Monday, February 1, 2010

Orbing at Titiwangsa Lake

When I first heard about the word orbing or zorbing, I was puzzled on what it meant. So, I Google the word and I was thrilled by its definition. Rolling down a hill or a slope in an orb just like the harmster roll, it gotta be amazing! What more interesting is that we can now experience orbing at KL and the venue is at Titiwangsa Lake which is very near to my house. So, 11 of us who were in high excitement to try this new recreational activity invaded Titiwangsa Lake last Sunday. All in sandals except one in sport shoe. Who's that? Guess by checking out their legs and do let me know in comment section. Haha. This young and active group was named the 'sakai' group or the 'S.......' group. One of the staff called me the 'sakai king' for being the organiser. LOL. Between, it was really hard to handle those sakai who jumped here and there non stop. Oh..sakai!
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Before we entered to the orb or the plastic transparent ball, it was the time for solo picture. Arghh when I finished taking their photo, the staff moved up the orb up to the slope when it was my turn.
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Alright, I was forced to take the first ride to demonstrate to the others. As you can seen above, you need to put on the safety belts before entering to the orb. Me & Nicholas was the very first team and we were going for a dry ride. There were 2 types of downhill orbing, dry and wet ride. So, what are the differences between these two? Which one to choose? Read on and you will find out. Between, since we have 11 persons (odd number), the staff gave us 1 free ride to make sure everyone was in pair. I was lucky to be given this privilege to try both rides as paying for the 2 rides was rather VERY EXPENSIVE. Dry ride costs RM 15 while wet ride costs RM 20. Thanks to the other friends too for giving me the chance! =P Actually, I think they should rephrase the word downhill orbing to slope orbing in their website. The length of the orbing is 70 metres which I think is very short. Between, it was me before entering the orb.
So, this was the condition inside the orb. The loud noise actually came from a machine which was used to inflate the orb. In the orb, we were tied on the wall to restrict our movement and prevent the 2 riders from banging each other. It was very warm and stuffy inside. At the same time, Siew Hoon and Kuan Poh were ready to enter to their orb too. Alright, we shall come back to them after my ride.
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So, we rolled and rolled down and screamed for excitement. It was a fast ride and totally uncontrollable. The feeling of rotating 360 degree non stop was amazing! The pic above was the staff checking our conditions after the ride.
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Yo..wassup! It was Nicholas and Me in the orb! Totally fun and amazing ride. Between, it was hard to enter and exit the orb through the small openings. I will show you in my second ride.
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Next team was Kuan Poh and Siew Hoon going for dry ride. Bottom left was in the orb before the ride while the right pic was after the ride & checking the name list. Check out the pant Siew Hoon was wearing. Was she urinating in the orb? Hahahahahahah... (Don't kill me for this)
As you can seen from the above video, the orb was pushed down by the staff. It was funny to see that the staff were pushing and running together with the orb. Between, that was the reason given by one of the staff on why the orbing ride is that expensive. As for me, the price is ok but the duration is just too short. If the venue is an open place, I am sure the ride will be definitely better with manual orbing rather than human controlled. Seated while watching others turn to orb down the slope. When I queried the staff, they told me that this location slope is the greatest among all other location in Titiwangsa Lake. So, who we have next? It was Chui Wei and Wei Ling.
Alright, I named them as the 'Silence Team'. I really hear no voice from them at all. Lets check out their conditions after the ride.
Picture taken was after the ride.
So, who's next? It was me again and?
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Ah Mei. As I mentioned earlier, I will show you how to enter the orb. Basically, you need to force yourself in through the small openings or in another word, swim pass the hole. Check out the mermaid legs on the right picture. Haha. The maximum cumulative weight of 2 riders in the orb is 200 kg. However, body size plays an important role too as those who have bigger waist will face difficulty entering the orb. And this time, I will be going for a WET ride! Cool~
It was much easier to wear the safety belt outside the orb than inside the orb as movement is quite restricted. Ah Mei, were you okay? So, we rolled and rolled down. Check our aftermath.
OMG! You can't scream inside the wet orb. The water will enter to your mouth and even to your nose or ears. Since we were the guinea pig for the first wet ride, we totally never think of that. As you roll down, the water will hit all over your body. You can't really open your eyes too and all you can think of was like rotate and rotate, splash of water and oops it suddenly stopped. The wet ride is better than the dry ride. Between, the wet ride costs RM 5 more because of a pale of water used to pour inside the orb. We suspected the water was taken from the Titiwangsa Lake. Next time, we will bring our own pale of water to save that RM 5 and more hygienic.
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Yen Moi and Me in the orb after the ride. Of course, we were definitely in wet! It was a nice feeling bathing inside the orb. Between, this wet ride is also known as washing machine. Thank God the staff did not put in any detergent or washing powder. Lolx. Yen Moi and Me after the ride. Between, since you already in wet, it is much easier for you the exit the orb. Following team was Hooi Hoon and Chie Chek with dry ride. Picture taken was before the ride.
This video is the complete one from inside the orb till orbing down the slope. Check out the scream from Hooi Hoon. Haha. Oh no! What both of them were doing? Wei Kiat went back to his car and changed his pants inside. Does anyone know there is any CCTV at Titiwangsa Lake? If yes, I want to make a copy of the recording. Haha. Check out the skinny leg of Wei Kiat. Anyone interested?
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So, the final team was Charlene and Wei Kiat going for a wet ride. Since Charlene disallowed me to post her video, you guys can't watch them here. Between, these 2 fellas were very interesting. You remember the place we seated right? From that angle, we can see clearly Wei Kiat was pinching his nose while Charlene was covering her mouth with her hands while orbing down. LMAO. Group photos after the ride. We made loud noises and monkey acts which was observed by many others. Hey, even the motorists were stopping by to watch us. Haha. Memang S... group!
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L- Check out the perfect aim of CC leg --> Wei Kiat's small brother. Haha R- Wei Kiat in defense back. Since they said to find a theme for the jump, I suggested to make street fighter. Do we look like street fighter? Next, Hooi Hoon showed the rest of the girls on how to jump in C shape. FYI, she is a well trained jumper. You can check her post here. Her trainer is one of the most influential and powerful people. Check out here.
And lets see how the jumping in rhythm effect from right to left.
Me and one of the staff. Will put down his details for you to contact when I managed to find back his name card. While waiting those wet riders changing clothes in the washroom, Kuan Poh and Siew Hoon treated themselves an ice cream. Check out the red hats they were wearing. Looks familiar? Remember the post wearing a red hat and a moustache into Mist CLub, Bangsar? Check it out here. Wait, not just that, there is a special video recorded.
Tired of waiting, they sat on the car's boot. Actually, there is one video clip on magic show performed by renown Mr. Teh Wei Kiat using this car. This video will be edited by CC and will paste it here when it is done. Jumping shot by CC and Nic. Between, both of them were the dancers for the Oath Taking cum Pharmacy Night 2009. Check it out here. After that, I planned to bring them for a horse riding. But, the whether is too hot that they wanted to go for lunch instead. Between, Titiwangsa Lake is a good spot to capture the KL scenery.
Fake sakura was falling down?
Some say the pic was too dark. So, when I increase the shutter speed, the KLCC and KL tower were out of sight.
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Also, Titiwangsa Lake is a nice place for couple to pak toh in the evening time. During the mornings, there are many people who jog, exercise, dance, picnic and leisure here. FAQ session. 1. As a conclusion, which orbing ride is better?
  • Dry ride (RM 15/person): It is for those who did not bring extra clothes and those who can't remove contact lens even for a minute. Actually, you can wear a goggle to protect your contact lens. But, if you do wear, it will be extremely weird. During the ride, you can scream loud for excitement.
  • Wet ride (RM 20/person): For those thrill seeking and do not mind being wet. The limitations are you can't scream inside and your nose, mouth or ears may be entered with water.
2. Is there any toilet near the orbing location?
  • Yes, at the Stadium or the tennis court.
3. Is orbing dangerous?
  • Not really. However, you may experience self limiting injury such as pain on legs toes (Kuan Poh), head pain (Wei Ling), slight body pain (Yen Moi, Chui Wei), slight inflammation of back shoulder (KF) and nausea (Hooi Hoon). Actually, when the orb reaches the surfaces of the land from the slope, it actually bounces a little greater momentum. Hence, all the small injury that I mentioned is suspected because of the momentum faced here. Also, it may be due to the safety belts that hold on you.
4. Do I need a pre-booking?
  • Since there is no price differences between pre-book and on the spot, I think it is not necessary. I came with 11 persons and there is no discount given. Accordingly, they will give discount if you come in a group of 30 or larger and can even draft special activities for your group.
5. I want a longer ride than the 70 m.
  • Hey, me too!! Head on to Gemas Golf Resort where you can ride on the length of 250 m which is the longest in Malaysia and South East Asia!
For more information/ booking, check out their website here. Address: End of Jalan Tembeling, Tasik Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur. Exact location: Assuming the perimeter of Titiwangsa Lake as a square. Enter from the corner close to the Istana Budaya or a secondary school. From that corner, drive straight towards the another corner passing the tennis court and the stadium. You will notice two orbing balls placed on the floor. There is one car park directly opposite this orbing venue. My advise, do drive and do not walk from the main entrance. It's far away from the orbing venue.

11 comments:

Ihsan Khairir said...

Looks like a fun thing to do!

I've heard of zorbing since I was in the States, about 5 years ago. I think it started in New Zealand or Europe.

I didn't know we have them here in KL. Thanks for the info!

Kellaw said...

i wanna play also. expensive? hows the pricing like?

Catherine said...

very informative post, as usual! very very interesting. I wanna play too... haha

Rebecca Saw said...

Orbing!
Read abt it in some mag.
thinkin me gonna organise an outing..i think it'll be cool ;)

KwOnG FeI said...

@ihsan: welcome.. i think the zorbing in western countries will be more challenging and fun as it is manual ride..

@kella: 15 for dry ride and 20 for wet ride. RM5 is to be pay for a pale of titiwangsa lake water. HAHA

@catherine: come kl la.. haha

@nomad: yeap..if you wan even better, head on to gemas golf resort..

Baboon Tan said...

very nice ride! must go try! do you mind attach the map too? =D

Ken Wooi said...

wanted to try that last time.. but didnt get the chance.. hehe.. looks fun!..
and the sport shoes.. i know who by looking at the previous picture.. but of coz i duno who's that guy la.. =P

kenwooi.com

I AM A BLOGGER said...

waaaa, i wan to try oooooo~~~~ looks fun~~~(^^)...btw, celcom ads supported^^

KwOnG FeI said...

@baboon: map ar? u google it sure got a nice established map.. i not good in drawing map

@ken: u guess it right..

@xjion: go try with ur friends =P

papabear said...

this is interesting!

Anonymous said...

at titiwangsa lake garden also provides conoeing and aqua biking right? can i know how much it's fees?

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