Sunday, December 11, 2011

Dayout At the 'Peak' Before the 'Peak'

3 Dec 2011 (Sat): Teambuilding dayout at the 'Peak' before the 'Peak'
Our firm organized a dayout at Penang Hill before the super peak begins in January. Ironically, we managed to link these two 'peaks' together...lol! It's been ages since the last time I went up to Penang Hill...I could only vaguely remember that I was just a kiddo back then and the weather used to be chilly up there. :p Even though I keep emphasising that auditors aren't boring bunch of people, I can't deny the fact that quite a lot of people in our office are not big fan of outdoor activities, so it definitely ain't easy getting everyone to join us for this dayout. We were glad that almost half of them attended, better still almost all the bosses came, leading by example huh...hehe! :p Credits to XinYi for being our photographer of the day. Thanks for capturing these golden moments! =)

The first batch of committees and participants who arrived early took the 8am train uphill. The journey was supposed to take only 5 minutes but there were several stops along the way. 

Thanks to some participants who arrived earlier and helped us carry our 'props'. :p The 'healthy' group of guys (including both our partners) started their 2km walk from the train station to the bungalow. 

While the rest of us 'lazy bums' took the buggies instead...hahaha! :p 

Finally arrived at the bungalow...Nature Lodge.

There's reason why we 'committees' had to arrive earlier and take the buggies instead of walking...coz we had to prepare for the first teambuilding activity la. :p

First things first...group picture for all 5 teams and the committees. =) They were asked to come up with their own team name and guess what we had...Team Apple, Team Shake Shake Shake, Team Pau Nya, Team Pau Ka Liao, and Team Warriors.

Getting creative and coming up with team cheers. :p
 
Game 1: Minefield. This game was supposed to be more challenging but our blindfold weren't good. :p The next time we have blindfold game...imma use goggles instead...haha! 

Game 2: Put Yourself in Others' Shoes. Haha...literally yes...we actually put everyone in others' shoes! =) Each person will have to take turns to find another team members' shoe.

Looks like they were buying shoes from Lorong Kulit...lol!!

Next game...guess what were they trying to do with all those raffias? Hmm...fishing? :p 

Answer is...Game 3: Toxic Waste. The task is to get the pail filled with water out from the toxic zone using just raffia and a hook. It was my idea to put all the pails in the same area just to make it tougher and messier...haha!!

At first, we were worried that we would overrun but we finished the third game well ahead of time. We took a short break after being out in the sun for quite some time.

Game 4: Hands, Legs, Butts. Time for MORE 'bonding'...haha!! Everyone else was having a good time watching other teams perform their 'stunt'.

Game 5: Face Your Food. I'm sure many people have seen this game from TV...this game was purely for laughters...hahaha!! Lucky us committees who didn't have to play this and avoided having our 'face-cramps' pictures captured. :p

Time to head back indoor for lunch and rest some before continuing our activities. 

One of the managers brought her son along. He was a busy kid that day coz everyone of us took turns to play with him...haha!

Game 6: Break the Code. After all the physical games, it was time for some brain-game. This was a numbers + alphabets game...very suitable for auditors...lol! Proud of myself for coming up with this game...thanks to all the committees for helping to coordinate as well. =) Here's an example of one of the questions: Mississippi = 9, Morocco = 15, Alaska = 1, Alabama = ?

Game 7: Pass the Message. The message was funny and it was about bananas...lol! 

The original message was totally 'distorted' by the time it was passed to the last person. Was hilarious listening to each versions of the 'banana' message...you can see it from the expressions of all the participants...priceless!! =)

Game 8: Build Your Shelter. Last game of the day to unleash the creativity of auditors. Time for us to sit back and relax while the participants to work on their 'projects'. =)

Tadaa...mission accomplished!!

And last but not least...the winner for this Penang Hill teambuilding dayout is....Pau Nya!!!

"I see countless happy faces while taking the photos! We, SRC members, are really grateful for the support given by everyone. Although some were unable to join us, we hope you can next round. Thanks! XD" - XinYi Lee

Million thanks to all the committees for all your support, hard work, and effort for making this event possible. Ain't easy planning and pulling everything off within 3 weeks. Awesome job guys!! 

Bird's-eye view of Penang Island from the peak of Penang Hill.

Sincere thanks to everyone for making our first event a success. =)

26 Nov 2011 (Sat): MICPASS Dinner @ Parkroyal Hotel

This dinner marked the closing of 2011 MICPASS inter-firm games. 

Receiving my Best Female Hiker trophy. =)

Thanks to all you awesome peeps for all the fun and excitement throughout the MICPASS games. =)

By the way, I've got a brand new lappie for work...one of the few good things about being in Dell team...haha! :p

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Volunteering at Janda Baik

12-13 Nov 2011 (Sat-Sun): Click!2.0 Camp @ Janda Baik
Traveled to this village about an hour away from KL over the last weekend to volunteer for a social entrepreneurship camp organized by the US Embassy. Now that I'm back in Penang, there ain't a lot of time and chances for me to participate in state alumni activities so decided to grab this chance since it falls on a weekend. Besides, one of the activities was community service which was something I wanted to do coz haven't been involved in any volunteering yet this year. Last year, I also had the chance to attend this camp in Cherating, this year it was held in Janda Baik.

Cherengin Hills resort was the location for this camp. Janda Baik is located deep within the jungle so nothing much there. :p I was lucky I got a room with the pool view all for myself coz my roommate didn't make it to the camp. =)

Misty mountain views. This hotel is located at an altitude of 600m above sea level so the weather was pretty nice and cooling, especially when the sun sets. 

All the volunteers were alumni from various U.S. government sponsored exchange programs. Our roles as volunteers were facilitators/mentors/discipline master/teacher. =.= All of us had no idea what we were supposed to do until we got there...poor organizer.

I was given a group of 5 students...they named their team Jabbawockeez coz the 2 boys liked this dance group. As their facilitator, I helped to guide them as they worked on their ideas...but they called me 'teacher' pulak. =.= The participants of this camp were high school students and they are all supposed to come up with a social entrepreneurship idea and implement it with a seed funding of RM250. The best 3 teams stand a chance to win ipod touch, digital camera, or a chance to go for an exchange program in the U.S. 

3 batches of Global UGRAD Alumni volunteers. =)


One of the activities during the camp...community service. We were split into 6 groups for different types of community service at the mosque, community library, kindergarten, and orphanage. I was quite lucky to be allocated to the group with the most volunteers and we went to an orphanage to help out with organic farming...sounds interesting huh! :p

The orphanage was the furthest from our hotel so we had a bus to bring us there. Mana tau our bus took us to the wrong place...luckily we got another van to fetch us. 24 of us managed to squeeze into that van...lol!!

Finally arrived at the orphanage. Big place with big compound.

This community service was pretty interesting coz we got to learn about organic farming. =) We helped to plant seedlings, transferred the plants to the ground, picked the weeds, plough the soil, and cleaned up the surroundings. It was raining for awhile but we were quite efficient and got all our work done within 2 hours. =)

It's pretty refreshing to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and get close to nature.

There were various types of veggies planted at the farm. Good initiative to reduce the food cost for the orphanage and also help them earn some money from all these crops.

U.S. Ambassador Paul Jones also came all the way to Janda Baik to join us in the community outreach activities.

Group picture of the volunteers with Ambassador Jones. =)

Another activity for the students during the camp...treasure hunt. 

Farewell BBQ dinner and certificate presentation ceremony for all the students who participated in this Click! 2.0 Camp.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Sporting Season

Who says auditors are boring bunch of unfit people? Imma prove you wrong...haha! :p Oct & Nov is the sporting season for audit firms in Penang. Everyone starts training and preparing for inter-firm games...this is also the best time of the year to do stuff with colleagues that are totally non-work-related. It was fun being involved in all these but too much sports took a toll on me lately. Hurt my back 3 weeks ago and still haven't recovered yet coz I haven't really rested much...bad timing to be injured. =.=

15 Oct 2011 (Sat): Netball competition
Despite my back injury, I still very 'hiao' played netball last Saturday. In fact, my back only hurts when I do a back bend...apart from that other normal routine movement is fine. But I went to see the doctor again right after the match. :p Btw, the pics below were taken by our pro photographer...Leng Hin. Thanks for all these nice pics! =)

Team A players...great teammates! Thank y'all for the effort and I'm proud of you gals! =)

We had a strong team of supporters who came as early as 8am to cheer for us. =) 

Some action shots. We won the first game and got into the semi-finals. Even though we didn't win the 2nd game, we've already achieved our target and most importantly, we've tried our best. With so many first timers this year, it's actually quite a good achievement.

Half-time break. Discussing our strategy very SERIOUSLY...lol! :p

Group pic of our 'All Stars' netball players & our awesome supporters. =) Thanks everybody!!

McD treat after the game...good times. =)