Awana Longhouse at Genting Highlands

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Resorts World Genting recently invited me and some other Nuffnang bloggers, Alpha churpers, Nuffies and selected Nuffnang Evangelists on a 2D1N trip to Awana at Genting Highlands. My mum tagged along for this trip too.

I had so much fun! To be honest, initially I was unsure if I would enjoy the trip because there was no one I know on the list of people going. It turns out that I was worried for nothing because everyone I met on this trip are kind and nice people! No fakeness, no bitchiness, no stuck ups. Everyone was helping one another and I think everyone got along well! I guess sometimes it's good to "go alone" because that's the only way you will open up and know new friends!

Sorry for the unequal color treatment for the photos in this entry. I used photos from a total of 4 cameras. My camera, mum's hp camera, Meiting's camera and Jayne's camera! Photos on mum's hp camera came out much clearer than those blur ones on my compact camera (didn't bring the big one because didn't want the bulkiness), but our angles are very different since her photos were mostly of me while I mostly took photos of others. Haha. I'm very happy with all the photos because all of us took photos at different activities so it's like I've got almost all the relevant photos for the trip! Can't believe I was having so much fun that I forgot to take photos at many of the activities - which is very rare for me because I usually take photos no matter what!

So anyway, we took a coach to Awana Resorts, which is located at Genting Highlands, just some distance down from Resorts World Genting. At 3000 feet above sea level, the weather was cool too!


First stop, we had buffet lunch at Rajawali Coffee House. Upon reaching, I immediately went to get food and happily tuck in and totally forgot about my role as a blogger haha. Only when I saw the rest already diligently taking photos with the buffet, food and the place, then I began to panic that I did not take any nice photos yet. Haha. Nevermind, we were going to have lunch at this place again the next day, still got one more chance!

Afterwards we took the van up to Awana Longhouse, which was to be our accommodation for the night. It actually isn't too far off from Awana Hotel so although you get a "nature" experience staying at the Longhouse, it isn't that far off from modern amenities and shops either. That's very good in case you really need a cup of hot instant noodles in the middle of the night. Haha.

It feels like a camp trip, and it's the first time in my entire life!



We met the in-charge and had a little tour around the area. Everyone was concerned about the washroom but no worries! It is located just some steps away from the longhouse and the shower room does have warm water. Perfect for people like me who can't bathe in cold water!

There was a choice of sleeping in the pitched tents or the proper rooms for the night. Winning team of the day's activities get to choose where they want to sleep and most people were aiming for the rooms, so it was very likely that the losing group will have to sleep in the tents. Since the two big rooms provided for us were communal and separated into male and female, we all had a very funny discussion about the tents being the perfect choice for couples. Lol.



Afterwards, we all got into our sports attire and formed teams. Speaking of sports attire, I realize that I have none. The closest I have is probably my secondary school P.E. shirt but I'm not even sure where it is now. Haha. I packed some nice tops but got worried on the morning itself that I'd look overdressed so I dug into the pile of clothes in my wardrobe for some plain and normal shirts. Erm, I have no comfortable jeans too, so I ended up with leggings. Look at the group photo above and I'm probably the only one with the wrong dress code. Wanted to wear shorts to look a little bit more sporty but I was so paranoid about whether there would be any leech/mosquito. Anyway I came back without any leech/mosquito bites at all. Happy!

We were randomly placed into groups and I'm glad to be teamed up with 3 other fun and spontaneous people - Mei Ting, Yong Zhuan (Yina's boyfriend) and Nic! I'm lucky to have such strong team mates! They are however, not very lucky to have me in the group because I have the lousiest stamina and speed for physical sport activities. Haha.

So anyway, our first task was to give our team a name and do a cheer! We named ourselves the THREE MUSKETEERS although there were four of us because we are team 3 and the rule was that we have to incorporate the team number in the chosen name.

Others had creative names too! My favorite one was ONE-DERS by team one, which also sounds like WONDERS. Team two's name was DUO and team four was THE FANTASTIC FOUR.

Our team's cheer goes something like this:
NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST
WHO IS THE BEST
THE THREE MUSKETEERS
BETTER THAN THE REST!

Even myself is surprised at what a rhyme-ful cheer we managed to churn out in just a few minutes. After the presentation, each team had to send out one representative to do an "impromptu aerobics/dance" in front of everyone and everyone had to follow the actions exactly. And so I was the unlucky one because we *Oh Ya Bei Ya Som* and I lost. Should totally have learnt the Gangnam Style dance from my sister before the trip!!

After that we all did the chicken dance which was kind of fun too!



Then, the ECO SPORT TREASURE HUNT started. Winning is based on speed and points accumulated from all the challenges.

First challenge was "Tangram". We had to piece 3 shapes from the list and get points depending on the difficulty. When I saw the puzzle, I was initially full of confidence because I was always good at stuff like that but don't know why my brain failed that day! We ended up becoming the last group to solve the puzzle and set off to the 2nd challenge. We decided to focus on getting as many points as possible instead of speed, since we were already the last one anyway.


We further wasted more time trying to located the 2nd challenge using the map that was given to us. We were purposely given a super misleading and "not drawn to scale" map done by a 10 year old child! End up we walked ALOT because we missed a turn. Also, the path was so much longer in reality than what was depicted in the map! I seriously think I lost some weight from all the walking. Worse was halfway through I wanted to pee but I didn't want to delay my team. So I actually 'ren' all the way. Haha.

We are lucky that all these outdoorsy activities were done there and not in Singapore or I would have fainted from the heat. It was very cooling so although it was tiring to walk so much (heard one of the other teams took the buggy!!!!!!), we didn't perspire so it wasn't that bad. Also, we were actually quite calm even though we were the last group cos we were still strolling, at the most maybe brisk walk. We did jog a little, which lasted a mere two minutes, and even had the leisure to take photos of ourselves! While walking I had the sudden realization that I cannot take part in "speed-related" games like Running Man because my running stamina sucks. Haha.

We finally reached the Eco-park, our 2nd destination. Challenge was to swing on the flying-fox and drop golf balls into the hula hoops below. I was there thinking, "I can't even focus on not screaming, how to aim the balls!!!!!" Hahaha. I asked my team mates if it would be embarrassing if I screamed all the way. I told them that I might either drop the balls immediately right when the flying-fox starts swinging me across or forget to throw the balls at all. Lol. But I actually managed to get a ball into the hoop and got points for it! Hurray! Mei Ting and Yong Zhuan both got a ball in too.



What a feat! It doesn't look all that magnificent from the bottom but when you are up on the hill about to swing down, it is really quite high and scary! I was so afraid before I went down but the swing itself was quite fun. Plus, we didn't have the T bar to hold on to like normal flying-fox because of the challenge!

Afterwards we headed down to the Sunrise N Sunset Complex for the next challenge, which was archery and rock climbing.



I actually played archery a few times before but this time none of my arrows hit the target. Sad!



The rock climbing was my first attempt and it is actually so much more difficult than it looks! The instructor taught me about some left-hand-right-leg coordination but I forgot everything the moment I started to climb. I couldn't remember which was the last action I did so I just grabbed whatever was nearer. I was so afraid I would lose grip and fall because I don't want to start over! I didn't have the strength and the "rocks" weren't easy to grab. Midway through, I couldn't find anymore "rocks" within my reach to hold! However, my team's cheering below gave me some motivation and I finally finished the climb all the way to the top! Actually, I need to really thank the person that was pulling onto my rope from behind because I seriously think he was the one who pulled me up. There was no way with my own strength I could get up there. A few times I know I'm only touching a rock and not really exerting energy but I felt myself being pulled up. I forgot his face already but THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND HELP!!! Oh ya I was looking through the photos and I suddenly remembered that the instructor also help to push my feet up when I was stuck! Hahaha. THANK YOU TOO!

It was really fun to experience all these! Sadly, the rain started pouring outside and we couldn't continue with the next challenges and had to take the buggy back to the longhouse already.



The next challenges were supposedly finding some landmarks/items and taking photos, answering questionnaires, and the one I was anticipating - Abseiling! So sad we didn't get to try it after all.



We rested at the longhouse before it was time for BBQ dinner at Ikan Bakar, located near our longhouse too. The fragrance of the BBQ seafood was awesome! Ate so much and we had a funny conversation over dinner too and I learnt some trivial knowledge about some fruits!





After dinner was campfire time! Before that we had a little game which was the Ice Cream race. My first reaction was "What??!! Immediately after dinner?!?!?!" Haha. Each team member had to run to the chair, eat an ice-cream, finish it, then throw the ice cream stick into the box some distance away. Point accumulate for sticks thrown in, if not it means you ate your ice cream for nothing. Every member had to go twice since eight ice creams were required to finish the race.



One out of the two ice creams I ate went in. Yong Zhuan ate 3 icecreams (he substituted one of Mei Ting's turn) and none got into the box haha! I thought we were doing bad but in the end the other teams were equally bad at aiming and throwing too! Phew~ The ice cream was freezing cold!

Afterwards we headed to the campfire. First campfire in my life too. Lots of first-times on this trip! We all wore glowing bangles/necklaces for fun!



So~ There were campfire games as well! First was "pass-the-balloon-dare". When music stops, whoever holding to the balloon will have to burst it and do the dare in the balloon. Points for doing, +20 for the team. Points for not doing, -20 for the team. Of course do lah! 20 points is a lot leh!

So anyway, I had a close shave with the balloon. The person next to me was about to pass it to me already and the music stopped. I was thinking "Phew~~ Heng ah!" Then, guess what was his dare? "Piggyback the person sitting on your left" - ME. I was like, "What has it got to do with me!!!!" But doing it adds 10 points to my team so okay lor. By the way I think I was screaming a lot and that one round felt like 2-3 rounds haha. I was so afraid I would fall lor hahaha. Nevertheless, luckily it wasn't a girl who kena the dare because confirm break bones. And luckily I didn't have to piggyback Nic who was sitting on my left!!!!

After that we played something like "Guess the instigator" and then, a version of "Charades". I have such a bad memory! Mei Ting showed me a sequence of 3 actions and I only remembered the last two. But we had a few rounds of it and it was so funny!

We had light supper after that but I was too full from the BBQ dinner before that so I only ate some beehoon.

Then, surprisingly, most people changed their minds and decided to sleep in tents that night. The tents were moved to under the longhouse probably due to the rain. There were mattresses provided inside the tents so actually it was quite cozy! After the tents were all filled up, the rest slept upstairs. I heard they pull out their mattresses to sleep at the public platform instead and it was so cold. Haha I'm glad me and my mum stayed in the tent! Plus, my first time sleeping in a tent outdoors, so it feels quite interesting and adventurous! I know we kinda cheated by having mattresses, pillows and blankets but still..... it is unconventional okay!



Anyway, I told mum that the place doesn't feel as eerie as I expected it to be, even at night. The washrooms don't feel scary AT ALL. But the insects in there scared me very much. Haha. First time seeing so many different types of moths. Michelle said that she saw one in each primary color, including Red, Blue, Yellow. The insects actually don't fly and disturb you but one fell on my back while I was bathing. Freaked me out so badly that I was paranoid about going to the washroom for the rest of the stay. I think I'm the only one there having such a big fuss about the insects though. Haha. Mei Ting says I was scolding the insects up down left right throughout my shower. Lol. But besides that, the washroom was quite clean lah, not as disgusting as usual public toilets.

The next morning, we woke up and had breakfast at Ikan Bakar again!







Afterwards was Telematch time! The games all so fun one!


This game was quite difficult! After a trial we decided on a strategy which was to place both guys at the front as they will have more strength to lift up the plank but this plan is not very good for me as the last person because they walked such big steps and such a fast speed, I had a hard time catching up and trying not to fall! And now I also realize that I have the shortest legs in the group -_-" That's probably the problem.



This game make us look like gorillas! Hilarious!


And, for the "longest line" game, we all stripped! Lol. No lah, we only took off our jackets to add to the length. But as you can see in the above photos, each group had one brave guy who took off his shirt! Haha.

We won the game as we created the longest line! ^_^

Then, we played this rubber band game, in which we ran 5 rounds around the balloon and then run to the other end to pick up the rubber band using a straw. Twice for each team member. Relatively easy!



So in the end, we were on a draw with Team 4 for the games that morning. We had to do a cheer for the finals and again I was so stressed up because the lyrics that my team made up was so complicated!!!!



So anyway, Team 4 did the best in this segment again! They did Gangnam style and some other good moves!

Prize-giving time. Adding up the total points accumulated throughout the trip, our team won 2nd!! Our prize was a 2D1N stay at Hotel Theme Park at Genting! ^_^


First prize was won by Team 4!


The other two teams:
Team One who won fourth place. They get a prize too~


Team 2 who won 3rd place!


Just realized a cute pattern!
Team 1: 4th place
Team 2: 3rd place
Team 3: 2nd place
Team 4: 1st place

Haha but I'm still quite happy because my team set off last due to the Tangram puzzles but end up at 2nd place! Not bad!

Photos with HuiXian from Churp Churp, Jayne from Nuffnang and Meiting!


Peishi, Yina, Nic, Billy and Me


Group photo!


Then, it was time to pack up and leave the longhouse. Head down to Rajawali Coffee House for lunch buffet again. This time I had a bigger appetite and ate more!




Although the trip was only 2D1N, it certainly felt way longer than that. It was a refreshing break and it was so much fun! The experience was good and I feel that this place is very suitable for company bonding trips/ school camps, etc. The activities and games planned for us are all very fun too. For people who want to experience nature but is not comfortable with being "too-nature", a trip to Awana Longhouse would be great!

Wow this is a long entry! Hope you had fun reading it and hope I have more fun trips in the future too! :)