Rikki’s and Balls’ Day out in L.A. Chinatown

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Today, we participated in the first (we think?) #ChinatownChampions Scavenger Hunt, sponsored by the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce.  Top prize:  Free airline tickets to anywhere in the USA

On Delta

It was a pretty good time!  We had no idea what to expect as this was the first time we had done something like this.  I’d put on a small scavenger hunt for my birthday which Rikki and his wife won, but this was much more complex and competitive.  We were told to meet at the roof of a Chinatown parking structure at 9 AM where and when we would be given our instructions and task list.  The Scavenger Hunt consisted of us solving clues to identify places to go.  Once there, we were either to take pictures of the place or participate in an activity, record it, and post on Instagram.

In order to solve clues, we were allowed to use smartphones and we were also given a handy Chinatown walking guide which we probably should have perused more in depth.

Highlights/Lowlights included:

Me being blindfolded and fed some mysterious substance by Rikki (the top image).  Luckily, it tasted like banana.  (/dick joke)

Cartwheels!

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A complete lack of musical talent!

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Us passing by that damn piano three times because we couldn’t figure out the clue that said “Across golden waters by Far East shores, Record a melody, ‘Play me, I’m Yours’”.  Turns out the piano was in the Far East Plaza (that part we were able to figure out), across the way from a store with a Chinese name which, when translated into English, means Golden Waters.  No way in hell would we have figured that one out if we hadn’t, on the fourth pass, spotted the piano with a sign on it saying “#Play Me”.

Eating chicken feet and using the bones to make a smiley face.  Then, not having our picture count because we forgot to put our faces in the picture.

Us completely messing up the clue “larger than large, shines bright at night, find the star, choose left or right” and somehow thinking Sofia Vergara was a star:

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Don’t get me wrong, I’m making it seem like we were complete idiots out there, but we actually did a pretty good job!  We wasted minimal time and effort and planned our route fairly well.  In the end, we ended up tied for 4th place.   The winning group of 2, who were the only ones to complete all tasks, got a pair of plane tickets.  Then, to our surprise, they announced that they had another pair and that it would be raffled off between the next top ten finishers.  On the raffle, we were only two away from the winning ticket.

The topper to the day was our discovery of a cool little dive bar, the Melody Lounge, where we enjoyed some tasty craft beers with a cool bartender, a friend of Rikki’s, and some locals while it rained outside.

All in all, a great day!   Thanks, Rikki, for putting this in motion!  Next time, we’re winning this thing!