Woohoo!!! Wakeboarding!!

YES!!! After so much stories of wakeboarding.. I finally get to try it out Saturday. And really, it wasn't as easy as it looks on the videos and movies.

It all started when on Friday, I was told that my initial plan to skydive was cancelled as the Malaysian instructors pulled out. :(.. I was feeling bummed out... when Pris, my pharmacists friends suggested that I go wakeboarding with her and her cousin Eileen... I said yes!!! and was superbly esctatic .... and here we go wakeboarding. yayy!!

Now, wakeboarding has been around for quite some time now, but only recently has its popularity grown immensely. It's the extreme water sports that is akin to snowboarding and skateboarding, only that it's done on water and there is a boat pulling you forward. Falling down in wakeboarding is not as bad as in snowboarding and skateboarding, with the water to cushion your falls. That said, it can still cause abrasions and broken bones if one is not careful enough breaking the fall, especially at high speeds.

So, on Saturday, we met at 9.15am at the Punggol MRT station (I was ...sigh... as usual 15 mins late), and off we went to the Punggol Water Ski-area. It was quite deep in and took about 10 mins by car, so I can imagine no buses ever going there for now. Our instructor, Edward (Eileen's coach) greeted us at his boat as we hopped in and make ourselves comfortable. Soon we were off, far from the jetty towards a quiet spot at the river.

Eileen started off first, and she was superb. She was practising her wake-jumps (1 and 2 wake jumps) and pulled them off flawlessly. After each jump/fall, Edward would give his comments on how to improve it. Seems that it takes lotsa skills and practice to get it done properly sans getting injured, but it looks amazingly cool, nevertheless.

Next up were the newbies (Pris and me). Pris went first. Ok, safety vest on and she strapped on the board. Then, Edward gave some instructions and short coaching on getting up on the board in the water. First: relax. Second: don't pull the rope, let the rop pull you. Third: squat, stand, turn. hehe...sounds easy right.... haha... wait till you try it. Keep your knees close to each other but keep them about shoulder width apart. Put your elbows around your knees. Alritey then, into the water. The water was murky and oily as we were quite close to the industrial sites, but oh well, once your inside, it doesn't matter anymore :) Holding onto the rope, Pris was now floating in the murky water. The boats engine starts.. and slowly first we went.... the rope tension builds.... and starts to pull on Pris... eeks... oops... she fell in... hmm... ok first mistake... knees too close to each other. Okay, try again..dun pull the rope... and again.. darn... the nervous feeling starts to build in me... take a deep breath ... think zen... relaxx....

After about 30mins, Pris managed to squat on the board .. :) not too bad... From what Edward told us, some can't even do that after 2-3 lessons... ok... my turn next. :) feeling anxious now... ok... put on the safety vest.. and strap on the board- chk... short lesson -chk... hold on to the rops- chk.. into the water- chk..ready position-chk. Alright, the boat starts up.. and the tension in the rope builds up.. hehe.. ok relax, relax.. dun pull the rope.. and here I go... yes!!! managed to at least squat a while...before falling in the water.. :P.. ok.. dun give up now. Second try.. longer squatting :)... ok.. after about 8-9 tries, managed to stand up a bit.. and finally hold on for a while (2-3 secs) at the end of 30mins :).. yayy!!!!.. I was feeling great!!! It felt fantastic to just relax and let the boat do all the work while feeling the air rushing through my damp hair and clothes.. before falling flat, face first, into the water again... and again.. .hahhaha :)

All of us went on a second round... and this time Eileen managed to pull a brilliant 2 wake jump, and Pris managed to get her 3 secs of fame. hehe..I managed to hold on longer this time, but still have a problem of my butt sticking out while trying to balance myself. Doesn't look cool enough.. hehe... it's not easy to balance as you can't really pull on the rope but just balance using your lower body.. like in skateboarding. hehe.. well at least I got my 3 secs of fame too :).. hurrah!! hurrah!!!

whoa.. after about ?1hr each.. it was 12 plus already.. :) time to head back. My face was sunburnt (SKII to the rescue later at home) and my skin tanned again. My arms were achy, my tummy growling... but it was well worth it. Wnet off to Cafe Cartel at PS to eat (got free flowing bread, mah) and had delicious Pork Ribs.. mmm.... ahh... yummy... Slept the whole day after that and only woke up in the night. :)

Hmm.. how shall I end this.... Well, wakeboarding was so much fun. My arms are still achy from the DOMs, my back hurts abit (poor core muscle power) and my skin dry from the burns.. but I would go through all this again to wakeboard again... which I hope would be this coming weekend. hehe...okies.. thanks Pris and Eileen for the great time... and hope to wakeboard with you guys again in the near (very near) future ;) hehe...

Chk out the pics and video on Picasa : http://picasaweb.google.com/jonie81/081108WakeboardingPunggol#

So to all out there, trudge on... and alw give sth new a try.. who knows, you might end up liking it