Forest Adventure – Grand Course Experience

This is it! My first time doing outdoor adventure. I’ve been wanting to try it out since I was in Indonesia but didn’t have the courage (and chance). So, when Pris asked me to do Forest Adventure, I was very interested (and scared on the other hand). I don’t like high places so I thought this would be challenging, but I REALLY wanna try it.

The place is in Bedok Reservoir Park. We made an appointment for 10am session on Friday and we had to be there 20 minutes before. I took MRT to Bedok Reservoir MRT Station, met Pris there then took exit B together. From there, we walked toward the park, did the safe entry and tried to get to Car Park A. It’s easy when you found the car park. Just follow the sign.

After done with the safe entry for the place (the previous one was for the park), we went to the counter and bought the ticket. 2 Grand Course tickets. Each S$50. I was hesitating for a bit before I paid for the ticket.. A lot of ‘what if’ were happening in my head. Then I thought ‘What is the worse thing can happen up there? I won’t fall cos the rope should be very strong. This is Singapore, where the safety is upheld. Maybe I could get injured. Or.. maybe I could faint.. (and embarrassing myself). Okay, I can do this!’ And with that I paid for the ticket. Kachink! Then the cashier gave me a paper armband with initials.

We both brought a backpack and it’s better to leave it down, but we didn’t want to just leave it out there on the bench. There is a locker right at the entrance that we can use. It can be used by inserting a new S$1 coin. We didn’t have the coin so we tried exchange it on the cashier. To use the locker, insert the coin in the coin slot, put all the stuff inside the locker, close the door then lock it. There’s a rubber band on the key so you can bring it on your arm. We only took the water bottle out and put it on the empty table. All set, and we were ready to go.

After waiting for a while (not long though, just until the other group finished with the briefing), a lady asked us to come to her and put the rope on us. Wearing a comfortable shoes and clothes is a must. I wore a easy-to-dry t-shirt and a yoga pants so it would easy to move around. She, then, explained the do’s and dont’s stuff when we’re on the track. There was no other people who needs a briefing other than us, so it felt like a private tour 😀 She was kind and thorough in explaining everything. I asked her ‘what if I can’t finish the course?’. She smiled and said ‘don’t worry, you’ll be fine’. I wasn’t sure actually.. really lol. I couldn’t sleep well the night before, also a bit hoping that it’s gonna rain so it’s cancelled.. Yes, I was THAT scared. After she finished the safety briefing, we had a chance to try putting the pulley on the track and using it also how to use the carabiner on the Amazon bridge (crossing platform using only a piece of rope to stand and another one to hold onto) and mini zip line (which I turned around and landed on my bump).

The armband was marked on ‘I’, for completing the Introduction, and the next one was ‘G’. It stands for Green, which is the easy track. For this course, we have to follow the track all the way to the end. There’s no ‘easy’ way. On the next level, there’re some obstacles that has an easy alternative, so you can choose which way you wanna go. But not this one, since this is the easy course. Pris put her pulley on the track, followed by me. She has done something like this before so it’s good to see her go first and watch how she does the obstacles.

The obstacles that are steady, like stepping between blocks, are easier. The real challenge was everything hanging on a rope, because they were all very shaky. I had a hard time starting the obstacle with nets, where I had to move between nets that are hanging separately. It was scary because.. first, there is no surface to step on, only knots and rope. Second, whenever I tried to step on it, felt like…sinking! It took me a while until I finally manage to land on the first net. But after I got used to it, it was actually the same as the other hanging obstacles, just more shaky. One thing I realized was I needed to use a lot of core muscle to move around between obstacles, to keep the balance. Some of the obstacles also need upper body strength. Not too much though, as I don’t have much strength either. So if I managed to do it, I’m sure you can do it too.

It took us about 1 hour to finish the easy course. The last obstacle was ziplining through water to the end. I need to learn how to keep facing front when ziplining! It always made me turn around and landed on my bump. Although… I think it’s safer than landing on my legs..? (Based on the speed of my landing on the sand).

There is no time limit to finish all courses. I watched on Youtube, on average people finished them in 2.5 hours, but you definitely have all the time to do it. They didn’t rush you at all. You can take a break between each course, then continue taking the next level course. We sat down after finishing the easy course, drank our water and just resting. The next level is red line, medium level. I didn’t have any energy nor courage left lol. It was unexpected (by me) that I could clear it. And that already an achievement for me 😀 I decided to drop out, didn’t continue to the next level, especially after I heard about the jumping obstacle on red line. It’s on the start of red course, where you have to jump off the platform, swing to the big net across, grab the net on first try (if possible), then climb up to the next platform. But actually, you can opt for the ‘easier’ route which doesn’t include jumping. Still didn’t do it. I was already tired. Should exercise more to strengthened my upper body and core muscle!

My friend, Pris, did it. So I decided to take photos and videos of her doing the medium level. She finished it around 1 to 1.5 hours, I think. And we both were very hungry by that time, so she didn’t continue to the last level. Hmm at least she did 2 courses. Better than me..

After experienced it myself, I can share with you on what to wear or bring (also for my own note for my next trip). Here they are!

1. Wear a comfortable clothes, pants and shoes. Next time should add half gloves and arm cover. We hold on the rope so much that it’s good to wear gloves, but half-gloves is good enough just to cover our palm. The arm cover is to protect our upper arm from rubbing the rope too much. There are some obstacles that can be easier if we hold ourselves on upper arm / armpit. And it can be hurtful after a while. Or.. you can also wear a long sleeve / half sleeve t-shirt instead.
2. If you want to bring your phone up there, it’s better to use a small crossbody bag. A belt bag would be too bulky and make you harder to move on tight spaces.
3. We can take off our mask when we are on the course, but need to put it on right away when we’re done. It’s good to have an extra mask on your bag that you put in the locker. Because the one that we wear before the course will be dirty and wet by the time we finished the course.
4. It’s okay to wear watch if it’s securely locked and not easily detach (like mine..). My smartwatch was almost fell when the band suddenly detached while I was moving between ropes. That was scary! So maybe next time better don’t wear it.
5. Wear contact lens, if you can. I usually lazy to change my glasses and wear contact lens, but for this activity I did it. Wearing glasses is okay actually, but when you’re sweating sometime the glasses also dropping on your nose, and it can be annoying when that happen.
6. Mosquito repellent. Always a good idea to keep away from mosquitos so I might get it next time.
7. Sunblock. It’s an outdoor activity, so better put some sunblock before, even when it’s not sunny.

That’s all! I had fun and will do it again next time. But first, I need to exercise my upper body and core muscle 😀

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Thank you for reading 🙂