Teambuilding to Kukup - 21 Jul

Wanted to update on this for the longest time, but as i didn't bring my camera on the trip, had to wait till the photos come in from various sources before i can post them.

Our dept chartered a mini bus to Kukup for our day trip, sad to say this was our only group picture for the day:

First stop after passing the customs was breakfast at a local coffeeshop followed by buying local pastries next door. Its the exact same coffeeshop and exact same pastry shop as my trip on 30 June (if you read my earlier post).

Along the way, we passed by a chocolate boutique which was opening that very day. This wasn't part of our itinerary, but the guide said we could drop by anyway. All of us were excited to check the chocolates out. We were actually the first tour bus that arrived there where we were given "Number 1" stickers and welcome drink and treated like VIPs upon arrival. The decor of the place was pretty high standard. However, none of us bought any of the chocolates as the price and the quality just doesn't quite suit our preference. We felt bad that the whole troupe of us went in to taste the chocolates, used the washrooms, drank the welcome chocolate drink and left with no purchases. Still, the memory of bring the first visitors made us feel privileged. No pictures taken there though - *too embarrased*

Next stop was the batik centre where we saw the making of the batik as well as a musical performance using traditional instruments - again! can you believe it, the exact same place as the one i went on 30th June.

Subsequently, we went to the Pewter Factory.

The likes of "Royal Selagnor" kind of products,

but just that no brand names were cited. *LOL*

Finally, a place different from my itinerary during the last trip made.

Thereafter was our hour long bus ride to Kukup Fishing Village. Along the way we played games and got to know one another better, which was especially helpful with quite a few new additions to the dept over recent mths.

Upon arrival, the weather unfortunately disappointed us. It rained pretty heavily. We decided to have our Seafood lunch first. Here's a picture of the Communications Team with our temp staff. Incidentally, this teambuilding trip was also a time of farewell for our temp as she is going back to her studies.

All the best, Mei Feng! She is someone i hired. I've seen her grown from a forgetful, blur girl to one who is able to multi-task, and is fast and proactive in completing her tasks.

After lunch, the rained cleared, we were waiting to go on our boat ride to the kelong.

On the boat, on the way to the kelong.

Well, the last time i went to Kukup was way back when i was in Secondary School. My greatest fear came true when i realise history had repeated itself. I had to walk on those thin wooden planks that are placed over the water and which bends and feels unstable. Not good at all for someone who is phobic of height and water. Totally embarssing for a tall and big-sized lady like me screaming away in fear. Thank God for caring colleagues like Eileen and Wen Shan who took turns to guide me through the scary paths. I promise, this will be the last time i visit a Kelong!

We saw quite a few species of fishes and sea creatures. An unusual one was the spitting fish, that spits out "fountains" of water every few seconds. Check out this huge jellyfish:

Thereafter, we went on to the fruit farm. The timing wasn't right. We missed the durians this time. Also, it was raining quite a bit, so we only got to be introduced to some local fruits and plants. There was this fruit where the plant can double up as a bath lily! But too bad - no picture and i can't remember the name. Some nice pics taken here though....

We didn't know the 2 men were posing behind us at the point of the photo taking:

Finally, we were brought to Jusco at Tebrau City, the last stop before our dinner for some light shopping. It was a change from being away from the city all day. Nonetheless, I had nothing much to shop for as I had been there quite a few times recently. I'm just glad i managed to buy some double chocolate donuts from Dunkin Donuts, one of my favourite outlets since childhood days that is now no longer available in Singapore. Much as how I agree there are many other nicer donuts in the market today, I'm just glad i managed to buy some of my childhood favourite donuts after a day of "very different travelling".

Well, the day ended with a sumptuous seafood dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. Much as we dread going back to work after a packed weekend thereafter, I believe we have all benefitted some way or another from this trip, having known one another in a deeper way :)