THE BIG XCAPE! (Jun)

Chilly night, kitties unite

Trapped together, no matter

Mystery profound, clues abound

Puzzles aced, Rooms Xcape-d!

Freedom is a right but it is also sometimes a luxury. No wonder the idea of being trapped and working hard to find a way out seems to intrigue people of various backgrounds.

With that intrigue in play, we, a bunch of kitties (18 altogether) decided to challenge our brain prowess by choosing to and paying to be locked in three rooms to solve themed mysteries in 60 minutes at Xcape Melbourne in Brunswick.

All of us arrived enthusiastically for the evening session at 6pm last Sunday, 24th June 2018, to take our draws and be grouped into teams/rooms. Team Haunted Prison was the first to go followed by Teams Jurassic Lab and Mausoleum Madness.

As the sky darkened into the night, the enigma heightened but our excitement grew proportionally. We put our heads together to strategise and piece together clues in the respective rooms to escape. There was a combination of conventional and high-tech paraphernalia in each room. The key skills were looking at everything and anything, and of course communication between team members. Utilising all our senses was crucial in decoding the messages. Some of us had a fear of darkness and spookiness but managed to overcome it. Those who could see the larger picture of the puzzles were no doubt a big help in each team.

Once the puzzles were completed and locks opened, ALL three teams emerged victorious in plotting our escape into freedom. High-fives were shared and smirks exchanged😎.

Team Mausoleum Madness was the last to enter but the first to escape, closely followed by Team Haunted Prison and finally Team Jurassic Lab.

After having our brain juices squeezed into every puzzle and riddle, our tummies started protesting just past 7pm. Having pre-booked a table for dinner at Tiba’s on Lygon Street, all of us promptly made our way there by carpooling.

The food spread at Tiba’s was mouth-watering. They definitely serve one of the best Lebanese food in Melbourne with humungous portions. Half of us ordered the banquet to share and we had heaps of leftover for takeaway.

A yoghurt drink ordered by one of us definitely left some with scrunched-up faces but conversations flowed effortlessly with new and old faces. 

Soon after dinner, a few kitties had a relentless craving for gelato and headed to a gelato shop nearby.

All in all, it was an exhilaratingly pleasant Xcape night. Regardless of our different levels of experience in escape rooms, we would all do it again in a heartbeat and half a heartbeat with vouchers 😉.

A special thanks goes to IT for organising this event with Scoopon vouchers and planning it so smoothly. And a hearty thank you to everyone who participated that made the night thoroughly enjoyable 😃.

Till the next time, next event and next paths crossed, looking forward to enjoying everyone’s company again!

-LE