IT HAS been a wonderful 2013 so far; so perhaps a THS hunt IN 2013 could turn out to be a THS hunt ON 2013!
Down the Memory Lane 2013 – The Beginning was the hunt theme; surely an unmissable hint in the Briefing Notes! So a bit of advance research and a fair knowledge of 2013 news would give anyone a slight edge.
Yet some participants completely ignored this at their own expense. If they chose to come unprepared, then they must also be prepared to come unstuck.
The excuses for being not up-to-date were aplenty; but none as comical as the confession of a hunter “I don’t trust mainstream newspapers; so I only read Malaysia Kini!” Undoubtedly he would fare well in any political-related posers.
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| Newbies Yi Pin, Zaiem, Azimah and Mala waiting for the hunt! |
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| Hunters Yeap Wee Liang and Sin Lean Kee back after a long break! |
Within the first 4 months of 2013 (prior to this hunt), our wonderful world was never short of memorable incidents, both internationally and locally.
Some news uplifted us with unbridled warmth and pride; some filled us with sorrow and despair, while a few were so bizarrely stupid, we somehow pondered whether to heartily giggle or collectively shake our heads at the idiocy. Perhaps a mixture of both would seem appropriate.
We marvelled at the fairy-tale run of little known Burkina Faso in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and triumphant effort of Victoria Azarenka at Australia Open 2013; yet we mourned the tragic bombing of Boston Marathon and the loss of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher!
The Chinese celebrated the Year of Snake, the Indians had their Thaipusam, while the Christians waited with abated breath for the new Pope.
Closer at home, we Malaysians also experienced several tragic news items – the disappearance of the kid William Yau grabbed the headlines in January! Lahad Datu invasion came next and the deaths of several policemen and soldiers during Ops Daulat were certainly regrettable!
Of course in this Boleh-land, we also had a fair share of stand-up comedy acts, prior to Penang Leg 1 hunt. The political circus arrived in town with the ‘clowns’ in tow during the run-up to 5th May election.
While the movie Argo predictably clinched the Best Picture Award in Oscar 2013, we must admit that a few of our politicians assuredly won our votes for the Funniest Actor Award. The laughable 8-minute episode of Psy concert certainly amused the Penangites and hordes of Netizens worldwide.
Aliens were allegedly issued Identity Cards in bulk, while in local sports, our national football coach, Rajagopal was slapped with a gag order under Article 88 for purportedly criticising the untouchable Football Always Mediocre mob.
Against such colourful background, the plethora of events provided a timely fodder for a 2013-based hunt; hence the birth of THS Walk Hunt 2013 - Penang Leg 1!
With six Penang members recently inducted into THS hall of fame, it was finally ripe that Diamond category was introduced in the Pearl of Orient. Additional 5 bold questions and 1 bold treasure were injected to test the hardened hunters.
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| The arms-folding gang - Dr Ho with Kar Peng |
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| Hunters Shuba posing with Jay |
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| Hunters Hock Aun, Jordon and Iniyaraja are back for more! |
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| KL supporters of THS Pg Walk Hunt |
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| Hunters Lim Kuan Piau & Ooi Chung Sung |
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| Finger licking good for hunters BL Yeoh and team mate, Chan Chung Wei |
That another veteran hunter Dr Ho, emerged from his hunt semi-retirement in this THS hunt, also augurs well for the society. Four KL Diamond hunters also made the pilgrimage to Penang for a taste of this hunt.
The THS Penang hunt format was also slightly altered this time. Much to the delight of a few visually-impaired hunters, THS I-Spy Challenge was temporarily shelved and replaced with THS Rebus Challenge.
Yet anyone who expected the hunt to be an easy walk in the mall, may already be feeling disappointed at the flag-off: the bold questions seem to stumped the masters, while THS Rebus Challenge was unfortunately tough for those not au courant with latest headlines.
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| Group Photo - The hunt is on for a blue hunt! |
While several hunters spent some time trying to decipher the Rebus; a few as long as half an hour, others somehow struggled in other areas. Hunter Kar Peng ruefully lamented the unsighted Sydney, while hunter Ming Yang thought he cracked a tough treasure, but his hope of winning was somehow dimmed when he missed a glowing advice.
Hunter Jayaram jokingly remarked that Time cryptic crosswords were slightly easier; while hunter VK Chong preferred to have slightly bigger font size for some of the answers.
The unintended difficulty was partly due to most hunter’s general lack of preparation and ignorance of the shadow clues. If they took the trouble to study these, you get the feeling the time trouble was avoidable and the questions a tad easier.
During the Hunt
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| Hunters Patrick & Elaine already hard at work |
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| A perfect combo of local and foreign talents - Sin YC and Mike! |
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| THS virgin hunters - Azimah and Zaiem |
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| Hunters Mala and Yi Pin having a go at the treasure questions |
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| Ha ... you insert like that, then initial, after that backward |
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| Busy googling! |
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| Brain--storming time for Jolly Roger |
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| CK and VK |
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| I love your shirt! |
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| Hunters Chee How and Joon Teik |
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| Hunters David and Sin Yoong Leong |
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| Watch your step! |
Despite all the comments, the only unsolved route question surprisingly came from a non-bolded category.
Question : Two-thirds majority goal – a mandate for dazzling result!
Answer : Alamanda @ Poh Kong Jewellery
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| Q4 Perhaps Francis dropped the final zodiac animal in books. |
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| Q13 Notice the safety zone in Quake game. |
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| Q18 Is this garment outlet calling the new China president foolish? |
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| Q19 Rate is wrongly used in recent Langkawi event, organized by bank! |
At the end, it was a tightly-fought battle for the top 3 winners, as evidenced by the result. KL hunters VK Chong, CK Loh, Ming Yang and Wern Ching were a class above the rest, outsolving others on route questions. However their Achilles’ heel turned out to be in the treasure section.
By cracking the tough treasure D-Jack Sinaran cracker, hunters Sin Yoong Leong and David Tan managed to nose ahead of its closest challenger by a mere 1 point, and clinched the numero uno position.
Nonetheless by and large, the hunters experienced a great time in rising to the challenge! Several undaunted participants unequivocally vowed to be back for the sequel, perhaps a bit more prepared the next time.
Winners
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| Gold Category - 2nd Runner Up |
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| Gold Category - 1st Runner Up |
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| Gold Category - Champion |
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| Diamond Category - 2nd Runner Up |
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| Diamond Category - 1st Runner Up |
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| Diamond Category - Champion |
Well…let’s hope that 2013 has more upcoming interesting news and events!
Full Result
For those who missed the 3 traffic-light Penang hunts in 2012,
check out the fun time below.
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| THS Pg Walk Hunt 2012 Leg 3 - Red Alert! Red Alert! |
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| THS Pg Walk Hunt 2012 Leg 2 - Malaysian at Heart |
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| THS Pg Walk Hunt 2012 Leg 1 - Save the Nature & Animal |
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