Little Intern Ko

I apologise for the dearth of updates recently.

The stress of the entire academic semester took a turn for the worse in the hectic project submissions and presentations week. This semester was especially trying, what with 6 projects, on top of the usual schooling workload. I didn't get to climb as much as I would have liked, but I make do.

Like a cascading avalanche feeding into itself and growing exponentially more fearsome, all the work from the preceding weeks piled up into the last week of school. The avalanche had snowballed, accumulating material and gathering speed. It was only a matter of time before it slammed into something. BOOM! Its tremendous force surged against a granite boulder, splintering its base with a sickening crack. The boulder lurched forward, but as if resisting its destiny, it teetered back by the force of ts own weight. It leered back and forth, before finally settling. But the damage had been done. It was hanging precariously on the edge of a sheer precipice. As if the draft generated from the flap of an eagle's wings several miles overhead would provide the impetus to tip the boulder over the edge and send it spiraling into the abyss, its fate was uncertain.

The thunderous episode gave way to a deafening silence.



The final week of school has eased into Reading Week - a one week Study Break. Do not let the words 'Study Break' lull you into a false sense of security. The words merely deceive you into thinking that you can heal up before facing the final hurdle. Do not be had, for it is the calm before the storm, just like that boulder perched on the knife's edge. Any false move would result in disastrous consequences. There is no rest for the weary. Instead, you are supposed to continue holding your breath, and shoulder on, just like the boulder forever opposing whatever the mountain throws at it.

Coffee, snacks and late nights are a student's best weapons against the unfathomable beast that is exams. But no matter the preparations, the lecturer can easily throw a monkey spanner in even the best laid out exam strategies by setting a paper in which the examinee flips open the first page and go HUH? Looking around the exam hall, you realise that almost everyone else has the same blank looks etched onto their faces. You heave sigh of relief and start to ease up. You even smile to yourself slightly. Ah hah.. Since we're all on a level playing field, I might as well write according to instinct..

After the exams were over I made a short climbing trip up to Malaysia. This trip is a well deserved break (this is how the word should be used) from school. In view of the upcoming ClimbX competition, I took the chance to work on my endurance. Fitness chapped and chipped by the ravages of school, I was immensely pleased that I managed to redpoint Affenhausen, 7c in Ipoh. The route was put up by Team Mammut when they headed down for a bolting expedition about 4 years back. I had made several trips up previously in anticipation of sending the route, but each time new challenges (in the form of a new crux section, rain, poor endurance) kept me from the ascent.

Now that I've finally cast aside the chains holding me from overcoming the route, I want to put up a picture in celebration of the occasion. The picture would preferably be one of me on the crux section, wearing an intense look, with rippling muscles to boot. Alas my girlfriend only managed to capture a picture of me resting at the mid section part (after the crux). It wasn't a very flattering photo. At best it cut me as a frail figure, squeezing into the weakness of the rock and gasping for oxygen. I think she was more interested in capturing that super-mesmerizing-shot-of-a-lotus-flower while I was climbing. Granted, perhaps pretty flowers are more exciting than boring boys who emulate monkeys. Or perhaps I so clumsily scrambled up the triple stalactite section on the roof such that she didn't perceive it to be all that difficult. I don't know. Perhaps I'm doomed never to understand girls and their idiosyncrasies.

When I clipped the chains and was lowered to the bottom, I eagerly anticipated the photos. Will I have decent shots of myself to present to my boss, Mr Seah? She loaded the memory card and showed me, with a glowing look in her eyes, of brilliant photos she took of that radiant lotus flower, in all its dazzling glory.

I am so sorry, for all I have to show for my journey of self discovery on this route (the finding, attempts, frustrations, fight, angst, satisfaction) is the following picture..

me on the rest section of Affenhausen (Austrian for Monkey House)
a sad depiction of an awesome route

But heh. No matter. There is little point in getting upset over the pictures she took, or the pictures she failed to take. It is the memory, of the time shared together, which is priceless.

The alchemy of lots of sleep and lots of climbing, without excessive cortisol, coalesced as a potent potion for my climbing form. Suddenly, I remembered how to climb all over again. Whispering into the deepest chambers of my body, I called for the form to return to its master's side. At the competition, I climbed as best as I could, eventually ending up going into finals as the 1st qualifier.

3 cheers for STS Warriors!

Going into the finals as the top qualifier, aka top dog/expected-to-win climber does put some stress on the climber. One could hear the ohhs and ahhs from the spectators in the isolation chair. The heart palpitated a tad faster. Veins throbbed. What? A disappointing ohhh from the audience for 3rd qualifier (and good climbing buddy) Yixiong? Huh? 2nd qualifier Jon (another climbing buddy) fell early? Distractions abound. Closing my eyes, I let the temporary darkness slide me back into focus. Breathe in.. and out.. I was slightly nervous going into the climb, but the moment I started moving my limbs, instinct took over. The hat sitting firmly on my head reminded me to love climbing, no matter the result. Everything else just fell into place..

ClimbX 2011: Winning at my alma mattar :)

ClimbX 2010: A decent result

starting on my internship at Savills Singapore

Posted to the Research and Consultancy unit. This internship is somewhat of a personal continuity of the internship I did last year at a property management company. I want to understand the different aspects of a real estate business (agency, valuation, sales, marketing and others). Little Intern Ko hopes to learn as much as possible!