Heading to an indoor climbing gym

Two years ago, I wanted to try wall climbing but didn't have any idea how or where to start. Yes, I tried Google but most of the things I found were incomplete/outdated. I had a lot of questions... What should I wear? What should I bring? Where should I even go if I want to try wall climbing?

Fast forward to today: I always ask friends to join me (BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE SHOULD DO AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIVES) and whenever I do, they ask me the same questions I had. I figured others might have the same dilemma and have no one to consult. So I'm putting this here just in case.

Competing for the first time

I recently decided to join Young, Wild & Free (YW&F) Season 2, a novice climbing competition organized by the Sports Climbing Association of the Philippines (SCAPI).

My friends at Sandugo were keen on bugging me to join and I kept saying that didn't want to because I didn't feel ready for it (It was announced a week before it was scheduled). They said that I didn't have to win; that it's just for the sake of experience. Someone even offered to sponsor my registration it but I still declined. However, after a week of guilt-tripping, getting a go-signal from my dad and after telling myself that all I had to do was qualify for the finals, I decided to go for it on August 16... just a day before the comp.