What was I thinking??!!!
I was trying out something new a few weekends ago.... actually, i'm quite surprised I even tried it, but probably due to the fact that my darling SL was away in Bangkok, leaving me with a weekend to twiddle my thumbs.... or so I thought.....
Friday night..... have dinner....catch a movie..... go out for drinks....... yeah, the normal boring stuff that people do on a Friday night.... I dont even go dancing these days (I think I really should try to resume my salsa nites again soon).....
So when the invite from my colleagues came to go rock climbing (actually it was actually wall climbing) in Camp 5, One Utama on a Friday night, I didnt have that many excuses to decline.... the "I'm feeling quite tired" excuse wasnt met with a forgiving looks from my colleagues, so there I was, finding myself in front of the Camp 5 counter, registering my name, and placing all my trust (and my life!!) in RL, we had both signed the agreement that I was not to climb the walls without her supervision as it was my 1st time.....
MS and MT were also there, and being seasoned climbers, MS showed me (rather belatedly too as they were nowhere to be found when we got there!!) how to create a figure 8 knot to get started.....
Climbing up the 1st few footholds was a piece of cake..... after awhile, then only did the rationale of the advice of not looking down became clear, as for someone who is afraid of heights, I could feel the confidence drain away.... and the other advice of putting up a hand, and then a leg, and then a hand and then a leg wasnt so straightforward anymore.....
The fear started kicking in, and while it was do-able to ignore the fear to go higher, I did reach that stage where I was high enough, such that the fear overcame all rationale thoughts, and I was scared silly, and just hanging there on the wall..... oh, and i was using up precious energy too, and tiring myself out, but the thought of falling just kept it impossible for me to move (upwards or downwards)......
Why oh why did I agree to come along for this stupid climbing outing..... "Come'on Zuf, its easy, just like climbing up a ladder" yelled Mark..... "Errrr, I dont climb ladders" was my reply.... silence...... ok, they didnt have any more advice to sooth my fear..... and I was losing my arms too.....
A minute later (based on some rather lousy time estimation), I was still hanging up there"I wanna give up, can I come down now??!!!" I asked.... rather hopefully..... "NO!!!!" was the empathic reply..... "But I've pulled a stomach muscle getting this far!!" I heard myself say..... "Rubbish, keep on going!!" was the reply.....
Fine, with my energy levels plummetting, I thought to myself, lets just go for it.... and so I started moving again, till I nearly reached the top.... "Are you happy now? Can I come down now??!!!" I yelled, almost hysterically..... "You need to touch the ceiling before we let you down."
What the hell, there I was, hanging in mid air, and they want me to touch the bloody ceiling..... Fine, up a step I go, bumped the ceiling with my head, and a round of applause broke out from my friends down there....
Phew, time to come down.....the thing is, to come down, I needed to let go of the walls and just hold on to the rope while leaning back and kicking into the wall while I go jumping down..... looks easy from down there, but from way up there? Let go of the rope, are you out of your blithering mind? Wont I just fall down?
"We've got you Zuf!!!" I heard them say....That's the thing with wall/rock climbing, the amount of fear rises exponentially the higher you go.... and it peaks when its time for you to come down..... when you just let go.....
With a huge sigh, I let go of the rope, felt my whole weight shift onto my back, and instantly my heart skipped a beat, this is crazy I thought, I'm actually falling!!! Before the rope holds me back in place, and I realise its actually ok, and all I have to do is kick the wall as I come down....
And down I came.... landing back on the ground, heaving a huge sigh of relief, before collapsing onto the floor, panting..... my arms had given way..... the laughter of my cruel friends, ringing in my ears..... ok, more like amused friends......
Would I go again? aiyo, why would I put myself through all that stress again.... but did I have fun? actually, I did, (when I wasnt feeling terrified)..... we'll see, never say never, I have been known to be a sucker for punishment.....
Friday night..... have dinner....catch a movie..... go out for drinks....... yeah, the normal boring stuff that people do on a Friday night.... I dont even go dancing these days (I think I really should try to resume my salsa nites again soon).....
So when the invite from my colleagues came to go rock climbing (actually it was actually wall climbing) in Camp 5, One Utama on a Friday night, I didnt have that many excuses to decline.... the "I'm feeling quite tired" excuse wasnt met with a forgiving looks from my colleagues, so there I was, finding myself in front of the Camp 5 counter, registering my name, and placing all my trust (and my life!!) in RL, we had both signed the agreement that I was not to climb the walls without her supervision as it was my 1st time.....
MS and MT were also there, and being seasoned climbers, MS showed me (rather belatedly too as they were nowhere to be found when we got there!!) how to create a figure 8 knot to get started.....
Climbing up the 1st few footholds was a piece of cake..... after awhile, then only did the rationale of the advice of not looking down became clear, as for someone who is afraid of heights, I could feel the confidence drain away.... and the other advice of putting up a hand, and then a leg, and then a hand and then a leg wasnt so straightforward anymore.....
The fear started kicking in, and while it was do-able to ignore the fear to go higher, I did reach that stage where I was high enough, such that the fear overcame all rationale thoughts, and I was scared silly, and just hanging there on the wall..... oh, and i was using up precious energy too, and tiring myself out, but the thought of falling just kept it impossible for me to move (upwards or downwards)......
Why oh why did I agree to come along for this stupid climbing outing..... "Come'on Zuf, its easy, just like climbing up a ladder" yelled Mark..... "Errrr, I dont climb ladders" was my reply.... silence...... ok, they didnt have any more advice to sooth my fear..... and I was losing my arms too.....
A minute later (based on some rather lousy time estimation), I was still hanging up there"I wanna give up, can I come down now??!!!" I asked.... rather hopefully..... "NO!!!!" was the empathic reply..... "But I've pulled a stomach muscle getting this far!!" I heard myself say..... "Rubbish, keep on going!!" was the reply.....
Fine, with my energy levels plummetting, I thought to myself, lets just go for it.... and so I started moving again, till I nearly reached the top.... "Are you happy now? Can I come down now??!!!" I yelled, almost hysterically..... "You need to touch the ceiling before we let you down."
What the hell, there I was, hanging in mid air, and they want me to touch the bloody ceiling..... Fine, up a step I go, bumped the ceiling with my head, and a round of applause broke out from my friends down there....
Phew, time to come down.....the thing is, to come down, I needed to let go of the walls and just hold on to the rope while leaning back and kicking into the wall while I go jumping down..... looks easy from down there, but from way up there? Let go of the rope, are you out of your blithering mind? Wont I just fall down?
"We've got you Zuf!!!" I heard them say....That's the thing with wall/rock climbing, the amount of fear rises exponentially the higher you go.... and it peaks when its time for you to come down..... when you just let go.....
With a huge sigh, I let go of the rope, felt my whole weight shift onto my back, and instantly my heart skipped a beat, this is crazy I thought, I'm actually falling!!! Before the rope holds me back in place, and I realise its actually ok, and all I have to do is kick the wall as I come down....
And down I came.... landing back on the ground, heaving a huge sigh of relief, before collapsing onto the floor, panting..... my arms had given way..... the laughter of my cruel friends, ringing in my ears..... ok, more like amused friends......
Would I go again? aiyo, why would I put myself through all that stress again.... but did I have fun? actually, I did, (when I wasnt feeling terrified)..... we'll see, never say never, I have been known to be a sucker for punishment.....
posted by zufar | 10:45 PM
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