GEORGETOWN 19 MAR 2011: Prior to Charis Hospice Hunt for Charity 2011 on 19th Mar 2011, the diagnosis was not very promising. Die-hard Penang hunters were discreetly suffering in silence; their periodic groan of anxiety was all too familiar. It has been almost 6 months since the last Penang hunt that some have categorically given up waiting.
The hunt withdrawal symptoms seemed to have affected the most ardent fans; even the injection of a sporadic hunt in the Pearl
The Rapid Penang Hunt and Coyote Hunt were coincidentally delayed; the FIZ Hunt 2010 was mysteriously cancelled at the eleventh hour; Penang Food Hunt was postponed again for the 2nd year running and Mensa Eye-Q Hunt was magically teleported to Klang Valley
An inevitable effect of hunt drought in the north, the thirst for more may sometimes become agonizingly unbearable, that an alternative cure for the restless Penangites would be a 4-hour drive down to KL, the oasis of hunt paradise.
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| COC JayMen |
The Penang resident COC JayMen appeared to have thrown in the proverbial towel and followed the migratory birds to the south during winter time, when he jointly orchestrated 3 KL hunts in December and January (Malaysian Mensa Eye-Q Hunt, 2512 Christmas Hunt and THS Hunt); while the other northern COCs have inexplicably gone AWOL.
So the RM64,000 question is that “when will the wait end?”
When the Charis Hospice Hunt finally came along in
Just as Charis Hospice has brought hope and relief to the long-suffering patients, its hunt has inadvertently done likewise to the long-suffering Penang hunters; its timely presence was certainly much welcomed and cherished by all.
Thanks to the industrious committee members, the charity event enviably garnered a total of 45 teams in its Motoring Hunt and another 60 plus teams in the Mall Hunt; of which such record speaks volume of their Herculean effort.
It was rather tempting for COC JayMen to habitually retrograde to his normal professorial self: impart his customary wisdom on 101 puzzle solving and unleash the full-scale arsenal of cryptic weapons at his disposal, with an earth-shaking hunt of 5-star magnitude to drive home the lesson. But with the presence of many first-timers, it was to his credit that such an advance class was wisely adjourned to another day.
“Only half a star” was his depreciating remark on the hunt difficulty. True to his words (this time!), the hunt questions were devoid of his usual multi-level trickery and Gordian knot. In their places were some mildly-cryptic questions, laced with a couple of toughies.
However his tongue-in-cheek quotes must always be taken with a pinch of salt. Though his road questions were atypically undemanding, the treasure questions turned out to be deviously taxing. Three of the treasures were decidedly solvable and obtainable, but another one was rather wickedly elusive and the last one went unanswered.
However his tongue-in-cheek quotes must always be taken with a pinch of salt. Though his road questions were atypically undemanding, the treasure questions turned out to be deviously taxing. Three of the treasures were decidedly solvable and obtainable, but another one was rather wickedly elusive and the last one went unanswered.
While the cryptic questions and treasures naturally appealed to the regulars, the Challenges provided an entertaining sideshow.
While the cryptic questions and treasures naturally appealed to the regulars, the Challenges provided an entertaining sideshow.
To ordinary minds, mundane objects such as sate sticks, strings and blue towers may not possess much entertainment value; yet thanks to his ingenuity, the sate sticks were creatively turned into a rickety conveyance; the strings metamorphosed into Penang ‘bridges’ and the blue towers gradually ‘disappeared’ from the landscape, one by one!
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| Be careful with the ping pong ball! |
Cry-Pic a new hunt feature made its debut during the hunt, much to the liking of most participants. A 2-D version of I-Spy, it certainly provided a fresh paradigm shift in lateral thinking.
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| Ready for flag-off! |
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| Answer presentation time! |
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| Charis Hospice Hunt 2011 (Mall)- 7th-12th |
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| Charis Hospice Hunt 2011 (Mall)- 1st-6th |
Nevertheless the ultimate question remains – how did the new hunters find the hunt and would they come back for more?
Based on the weekend’s evidence, it looks as if COC JayMen has done sufficiently enough to pique their interest. The hearty cheers and satisfied smiles, the oohs and ahhs that followed his explanation were reminiscent of those made by the Aliens in the movie “Toy Story”; with the grotesque photo of Mr Bean Jr pushing up the laughter several decibels.
Based on the weekend’s evidence, it looks as if COC JayMen has done sufficiently enough to pique their interest. The hearty cheers and satisfied smiles, the oohs and ahhs that followed his explanation were reminiscent of those made by the Aliens in the movie “Toy Story”; with the grotesque photo of Mr Bean Jr pushing up the laughter several decibels.
However the more fundamental challenge now is to keep the momentum going!
“One swallow does not a summer make”! Charis Hunt aside, the hunt skeptics may rightly point out that the dilemma of hunt dearth still remains in Penang .
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| Charis Hospice Hunt 2011 (Motoring) - 3rd |
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| Charis Hospice Hunt (Motoring) - 6th-10th |
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| Charis Hospice Hunt (Motoring) - 2nd |
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| Charis Hospice Hunt (Motoring) - 1st-5th |
Well…. fate works in funny ways!
Call it an Act of God or a conspiracy theory. Inspired possibly by the movie “Inception”, Artemis the patron goddess of hunters, may have planted the idea in the minds of several hunt organizers to concertedly make April and May the Months of Visit Penang in the hunt calendar.
How else can one explain the avalanche of upcoming Penang hunts in the next 2 months?
The fiesta will start with MAH Hunt (KL to Pg) on 2nd Apr and OFMA Hunt (Penang) on 3rd Apr; then snowball into MK Land Green Hunt (KL to Bukit Merah) on 16th Apr, Hospis Malaysia Hunt (KL to Pg) on 14th May and Pg Hunters Hunt (tentatively) on 15th May; and culminate with the much-awaited Kiwanis Hunt (KL to Pg) on 28th May.
Yes, these events may be the answer to the fervent prayers of Penang hunters; yet their frequency and timing somehow smack of typically mismanaged maintenance projects in Malaysia
Nonetheless with 6 Penang-related hunts in the next 2 months, at least the suffering may be alleviated, the groan briefly paused and the wait temporarily over!
The signs of recovery may be there, but Penang hunters are not out of the woods yet!
Charis-h the moment, while it lasts!
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