Skytrex Extreme Adventure

Some time in June Ben posted some of his Skytrex photos on FB, and that got me really interested. Of course I've been told about it before, but it never quite sparked my interest because no one invited me to go :P

This time Ben asked if I'd like to join them for their next session in July, and I promptly agreed! Also I tried extending the same invitation to a few others, but only Lyne decided to join us. So in total there were 9 of us :)

We paid RM3 at the entrance of the Taman Pertanian, then waited about 10 minutes for the Skytrex shuttle to arrive. On the bus they'll do a headcount and check against their booking list, priority is given to those who have booked a slot.

As soon as we arrive, we immediately proceeded to the registration counter and got ourselves a pair of gloves each. Personally I didn't think their gloves were sufficient, I still had some minor blisters at the end of the trek. And yes, this is almost as good as a pair single-use gloves. Don't expect to be able to reuse them, because depending on how hard you hold on to the cables or harness, it would have been completely ruined t by the time you finish.

Lyne showing off her pair of RM3 gloves, you'll need them!

Once we gao dim our registration, we were required to put on our safety harness. Don't worry, there will be experts to help you put them on correctly. Coincidentally there were a big bunch of school children that day to try on the "Little Adventure". While I was starting to regret my presence there, the children was all excited and did not show any sign of fear.

Lyne being fitted with a set of safety harness

After that we were taken to the Initiation/Jump Start circuit. Here we were all given a briefing on how to use the carabiner, pulley and all the do's and don'ts in the circuit. Everyone was required to try out their simple trail and get used to hooking the carabiner and pulleys on the cables. It's VERY important to have at least one carabiner hooked at any one point in time, so that if you do fall, there's something to hold on to you! Safety first!

Our instructor demonstrating the ways to use the carabiner

In only less than 5 minutes, we completed the trial circuit. And now for the real thing! The first challenge was to climb this flight of ladder. Trust me it's tiring! I was already panting eventhough I was only halfway up. Serves me right for not having a heavy breakfast before I came (as recommended by Ben). Only had 2 pieces of digestive biscuits and a glass of milk. Yikes! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go straight to the Extreme Challenge before first trying the Big Thrill *sweat*.

There were about 4-5 of ladders of this height throughout the circuit

Immediately after climbing this ladder we were to do a Flying Fox (FF). Indeed it was very scary. Not only would this be the longest of the whole track, it was also very very high (there are higher ones later, but much shorter distance). But later I wished that they had more FF along the way (as a mean to skip some of the challenges). The whole thing was getting very tiring (especially since I didn't have a proper breakfast) and dragged too long. Partially because we were held back by "traffic jams" created by the earlier groups. Only a maximum of 3 persons is allowed on each platform and a maximum of 1 person on each challenge at any one time.

Some of the challenges that you can expect to see at the Skytrex Extreme Challenge

Basically I completed the whole course without chickening out at their 'Ayam Exit', with an exception of the monkey bar which was at the beginning of the circuit. I knew I didn't have enough upper body strength nor did I want to exhaust myself completely when I still had 80% of the challenges waiting for me! So I kinda cheated and did the FF instead.

Me on the flying fox (photo courtesy of Darry Lum)

Also at the very end I had to be "rescued". That particular challenge was extremely difficult, and without a proper upper body strength and technique it was difficult to get through. We can choose to skip this with a FF, but I decided to give it a try. I only managed to cross about 75% of this particular part before having one of the guys on the platform pull me up because I was taking too long and was simply too hungry... ermm... I mean too tired to continue :P (food...I need food!!)

My rescue at the last leg of the circuit

It was a great sense of achievement having completed the whole thing. Really, I mean it. Never mind about the pain that follows the very next day. I enjoyed every moment of it, and wouldn't mind doing it again. In fact, Ben said he is planning another one in October! Yep, I'm going again!

Look! It's not that scary after all - I can still laugh right?
(photo courtesy of Darry Lum)

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered

TW, Susan and I at Low's Peak (4095.2 m above sea level)

Details to follow later :)

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Helping Eric and Elio with the water hose

Today our school made a trip to the Balai Bomba Pandan Indah. It was SO much fun! It was also my first time to the fire station, so it was really interesting. We got to ride in the fire engine as well! Of course it was just a short ride around the station but nonetheless, it was an unforgettable experience.

Towards the end of the visit, the children got a chance to handle the water hose, and all the children were completely drenched! No, not from holding the hose, but from running under the water sprays :D I wished I could join them, unfortunately we teachers did not have clothes to change into if we DID get wet... :P

After all the calories burnt at the fire station, we pigged-out at Hajime, a Japanese restaurant, not too far from the school. It was Jenny's treat! Thank you Jenny, it was yummy! ;)

Just a fraction of what we had for lunch today!

All in a days work! ;)

April's Fools

The fools went over the mountain,
The fools went over the mountain,
The fools went over the mountain,
To see what they could see.

And all that they could see was

Grey clouds covering the sky
Then rain pouring down their heads
Getting all soaked from head to toe
Was all that they could see.

(Sing to the tune: The Bear Went Over the Mountain)

Normally, we would skip the our weekly hill trekking if we sense a rainstorm ahead. Funnily today we didn't, and just short of 3 minutes to reaching the top, it started to rain. Mom, dad and their friends were not too far from the starting point, so they retreated almost immediately. But poor Sebastian and myself were about 20 minutes away. The rain got heavier as we were going downhill, and both of us were completely wet from head to toe.

It was really fun actually, I can't recall the last time I actually walked under the rain without an umbrella... :) Reminds me of my trekking trip at Mulu National Park in 2003 with Hong Teng. Sebastian and I had to be very careful as water came pouring down the slopes and his shoes didn't have a very good grip.

It continued to rain cats and dogs, even after we reached the starting point. All I could say is we looked like "chicken in the soup" (lok tong gai), completely drenched. Thank goodness none of us caught a cold!

3...2...1...Blast Off!

It's our school field trip to the Planetarium today! Last 2 weeks the children had their chance to make their very own space T-shirt to be worn during this trip. The teachers, too, thought that it would be a good idea to have one each, so we got ourselves a plain black-T each and decorated it too! Thanks to Lyne for helping us to make such a beaauuuuuuuuutiful Space-T! Gam siah!

Not just any Space-T

If you look carefully, Sandra's Space-T shows a space shuttle taking off from the Earth, then passing through my shirt (half of the Earth is on my Space-T), before landing on the moon on Lyne's Space-T. Ain't that cool??? :D