#TSBreakAway - Are You Afraid of the Dark?

"Follow my voice. Follow my voice."

The voice - a female - in front of me repeated the phrase like a mantra. My left hand guided the long cane left and right, clearing a path ahead while my right hand reaching out blindly for something to grab. There were voices everywhere, the same phrase being uttered by different persons but I drowned those noises out. Like the sailors drawn towards the sweet serenade of the mermaids, I too was mesmerized by mine, entrusting my safety to her lullabies. In pitch black darkness, her tender voice was my sense of direction.

This is not a scene from the American reality TV series, Total Blackout, but rather a workshop in #TSBreakAway called Dialogue in the Dark. Both programs thrive on its participants being surrounded in total darkness and having their wits tested. However, the similarities end here for there is more to Dialogue in the Dark than just a fear factor challenge.

Siti - that's the lady with the golden voice - led me and Roul to a spot and told us to stand still. How could she tell here from there in this darkness was beyond my imagination. While we were left to our own devices, we heard more and more peoples coming in, two by two at a time. Voices were getting louder and space crowded, yet I felt no one by my side except for Roul.

Once all of us had entered the blackout hall, the adventures began. We were divided into three groups based on the flavours of candies we were given earlier. Shouts of "durian", "mint"  and "coffee" echoed throughout the room like the vendors in pasar malam bellowing out loud to draw the customers' attentions. It took more than 5 minutes for this chaotic scene to come to an end, with everyone in their rightful group. I am proud to say that Durian came out first in getting all its members in one table.

A series of activities were given to us that test our remaining five senses; touch, smell, taste, hear, and sense of humor. We performed it all in good sport, neither overly competitive nor with 'whatever!' attitude. Peals of laughter resonated in the dark room, not terrified shrieks or screams commonly associated with such scenarios. Somehow, we felt safe in the hands of these teammates of ours, all of us strangers to each other 24 hours ago.

At the end of the program, lights turned back on and we can finally match the faces to the voices. Team Durian's facilitator, Siti, was just as lovely as her voice has indicated. She shared her story of how she overcame her blindness, never letting it becoming a hindrance to achieving what she wants with her life. In fact, just like Siti, the remaining four facilitators are visually impaired peoples, yet, they see life clearer than some of us born with the gift of eyesight.

They say that if you lose one sense, your other senses will become stronger, sharper. How true is that myth, I have no idea. But coming out from the workshop, I gained a new perspective of life. Often we take God's givens for granted, acting as if they are our rights, not privileges, not knowing it is the other way around. During the early stage of the workshop, one of the facilitators asked us, "What darkness means to you". For me, darkness tells me to be appreciative of my sights.

Nothing but kind words for Dialogue in the Dark

Dialogue in the Dark is one of the workshops for #TSBreakAway, a pilot program initiated by Tourism Selangor.

I Want to Go to Bali With Travelar.com (Travelar Bloggers Contest)

The folks from Nuffnang, Travelar.com and DiGi are organizing a contest, giving away 5 awesome travel prizes to the lucky winners and needless to say, I want to try my luck scoring those amazing holidays which includes Yangon and Bali! Hence, this is my pictorial answer to why I want to go to Bali with Travelar.com.

What Does Traveling Mean to you

This is a write-up for the #TSBreakaway contest organized by Tourism Selangor.

I have no idea since when I become a travel-holic. Like any addiction, your memory can be a bit hazy when it comes to finding the trigger point. My first taste of overseas vacation was in March 2011. It was nothing but a quick escape into the neighboring Thai city with a typical urban landscape. Yet, somehow, I came back all charmed and swore of doing more traveling once I graduated. Since then, I have been jet-setting once every few months over the years.

However, my insatiable wanderlust can be traced back to my nomadic childhood. Growing up, my family often move from one small town to another due to my father's work requirements. Before we can call the rented house we stayed in our home, we had to uproot ourselves to a new surrounding and the whole process of assimilation began again. Throughout these fundamental years, our weekends were filled with road trips back hometown and every now and then, family vacations to either Genting Highland or Kuala Lumpur. We found nothing unusual about it.

These family trips are something our whole family often look forward to as we can break away from the dry routines of our lives. We kids were gratefully happy to escape schools and home works while my mother smiled gleefully over weekends of chores-free. My father would be grudging out loud about the money spent but delighted in his heart. Quality times are spent among each other as we eat, sleep, explore, and basically doing everything, together.  

As I grow older, I begin to venture out on my own. My first solo trip was to Vietnam back in 2012 and I remembered feeling scared as hell. Why didn't I ask my friends to go with me? What if I come across thieves and robbers while on the road? Should I do this or perhaps, that? All sort of questions were in my mind, all begging to be answered.

However, as the initial shock wore off, I began to enjoy myself, opened up to sights and sounds the country has to offer, talked to the locals as well as fellow travelers. At the end of the trip, I came out feeling liberated, no longer confined by the fear of the unknown. Don't get me wrong. I am still afraid whenever I set my feet on a new place, but fear has lost its grip in dictating my life.

When I am traveling, I often see a different me. I am more easy-going, less prejudice and more open-minded. I am guided by my interests every times I travel which often revolves around heritages and historical monuments. My love of cultures, civilizations and arts comes as a shock even to myself as I often thought myself as a man of science. I guess traveling has unveiled my true self.

There is nothing quite like traveling. A simple exploration can bring you new friends and broaden your mind and knowledge, changing the way we see the world. Such liberation is a gift, one that can easily obtain with just a step out of your cocoon, and that is what traveling means to me.

Friday's Newsflash - KL Fabulous Food Hunt 2013

After last year's successful run, the KL Fabulous Food Hunt 2013 is back for round three. Organized by the New Straits Times, the Tourism and Culture Ministry's KL-Putrajaya Office and Red Adventure, the event will be held on 26 October 2013.

Participants, in a team of four, will be racing against time and waistlines as they try to eat their ways towards the finish line. They will be running around KL, either on foot or by public transports, hunting for famous Malaysian dishes such as char kuey teaw, roti canai, nasi lemak, et cetera. While food will be the centre stage of the competition, there will be other non-food related tasks for the participants to accomplish, if anything to go by based on last year's race.

This competition is open to both locals and foreigners above the age of 18 with an entrance fee of RM 200 per team. There are prizes to be won, with cash totaling up to RM 18,000 as well as holiday packages in lucky draw. If you are interested, hurry up and sign up for only the first 150 teams will be accepted to take part. For more information, visit http://www.nst.co.my/ffh or call Red Adventure at 012-3551662.

I find this contest a good way to introduce our delicious food to the general public as well as tourists. If all thing goes well, you might even see me there with my team, fighting our ways to win the competition.

Friday's Newsflash - Win A Trip to Sabah Worth RM 4,000

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today is the last Friday for the year and to end the Friday’s Newsflash series for 2012, here's a good news for those of you wanting to win a free trip.

Sabah Tourism Board, in collaboration with Time Out KL, is having a contest where 2 lucky winners will receive all expenses paid trip to Sabah. All you have to do is just to answer 2 simple questions and name the attractions of Sabah in the pictures. Clues and hints are given to make it so much easier.

To join the contest, click on this Time Out KL link. The closing date for the contest is 31 January 2013. For more information regarding Sabah (or to find out the names of the places in the pictures), you can go to the official website of Sabah Tourism Board.

See you in 2013!

Penang - Penang Bridge International Marathon

I was ready, all set for the race. My lethargy seemed to disappear after I gulped down a can of Redbull. I guessed I should have taken a few of these instead of going into the cinema, trying to get some sleep.

It was around 2.45 am and the street was crowded with runners getting ready for the half marathon. Some were doing last minute stretching. Some were in trance state, prepping their minds for the race. Some were chatting away while waiting for the launch. Me? I was just psyched to get started.

At precisely 3.00 am, the run began. 21 km is no doubt a daunting task and trying to finish the race within the 3 hours 30 minutes time limit can be quite strenuous for first time runners. I myself was a first time runner and while I didn’t train per se, I did jog at least 2 to 3 times a week and was aiming to finish the race within 2 hours 30 minutes.

The first 9 km or so was an enjoyable run as you began to cover the Penang Bridge. It was rather windy, making the run less taxing. Occasionally, runners would stop for a moment on the bridge to snap a photo or two with the iconic landmark, an impossible task in normal situation considering you are not allowed to stop on the bridge while driving.

The last remaining kilometer before reaching the finish line

However, the effect started to kick in after passing the half mark. More stops had been made to catch my breaths or taking a sip of water. Energy was sipping away with every passing minute. As I was getting closer to the finish line, the kilometers seemed to stretch by itself. The last 3 km was the most frustrating as there were signboards for each accomplished kilometer. When you thought that surely you should have cover a kilometer, there came the sign telling you that, no, you still have 2.5 km more to go.

A sea of greens gathered outside the mall after the race

While I didn’t manage to reach within the 2 hours 30 minutes time frame, I didn’t fare too badly either for I finished the race in 2 hours 43 minutes. A remarkable feat for a first timer, if I may say so myself. I didn’t immediately go back to rest after the race. Instead, I roamed around, watching people taking photos with friends and fellow runners.

My medal

As the day began to start, my friend and I decided to head to our respective places to rest. However, before I leaved Queensbay Mall, I was caught by the police and given a hefty fine for talking on the phone while driving. I totally didn’t see him and even when he waved me to pull over, I was still on the phone, thinking, what the heck is wrong with him. I blamed it all on fatigue for my cluelessness.

Mr Police here gave me a hefty fine, causing my wallet to bleed...

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Friday's Newsflash - Win Free Trip to Komodo National Park, Indonesia

Want to win a free trip to the exotic Komodo National Park, Indonesia, with all expenses paid? Well, all you have to do is just go to the official Indonesia Tourism page and answer the simple questions and you are all set to exploring the wild side of Indonesia.

This is what you'll see at the Komodo National Park

In order to participate this online contest, you must first register using your Facebook account as well as liking the Indonesia Tourism and Travel Facebook page and follow @indtravel at Twitter. Then, with the helps of the 'hints', you have to answer five questions and each correct answer will award you five points. You have only five questions per day.

To increase the chances of winning the free trip, you can also invite your friends to join the contest and you will receive one point for each successful participation. Contest starts from 18 October 2012 until 18 November 2012. The five people with the highest scores will get a free 3D/2N trip to the Komodo National Park Indonesia, inclusive of the air flight, accommodation and meal.

For more information, go to the official website here.

Friday’s Newsflash – Air Asia’s ‘Fly for Free’ Contest

Great news for those of us who like to win free flights for Air Asia is organizing one with Visa. All you need is just to make a purchase of any Air Asia (AK, FD, QZ, PQ) and Air Asia X (D7) flights with Visa credit cards or debit cards and you stand a chance of being one of the 50 weekly winners of Air Asia E-gift vouchers worth RM 500.00. It is that simple.

In order to participate in the contest, you have to make a purchase on any Air Asia flights using Visa cards. The said purchases have to be made in Malaysia through the Malaysian IP address. Then, if you are eligible, you will receive a 3-question survey within 10 working days and the first 50 persons to reply that questionnaires will win the E-gift vouchers.

There will be a total of 11 weeks the contest will be running and you may win more than once. However, you are only allowed to win once per week. The contest started on 30 September 2012 and ends at 23:59 (GMT+8), 16 December 2012. For more information, you can go to the contest page here.

RM 500.00 is quite a lot and will initiate people to buy air tickets and try their lucks, be it near or far. Sure, it is a marketing ploy but since when every movement from Air Asia isn’t?

I bid all of you out there, good luck!

Friday’s Newsflash – Air Asia Free Seat Promotion and AllMalaysia’s Virtual Travel Fair

This week’s Friday’s Newsflash will be packed with information for us travel junkies.

The first one being that Air Asia is having its Free Seat promotion. It’s not exactly smoking hot news as most of you should know about it. Domestic flights from Kuala Lumpur begin an all-inclusive fare of RM 26 while international flights are from RM 56 onwards. Booking period is from 18 to 23 September 2012 with international flights open for booking from 20 to 23 September 2012. Travel period is from 1 April to 30 September 2013.

To be frank, this Free Seat promotion is nothing to shout about. Yes, it is cheaper than the normal fare but not as cheap as the old days. I mean, flying to Kota Kinabalu takes more than RM 100 for return ticket? Last year, I managed to secure a return ticket at RM 40 plus for this year’s April (though I ended up burning the ticket).

As for the international destinations, flying to Semarang takes more than RM 200 for return trips? I went there with their launching price at around RM 176 for return ticket. All in all, cheap, but not THAT cheap. However, I’m still a sucker for it since I’m planning to fly somewhere around that time frame.

The second news of the day is the Virtual Travel Fair 2012 that is going on at the moment. Starting from 7 September to 30 September 2012, you can hunt for the perfect travel package that you have been waiting for. With both domestic and international travel packages to choose from, you will be spoilt for choices.

Besides that, Macau Tourism Office is sponsoring a 3D/2N trip for two worth RM 3,000 for one lucky person. All you have to do to win that fantastic prize is to just count the number of SOTA logos in the picture and create a creative slogan. That’s all and you are on your way to winning an amazing trip.

For more information regarding the contest or the travel packages, click here.

Friday's Newsflash - Win Trips to Paris from Accor Hotels

Fancy yourself a 4 day/3 night trip to Paris for free? Well, all you have to do is check into one of the 20 participating Accor hotels in Malaysia, Singapore, Bali and Lombok and stand a chance in becoming one of the two lucky winners getting a trip of the lifetime absolutely free.

Simply go to this website and make a booking from 1 August 2012 until 31 December 2012 for stay up to 31 January 2013 to be qualified for the lucky draw. There are other monthly prizes up for grab as well such as Samsung Galaxy SIII, iPad3 and free stays at Accor hotels in these three countries. Grand prize would be the trip to Paris with accommodation in an Accor hotel and flight courtesy from KLM airline or Garuda Indonesia.

For guests in the Malaysia hotels chains, they are entitled for a 25% discount on rooms with free breakfasts as well as 24 hours WiFi access. Other than that, they will also receive a RM 50 dining voucher (for minimum spending of RM 100) or a spa voucher at any one of its hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya or Kuching.

Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside

Meanwhile, guests in the Singapore hotels will get, besides free breakfasts and 24 hours Internet access, a free city tour. As for the Bali and Lombok packages, guests will receive free breakfasts, airport transfers, and a one-time dinner experience for two for a minimum of two night stay.

Other than that, if you are Le Club Accorhotels or Accor Advantage Plus members, you are entitled for triple points on stay before 31 December 2012 as well as double the chances of winning that free trip to Paris for every booking of the Fly Me To Paris promotion. Continue reading to find out the list of participating hotels in these three countries:

News Strait Times Savvy Traveller

I just found out that my entry for the NST's Savvy Traveller was selected as the winner for last Thursday paper. I forgot to check the last Thursday's paper to see if I won or not and only remembered to do so today while in the office, staring at empty spaces.

Savvy Traveller is a weekly contest that features your holiday story. All you have to do is just share your holiday adventures in the following five categories: Must Do, Avoid, Good Eats, Top Shops, and Insider Tips. The winning entry will get a 2D/1N stay at the Hydro Hotel in Penang. Guess I'll be heading there soon and stay at a luxurious hotel (I haven't receive any e-mail or call informing me about this so maybe they just send the prize to my home...).

For my Savvy Traveller entry, I wrote about my recent trip to Singapore. I raved about the wonderful Wicked the Musical, the delicious foods they served at Marche and the good base Chinatown served for us throughout the trip. Read more about it here!