Day 8: Relaxation and Recreation at Mango Garden

On the second day of R&R, we were brought to a coffee-shop near our hotel for some traditional Vietnamese breakfast! For the first time during our trip, we were able to choose what we could eat, and that of course was exciting for us. On the menu was a variety of noodles, such as chicken noodles, traditional Vietnamese pho and dry meat noodles amongst others. It was also here that we got a first taste of the famed, super-strong Vietnamese coffee! The coffee truly lived up to its name, and perked us all up for what is to come next.

Finishing up the sumptuous breakfast of noodles.

The small eatery was located right next to the tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City!

Everyone getting into a cam-whoring mood this morning!

After breakfast, we then boarded our buses for our next destination -- Mango Garden! This is one of the highlights of the trip as the garden is famed for its fun, family-friendly activities such as ostrich-riding and grass sliding. We were all set and ready for some fun today!

CGL Felicia getting her hyped-up group to assemble properly after alighting from the bus.

Everyone was all smiles as we walked along the beautiful nature that is Mango Garden

Eelin and Aishah chilling on one of the many hammocks scattered around the shelter.

However, before we ride any ostriches or slide down any grass, the V team had planned an entire morning of games just for us! It was an amazing race styled game, where all 4 teams had to complete missions and solve puzzles to score points.

Instructions were being given out before the commencement of the Amazing Race.

Before we could find our first station, we were given a puzzle to solve (different groups had different puzzles) that would lead us to where our station was located. Armed with a map of the park, our pens and our thinking caps, each group then left one by one to their allocated stations, kicking off the amazing race!

As with the actual amazing race TV series, we had to complete certain games, to receive clues to our next station. Apart from that, we had to collect clues that would pin-point a mystery girl from the V team that we would have to find as part of the final mission. This definitely served as a motivation for all of us to accomplish our tasks as quickly as possible! Each station was meticulously planned, from the usual spider-web team challenge (where each team member had to be transported across the web without touching the web!) to missions such as twerking or finding random strangers to take a photo with. Every detail was not forgotten, including little bells that were hooked onto the spiderweb, that would jangle loudly every time the web was touched, making the game all the harder.

Wolverine's accomplished faces after they completed the tedious spider-web station.

One of the missions, requiring the entire group to sit on the smallest chair possible! (Look as Sherman's constipated expression as he tried to hold up the entire Hulk)

 

Finding a doppelganger in a stranger as part of the missions. Don't they look quite alike?

We were all especially impressed with the level of difficulty and intelligence the puzzles had. From number codes, to train-track codes, they were all difficult to solve, and really provided us with a good challenge. An easier option was available for us, whereby the EVG facilitator for the group would reveal a hint, but at the expense of some points. Of course, COR never takes the easy way out (unless necessary!) and all of us refused to budge and spent ages solving the mystery clues.

Really racking our brains for answers to each puzzle set by the EVG girls.

In the end, the fight over who found the mystery V team member fell to Captain America and Wolverine. Poor Thuy, the mystery girl, who was caught up in the middle of the fight! Only 1 victor can be crowned, however, and Wolverine merged victorious in this literally fierce battle! Spiderman and Hulk, on the other hand, decided to simply watch the fight while eating ice-cream by the side.

Fortunately for us, just as the amazing race came to an end, the heavens finally gave way to a heavy downpour. We all immediately dove for the restaurant in Mango Garden for our lunch break.

Enjoying a lunch of Vietnamese-steamed chicken and hotpot!

Unfortunately for us, however, the rain showed no signs of letting up after lunch, and a quick weather forecast check confirmed that the rain would continue pouring well into the evening. As a result, ostrich riding and grass sliding were cancelled :(. All of us were, of course, devasted as we had been looking forward to these activities all trip long! (Although some of us heaved a sigh of relief, as we thought ostrich riding was rather cruel) We had to head back to our hotel for a break before dinner.

For dinner, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in a relatively "atas" (high-class) looking food establishment with an entire room all to ourselves! We were also given the freedom to order our own food and drinks (non-alcoholic of course), and we all went crazy, ordering our own main dish, as well as some side dishes such as Vietnamese spring rolls to share. The vibe was lively, and it felt as if we were at a friendly dinner party at the diner.

Everyone was in an upbeat mood despite the downpour earlier today

The atmosphere tonight was buzzing and lively, with smiles all around.

Afterwhich, we headed to Beverly cafe, which the V team had booked its entirety for us, for our yearly tradition of Appreciation Night together. We gathered in the second-floor of the cafe, where all the tables and chairs were cleared just for us. It was a tight squeeze, but it was cosy and added to the vibe of the night.

Here, our days of practice (in the hotel rooms the day before, in the village, and even before the trip started!) were finally going to be put to good use. The first performance of the night was by the CGLS, Felicia, Bryan, Jiemin and Cassandra, who acted as their respective superheroes for the skit's leading actors. Together, they had to defeat Pubs the Evil Clown (Sadrina) and her evil, optical-dancing monster (consisting of Yin King, Kai Leun, Dickson, Shareen, Shimei and Cadance).

The super scary Optical Illusion monster!!

Afterwhich, a heart-warming song signing was put up by the rest of the COR members and led by Yining, of the song "Lean on Me" as sung by the Glee cast. This song symbolises the friendships we have made (COR, HIs, and the EVG team), and the message was that we should all stay friends, and help one another despite the trip already ending.

The Deaf then put up a surprise skit for us as well, as part of their appreciation performance. It was a comical skit, which started off with the birth of our 4 superheroes, from Mama Celissa, and ended off with the defeat of the evil doctors and nurses, and their evil friends who helped birth the 4 heroes. The Deaf actors were truly good in what they do, and put up a convincing act that often left those of us in the audience bursting our sides with laughter! One segment even involved Peiyu and Steph getting surprise sprayed with water bottles, HAHAHA!

Dr Weiling and her 3 nurses helping in the surgery room

Afterwhich, just when the EVG team thought that the night's performances had ended, the entire COR surprised them with a song signing of "You Raise Me Up" by Westlife. I'm not sure if it was the surprise performance, or that when the song suddenly stopped playing but all of us continued singing and signing, that caused the V team members and even COR members to tear up (Tham started the cry-fest). The reality that the trip was coming to an end suddenly hit us and all of us were feeling rather emotional. The night ended with a gift presentation of our local snacks to the Vietnamese girls as a token of appreciation, and several touching Thank You speeches by some of us.

Preparing to surround the V team in a circle for the emotional singing of "You Raise Me Up"

Emotional hugs all around, as Thank Yous were said, and gifts exchanged.

The night ended in an anti-climax, as the cafe had to close and we had to pack up and leave for our hotel.