In any case, it's been a while. It's coz I've been consistently prioritising things other than writing during the me-time that's left once I'm done with work/climbing/whatever else I do outside. First up is sleep (yes, sleeping early stems from conscious choice). Second, and the only thing to rival sleep nowadays, is to read. [Gaming's been stripped of all priority coz there's only so much one can do before bedtime.]
Feels great to be back on a hearty diet of fiction after a depressing year of half-read non-fiction books. I was beginning to think I'd somehow stopped liking to read... until I picked up His Dark Materials earlier this year. Turns out all it takes are the right books. For me, it seems that if there's no story, I'm inclined to lose interest in whatever author intends to tell me next, let alone turn pages into the night. Current read: A Song of Ice and Fire. Was initially reluctant to start when I got my hands on them e-books coz (1) things were getting busy and (2) I feared to grapple with a highly epic but slow-moving story written in a lofty, archaic style as per LOTR. But I jumped in anyway coz (1) busy was here to stay and get worse and (2) after taking a stab at the first few pages, I found (to my surprise) that it's very easy to read. Bottom line is: I'm glad I still enjoy reading and journeying along in a good story.
In other news, I've been amassing a collection of black shirts lately from jumping at all sorts of opportunities to go monkeying around. [The exercise segment of my wardrobe makes it look like I'm preparing to join the Night's Watch.] So life's been full of obstacles lately but quite a few are 自找的, namely the Spartan Race, Battle Bay Extreme, Urban Attack. Haha, it's something else that's fun to do other than climbing, and incidentally also draws upon the climber skill sets. Things like getting over walls and cargo nets aren't difficult once you're used to holding smaller stuff and using your feet. But then there's always things to pick up, and it can sometimes be surprising to find out what comes easy and what doesn't. E.g. learning to scale a rope and actually going all the way in the same setting wasn't surprising. But I found that climbing strength =/= weightlifting strength after feeling a whole new group of muscles burn in the aftermath of the Spartan Race. Basically, the only sort of weightlifting I'd ever done before that was to carry office water refills (18kg) on no more than 20m walks. This newfound awareness helped me make some wise decisions for the BBE, where I'd certainly not be able to hoist a 25kg sandbag over my head and lob it over a wall. So I went for the "most difficult" category instead, equipped more for swinging around.
[I wish I'd some nice photos to post of all these and I really should be sleeping now.]
Also don't do these things without friends, it'll be like playing at a playground alone. Post-race day Whatsapp group muscle ache complaints are all part of the fun. I'm also now convinced that I don't care for glory if it doesn't come with an attainable reward, but I do get a kick out of maximising my gain:effort ratio. So depending on situation, I can be perfectly un-competitive ;)
Welp, nothing else to report. OH WAIT, HK solo trip post still pending and I swear the time will come when I have time to write it properly. Other than that... everything else seems to revolve around food and drink which I seem to be more willing to spend on these days. Not toooo helpful when it comes to conquering obstacles but hey the stomach's part of the body too so it also deserves to be kept happy hahaha. In fact, one of the best memories I have from within these almost-6 months was when a friend emptied her entire cup of honey wine into mine, saying "you need it". I'm sure it wasn't just my stomach that was feeling warm then :)