Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Parasailing @ Ferringhi Beach, Penang

next to giving birth to three boys, this is definitely the craziest thing i've ever done : parasailing.

yes, i was strapped to a parachute with mr. khairul behind me, high up in the air and pulled by a boat. oh, and i was screaming my head off.

* * *

yeap. that's me and mr. khairul

oh, i still couldn't believe i did it!

parasailing, also known as parascending, is a recreational activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle (usually a boat) while attached to a specially designed parachute, known as a parasail. the boat then drives off, carrying the parascender into the air. the parascender has little or no control over the parachute.

~ wikipedia


paragliding is often confused with parasailing but here are the differences : though both involve a parachute-like canopy, the parasailer is pulled by a boat, whereas the paraglider takes off from hills or mountains and relies on air currents and winds to maintain or gain height.

did i mention i still can't believe i did it?

* * *

it was mr. khairul who was interested to try, and he managed to dragged me into it. man, this is what i get marrying an adventurous freak! he has done bungee jumping before while in the states, so this is so kacang la to him!


these are the steps we took before actually taking off into the blue sky :

  1. wear life jackets
  2. wear harness that must be properly strapped tight, because this harness is the one connecting us to the parachute, and the tow rope of the boat that will be pulling us



before flying off, the beach guy gave a 'briefing' - which i wasn't listening to, (but trying hard to look like i did! - complete with head-nod and frown!) because i was busy being scared crazy! what was i thinking getting into this! was it too late to escape? haha.


he gave the instructions clear, brief and very fast - well, having done this a million times, i was sure.

  1. the boat would take a few turns at sea
  2. once he gives signal to land, he'll shout 'tarik!' (pull!) and mr. khairul must immediately pull a yellow rope on his left side - this navigates the parachute to the left
  3. once near land, he will then shout 'lepas!' (let go!) and mr. khairul must let go of the yellow rope, or else we would end up smacking a tree!
  4. once inches above land, he will shout 'lari!' (run!) so that we would run, and avoid falling down flat on our bums!


i was already very nervous listening to the instructions - as i was imagining the flight, and the fall - and we haven't even went off the ground yet!


and then it became real to me - we're really doing this!

the boat slowly moved outwards to sea, and i watched in horror as the very long tow rope connecting us to the boat slowly unravel.

...which meant we'd be pulled UP by the boat any seconds now!


credit to mr. khairul's sister tina for this all the awesome shots, especially this one - where the parachute blew up big and flew us up in the sky!


...and there we were - to infinity, and beyond!

how would i describe it? scary. exhilarating. unbelievable. happy. crazy.

scary:
  • i couldn't look down. well, actually i did, and i decided i couldn't.
  • gile jauh dari laut. laut dalam. dalam sangat. ada jaws tak? takut!
  • when the boat swerved, the parachute swerved, and we swerved. aaaaghhhhh!

exhilarating:
  • i was doing something adventurous in the great outdoor. this was NOT me!
  • the feel of flying is indescribable
  • to be one with the wind around me, with the sky above me, with the sea below me

happy
  • i was up there with mr. khairul. he's strong, and he can swim. he's my man - nuff said!



bulan madu di awan biru
tiada yang menggangu
bulan madu di atas pelangi
hanya kita berdua!

...tiba-tibe gedebuk!


here's what i saw as we went down :

tiny people. or people looking tiny.
people waving.
people jumping up and down (and here, by people, i mean khaleef. haha)
people shouting, "tarik!", "lepas!" "lari!"

it was weird. i felt as if we were really gonna crash upon this island where there were already people who shipwrecked as well, calling and waving at us to come save them.

i felt like one of the casts in the tv series 'lost'.


sigh.

it was a fantastic experience, when i sat quietly and thought about it. and then i decided, hey - i would do it again!


thanks to brader man panjang, whose friendly smiles and attention to detail had provided us this unforgetable adventure upon the blue skies.

if you chance upon ferringhi beach, penang, do look for him for great price to parasail. believe me, whatever he quotes - it's cheap. to do parasailing in dubai marina, you have to pay triple of what he's charging!

* * *

mak ngan bapak bercinta di awan biru, budak-budak buat pe?


one swims. one plays with sand. one sleeps. yes, in that order.



* * *

khaleef with his aunty ya, and sisters tina and diyana

thanks again to mr. khairul's sis tina, for the pictures of us parasailing. yes! an unforgetable adventure indeed!

17 comments:

arin said...

menarik gak untuk di try kan...pheeww..

lina said...

hu yoooo, this activities syigim...you did it...smile..yeah coz ur hero is with you...if not will you do that?

Hanz Jamaludin said...

Just known u r back in Mesia! Until when, dear? Love to meet u.. :)

Salute u ada berani buat this kind of activity, if me..hehehe...mesti cuak jer..

ddfirdaus said...

waaa...serious nampak best.. I wanna try too...huhu

Cik Lily Putih said...

syigim,
sangat jeles okeh. memang impikan nak main bende nie lah

Fairus Basir from The Juggling Queen said...

wow, i kagum dengan u syigim!! tibe2 teringin pllak.. last outdoor i buat, flying fox, wall climbing. will i have the guts to do it?

Nadiah Sidek said...

beraninya syigim! huu..gayat la duk tinggi2 mcm tu

Hidayah Ismawi said...

Wow! Wow! Wow! Looks like amazing fun! Kudos for being brave enough to try it .. hehe

MY LATEST ENTRY: A close run in with the DBKL tow truck

Syigim said...

>> kak arin, mmg menarik! and tak setakut yg disangka sebenanye hihi tapi tunggu arin jr pop out dulu ye hihi

>> kak lina, true! my hero bersedia utk selamatkan kalo ape2hal hihi. tu psl less fear! ;)

Syigim said...

>> hanz, yeap in msia. SO many places to go, food to eat & ppl to meet. would love to meet any mombloggers if i have the chance. any mini gathering planned? ;)

>> dbalkis, mmg best. nampak je scary but once ur up there - WOW! hihi..

Syigim said...

>> ciklilyputih, dah jgn jeles. pi pantai mana2 & gi try. cepat-cepat! ;)

>> fairus, i ni dah la mmg bukan ourdoorsy type - so this was really crazy for me. do try, fairus. best!

Syigim said...

>> nadiah, sorang2 maybe takkan buat. but naik ngan my husband rasa protected le hihi. gayat of course! tapi still best! hihi cam ni la nk rasa terbang2.. hihi

>> hidayah, bravery after much coaxing from my husband! :P but it was worth it!

Michelle said...

Hello your three boys are so cute! :D

Anyway I chanced upon your blog when I was googling for parasailing in Penang! It seemed like you really enjoyed the trip! I'm actually scared of heights but I would like to try out parasailing when I visit Penang next month! May I know how much it cost per person or for a couple going up together? You sound very satisfied with your instructor! Which operator did you go to? Thank you!(:

Syigim said...

hi michelle! i love visits from readers like you who stumbled upon my blog while googling. thanks for dropping a comment!

i'm afraid of heights too! and still am! :P nways, sorry i really can't remember how much we paid - rm350 or rm250 for both of us. but definitely cheaper if i were to try it here in dubai :)

look for 'man panjang'. ;)

Michelle said...

Okay the price has definitely doubled! I was there 10 years ago and it was only RM50! Thanks so much!(: take care!

Unknown said...

Salam-u-alaikum.

I'm glad you had a great time in Penang. My family and I recently visited Batu Ferringhi and took the skies as well. Just wanted to let you know that we were really taken for a ride regarding prices for parasailing by the same person you in the pictures with you. We also paid RM 250 for two people, just like you. The ride actually only costs RM 100 for two people, as was confirmed through a cousin who visited a month earlier. I also checked other online blogs and they too were charged RM 100. I feel worse coz we had 3 couples go up and it cost us a whopping RM 750!!

In any case, I just wanted to let you know so that other users would not be misguided and duped by "Man Panjang".

Salam

Syigim said...

kundalam, thanks for dropping a comment!

REALLY?! and we thought we had a good deal! ow, man! lesson learnt!

thanks for the info :)

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