A race around a local area with a number of famous or infamous cultural landmarks and curious places to find and discover, each one identified and pinpointed on the map by solving a mysterious and fiendish puzzle. As they explore, teams will get the chance to locate and visit the most exciting, beautiful and interesting locations around the area. They can earn points and win the game by exploring these cultural hotspots and providing the right answer to questions and completing cultural challenges.
- To improve communication within the team
- To practice planning and organisation
- To consider leadership skills
- To focus on team synergy and individual roles
- To get to know each other and have a fun and enjoyable time
- To manage time and complete team challenges together
In the Cultural Discovery event in Malacca, Malaysia, teams travel using public transport or a minivan with a driver. Each team is given a map of Malacca and an instruction sheet filled with a series of cryptic location clues, questions (Local Cultural Riddles) and challenges (Cultural Activity Challenges). The aim of the teams is to solve the clues, find the locations, answer the questions, and complete the challenges to collect points. The team with the highest points at the end of the event de-brief is awarded a prize.
Two types of challenges are included: ‘Cultural Riddles’ and ‘Cultural Activities’.
Cultural Riddles: These are questions related to culturally interesting locations in Malacca, and teams must answer these to earn points.
Cultural Activities: These are experiences unique to the local culture. These are instructed by professionals and must be completed for teams to earn points. For instance, teams might take part in traditional Malaysian martial arts or traditional dance.
Clues lead to locations on the map that teams must visit, and questions and challenges must be completed at each location. Every team is given the same set of clues, questions, and challenges, and it is up to each team to solve and complete them.
Should you prefer to avoid teams waiting for another team to finish a challenge, we offer different routes for all teams as an add-on option.
An example challenge might read as follows:
Malaysian Dancing – ‘Joget’
“Every member of your team must partake in a quick challenge by attending a Malaysian dance class for roughly 10 minutes before performing your own routine at the Theatre. Your facilitator will give you your next route envelope when your Malaysian dance instructor has approved your performance.”
Cultural Activities List:
- Silat Martial Arts – Teams will be taught traditional Silat moves. They will practice and then select one team member to spar with the Silat master!
- Malaysian Music Playing – Teams will watch a traditional Malaysian song performed by professionals and then learn to play the local instruments and replicate the song.
- Pottery Making – Teams make their own pottery by learning and copying the techniques from a master potter.
- Batik Weaving – Teams will be shown how to weave using Batik, a traditional Malaysian cloth, to create their own handicraft.
- Pewter Crafting – In this activity, teams will learn the steps and techniques of traditional pewter crafting from extracting raw materials to shaping and polishing.
- Malaysian Puppetry (Wayang Kulit) – Teams will watch professional puppeteers perform a show, then learn the basics of this art and stage their own performance.
- Joget Dancing – Teams must watch and then recreate a dance routine performed by local dancers.
- Nonya Beading – Teams will learn basic beading techniques to create their own Peranakan beadwork design.
- Palm Sugar Making – Teams learn how to extract and process palm sugar, a traditional ingredient in Malaysian cuisine.
- Flower Garland Making – Teams learn how to thread a traditional Malaysian flower garland and then must make a garland to hang around the neck of each team member.
- Heritage Hunt – Teams visit a well-known heritage site. Their task is to search the location and answer multiple questions about this site.
- Malaysian Street Food Hunt – Teams receive a list of local snacks and drinks they need to buy and consume at a local street market.
- Fruit Juice Making – Teams need to find specific local fruits and prepare them into a juice following a recipe.
- Nasi Lemak Making – Teams watch how traditional Nasi Lemak – Malaysian coconut milk rice is made, then recreate the dish for tasting and judging.
- Sepak Takraw – Teams learn the popular Malaysian sport, which involves keeping a rattan ball in the air. They’re then challenged to keep it high for a period of time or number of kicks.
- Kite Flying – Teams learn to make a traditional Malaysian kite, or ‘Wau’, and must then make their own kite fly for 1 minute.
- Batik Painting – Teams learn how to paint using the traditional Batik method and create their own Batik art.
- Nyonya Kuih Making – Teams are tasked to observe and then recreate traditional Nyonya kuih, a type of Malaysian dessert.
- T-Shirt Painting – Teams are given T-shirts and paint and must create a design related to the location or a theme.
The cultural discovery locations often change depending on the duration of the event, but often include temples, waterfalls and sites of local myth and legend.
The locations for the event are pre-selected, however teams must design their own route.
Teams can earn points by finding the locations, answering the questions correctly and completing the challenges successfully as well as bonus points for budget returned, time back and photo tasks if any. Scoring is done during the event debrief and the team with the most points is the winner.
Insurance and instructor supervision at all times is an important safety factor, and in the event of an emergency of team member withdrawal, transport and medical backup will be standing by.
The event briefing takes place at the starting point of the race, usually in a meeting room or lobby of the client’s hotel or a restaurant. The group is separated into teams and introduced to their facilitators, then the lead facilitator gives an introduction of the event including (safety) instructions and objectives for the activity.
During the debrief, the facilitator discusses the event challenges and asks each team questions to assess their performance before announcing the winning team (if applicable).
Briefing and debrief usually take around 15 minutes each but can be extended for more in-depth analysis of team performance.
The half day program is up to 4 hours and includes up to 6 locations and the full day up 8 hours and includes up to 10 locations.
Market Barter – Thai Shopping game
Lunch or dinner in a local restaurant
T-shirts with your logo
Banners / Flags / Caps Gifts for all participants
Photographer or Videographer
Conference room rental and AV set up
09.00 am – Event brief by lead facilitator
09.15 am – Teams start to unravel the clues to find the locations, plan their route and travel to the first location
Teams have 2.5+ hours to visit as many clue locations as possible, answers as many questions, complete as many challenges and aim to acquire as many points as possible for their team.
12.00 pm – Teams must head to the finish
12.30 pm – Event de-brief, awarding ceremony and group photo
01.00 pm – End of the program
Max People
Hours
Challenges
People per Team
Below are three options for the Cultural Discovery with different inclusions and rates all tailored to best match your budget and requirements. The Bronze option is a fixed program with few inclusions but the Silver and Gold packages include extra benefits and allow selection of some or all challenges. On the pricing page we offer further optional extras. The full day activity will have up to double the number of challenges.
All options include
One Western lead event facilitator
Ice-breaking activities
One bottle of water per person, first aid kits, rain coats
BRONZE
5 Cultural Riddles
One facilitator per 40 pax
*By foot and no facilitators with teams
SILVER
3 Cultural Riddles
2 Cultural Activities
One facilitator per 10 pax
Bronze inclusions+
+Market Barter challenge
+Transportation or budget for transport
+Prizes for winning team (local handicraft or medals)
+Free photos taken by facilitator
+Pre-event meeting
GOLD
2 Cultural Riddles
3 Cultural Activities
One facilitator per 10 pax
Silver inclusions+
+Trophy for winning team
+Team flags to keep
+Colored headbands to use
