Happy FamilyIt has been three years since the last teambuilding I had. This time, the venue and trainers were different. The event was hosted by Bridge IDC, a Singaporean company in training.
The response I must say this time round is encouraging, despite having more expectant mothers, prepared-to-get-married-don't-want-to-expose-to-too-much-sun person, and work-overloaded workaholics. There were total 63 of us at the training in Tambun.
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Day 1
First day was bogged down by the delays. I wonder whether Chinese ever punctual? We were supposed to leave the office at 1700 hours (give and take around 1730), but no, we left at approximately 1900 hours. Needless to say the frustration of the downpour and massive traffic jams, and of course the hungry bunch of us on the bus. Even one stop was permited, we could not stay for long at the R&R for a quick bite, as time was not in our favour and besides, the BBQ has started its preparation in Ipoh itself.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with our colleagues from Ipoh and Penang, who had waited for us anxiously with their filled stomach of local delicacies, such envy was felt deeply. After a welcoming greetings, everyone was then ushered into the Lost World of Tambun Themepark (LWOT) for our BBQ dinner cum welcome dance at the entrance.
Dinner was sumptious. We had BBQ lamb, grilled fish, fried chicken, kuih-muih, fruits, sausages, and curries. The environment was cosy as we were sitted by the wave pool and hotspring dip-pool. Some of us adjourned to the dip-pool for a relaxing fix to our feet. Ah.... so soothing~
Not long after we were called for our game briefing of the night - trust walk. It was supposed to garner the trust with your partner, whoever that was. And, all of us were made to walk into the pool blind-folded. I guess no one has escaped not getting wet at that time. Soaked in hot and cold water, we were then left for our motel for a nice shower to call the day off. It was around 0000 hour when we left LWOT, in soaky wet condition.
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Day 2
Early morning, we were given a morning call at 0700 hours. I am not that badly affected compared to my other peers as they have gone out to have late supper the night before. So a fresh start for me. We had some "cave" activity, meaning we had lecture and a little game or two in the cave-lecture hall. It was fun as everyone was participating, except for some passive ones which I have observed.
We were going around the LWOT for a little treasure hunt that I carelessly fell. It hurt, especially my colleague, S, was around to provoke that fall. But, I did not blame him cause it was really not his fault but solely mine. Just a little blood and bruises, that's all, no big deal!
After tea break, we went to watch tiger feeding show next to the lecture cave. Then, the lecture was cut short, and we had more time to enjoy the theme park facilities. We were on the slides, on the pirate ship, on the rotating flying chairs, volley ball and of course hotspring and wave pool. Half way through, it was raining. All of us went to the canopy for shelter, though some are still inside the warm dip-pool.
Funny thing happened there. L, my colleague, was caught off-guard by having his boxers pulled down with revealing front and back (according to sources) by another colleague, KY. It was quite embarassing and memorable moments for those in close proximity. To seek revenge, there was a dog-and-catch chase around the pool, and L managed, to some extent, pulled KY's swimming trunk partially off, but KY was quick enough to do some damage-control. Of course, it served to be quite a disappointment for L. Hahaha.
Pre-dinner appertiser, we had durians from Calvin's father's farm. The durians were awesomely delicious. Thank you Calvin!
Dinner was served at Rum Jungle, a franchise from the KL one. The band was good, and we made the bulk of the crowd. In fact, we were the crowd. Western dinner was served, and I had only a little because I was too tired to do anything then.
After dinner, a hectic and soaking wet night activity began. There was a team activities involving water, string, ball and all the people. It is to test out team cooperation. Unfortunately, we had to many controllers around, therefore making coordination a lot challenging. However, in the end, we managed to finish the task, though it had taken a much longer time to do so. I guess everyone enjoyed themselves very much that night.
This night, my colleagues went on to have Ipoh famous "Nga Choy Gai" (bean sprout and chicken rice) for supper. I did not tag along as I was meeting my friend that night. I heard that they had a row with the bus diver (also the night before), and our Ipoh collleagues had to shuttle them to the venue for a few rounds to enjoy that meal.
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Day 3
Last day was a little simple task of raft building and kayaking. I think it's a highlight for the team building session as everyone was practically involved from the construction to kayaking. We got second place, which is not bad considering we had punctured tires accident.
We then visited Jeff's Cellar, a private wine cellar of our big boss. It's very cosy and you will be amaze with the guano-covered cave transformation into beautiful lounge bar. It's beautiful! Next was the boathouse, which is surrounded by water and fishes.
After a short visit, we went on our way home. Just before we hit the toll road, we stopped by at Simpang Pulai to get our share of the local delicacies, i.e. pomelo and tambun biscuits.
Overall, though it's a training session, I would treat it more like a company trip. I am not sure whether anyone got the lesson from the team building session; At least everyone took time off to go places and of course to build relationship. It's just sad that some chose not to go because of some unexplainable excuses or reasons; or else they might have enjoyed the trip as much as I did.