We were almost the last team to leave Tampin. After lunch, we were to head towards Johol where Q13 to Q16 were to be answered. I didn't know that there's a place with such similar name with the state where i come from.
We didn't spend too much time at Johol, as most of the answers were easily found. On our way to the next destination, we saw many cars going in the opposite direction. We were kinda worried that we were heading the wrong way but it turned out that it was the correct route. Those teams had actually completed the next series of questions and were heading towards the subsequent destination. We were actually rather far behind the other teams.
The next stop was the famous Kuala Pilah, where the next 8 clues were to be solved here. If it weren't for this treasure hunt, i probably wouldn't have known that we have an old town with such great historical value. The questions brought us to the Temple of Three Saints (三圣宫, "san sheng gong") where antiques from the Qing Dynasty were kept, and made known to us that the father of modern China, Dr Sun Yat-Sen had once set foot in this town.
After Q24, we were to submit the first answer sheet at the checkpoint. Then we were to go to Rembau for Q25 to Q27. This town is the only place in Malaysia that is still with a very strong Minangkabaus culture, where the matrilineal system (known as adat perpatih in Malay) is still widely practised.
The map then brought us to Rantau, where the next six questions are to be answered. It had been drizzling and by the time we reached Rantau, it started to rain rather heavily. So unlike some other teams, we didn't get off the car but just drove along the streets several times to search for the answers.
By then, it was already 4pm+ and we still have 12 more questions to go. The deadline was at 5pm, and a penalty of 5 marks would be imposed for every 10 minutes exceeding the deadline. At that point of time, we were sure that we were gonna be late, and all we hoped was that the organizer was gonna grant everyone a grace period in view of the bad weather.
Labels: travel
