Last 14 April 2007, Acer Philippines took its friends from the media out and far away from their respective daily grinds for a little fun under the hot summer sun. But if you had sand, sea, and Speedos on your mind, dear reader, better think again.

 

It was nothing but a regular summer Saturday made special. Majority of the media participants and Acer personnel assembled at the EDSA Central Pavilion Mall area as early as 8am and boarded a bus headed for Tanay, Rizal. About a couple of hours and several Nacho Libre and Jackass Number Two clips later, we were there...

We went to Camp Capinpin and all we got were these lousy t-shirts...

The venue was the military facility known as Camp Capinpin and no, the t-shirts were not all we got from going there. As a matter of fact, all of the event attendees and participants were treated to a (rather unexpected) brief yet enlightening discussion from our Armed Forces brothers focusing on the national security situation--particularly, the Communist agenda and why everyone must do his part to make sure that this does not prevail. But of course, this was an aside to what certainly turned out to be an exciting, eventful afternoon.

After the symposium, the restless participants were finally oriented regarding the Army Challenge itself. They were then grouped into five randomly-assigned teams, named after Acer's computer product lines: Ferrari Red, Power Green, Aspire Blue, Veriton Orange, and TravelMate Yellow. Each team had ten members and were assigned two guides each to accompany them throughout the course of the Challenge.

 
Team HWM Philippines was later split up and had to "reprazent" in these separate teams. 

Ready, set, go! 

The teams proceeded to the Camp's Tent City area, where the inaugural Acer Army Challenge was officially kicked off. At the 'Go' signal, each team leader activated his team's clock. Each team had to complete a total of six events and the team to do so with the best time would be proclaimed champs.

Here are the events that the teams had to endure/enjoy (in varying orders per team, by the way): 

• Wall-climbing. Only five team members were required to engage in this one, four males and one female. The males were the first to go and only needed to tap the top of the wall, while the female was required to grab the flag at the top in order to mark the completion of the event. 
  

 

• Obstacle course. This course didn't have the usual hop-over-the-tires-then-go-sack-race type of obstacles. This was a lengthy strip of physical tests designed to, well, test the participants' strength, endurance, speed, and most of all, teamwork.

     

• Rappelling. More heights! Just a plain and simple rappel event, although of course, those who are new to it (or have trouble with high places) might not agree to calling it "plain and simple." Six team members to complete this one; four males and two females.

 

• Centipede Walk/March. In this event, five team members had to walk a certain distance on a pair of wooden planks. It may sound simple, but it was really quite tough and tiring. Team coordination was one thing, but at the same time there was also the strain on the legs.

• Target Shooting (pistol). Pardon my ignorance regarding this particular type of hardware. I do believe we used a .45 for this event, with each team needing to knock down 5 targets from about 10 meters away. Each team member were given a chance to shoot. That is, until all targets were knocked down or until the team runs out of ammo.

 

• Target Shooting (rifle). Here, the teams used an M16 rifle to knock down 4 targets from a 50 meter distance. Like the other target shooting event, each player was given a crack at firing the rifle until the event requirements were completed.

 

Oh, by the way, the events were located at separate venues scattered across the Camp, so even going from one event to the next had everyone gasping for breath and grabbing for a bottle of water.

After the dust has settled... 

After each team crossed the line, the event organizes made things a little more interesting by saving the official announcement of winners until dinner. After a quick cleanup, the participants hop back aboard their buses and headed for Cloud Nine Restaurant in Antipolo City for some well-deserved chow, drinks, and a little bit of karaoke, too. But before I forget, here are the official results:

• Fifth Place - Acer Aspire Blue 
• Fourth Place - Acer Veriton Orange
• Third Place - Acer TravelMate Yellow
• Second Place - Acer Ferrari Red
• GRAND CHAMPS! - Acer Power Green