Batu Caves

TJCCC went to Batu Caves, KL, Malaysia from the 26th nov - 30th nov 2009. This is my virgin school overseas trip, and i must say it has been a wonderful experience being independent, yet knowing that there are so many of them whom i know i can always depend on.

I was glad to have bunked with Jo and Gwen for the 4 nights. They are really nice roomies. The nights were never lonely ;)

For the very first day of our natural rock climbing, we went to Nyamuk Crag, it means mosquitoes in malay. And there are really a lot of mozzies. Thank god for SAF's insect repellent happily provided by Calvin, i was spared the attacks for the whole day.

We had do a 10-15 min trek up to the place where we could begin climbing. I didn't expect the trek to be so treacherous. Or at least in my case, i thought my sandals were going to rip or I was going to slip from the slippery sand. It was quite scary, cos I got down to basics and starting going up on all fours. When we finally reached our destination, which was quite high up, i looked down and wondered, how the hell are we going to get down later.

I didn't enjoy Nyamuk as much as I thought i would, i guess it was cos of the insects, heat, trek and stickiness. It was quite freaky as well because for most of the areas, the amount of space we had for belaying were minimal and if we went over, it would mean dropping down a good 10 feet or more. My first climb on natural rock, I thought it was amazing how all those climbers could climb so well on natural rock. It was mysterious. You gotta feel it to know it. I really loved the scenery from the 30metres climb.

The amount of satisfaction you get is never ending when you reach the top.

The highlight of the day was me doing Bowel Movement with Philip on the other route, i was telling him how comforting it was to have him climbing by my side, because it was scary being alone up there so high, and knowing that you always have a huge run-out below you. He smiled at me and continued up. My virgin 30m climb, and i freaked out at the crux of the route. I took a whole 40 minutes to complete the climb. I was so dehydrated up there, i think my sweat glands stopped producing sweat. Hahaha... Thank god for my supporters below, constantly motivating me to keep going. Philip kept saying don't let the climb go to waste when i froze at the crux. It was all will power then, I think all the strength i had from the legs and arms went into my brain to complete that climb.

The next day, we proceeded to Nanyang Crag. Luckily for us, it was by the road which means NO MORE TREKKING. I don't really fancy the trekking we had to do at Nyamuk.

Lesser mozzies but nonetheless, still fully armed with SAF's insect repellent, I had minimal insect attacks. We saw a buncha stray dogs at the entrance of the area.


They were really friendly. I guess they have been there for quite some time and have gotten familiar with the climbers who frequent the place. It was my first time i saw puppies feeding on their mommy! It was quite a nice sight actually cos the mommy was so protective and loving towards its pups. The last time I saw was at China with a really hugeeeeee pig and tons of piglets feeding off from the numerous nips the mother had.
By the second day, I got more used to climbing on natural rock and taking my time to explore the infinite possibilities the rock could offer on a single route. It was much more enjoyable as well because of the relaxed atmosphere and the shade the cliff provided.

The 2 routes that were highlights for me was my first climb on the Whimper. Really can be called the mother of all bridges. I bridged on the route until the heels hurt like crap. Looking back, i think the bridging route in school is nothing compared to this. Calvin on-sighted this! How amazing man. Sometimes i wonder if he has balls or not. He can bridge better than me! But then again, he had the balls to lead climb this scary route, I didn't even dare to think about it.

The second highlight was the Right Decision.

Just the look on my face is enough to tell of how SATISFIED and RELIEVED i felt from completing this route. It gave me all kinds of anxiety attacks when Philip told me to try again. I was blessed to have Mr Kao's and Philip's patient guidance while i fumble my way on the top. This was one of my biggest obstacle of the whole trip, i could say one of the most difficult climb for me. I really pushed all out, more than 110% and sweated like a water machine. Just as I thought Bowel Movement was enough to freak me out, this was another new bomb dropped on me.

The third day was at Damai Crag.

It was a really beautiful place because it had been done up nicely, with facilities like pavilions for shelter and shade and pavements by the foot of the cliff for belaying. Philip said this was one of the rare cliffs where it's the furthest away from climbing in a natural setting. But then again, that meant that it was closer to home for us because we were more pampered that way.

The amazing thing was that they even had artificial walls erected in the middle (for the locals) to climb as well. I wonder where they get their chalk bags and chalk... and they climb barefooted. They probably stole it from foreign climbers like us when we are unaware... hahaha.

The highlight was Monsoon. Another high climb for me, 30 metres. I realised i'm really thrilled by the really high climbs.

This was the best climb for me on the whole trip. I could picture myself doing the climb really gracefully, executing moves the way i wanted it to be. Best of all was that I had Philip as my belayer. He was constantly encouraging me all the way. Each praise he said literally sent me up to heavens. I have no regrets getting pushed by Philip to go beyond my limits because at the end of every climb which i thought would be difficult to complete would be completed, and I would be feeling beyond accomplished. The sense of achievement is beyond words.

Aside from all the climbing that we did, we had a Batu Caves tradition of exchanging gifts among each other. That was an unforgettable night. I have no idea how to put it into words with the myriad of emotions pursing through my pulse that night. I really really loved how creative and thoughtful each and every one of us was that night. The gifts for each individual were really well suited and had a deeper meaning to it. Well, with the exception of mine!

How the hell am i going to use the condoms and thongs...I know I always talk about my dick in the box but that's a different story. For all those who are clueless about my dick in a box... please feel free to sidetrack to the video below.

I really wonder how the really pure and innocent lala could buy these gifts! Gosh... so much for all the innocent make-up. It's FAKE. Now we all know how dirty-minded everyone really is. ;)

The last day of climbing was at Camp5.

It was a really huge indoor climbing haven. I think the interior design of the place was really unique. I've always admired modern industrialized design. They had all the smooth cement finishing and stainless steel frames with plentiful of floor to ceiling glass. The most unique of all was their bathrooms! It's a pity I didn't have a chance to take a picture of it. It was as if they tried to fuse the modern and history into one setting, and it turned out really good. One of the nicest designed place I've ever been to - it's no wonder they had such tedious processes of signing up to climb at the place. It must have cost a bomb to do up the place.

The walls were really rough and good for smearing. The holds were all colour coded and graded. A pity they didn't number the anchors so it could save everyone some time trying to count which wall/route they wanted to do. The last day on artificial wall, everyone climbed at the speed of lightning. It must have been a big jump from natural rock to artificial - from slow exploring of usable hand/footholds to really obvious holds, it's no wonder everyone just raced up the wall. It was a really neat climbing place to be at, seeing how Singapore does not have the luxury of space to do up such good climbing facilities, i really treasured my time there.

Finally, it was time to set out our journey back to home sweet home.
We took our last group shot, and it's one of my favourite.

This marks only the beginning of the exciting journey ahead. I really loved how so much more bonds were being forged, everyone got to know each other on a much deeper level.
I want to thank each and everyone for making it such an invaluable experience for me.

The most important lesson everyone took away from this trip was how to be process-oriented and not result-oriented. Being overly result-oriented would distract one from enjoying the process and most of all defeat oneself before even taking the step to success. I'm sure each one of us had our perspectives widen from this trip. ;)

TJCCC 09/10!