i must be crazy

"I must be crazy to do this"

The events leading towards me saying that sentence started with me driving to Birmingham in the fading light of Friday. My friend (Zul, a Malaysian) and his house mate (a Slovak) are leaving Birmingham soon. A last visit was in order before they move.

Zul invited me to join a farewell dinner organised by his office mates. His colleague picked us up and drove us to Nandos restaurant at Star City. I was happy to be part of the celebration. The banter during dinner was great. I did not contribute much to the back-and-forth verbal exchanges, but I can see why Zul was happy working in Birmingham. During dinner, somebody made a suggestion, perhaps jokingly, of taking the fun fair rides outside the restaurant. In my heart, I was saying, "no way, jose."

But the jokes turned into reality. The guys were serious about taking the rides, only two of which are still opened. We even got to enter for free, considering it was past 10pm and only visitors were sparse. Dreading what would happen, I took a good look at the two rides: Tango and Reverse Bungee. Which would be more agreeable to my full stomach? The Tango spins and swings for much longer than the tumbling action of the reverse bungee. So, I decided for the bungee.

It looked positively scary. I tried to block as much thoughts as possible, especially of the Solero Shot ride at Genting Highlands. I joined Zul's half-Spanish friend for the two-person ride. As the ride attendant strapped me securely on the seat, I said to my ride mate, "I must be crazy to do this."

Without much warning, we were shot upwards. The spherical cage rolled on its horizontal axis, sending the two screaming inhabitants upside down half of the time. I swore I've screamed my lungs out, as if letting out the horror violently outwards from the pit of my gut. But it was not all bad horror; I actually screamed for being satisfied as well.

All in all, is was one heck of a ride. I'm glad that no body did a good job of containing all fluid inside, other than some saliva that seemed to evaporated into the atmosphere. The Nandos chicken were safe. But my knees were shaking for a good part of 15 minutes. Wow.....what an adrenaline rush. It is not often I do something like this. But it was more than just fun: it was cathartic. The fading light of Friday gave way to a laughter-filled black night.

Adios Zul and Ivan! Thanks for the company and good times.