Action Heroes Conquer SinCity!

Alright. Budget cut. No fancy overseas trip this year for our team building. We decided to plan our Team Building Day somewhere closer to home. We couldn’t think of another better destination. Certainly not Shenzhen or Lama Island. Macau seems to be the perfect choice. It is Asia’s most flamboyant SinCity and I am sure there is a place for Action Heroes like us.

At first, I was skeptical about this destination for team building. It was just a short 1 day + 2 nights trip, how is it possible to achieve any decent team bonding? Surely not card-counting over blackjack tables. Or pimping our younglings. Thanks to Chowpo, Mayee and Kelly, they made Macau as exciting and meaningful as our last team building trip! Thanks to the generosity of the team, Felicia and Elkan were able to join me in our team building trip.

First stop – Macau Tower. This is where notorious Edison Chen broke the world record attempting the world’s tallest bungee jump back in 2006. Nope, we were unable to attempt any record-breaking stunts (thanks to the budget cut, we can’t afford the HKD3,000/head jump). Instead, we suspended ourselves, like puppets out on the ledge 233m above ground. The only things which prevented us from doing our own free-fall were two 1cm-thick ropes. It was a walk of faith. We could trust no one but the ropes.

Elkan, being the youngest and smallest-sized in the group, was instructed by the guide to lead the SkyWalk. Having no concept of fear, he was like a hyperactive monkey out on a leash. He was screaming in ecstasy, jumping and running freely out on the ledge.

For the some of the other adults (I was forbidden to mention any names), fears and anxieties sipped in. High life at the top of the world wasn’t as glamorous and indulging as they expected. I was thankful for this experience. I witnessed the weaknesses, strengths, courages and transformations of my team. And how they overcame fear with courage and determination. It was this moment when all of us stood as equals, watched each other’s back and walked the talk together as one united team – under the rain on the pinnacle of Macau. Bravo!

After our successful (disruptive and noisy) stunt outside the tower, we went a storey down to the 60th floor to enjoy a sumptuous lunch at 360° CAFÉ – Macau’s highest revolving restaurant. It was certainly a much more relaxing and cozier way to enjoy Macau. I am sure David, Wing, Mayee, Clara and Stephanie fully agreed with me. Opps, I wasn’t allowed to mention any names.

Our next stop – Casino Wine and Gourmet on the 59th floor! We grouped ourselves into 3 teams. Each team was given a bag of chips. We were given 1 hour to win as much chips as possible. The team with the most chips win! There were 3 casino tables in the room. For each station, we were asked to taste different types of wine or cheese. Through tasting, we have to bet our chips on the right answer to win! It was certainly not an easy task for the Asians. (Harshad and  I cried “Kelong”!! This game is 100% setup for the Guai-Los to win!). My team decided to focus all our resources on one particular table which gave us the best winning chance. Our strategy paid off! The team of Hongkies, Singaporeans and Indians won the English-French team by a big margin of 9,000 dollars! Sweet!

Our last stop just before dinner, we “chilled out” (literally) at Asia’s largest Ice World at Venetian. Under -15 degrees Celsius, we braved through the 45-minute exhibit. It reminded me of the Harbin trip we had last Christmas except this time, I was in shorts and sandals. Even with the blue overcoat, it was freezing cold! For a minute, the team packed ourselves in a small igloo. It was so warm and cozy inside. The igloo actually worked!

Dinner was at a Brazilian restaurant, FogoSamba where it offered “eat-&-drink-all-you-can”. The “eat-all-you-can” offer didn’t really appeal to me. After 5 servings of roasted meats, I decided to call it a day. It was just too stuffy and oily for me. For once, I complained having too much meat and I went to get more vegetables to balance off the meaty meal.

It was a superb team-building day. Overpacked with activities but the programmes were all very very interesting, refreshing and meaningful. Felicia, Elkan and I took the 1030pm ferry back to Hong Kong right after dinner. Thanks David and the organising team for planning such a wonderful trip for the company and my family. I look forward for another great year. And next time, we shall conquer Mount Everest/cage diving/dance with the crocs and bet on the different Indian curries and durians. Just let Harshad and me do the planning.