A Hunters Tale

HUNTING FOR MEALS ON WHEELS IV

2011-11-15T21:55:00.019+08:00

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A BIG THANK YOU to our sponsors too:

Dato' Ramesh Rajaratnam

Claire Chin

Lee Ling Fei

Alexander Hoh

Appetizer

1. Motor Hunt around Klang Valley on Saturday, 3 Dec 2011, from 2pm.

2. A rare opportunity to participate in a hunt by Mr. Teoh Cheow Teong, winner of Hunting For Meals on Wheels III and selected by popular demand to be the chef de hunt for this edition.

3. Register as individuals.

4. Opportunity to hunt with Grand Masters.

5. Limited to 20 pax.

6. Pay for your own dinner @ ~ RM45 per person.

7. Winners eat for free.

8. Menu includes:

a. Bottles of French and Australian wine.

b. Cucina Italiana @ Retro Kitchen, SS2 (formerly Mojo's Upstairs).

Main Course

1. Team draw ........................... 1.30 pm.
2. Final briefing ........................ 1.45 pm (gather at Retro Kitchen, SS 2/61).
3. Start ..................................... 2.00 pm (Mass flag-off).
4. Regulation Hunting time .... 5 hours.
5. Distance .............................. < 20 km.
6. Finish ................................... 7.00 pm (at Retro Kitchen, SS 2/61).
7. Penalty ................................ Disqualification from 7.01 pm.
8. Questions & Points ............. 2 part hunt. 32 Route Questions and 3 Treasures.
9. Tie Breakers .......................... TBA.
10. Parking ................................ Lots of parking at SS 2/61.

Guests

1. Total number of teams .............. 5.

2. No of persons in a team ............ 3.

3. Team members will be decided on the day of event. Team members shall elect their own driver. So individuals are recommended to park at SS 2/61.

1. Alexander Hoh

2. Chong Voon Kiat

3. Claire Chin

4. Loh Chee Kwan

5. Lim Ming Yang

6. Loo Wern Ching

7. Goh Teck Koon

8. Lee Ling Fei

9. Haslinda Shamsudin

10. Shandra Dass

11. Venkateswaran Nagappan

12. Lim Soo Khian

13. Yeong Kig Siew

14. Pavananthan

15. Chai Koh Khai - hunt only

16. Margaret Sha - hunt only

TREASURE HUNT SOCIETY OF MALAYSIA - A DREAM NO MORE

2011-11-07T12:58:00.007+08:00

All great things start with a dream. Jayaram Menon's dream was to convert the game of Treasure Hunting from a mere hobby amongst a group of enthusiasts into the national pastime of Malaysia. Treasure Hunting is so uniquely Malaysian that it beckons to be officially recognized in the record books as being born and bred in our country. Many of us shared a similar dream but without a unified platform to combine our ideas into one big melting pot, it remained just that, a dream until ..........

.......... a casual discussion amongst a handful of enthusiasts and friends brought life to that dream. On that occassion he learnt that there exist others who shared his dream and were willing to put their energy into making it happen. That nostalgic discussion on 2 Jan 2011 then sparked further kopitiam meetings. And within a couple of weeks, word spread like wildfire amongst the Treasure Hunting community that the formation of a National Treasure Hunting Society was on the horizon.

So on 16 Jan 2011, more than two dozen enthusiasts and invited guests gathered to elect a pro-tem committee to spearhead the formation of the Treasure Hunt Society of Malaysia (THS).

Pro-tem committee Roll call:

PRESIDENT
Jayaram Menon

VICE PRESIDENT
Chong Voon Kiat

SECRETARY
Shirley Hoe

ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Loh Chee Kwan

TREASURER
Rajj Melambaran

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Wan Kamal Azlan
Kheirul Nazib
Michael Pang
Goh Teck Koon
Chai Koh Khai
Liong Chian Min

The pro-tem committee worked very hard to get THS officially recognized. The committee members met on a couple of occassions. Official documents were proof-read and re-read more than a dozen times. An official website was created. A Facebook page was added. And it took a handful of visits to the Registrar of Societies, before THS was finally registered on 23 Sep 2011.

The last ten months was the easy part. Now for the difficult part - the membership drive.

THS would like to welcome anyone and everyone from all walks of life nationwide to join us on this exciting journey to make this a truly national society. You can read all about the benefits of joining THS from the FAQ page of the THS website (https://sites.google.com/site/thsmalaysia/home). The application form can be downloaded from the Documents page of the same website.

The first big event for THS will be the coming inaugural AGM on 20 Nov 2011.

Should anyone of you feel you have the drive to bring this society to another level, the pro-tem committee is more than happy to accept your nomination.

We hope to see many of you there! The time and place shall be announced soon.

Update 14 Nov 2011:

Inaugural Treasure Hunt Society of Malaysia AGM
Date: Sunday, 20 Nov 2011.
Venue: Hailam Kopitiam Lucky Garden, 1st Floor, 25 & 25A Lorong Ara Kiri1 Lucky Garden Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur (Behind Pizza Hut Lucky Garden, same row with TMC Bangsar, opposite to Bangsar Village old wing).
Registration Time: from 10.45 am.
Meeting Time: 11.00 am to 1.00 pm.

More info at https://sites.google.com/site/thsmalaysia/announcements

CITY REVIVAL HUNT - GO PRAY PRAY

2011-10-16T15:33:00.005+08:00

PETALING JAYA, 15 Oct 2011: I've never attended a church worship service my entire life. But I can always picture the pastor delivering the following message at the end of his sermons.

Makes sense, right? As people tend to stray, it is only apt that the pastor takes up the role of constantly reminding people to communicate with God on a daily basis. So I would consider this phrase to be quite common in the House of God (5050, would you agree?).

Rebus #2: AODNA.

Our Answer: Go Back and Pray.

CoC's Answer: Around and About

Unfortunately (as expected), the CoC did not see the humourous but rational side of our answer in this rebus challenge with a "common phrases" theme, which caused us two points and the match (hee hee).

Rebus #2 was one of five questions in the rebus challenge, an event that eventually decided the fate of the top 3 teams in the Masters Category of the annual City Revival Charity Treasure Hunt. The other tasks in the five hour event which included 35 questions (5 additional bolded questions for the Masters) and 4 treasure riddles were not imposing at all, with the exception of one of the toughies. The end results cemented this point, with the top 3 teams from the Masters Category and the winner from the Novice Category (I heard) finishing perfect on the road.

The results could have been entirely different. We were the first team to arrive at the finish control after 3 hours and 10 minutes on the road. However, we weren't satisfied with our solution to Q14 and decided to drop Margaret at the finish control to work on Rebus #2 while the rest of us returned to the hunting sector. This 'wrong decision' caused us the match and I was the main perpetrator. Along the return journey we got delayed by the heavy traffic, could not find a better answer (hence needing to stick to our original answer) and was later accorded the points.

Turning back the clock, my decision would not have been much different. Believe me, I am no stranger to taking risks. However, with an 'inferior' answer and close to two hours in the pocket in a very relaxing hunt, it just wasn't worth the gamble.

Q14: 5010?
Ans: LP Art Enterprise.

Q14 is very very similar to my very own 'Viki Lim' question used in a past challenge, so I am quite disappointed with myself for not seeing through the trick. Disappointment aside, I am glad to see The Phantom make a rare appearance.

It was a double joy to witness first hand a think-out-of-the-box question like Q6, which needed the collaboration of two signages twenty shops apart to yield the final answer. Witnessing it is one thing, solving it is another and my hat goes out to the teams who successfully conquered this delightfully tricky question.

Q6: The outlook is clear though well apart. Only when the latter starts.
Ans: IEW Sdn Bhd & Restoran & Kafe After 5.

Now excuse me, while I go pray that God gives me the strength to exorcise the ghosts in the coming week's hunt.

City Revival Charity Hunt Masters Category

Maximum Score: 135

Winners of the Masters Category.

Winners of the Novice Category - did they con Dom? ;)

1st: Sin Yoong Leong, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (133)
2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha (133)
3rd: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Say Chye, William Yong (131)
4th: Anwar Jeffri, Tan Kok Cheeng, Wong Poh Wen (126)
5th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Buvanes Tharmalingam, Eeswaran Kanesalingam (122)
6th: Tan Eng Siang, Kong Siau Ching, Ong Kheng Heng, Diana Foong (122)
7th: Joehari Abd Jabbar, Geetha Kanny, Uma Priya, Philip Karuppiah (114)

8th: Pirabakaran, Navamalar and team (113)

MAB CHARITY HUNT - DARK KNIGHTS

2011-10-09T23:20:00.004+08:00

GAMBANG, 8 Oct 2011: I am pleased, no I am ecstatic, with our current run of form. Our last defeat as a team happened in June. Though a shortage of eligible hunts over the last two months makes it sound more outstanding than it really is, nevertheless, I am overjoyed!

We successfully extended our fine run a week into October with the MAB Charity Treasure Hunt title under our belt. It was the unlikeliest of victories. Firstly, we weren't even supposed to be in Gambang - we made a last minute decision to sign up only after being informed of the cancellation of another hunt. And secondly, TAB events, a signature event of Take-A-Break Events (TABE) have always been our Achilles heel.

TABE hunts provide a nostalgic reminder of how hunts had been and should be - fun first and foremost.

In my opinion, in recent years hunt setters may have neglected this key aspect, one possible explanation why hunt cancellations have become annoyingly trendy. Noticeably, many hunts these days are designed with the upper echelon of hunters in mind, completely ignoring the gulf in experience between the hunt regulars and the novices. Hopefully the upcoming launch of the Treasure Hunt Society of Malaysia will help to address this wane in interest.

I am glad we came for we did have a lot of fun. As expected, the bulk of the 30 questions and 2 treasures in the 8 hour hunt to Gambang were friendly to all, with perhaps 3 questions providing the main resistance to the regulars. In the end, we were the only team from the top 3 finishers that had dropped points in the route questions, missing out on Q27, a general knowledge question that completely bewildered us.

Q27: A deficiency of this together with paid in short can be related to anemic situations.

Ans: Pusat Optik G6.

But where we slacked in questions, we unexpectedly made up for in the TAB Events. Our knights in shining armour appeared in the form of yours truly and Wern Ching who sportingly volunteered for TAB Events 1 and 2 respectively.

Both missions were designed to give the sighted an insight into the world of the sight impaired. TAB Event 1 required teams to toss darts blind-folded. Points were awarded from the accumulated scores off three darts. I surprised myself and the team by garnering the maximum 10 points, converting off the final two darts (with the first dart completely missing the target) .....

TAB Event 1: The blind-folded darter with his coach providing the directions.

..... while Wern Ching contributed 8 points from the Braille Challenge which required teams to decipher five letters coded in Braille. She appeared surprisingly nervous throughout the challenge but delivered where it mattered most, coolly deciphering the penultimate and 'most difficult letter', "N", yielding two additional points that truly clinched the title for us.

TAB Event 2: Braille Challenge

MAB Charity Treasure Hunt

Maximum Score: 200

1st: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Loo Wern Ching (193)

2nd: Lee Ling Fei, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (192)

3rd: Pavananthan, Ruben Enbasegaram, Lenny Wan, Lim Ming Yang (188)

DOGGY CARNIVAL - DOGS' DAY OUT

2011-09-17T21:41:00.007+08:00

SETIA ALAM, 26 Jun 2011: Hundreds of pooches of various breeds congregated at Setia Ecopark today for the annual Doggy Carnival, with their human companions in tow. They came in all shapes and colours, big and small, shaggy and cropped. And they were everywhere .....

This one invited its friends .....

..... while this one appeared to be the invited guest.

The Yong family with their beloved pooch.

As with any carnival, there were lots of events and competitions to keep every mutt busy.

Dog Grooming competition.

Best of Breed competition.

Dog & Owner water relay race.

Dog Obedience Demo.

Kig Siew, Yoong Leong and myself, were here for the Dog & Owner Treasure Hunt.

The hunt was literally a walk in the park, the Setia Eco-park.

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Captain Jack and his Trailblazing team were the "brains" behind the hunt. Had been quite a while since many of us had an opportunity to participate in his hunts. He made his debut as a very green CoC maybe four years ago. But after entertaining us with a handful of hunts, he made a surprising decision to restrict his brand of hunts to beginners. Hence today's hunt was somewhat of a rare treat.

Captain Jack Swallow from The Trail Blazers.

Ingeniously, Captain Jack had created his own signs and scattered them around the park to make up for the lack of signs. And to make it interesting he added lots of red-herrings too. Some of his clues were cryptic. The dog & owner were required to sniff out the answers to fifteen such clues. Plus there were two tasks to complete. One task was to identify dog breeds. The other was to decipher two treasure riddles and identify the correct fruits from the ones presented in a bowl.

One of the signs created by the CoC.

Judging from the clues from today's hunt, the captain has left his swashbuckling days behind (to his credit), opting for more text-book type crafts. And I look forward to the day when his public hunts are once again truly for the public at large.

Q5: Possibly Cassius Clay's favourite dog.

Ans: Boxer.

Q13: Sheep caretaker origins from where Berlin is the capital.

Ans: German Shepherd.

Q: Walk participates for injured stage strut in part of harbour.

Ans: Wisma Patco.

(3K Triple-One Hunt, 2008)

Q: He lastly and I come in somehow for a perplexed mysterious Himalayan animal before part of India’s old neighbour.
Ans: Tylon.
(3K Triple-One Hunt, 2008)

Still, there was one treasure riddle from this hunt that I could not quite agree with.

T1: Although I have rage in me, I'm still sweet.
Ans: (Choose from: Mango, Orange, Papaya, Apple and Rambutan).

Note: Some of the pictures in this post is courtesy of Pets Pavilion.

Doggy Carnival Treasure Hunt

Maximum Score: 105

Winners: K9-PI

1st Runners Up: The Cereal Killers

2nd Runners Up: Redz Hunter

1st: Yeong Kig Siew, Sin Yoong Leong, Chong Voon Kiat (105)

2nd: Angie Teh, Yow Hui Hui, Teh Boon Kai (100)

3rd: Redz Hunter (100)

4th: The Underdogs (95)

5th: Macho Mastif (95)

6th: Quick (90)

7th: Idog (90)

ATMAH CHARITY HUNT - BREAKING THE CURSE

2011-09-04T11:24:00.002+08:00

GAMBANG, 13 Aug 2011: You can consider the Hungry Ghosts Festival to be the Chinese version of Halloween. But unlike Halloween, the Hungry Ghosts Festival is a month long celebration during the seventh moon of the lunar calendar. With the opening of hell's gate on the first day, literally all hell breaks loose and these once imprisoned ghosts escape to earth for a month long vacation. The Chinese believe that these ghosts bring misfortune or bad luck and should be avoided. This is the main reason some Chinese play safe by avoiding this period when scheduling holidays and significant events like weddings, moving into a new house or even starting a new business, to refrain from bumping into these creatures.

This year the Atmah Charity Hunt fell smack right in the middle of the Hungry Ghosts Festival. Understandably since our luck gauge is not expected to be at an all time high this month, it appeared unlikely that this would be the year we would break the Curse of Atmah. And from the way the 8 hour hunt had begun for us, it was evident that we had not done enough to appease the ghosts.

The Atmah crowd prior to the flag-off @ PJ Civic Center.

I truly can't remember the last time we failed to find a single answer on our first pass-through of a sector with a number of questions bunched together. And today this happened to us not once but several times during the first half of the hunt. We failed miserably in our maiden attempt in Taman Petaling Utama where 6 questions were bunched together. It happened again in a very long Old Klang Road where there were 3 and 4 questions bunched up respectively in two separate sectors (though the latter could be attributed to our mistake due to a misinterpretation of the tulips). And again during the final 3 questions just before the mid-point in Bentong. Though eventually we were able to find most of them it was at the expense of time, barely making the 12:30pm cut-off.

Arriving in Temerloh an hour later it dawned upon us that we may have to scramble for time. With three hours of the clock remaining and all of the remaining journey on the trunk road and with 20 questions still unanswered, it did not look rosy. Things became a whole lot worse in Maran with 40 minutes to disqualification and 40 km from the end point at Gambang Resort and with 6 questions still unanswered. The darkening sky was a perfect reflection of our gloomy situation. At this point, avoiding disqualification was the priority and understandably we dropped all but one of the last 6 questions. Even the one we had sucessfully answered was through sheer luck, from Yoong Leong's memory of the shop he had already sped past.

In the end, we made the end point but only by the skins of our teeth though many were not as lucky, including 4 other regular teams. Thinking back, we were rather fortunate. Had we been held up by a trailer in the last 40 km or had the skies opened up, there was no way we could have avoided disqualification. And though we weren't really troubled by the treasures (or so we thought), had Pava not distributed them earlier, the additional time needed to search for them in today's circumstances would have made us odds-on favourite for disqualification!

Will a similar T evolve for Treasure Hunts? Only time will tell.

Treasure hunt briefing sessions nowadays have become so mundane that many of us choose to skip. But for the Atmah Charity Treasure Hunt, these sessions are always a guaranteed full house, and this year's briefing was no different. "There isn't any lavish buffet spread. Neither are there any lucky draws to be given away. So, what is Pava's secret?", those of you attending the Atmah briefing for the very first time may ask. Simply put, the treasure riddles are given out on briefing night. So essentially for Atmah, the hunt begins as soon as the briefing ends.

This year there were six treasure riddles to decipher with each correctly answered treasure riddle worth 10 points. With its superheavyweight status, the treasure riddles overshadowed the route questions, worth a mere 1 point each. Not surprisingly this promoted a debate amongst teams who could not break all 6 treasures before the onset of the hunt, if it was even worth going for the hunt. I can understand their contention as playing catch-up to 10 route questions would have been a big ask.

Without doubt, T1 and T5 were the 2 treasure riddles that had troubled most teams.

Of the two, it was clear that T1 would be the kingmaker while T5 could play the role of spoiler. Most regular teams would not have been elated with the variant having the "E" which was more readily available, since it did not quite match up to the riddle, though knowing very well it would not matter to the COC because of this piece of history.

T5: This treasure is a hit during the festivities,

So I shall not indulge into the brand formalities,

Cougar's star may help with these sweeties,

Just bring in as many to complete your duties.

Ans: A pack of Caster Sugar.

It did not take us long to derive a solution for T1 which we felt was worth a shout. We settled for Lux since it was clear to us that the COC did not want Fab. Our explanation being:

High-end = Deluxe

Last letter from the words "band please relate" = dee

Delete the letters "dee" from "deluxe" to yield Lux.

And to play safe we went for the Lux Soft Touch variant to fit "not hard" in Line 3.

T1: For the first treasure a cleaner you must target,

Add a high-end minus the last word from a band, please relate,

Browse the beginnings nothing great, the treasure's not hard for you to break.

Ans: A pack of Breeze detergent (powder/liquid).

To our dismay, the COC had a diffierent solution in mind. His explanation being:

High-end = h (one end of the word High)

Last word = in (latest in fashion)

Band = cincin

Replace "in" in cincin with "h" to yield Cinch.

Then relate Breeze to Cinch.

Comparing with the COC's rather complex explanation leading to the solution, I kind of like our answer better (hee hee).

In the end, T5 was not solved and break the curse we did!

With Thanks, from one VK to another!

Perhaps there are some good ghosts out there after all and one of them must have hitched a ride in our car the entire journey!

Atmah Charity Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 100

1st: Sin Yoong Leong, Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha (82)

2nd: Lim Soo Khian, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (81)

3rd: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng, Lim Say Chye (80)

4th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Buvanes Tharmalingam, Eeswaran Kanesalingam (80)

5th: Teng Wei Chiat, Chan Chung Wei, Yeoh Ban Lye, Cecilia Yew (78)

6th: Liew Kok Seng, Teoh Cheow Teong, Chong Foo Seong, Lim Kong Yew (77)
7th: Leslie Kwong, Shirley Hoe, Lim Ming Yang, Loo Wern Ching (76)

TREASURE HUNT ADDICTS CLUB (CHAT)

2011-08-08T02:40:00.002+08:00

DAMANSARA UPTOWN, 6 AUG 2011: Are you addicted to Treasure Hunts? If you answered Yes to any of the following 10 questions, you probably are. You can choose to deny it or you can choose to get help. Remember, there is no disgrace in admitting that you have a problem.

1. Do the signages talk to you each time you drive or walk past ?

2. Do you insist on checking out the snack food and soft drink aisles for new products each time you visit a hypermarket ?

3. Do you find yourself requesting the Q&A of every single hunt you had missed out on ?

4. Do you envy people who take part in closed hunts on days when there are no open hunts ?

5. Do you already look forward to the weekends although on a Monday morning ?

6. Do you feel listless and edgy on weekends when there are no hunts ?

7. Do you check Michael Pang's blog, A Hunter's Tale, Hunt News Network and other similar sites for updates every other hour of the day ?

8. Do you ask for tulips instead of directions ?

9. Do you send festive or birthday greetings in cryptic ciphers in place of ordinary messages ?

10. Do you buy newspapers only to scrutinize the hypermarket advertisements ?

With the newly formed Treasure Hunt Addicts Club (CHAT) of Malaysia, there is light at the end of the tunnel for all serious addicts. CHAT is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other not to help others overcome their addiction but to help them improve and bring their skills to another level. There are no fees or dues for CHAT membership. The only requirement for membership is a desire to hunt.

I was invited to be an observer by the 2011 President of CHAT to their very first meeting at Restoran Pappa Rich @ Damansara Uptown, and ended up volunteering to moderate their inaugural hunt on that day. The bubbly Mr. Loh Chee Kwan indeed has big plans for the club and promised to hold similar meetings on a regular basis to feed the addiction of its members.

2011 President of CHAT (member # 001)

Eight other people from different ethnicity, backgrounds and age group had turned up for the meeting. We had a couple of people including a fifty-something from the IT industry, another a young twenty-something training manager for a global forwarding company, an event organizer and a lady who worked in the insurance industry. One common reason that brought all of them here today was nothing other than their addiction to treasure hunting.

CHAT's founding members

The inaugural hunt's format, mooted by the President himself, is moulded in the shape of the Hunting for Food series but with a slight twist. The twist is that in order to participate, members had to craft between one to three riddles in 4 designated sectors.

And unknown to all prior to the hunt (including the President himself), their efforts can end up being an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the level of difficulty of their crafts. I ensured that hardwork is rewarded while impossible or unfair riddles aren't given the same benefits. Hardworking members who crafted the maximum three questions had the opportunity to begin the hunt with a minimum 9 points (18 points actually, since this was a couples hunt) - with 3 points or 4 points (depending on the level of difficulty) allocated for each question. But for each unanswered question, the responsible member(s) would be penalized all the points allocated for that question plus an additional half the points allocated as "punishment" for wasting the other member's precious time.

I contributed a couple of questions and a couple of treasures to earn my keep as the club had agreed to pay for my lunch. In total, there were 26 questions and 2 treasures to decipher over a two and a half hours time period.

In the end, the experienced combination of Goh Teck Koon and Lenny Wan swept both the honours and the opposition, though they also finished with the most number of punishment points (24 out of a maximum of 36 points). In fairness, their crafts weren't really impossible or unfair - the challenging route with an abundance of signages had added to the level of difficulty.

For those that missed the hunt, here is a teaser of the riddles set by muah. If you are interested to find out the answers (which I won't reveal here), feel free to email me.

Q18: An orderly quartet surrounded this place in an attempt to assume control.

(The answer can be found in one of the signages in the below picture)

T1: Small pair of ladies undergarment it is said to be,

I will let you pick the right colour suitable for me,

As long as it's something sweet, I will be more than happy.

(Laughs)

So, are you a member yet?

Treasure Hunt Addicts Club Inaugural Hunt
Maximum Score: 100

1st: Goh Teck Koon, Lenny Wan (68 = 92 - 24)
2nd: Lim Ming Yang, Loo Wern Ching (55 = 55 - 0)
3rd: Rajj Melambaran, Shirley Hoe (52 = 52 - 0)
4th: Lee Ling Fei, Claire Chin (47 = 47 - 0)
5th: Loh Chee Kwan (29 = 35 - 6)

BERNAMA-SARAWAK WALK HUNT - JOURNEYING TO THE EAST

2011-07-20T21:38:00.002+08:00

KUCHING, 17 Jul 2011: Since treasure hunts became a part of my life almost a decade ago, I've done my fair bit of travelling. Treasure hunting provided me with a reason to travel, and directly or indirectly it has brought me to fascinating places across Europe, China, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and all of peninsular Malaysia. In 2006, I set sail eastward and added Sabah to my hunt log. Still not satisfied, I patiently waited for an opportunity to hunt in Sarawak to complete my journey across all of Malaysia's thirteen states and three federal territories. That final piece of puzzle was made possible when Bernama organized the Heritage Trail in the Land of the Hornbills, fulfiling a pledge to Senator Heng Seai Kie in 2009 to bring treasure hunts to Sarawak in the spirit of 1Malaysia.

Arguably the best way to explore the city of Kuching is by foot, with each attraction just a stones throw away from the next one. The 6 km walk hunt, meticulously designed around the major tourist hotspots in the heart of Kuching city, provided the 250 participants (more than half of them from peninsular Malaysia) with the perfect reason.

In teams of two, the participants congregated at the famous Kuching Waterfront just after sunrise for this 5 hour walk-about. From there, each of us was guided to historical places like India Street and Padang Merdeka, the popular Satok weekend market, the Muzium Dewan Tun Abdul Razak and the Ethnology Museum before making our way on the perahu tambang to the Orchid Gardens across the Sarawak river.

Along the route we got to marvel at the many well preserved historical structures - the Astana, Square Tower and the General Post Office. We were also fortunate to receive an introductory lesson in Sarawak history while scavanging through the two museums for answers to some of the 25 clues.

However, like many others, we got lost more than once during the walk-about, no thanks to the tourist map plagiarised by the clerk of course. The map was less than helpful as it did not include many landmarks and some roads called out in the "tulips" provided. Still, this minor setback did not stop us from completing the heritage trail well within the time allocated. Q21 did stall us a fair bit before we gave up after failing to decipher the significance of the intended pun!

Q21: Forerunner to 1Malaysia?
Ans: UniBorneo.

The heritage trail did do its part well to showcase the City of Cats. I truly enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to returning the following year

Waiting to be flagged off at the Waterfront with the Square Tower in the background.

Strolling along the Satok weekend market.

On board the perahu tambang, our ride across the Sarawak river.

Smelling the flowers at the Orchid Garden.

Bernama-Sarawak Walk Hunt

Maximum Score: 100

Photo courtesy of Bernama

1st: Lim Ming Yang, Chong Voon Kiat (97)

2nd: Vincent Ho, William Ho (91)

3rd: Ho Meng How, Geraldine Evonne Ho (91)

4th: Kheirul Nazib, Erawati (90)

5th: Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng (89)

6th: Salehuddin Yusof, Azeman Saarin (87)

AXN BIG CHALLENGE - NOT AS LEAN NOT AS MEAN STILL AS KEEN

2011-06-19T20:22:00.002+08:00

PENANG, 11 Jun 2011: Switching gears to a different kind of challenge: when I found out about the AXN Big Challenge, a big part of me had already resigned to the fact that the impending dare would be a physically demanding one. Yet a small part of me had harboured hopes that the organizers would design-in an Amazing Race fashioned quest - to prove that these old bones can still give the youths of our nation a run for their money.

So armed with this glimmmer of hope, I approached YL and we both registered as a team for the Penang leg of this event.

And within a few days we were informed by Geraldine that we had been shortlisted together with about 160 other teams. That was the easy part!

In order to get to the main event we first had to get past the qualifiers. The qualifying rounds for the AXN Big Challenge is held in 3 cities, Johor Bahru, Penang and Kuala Lumpur to select 10 teams that will compete for the RM15,000 grand prize in 1 Utama Shopping Center on 26 Jun 2011. At press time the registration for the final qualifying leg in Kuala Lumpur is still open.

Vanessa Chong of TARA Season 2 fame and Jentzen Lim (林震前) were the emcees for the Penang leg.

As expected, in true Malaysian spirit, not all the teams who were shortlisted emerged on the morning of the event (free entry mah!). In the end, I counted not more than 80 teams (give and take) present at Berjaya Times Square to compete for the 3 finals spots on offer from the Penang leg. The format required all teams to compete in a Qualifying challenge from which 10 teams would be shortlisted for the Qualifying round main event. As many of our opponents looked like they still needed parental approval to take part, we sensed that we had our work cut out for us.

Our initial enthusiasm melted when we were briefed that the Qualifying challenge required teams to accumulate as many push-ups and sit-ups as possible in 30 seconds. There was no way in hell that we were going to survive this challenge - I've not set foot in a gym for the last 5 years, while YL confessed that he visits the gym only once a week (that too to utilize the shower facilities).

We were one of the early teams to attempt this challenge and between the two of us we recorded a decent count in the 70s (not bad eh!). But from watching the other teams perform we knew that we were in for an early shower when we counted easily 20 teams exceeding our number.

After the results were tallied, 3 teams were recalled to the stage for a play-off for 10th spot. Not long after, Vanessa and Jentzen announced the remaining 9 successful teams and one-by-one they ascended up the stage .... Innebandy! Co .... Twincredibles .... We were walking towards the escalator when the 10th and final team was announced ....... "And last but not least the team with the longest name .... Not As Lean, Not As Mean, Still As Keen !", Vanessa grumbled.

"No way!", we both shooked our heads in unison as we made a u-turn and headed for the stage.

The Qualifying round main event was a battle between old versus young .... brain versus brawn ... us against 18 other college kids. There were 3 challenges in the main event, and the total time taken would determine the top 3 teams who would represent Penang in the AXN Big Challenge.

Challenge 1: Zorbing blind-folded through an obstacle course, with each obstacle knocked down incurring a 30 second penalty.

Challenge 2: Cycling around an obstacle course, with each obstacle knocked down or feet let down incurring a 30 second penalty.

Challenge 3: Scaling a cable ladder up-and-down half a dozen times to pluck six pieces of puzzle.

In the end, brawn won! We were outclassed both physically and mentally by the college kids! But we can take heart that we finished in the top 10 despite the age handicap, and that we had given it our all (just that our all wasn't good enough).

Looking forward to the next one ......... not! (hee hee)

AXN Big Challenge

The Winners

1st: (Innebandy! Co) Sam Teoh Jiun Haur, Deswyn Wan Yee Weng .... 11 mins 21 secs

2nd: (i-Run) Lee Chun How, Ong Leng Hin .... 11 mins 26 secs

3rd: (Twincredibles) Tang Khai Shing, Tang Khai Sheng .... 12+ mins

The Finalists

HOSPICE KLANG TREASURE HUNT - OH I'M SO PISSED

2011-06-13T02:06:00.019+08:00

KLANG, 12 Jun 2011: Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed! Oh! I am so pissed!

Some experts advise that when one is struggling with problems of stress or anger, it is best to put words on paper to help one stay calm. Hmmm! This therapy probably doesn't work for everyone because after a whole paragraph I am still so pissed!

Over the years, we've gotten the short end of the stick in treasure hunts more than a handful of times, all of which had cost us the top spot. On one occassion in a well publicised annual hunt, a COC had inadvertantly left out the scores of an entire page from our answer sheet. On another occassion, the same COC had wrongly tallied the scores from our challenges. On yet another occassion, a different COC had misplaced our entire answer sheet (which resurfaced in his hands later). Yet I was not as aggrieved by all these bloopers combined (compared to what had happened to us in today's hunt) - I had waved these off as genuine human errors.

What happened to us in the Hospice Klang Treasure Hunt was truly unacceptable and a result of the two COCs failing to play by their own rules!

As a result we were wronged on one route question which again cost us first place.

Most if not all hunters are well versed with the rule: "Both answers in English or Bahasa Malaysia are acceptable unless one of them is more fitting". To explain this rule to those new to treasure hunting, let's look at this example. Hypothetically, say you come across this route question:

Q: Dial zero?

And you see this signage along the sector:

Kelab Malam Ringo Club

And you are satisfied that dial = ring (as in call someone) and zero can be represented by o. The above rule basically means that you will not be denied your full points should you write your answer as:

Ans: Kelab Malam Ringo OR
Ans: Ringo Club

However if the question is rephrased to:

Q: Dial zero for a weapon?

The only fitting answer in this case would be:

Ans: Ringo Club

since club = a weapon.

In our case, today's Question 12 read as:

Q12: The value of an emergency number.

And this signage was spotted in the sector:

RM999 (seen on an advertisement belonging to Galeri Perabot Valencia Home Furnishing Sdn Bhd)

Ooops, I forgot to mention that if the signage that perfectly answers the route question is a sub-sign, most if not all COCs require that the main sign where this sub-sign is spotted be included in the final answer. This is to convince the COC that the signage was physically spotted and not crafted, which is fair dinkum.

Hence according to the first and second rules we had discussed earlier, the acceptable way to answer Q12 would be:

Ans: RM999 @ Galeri Perabot Valencia OR

Ans: RM999 @ Valencia Home Furnishing Sdn Bhd

But to our dismay, the two COCs insisted on:

Ans: RM999 @ Galeri Perabot Valencia Home Furnishing Sdn Bhd

... which I am utterly disappointed for the following reasons:

a. the two COCs had failed to play by their own rules.

b. the main sign in this particular case plays only a supporting role and does not even answer the question posed.

c. there was already a meticulously long list of tie-breakers already defined by the COCs - why not use them?
d. apparent inconsistency to this "broken rule". We received points for our answer for Q27 which we wrote as Lemon Dry Clean leaving out the BM word from the full signage of Dobi Lemon Dry Clean.

e. these two COCs are not rookie COCs and both of them are active hunters themselves.

And to add insult to injury, one of the two COCs in his own weak defence argued that the rest of the Masters had written it the "required way" so there is no reason "we can't write it the same way".

Now tell me, what good are rules when during the briefing it is explained one way and during the hunt it is interpreted in a different way? Why even bother attending the briefing? Why even bother joining the hunt?

These are questions that still linger in my head as I fail to find satisfactory answers in the COCs defence. Hopefully I will wake up in the morning and the answers I seek will become clearer. But I doubt it will and I foresee that this "injury" of mine will take a longer time to heal!

Updated 13 Jun 2011

Now on to a short tale about the Hospice Klang Treasure Hunt. The event was a noble effort by the hunt organizing committee and the seasoned duo of Chong Foo Seong and Garyguna Sager, who volunteered their efforts in aid of cancer-stricken patients who require palliative care. Despite my obvious discontentment with the end result, these folks still deserve a thunderous applause for their overall effort.

49 teams made their way to the Klang Executive Club in the morning of the hunt, the starting point for a five and a half hours roam around the city of Klang in search of 30 answers. There were also 5 treasures to decipher, 2 of them having been generously distributed during the hunt briefing two days prior. It was apparent that Foo Seong had master-minded most if not all of the 30 questions in today's hunt - the tell tale sign being his very distinct style.

During the briefing, he had promised a lighter fare which he did deliver in the end. There were really only 2 questions that had stalled the regular hunters.

Q3: Constructed crookedly with the answer and ended up with a means of smoothening.
Ans: Caring

Q17: They move with direction and sounds to identify a famous British entertainer in full.
Ans: Jets

And it was clear that a huge effort was required to solve these two questions because the possibilities were just too ocean wide (Q17) and the fodder/key somewhat ambiguous (Q3). So while my team mates were busy scanning the shops, I was busy snapping photographs. And when they were busy scanning the shops a second, a third and a fourth time, I was visibly disinterested. I had a game plan to 'take off and leave the sector' but could not convince my team mates to adhere to this plan. And I can fully appreciate their stand. There is just so much that the camera can cover. Also the importance of solving these two questions was clear - these are the type of questions that would likely break the impending logjam at the top of the leaderboard. Still, I find it not prudent to stick around and prefer to do the grinding work in the car. There is just so much that the human brain can handle, and to work on 3 unknowns in the clue while scanning the signages in a moving vehicle is just too much for my little brain.

We arrived at the end point with an hour to spare and Q17 yet to break (Q3 was already history - mid point control). A quick check with the COCs confirmed that none of the other regulars had handed in their answers. The thought of risking it all once again materialized in my head. We did it once before and narrowly missed out on success. But I was very confident that it would pay off this time and convince my team mates I did.

And we WOULD have pulled it off had the COCs not decide to nit-pick on our answers! Sigh!

Hospice Klang Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 115

1st: Venkateswaran Nagappan, Chin Kar Peng, Jayaram Menon, Kumaran Nagappa (109)

2nd: Sin Yoong Leong, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (109)

3rd: Chai Kok Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Shandra Dass (106)

4th: Liew Kok Seng, Lim Kong Yew, Teoh Cheow Teong, Sam Rahman (106)

5th: Lim Soo Khian, Adrian Wong, Michael Pang, Toh Weng Ngai (103)

6th: Peh Kok Hun, Tommy Ng, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Say Chye (98)

7th: Lee Ling Fei, Ruben Enbasegaram, Lenny Wan, Yeong Kig Siew (97)
8th: Christopher Foo, Tham Li Vyen, Toh Lee Khim, Lim Kee Wai (95)
9th: Teh Hann Song, Catherine Ng, Alan Fung, Lim Kien Khong (94)
10th: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Muhammad Razif, Dharmataksiah Abai (88)

OFMA TREASURE HUNT - SHOVEL AWAY!

2011-04-27T23:47:00.011+08:00

PENANG, 3 April 2011: Some of us had been waiting with bated breath for the OFMA Treasure Hunt, the second hunt of a doubleheader weekend. Yeah, it HAS been that long since Chian Min last clerked a public hunt! What I remember though was that I had enjoyed his past hunts, so much so that he has remained in the top two of my all-time favourite COC list.

I'll never forget that soccer-loving boy from the Leader Hunt who gave my team a run-around and deservingly got my stamp of approval. Not to mention that treasure from the same hunt which was POLES more original than anything I had ever encountered during that time. And though his two panadols from the MRCS VAD20 Hunt had given me a migraine, I still enjoyed the torture.

Today's hunt (I suspect) was specially designed with hunt novices in mind, quite expected really, since the bulk of participants consisted of members of OFMA. So barring a handful, I felt that majority of the 30 route questions were quite reachable for most. It has never been Chian Min's style anyway to weave layers upon layers of deception, preferring instead to use conventional trickery and creativity to outwit the seasoned hunters.

Though more relaxing than most hunts by today's standards, nimble treading was still a requisite to avoid the meticulously planned pitfalls. I counted four maybe five red herrings waiting to be reeled-in. And teams that were careful enough to side-step these hazards then had to face a bigger obstacle in the form of a chopstick-ping pong relay challenge.

But the biggest challenge of the day came unexpectedly from the treasures. Lately I have noticed a not-so-appealing trend in Penang hunts where hunters are expected to grope in the dark (perhaps more accurately: while holding a short stump of candle) in search of obscure brands of treasure items that may not be available within the sectors covered by the tulips; and this trend continued through today's hunt albeit atypical of Chian Min. It can be a frustratingly difficult task given the limited time allocated to the hunters, especially when the bulk of the five and a bit hours today was meant for attempting the route questions.

A good analogy would be like asking hunters to search for a specific tiny object (the treasure) buried deep in the sand (the unknown depth representing the unknown shops where the treasures can be found) and buried with other similar tiny objects (the different brands), in an area of the beach cordoned off by markers (sectors within the tulips), using only small shovels (the hunting vehicle). Demanding enough? How about if you were told that you only have 45 minutes to shovel!

45 minutes was exactly how much time we had left at the end of the hunt to look for four of the five treasures. Our team, wisely or unwisely, decided to gamble by deferring the search of the treasures to the end. It is never a good idea to leave the treasures till late. However, we opted to do so because of a more pressing need to make it to the mid-point control within the stipulated time.

Looking at the two treasures below you will soon realize that we weren't exactly in pitch darkness as the COC wasn't exactly heartless. He had casted enough clues to lead the hunters to the two stationery items, staples and paper.

T1.
Deliver a treasure maybe handy for PFS students and teachers,
Especially for you to hold together documents and papers,
Likely to be known as bullets, but it won't kill; have no fear,
I want a box, with brand shown by first letter of each line here.
Ans: A box of Deli Staples.

T5.
For the support from PFS school, we want to say thank you,
And donate this treasure as part of our worthy tribute,
Get me a ream of papers; for the brand, listen to this one clue,
If you remove the 2nd letter, the remains still sound like one clue.
Ans: A ream of 1K Blue paper.

The challenge was simply to figure out the required brands and find them. However, he was not the least interested in the common brands, no siree! T1's brand was clear eventhough it was obscure. For T5, as deep as you might shovel, still it is unlikely that you will discover the right brand - it is one of those treasures that one needs to have in hand in order to decipher correctly, and the brand being not so common in the market did not help the hunter's cause. So essentially hunters had to to decipher the required brand simply "in the dark".

In the end it did not rattle me to find out that only 4 teams had successfully found T1 in the smaller shops while none of the teams was successful in finding T5.

Of course, my opinion would differ if we were given at least 24 hours in advance to search for the treasures like in this hunt.

OFMA TREASURE HUNT
Max Score - 100

1st - Chin Kar Peng, Lee Kok Shin, Jayaram Menon, Ho Seng Hooi (84)
2nd - Lee Ling Fei, Chong Voon Kiat, Lim Ming Yang, Loo Wern Ching (82)
3rd - Teng Wei Chiat, Sin Yoong Leong, Yeoh Ban Lye, Cecilia Yew (80)
4th - Edward Yeap, Stephen Chin, Eugene Cheong, Subashini (79)
5th - Cheok Wye Leong, Chin Pin Hong, Elaine Cheong, Emmalyn Tan (78)
6th - Mohd Asri Ali, Kheirul Nazib Mahmud, Haslinda Shamsuddin, Hagi Suhaimi (77)
7th - Alexander Hoh, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (77)
8th - Peh Kok Hun, Tommy Ng, Loh Chee Kwan, Margaret Sha (74)
9th - Hisham Rusli, Shamsul Johari, Norashikin Ab. Aziz, Rhyrita Sukiman (73)
10th - Aini Fazlin bt Md. Pazil, Azhanawati Abdul Wahab, Wan Kamal Azlan, Mohd Farid Hashim (73)

CSI TREASURE HUNT - SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT SWING

2011-04-04T23:39:00.004+08:00

SUBANG JAYA, 26 Mar 2011: If you've gone to sleep for the last year and a half and have only just woke up, you'll soon realise that we have lost our consistency to compete for podium positions week after week. There are perfectly valid explanations why we've lost our place in the treasure hunt pecking order.

Our performance took a sharp dip after losing a dear member of our team to illness. His absence is greatly felt to this day, more so during the CSI Treasure Hunt. This was one of those hunts that required an extensive amount of Googling, an activity that Vincent thrived. Three quarter of the riddles from today's hunt had a cookie-cutter resemblance to Q6. Seek out the knowledge part of the riddle, google it then figure out its relation to the cryptic part and voila!

Q6: Ms Hill investigated with this to expose one of the bad boys.
Ans: ITW.

Now that Margaret has taken over the chief Googling role, on occasion I can see that she is struggling to juggle her time between journeying around cyber space and preparing ahead for the upcoming questions, which truly is her forte and an edge that we have benefited from so often in the past.

And clearly we have also lost our ability to adapt, another edge that we used to relish. Riddles like Q10 we never used to have problems accepting the actor over his character in the plot.

Q10: Only he can positively identify the Jackal.
Ans: Gere International.

These days though, we spend more time in the car arguing over the flaw and 'helping' the CoC conjure the perfect riddle that we forget that CoC themselves are mere mortals. It is not uncommon to find major flaws like Q4 in hunts, especially amongst the newer CoCs. Perhaps they were letting their creativity run wild or perhaps they have had bad role models. Whatever the reason, we used to have the uncanny ability to sniff out the flaws in the riddle and accept less than perfect answers without hesitation, a trait I used to be so proud of in the past.

Q4: A John Cena crime thriller, to complete series of tasks to save his love.
Ans: 12-A or 21-A.

Even the best of hunters would have struggled with Q4. The name of the crime movie in question is 12 Rounds. It is not 12-A. Neither is it 21-A. It is erroneous to 'play' on the name of the movie when clearly it is the name of the movie that was sought. John too would have been upset to learn that he was associated to 'movies' he had not played a role in.

And time and time again we have the uncanny misfortune of being victims of major blunders by the CoCs. On this occassion the blunder was in one of two challenges which teams had to complete on the day. The solution of the logic puzzle to figure out the position of a group of suspects in a police line-up based upon six clues provided should have been rather straightforward ...... had the all important clue of "from which view point" been included - a critical clue which obviously would influence the final solution!

Coincidentally in the golfing world, Tiger too has been struggling over the last year and a half. Being a fan of Tiger's, I most certainly would like to see him back at his best. I can only hope that neither of us will take too long to rediscover our 'perfect swing' and once again compete for honours in our respective sports!

CSI Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 120

1st: Sin Yoong Leong, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (118)
2nd: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Rosemawarni Abd Rahman, Mohd Shahrin (118)
3rd: Ramesh Rajaratnam, Liew Kok Seng, Lim Kong Yew, Teoh Cheow Teong (118)
4th: Lim Ming Yang, Loo Wern Ching, Dao Sheng, Aik Chung (114)
5th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng, Lim Say Chye (109)
6th: Anwar Jeffri, Tan Kok Cheeng, Chan Kah Seng, Wong Poh Wen (105)
7th: Hunter Qarun (102)
8th: Shandra Dass, Kumaran Nagappa, Nova, Michael Pang (102)
9th: Venkateswaran Nagappan, Buvanes Tharmalingam, Eeswaran Kanesalingam and team (101)
10th: Mohd Asri, Mazri Muda, Fazalena, Shazwani (101)

KK CITY HUNT 2011 - BLIND DATE

2011-03-06T10:34:00.003+08:00

KOTA KINABALU, 27 Feb 2011: A mutual friend had introduced me to Cassie who lived in a different state. We exchanged text messages for a couple of weeks before I boarded a plane and flew across the South China Sea to meet her. My plane arrived shortly after noon, after a short transit in Labuan where I picked up a bottle of liquor. She is supposed to pick me up from my hotel in two hours time. Gosh! Do I even have time to shower? Oh no! I left my favourite bottle of eau de parfume at home! My hair is unkempt. What shall I wear? The butterflies were having a field day in my torso. You bet I was nervous! And while waiting for her at the hotel lobby, it suddenly dawned upon me that we had never exchanged photographs. How would I be able to recognise this complete stranger, or she recognise me? What would we say to each other? After a short wait, a bright green car strolled up the driveway. I knew it had to be Cassie. With sweaty palms, I opened the car door and there she was looking resplendent. I felt immediately out of my league in my t-shirt and jeans. However, when she greeted me with a warm smile I immediately felt at ease ............................. cut!

Ha ha ha! No, we weren't really on a blind date though technically our rendezvous would also qualify as one. I have not met Cassie and Tina prior, and our date was for the 10th KK City Tourism Treasure Hunt. Once again, I made a somewhat late decision to take part. And this time I decided to invite Jay to come along, a decision which proved wise in the end as he ended up being our trump card. We were rather fortunate that the ladies were also searching for team mates and were willing to take us in.

The ladies had only hunted twice prior but boy was I impressed. Tina easily outperformed all the Garmins and Mapkings put together while Cassie, I have no doubt, will give Vettel a run for his money if she ever decides to change profession.

The rather eventful hunt included a passport challenge (collect stamps from 8 landmarks around KK), a walk hunt at 3 locations (Taman Perdana, Jesselton Point and Api-api Centre), a drive hunt and 4 other challenges. For a hunt with a green theme, I felt the logistics could be improved upon as each of us ended up burning a whole lot of fuel going back-and-forth the same locations multiple times.

As a team we were naturally cohesive which belied the fact that we were hunting together for the very first time. Everyone seemed to know their role well in the team. Cassie and Tina handled the driving and navigation faultlessly. The ladies also ran off to do the Clean & Green Challenge (a tree planting and beach clean-up exercise) while Jay and I were left behind in the city for the walk hunt. Tina single handedly fninished the Create Your Creature Challenge while Jay stepped up for the Nostalgia games (Hit the Deck and Ancient Catapult). Of all the challenges, it was obvious that the latter two would decide the top 3 winners and fortunately we had a winner in Jay who happened to excel in these games during his boyhood. While Cassie and I fumbled embarrasingly with the tools (having grown up in an era of computer games and joysticks), Jay stepped up and confidently knocked down the pile of cards with the slipper, and the tin cans with the rubber-band/paper bullets combination.

Tina with her creation, Munchy the shark.

As usual the walk and drive hunt ended up being a side-show to the challenges. Though this time the riddles were a tad more challenging than in the past. There were three (all bolded) that troubled most teams, and we were fortunate to solve one of the three. This was one which we did not solve:

Q: Hoarse?
Ans: Mountain

This was a double jeopardy riddle during the walk hunt at Taman Perdana whose signage was very well hidden - literally right under our feet. The other riddle that we dropped was at the tail end of the hunt which we did not have the luxury to ponder more than a few minutes due to time pressure. One other thing that had troubled us the entire hunt was this treasure riddle:

T2: Minuman in kaya dengan vitamin C,
Sedia diminum dan akan buat kamu berani,
Pek yang akan diterima hanya satu sahaja,
Hanya yang ada kaitan dengan penaja komunikasi kita.
Ans: A pack of Ribena Mobile

Our team was about 10 to 15 minutes away from throwing in the towel for this treasure, having failed to find any connection with the penaja komunikasi kita for a large part of the hunt! It all fell into place only when Cassie was racing to the finish line - the good wind must have blown our direction.

Having enjoyed each others company, we have made plans to date each other again in 2012 and the next time I'll remember to bring along the flowers!

KK City Tourism Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 130

1st: Salehuddin Yusof, Azeman Saran, Fazliana Ibrahim, Adrian Julian (122)
2nd: Norashikin Abdul Aziz, Rhyrita Sukiman, Salleh Tating, Zizi Irlanty (116)
3rd: Cassie Forsythe, Tina Goh, Jayaram Menon, Chong Voon Kiat (116)
4th: Chai Koh Khai, Sin Yoong Leong, Margaret Sha, Claire Chin (116)
5th: Danny Ng, Noriza Esa, Nurzatul Hayanie, Masnudiah Abdullah (114)
6th: Afshur, Mohd Asri Ali, Khairul Nazib, Hagi Suhaimi (114)
7th: Cornelius Koh, Vivian Cham, Dennis Koh, Harry Koh (111)
8th: Poljiah Ag Besar, Evawati Hudong, Dayang Ismahanie, Rosnah Nenasi (111)
9th: Johan Salul, Dr Ben Lau, Dr William Gotulis, Mohamad Syukri (110)
10th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng, Yeong Kig Siew (109)

KK CITY HUNT 2010 - MAKAN ANGIN

2011-03-01T23:48:00.005+08:00

Better late than never .............

KOTA KINABALU, 28 Feb 2010: I love to hunt and at the same time I love to make new friends. So hunting alongside people I have never met would not be a fish out of the water experience for me. I made a somewhat late decision to take part in the KK City Tourism Hunt and have a few friends from Sabah to thank for pairing me with team Makan Angin.

When the hunt was first announced in January I wasn't ecstatic about travelling out of state. Work was the primary reason. A dragging customer crisis had needed my attention. The rather unfriendly air fares at that time further strengthened my decision. When the crisis started to cool off come February the itch returned. And if by amazing coincidence, MAS started to introduce extra flights to KK/Taipei to cater for the increased demand during the CNY period and with it came cheaper fares. By that time, my regular team had already submitted their entry. So I casually spread the word to these friends that a leg was available if anyone was interested and the rest as they say was history.

Upon my arrival at KKIA, we did have a minor situation - my fault really, nothing a Bunga Raya pinned on the T-shirt would not have fixed. Leaving the airport parking lot, we hit it off immediately. Allister and I were chatting like old pals who were catching up on lost time, discussing everything from family and work to hunts and hunters.

Team Makan Angin (Allister Kong, Benjamin Liew, Jeremy Pinso) and me

I had a good time hunting with the Makan Angin trio of Jeremy, Allister and Benjamin. Although hunting together for the first time, we were able to gel well as a team. We had very good team camaraderie and employed the right strategies throughout the hunt - being the 2nd team to arrive at the finish station with an hour and 30 minutes to spare was testament to that. I also enjoyed the laughter and the friendly banter we shared in the car. We were very close to upsetting the formbook, and almost pulled it off if not for a cruel misfortune.

The format of the hunt remained largely unchanged from previous years. Teams had to complete a passport challenge (collect stamps from 7 landmarks in KK), a walk & hunt at 2 locations (Gaya Street and Waterfront), a drive hunt and 4 games in order to score points.

Similar to the past KK City hunts the hunt questions weren't overly challenging, save for Q10. But because of the teeny size of the signboard and a slight inaccuracy in the riddle, I didn't really think it was meant to be solved anyway. We ended up dropping just this one question.

Q10: Neighbours indeed. Just like how some refer to the first lady.

Ans: Student.

Walk hunt @ Gaya Street - the CoC himself seen hunting for treasures.

Though we didn't do exceptionally well in the 4 games, I felt we did decent enough to have a shout for the top 3 positions.

I opted out of the Wau Challenge in favour of doing the Walk Hunt at Waterfront. When we regrouped, I was informed by my team mates that they had successfully launched the kite in the air for the required number of minutes, which should yield us points. How many exactly we weren't too sure. For some unknown reason, I was told that the CoC chose not to reveal the scoring format.

Wau! Now Everyone Can Fly Challenge @ Taman Awam Teluk Likas

Next up was a chopstick challenge in DBKK to pick up as many soy beans as possible from a bowl containing both soy beans and red beans within 60 seconds. Allister stepped up for this challenge and picked up a respectable 13 beans. Again we were in the dark as to how many points this effort was worth. Enquiries to the marshall were responded with "it (the effort) was a fair number". And once again I could not quite understand the CoC's refusal to explain how points were scored for this event.

The 2 games at the Monsopiad Cultural Village were more challenging. On this occassion the scoring format was made known. We were required to split up for the 2 challenges. Benjamin and Jeremy attempted the Blowpipe Challenge, while Allister and myself signed up for the Nutshell Challenge. The Nutshell Challenge is essentially a relay race on coconuts for 2 with team members standing on opposite sides of the pitch. Allister and myself stumbled during the changeover which cost us two precious points. Benjamin and Jeremy took turns with the Blowpipe and narrowly missed out on scoring any points here.

On a Nut Shell Challenge @ Monsopiad Cultural Village

Blowpipe Challenge @ Monsopiad Cultural Village

I didn't stay for the prize presentation since I had to catch a supposedly early flight home which ended up being delayed. Jeremy was kind enough to rush me to the airport and along the way we received a call exclaiming that we had finished third. Wonderful, except that our final points did not quite add up. After checking with the CoC much later we found out that we had lost points in the Wau Challenge. We were not given any points for succesfully flying the kite and lost points for creativity despite earning one of two novelty prizes for best kite design which can only mean one thing, that the marshall for this event had been sloppy, likely recording our scores against the wrong team number. A cruel misfortune indeed!

28 Feb - KK City Tourism Treasure Hunt

(Maximum possible score: 125)

1st: Chai Koh Khai, Margaret Sha, Sin Yoong Leong, Claire Chin (109)

2nd: Tan Cher Kian, Teo Chen Lung, Leslie Yew, Frederick Samson (106)

3rd: Jeremy Pinso, Allister Kong, Benjamin Liew, Chong Voon Kiat (105)

4th: Ellen Yee, Dr Liaw Yun Haw, Shirley Lim, Mary Lokupi (105)

5th: Sallehuddin Yusof, Kheirul Nazib, Johan Salul, Dr Ben Lau (103)

6th: Bernard Liew, Alvin Wong, Christine Netto, Audrey Chin (102)

7th: Cornelius Koh, Vivian Cham, Dennis Koh, Edward Baki (101)

8th: Claire Andrew, Grace Chin, Christie Kong, Saidah Sahid
9th: Francis Omamalin, Eileen Yeoh, Lee Tse Jim, Moina Liew

10th: Gan Po Tiau, Davin Wan, Winnie Chee, Shirley Chai

HUNTING FOR FOOD #3 - THE COC'S STORY

2011-02-14T00:08:00.111+08:00

PETALING JAYA, 12 Feb 2011: Edison once quoted that, "success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration". Nevertheless to set up a successful hunt in my opinion does not require a lot of work. Planning the route and identifying the targets should not take up more than one weekend's work. Inspiration, on the contrary is essential to craft quality riddles. I discovered that inspiration and ideas come unexpectedly - while waiting for the lift, reading the newspaper, driving to work, sitting on the toilet bowl, you name it. It's important to capture that idea instantly whether on a notepad or on the iPhone. It's equally important to give yourself time to engineer the riddles.

Time was on my side during the preparation for Hunting for Meals on Wheels, the 3rd edition of the Hunting for Food series. The decision to postpone the hunt (originally scheduled for the first weekend of January) was a blessing in disguise. Though most of the work had been done, I wasn't terribly satisfied with the end result. The additional time gave me opportunity to further tweak some of the riddles and to replace others with new inspirations.

The impending retirement of Edwin van der Sar which I found out while watching an MU vs Liverpool game had inspired this riddle. Having a United sign in the sector was the added sweetener.

Q12: Possibly what the Red Devils would be like without their Dutch 'net' man?

Ans: Seeri Authentic Thai Restaurant

Reading about the 2012 United States Presidential Election in the papers helped formulate this riddle:

Q8: Barrack put in office for another term perhaps.

Ans: Inspire Electronic Trading

And a bad dream had inspired this interesting riddle. I rubbed my hands with glee when I spotted the Amadeus sign in the same sector.

Q25: This monster's head was severed by Perseus for example. Identifying the film may help.

Ans: Kedai Gambar Eastman

These were three examples of five riddles I decided to bold because I felt that the themes employed would enhance the deception making it more difficult than it really is (and to encourage teams to attempt these riddles I decided to make the score from bold questions the first tie-break too). But my favourite from the lot has to be this very innocent looking riddle which was a non-bold:

Q26: Ask a beginner and this answer is what you will get.

Ans: SK Traditional & Reflexology (M) Sdn Bhd

Teams were given 4.5 hours for 30 riddles, 4 treasures and 5 food hunt challenges. Given that the distance to traverse was a mere 15 km, I initially felt that the 10 minutes per riddle allocation was rather generous, yet I decided to stick with this regulation hunting time to allow teams the opportunity to savour every single question. And I believe that I had achieved this objective seeing that the last 2 questions were perfectly answered by all 5 teams.

Being a CoC can be rewarding too sometimes (chuckles) when teams become rather generous from over analysis.

T4: This next treasure you should not have problems getting,

As it is freely distributed 'tis being the season for giving,

A shriek immediately following a sudden pain maybe telling,

The current centre of attention must be clearly showing.

Ans: Angpow with rabbit

After the winners were announced, we held a ballot to select the CoC for the 4th edition of Hunting for Food to ensure continuation of this enjoyable series. Hunters were asked to nominate from the winning team their candidate to helm the next edition. It was essentially a three horse race before Teoh ran away from the pack at the three quarter mark to become the eventual winner.

CoC for the 4th edition of the Hunting for Food series

And to wrap up, I hope that the lot of you who turned up in support enjoyed the hunt as much as I enjoyed setting the hunt, not to forget the Good Company, the Good Food and the Good Wine too, all ingredients of a Perfect Time!

I heard this series will be going to Ipoh next. Catch you there, folks!

Good Company

Good Food @ Restoran Thai My Elephant

Good Wine / Liquor

The Up-and-coming

Crouching Master Hidden Treasure

Hunting for Meals on Wheels

Maximum Score: 125

1st: Alexander Hoh, Teoh Cheow Teong, Lim Say Chye, Loh Chee Kwan (87)

2nd: Venkateswaran Nagappan, Loo Wern Ching, Goh Teck Koon, Liong Chian Min (83)

3rd: Yeap Heng Boon, Jayaram Menon, Lim Soo Khian, Lim Ming Yang (76)

4th: Chai Koh Khai, Shandra Dass, Lily Loh, Margaret Sha (73)
5th: Ramesh Rajaratnam, Claire Chin, Lee Ling Fei, Tan Cheng Peng (72)

HUNTING FOR MEALS ON WHEELS

2011-01-24T22:54:00.047+08:00

UPDATES

Event in a Nutshell

1. Date ..................................... Saturday, 12 Feb 2011.

2. Final Briefing ...................... 1:30pm gather in front of McDonalds Kelana Jaya SS6/2.

3. Start ..................................... Mass Flag-off at 2:00pm.

4. Regulation Hunting Time ... 4 hours 30 minutes.

5. Distance .............................. < 15 km.

6. Finish ................................... 6:30pm in front of Restoran My Elephant Section 17/13.

7. Penalty ................................. Disqualification from 6:31pm.

8. Questions & Points ..... 30 Route Questions x 3 pts, 4 Treasures x 5 pts, 5 Challenges x 3 pts.

9. Tie Breakers ....................... 1. No of Bold Questions Correctly Answered 2. Sequence of arrival (Finish).

10. Extra Question papers ...... Each team is given 4 sets.

11. Parking ............................... Free parking for non-designated drivers in open car park in front of McDonalds. Please collect parking ticket upon entry and pass to clerk of course for stamping.

12. Others ................................ Light & Easy cryptic fare. No new tricks. The Finish Control will open from 5:30pm. Any team that finishes well ahead (definite possibility) is advised to go for tea and return after 5:30pm!

Team Roster

1. Total number of teams ............. 5.

2. No of persons in a team .......... 4 (Decided on 4 to-a-team because of awkward number of guests).

3. Configuration of team .............. TBD at 1:30pm using a formula to ensure balanced strength.

4. List of Guests:

1) Alexander Hoh (Grand Slammer) *

2) Chai Koh Khai (Grand Slammer) *

3) Goh Teck Koon (Grand Slammer)

4) Jayaram Menon (Grand Slammer)

5) Lim Soo Khian (Grand Slammer)

6) Liong Chian Min (Grand Slammer)

7) Margaret Sha (Grand Slammer)

8) Michael Pang (Grand Slammer) - dinner only

9) Dato Ramesh Rajaratnam (Grand Slammer) *

10) Claire Chin (Master)

11) Lily Loh (Master)

12) Lim Say Chye (Master)

13) Loh Chee Kwan (Master)

14) Shandra Dass (Master)

~~14) Sin Yoong Leong (Master)~~

15) Tan Cheng Peng (Master)

16) Teoh Cheow Teong (Master)

17) Venkateswaran (Master) *

18) Yeap Heng Boon (Master) *

19) Lee Ling Fei (Regular)

20) Lim Ming Yang (Regular)

21) Loo Wern Ching (Regular)

Note: * = Designated Drivers

PUTRAJAYA HUNT - FEAR OF SMALL SIGNS

2011-01-23T10:13:00.003+08:00

PUTRAJAYA, 14 Jan 2011: The Putrajaya Treasure Hunt, one of four designated Grand Slam events in the Treasure Hunt calendar returned after a 3 year hiatus, but with a different clerk of course. This year's event was a joint effort between Kheirul Nazib and Johan Salul.

I was glad that the duo decided to retain the TAB Event challenges for this year's edition, a signature of the previous CoC, which has become synonymous with the Putrajaya Treasure Hunt. The challenges makes it unique amongst its peers, just like how the British Open links golf course stands out with its uneven fairway, deep bunkers and lack of trees as compared to the American Slams. Somehow or rather the inclusion of the TAB Events challenges makes this event the most open and competitive amongst the four slams. And unlike the other slams where realistically because of their higher level of difficulty, the winner has always been decided amongst the Master teams, any team in the Putrajaya Treasure Hunt field with decent cryptic skills can upset the form book.

This year's event included 6 TAB Events, 30 walk hunt riddles around Putrajaya and 5 treasures, all to be completed within 6 hours. The challenges were decent and none involved any element of luck or chance, though one of the challenges required a very strong stomach. Fear was not a factor for our team and for many others (though maybe the 5 points had played a role). But did our team mate enjoy the grub? I guess the below picture would tell a thousand words.

Most of the riddles were well crafted and there were even a few bright sparks. Because of the smooth surface reading, we were literally walking in circles before we eventually found the answers to these ones, which goes to prove that you don't really need bombastic words or obscure signages to outwit the hunters.

Q3: Kalau digoreng, sisa pun boleh makan.
Ans: Nasi Sup.

Q5: Malaysian bank works hand-in-hand with this for wealth.
Ans: Aur Resources.

Q23: Pasukan polis khas Switzerland secara ringkas.
Ans: Swatch.

Talking about obscure signages, I felt that the CoCs selected just too many of these type of signs. Answers today could be found on baby strollers, alarms, glass doors and inside supermarkets. Coupled with a large area to cover and answers that were in no specific sequence, the hunt ended up being overly challenging to most.

Congratulations to the new Hall of Famers.

Getting to know Putrajaya challenge @ Taman Pancarona

Fear Factor challenge @ Taman Cabaran

Millenium History challenge @ Monumen Alaf Baru

Picture challenge @ Seri Empangan Bridge

Walk Hunt challenge @ Moroccan Pavilion, Taman Botani

Kicking challenge @ Taman Equestrian

Putrajaya Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 145

The Champs - Mohamad Shariff, Anis Shahrein, Fuad Dahlan, Sharil Nizam

We finished an unexpected 5th. Would have been satisfied with 15th.

1st: Mohamad Shariff, Anis Shahrein, Fuad Dahlan, Sharil Nizam (115)

2nd: Salehuddin Yusof, Fazliana Ibrahim, Azeman Saarin, Wan Tajuddin (113)

3rd: Nurzatul Hayanie, Mohd Redzuan, Masnudiah Abdullah, Shamsul Zahuri (113)

4th: Hisham Rusli, Rhyrita Sukiman, Norashikin Abdul Aziz, Serina Ismail (111)

5th: Chai Koh Khai, Sin Yoong Leong, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat (111)

6th: Lim Kim Meng, Teh Boon Kai, Sam Rahman and team (111)
7th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng, Lim Say Chye (108)
8th: Mohd Shahrin, Teh Thean Yew, Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, Rosemawarni Abdul Rahman (108)
9th: Alexander Hoh, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (106)
10th: Sim Jun Yi, Hazem Eslah, Wan Safarina, Noor Azuween (106)

RESTORAN LYJ - BASIN FOOD

2011-01-15T01:33:00.004+08:00

Have any of you ever heard of Poon Choi (盆菜), let alone feasted on this Hakka dish? Well I haven't, until recently when I was searching the web for something uniquely different to try to welcome the New Year.

I'm not too certain of its origins but I'd care to wager that this kingly feast has something to do with some remote villagers' local offerings to an Emperor or General who stopped by during his quest to conquer the land.

Poon Choi which translates literally to "basin food" is a basically a large casserole neatly assembled with a dozen or more different dishes. Each dish is prepared separately and then laid out in the basin in two tiers, the more expensive the dish the higher they are placed in the basin. The casserole is then heated up for a short while before open season is declared and everyone digs in.

At Restoran LYJ, they offer two versions of Poon Choi - the regular version for RM258 and the premium version for RM500. Like any other regular Chinese restaurant, Restoran LYJ is equipped to whip up a host of other dishes, although there is no need really to order anything else if you order the Poon Choi, which is sufficient to feed between 10 to 12 adults.

For the regular version, I counted at least a fifteen different dishes / ingredients. The top tier contains an impressive line-up of steamed farm chicken (菜园肥鸡), crispy roasted duck (脆皮烧鸭), salt & pepper shrimp (椒盐大虾), home-style brewed senangin (家乡酿马友鱼), boiled brocolli and cauliflower.

The bottom tier is no slouch either, represented by stewed pork (卤花肉), oyster (蚝士), fish maw (鱼漂), abalone (珍珠鲍具), braised pork knuckle (猪脚), chicken leg (鸡脚), black mushrooms (冬菇) bailing mushrooms (白灵菇) and chestnut (栗子).

For the premium version, on top of the dishes served in the regular version, shark's fin (桂花翅), scallops (粒澳洲带子), abalone (澳洲车轮鲍鱼), brewed oyster (酿蚝士) and pork ribs (南乳排骨) are added to the extravagant feast.

Too much meat? Worry not! Both versions of Poon Choi come with a serving of seasonal vegetables (时菜) fried with garlic and a plate of fruits.

For those who cannot do without their customary bowl of rice, check out their pork lard rice (猪油饭). At RM3 per bowl, it is not cheap but worth a try!

Restoran LYJ Sdn Bhd

Address: Pt 11-12 & Pt 16-17, Jalan Perkhidmatan, Sg Buloh New Village, 47000 Sg Buloh, Selangor.

GPS Locataion: 3.196949, 101.569118

Contact number: 03-6140 2678

Reservation: Recommended (Required if you intend to order Poon Choi)

Opening hours: Lunch (12.00 - 2.30pm); Dinner (6.00 - 10.00pm); Closed on Mondays

Cuisine: Chinese (Non Halal)

Must order: Poon Choi (盆菜)

Must not order: N/A
Budget for 10 pax: RM288
My verdict: 3 stars

DIGITAL MALL SHOP & HUNT - SEASON OPENER

2011-01-10T01:51:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA, 8 Jan 2011: So how did you spend your New Year? Now that we are into the second week of 2011, the fireworks would have already fizzled out and the parties and hangovers long gone.

I spent the New Year break catching up with family members. Also did a bit of hunting, for gems of a different kind - for good food and new places to eat in the Valley. The other thing I had wanted to do was to send out invitations for the 3rd edition of the Hunting for Food series. The route had been marked the previous weekend, the dinner venue short-listed, the wine bottle ready and the bulk of riddles crafted. However, my plan to usher in the New Year with a bunch of food-loving hunters got derailed because of this:

Was hanging out in the mall on New Year's eve when I strolled past a Maxis Outlet. There was no crowd, just a handful of people paying their bills. Because of an overwhelming demand for the iPhone 4 in the Klang Valley, I hadn't expected this outlet to carry any stock. With no intention of replacing my HTC, I decided to ask anyway. You guessed it, they had it in stock. My curiosity (of its fame) got the better of me! So I ended up spending the bulk of the break playing with this gadget and in the process picked up new vocabulary like iTunes and FaceTime.

So in the end, the 2011 hunting season opened with the Digital Mall Shop & Hunt, a walk hunt within the four floors and around the Digital Mall premise. Not many teams had signed up, likely because they were put off by the poor prize list put together by the organizers which included spa vouchers and outdated speakers. Teams of two were given two hours (revised to two and a half hours after some pleading) to attempt 30 cryptic riddles, 6 picture clues and 2 treasures. It was one tough hunt put together by the duo of Garyguna and Chong Foo Seong.

A few things regarding the overall organization of this hunt surprised me somewhat. Firstly I am flabbergasted on the reason the CoCs decided to take the 'fun element' away from treasure hunting, by crafting the riddles "five to six times tougher" than a regular hunt, by their own admission. This is a public hunt mind you, not a closed hunt for fraternity members, and with no major prize at stake. The overall design of this hunt was also rather ludicrous if you ask me. I felt it was impractical for the CoCs to give a mere two hours and expect a two-person team to accomplish all tasks given, what more with the tasks being of a higher level of difficulty - even the picture clues were brutal and the uncommon brands seeked for the treasures raised the notch a level further. As expected in the end the scores were low and one team even scored nothing off the 30 questions.

Digital Mall Shop & Hunt
Maximum Score: 100

1st: Peh Kok Hun & Lim Say Chye (68)
2nd: Claire Chin & Loh Chee Kwan (59)
3rd: Alexander Hoh & Andre Teh (55)
4th: Lee Ling Fei & Chong Voon Kiat (49)
5th: Lim Ming Yang & Loo Wern Ching (46)
6th: Venkateswaran Nagappan & Theresal Pereira (45)

AWAM WALK HUNT - GIVEN LEMONS MAKE LEMONADE

2010-12-01T23:07:00.043+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 November 2010: One regular hunter made this comment during the AWAM 6th Charity Walk-about Treasure hunt, "We've got to make do with what we've been given. The same rules apply to all teams". After hearing his comments, I paused for a few seconds before nodding my head. How true!

It is not uncommon to find impossible treasure hunts wherein the time given is ridiculously short when weighed against the amount of tasks that need to be completed and the distances that need to be covered. Sometimes this can be due to an estimation error on the CoC's part. Other times this can be due to unforeseen circumstances like in the case of today's hunt. The CoC had to slice off 30 minutes from the regulation hunting time due to a delay in flagging off the hunters and a need to vacate the Chinese Assembly Hall by 2:30 pm. In the end, teams were given only 3 hours to attempt 30 Questions, 2 Treasures and 10 Bonus Questions, which equated to a very challenging 4.5 minutes per Question, not taking into account the time needed to traverse from one sector to the next!

When a situation like this happens, one can choose either to sulk (which will likely affect one's performance) or make the best of the situation. Since everyone is in the same shoes, it definitely wouldn't be easy for others too! Needless to say good time management is imperative. Maybe a lowering of expectation is required. A change of strategy might help too. Perhaps now you may want to hunt in pairs rather than in a foursome. Yes, it may be impossible to obtain a perfect score but hey, you don't need a perfect score to win this hunt, now do you?

Even with ample time, sometimes a perfect score in a hunt may not be achievable! The following was one of the questions from the hunt which in the CoC's own words was, "a very challenging but not unsolvable" question. Nevertheless, I beg to differ. Challenging yes, solvable no! I felt that he included too many variables in the riddle which discourages hunters from solving the riddle. Unsurprisingly, no one solved it in the end.

Q18: A water beginning and you can expect to get wet for sure.
Ans: Bas.

Somehow I am not a fan of a craft which requires hunters to mind-read the required synonym and then take some letters from that synonym in order to piece together the rest of the riddle. Firstly, this type of riddle requires very good guess-work on the part of the hunters. Secondly, there is a high risk of hunters conjuring up other acceptable answers given the many variables, which could embarrass the CoC.

Today, spotted amongst the hunters were many of my Freescale mates, 88 to be exact, who turned up in support of the event. Ning Baizura too sportingly participated in the hunt. Unfortunately I noticed that her team lost their way towards the end of the hunt and might not have escaped disqualification.

Awam Charity Walk-About Treasure Hunt

Maximum Score: 220

1st: Alexander Hoh, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (200)
2nd: Ong Hoong Chun, Ng Chor Hao, Peh Kok Hun, Chong Voon Kiat (195)
3rd: Lee Ling Fei, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Say Chye, Tommy Ng (174)
4th: Lily Chong, Loo Ai Choo, Angela Yap, Lee Siew Fang (174)
5th: Lim Soo Khian, Liew Kok Seng, Lim Kong Yew, Chong Foo Seong (170)
6th: Lim Ming Yang, Loo Wern Ching, Chow Xiang Lee (154)
7th: Aminuddin Sazly, Mohd Faiz, Izlan Sulaiman (138)
8th: Rajj Melambaran, Shirley Hoe, Sivakumar, Lim Chuan Leng (138)

TRIBE TOYOTA HUNT - PANG HELD BACK HIS FANG

2010-11-29T00:02:00.001+08:00

SERI KEMBANGAN, 27 Nov 2010: It looked like a Michael Pang hunt. It even sounded like a Michael Pang hunt. Yet, it did not feel like we were taking part in a Michael Pang hunt. Rarely do we get to finish a Michael Pang hunt well within the alloted time, and with the brain still in one piece. Instead more commonly the brain would end up feeling like it had just been given a 5 hour spin-dry treatment at the cleaners! Today scores were decent and even the passing rate was a record high. The hunt ended up being a delightful one for most.

The team with Michael Pang at Challenge Station II.

The event I am referring to is the annual Tribe Toyota treasure hunt organized by UMW for Tribe Toyota club members. Interestingly, this year teams had to first qualify for the treasure hunt through an on-line challenge. The fifty teams that completed all challenges in the shortest time qualified for the hunt proper.

Everyone has their own cup of favourite tea. So while the serious hunters might have considered the on-line challenge too cumbersome and stayed away, the serious gamers might have shunned the idea of spending time away from their keyboards. In the end, though the concept was sound, the idea back-fired and only 22 teams signed up for the hunt (despite 1000+ members having attemped the on-line challenge).

Yet despite this being a lighter fare of a Michael Pang typical hunt, it still took a while for our ignition to fire. But once our engines warmed up there was no stopping us until we arrived at this interesting question which slowed us down somewhat.

Q23: Deep love is able to absorb energy.
Ans: Ocean

The Amazing Trails of the Econauts
Maximum Score: 100

1st: Alexander Hoh, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (94)
2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Dr Ben Lau (94)
3rd: Angie Teh, Teh Boon Kai, Yow Hui Hui, Sam Rahman (88)
4th: Khong Sook Ling, Peh Kok Hun, Anwar Jeffry, Lim Say Chye (88)
5th: Pavananthan, Liew Kok Seng, Chong Foo Seong, Lim Kong Yew (85)
6th: Ahmad Zahrol, Sharifah Nur Laila, Sallehudin, Azeman Saarin (76)
7th: Angie Ng, Fong Choon Kit, Song Wee Kiat & team (67)
8th: Mohd Irwan, Haslinda Shamsuddin, Wan Nong Khairol, Nor Wahida (59)
9th: Ramesh Rajaratnam, Winnie, Kok Chan Wah, Kok Junior (58)

10th: Mok Siew Kong, Chong Sook Peng, Jason Lee, Tan Say Kiat (47)

PAVARAM DEEPAVALI HUNT - DE-LIGHT-FULLY IND-LISH

2010-11-21T12:13:00.005+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 Nov 2010: I'm already looking forward to the 2011 edition which shows how much I had enjoyed this year's edition of the Pavaram Deepavali hunt. Dato' Ramesh and Pava's promise to make next year's edition even better (than this year) leaves me in awe.

The Hunt Masters: Pavananthan and a then sober Dato' Ramesh doing the afternoon briefing.

In my mind, the bar has been set so high this year it would already be hard to eclipse. The hunters paid just a token sum but in return received more than just an insight into the complicated minds of the duo.

Q26: Alien puts in order here.
Ans: 11A+

Later in the evening, the hunters were also entertained by noteworthy performances from Raynne (Dato' Ramesh's eldest daughter) & friends, and impersonator extraordinaire, Helmi the Gimmick, which left everyone in stitches. Not to mention that everyone was well fed from a sumptuous Indian buffet and an almost unlimited supply of booze to boot.

The theme of this year's hunt was Star Wars - The XXX Strikes Back. Hunters were allotted 4.5 hours to tackle 35 questions and 5 treasures including 10 in-car cryptic riddles centred around the theme. In essence the hunt was designed for the hunt veterans and no doubt the handful of hunt novices amongst the 18 teams who showed up would have struggled. But all in all I am fairly certain that everyone had thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the end of the day.

And although the scores may not reflect it, I felt the hunt was slightly easier than the inaugural edition. Maybe it was because we somewhat knew what to expect having been a 'veteran' of one Pavaram hunt. But more likely it was because we had Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire Alex Hoh on our side mechanically churning out the required answers.

Now excuse me while I go brush up on my Ind-lish in preparation for next year's hunt.

Q11: Hush, the one above Tamilian delicacies?
Ans: Davon Health & Beauty (above Sothys)

Q22: The place for the likes of Mahatir, Badawi and Daim, expressed by an Indian.
Ans: Zon Tunda

Dato' Ramesh playing the MC role. He was "highly" chatty the entire night.

Barry Gibb from The Bee Gees crooning with Black 'Maurice' Hawk and Tiger 'Robin' Swan. Don't they look like triplets?

Boy-meets-Girl, Boy-chases-Girl, with Say 'Singh' Chye playing the Boy role and a petrified Raynne playing the Girl role. Chye would be perfect for a serial killer role!

Wong Fei Hung with Ling Fei and Koh Khai doing a rendition of Alan Tam's hit song, Friends (朋友). An oldie but a goodie! I thought Ling Fei did a brilliant job recalling 2 w-o-r-d-s from the entire song, don't you reckon?

The King and Venka dancing in their Blue Suede Shoes.

P. Ramlee doing the joget while Jay is 'obediently' doing the cha-cha.

Wong Fei charmed by Alex's good looks. Poor Alex, probably scared shitless from the experience went into hiding for the next hour!

Pavaram Deepavali Hunt
Maximum Score: 100

1st: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Alexander Hoh (77)
2nd: Lim Soo Khian, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (72)

3rd: Garyguna Segar, Sam Rahman, Shandra Dass, Toh Wei Ming (66)

4th: Liew Kok Seng, Teoh Cheow Teong, Lim Kong Yew (63)

5th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Say Chye, Jayaram Menon (63)
6th: Venkateswaran Nagappan, Florence Teng, Isaac Mah, Shong Way Sern (57)
7th: Catherine Ng, Adrian Wong, Michael Pang, Toh Weng Ngai (55)
8th: Rajj Melambaran & team (53)

9th: Lee Ling Fei, Ruben Enbasegaram, Lenny Wan, Yeong Kig Siew (52)

SOROPTOMIST HUNT - CALL ME ROMAN!

2010-11-17T01:29:00.006+08:00

JANDA BAIK, 31 Oct 2010: There are a variety of reasons why people choose to use a nom de plume. Authors commonly use pen names to disguise their gender or race. After all, who would be attracted to read a romance novel written by Jack Muscleman or a book on plumbing authored by Angelina Daintyfeet. Many actors, musicians and entertainers also tend to use stage names for that added touch of glamour. So remaining anonymous is not all bad. But of course, there are also those who hide behind a pseudonym for evil reasons.

I adopted my pen name, 2 Romans 1 Impostor, for a bit of harmless fun. And although I chose to use a different name, I do not go to great lengths to hide my identity. Most people in the treasure hunting circles who follow this blog know who I am. Heck, I've even got pictures of myself on this site.

During the SICB (Soroptimist International Club Bangsar) Charity Treasure Hunt, we had a bit of a laugh with pseudonyms. Prior to the hunt I had exchanged several emails with Daniel who was listed as the contact person from the organizing committee. Daniel was kind enough to explain to me the mechanics behind treasure hunting. And in turn I offered to help him advertise the SICB hunt on A Hunter's Tale.

On the morning of the hunt, I struck up a conversation with two charming young-at-heart ladies from the organizing committee. Naturally I asked about Daniel and was told that he had fallen ill and won't be attending the event. At that point I actually felt sorry for the man who did all the behind-the-scenes work. After the hunt, we happen to chat again and once again the name Daniel cropped up during our conversation. And since I obviously didn't have the charm of a cassanova one of the ladies decided to let the cat out of the bag and explained that Daniel was a fictitious name they had developed for fear of being stalked. Whenever someone asked for Daniel, he was either "in the bathroom, not at home or in a meeting". Fair dinkum since there were many people with evil intentions out roaming the streets. But since we were merely communication through email, I am not so sure I understood the reason behind the fear.

The SICB Charity Treasure Hunt was a 6 hour hunt which flagged off from Bangsar and ended in Janda Baik. The added attraction was the many seafood restaurants in Bukit Tinggi Village, located not far from Janda Baik. For one who did not appear to be active in treasure hunting circles, I felt that Francis (Lee) did a darn good job clerking the course. Many of his questions were cryptically crafted. A couple of his questions even had a sting to it and I overheard that there were a handful of teams who got stung in their haste to get to the finish line.

This is Francis Lee during the morning briefing .....

Q36 was a well-concealed container trick which we almost fell for. The added sweetener was this red-herring, a shop (can't remember the name now) which marketed several products, one of which was a Thermoscan. How clever!

Q36: Their advantage is in the heat sensing technology of their products?

Ans: Galeri Lampu Tsen

And this treasure again reminded us that every word in a treasure riddle may be important especially when dealing with a fastidious CoC.

T2: Smells great when dry and sudsy when wet,

Olive forms the later part of it, so does part of the hand in front,

After usage, the kids will feel clean, fresh and scented,

Procure 3 80g pcs and make sure they are free from any barbs.

Ans: 3 bars of Palmolive Soap, any variant except for Rose and Aloe Vera

SICB Charity Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 235

..... and this is Daniel giving away the prizes.

1st: Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon (235)

2nd: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng, Lim Say Chye (225)
3rd: Ami Akhram, Haslinda Shamsuddin, Wan Kamal Azlan, Azhanawati Wahab (210)
4th: Mohd Asri, Mazri Muda, Hagi Suhaimi, Mohd Izhar (210)
5th: Petra Rahimi & team (207.5)
6th: Johan Salul, Dr Ben Lau, Chai Koh Khai, Lau (205.5)
7th: Lim Meng Yang & team (205)
8th: Wong Tun Wee & team (195)
9th: Pavananthan & team (190)
10th: Sallehudin, Kheirul Nazib, Aziman (185)

LEXIS NEXIS-KL BAR HUNT - FRUSTRATING TIME OUT

2010-11-06T12:38:00.002+08:00

SHAH ALAM, 24 Oct 2010: Treasure hunts ala Malaysia isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea! For beginners especially, treasure hunts can be both mind-boggling and frustrating; frustrating because the clues are presented in a language that looks and reads so much like English (or Bahasa Malaysia) yet isn't exactly English. Many tend to drop off after their first attempt while a handful continue to stick around. And those who have stuck around long enough would attest that with practice and patience, the frustration would gradually turn into joy and addiction.

I have been participating in treasure hunts for some 9 years now and have stuck around because I find breaking clues, especially the well crafted ones, to be extremely satisfying, more so than beating a little white ball all over a grassy field. Yes, clues can be frustrating sometimes (that's what they are designed to do, believe it or not) but there are times too when clues make me laugh (after finding out that I have been fooled). Vulnerable clues are the ones I find most frustrating. They are the ones where you take one look at it, immediately know what to look for, spend seconds to find the answer and leave the sector without giving it a second thought but during the answer presentation your jaws drop when you find out that the setter has an alternative answer which is not more superior than the one you provided.

During the Lexis Nexis-KL Bar Hunt, there were two such vulnerable clues. They certainly weren't crappy clues, just clues that lacked a reinforcement that would have made the intended answer an exclusive fit.

Q12 was intended as a Double Jeopardy toughie which required the solver to search for a fitting "question" which yields fashionable as the end result. The intended answer, Mid N-IN-E fitted perfectly no doubt. Little did the setter realize that in the same sector there were two other possible answers. We didn't stick around after finding Int. Building & Construction which appeared early in the sector; there was no reason to, as the answer was fitting. Another regular team found this sign, Boundary Less Mind, which was just as good.

Q12: Fashionable end result?
Ans: Butik Mid 9

Q16 was more straighforward. One had to figure out a word that could satisfy both appearance and atmosphere. The setter wanted Foto L-AURA while we settled for H-AIR Avenue. Once again in my opinion, you can't fault either answer.

Q16: Lose her head to get an appearance or atmosphere.
Ans: Foto Laura

Hunters who fell for the twitted treasure trickery must have had the most frustrating time out. The treasure riddle that appeared in the Lexis Nexis Twitter page is not difficult to break. Nevertheless, one had to first find the right site! Bogus sites I was told, requested hunters NOT to bring the variety with plant life from the bottom of the sea and with iron going round, and there were a few teams who did just that!

Despite the frustration, I am still glad to have hunted today for otherwise I would have missed this gem which required pattern recognition in order to decipher the solution.

Q9: A piece of cake or bent out of shape, I would begin to get.
Ans: IOM Assets

Lexis Nexis-KL Bar Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 125

Open Category

1st: Ramesh Rajaratnam, Liew Kok Seng, Teoh Cheow Teong, Lim Kong Yew (119)
2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Toh Wei Ming (116)
3rd: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Mohd Shahrin Zainuddin, Rosemawarni Abdul Rahman (113)
4th: Wong Chiang Chuen, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (113)
5th: Justin Chow, Adrian Wong, Toh Weng Ngai, Michael Pang (113)
6th: Sin Yoong Leong, Sam Rahman, Liong Chian Min, Jayaram Menon (113)
7th: Azman, Sallehudin, Norashikin, Serina (108)
8th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng, Lim Say Chye (107)
9th: HSBC Fun Hunters (102)
10th: Mohd Asri, Haji Suhaimi, Rajj Melambaran, Shirley Hoe (99)

Closed Category

1st: Jeffrey Wong, Lim Kim Meng, Viki Lim, Chong Foo Seong (113)

2nd: Christopher Foo, Lily Chong, Pasupathy, Ong (107)
3rd: Joehari, Geetah, Chong Cheng Hai, Philip Karuppiah (104)

MARITIME HUNT - A TALE OF TWO HALVES

2010-10-30T23:51:00.002+08:00

KUALA SELANGOR, 23 Oct 2010: The Maritime hunt made a much anticipated return after a 3 year hiatus. This year's quest which took the hunters from Carey Island to Bukit Malawati, Kuala Selangor was divided into 2 halves with Setia Alam being the mid-point of the hunt.

The first leg of the hunt was just how I had remembered past Maritime hunts - thematic and tough! Thematic hunts can be a tad more challenging than standard hunts because a decent general knowledge surrounding the theme is a pre-requisite in order to excel in the hunt.

Q3: Random code insertion will uncover port labourers that are kept here.
Ans: KRS @ KR Sinniah & Son Store

Q11: It gets away somehow with giving access to ships.
Ans: GNG

Thematic hunts also tend to provide cunning setters with an additional ace up their sleeve, giving them an opportunity to employ seemingly thematic words to mislead the hunters.

Q9: Master went away after vehicle is okay?
Ans: Mag1 @ Bengkel Membaiki Kereta Kim Hoe

Q12: Even a hundred splits up to allow the first mate in.
Ans: Level Up

It was a vastly different hunt in the 2nd leg, as though the setter had let go of the gas pedal. The struggles we endured in the 1st leg became a distant memory as we breezed through the questions in the 2nd leg.

Throughout the hunt we were bothered by one treasure. We had an answer that did not quite fit perfectly because we could not account for some of the words used in the riddle. In the end, it was rather disappointing to find out that these words were nothing more than decorative pieces, rather uncharacteristic for this particular setter indeed!

T1: You will find many first voyages in a needful way,
As a seafarer's wish about rain storm to go away,
And is necessary to discover the treasure I say,
An exploit of Switzerland's law will hold sway,
Nothing firm comes in though not in an early way,
A pack of this treasure will surely make my day.
Ans: A pack of M&M's Milk Chocolate

Maritime Hunt
Maximum Score: 100

Open Category
1st: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat (92)
2nd: Sin Yoong Leong, Teoh Cheow Teong, Jayaram Menon, Sam Rahman (90)

3rd: Wong Chiang Chuen, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (88)

4th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Ming Yang, Lim Say Chye (86)

5th: Ramesh Rajaratnam, Liew Kok Seng, Chong Foo Seong, Lim Kong Yew (84)

6th: Lim Soo Khian, Adrian Wong, Toh Weng Ngai, Michael Pang (84)
7th: Peter Tan, Song Wee Kiat, Jessica Cheah, Emily Soo (62)

8th: Azlin, Monaliza, Azaly Rezza, Amira (58)

9th: Nor Sad Darus, Diwi Zarinah Tumiran, Abdul Halim Hassanudin, Mohd Azwani Abdul Kamal (39)

10th: Alicia Lau, Amy Letchumy, Fatimah Ahmad, Florence Tan (33)

Closed Category

1st: Mohd Shahrin Zainuddin, Rosemawarni Abdul Rahman (77)

2nd: Mazhazli, Wan Kamal Azlan, Yen Lee, Rosmina (66)

3rd: Wan Nong Khairol, Haslinda, Mohammad Razip, Norwahida Nazihah (60)

GSC 100 PLUS TREASURE HUNT (PG) - SHOW TIME

2010-10-16T02:29:00.011+08:00

Synopsis

More than one hundred teams assembled at the 1 Utama New Wing foyer in the morning. Many were starry-eyed novice hunters dreaming of taking home the four units of 32 inch LCD TV sets and many other fantastic prizes on offer.

Teams were given 7.5 hours to to traverse from Bandar Utama to Putrajaya in search of answers to 35 route questions and 5 Treasure riddles. Time wasn't really a luxury as along the journey teams were required to make mandatory stops at 5 designated challenge stations, many of them GSC cinemas, to complete 6 tasks which contributed something like 20% of the total score.

After circling around Kota Damansara, then Damansara Uptown and SS2 in search of answers, teams were led to a Futsal court for the first challenge. The task was to put a soccer ball into the back of the net, needing to navigate it past some obstacles in the way. I scored in my final effort from 3 tries; the first attempt I didn't quite bend it enough while the second attempt the ball swung too much. A fine job I felt since I can't even remember the last time I played Futsal. Even then, my forte was to stop goals rather than score goals.

Then off we went to Section 13 followed by Bangsar to answer a few more questions.

Next up was GSC Mid Valley for a Count the Logo Challenge. There were multiple sizes of GSC, 100 Plus and Hospis Malaysia logos, large and small, printed all over a poster. The crowd of hunters made the task more difficult than it really was. Their swaying index fingers proved to be a distraction to those standing at the back. With 6 points in the bag, we left Mid Valley for the next pit stop.

Before arriving at the venue of the next challenge, we hunted at Taman Connaught where we lost some precious time driving up and down the long stretch of road looking for a signage that was practically blocked by trees.

The Third challenge was held at GSC Leisure Mall, located close to the mid-point control at Hospis Malaysia. The task was to match the 3 pairs of eyes given to their rightful owner on the movie posters. A no brainer really. Full points for us once again.

We had to scurry to the mid-point in order to make the cut-off and we barely made it. But many like us who chose unwisely to linger around the earlier hunting sectors paid the price. I can't be certain but I suspect that many teams may not have made it here within the stipulated time.

The rest of the hunting sectors were scattered all over Puchong.

Next pit-stop was at GSC IOI Mall. The challenge here ended up being cancelled due to a technicality. We were later informed that the task was to watch several film snippets in order to answer a handful of trivia questions. The cancellation was a God-sent for teams who were running late.

The final challenge was held at Alamanda Putrajaya after handing in the answer sheets. Michael stepped up for this task and nervously knocked down 8 pins in his second attempt. A very good effort considering that he cleaned the gutter with his first roll.

Verdict

Movie sequels are almost always a major let-down comparing to the original, and this hunt wasn't any different. Though I was still in hunting diapers during the inaugural GSC Hunt some nine years ago, I can't imagine it to be any worse off than this year's event.

The used ticket stub treasure provided the only bright spark in an otherwise nightmarish hunt.

T2: Your ability in getting the next treasure really depends,
On whether you know the end result of committing a traffic offence,
But with a point returned to prove it is not a summons that I want from you,
Simply an item given back to a patron upon entry to a GSC hall,
Strictly submit to me a used one, or it is no points at all.
Ans: GSC Cinema Used Ticket Stub

Crowd control which is key in any large event like this event was a let-down. I felt that the CoC did not do an admirable job here. One way he could have dispersed the crowd was to send hunters going off in different directions, eg. to different pit stops not in sequence. Even by allowing the hunters to pick their own sequence of pit stops would have helped somewhat. In addition many of today's sectors were not conducive for treasure hunting. These narrow streets were already crowded, never mind the 100+ hunting cars that arrived almost all at once which added to the havoc.

"With great powers come great responsibilities", Uncle Ben once reminded Parker ...... perhaps an apt advice to the CoC for his next event.

Overall Rating ★

★★★★ When is the next one?
★★★ I actually enjoyed it
★★ Not bad
★ Should have stayed home

Film Details

Release date: 2 Oct 2010
Certificate: PG
Genre: Treasure Hunt
Language: English & BM
Directors: YS Khong & Liew Kok Seng
Starring (175):

1st: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Rajj Melambaran, Eeswaran Kanesalingam (153)
2nd: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Rosemawarni Abd Rahman, Mohd Shahrin (150)
3rd: Wong Chiang Chuen, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (148)
4th: Justin Chow, Adrian Wong, Lim Soo Khian, Toh Weng Ngai (141)
5th: Chin Kar Peng, Cheok Wye Leong, Jayaram Menon, Liong Chian Min (137)
6th: Angie Teh, Yow Hui Hui, Teh Boon Kai, Sam Rahman (136)
7th: Johan Salul, Dr Ben Lau, Lily Loh, Abdul Aziz (135)
8th: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Michael Phoon (134)
9th: Teng Wei Chiat, Chan Chung Wei, Sin Yoong Leong, Yeoh Ban Lye (131)
10th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Say Chye, Tommy Ng (127)

GBS CHARITY HUNT - CREATURES OF HABIT

2010-09-19T22:28:00.003+08:00

TELUK BATIK, 21 Aug 2010: Many of us are creatures of habit. We rise at a fixed time, need the morning dose of coffee, take the same route to work, dine at the same restaurants, shop at the same stores and the list goes on and on.

Similary, COCs too have their own whims and fancies that they habitually assimilate into their hunts, be it a crafting style that he is especially comfortable with or a treasure that he is particularly fond of. Paying attention to these repeating patterns can sometimes pay handsome dividends.

There was nothing really outstanding about today's GBS Charity Hunt which took hunters to Teluk Batik. The COC employed seasoned tricks which largely did not trouble the regular hunters ...... well, almost did not. This riddle in Tanjung Malim provided the sole resistance.

Q: Sekeliling untuk pakaian alas luar.
Ans: Pro.

The Purple Antz has a fondness for substituting "one" with the articles "a" or "an", an affinity I was aware of but slipped my mind on hunt day. Establishing this relationship is essential in order to progress. Cryptically, this question can be interpreted as "SE needs to surround the answer in order to derive a word that can satisfy the definition pakaian alas luar".

SE = AN
A + (Answer) + N = baju alas luar or Apron
which will yield Pro as the answer.

We didn't solve the riddle, but felt our effort "HO" was worth a shout. Our prayers were not answered though!

Following are riddles from previous Antz's hunts that sing a similar tune. Give it a try!

Q5: Satu masuk untuk sembahyang di bangunan ini.
Ans: Wisma Pry.
(Mengo Green Hunt, 2009)

Q17: An addition for a colour.
Ans: CYN Auto Service.
(Unity Hunt, 2009)

GBS Charity Hunt
Maximum Score: 140

1st: Alexander Hoh, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (140)
2nd: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Say Chye, Tommy Ng (137)
3rd: Garyguna, Mohd Razif Ahmad, Darmataksiah Abai, Sam Rahman (135)
4th: Pavananthan, Ramesh Rajaratnam, Liew Kok Seng, Chong Foo Seong (134)
5th: Yeoh Ban Lye, Cecilia Yew, Teng Wei Chiat, Chan Chung Wei (134)
6th: Yeap Heng Boon, Teoh Cheow Teong, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat (134)
7th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Eeswaran, Buvanes (128)
8th: Pirabakaran, Navamalar and family (128)

SF HUNT - THE PAUL SHOW

2010-09-09T11:16:00.004+08:00

PETALING JAYA, 8 Aug 2010: A good cryptic craftsman and a magician shares much in common. Both are entertainers out to deceive the audience. While a magician relies on props and the sleight of hand to conjure his illusions, the craftsman has in his arsenal the English language, one that is rich in synonyms, to hoodwink the solvers. A good cryptic riddle stands out for its misleading story-line with the added beauty of a good surface reading.

Though I somewhat agree with what has been said about the SF Hunt, yet I'd still like to give Uncle Chong the benefit of the doubt for the simple reason that I have seen better crafts from the man. Perhaps the month long football fever had taken its toll or perhaps this hunt was assembled in somewhat of a rush to coincide with the World Cup, I can't say for sure.

Most of the 30 route questions we were served today had very little deception. Quite the contrary, they were rather transparent making it fairly obvious what was required. Uncle Chong's efforts were more akin to a jigsaw puzzle. Most were like Q28 - pick out the right pieces of puzzle from the box and voila, you form the end graphic!

Q28: Dry compound with the answer describes a box seen in the Beautiful Game.

Ans: Axis Technology Centre.

But on a few occassions (like Q4), I felt there were just too many centre pieces with insufficient edge pieces in the box to assist the jigsaw enthusiast. Notice how in these situations, the pieces of puzzle (which are placed there to help) do little to help the solver for there are just too many possibilities. The only way to solve these type of questions is to chance on the right word for the definition provided and engineer backwards.

Q4: Terrible drink is consumed by intoxicated answer to arrive at a high place.

Ans: Paul Dental Centre.

In the end, we got entertained by Paul instead. Ten of us paid RM10 each to watch him perform live today. And disappoint his fans, he did not. In fact I felt he put on quite a show that left some of us awestruck.

We challenged Paul into correctly ranking the top 5 finishers in today's hunt. And judging from his picks, it was evident that he delibrately intended to sabotage his end result - perhaps Paul's way of issuing the rest of us a handicap, yet he still out-predicted the rest of us. Extraordinary! I've learnt my lesson to stay away from Paul.

Paul wrapping his hand-y tentacles around his reward for his extraordinary performance.

Uncle Chong's SF (Self-Financed) Hunt

Maximum Score: 110

1st: Alexander Hoh, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (104)

2nd: Christopher Foo, Adrian Wong, Toh Weng Ngai, Michael Pang (92)

3rd: Liew Kok Seng, Lim Soo Khian, Lim Kong Yew, Teoh Cheow Teong (82)

4th: Razif Ahmad, Darmataksiah Abai, Dr Ben Lau (79)

5th: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Wong Sze Lynn (78)

6th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Lee Ling Fei, Yeong Kig Siew (67)
7th: Venkateswaran, Florence Teng, Kumaran Nagappa (57)

8th: Tan Kok Cheeng, Chan Kah Seng, Roodi Mohd Rashid, Yeoh Hong Yip (53)

9th: Yeap Heng Boon, Tommy Ng, Jennifer Yeow, Lily Loh (51)

10th: Pavananthan, Shandra Dass, Selwyn Dass (44)

11th: Pirabakaran, Navamalar, Lim Chuan Leng, Komathi Dheana (42)

ATMAH CHARITY HUNT - COUNTING THE SECONDS

2010-08-30T14:54:00.004+08:00

Nobody remembers who finished second but the guy who finished second - Bobby Unser.

CAMERON HIGHLANDS, 14 Aug 2010: Some people consider Second to be just another fancy name for a failure and to a certain extent I can understand why. It's the worst possible finishing position in any sporting event. It feels horrible to come so close yet finish second best. It sucks even more when during the post-mortem you realise that with a little more effort or a little bit more luck, the results could have been reversed.

Clearly no one remembers the silver medallists. Nope, I don't remember who did Vince & Sam pip to the finish line in the Amazing Race Asia Season 3. Neither do I recall who finished runnersup to Italy in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Similarly, ask me who was vice-president to George W Bush, and you'll find me shaking my head. Hence, I don't expect anyone (but us) to remember who finished second in the Atmah Charity Hunt last year or the year before that, or the year before that!

I dare wager that we probably hold the unenviable record for the most number of consecutive second place finishes in the same treasure hunt event. Our streak started in 2007 in our very first Atmah Charity Hunt to Port Dickson where we finished second. The following year in the same hunt to Penang, we were again pipped to the finish line, losing out on a tie-break. Last year in the hunt to Pulai Springs, a self-inflicted infringement likely caused us top spot. And this year in the hunt to Cameron Highlands, you guessed it, deja vu all over again!

It won't surprise me any if told that we also hold the curse for the most number of second place finishes in a single year, with 7 in 2010 (and still counting). It makes me wonder what we have to do differently in 2011, short of visiting the bomoh. Neither do I believe in pledges too - clearly it didn't quite work for this fellow (Perhaps certain "things" are meant to be kept out of sight)!

The turn out for this year's Atmah Charity hunt was rather impressive, with more than 100 cars turning up at the Monash University carpark in the morning. All teams were given 8 hours to complete 35 route questions in the hunt which included a compulsory stop at the Tanjung Malim rest area to hand in Leg 1 of the hunt.

The kids had to tag along with us because their mom was out of the country.

Like in previous editions of this hunt, the treasure riddles were distributed 36 hours earlier. The COC accorded heavyweight status to the treasures (each treasure was equivalent in points to 3 route questions), which made it imperative to have them all deciphered. Missing out on one treasure in this hunt is like starting a marathon half an hour behind the leading pack - it was almost mission impossible to catch up.

And of the 5 riddles, I dare say that T2 likely provided the most resistance to the hunters. In fact only 5 teams broke it in the end.

T2: A refined header must be given some thought,

It's also said to have the effect of a drought,

Any size of the lot is to be sought,
Exposed cronies is the one to be bought
Ans: A can of Enrico's Ghee

At a glance, T2 appears to be one of those treasures that can only be solved with prior knowledge of the item. There appears to be no mention of the category of product (ie. drinks, snack food, biscuits, stationery etc) in the riddle to help hunters narrow down the search. The clues appeared to only provide a general description of the product - that it is dry and comes in several sizes, which offered no real help. The only real lead for most (which most teams attempted to attack) was the brand of the mysterious treasure, which clearly was the result of an anagram of 'cronies'. Yet, my guess is that most teams did not progress far because the letters did not form a familiar household name.

But in reality, this riddle is very much solvable. In fact I felt that it was rather clever of the COC to do a cryptic play on the definition of the product rather than the product itself. One word in the entire paragraph of the riddle holds the key to unlocking the mystery product. Once you discover that butter is an acceptable synonym for header, just as quickly it will become clear (from the rest of the clues) that the mysterious product is clarified butter or more commonly known as ghee. Full credit to the COC!

The COC will lose some brownie points for this particular attempt though, one which I am not particularly fond of, because it leaves him very vulnerable. It is not an entirely radical style (there is one other active COC who has used it in the past) but one which I hope doesn't catch on with the rest.

Q29: You could get a bad stroke in here.

Ans: Klinik Bandar Baru

In this question, the COC used "in here" to indicate that the answer is found as a container within the signage, which can be interpreted as within a word or adjacent words in the signage. This to me, is still acceptable. But the COC decided to go one step further, and required an anagram of that word, with "bad" as the key (an action which not only made this riddle more challenging, it probably also increased his vulnerability ten fold).

stroke = raba (in BM)
arba = anagram of raba
arba is contained in Bandar Baru

Following in the same argument as the COC, we found 2 other equally fitting signages which was not even considered by the COC. See if you can explain it the way we did! I'm sure if we stared at the 2 rows of signages long enough we will be able to pick out at least a dozen more fitting answers!

Alternative Ans #1: Pejabat Pengurusan XXXX
Alternative Ans #2: Yinsh

Atmah Charity Treasure Hunt
Maximum Score: 100

1st: Lim Soo Khian, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (90)
2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha (88)
3rd: Lee Ling Fei, Ruben Enbasegaram, Lenny Wan, Yeong Kig Siew (86)
4th: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Razif Ahmad, Darmataksiah Abai (86)
5th: Sim Yoong Leong, Teng Wei Chiat, Yeoh Ban Lye, Sin Yoong Cheong (84)
6th: Liew Kok Seng, Chong Foo Seong, Lim Kong Yew, Sam Rahman (82)
7th: Rajj Melambaran, Yeap Heng Boon, Shirley Hoe, Lim Chuan Leng (74)
8th: Mohd Asri, Ahmad Zahrol, Mazri Muda, Mohd Izhar (74)
9th: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Lim Say Chye, Tommy Ng (72)

SEF CHARITY HUNT - TEST OR GUESS?

2010-08-03T23:11:00.006+08:00

MONT KIARA, 31 Jul 2010: A family of cats walked in. The butterflies waltzed in. The garbage collectors were here. So was the family from Bedrock.

These were some of the more interesting characters who had congregated at the Sunrise Sports Zone @ Mont Kiara. Sportingly dressed in eco-friendly themes, they added vibrancy and colour to the Sunrise Education Foundation (SEF) Charity hunt, which attracted a crowd of 86 teams.

For today's hunt, teams were required to complete 35 route questions (including 5 designated toughies), 4 treasure riddles and 2 challenges within 5 hours. The hunt was not a very challenging one. Hence how teams fared in the 2 challenges pretty much determined their ranking in the end.

Challenge 1, which teams had to perform at Mid-point of the hunt, was a real mockery. Teams were required to inspect 5 different football photos (similar to the below) and then select the likeliest position of the football in each photo.

Challenge 1: Football challenge.

I thought we did well to score 2 points for this challenge which was pure guess-work if you asked me. The COC might as well have written points of 0 - 10 on six pieces of paper, folded them, put them in a container, and invited teams to draw their own score!

Not unless you are Paul Goh of course, who accurately predicted the position of the football in all 5 photos to score the full 10 points, and maintain his 100% record in 2010 (after sweeping the recent FIFA World Cup sweepstakes). Wonder if Uncle Chong should seriously consider banning our own Paul the Oracle from the next football sweepstakes?

Meet Paul Goh!

Most teams did much better in Challenge 2 held at the Finish, which required teams to stick one hand in a bolster case to correctly identify the quantities for 4 items (rubber seed, pebble, ping pong ball and marble) and then naming one mystery item, through the sense of touch.

Unfortunately, the crowd was out of control during the challenge. Teams who had not completed this challenge were simply an earshot away from the teams performing the challenge, and could have easily heard or seen their answers. The challenge had a loop hole too - the items were hidden in the bolster making it effortless for any mischevious team planning to sabotage the other teams!

Challenge 2: Sense of Touch Challenge

The COC was rather sloppy in the questions too.

Q11 (one of the designated toughies) was not very well answered even amongst the regulars. It was easy to understand why. We were fortunate to see through the error because in the end this question was not cancelled though technically incorrect.

Q11: A name from America I have seen from the west.

Ans: Evisu.

And who could fault teams who handed in packets of Maggi Mee for T1, when it was Maggie Lee (Senior Executive for Branding & Community Development) who had emailed the briefing notice to participants in place of her boss, Anne Tong.

T1: From the family of the person,

Who sent you our brief announcement,

Has a plot that has a variety of snacks,

Angelina's latest show with Ed,

With fifty nomads in disarray,
To the pack you must find along the way.
Ans: Tong Garden Salted Almonds.

SEF Chairty Hunt

Maximum Score: 135

1st: Ramesh Rajaratnam, Liew Kok Seng, Chong Foo Seong, Lim Kong Yew (126)

2nd: Wong Chiang Chuen, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (126)

3rd: Chai Kok Chai, Alexander Hoh, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat (121)

4th: Lee Leng Fei, Eugene Cheng, Loh Chee Kwan, Yeong Kig Siew (118)

5th: Audrey Tan & team (115)

6th: Jonie Lim & team (114)

7th: Chen Poh Loong & team (113)

8th: Lenny Wan, Ruben Enbasegaram, Joey Chong & team (112)

9th: Anwar Jeffri, Tan Kok Cheeng, Chan Kah Sing (112)

10th: Yeap Heng Boon, Peh Kok Hun, Teoh Cheow Teong, Tommy Ng (111)

THE KING AND I

2010-07-08T08:04:00.008+08:00

When durian stalls (similar to the below) start to sprout up along the main road of Balik Pulau, it s plain as day that the much anticipated durian season has commenced in Penang. The durian season in Penang typically begins in mid of May and ends in mid of July.

I happened to be in town at the onset of the durian season this year and decided to pay a visit to the Bao Sheng Durian Farm. Pay a mere RM25 per pax and you get to savour the king of fruits to your hearts content. I was enticed to part with an additional RM10 to be in the company of some thorny celebrities like Red Prawn, Centipede, Water Gourd and many others. The buffet experience included an educational short tour of the orchard, led by Mr Chang Teik Seng himself.

Within his orchard, Mr Chang had even erected two fully equipped Durian Villas to entice the durian lovers to spend the night with nature for RM180 per villa per night. No points for guessing correctly what Bao Sheng will be serving for breakfast the next morning!

Bao Sheng Durian Farm (寶盛榴槤園)

Address: 150 MK.2, Sungai Pinang, 11010 Balik Pulau, Penang.

Contact number: 012-411 0600 or 012-401 0800

Reservation: Not required.

Opening hours: 11.00am - 7.30pm.

Cuisine: N/A.
Must order: N/A

Must not order: N/A.
Budget for 4 pax: RM100 - M140.
My verdict: 3 stars.

ROYAL OAK HUNT - A NEAR MISS

2010-07-05T22:59:00.011+08:00

SOLARIS MONT KIARA, 3 Jul 2010: Who says that Lightning Never Strikes Twice? Not me, certainly. As the record books will show, this unfortunate ranger holds the unenviable record of being struck by lightning seven times though he survived all of them. Though I am a disbeliever of this popular old adage, it probably helped the CoC of the Royal Oak Treasure Hunt side-step potential embarrassment. After the furore from last week's event, the last thing our community needed was a second tremor in successive weeks.

The poor chap (who did exhibit signs of having had one too many Kilkennys) had unwittingly announced that the team placed 3rd had scored 80 points - a result that would have pushed them one position above us, with the Treasure points breaking the tie. Team Cryptically Challenged bettered us by one treasure having correctly solved 4 of 5 treasure riddles. Fortunately, his better-half, Florence, came to his rescue to explain that they were rightfully 3rd having been docked 2 points for coming in after the regulation hunting time.

Michael Pang (MP), the CoC of the Royal Oak Treasure Hunt

The Irish Red Ale - the root of all evil?

Once again, the regulars in the fraternity had anticipated a tumultuous time, a trait of MP's hunts in recent times. The generous 6 hours hunting time allocated for a local hunt (to solve 35 questions and 5 treasures) was a clear warning sign. We surprised ourselves by overachieving on the road, and finished the hunt with 45 minutes to spare. No such luck with the treasures though. We succumbed to his signature One-Line treasure riddles which put paid to our chances of winning the event.

I have always enjoyed MP's route questions though I've never taken a liking to his treasure riddles. I always felt that his One-Liners not only lacks in providing sufficient clues to the hunters, it also does not close all other doors which could prove nightmarish for the setter himself. Time and again, my fears were justified.

Treasure 3: Doctor - a very soft hearted fellow needs a drink.

Answer: A can of Dr Pepper.

The intended solution is tight but not exclusive. Peer is an acceptable synonym for Fellow, and Pe-pp-er can represent that this fellow has a very soft heart! An alternative solution, "A bottle of Apple juice" is equally fitting.

Similarly to the intended solution, very soft = pp

hearted fellow = heart of "ed fellow" = el

needs a = a

Doctor-ing the pieces would result in Apple as the solution.

Treasure 5: Adam's ale in a bottle.

Ans: A bottle of water.

What about this treasure which one team had submitted. Fits perfectly though not the intended solution, huh!

Hiralliously, our own team mate might have had one too many Kilkenny himself. Much to our bemusement, he went on stage to snatch the winner's mock check from the hands of the winning team.

Rightfully, he belongs here with us in 2nd position. Maybe we'll get em next year eh, Teoh?

Royal Oak Treasure Hunt
(Maximum possible score: 100)

1st: Lim Kim Meng, Adrian Wong, Lim Soo Khian, Toh Weng Ngai (88)

2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat, Teoh Cheow Teong (80)

3rd: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Rosemawarni Abd Rahman, Mohd Shahrin (78)

4th: Muhammad Razif Ahmad, Darmataksiah Abai, Hanna Razif, Sam Rahman (72)

5th: Sin Yoong Leong, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (62)

6th: Rajj Melambaran, Shirley Hoe, Tommy Ng (48)

7th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Eeswaran, Buvanes (48)

MENGO GREEN HUNT - BIZARRE RESULTS

2010-06-28T04:28:00.010+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 Jun 2010: Different people will remember the 2nd edition of the Mengo Green Hunt for different reasons.

For most people, the hunt will be a stark reminder of how challenging it can be to hunt for answers while riding on a train. Deciphering the 30 cryptic questions (spread over 2 legs) was not the sole challenge. It was equally demanding to find the answers looking outside the windows of a crowded train travelling at a speed of 40-50 km/h. One blink of the eye and in reality the answer could have shot pass. Thus it was not surprising to me to hear that the numbers (of participants) had dropped by more than 50% compared to the inaugural edition.

I would recommend that utilizing the train to ferry the hunters from one hunting sector to the next is much more conceivable than compelling hunters to hunt while riding on a train. I also find it ludicrous that the CoC expects hunters to be able to solve this on a moving train:

A double jeopardy question which involved anagramming an entire sentence - a challenge difficult enough, when on the ground.

Q7: A finder can stretch.
Ans: Jadi Handicrafts Centre.

and spot this What & Where question, a tiny sign with the Where comprising at least a dozen words.

Q22: Bow's companion seen here.
Ans: Arrow @ Pejabat Urusan ....... (a dozen words)

The hunt will remind me of the day I left both my eyes at home! A very bad sinus attack in the morning was a distraction though not an excuse as some of the signages we had failed to spot were fairly large ones. I did spot though a few concerned looks from many tourists sharing the same coach (with me), perhaps worried that what was troubling me may not have been the good ol' ordinary flu!

The hunt will likely be the most memorable for the Purple Antz. Having made an announcement towards the end of the prize presentation that the top 2 teams had tied on 133 points, they were probably the only ones in the hall whom had not realised that this achievement was akin to flying swines given that the maximum possible score on the day was 130 points. Though not the first boo boo made by CoCs, this is certainly the most bizarre!

There is no question in my opinion that the official results should stand given that prizes had been given away and people had left the hall with knowledge of the official winner of the hunt. But this incident will no doubt spark again the age old debate of whether in circumstances like this, the CoC or the organizer is liable to compensate the rightful winners. There has been no consistency amongst different CoCs in similar situations in the past. We ourselves have been on the receiving end of a handful of boo boos and never did receive a dime in compensation for the majority of them. But I have also heard of an occasion where an unfortunate CoC had to dish out RM5000 from his own pockets.

Feel free to leave behind your thoughts on whether the official results should stand and/or on the subject of compensation whichever that tickles your fancy!

26 Jun - Mengo Green Hunt
(Maximum possible score: 130)

Official Results

(Note: The photos of the official winners have been removed out of courtesy to the Event Managers)

1st: Wong Chiang Chuen, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (133)

2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat (133)

3rd: Liew Kok Seng, Teoh Cheow Teong, Lim Kong Yew, Sam Rahman (116)

4th: Lee Ling Fei, Yeong Kig Siew, Tommy Ng, Lim Say Chye (109)
5th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Eeswaran, Kumaran Nagapa (93)

6th: Tan Kok Cheeng, Chan Kah Sing, Anwar Jeffri and team (73)

7th: Team Meaples (73)
8th: The Karans (69)
9th: Shell KSC (61)
10th: Frengers (57)

Unofficial Results

1st: Liew Kok Seng, Teoh Cheow Teong, Lim Kong Yew, Sam Rahman (116)
2nd: Lee Ling Fei, Yeong Kig Siew, Tommy Ng, Lim Say Chye (109)
3rd: Chai Koh Khai, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat (107)
4th: Wong Chiang Chuen, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (105)
5th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Eeswaran, Kumaran Nagapa (93)
6th: Tan Kok Cheeng, Chan Kah Sing, Anwar Jeffri and team (73)
7th: Team Meaples (73)
8th: The Karans (72)
9th: Shell KSC (61)
10th: Frengers (57)

Note: Errors in the Official Results

27TH KIWANIS HUNT - BITE OF THE TIGER

2010-06-21T12:42:00.014+08:00

LAKE KENYIR, 13 Jun 2010: Many tigers were on the loose during the 27th edition of the Kiwanis Treasure Hunt. Hiding inconspicuously at every nook and corner, they were ready to pounce and devour their prey. Many unsuspecting hunters were badly wounded with the bite marks still showing.

We too were not spared and ended the hunt with several bite marks (aka red herrings). But more on that later.

Firstly, kudos once again to the duo of Toh Wei Ming and Chen Thiam Leong (aka Mr Crack-a-Pot) for a job well done. What a memorable hunt! One that I thoroughly enjoyed. For those who missed this year's edition, I recommend that you now make plans to join the 28th edition in 2011.

To whet your appetite, here is an interesting route sampler from the hunt .......

Q10. H2O / Legendary island.
Ans: Atlantis.

.... and a very deceiving treasure (I am pretty sure the Panadol Soluble tablets had recorded a spike in sales on the day).

T4: An amusing siren's product is what I seek,
Dissolved to stun pains is what I need,
To be spooned or slowly sipped, perhaps when sick,
For your reward just be mindful to heed,
One with what is also to spread quickly to submit.
Ans: Campbell's Instant Soup Cream of Mushroom.

This year's hunt brought hunters all the way to Lake Kenyir in Terengganu, a massive 520 km or 7 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur. Though wisely, the CoCs decided to finish the hunt at Bandar Indera Mahkota, Kuantan, roughly 2 hours away from the final destination.

Lake Kenyir: A postcard perfect scenery.

The hunt was obviously very meticulously designed with this year's theme, Crouching Tigers Hidden Treasures, featuring prominently. 50 percent of the 30 route question were connected with either the fearsome maneater or the remorseful swinger we all know as Tiger Woods, while another 25 percent had something to do with treasures in general. And as in the previous year, the crafts were not cryptically complicated but simpler twists involving general knowledge, though no less challenging as the statistics will show.

There was a lot of positive chi circulating within our car that morning. We had fist pumps, high fives and lots of uncontrollable laughter. And this positive energy naturally translated into results. We got the treasures out of the way early in the hunt, and were largely untroubled by the route questions except for a sprinkling (or so we thought). We even solved one of two Crack-a-Pots (historically our Achilles heel), though we had to plod and plod and plod. Late in the hunt we also picked up one question we had not solved earlier, and at the buzzer tembak-ed another correctly. At the end of the 7.5 hour hunt, we unanimously agreed that this was our best Kiwanis performance ever and as opposed to previous editions we were confident that we were in the mix to net this elusive major.

While waiting for the results to be announced, mini-events were organized by the Kiwanis team to keep the hunters busy. Some gamely hunters signed up for these events while others opted to enjoy a cruise around the lake. There were also those who resigned to their rooms the entire afternoon to recharge their biological batteries. We, spent the afternoon playing cards with fellow hunters!

Jenga: Check out the offensive strategy!

Jenga: If you think Jenga is a game for the kids, think again. Meet our champ for 2010, Yeoh Ban Lye.

Jenga: The disappointment of losing to a kid.

Bingo: an entertaining family game to while the night away!

In the end it was not to be. We learnt during the Q&A, much to our chagrin, that we were duped by not one, not two but three red herrings. Our fallacy paved the way for the defending champs to successfully retain their title.

Statistics from the hunt: the data seems to indicate a very tough hunt with only 7 of 30 questions achieving greater than 50% success rate.

Though the hunt was memorable, the resort was a disappointment. Teams had paid good money. But in exchange we got air-conditioners (in our chalets) which doubled as lawn-mowers, lousy buffet throughout our stay and uninvited guests with wings who shared our meals. Hope that the organizers of future editions will look into the finer details when short-listing resorts.

27th Kiwanis Treasure Hunt
(Maximum possible score: 120)

Absent winners? Not to worry. We have willing models. Hillarious!

1st: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Muhammad Razif, Darmataksiah Abai (105)

2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Margaret Sha, Adrian Wong, Chong Voon Kiat (99)

3rd: Chin Kar Ping, Jayaram Menon, Teh Boon Kai, Sam Rahman (97)
4th: Sin Yoong Loong, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (93)
5th: Tan Eng Siang, Ong Kheng Heng, Wong Sze Lynn, Diana Foong (93)
6th: Dominic Roche, Carol Roche, Catherine Ng, Lim Soo Khian (91)

7th: Leslie Kwong, Lenny Wan, Ruben Enbasegaram, Yeong Kig Siew (84)

8th: Teng Wei Chiat, Nitin, Yeoh Ban Lye, Cecilia Yew (83)

9th: Yeap Heng Boon, Pavananthan, Peh Kok Hun, Shandra Dass (77)
10th: Christopher Foo, Hafizah, Kaleon Leong, Christina Loke (72)

27TH KIWANIS HUNT - A CRACK IN THE POT

2010-06-21T12:30:00.007+08:00

Though we successfully cracked one of the two Crack-a-Pots, it definitely wasn't smooth sailing. We had to plod and plod and plod. As with the Crack-a-Pots from previous editions of the Kiwanis Treasure Hunts, we usually have some inkling what to do but lack the finishing know-how. Brainstorming helped us conquer #33.

Crack-a-Pot #33/2010

Ans: Thaiger or Tigress.

To solve this puzzle, one would first need to recognize that each dot in the Clue represents one of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. Knowing this, one can easily decipher that the enlarged dot represents the Tiger, the third animal in the Zodiac. With this relationship established, it did not take us long to convert all the time-periods into the respective animals. This was as far as we got and we were stuck here for a while until Adrian saw the light and figured out that the months and days were included in the Message as pointers.

Eg. 1940Feb5 = Rabbit.

Feb 5 => to take the 2nd and 5th letter from Rabbit ie A & I.

Crack-a-Pot #34/2010

Clue: max scoring rate

Code: nba icc pga irb

Message: 12BESTBLACKKICKERTOPLAYOBEYORALLSHOULDICIEYES

Ans: Back to Basics.

Knowing the solution, #34 appears to be the easier of the two Crack-a-Pots. When one can recognize that in the code provided are 4 sporting associations, and determine the maximum possible scoring (which is key) in an individual play for each sport, this Puzzle can be easily cracked.

nba (basketball) = 3, icc (cricket) = 6, pga (golf) = 1, irb (rugby) = 5.

The finishing touch would be to apply these pointers to the Message repeatedly in order to pick out the intended letters.

All is well until one realizes that there appears to be a crack in this puzzle. The maximum possible score for a single hole in golf IS NOT "1" but "3" (albatross or a double eagle). Rather "1" is the minimum number of strokes required. Of course one could argue that in golf that there are many systems other than stroke play, but that was not how the CoC explained it during the Q&A.

I am also not satisfied with the maximum scoring provided in two other sports. Ask any NBA fan and they will tell you that the maximum possible score for a single play in NBA is 4 points (when fouled during a 3 point shot), while technically the maximum possible score for a single play in rugby is 7 points (5 points for a Try and 2 points for the subsequent conversion).

To a lesser extent, I am also not happy that there were no keys provided in the Puzzle that would point to a need to repeat the code on the message. Though I am certain that most regulars who were able to get the code correct (in the first place) would have gone on to do that since the message provided was a rather long one.

27TH KIWANIS HUNT - A FOCUSED GOOGLER

2010-06-21T12:20:00.001+08:00

The challenge posed by cryptic questions involving general knowledge is that unless you have an inkling on what to look for, you won't stand a chance despite having 4 of the best cryptic minds in your team. With this in mind, we decided that we (HRU) needed a focused Googler in our team. And much of our success in the past, can be attributed to having this key role in our setup.

Vincent had assumed this role in the past. He loved tech gadgets and googling was like second nature to him. He knew just the right words to use in the search engine to return the most reliable results. Instinctively he also knew which sites shared reliable information and which sites didn't.

With Vincent's demise, Margaret has primarily taken over this role (though her forte is in her ability to decipher clues) while I try to support her whenever there is a need. Understandably, juggling between the two roles can be distracting, sometimes maybe even a conflict of interest. While the Googler is focused on searching for facts, the clue-breaker most of the time will attempt to force-fit the facts (especially when the signage appears to be a promising fit).

I suspect that we had let down our guard in this sector, and in the process succumbed to one of three red herrings on the day. We knew what we had to do (signage + nation to yield South Africa). But alas none of us knew that South Africa was commonly known as the Rainbow Nation. When we came across this signage, Black General, it appeared promising. General = commonly known while Black nation seems to describe South Africa well. That was the reason most of us were satisfied with this answer.

Q20: It's commonly known , nation after this is a soccer World Cup host.
Ans: Rainbow.

One of the key roles of the Googler is to prepare the team ahead prior to arriving at the hunting sector. But it takes experience to be able to sniff out the general knowledge within the craft. While the experience Googler will be able to derive that Maneater is a single recorded by Hall & Oates within seconds, the inexperience could instead be looking for popular tiger characters like Shere Khan, Hobbes etc.

Q26. Maneater made famous jointly by a combination of this and a shell.
Ans: Toa.

See the difference and why this role is so important?

SAME TASTE DIFFERENT PLACE

2010-06-09T00:40:00.002+08:00

Recently enroute to Penang, I made a stopover at Bercham to check out their famous dish, the Claypot Glass Noodles with Crab (砂锅冬粉蟹). For those unfamiliar with Ipoh, Bercham is located very close to the Ipoh Selatan exit of the PLUS Highway.

Driving along Jalan Bercham, we stumbled upon Restoran Same Taste (味也同海鲜楼) while looking for its more famous cousin, Kedai Makanan Rasa Lain (味不同海鲜坊). Interestingly, their names appear to be a delibrate pun on each other - with the proprietor of Same Taste (whom I later found out is a sibling of the chef at Rasa Lain) appearing to convey that their fare is as good as the original, while the proprietor of Rasa Lain (in obvious disagreement) seems to be insisting that their fare is different and better!

When they brought out the dish, I must declare it wasn't love at first sight. What was presented before me was in total contrast to what I had imagined the dish to be. The glass noodles and crabs (2 whole crabs) were completely immersed in a steaming hot broth (I was expecting a much drier version). The thick broth (something of a cross between soup and gravy) has a very unique buttery flavour further enhanced with peppercorns and the wholesome goodness of pork bacon and seafood (crabs).

A tad too salty for my liking, it will probably take a few more dates before I warm up to this dish, which is popular amongst the locals. Or whether I will fall instead for her sister, the Claypot Crab Rice (砂锅蟹饭), only time will tell.

Claypot Glass Noodles with Crab (砂锅冬粉蟹) - RM50 for 3-4 pax.

Restoran Same Taste (味也同海鲜楼)

Address: 222 & 224, Jalan Bercham, 31400 Ipoh, Perak.

Contact number: N/A.

Reservation: Not required.

Opening hours: N/A.

Cuisine: Chinese (non Halal).
Must order: Claypot Glass Noodles with Crab (砂锅冬粉蟹).

Must not order: N/A.
Budget for 4 pax: RM50.
My verdict: 2 stars.

NINJA JOE - DARING TO BE DIFFERENT

2010-05-29T00:46:00.011+08:00

Ninja Joe is not just another fast food outlet. No, not really!

At Ninja Joe, they serve Pork Burgers. Yes, really!

By chance I strolled past this outlet after watching Shrek Forever After and almost instantaneously their bright red banner caught my attention. Full marks to the proprietor of Ninja Joe for daring to be different.

Pork Burger is not a new innovation though in most countries it is more common to find hamburgers filled with a patty of ground beef. I was first introduced to Pork Burgers in Hong Kong many years ago and had it again during my trip to Bangkok end of last year. In our country though fast food outlets serving non-halal meat is unheard of, until now.

At Ninja Joe, one can select from six different flavours.

And interestingly the average price of a Pork Burger here decreases exponentially with the number of burgers purchased. Pay RM5.50 for 1 burger or RM9.90 for 2 burgers or RM12.90 for 3 burgers or RM23.90 for 6 burgers.

Though simple in appearance and nothing extraordinary (in taste), Ninja Joe does provide us Malaysians with an additional option (when craving for a burger).

Kedai Makanan Ninja Joe

Address: LG-18, Tropicana City Mall, No.3, Jalan SS20/27, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Contact number: N/A.

Reservation: Not required.

Opening hours: 11.00am - 10.00pm.

Cuisine: Fast Food (non Halal)
Must order: N/A

Must not order: N/A
Budget for 4 pax: RM32 (with fries and drinks)
My verdict: 2 stars

NPC ASTRO MAXIS TREASURE HUNT - THE GOOD

2010-05-22T23:05:00.004+08:00

KUANTAN, 8 May 2010: Overall I would rate the NPC-Astro-Maxis Treasure Hunt a darn good hunt. The level of difficulty was raised a notch (thanks to the RM1000 carrot offered to the team that achieves a perfect score). Hunting time was adequate. And thanks to the generosity of the sponsors, the prizes were out of this world. The top 5 winners in both the Media and Open cateogries took home a lucrative combined sum of RM30,000 in cash. Not forgetting the fantastic lucky draw prizes - a dozen lucky hunters walked away with either an Apple iPhone or a Black Berry, while half of the participants received at least a Maxis Hotlink top-up card worth RM60.

The R (Roses) of HRU

Only disappointment was that half the treasure riddles were not riddles per se but simple tasks to accomplish in exchange for the points. Yet a few regular teams found out the hard way that it pays to pay close attention during the briefing.

The Maxis Finder 301, a Maxis innovation, is basically a directory service that provides a list of recommendations nearest to ones' location based on the <keyword> provided. Interestingly enough as some teams found out (to their disappointment) a mere 200 metres made a whole world of difference. Teams were instructed to execute the task at the 2nd overhead bridge after passing the KL General Hospital. Unfortunately for those teams that submitted their SMS too early (at the 1st overhead bridge) or too late (after the 2nd overhead bridge), they were given incorrect destinations.

T4:

Type <burger> on your Maxis Mobile phone and SMS to 301.

When the three options of burger outlets are sent to you, reply <1> to 301.

Submit a photograph (printed on paper) of the outlet, the address of which appears in response to your reply.

Ans: Photo of McDonalds @ Jalan Pahang

Except for a handful of questions which I couldn't stomach, the rest were pretty good (challenging even). Here are a couple that stood out:

Q32 was a beautiful craft with an oxymoron theme .....

Q32: When one does build here, one only destroys.

Ans: Pasaraya Borong Sakan Sdn Bhd.

...... while Q11 was a knowledge question that involved an anagram of numbers. Nicely done!

Q11. A disorderly segment of a World War II resistance group.
Ans: Restoran 163.

NPC-Astro-Maxis Treasure Hunt

(Maximum possible score: 130)

1st: Sin Yoong Leong, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (126)

2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Margaret Sha, Furn Quah, Chong Voon Kiat (126)

3rd: Garyguna Segar, Muhammad Razif, Darmahtaksiah Abai, Hanna Hamizah (122)

4th: Ramesh Rajaratnam, Liew Kok Seng, Chong Foo Seong, Teoh Cheow Teong (120)

5th: Pavananthan, Fuad Dahlan, Hamidah Kassim, Shandra Dass (120)

6th: Hagi Suhaimi, Kheirul Nazib, Mazri Muda & team (118)

7th: Vincent Tan & team (118)

8th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Eeswaran, Buvanes (118)

9th: Ruben Enbasegaram, Lenny Wan, Yeong Kig Siew & team (113)

10th: Rajj Melambaran, Shirley Hoe, Pirabakaran, Navamalar (112)

NPC ASTRO MAXIS TREASURE HUNT - THE BAD

2010-05-22T23:00:00.012+08:00

Simply awful!

The CoC was downright careless with this craft, no question. Looking at it from all angles, I am unable to derive a better explanation. His complacency was painful - some lost precious time, others lost 2 points, we lost ..... the title!

Q31: No way it cannot be associated with buying and selling.
Ans: Restoran Nasi Dagang.

To decipher this question (as intended), one would first need to insert punctuations. Then it would become clear that he did not want signages associated to road names.

No way, it cannot be. / Associated with buying and selling.

It is clear that he had spent some extra effort here by enlisting Red Herrings, yet it boggles me how it completely slipped his mind that signages with Trading (in it) are commonplace. Looking around the sector, more than half a dozen other signages would make a perfect fit too (sigh!).

Sunling Trading
Stanley Trading
Titan Star Trading
DBA Trading
Thin Wing Trading
Restoran Nasi Dagang
Sri Sentosa Trading
~~Jalan Pasar~~
~~Jalan Bazar~~

The misdemeanour with the next craft has been debated countless times in several blog posts, and needs no further introduction.

Q8: Stop! Can you recollect the park where you started?
Ans: Gerai MPT Simpang Mempatih.

Stop = Stall and Stall = Gerai, BUT Stop ≠ Gerai.

Perhaps the CoC could have explained that at a junction, one must come to a halt before progressing, and the hunters might have been more accepting.

NPC ASTRO MAXIS TREASURE HUNT - THE UGLY

2010-05-22T22:55:00.006+08:00

It is no big secret that I enjoy and encourage innovation. Seriously, textbook crafts no longer trouble the regulars, though they are still appreciated as a form of entertainment and to assist in the learning curve of the novice hunters. Besides, including textbook crafts will make the hunt less of an Alpha-Omega experience for most. But I frown upon innovation that leaves the setter exposed to a multitude of possibilities, which makes it a guessing-game amongst hunters whether they have indeed found the intended answer.

Both these questions from the hunt involved a form of "innovation".

Q7: You can recall a gain in business where a confused principal is heard.
Ans: Syarikat Perniagaan Amutha.

It is not uncommon for a single word to have many synonyms. And since, we are often encouraged to think in at least two languages, the scope of search could expand into hundreds of possibilities. Anagram the word and throw in the sounds like key, and the search could be limitless. It could have gotten uglier, had the setter not included a textbook search in the first part of the craft.

Q13: Heard of feeling faint with meals, saturate and more.
Ans: DZ Restaurant

(Ignoring the missing anagram key) Similarly, anagramming a word (or its synonym) with a bunch of undefined letters could end up being disasterous for the setter. Again, it could have gotten uglier, had the setter not included a textbook search in the first part of the craft.

SELANGOR SHINES HUNT - BALIK KAMPUNG

2010-05-21T00:03:00.018+08:00

SEKINCHAN, 15 May 2010: I have been a city slicker all my life and prior to the previous homestay hunt which took us to Kampung Endah Morib, I have never set foot into a kampung let alone live in one. The experience was enriching, something I still remember vividly to this day, though two years have drifted by. The residents had welcomed us with open arms, lending us bicycles to pedal round the not-so-small kampung. Along the way we had to decipher clues that would lead us to several challenge stations. Margaret could not cycle and had to ride pillion. Amongst the obstacles we had to overcome included longkang fishing, peeling sweet potatoes, making emping (a type of kerepek or cracker) and collecting palm oil seeds. We somehow survived all these challenges and won the event. Lunch was a delicious Nasi Ambeng, a Javanese platter for 4 with plenty of lauk, Beef Serunding, Fried Bihun and white rice.

To relive that experience, we decided to sign up for the Selangor Shines Hunt. This time the hunt took us to the northern part of the state ending at Kampung Haji Dorani Sungai Besar, a quaint village located not far from the bustling fishing town of Sekinchan. Given 4 hours and 15 minutes, teams had to navigate through the towns of Klang, Kapar and Kuala Selangor in search of answers to 20 route clues and 5 treasure riddles. There were also 3 tasks to accomplish along the way which carried no points. The rest of the points came from 4 challenge activities within the kampung.

Although the tasks slowed everyone down, it was one treasure that effectively ended the chances of many. Likely to be one of those treasures that was growing cobwebs in the CoC's treasure bank prior to being unleashed. But due to poor timing, the Dutch Lady Iced Latte is no longer in production and many wiled away precious time hunting for it in shops large and small. In the end, a mere 8 teams in the Open Category escaped disqualification.

There was one other treasure, that the CoC had requested for 2 without specifying the measure. So I'm not sure why he refused to accept 2 "Individually Wrapped Bars"!

One of the challenges held at the Kampung was rather interesting. Definitely not for the squeamish, Menggoca is a traditional method of catching fish with your pair of hands. But because there were so many of us and so few fishes, the event turned out to be a lottery rather than a fear factor challenge.

Scenes of a Kampung Life: Simply mesmerizing.

More scenes of a Kampung Life.

Kampung Haji Dorani, Sg Besar.

Challenge 1: Batik Painting.

Challenge 2: Kite Decorating.

Challenge 4: Meggoca (Hand Fishing)

Sam Rahman: Exposed.

On board a lorry, our means of transport around the Kampung.

Our Dinner: Nasi Ambeng, a delicious Javanese platter for 4 with lauk of Fried Chicken, Beef Serunding, Fried Vegetables, Bihun Goren and Mee Goreng.

Selangor Shines Hunt

(Maximum possible score: 130)

1st: Peh Kok Hun, Loh Chee Kwan, Tommy Ng, Sam Rahman

2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Woo Ee Wen, Anis Ashraf, Chong Voon Kiat

3rd: Sallehuddin & team

4th: Johan Salul, Dr Ben Lau, Aziz Abd Rahman, Izhar Shukor

5th: Utusan Malaysia

6th: Not available

7th: Tan Kok Aun, Ong Hoong Chun, Yap Khang How and team

Note: Scores not provided.