Friday, May 21, 2010

Defying Gravity in Subic





Nice to have exercised my inner potty mouth.
I was dangling 80 feet above ground. The trees below were reduced to the sizes of small broccolis. The two bars and harness felt flimsy compared to the crushing power of gravity.  
When I was yanked backward along a 200 meter cable… I tossed every expletive there is my wind numbed brain could not even process. 
Why did I sign up for this? Oh right, I wanted to conquer my tiny fear of heights… and maybe have fun along the way.
Then we stopped… it was really a pause.. wait for it.. any minute now..
Another almighty tug. This time I am hurtling head first into the air… the flapping greens of the forest blurring.. calming me somewhat..
Heck.. I can do this. Heck. This is fun.
 
And just when I was starting to have fun, the Zipline  stopped.
Time to get off.
*
Never again, the Silver Surfer ride is not for me.  I enjoyed the first few seconds of it.. standing while traversing the air was the way to travel.
But why oh why when we reached the height of 80 feet the machine stopped and started to vibrate… almost bucking me out from my foot hold.  Close my eyes.. shit shit shit.. not helping… this will be over soon.
     The best part? When the ride ended and I realized I didn’t pee in fear like the way I imagined.  When I stepped on level ground, my knees were shaking so bad. I ordered my knees to stop wobbling, but they still kept on.  So this is what "weak-kneed" feels like.  
*
So the top three things I got out of our company outing?
1)      Subic is not just about duty free.  It’s also about beaches, ziplines, and go karts.
2)      If at first you don’t succeed, sky diving is not for you. 
3)      The scariest step is the first one.  I am glad because not only did I dare to defy gravity, but I dared defy my fear with knees shaking. =)