Day 4 (13/9/19) – A day at Mango Garden Resort with teambuilding activity
To make the most of the welcome week, IMRT had arranged a day for sightseeing and teambuilding activities at Mango Garden Resort, Dong Nai Province. Students were assigned to 6 groups and the clock started to tick. The challenge began then, with the first one being the exciting ‘cooking competition’. Each group decided on a different cooking style such as Thai cuisine, Korean food, American recipes and finally, Vietnamese dishes. Whilst some were sticking to the tradition, others were making relatively creative and exotic dishes. Despite the differences, their cooking process has shown elements of successful teamwork which can be observed through the way tasks were allocated to team members. For instance, a pair in the group would be in charge of preparation and another would be responsible for cooking, whereas one member would be garnishing the final dish.
The insanely good knife skills resulting in pretty garnishing have surprised the judges. Who would ever imagine the 21st century youngsters could be such skillful cooks. They have successfully carved vegetables into blooming flowers, and folded spring rolls beautifully into the consistent shape. Each team presented a range of 2 to 4 dishes in total, having the judges tasting all those food which might as well be a full lunch for them. However, the most difficult part was enjoying sweet desserts and not letting them sway your judgments. Therefore, the absolute need to be ‘fair and square’!
Time definitely flies. After a feast that was made with a lot of efforts and love, everyone was ready for the upcoming challenge in the afternoon. The next ‘teambuilding activity’ required IMRTers to declassify a secret letter, putting themselves in the shoes of a detective. All the mystery, classified messages and clues have made the game so thrilling, hence the excitement of pursuing. For those teams that wished to obtain clear hints would have to receive a ‘punishment’, which is believed to strengthen the bond between team members even more.
The impression to this would be ‘difficult’, if not ‘harsh’. However, with complete and undivided attention IMRTers have solved the letter pretty quickly. One team after another came to the judge with the correct answer, this shows how well they can effectively work as a team. To a fresher, this was a great chance to make new friends and fun memories at a completely new environment. Through this trip, IMRT hopes the students have had the opportunity to get to know more about their members, their friends, as well as to apply teambuilding theory into practice – one of the vital skills that can be utilized in the classroom as well as the workforce.
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