Looking back on 2008, part I

This is part I of our look at our lives in 2008. Other posts here:

Part II & Part III.

2008 was a big year for Jen and I. We got married, posted to Indonesia, visited Malaysia, and celebrated the wedding of Jen’s sister Sarah. It’s the time of year to look back a reflect on how things went in 2008, so I’ve put together a recap of our lives over the past year.

The year started off with a celebration at our wedding in Cuba. We were fortunate to have a lot of family members accompany us to the big day:

Not too long after, we had our second ceremony back in Ottawa. The first ceremony in Cuba was a secular declaration of marriage. For our second, we were fortunate to have a friend of the family (Kevin Dingwell) officiate the religious affirmation of our vows. It was a funny contrast seeing photos from Cuba and from Ottawa side by side:

In early March, after a long wait, we finally received confirmation of our posting to Indonesia. There wasn’t much time to sit back and enjoy the news, as we had a lot to do before we left in August. In the final countdown to our departure, I managed to get in visits with family in both Kingston and Nova Scotia. It was great to see everyone (and I hope some come to visit us while we’re out here). Here’s a shot from the Kingston visit:

After months of preparation (and lots of shopping), it was time to pack up our apartment and head out:

Mom and Dad were thankfully able to give us a ride to Toronto to see us off. Even though it was a sad time, I’m glad that we had a few hours with them before we left:

Our first stop on our Great Asian Adventure was in Korea – we quickly saw that some things are the same, no matter where you go:

When we got to Jakarta, our apartment was ready and waiting (and even bigger than we had imagined!):

We’ll stop there for now, but there’s a lot more big stuff to recap: trips to Thailand, Malaysia, and Lombok, as well as another wedding. Come back soon!

-Ryan

Bungy.

When I was planning my visit to Hong Kong, I figured that I should also make a trip out to Macau. Not only was it touted as the Vegas of Asia, but it is also the home to the tallest commercial bungy jump in the world. A big bonus is that it’s only an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong (a comfortable hydrofoil ride at that).

Macau itself is small, but not walkable by most people’s standards – well at least if you want to see the whole island in a day. The walk from the ferry terminal to Macau Tower was long, hot, and smoggy. You can actually just see the ledge I jumped off of towards the top of the tower – it’s the lip just under the satellite dish:

The tower is 338m high, with the sky deck (the level with the bungy jump) up at 223m. The elevator up has a glass wall, so you get some nice views of Macau in all its smoggy glory.

Once I got to the top, I quickly remembered why I love/hate bungy – I’m deathly afraid of heights. To be honest, just being 61 stories up was about the scariest part of my day. The thing is though, that this was my sixth jump at an AJ Hackett bungy site, and I’ve always felt really safe with their equipment and staff. According to their website, there have been over 2 million jumpers at AJ Hackett sites, and nobody has died (they don’t say no injuries, but nobody’s perfect).

Ready to take my chances again, I quickly changed into the shirt they gave me, and got fitted for the harness.

There was actually a couple ahead of me in line, but they were pretty nervous, and asked me to go before them. I was just looking forward to being on the ground again, so I happily obliged. The tensest moments for me were when I was all harnessed up and moved outside to be tied in. They had me sit on a wobbly metal table. Looking down off the edge of the platform was enough to make me nauseous.

Once they got me all tied in, it was time to go. It was a short but shaky hobble over to the edge, where we stopped for some photos:

Just before you jump, they drop the end of the bungy cord over the edge, and you feel it pull on your legs…my heart jumped. Then it was 5…4…3…2…1…go! Unlike other jumps I’ve done where you….jump, this time they told me to lean forward. You know the feeling you get when you lean your chair back so far you begin to fall back? Try that 233m in the air face first!

As soon as I got past the point of no return, I started screaming. Fierce, manly screaming. The whole way down. Really, I wasn’t scared.

The last time I did a jump (the Nevis jump in New Zealand), I was ready to go again as soon as I got back up. Not this time. Even the offer of 50% off wasn’t enough to tempt me to try it again. Maybe if I go back again some day, I’ll give it another go. Or maybe I’ll just wait until someone else builds a bigger, higher jump and go do that.

My jump off the Macau Tower was my scariest yet, but totally worth it. I was impressed again with the professionalism and attention to safety of all the AJ Hackett staff, and would definately trust them again.

-Ryan

More photos on Flickr.

Buddha.

Just a short post with some shots from our trip to the Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island in Hong Kong.

Tian Tan Buddha in the distance:

Mark climbing the 268 stairs up to see Buddha (it was a long, hot climb):

Close-up of the Buddha:

Proof that I made the climb up to the statue:

We grabbed lunch at the vegetarian restaurant attached to the Po Lin Monastery – really good, and cheap. The monastery itself was quiet and beautiful:

This gentleman was the only monk I saw at the monastery:

More soon.

-Ryan