Final Flashback: Mummy @Large Skydive – A Rockstars Chronicle Spinoff

Posted on October 21, 2012 by admin
I picked skydiving in the first place because:
1) Back then I’d felt desperately in need of some “me” time. I would come home from a long work day and dump things in a bowl to eat while spending as much time as I could with Rockstar before bedtime (and even after – I would be with him while he slept til it was time for me to go to bed) – he slept quite late for a toddler and made it up with long naps in the day… After he slept and before he woke the next day I would express milk.
When Rockstar went into what I call his “octopus phase” – getting his hands in everything – I would literally come home exhausted and starving, and then he would want to examine my dinner bowl (though fortunately he didn’t try to eat any of it) and dig his hands into my dinner, exploring the textures. (I’d let him do it because I felt bad having already been away the whole day.)
I realize it’s a little funny that for “me” time I chose to jump out a plane, not go to a spa.
2) I thought jumping out of a plane required the least (a.k.a. no) preparation/ training in advance. Just gravity. Briefly considered bungee jumping but had heard the jerk of the elastic is worse on your back than say, that of a parachute. Also, I was more afraid of hitting something, bouncing about on the string.
So Sky dive Lake Wanaka:

We slept like 2 babies the night before…
(I’ve never been a good sleeper, but somehow the night before the jump was one of my best sleeps on the trip. Kings on the other hand, who can usually sleep anywhere and any time, told me he spent a sleepless night googling accident rates in general and the company in particular. He really is not one for doing this stuff.)
The morale providers (matching outfits a must) grab brunch before their services are required
(Note Kings’ worried face throughout; he however didn’t say anything til after I’d made the jump, after a couple initial questions that determined I badly wanted to do it and realizing if he said anything I’d pull out immediately – this is why I will never do it again.)
Me and my instructor (whom I met 10 mins before) about to board
Yup, it was claustrophobic in there
Getting strapped to my instructor (they only do tandem jumps)
View from the plane just before the jump
Sitting at the open plane door with feet dangling into space
(He’s pulling my head back on his shoulder for the jump)
And off we go!
(These pics are taken by another skydiver who jumps with us, with cameras attached to his helmet)
“… … …”
Is it too late to turn back?
There goes our ride
Which way is up?
In case you’re wondering, I found it very disorienting rather than scary – if you were falling from a plane for real it occurred to me you would probably not know what hit you in your last moments, because of the powerful rush of air, the cold wind and the general confusion. Another girl who was jumping with her boyfriend (she wanted to back out just before we got in the plane, her bf said “we paid all that money we are going through with it!” however told me later she was crying before and during the jump though, so maybe it’s just me. What bothered me the most was actually the cramped plane and worrying I would throw up under the parachute from motion sickness (I didn’t, but just barely – some of the people working there also said they throw up every single time they are coming down after the parachute has deployed btw, and recommended seasick pills)
Tiny chute to slow us down and take a few pics
So tha-at’s what 15,000ft looks like up close
Note: Flapping your arms does not seem to make you fly
I’m thinking I want to kill the briefing lady right now. Free fall does NOT feel like you’re floating – it feels like your face is being blown off. Also, I initially have no idea what my limbs are doing.
Ok, found my hands. Final photo op…
(I don’t know what I’m doing here)
Ok gotta go
HOW does he navigate like that, in virtual free fall?!
(You have to remember to keep your hands and fingers away from the ropes… Not as bad a jerk as I thought it would be though, when the parachute opens)
(This view is when the other diver with the camera attached to his helmet shoots down ahead of us because he hasn’t deployed his main parachute)
Guy With Camera On Head lands, then takes footage of us approaching…
Back at base, The Morale Providers are on a break (aka my supportive hub is entertaining the Rockstar while they wait for me to land)
Rockstar finds other entertainment (yes, I wasn’t the only mummy jumping)
Was determined to land on my feet and not fall over – Yippee, made it!
First thing I said when we landed was “It’s FREEZING up there!”
I Am Mummy, Hear Me Roar. Completed Jump Shot (gotta admire his enthusiasm – he says he does about 10 a day)
“Honey, I’m ho-oome…”
But Rockstar has moved on to more interesting things like shape sorting
(Blurry cellphone pic from my old Nokia that was about to pack it in)
“Adrenaline is Legal” – proudly wearing my dropshop hoodie
The End.
ps: Rockstar is just under 2 years old, in these pics
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5 Responses to Final Flashback: Mummy @Large Skydive – A Rockstars Chronicle Spinoff

  1. DoRaPrisCiLLa says:
    October 21, 2012 at 9:30 am

    I really really want to try skydiving but They have parasailing here in Sabah but skydiving not yet I guess..

    Great job Aileen 😀

    Reply
    • Aileen says:
      October 23, 2012 at 2:00 pm

      Hihi, skydiving (if u can travel) is relatively lo-commitment I think, in that you are just in the plane for 15 mins or so and then free fall is only about a minute before they deploy the parachute… It’s over quite fast, even if u r totally terrified!

      Reply
  2. mun says:
    October 21, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    Love the first photo of you and Rockstar – what a great bonding moment between mommy and son – super loves the smiles on both of you. Great job of the photographer capturing this special moment.

    Re: your sky diving – wow- you smile so much during the dive – in all the photos, you were smiling from ear to ear. I bet I won’t be smiling during the dive.

    What is your “me-time” event for Ms Rockstar this time?

    Reply
    • Aileen says:
      October 23, 2012 at 2:05 pm

      The smile is more like a grimace! But seriously I think it was cos I realized there was only about a minute of free fall to take pics, and watching the videos and looking at other ppl’s pics you can actually see that their faces are blown out of shape. If you grin like that your face doesn’t blow out of shape so easily! I wanted a good souvenir cos back then off time to travel like that in between work was so limited…

      If you just do one jump it’s ok though, but if you do repeated ones – note my instructor never shows his teeth. Cos the air is super dry and cold if you open your mouth…

      Haven’t thought of “me-time” for Ms Rockstar yet, just barely “surviving” especially as Rockstar is currently on a 1 week break from school. I’ll settle for getting to do pedicures again 😛

      Any suggestions for “me-time” tho? 🙂

      Reply
      • mun says:
        October 26, 2012 at 6:40 am

        suggestions for “me-time”? not exactly “me-time” but I know of mother-daughter manicure/pedicure or spa sessions – something you can do with Ms Rockstar when she is older. 🙂

        Reply

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