I had a great experience at
Macau's Great Tower and would like to share it with
you.
Bob asked me what I wanted to do
on his free day in Macau. He was there to attend the Chef de
Mission meetings with Gordon Chu for the East Asian Games in
late October. I said I wanted to see the historic sights and
one of the other sites I'd like to see is the tower we passed
during the Games Venue Tour on our second day there.
I didn't know about the
walk-around option available when I asked to see the
tower, so you can imagine my surprise and excitement when
I stepped outside on the back deck towards the ocean and
looked up to see a woman descending from the top. "What is
that? Bob! I want to jump," I said tugging at his shirt as I
realized what was happening.
"I thought you would," he said as
he grabbed for his wallet. I was so caught up in the upcoming
jump that I stood back and took pictures from the top and
through the next woman's descent.
I found out on our way up the
tower - them to return the jumpsuits and me to purchase the
right to jump - that the woman whose pictures I took as she
jumped, is Maria from the UK. She and her friend had jumped
twice and were completing their second jump when we arrived.
That's Maria's friend wearing the jumpsuit and watching her
land in gallery picture #8 above.
The Sky Jump is a new attraction
at the Macau Tower giving guests a 20 second
flight over the cityscape of Macau. From 233 meters above the
ground, guest take off from the outer rim of Macau
Tower. I learned after I jumped, that the
Macau Tower is 41 meters higher than Sky Tower
Auckland where the world’s highest bungy record was
created.
I knew none of this before I
jumped, and learned afterwards that the Sky Jump at
Macau Tower has only been in operation outside of one week and
that I am one of the first 300 to have jumped.
As I stepped out on the top
deck and directed to the sign-in counter, I was asked my
preference; jump, not walk I said. I signed a waiver
before I was handed off to an attendant who helped me into
a multi-colored-jumpsuit like Maria was
wearing.
As he helped me into a
harness and tightened the straps, I watched the
orange-jumpsuits walk around the outside deck as if they were
training for a moon-walk. Pretty mundane for my taste as
I excite thinking about the jump.
A Chinese man suited up
before me, so I watched him enter the crew pit
where three-foot-wide cable spool is mounted. A crew
member monitors and guides the rewinding cable in
preparation of the man's sky jump, as two attendants take
turns making sure the straps to the safety harness the
man is wearing are pulled snug and firmly around his
waist and shoulders. Then a crew member on the
outside deck named Ming, enters and guides him outside
where the gate is located.
Ming grabs a safety latch
and hooks it to the center loop of the harness on the
waist strap. He leans over the edge, grabs the BIG MAN, a
longer, thicker set of cables wrapped together in a
strong material and hooks that to a loop on the man's
back.
He calls out the checklist for
the inside crew assuring the harness is set in
place and guides the man to the gate. He tells the man that at 50 feet he'll stop his
fall to take a photo and asked that he look back up at him.
The man nods in agreement. Ming opens the door and leads the
man to the edge. He's gone is seconds.
I feel the
adrenalin enter my heart and I take a deep breath knowing
it'll be my turn soon.
The glass door
separating me and the crew opens and I step in. They repeat
the same process with me.
Out on the deck, Ming says,
"Don't worry Rlene," in his Macanese-American accent, "It's
safe," he says as our picture is taken by one of the other
attendants.
He yells back the checklist
and asks me, "Are you ready Rlene?" But he really does
not want an answer. He opens the gate, and tells me to
put my hands on the top bar of the railing, as the gate
swings open in front of me.
I hesitate. "Ming, this does not
feel right," I said standing there with nothing in front of me
but the concrete below.
"Rlene, look over
there, look at Hong Kong," he said pointing towards
nothing but smog in the distance. I said, "Hong Kong
moved, Ming."
"You will be fine. Trust me
Rlene," Ming assures me.
"No Ming. This does not feel
right. I do not want to do this," I said, standing at the
edge with the gate wide open. As Ming assures
me, he starts to close the gate and talks the calm back
into me. I don't hear Ming - the only thing rushing
through my mind is that jumping off the tower or building
is suicidal and it felt wrong.
I found
myself feeling very differently than when jumping with Sky
Dive Cairns' Sean out of a perfectly good airplane at 14
thousand feet in Australia. That was pleasurable. Natural.
This didn't have the same peaceful sense to
it.
Ming said, “You can't come this
far and turn back." Before I could draw up the fight in me, I
heard the loud sound of applause and cheering and
realized that everyone on the top floor had
gathered behind us and was cheering me
on.
"Don't do that," I
said waving at them and smiling.
With that, I turned around, faced
the open expanse and leaned
forward.
"Rlene, look at me," Ming yells
from above as I am suspended at 50 feet below in a spread
eagle. "I can't," I yelled back, "My head does not turn that
way."
The cable is released
and I started a pleasurable descent, slowing down
about 30 feet to the bottom and landing softly on my feet
right on target. Bob's eyes are the first things I see as I
hit the landing pad. He is laughing his nervous Bob laugh.
Relieved it's all over and he's right were I left
him.
Our attaché Andrew,
driver Kit and Bob greeted me at the exit. Andrew
said, "You are crazy lady. Bob said you are scared of heights,
then why you jump?" He asked.
"Because I want to beat the
fear," I answer, not expecting him or anyone else to
understand. In this case, the people on the top floor gave me
the courage to beat the fear that day.
After celebrating 19-years
of marriage in Macau that weekend, and 23 years
together, Bob knows how important it is for me
to overcome fear. I forwarded this article to friends and
business associates, and when they see Bob they ask him why he
didn't jump. "I have no desire to do things like that,"
he replies. And, probably something like, "There's nothing
wrong with my mind," Bob's common response to
unnerving challenges
that tug at me.
What is brave? To
jump or not. Which is braver? She who jumps or he that jumps
not? Is there not strength and determination in both?
Contrasting, yet similar.
Bob's
a pretty good sport actually. Finding himself at the TOP of
the Sydney Harbour Bridge when we were
there for the 2000 Olympics, after he said he will not climb
and I could go at it alone if I wanted. He must have had
enough time to think it over - we climbed together - at the
front of the line, rather than at the back where he is
accustomed.
Andrew and Kit wanted to know
what Bob thought about my jumping from about 700 feet as they
waited for me below. "I hope they slow that thing down
before it hits the ground," he told them.
As reported in SINA's website, Aj
Hackett chided reporters,
"You must jump before reporting," he said
chuckling when asked about his flight
experience after landing from his Sky Jump at Macau
Tower.
So,
now, after having completed the same feat as Aj Hackett only
nine days afterwards, I earn the right to ask, "Do you have
what it takes?"
Don't forget to send
pictures.
:) R
