Wednesday 19 August 2009

skytrex challenge!

last weekend, N and i went for another session of our 'sanity-gaining' activity --> skytrex adventure!

there are 3 courses to choose from (copied from their official website):

1. Little Adventure
This little circuit consists of 15 adventure challenges with difficulty level ranging from “easy“
to “difficult“. The challenges are named after common animals behavior such as “Tupai Terbang“ (Flying Squirrel), “Rangkak Cicak“ (Crawling Lizard), “Jungkit Arnab“ (Hopping Rabbit) and many more. End the activity with the “Selam Badak“ (Diving Hippo) which takes you across a lake to the finishing point. The various challenges is guaranteed to keep the children, and also the less adventurous adults, busy but happy throughout the day.


Time to complete: Approximately 0.5 hour for each round. Each group is entitled to 2 hours (max) of unlimited rounds
Minimum height requirement: 1.1 m

Maximum weight:
100 kg


2. Big Thrill

This circuit consists of 23 thrilling challenges with various level of difficulty raging from
“easy“ to “very difficult“. With some of the platforms reaching the height of 17 meters, feel the adrenaline while crossing the “Crazy Zig-Zag“ and flying on the “Sky-crawl“ at the Bermuda Triangle. Hold your breath while crossing “The Earthquake“, test your ability to leap at the “Happy Hopper“ and end the adventure with the grand finale, the 100 meters “Wild Revenge“ which will take you to the finishing platform at an exhilarating speed.

Time to complete: 1.5 hours to 2 hours
Minimum height requirement: 1.4 m

Maximum weight:
100 kg


3.
Extreme Challenge
This new circuit is the latest addition to the park and boasts 21 extreme challenges with some platforms reaching the height of 22 meters. *update* EXTREME CHALLENGE open its door to its 1st batch of customers on 23rd May 2009!

Time to complete: Approximately 2 hours
Minimum height requirement:
1.5 m

Maximum weight:
100 kg


we did the big thrill, because little adventure is for kids and extreme challenge needs a lot of upper body strength, which we think is not for us. ok, i'll let the pictures tell the story...


the skytrex shuttle that transfered us from the entrance of taman pertanian malaysia,
shah alam, to the skytrex adventure site. that's N with her face mask there...


after a 10 minutes bumpy ride, we've arrived!


checked-in, paid for 2 pairs of gloves (RM3/pair), got ourselves
1 locker (RM5 refundable deposit), and went to gear-up...


before anything, we have to listen to the safety briefing at the training ground...


there were about 10 of us in our time slot (10am), and as N and i were the last to arrive
(no, N did not oversleep or came late this time! heheh...), we had to go last.
so while waiting for our turn at trying out the things
that we're about to put ourselves thru, we took photos.
me: "this is a safety karabiner (the longer one)"


the only photo of us together that day!


N can't get over the colour of my shoes...
N: "dear, ur shoes are very very dirty or they're just brown in colour???"


after a "one-two-som" with N, at which i lost
(loser had to go first!), here's me climbing up for the training...


tree-hugging moment... if we're getting acrophobia now, wait till u see the actual one we had to climb up!


they have these signs all over, with cute and funny names for the challenges... this is for climbing up the ladder...


we have to always ALWAYS remember to hook ourselves to the safety wire once we reach onto any platform. it's not really clear here, but for the challenges, this is how we should hook our pulleys and karabiners. pulley first, then unhook the shorter karabiner from the safety wire and hook it onto the pulley, and lastly unhook the safety karabiner and hook it onto the wire behind the pulley...


after the training, it's time for the real thing. but again, we had to wait our turn... so while waiting,
we hijacked this hammock! ok, not really. it was empty, because everyone else had already gone off!


see, THIS is the real thing! the climb itself is enough to make our legs go jelly... it was a dem tiring climb up!


N and i made a pact to take turns to go first so that we can take photos of each other, instead of just one
of us having photos taken from the front and the other of photos taken only from the back. ingenious plan, huh?


i forgot to wear my gloves when i start to climb, and the gloves fell out from my pockets
while i was halfway up! so the trainers sent them up... it's that black speck thing tied to the ropes there...


the first challenge was easy enough - walking thru this net thingy


here's me showing off...
me: "see, can't fall one!"


more ladders to climb!


luckily just a short one...


next challenge...


walking on thin pieces of zig-zag planks...


N right behind me. see how high up we were...


this is next...


i think in this challenge, we were supposed to be pulling ourselves along the knotted rope
while being suspended onto another rope. but the trainer person asked us to just do the flying fox...



here's me in action!


next challenge... thrilling trunk??? what so thrilling abt it?


this one is not really challenging lar... (chewah, so 'action' hor?)


next is air bridge... it's like a series of see-saws, but suspended high up in the trees!


we have to cross this wobbly bridge... a bit scary...



see how N does it. after a while, we got the hang of it lar...
step to the next rung while we're on the front swing...


here's me showing my scardy-cat face! hehehe...


N made me point to the other side for this pic. it's flying fox again, but a longer one...


one thing we learnt for flying fox is to sit on
our harness before setting off. it's less scary this way...



here's N waking up all the monkeys and elephants and the rest of the animal kingdom
in the whole of bukit cherakah forest (where the taman pertanian is located)...


some challenges are easier than others...


both N and i agreed that this is the most difficult challenge!
N: "happy hopper?!? not happy at all!"



it's my turn to go first. what we have to do is, grab hold of the rope hanging perpendicular from a vertical rope on top, swing ourselves to the next rung and faster grab the next perpendicular rope in front! it's really hard work! i only managed to go up to the middle of the 'bridge' before i was too tired to go on... ok, everyone can stop staring at my butt now! :P

N's turn to swing...


she also didn't manage to finish the challenge. we took the 'cheating' way, walking the rope! kekeke...


next challenge was a blessing, after the 'happy hopper'!


just hold on to our pulley on top and walk across these planks...


next is the 'crazy zig-zag' again... but a longer one


after a series of flying foxes of varrying length,
we arrived at this! we have to swing ourselves down...


...bang our bodies against this big ass net thing, bounce off...


...and when we swing back a 2nd time, we've to grab hold and hang onto the net...
here's me trying climb my way up to the platform. do i look like a spiderwoman? hehe...


the skydeck area, an ideal place for picnics to replenish ourselves after all the burnt calories!
uncle-next-to-us-in-the-shuttle-bus: "burned 1000 calories, but eat back 2000 calories after that! how lar, lidat?!"


this is the little adventure course, for kids...


phew... that was great fun! but would i do it again? hmm... not in the near future! maybe in another 2-3 years... maybe they'll have new and more exciting things to try out by then!

Thursday 6 August 2009

more videos of chewie...

took out my old phone and was looking through my gallery when i came across these videos of chewie at abt 5 months old...




the "come" command. an obedient dog will:
1) recognize their name
2) come running when called
3) sit quietly in front of you when it reaches you, instead of jumping up or stand up on its hind legs on your legs (or chest for bigger dogs!)




in trying to burn out all her excess energy after being cooped up in the cage the whole day, i played fetch with her nearly everyday when i got home. but after a tiring day at work, i don't wanna be running around picking up her toys or running after her trying to wrestle back the toy from her. so here's what i taught her to do:
1) run to get the toy like it's the best game in the world!
2) run back to me with the toy
3) drop the toy at my feet when reach me
4) sit down patiently for the "good girl" cue and her treat

later i taught her to put the toy into my hand when i say "give". hehehe... but no video of that...




out of a fit of fancy, i taught her to bow! can't really see here, coz there weren't anyone to take the video for me at the time. so had to take these closed-up ones myself... anyway, at the "bow" command, she'll lower her 2 front legs onto the floor and rest her chin in between her legs, while her rump is still up! dem cute lar, this trick! everyone who saw it was deeply impressed! even the coaches at the obedient school have not taught this trick... hehe...

read also:
1) some updates on chewie
2) a more obedient pup?
3) chewie's first day at school
4) chewie at 4 months +