Ed.Zuchini

Hello Singapore cachers! EVERYONE needs to purchase one of the Singapore Geocoins at www.hogwildstuff.org. After receiving an email from PathSeeker that there was a Singapore Geocoin, surfed over to www.hogwildstuff.org and sure enough there it was. I purchased one of each color, gold, black and silver. Goal of the coins will be to get one to travel to Singapore for PathSeeker to collect for his personal collection, one for matwood my friend who introduced me to geocaching, and one for HToad for sharing the adventure while we were in Singapore at the same time. Thanks PathSeeker for making this happen! Ed-

All... I have extra TB tags I'd be willing to sell. Let me know if you are interested and we can discuss how to get them to you. Ed-

Kumpungboy, Glad to hear that you will be caching soon... it's great fun with the family, but be sure to read the description of the cache and logs of previous cachers who have found the cache before taking kids who are too young. 1. the Garmin eTrex is the cheapest GPS unit I know of and it's great for geocaching. If all you will be using it for is caching the eTrex is your best value for money. 2. the best I have found is.... Perfect Watch & Electronics 1, Rochor Canal Rd #01-36, Sim Lim Sq Singapore 188504 Phone : (65-) 63398638 Fax : (65-) 63397156 They will bargin well and I have come close to U.S. prices.... good luck Ed.

Our home will be in the 'packing' stage on the 17th but if we have it later in the afternoon... like around 4:00 pm or so I'll make it work. Thanks Javamama.... how can I help?? Ed-

Thanks Javamama, that is far too kind. Actually, I'm not much for the 'going away' type get together. I never know what to say and I'd probably end up all teary-eyed <grin>. Let's throw out ideas for an event cache location and then pick the one that works best. I'm around every weekend until we depart late December. We have been traveling the past two weekends so we are settled for awhile now. Thanks again! Ed-

Some AWESOME points made by Javamama, genecola and spa susi. Although I would be happy to participate in activities that promote the 'sport' of geocaching, I don't want to jeopardize the game as it is played today. I would have NEVER found many of the places that geocaching has taken me too had it not been for the caches placed in those areas. It's such a catch-22 in that I'd love to see more interest in the game, more caches to find, but at the same time would that interest actually kill the game. I would agree that I don't want to be fighting a group of school kids (or cub scouts ) in my hunt for a cache. Thanks Javamama for your encouragement on caching in Arizona. I agree, there are many opportunities for some good, well earned and rewarding cache finds. One I did there in June had me almost on top of a group of three young coyotes. I was scared to death... and the bummer is I was on my way in so I didn't even get to log a find for the cache! There are some great caches there, but there is also WAY to many film canisters with a crumpled up log sheet inside. Singapore, for the most part, has give me a chance to really work for the find... when was the last time you did a cache in Singapore in under ten minutes?? I never have, well, maybe one or two but it's not that often. I will miss Singapore immensely. I don't want to leave but that's the way the business world works sometimes. I have had 10 wonderful years in this great country and I am thankful that I was introduced to caching here before I returned to the States. Oh yea, I almost forgot… Javamama, thank you for bringing a jeep into Singapore. I have tried so many times to get my hand on one of those and with yours and PathSeeker’s help I was able to log one. We need to do an Event Cache before the end of the year. Any good ideas of where we could hold such an activity? Ed-

Great info... sounds exciting. I know there have been many sites who have tried to tie their sites with geocaching.com and the people there have had little to no interest. That might prove to be a stumbling block. I do like your game plan and hope to see some of it in action in the near future. Any chance to get something set up before the holidays hit in early November? That would be ideal. If you do, I'll be present to partake in the activities. Check out gpsgames.org for some interesting variations of geocaching. I have tried geodashing and geogolf when there was nothing new to search for. Both were fun, but I still would much rather look for the 'treasure'. I agree with many of your statements. I am very driven by the FTF title. FTF prizes would be well worth the search under whatever condition. I also like your idea to buy some gps units and then rent them out to people wanting to learn about geocaching. If you did this, you would need to be sure it was stationed/available at parks that have great reception, otherwise, someone not understanding fully how the unit works would become frustrated with the lack of signal, etc. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is VERY hard to keep a signal but there are some awesome trails to explore and three caches to be found. As long as those renting the units had the opportunity to truly experience the 'game' in a positive, rewarding way, I'm sure your idea would be successful. The other issue (small but still may be an issue) is the lack of digital compass. I don't know how many times I have let my kids or friends use my GPS and they will stop moving and say, "Oh man, the cache is way back THERE!" I have to again remind them to keep moving in order for the GPS to give an accurate direction. However, GPS units with digital compasses would be very expensive, the DC would add about S$100. to the purchase price, but it would give the user a much better experience. Ed.Zuchini

Thanks Yizhe for the time and interest to further the 'sport' of geocaching. When I started caching in Aug 04 there were a mere 34 caches. Now, minus the 'can't finds' that are still active (even though the caches are gone), there are over 95 or so. Much of this has to do with Nations and PathSeeker and their plug for the 'game'. I would be interested in your idea and would fully support it, BUT, if it's a variation of geocaching, in that we would not be able to log our finds on the geocaching.com website, I would probably stay with what is currently in place. HOWEVER, in order to gain interest of the sport, we must do something similar to what you are attempting to do. Wherever, Nations, PathSeeker and myself have done interviews with different local newspapers but in my opinion those articles have not gained a wide range of success. If we had the support of major national park locations then the sport would be easily advertised and I do believe that the interest would increase. Unfortunately I will be returning back to the States in December, otherwise I would be happy to assist you in your efforts. Geocaching in Singapore puts caching in the States to shame (at least in the state of Arizona). The caches there are nearly all small and placed in ridiculous places. On Sunday my kids and I did Tower View and loved the opportunity to walk in the rain and explore nature in a different way. When we returned to the car, soaked from head to toe, both my kids commented that it was the best cache they had ever done! The rain contributed to that but nonetheless they still had a great time. Good luck in your effort. You may want to expand a bit on what your 'variation' is all about... but it seems like you are really doing your 'homework' and covering all your options to make this a success. My congrats to you! My opinion is if in your efforts there are caches placed that can be logged on geocaching.com, then you will see a higher interest rate than if you try to start something new that only gets us out to a park looking for interesting facts and tidbits of information. For me the trill of the find is what drives me.... and I love to watch my numbers increase. I've been in Singapore for 10 years so I've been to every park multiple times. So to get me to go without the chance of logging a find, I think I would instead look for new caches posted on the geocaching website. I believe that Singaporeans and ex-pats who have been here awhile, would share my thoughts. One last opinion, you mentioned sponsorships and getting free, inexpensive gear from local vendors.... this is mandatory and would increase the interest significantly as long as the activity was marketed/advertised well. People love to get something for free and that would be a big push to get people out, especially if it was a etrex GPS or something similar. Thanks and good luck. Ed.Zuchini