Singapore's V stands for Vision challenged activity @ dialogue in the dark

Been wanting to check out Dialogue in the Dark (DiD) since mx introduced it to me a few months back... and finally got to it yesterday with the rss pals... =)

It's located at Block 5 of Ngee Ann Polytechnic....

just turn right into the first carpark from the main entrance and you will be able to see this red space of DiD

after paying $20 each for the tour and depositing our bags into the free lockers, we played two pre-activity games;

Game No. 1 - drawing by instructions

those without blindfold would describe the picture provided in terms of shapes and lines while the one in blindfold would draw based on what was conveyed

quite good seh

what happened here????? wahahahahaha

Game No. 2 - Pick the safety pins

Team Chunyang + Ailing VS Team Yuan + Tony

round 1 - gals were blindfolded and had to separate 6 safety pins from a container of rice with the instructions from the boys .....

the guys were complaining non-stop why the gals could not differentiate the difference between the safety pin and the rice which looked so different from each other...until they had a go themselves...it was really not easy....

without the use of sight, rice and safety pins really feel the same de....

luv this activity.... simple enough to bring back to the classroom as a tuning in activity to teach kiddos about the blind and the importance of taking good care of their eyes....

then it was our turn in the dark room.... after a short briefing, we were given a white cane each before being led into a super dark room where blindfold was not even needed to make us feel blind. i couldnt even see ailing at all even though she was just standing right in front of me, barely 30cm away from my nose!!!!

with Wesley, our friendly 48 year old visually impaired tour guide who had a very nice voice, comparable to a young DJ's voice.... very clear, approachable and warm.... =)

He led us through a park filled with birds chirping. Felt grass, sand and gravels under our shoes and cane.

A market place where i 'ransacked' a stall 'selling' ginger, onion and garlic... i had to smell the items one by one to recognise what they were.....

Then, we crossed a busy road at a traffic light, 'molested' a car and a bicycle left right up and down... =P

Went on a boat ride and felt the wind and splatter of water on our faces....

Touched the boots of sir stamford raffles resting on a high pedestal ... i had to tiptoe to touch it....

and bought drinks from a cafe....

tony bought ice-cream and fed yuan in the dark!!!!

All of us enjoyed the session and i will be checking out lunch in the dark next.... =)

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*I used to be those who will only offer my help to a visually impaired person when i saw that no one else was offering assistance or when help was obviously needed.... though i very much wanted to offer my help at the first instance, i was always too shy and too scared to draw attention to myself in front of strangers....

it's really not easy to get around without the use of sight so I shall try to put aside my shyness and paisehness and offer my help readily when i see a visually impaired person the next time...

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other posts in the Singapore's A to Z blog challenge series:

A stands for Art garden 2013

B stands for Botanic gardens

C stands for Chinatown heritage centre

D stands for bloodbank @ Dhoby ghaut

E stands for Esplanade

F stands for Fire station

G stands for Garden festival 2014