Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Pulau Ubin

Being the only gal (again), I didn't in particular look forward to it. I wasn't that I didn't learn my lesson from diving. But it was more tiresome to wait for a gal to join me, so I could do what I wanted. Actually, there was almost another, I was hopeful but alas, the vaccancies were taken.

It has never been my favourite activity. It's quite meaningless to climb all the way up so I could get down on a descender. The thrill stales. Period. An afternoon out in the hot sun despatching people feels just so-so. No doubt, you do feel motivated when you see excited faces. You certainly need patience to coax as well. I still have much to learn.

The exciting part of it comes in the design. How a mere few ropes could be configured so its the safest and most secure way to enjoy the activity. How the same few ropes and basic techniques could be configured to save someone.

At a 3-storey height and hanging by a rope with nothing but empty space around you, you think extra long and extra hard when you want to remove anything. Let your imagination run a little wild and you start imagining yourself as a pancake with strawberry syrup on the bare ground.

It's about you, you and your equipment. A wrong step could potentially cause you your life. So, learn to save yourself, very well. Prior to this, I never thought too hard about requiring at least 2 safety backups except that it was correct and had to be done. No, its not that I didn't understand the part about "if one fails, you have another". Add fear to that equation, I finally understood the criticality.

I never thought myself to have a fear of heights but it is only human to fear height. In fact, you should start to worry if someone comes to you, wants to abseil and does not fear height. The fear of falling is more than just real.

The weekend felt like the longest weekend I've spent in a long time. It was a long day which started early in the morning and ended at 11pm on Saturday. I learnt a lot. At the end of 2 days, it certainly feels good to be back on your own bed.

I'm going back to see the "Jay-Chou-look-alike" (which I hardly think so) next weekend. Just hope I don't have to get stuck at a height of 10m again :P

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 1:52 AM with 0 comments