The Enigm@ Chronicles

The following are the complete set of pictures taken during the Samsung Innov8 Run Treasure Hunt that I participated in.

Picking up where I left off in the first post on the Innov8 Run here.

. . .

Once we were back on track, we had to quickly solve the first 5 questions that were located in the vicinity of the section. As time was against us, we couldn’t take our own leisure to ensure we got all the right answers and some sacrifices on the tougher question had to be made. Similarly for the next 2 question in the following section, we somehow overshot the location and were not successful in locating the answers. All in all this was not a good start for our team. Next we had to hunt down a specific Samsung billboard using the instructions provided via the tulips. After getting completely lost and stuck in a nasty jam, we had to call in to the CoC for assistance to set ourselves back onto the right path whereby we managed to get to the location with the billboard and took the team picture with the billboard featured in it.

Once we were done with the picture, we once more made our way to Menara KL where the last pit-stop and submission point for our first sector answers. After braving the KL jam and making it to Menara KL, we handed over our answers to the CoC present and were told about our next challenge. We were required to complete, all 3 of us, the famous AJ Hacket’s Flying Fox down from the base of the tower and we were supposed to use the Innov8 phone to record pictures and more importantly videos of us completing the challenge. Suffice to say, we all completed the flying fox challenge and got ourselves some memorable pictures and videos out of it. Personally I enjoyed the challenge and the experience of flying down the slope of the Menara KL hill with the beautiful panorama of KL on my left.

Whilst Daniel composed the video of our challenge with the flying fox on the Innov8, both Azri & myself participated in a not-as-simple-as-it-seems analytic challenge of trying to arrange part of a puzzle into a complete arrow shaped design with the 90 seconds allotted. Sadly we failed to complete the challenge and did not earn the bonus points. Sigh! Next we were given our next set of clues and tulips. After a quick lunch break we were back on the trail and proceeded to our next location of the junction of Sungai Wang & Jalan Sultan Ismail based on the cryptic clue provided. There after locating the second Samsung billboard  and quickly snapping a picture of the team in front of the billboard, we referenced our tulips and GPS software to get to our next location - Petaling Street.

At Petaling Street we meet with the CoC whom provided us with our instruction and next challenge - a speed SMS challenge. Leaving Daniel, the resident Innov8 expert of the group - to complete the SMS challenge, Azri & myself proceeded to decipher the 10 clues for the answers that were all about in the famous Chow Kit market. Needless to say this is not an easy feat as we had to deal with the huge crowd of shopper and cramped walkways. Nevertheless I think we did much better and managed to get at least 8 of the 10 question answered correctly.

We also had to complete another 2 challenges called Mata Kuching and Shopping Trail respectively. In the Mata Kuching challenge, we had to gulp down 1 whole cup of Air Mata Kuching in 15 seconds or less to earn the points. Luckily we were super thirsty at that point and the challenge proved to be a slam dunk for us. For the Shopping Trail challenge we were required to find 5 treasures of natural items that fit the clues provided. Sadly we only manage to get 1 treasure before we decided that we couldn’t risk being late for the next check in and abandoned the challenge. Another sigh!

Back in the car, we proceed to the next sector check which was the Batu Caves as shown the the MMS clue provided. Using the tulips and Innov8 GPS feature as our guides we got on our way and made it to Batu Caves after navigating through a spot of congestion on the Batu Caves route. At Batu Caves we submitted our answers and single treasure before being given the last set of tulips to the final pit-stop and check in which was the Sakura Kristal restaurant in Taman Melawati. We leaned that due to the very bad congestion in KL the hunt had been thrown on track and the last portion of it was being cancelled in lieu of the fact that it was already 7pm and dusk was well on its way.

Thus we made our way to the Sakura Kristal restaurant, checked in and submitted our passport and photos taken of the entire day to the CoC stationed there. Our last requirement was to compose a slide show of our pictures and videos taken during the entire hunt for submission in the best video category. Sadly due to some technical issues and faults of our own, by the time Daniel had completed the entire slide show, the submission window was already closed and all our hard work was for naught. Still we didn’t take it too hard as we realized that our mistakes earlier in the day left us with little time and required us to zip through most of everything we had to do.

Finally as we sat down to a nice dinner whilst awaiting the announcement of the winners of the hunt, I manage to get some hands-on time with the Innov8. Due to the fact that I was the team driver, my exposure to the Innov8 had been pretty limited thus far. So for the next 15 minutes I manage to peruse the various functions and features of the Innov8.

Based on my short time with the Innov8 Phone, these are the stand out features of the phone:

• 8 Megapixel camera that totally rocks!
• Video capabilities that are no pushover also. 
• Multimedia capabilities like slide show creation, video editing and etc are all mind blowing!
• GPS feature that works reasonably somewhat well more so when coupled with Google Maps. The Navfone software was a painful experience though.
• Web surfing that works on demand and is flawless.
• Great preloaded 3D games of Asphalt 4 & FIFA.
• Optical mouse slider that is to die for. 

Just after dinner was over with, Jag from ToS began the answer session where we were shown the answers to the clues for the hunt. This was followed by the first round of lucky draws where both Daniel & Azri each manage to bag a prizes. Unfortunately my star wasn’t shining bright enough and I did not manage to get any prizes.

After the lucky draw, the first round of prize giving were up and 2 of the participants who were deemed most persevering were awarded with bluetooth headsets. One was a lady who drove all the way from Tapah to participate in the hunt. The other contestant awarded the prize is Cherrie (my mate Brandon’s wife) who completed the run whilst she was pregnant. Cherrie all I can say is ‘You Go Girl‘! Lastly the best video prize was awarded to Marcus’s team. I have to say their video blew ours out of the water and definitely deserved to win the award. The second round of lucky draw proceeded and was followed by the presenting of the best Marshall prize and then we finally came to the crunch time.

The winners of the hunt were announced by Jag and the team in first place managed to bag themselves each a brand spanking new Samsung Innov8 phone with 2nd place receiving Senhauser headphones and 3rd place receiving Samsung bluetooth headsets. Suffice to say our team did not manage to win. Still we had ourselves a great time, participated in a superb hunt, met some awesome people and all in all it was worth it.

To Samsung, I have to say my sincere thanks for selecting me to participate in the Innov8 Run. I had fun and I’d definitely be back for any future Samsung events.

Want to read other prespectives on the Samsung Innov8 Run hunt ( as if mine wasn’t detailed enough
Then checkout these blogs:

1. Lynxlee
2. Azri
3. Run With Me
4. Munster
5. Kelvin
6. Y-Leng
7. Joo Hui
8. Saimat Kong

This past Saturday the 1st of November 2008 couldn’t have come too early for me. I was eagerly anticipating the day of the Samsung Innov8 Run that I’d been shortlisted to participate in. For those not familiar with what the Samsung Innov8 Run is - well basically it’s a treasure hunt styled race to the finish among the lucky contestants. The Innov8 Run was organised by Samsung in lieu of the product launch for the brand spanking new Innov8 i850 phone from Samsung.

The CoC (Clerk-of-Course) for the hunt is from Time Out Solutions (ToS) and speaking from what little experience I’ve had in treasure hunts thus far this year - ToS are fantastic hunt setters with fun people working with them to make hunts like the Innov8 Run a great outing altogether.

So lets get back to my tale of the Innov8 Run. The contestants were supposed to be at the briefing location and flag-off point by 9am. We were already made aware that this hunt would be a day long affair and that we should come prepared. So bright and early Saturday morning I made my way to the Samsung Service Center located off Federal Highway where I meet up with the other contestants and also the other 8 bloggers that were at the special briefing with me last week. My predetermined teammates Daniel & Azri was soon there and the three of us were soon strategising on our attack plan for the hunt. There are a total of 15 teams of 3 contestants and 1 marshal per team that made up the participating contestants.

At 9am, the rest of the contestants began getting their team stickers and thus finding out whom they were teamed up with. Daniel, Azri & myself were slotted in Team 15. Next the hunt briefing was held with the first 7 teams going to the briefing whilst the last 8 teams duked it out to decide their flag off time. Here is where our first experience of the day with the Samsung Innov8 phone - we were required to battle it out in Asphalt4 street racing game that comes with the Innov8. Each team had to send 2 representatives, Daniel & myself for Team 15, who had to attempt to score the fastest time to finish the race in order to score our team a prime flag-off position.

Once we were done with the game, our turn for the briefing was at hand and we proceed to the briefing room where Jag from ToS conducted the hunt portion of the briefing. By the way I have to say hats off to Jag for conducting what is surely the best hunt briefing I’ve participated in for this whole year. Jag was then proceeded by Samsung’s Innov8 expert (didn’t catch his name) who gave everyone a crash course preview on the Samsung Innov8 phone that we were going to be using during the hunt. Each team was provided with 2 phones - 1 with Naviphone GPS software preloaded and the other with a Maxis 3G sim card that enabled Internet connectivity. Once the briefing was over, we were provided with our Adidas sponsored shirt that we were going to wear during the hunt and given the all important list of instructions, clues and tulips for our hunt and the all important passport for getting the stamps at the completion of each section of the hunt.

In the final minutes before the flag-off at 11.30 am, the participants we treated to a rousing kick-off speech by Samsung’s General Manager. Remember the gaming we had to do earlier. Well as it turns out Daniel’s score manage to bag our team 5th placing in the hunt flag-off. Great job Daniel! Our marshal for the race was Kugan and together with him we began our last minutes preparations.

As we lined up in the kick-off formation, we pored over the instructions and the hunt questions whilst trying to figure out the first cryptic SMS clue that we had just been given. The unique angle of this hunt is that the Innov8 phones were our portal to all important information like SMS & MMS clues. As our team was flagged off, we immediately headed to the our First destination Wisma KKAUM located opposite Taman Jaya. Now we were supposed to use the Innov8 phones’ GPS capabilities utilizing the Naviphone mapping software. However things began on a rocky note, as we had some teething problems using the GPS software. Weirdly the instructions given were at times too late to allow for us to make the required turn. However we somehow managed to make our way to Wisma KKAUM only to find out later on that we were supposed to have made out the first challenge stop located in the Astaka Field just before Wisma KKAUM.

Finally we reversed our steps, made it to the challenge point where Daniel & Azri proceeded to complete the blind folded challenge and netted us our first stamp on our passport and our very next clue in the form of an MMS. Back in the car, we quickly headed off to the destination shown in the clue which was Menara KL. Here is where the biggest mistake off our hunt was made - that is we failed to REALIZED that we were supposed to follow the tulips given to us earlier. So lo and behold we found ourselves in near KL in a jam when I asked for the clue list and then only saw the tulips on the page behind it! Realizing our blunder we quickly made our way out of KL to the first destination stated in the tulips which is the Mc’Donals near the Digital Mall. Yikes… precious time was lost to us due to our error!

Look forward to my further adventures on the hunt. Click here for Part 2 of the hunt!

Remember my post on the Innov8 run here.

Well this past Saturday I was among the 9 shortlisted candidates that attended a special pre-hunt briefing held at Bon Ton Restaurant located at Jalan Conlay in the midst of the heart of KL. Samsung was kind enough to organise this briefing session in order to expose to us all that we need to know about the upcoming hunt.

The Innov8 Run is being held as a launching ceremony with a twist of sorts. Instead of the usually hotel based launches that are a norm with product launches, Samsung has taken an unique avenue of organising a race-cum-hunt for the launch of the Samsung Innov8!

As explained by Matt, Samsung’s Marketting Manager, this is a new idea that Samsung has decided to tryout in Malaysia. I for one heartily agree with Samsungs decision. For a company with the stature of Samsung, taking the initiative to stir things up in an new and unique way for their community is indeed a sign that they care for and place an emphasis on their customers. I for one am extremely siked that I managed to get selected to participate in this hunt!

Getting back to the pre-event briefing, as the 9 selected bloggers/participants started appearing - I was the first one there - we met and got acquainted with each other and also chit chatted with the people from Samsung. Then the briefing kicked-off with the basic introductions and a general briefing on the up-coming hunt with some minor hints given as to how we can expect the hunt to play out. Think of this as an insiders preview to the hunt.

Right after that my fellow bloggers and I were treated to a 4 course lunch at Bon Ton restaurant! Whohoo! Once lunch was over the briefing picked up where it left off with Lawrence, the Product Manager of Samsung, cutting to the heart of the event i.e.  presenting us with an up close and hands on experience with the Samsung Innov8.

My first instinct on seeing the phone was that it looked great, well designed and hip! Then things got a whole lot more interesting as we were dazzled with the various features & capabilities of the phone. For the uninitiated the Innov8 is Samsungs version of a full multimedia phone that rivals the likes of Nokia’s N96.

I will probably have more to say on the phones capabilities after the hunt is over as it is there that we will be able to put the phone through its paces.

So for the better part of the afternoon we were all about hands on experience of the Innov8. And then to spice things up a little more, we were even shown and allowed to pay around with some of Samsungs newest phones. Check this out people - phones that are not yet out on the market. Not wanting to let too much information slip out at this juncture, all I can say is that fans of Samsung mobile phones are in store for new and surprisingly fun phones in the near future.

Lastly before we ended the briefing session, was the random draw to decide on the segregation of the teams. After the dust settled I found myself in Team Blue with my new acquaintances of Daniel & Azri. I’m very confident in our team as I think each of us brings something unique to the team and with that in mind we are setting out target on the gold!

So there you have it. The briefing session lasted close to 4 hours and it was fun each and every second of it. My thanks to the team from Samsung for the enjoyable afternoon spent with them and the delightable exposure to the Samsung Innov8.

Stay tuned for my escapades in the hunt that is is just around the corner. Wish me luck.

Read ‘em and weep. 

I’ve luckly been selected to attend the latest private movie screening by Exabytes - my web hoster. 

Themed with the catchy ‘Let’s Escape to Africa’ tagline, this edition of the private movie screening will feature the film Madagascar 2 - Escape to Africa.

If you’ve watched the first movie Madagascar, you’d remember the hilarious charaters in the animated movie. My favourites characters were King Julien of the lemurs and of course the wacky ‘escapist’ penguins.

So I’m definately looking forward to the movie screening where I hope to be further thrilled by Madagascar 2!

Exabytes, thank you.

Yikes. Unbelievably Unsuprisingly I was shortlisted as one of the 9 perticipants for the upcoming Samsung Innov8 Run hunt that being held on the 1st of November 2008.

I have to start mentally preparing myself to face this hunt because it’s not going to be like one of the general treasure hunts I’ve participated in up till recently. 

As I leave to begin the mental preparation I leave you with this picture of me as a listed participant - purely for braging reasons of course!
 

I read that Nissan’s latest release in Malaysia will be the sport utility vehicle called Navara.
Check out the pic below.

The new Nissan Navara

Now normally I do not write about vehicles all that much. But something stood out as I read the article. It would seem that the Navara has the unsightly nick name of ‘Mother Trucker‘!

Go figure! Nissan sure decided on a wrong nickname for their model.

I can just imagine someday spotting the Navara on the Malaysian highways, being driven by the ever tipical Malaysian driver that just frustrates you to no end - leading to the culmination of curses muttered at said driver & vehicle!

Can anyone guess what the nickname ‘Mother Trucker’ can lead to?

It sure doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out!

In line with the launch of their new mobile handset the i8510 Innov8, Samsung has decided to carry out the launch in a special way i.e. The Samsung Innov8 Run. It’s a motor treasure hunt where the lucky contestants will be able to use the latest Samsung Innov8 phone! Yay.

Seeing as treasure hunting is in my blood here is my attempt to qualify and hopefully become a shortlisted contestant in the hunt!

How will I describe myself in 10 words?

Fun, Wacky, Tech-Savvy, Mysterious, Sincere, Outgoing, Adventurous, Explorer, Street-Smart, New-Age

Individualistic or a team player? What am I?

Easy. I am both. When need be I can take initiative to blaze my own path in my lifes journey. Yet when teamwork is required, I never turn my back on my fellow teammates and will always stand by their side through thick or thin!

What is the craziest/ most outregious thing have I done in my life?

Participated in and successfully set both a World Record and Malaysia Book of Records record for the Longest Running Movie Marathon in Malaysia and the world in 2006. I survived through 31 movies non-stop in the grand total of time clocking in at 72 hours 8 minutes! I placed 2nd among the 8 record setters!

Proof in case you think I might be pulling a fast one:
http://www.cathayholdings.com.my/cineplexes/cp_news_worldrecord.html 

How has technology changed my life in 1 sentence?

Technology has allowed me to experience the world in many ways, do new things in new ways, explore the vast treasures of the Internet and be able to be connected anywhere, anytime & on the go.

Do I have a blog?

I shall assume then if you’re reading this here ‘post’ then you are currently at my blog. Hence the answer you’re looking for is … Yes I do have a blog. It’s The Enigm@ Chronicle.

There. These are my answers to the question. To Samsung I cannot overstate how eagerly I await news from you in regards to my qualification.

Innov8 Run here I come!

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY or WILT, as I’ve chosen to label it, is a brand new category here at TEC. I got the inspiration from reading an article articulating that people should reduce their ‘wasted  time’ by 120 minutes a week and then proceed to do new things & explore new areas with the additional 120 minutes that we now have in hand.

One idea was writing or blogging about the new things one learns on any given day!

Hence in line with the concept above, I was inspired to create the SNILT section right here in my blog.

Mind you WILT will not necessarily be relegated to newly gained knowledge only, but should also cater to new insights about my life - where and when said insight(s) do deign to be make themselves apparent.

So with both pairs of fingers crossed here we go with the TEC very first SNILT post!

Today I once more rediscover the perils of Temptation!

Seeing that temptation has its various forms and features, do let me be a little bit more specific on what exactly I mean by temptation - I wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea! Temptation in the context of this post can be described as the alure of past habits that seem to be making a comeback.

First there’s the morning ritual of breakfast with the colleagues. I’ve previously avoided making any fixed morning breakfast rituals that I well knew would form itself into habit. I originally was able to function at my resposibilities without having to have anything heavier than a good old cup of Nescafe or Milo. Nowadays I find temptation abound in the form of munching one 1 or 2 piece of local breakfast delicacies in addition to the drink. This does not bode well indeed for my meal replacement diet scheme that I’m currently on.

Second on the list is the aluring temptation of the afternoon nap. Once again I originally do not partake of the ritual afternoon naps that are ever so prevelant. However when almost everyone nearby me ends up napping the subtle pressure of napping grows on me until I suddenly find myself cracking a yawn or two. Then I just got to take a short maybe-not-to-short nap of my own. Now I’m finding myself automatically succumbing to the drowsiness that creeps up ever so often after lunch.

Sigh. I’ve got to be more discipline in such matters and not succumb to temptation anymore!

Across the causeway, Singapore has unofficially slipped into recession*. In fact the Singapore government has revised its 2008 growth forecast to around 3 per cent from a previous estimate of 4 to 5 per cent.

According to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong :

“Asian countries cannot avoid the impact of weakening U.S., European and Japanese economies,” Lee said

“We must prepare for a rough ride at least over the next year, and quite possibly longer.”

“The crisis in the financial system will dampen consumption and investment in the developed countries and affect growth all over the world,” he said.

Meanwhile on our side, the Malaysian government future Premier and current DPM Datuk Seri Najib goes on record to state the following:

The country’s economy is stable despite the financial meltdown affecting many parts of the world.

“Our inflation rate is much lower than in neighbouring countries,” said Najib

Now as an economics graduate and DPM of Malaysia with some (supposed) experience under his belt, in Najib, we have sure expected more that we probably should have. Instead of a clear cut account from the DPM, what we are being told instead is the usual cock-and-bull from the government in regards to the finicial security of our economy.

If you were me right now, you’d be worried too!
 

* A recession is often defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contractions.