swinging bunny
Sunday, August 26, 2007
It was raining this morning and I thought I had a reason to chicken out and sleep in instead. Kiasuism overwrote fear and so I sat up on my bed and wipe the sleep from my eyes and prepared to face the worst of my fears - heights. Bright and breezy morning, a bunch of us headed to Taman Pertanian in Shah Alam to attempt swinging from tree to tree ala monkeys. You can check it out here.
We had a brief practice session to enable us to get a hang of what to expect. My stomach knotted just staring at the ladder leading up the practice tree which was about 15 feet from ground. When my turn came, I sucked in my breath and climbed up the ladder, walked across the planks, swing from a rope to the cobweb net, hoisted myself up a few steps and fly fox to the ground. Phew, kid's play and made it with a few yelps and screams.
And so now for the real thing, which is a variation of what I've just done only at a higher altitude.
I stood below contemplating suicide in a faraway jungle. Just looking up at some of them hanging on for their dear lives made me queasy. Sure I was born in the year of the Rooster but I ain't come this far to chicken out. And so I dragged Yen to the starting point to swing it out.
The climb up nearly killed my arms and I was approximately 3 to 4 storey above ground level. I immediately hugged the tree like it was my mom when I reached the top. After what felt like hours, I reluctantly loosen my grip and attempted the first stunt. I tightrope across or zig-zag on planks, fly fox, swing from rope to rope like an acrobat all the while screaming like a banshee to complete 23 stops.
Here's me striking a pose mid-air to prove that I was indeed sweating it out.
Well, it was exhilarating. It was indeed scary at most times. Although I'm constantly attached to the safety harness, thoughts of slipping and falling down clouded my mind at times.
And now the ultimate question. Does this mean I have overcome my fear of heights? Unfortunately no. Will I bunny swing again? Perhaps.
Photos courtesy of Han, the guy who gave me the thumbs up for completing the task and later took us to a scrumptious seafood dinner at Carey Island.
We had a brief practice session to enable us to get a hang of what to expect. My stomach knotted just staring at the ladder leading up the practice tree which was about 15 feet from ground. When my turn came, I sucked in my breath and climbed up the ladder, walked across the planks, swing from a rope to the cobweb net, hoisted myself up a few steps and fly fox to the ground. Phew, kid's play and made it with a few yelps and screams.
And so now for the real thing, which is a variation of what I've just done only at a higher altitude.
I stood below contemplating suicide in a faraway jungle. Just looking up at some of them hanging on for their dear lives made me queasy. Sure I was born in the year of the Rooster but I ain't come this far to chicken out. And so I dragged Yen to the starting point to swing it out.
The climb up nearly killed my arms and I was approximately 3 to 4 storey above ground level. I immediately hugged the tree like it was my mom when I reached the top. After what felt like hours, I reluctantly loosen my grip and attempted the first stunt. I tightrope across or zig-zag on planks, fly fox, swing from rope to rope like an acrobat all the while screaming like a banshee to complete 23 stops.
Here's me striking a pose mid-air to prove that I was indeed sweating it out.
Well, it was exhilarating. It was indeed scary at most times. Although I'm constantly attached to the safety harness, thoughts of slipping and falling down clouded my mind at times.
And now the ultimate question. Does this mean I have overcome my fear of heights? Unfortunately no. Will I bunny swing again? Perhaps.
Photos courtesy of Han, the guy who gave me the thumbs up for completing the task and later took us to a scrumptious seafood dinner at Carey Island.
10:35 PM
1 comments
hmm?
