Adrenalin Junkie Challenge (Genting Highlands)

What makes you an Adrenalin Junkie? (in less than 20 words)

“Fear” is not a word in my dictionary and “scary” has been erased permanently from my vocabulary

With that slogan, I was selected to be one of the 20 lucky people to participate in the inaugural Adrenalin Junkie Challenge in Genting Highland Theme Park last Friday!

We were warned that it was not just a easy peasy ride in the park. We had to perform tasked while on the 7 exciting rides in Genting Theme Park!

Only 15 of us turned up at The Star office on Friday morning. We departed to Genting Highlands in a chartered coach around 9:00am, after having a photo session with The Star photographer.

The journey was pleasant, not much traffic. So managed to catch some winks in the coach.

We were warmly received by the Genting Theme Park mascots in the cool Genting air. After getting the indemnity form signed and changed to out Genting T-shirt, we were all ready to go for the rides of our lives!

BTW, in order to get "certified" an Adrenalin Junkie and grab the goodies, we had to go on all rides with at least 4 tasks completed! So, the pressure was on!

First stop! The Flying Coaster.

It is not what you get when you ask your dad who is across the kitchen for something to put your cold drink on. (Hahah! I know, lame joke!)

The Flying Coaster is a hang-gliding roller coaster. It swoops, twists, zooms and drops! It was like Superman except you are all buckled up in a cage like Hannibal Lecter.

If you wanna get technical - the ride lifts the flyer to a height of 20 meters and releases the flyer to a hang gliding flying experience over 391 meters of the track length, with a maximum speed of 25.7 mph.

The task? Blow a balloon to at least 20cm diameter while on the ride. Simple?

It was my first time taking this ride. So, I didn't know what to expect. As soon as the Flying Coaster started to move, I quickly blew into my balloon. To my horror, it busted with the first blow! They should provide us with technically tested rubbers (erm....re: condom grade) that doesn't burst or pop at the peak of the excitement. LOL!

Well, since my task was ruined, I might as well enjoy the ride! It was fun fun fun all the way! Hope to do better in the next ride.

Second ride: The Rolling Thunder Mine Train.

Like the name suggests, the runaway train dives and plunges through a darkened cave mine ala Indiana Jones.

The task? To memorize a tongue twister!

After the twists and the turns in the hair-raising ride, not only the tongue, everything else also got twisted!

All I could say was "a big blugh blugh bit blugh blugh.....Heheh! OK...I managed to get it right on the second try. Phew!

Next stop: Sungai Rejang Plume Ride.

For those who can still recall the Geography lesson, Sungai Rejang is the longest river in Malaysia. Located in Sarawak and famous for the man eating crocodile - Bujang Senang. Nope, no crocodile to fear in this ride, though.

The fear factor comes from not only one but two drops into the water from jaw dropping heights. Major water splashes assured!

Our task: To keep a piece of A-4 paper dry. No folding. No creases.

Some rolled the paper and tuck it into their shirts. Me? I just slipped it on my back between my two T-shirts. Yup...I wore two T-shirt because it was quite cold in Genting Highlands.

It was drizzling outside! I was very worried that my paper would get wet as our "boat" snaked its way into the river ride. Then, the slow climb! I was holding on dearly to the boat as it climbed the steep ascent before the first plunge.

Then....S.P.L.A.S.H!!!!

Water water everywhere! LOL! I was praying that my paper was still dry.

Then, one more time....S.P.L.A.S.H!

I was pretty sure that I would fail that test!

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised that not a single drop of water found on my piece of paper! It was a good idea to put the paper on my back because my front was wet, especially my chest and my thighs were wet.

We went indoor after the Sungai Rejang Plume Ride.

Fourth ride: Euro Express

It is the first indoor rollercoaster for Genting Theme Park. It looked pretty mild compared to the rides we had earlier.

Here, we played the spotting games. We had to spot the three Genting Theme Park Mascots poster. Having memorized their names earlier, I was quite confident that I could nail this task easily.

So we spotted Benny - The Clown, Joe - The Monkey and Geno - the dinosaour. Easy peasy. :)

From the indoor theme park, we moved to the outdoor theme park again.

Fifth Ride: The Corkscrew.

The Corkscrew is the only double-loop roller coaster in Malaysia that speeds and spins up to a height of 90 feet above the ground.

In other words - WE WERE SCREWED! LOL!

We had to take the ride TWICE! The first time - did nothing.

The second ride, we had to blow a balloon (again???) and then burst it at the end of the ride.

So, we screamed our lungs out on the first ride! I must admit, it felt kinda therapeutic; letting it all out in a scream!

Then silence followed in the second ride. Why?

Everybody was busy blowing the balloon! LOL!

Mission accomplished. It was one heck of a ride. "Blowing while corkscrewing".

Hmmmmm....That's indeed something new! ;P

Sixth Ride: The Space Shot.

Out from the Corkscrew into the Space Shot! After screwing, must shoot la. (Insert wink here)

Space Shot is a rapid vertical ascent and descent amusement ride. It lifts up to 12 people into the air, providing an exciting G-force on the way up and a feeling of weightlessness on the way down.

Well, it's like jumping off from an 18th storey high building! No shitz!

To add the excitement, we were given a Math question right before the ride technician push the lift off button. We were expected to solve the question and hand out the answer when we get off the ride.

My brain has deteriorated so badly since they put the calculator function in mobilephones! Add a 18 storey free fall to that Math question - everything I ever learned from my Math teacher was left up there in the space....along with my stomach!

This is Coral, busy solving the Math question. Maybe she was hoping that she paid more attention to her Math teacher when she had the chance. LOL!

Last but not the least scary....The Cyclone.

I still remember taking the ride on the Cyclone when it was still at the area where Corkscrew is now. I think it must be the first rollercoaster I have ever taken in my life. :)

Everybody clapped with glee when the head marshall announced that we do not need to do any task on this ride! Just sit back and enjoy the ride scream our lungs out. LOL!

We were ushered back to the function room after we completed all 7 rides! Yay!

Everybody screamed with delights when the emcee announched that every got through the Adrenalin Challenge with flying colours!

We had a light lunch while recounting our hair-raising experiences with each other! This is what each of us get to take home....

and most importantly, all 15 of us got "certified" as ADRENALIN JUNKIES! Ahem...Note that only 15 of this cert is available in Malaysia now. :)

We definitely earned this bragging right!

Check out the video here. I didn't take much video here because I was concentrating on my tasks. LOL! Moreover, my marshal kept on warning me to put my camera aside.

BTW, watch out for one of the Junkies birthday in the video. Hui Ling celebrated her 20 years in Earth by being a Adrenalin Junkie. I wonder what her mom would say to this. LOL! :)

ENJOY!

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Genting Theme Park and The Star for organising this one of a kind contest.

To all the marshals and organising committee - Thanks for making us "suffer" through the rides. It will be remembered through the rest of our lives

To all my fellow Junkies! Thanks for being screaming with me, through the ups and downs, the lefts and rights and taking the wild plunges with me.