It was a novena and that period, it rained. And that little makeshift shovel we made from the board that packaged the new green sloper metolius holds. It was ridiculous but it worked alright. I remember we had 2 climbing towers? And that Sandra got into the open women finals and there were like 2 dyno moves in one single route; which Beatrix both managed to catch and then finished the route like how alex puccio crushes. But no matter how wet the whole event ended, Nigel (who was the organiser then), bought us all haagen dazs ice cream at the end. Even though Gerry and Reg were strict no-saliva-sharing people, it was nice to see all those who were part of this nus event sit down and share that many tubs of ice cream (which melted and finished really quickly).





3) How I started inching my way towards being part of the legendary F1 crew of boulderactive. Haha. Maybe by helping in just taking out the footholds at the bottom, or the starting holds, tearing off the boundary tapes. Helping out in small things like these makes work lighter for the F1 crew, keeps things moving fast. No doubt its scary being at the top of the walls, barefooted, sweaty palms, heavy tile and an allen key trying to find the t-nut hole to screw in the ending tile. Somehow this gets on my nerves more than lead falling.. haha. But I still do it anyways. But when I stop to look, I like how everyone knows what they’re supposed to do, or at least try, and theres this sense of achievement when u see those new routes go up almost instantly the walls are available. You know that no other local school competitions can do it as fast as us, using true blue school helpers. ;)





4) Now, who can forget the pride of clinching champions for the team event, especially when that event is boulderactive ;) no matter how tired each one of us were, we all still fight it out and compete against all other competitors the same way. And when we grab those podiums from each category? Awesome. Dominating the scene, yo. Like a boss, like how a powerhouse school team should be. And I think every nus climber should be proud of that.

You know that orange white polo tees we have from the SRC. I like how we all stand out in the crowd, really identifying ourselves as a school team and being there to support each other during each other’s category. The moment an nus climber comes out to climb, this mass of orange and white starts to stand or hover around, cameras whipped out, voices raised. And people will know that that’s who they’re supporting. Look at the numbers we have in our team, far more than any other school. Yet we were so bonded, we knew each others favourite food at least! HAHA. Yu pian tang (with extra bowl of rice)? Or Indonesian panggang.



5) Being an nus climber is not just about being there to help out during the event. It was about meeting up for lunch and TALKING, psyching each other up many weeks before the actual event. It was contagious! Especially when you’ve got bert, hh, des, yixiang and jw on one table. And then theres doris and yixiong, jansen on the other. And then the people from rvr join in one by one. And then suddenly we have like 4 tables full of climbers eating (the same thing?) and talking about what we love best. We talk about how training has been going for us, who has what injury, whos gonna be competing in opens, etc. we discuss on the perfect, power team to own everyone in the team event. We wonder about what the isolation is like. We discuss competition tactics. Its not just a seasonal thing. Its almost every day! That I think that’s what I miss the most now. :p haha.



So theres my 5 things. That’s not all to my nus climber life.. but its enough to keep me wanting to turn back time to experience it all over again.  I cant wait for this next boulderactive. I heard its gonna be legendary, just like how the previous comps are. And how everyone always looks forward to it. Like how it’s the competition of the season. And I cant wait for it to come, so that I can once again be part of it, even though ive graduated. But maybe I want to stick my busybody head into it and revel in how its like being part of the team again. Aww.

Im good at arrowing people. But this time I really must. So jiawei, can you do the next write up? XD

NUS - THE NORTH FACE BOULDERACTIVE 2012

More details at: www.nusclimb.com

Miraculous Elixir for Fingers!

Hi guys, this is slightly random and a lengthy post ahead. For those who are starting to feel pain in their joints, I would like to introduce the miraculous elixir.................

ZHENG GU SHUI! (available at any Chinese medical shop)



Although my fingers are very screwed, I am still able to push hard with it the past few years. You could follow my personal regime after every climbing session:

1) Bathe in cold water; Cools down overall body temp to reduce frequency of blood flow to forearms and fingers which would slow down inflammation.

2) Apply lots of ZGS on the fingers experiencing pain. Adriel applies it and bandages his fingers to keep it in. But if you're bandaging it, don't bandage for >20hrs because ZGS is a dehydrant and your skin will flake off. After applying, don't wash your hands for at least 1 - 2hrs otherwise it'll be wasted.

3) 1000mg Fish Oil - Helps with anti inflammation

4) I learnt this from Crimp Maestro Winfred: Ice with bowl / tupperware with 7 ice cubes. Soak hand in it continuously for about 2 - 3min. It should be numb but not biting pain. Change hand. Repeat 2 -3 sets.

5) Before sleeping, apply ZGS again. And don't rub your eyes in the middle of your sleep!

6) Massage fingers regularly with thumb on the top of the swollen joint, and massage down towards top side of palm. You want to bring blood away from the fingers which is carrying the waste materials.

7) Next part depends on what's wrong with your fingers:
i) Inflammation - Spam Fish Oil, Ice treatment. ZGS good but optional
ii) Weird dull pain in joints - Just spam ZGS. At least twice a day. And do the massage


Healthy fingers are the most important when breaking boundaries in late game! Aaron Tan, Winfred, Dennis, Hazlee, Ron, Haroz are examples of people who have perfectly healthy fingers. So there's a strong correlation seen here!

Five Things

Hi, this is Si Hui! (unfortunately i'm the one on the right, the one on the left is my friend Jocelyne who is also a climber (: )

Couldn't really find any photos of myself individually, so this is the best I could get I guess!?

this is me in my PGP room. Yes, CUI haha I don't take individual photos!

I'm generally not a very interesting person so, well. And it took me ages to blog this because I thought it wasn't important (which is right! right?).

Anyway, here's the 5 things..

1) I have a twin sister.

Nope, she's not in NUS. Yup, she used to climb too haha. Nope, we don't take photos together so there isn't really any comparison about whether or not we look alike haha. But here's one of when we were small, when we looked more alike.

upon closer inspection: nah, we don't look alike at all hahaha.

wait... this one looks quite alike???

as can be seen from this photo, our parents used to dress us in either exactly the same clothes or clothes differentiated solely by colour. Confuse all the relatives hahaha!

2) Like Juanmin, I started climbing in Secondary school purely by accident as well. ODAC was my first choice, but back then I was kind of dumb and thought that ODAC was a misspelling of Oratorical And Debate Society and I didn't realise until I joined it.

But it was fun nevertheless! :D I loved my time in ODAC.

3)

If you haven't really talked to me yet, maybe you haven't realised... I'm not the brightest spark around. I get distracted reaaaaaaallyyyyyyy easily. It makes studying a very huge chore sometimes. Or rather, most of the time :/ It's also probably the reason why I can't remember routes even after they've been pointed out twice, oops.

4) I don't really like to eat meat.
It's not about being environmentally friendly or kind to animals, its just that I like stuff like veggies and rice and noodles better? It's like I'll order chicken rice, eat all the rice and leave the chicken haha :D I still eat meat though, because it makes me full faster and occasionally it seems quite nice haha. I eat seafood avidly and rather regularly though!

5) I acted in a play recently, for charity. I had to wear a purple wig and devil horns because I was playing one of Hell's minions. It was An Experience? Eventually it was quite fun but I don't think we raised much for charity oops hehe.

That aside, I highly doubt I'll ever do it again, cause I can't act for nuts hahaha. I like watching better!! I want to watch A Midsummer Night's Dream next but I think it's right smack in the middle of all our final exams. boo. ):

okay now I am done with my very boring 5 things :D

p.s. sorry about the photo sizes :/ I have no idea how to regulate them.

next..... uhhh.... who else? wenshu?

Shirt Designs so far

HI EVERYONE!

The following are the current shirt designs (thanks to aaron tan who drew them) that we're thinking of printing, do give us your honest feedback and suggestions on how we can improve them. Also, it'll be great if you guys can come up with a cool slogan that encapsulates the spirit of our climbing team. :)

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3.

4.

Let me/aaron tan know if you have any ideas for the shirts or a cool slogan to contribute please! Thanks alot and in the meantime share your opinions on the designs!