MANILA, Philippines — If you told me last month that I’d be walking the perimeter of Macau Tower’s 61st floor, I’d tell you that you were out of your mind. But that’s where I found myself last Dec. 4 during Macau Tower’s Crazy Jump Day.
In its seventh year, Crazy Jump Day featured 23 participants from across the Asia Pacific to take the leap from the Macau Tower operated by AJ Hackett, the world’s top adventure tourism company. This isn’t just your regular bungee-jumping event where anyone can sign up. The participants were chosen for their brilliant costumes, and creativity in storytelling. The theme was “AirAsia Destinations” and with over 130 destinations worldwide, I don’t think they’ll run out of ideas anytime soon.
As soon as I walked out of the elevator, I saw a sumo wrestler, a ninja, a Steve Irwin lookalike, and a lady dressed in Filipiñana matched with a Ms. Philippines sash. Oh, and there was also a muay thai fighter who was showing off his high kicks while in line for harnessing. The lady turned out to be an AirAsia representative and the first jumper for the event. Imagine taking the first plunge with a sash and a crown; talk about power.
Maybe it was her Ms. Universe glow and excitement that inspired me to take the leap (sort of). I wasn’t sure if I was ready to jump given my fear of heights, so I opted for the Skywalk instead. Unlike the full bungee-jumping experience, doing the skywalk will give you more social media material. It’s not quite as thrilling, but you get the same amount of butterflies that the jump will give you.
For someone with the same fear, just the thought of jumping off a building (yes, even with safety cords and all) is enough to induce a panic attack. But seeing their flow of operations, there’s truly nothing to worry about. They constantly improve their safety technology, and the participants were guided every step of the way. From attaching the harness on queues of people in Pre-jump to holding your hand after just in case you need someone to process the experience with, the people of Macau Tower makes the experience 10 times better.
The guide who walked us around the tower was also the one taking our photos. She told us to sit on the ledge and lean towards the drop; all the things I won’t even bother doing on my own even for a rockin’ ‘gram. Every step of the way is guided, so the only thing you need to worry about is if your hair still looks cute for photos and if you have enough content for Instagram stories. Phone cameras aren’t allowed during the Skywalk, so if you’re planning on snapping a lot of pics, you’ll need to bust out your compact camera or DSLR. You’ll need it to take photos of the breathtaking view of Macau — and the many casinos that go with it — and the jumpers who are flying every 15 minutes.
If you’re not down with all that fun, you can hang out at the 59th floor by the viewing deck to take in the scenic Macau view. The delightful screams and cheers of children and tourists whenever someone bungee jumps are always entertaining.
After hours of action, they finally announced the winner of the competition. Ernesto Humberto Trevino Amezcua won the Best Costume Award and Best Jump of the Day Award. He received a pair of AirAsia return tickets to New Zealand and Singapore, a total of 100,000 AirAsia BIG Points, among other prizes. I remember seeing him showing a video of himself doing some sort of a Kamehameha Wave (as in from Dragon Ball Z) in different locations. It looked pretty awesome, even from five feet away.
By the end of the adrenaline-filled day, the rest of the participants just relished the cold Macau air. Or maybe they hit the casinos; nobody will know. As for me, I joined the mini familiarization tour by Touristly. We visited the usual spots: Ruins of St. Paul’s, Taipa Village and the Venetian Macao. The best part for me though was the egg tart at the end of the road.
From jumping off a building to getting lost in the beautiful streets to figuring out how many egg tarts you can eat in one go (true story), you will never get bored in this small country. Crazy Jump Day may only happen once every year, but the tower is open for regular jumpers. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. And despite many hesitations, I can honestly say that it was the best decision I made in 2017.
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AirAsia offers direct flights from Macau to Manila five times a week. For more information, visit their website www.airasia.com.