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Can you solve this clue?
The remnants of a fortress are all that remain in this area once known as Forbidden Hill.
This and four other similar clues to locations in Singapore were what awaited the Goonfather and me at the Garmin-Asus Live-Navigation Challenge on Dec 19.
(I had to paraphrase the above clue a bit because I forgot to take a photo of the clue card.)
It was so, so so so so so fun!! I wasn’t eligible to win prizes but the organiser said my friends were, so I urged all my friends to take part. But only the Goonfather was free on that day so I made him sign up!
The challenge was to start at 1 pm with the first clue being SMSed to him.
It started raining at 12:30 pm, making us worry because we were already outside and we didn’t have an umbrella.
The first clue led us to Kreta Ayer Community Centre. (The clue said something like “This used to be Banda Road Community Centre” and I’m paraphrasing very much because the Goonfather has deleted the SMS.)
As luck would have it, we were already on the road nearby when the SMS came in.
It took us a few minutes to check with Mr Google and then arrive at our destination. We had to search for a bit once we reached the community centre, but it wasn’t too hard to find the pitstop.
The crew was really amazed to see us. They were, like, “How did you guys get here so fast?! We just sent out the clue only!!”
After marking his attendance, the Goonfather was directed to a mini-game challenge. He had to use the provided Garmin-Asus M20 to locate the eatery nearest to the Singapore Art Museum.
I made him stop work for awhile to camwhore with me.
LOL. I know! Totally sabotaging his momentum!
Anyway, once he completed the task, we were given our next clue.
The Goonfather said, “Some kinda toy museum.” And I immediately thought: “MINT!”
It’s a toy museum at Seah Street which I’ve been to before, for an event. In just a few minutes, we were there. We got a bit wet getting to the place from the carpark. It rained unrelentingly throughout the day.
There, a jigsaw puzzle and a mulltiple choice question about the museum awaited us.
There was a five-minute time limit for the jigsaw puzzle. I think we completed it in about four.
Done!
Next clue!
Easy!
But when we reached Telok Blangah Hill, we saw that it wasn’t easy after all because it was pouring by this time, and the wedding area was high up on a hill that could only be accessed by foot!! And we had no umbrella!
Fortunately, I had a windbreaker with a hood, so I managed to protect my upper body a bit. But the poor Goonfather got soaked.
It was quite an experience trying to race up a hill in pouring rain! We were really wet and huffing by the time we arrived.
The activity here was easy. We just had to match phone icons to their names. Done in a minute!
And, of course, I had to waste time posing for photos!
When I asked the crew to help us take a few photos, they were quite incredulous because they thought we should be rushing to the next location already, lol! They were, like, “Go go go and good luck!!”
And then it was another trek down the hill. The Goonfather refused to run so we took a leisurely stroll in the rain. O_o
Back in the car and really wet:
Well, only my legs got really wet since my upper body was protected by my windbreaker.
Another easy location:
We found the place (Red Dot Design Museum) easily, but we went into the wrong entrance so we had a big distance to travel through the building to find the pitstop.
The challenge here was to randomly pick a question from a box and then answer it. I can’t remember what the question was. I just let the Goonfather do the job while I busied myself taking photos.
The next clue we received was the one I mentioned right at the start of this post.
The answer is, of course, Fort Canning Park! Google really helped us a lot in this race. The GPS on the Garmin-Asus would have helped, too, had I been doing this alone. But because the Goonfather is like a walking street directory, he just zipped from location to location without needing external help.
Another long trek in the rain at Fort Canning. We parked at the bottom of the hill, walked through the park and through Fort Canning Centre trying to find the pitstop. (The Goonfather is averse to running.)
We finally located it behind the building, some place called Battle Box, which I never even knew existed.
When we got there, we discovered that it was the final stop and the Goonfather had come in 4th place! All we had to do then was wait for more participants to arrive so the prize-giving ceremony could start.
The Goonfather won a Garmin-Asus G60. Cooooool!
After all 15 winners received their prizes, Garmin-Asus sprung a surprise. They called out my name and made me go up to receive a token of appreciation!
Aww! So sweet! =) It was a $100 Takashimaya gift voucher. Just in time for Christmas shopping!
Group photo of some of the winners:
Well, what a fun event! I really think the Garmin-Asus crew did a great job putting this game together. It was very well planned and executed. Even the Goonfather enjoyed the challenges, despite the rain. For me, I think the rain added to the fun and excitement.
Let’s hope they do this again! I bet all my friends regret not taking part now!! Hah! =P
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Categories: Gadgets, The Goonfather