TV : NatGeo's The Best Job In The World

Remember The Best Job In the World advertised by Tourism Queensland about a year ago? It attracted 35,000 applicants from all over the world, all vying for the $100,000 contract and an experience of a lifetime.

Well, as we all know the job went to Ben Southall from Hampshire, England - he has an impressive background and is certainly a deserving winner.

Credit : Ben Southall

I was cruising the channels this afternoon and caught the episode on NatGeo where Ben and girlfriend Bre arrive on Hamilton Island in July last year to start his 6 month stint as the island caretaker. I'm not sure if the series is a repeat or is just being shown because I usually don't watch NatGeo.

Wow, they get to stay in a very, very nice modern house overlooking the beautiful ocean, and have a golf buggy for transportation as there are no cars on the island.

The views are fantastic - bright and sunny, blue skies, white sandy beaches and so on so on. And I suddenly thought, 'Oh no, sunblock everyday!' :P I wonder how many bottles he will go through during his stint.

The only thing that I found was a bit of a turn-off was that they recorded and showed too much PDA between Ben and Bre. At one point I thought they looked like a giddy couple who just won a honeymoon package and can't keep their hands off each other. Haha!

Anyway, I will try to follow this series and enjoy the news and views of the beautiful Great Barrier Reef.

One Angry Volcano

I'll be taking a break from travelling for a few weeks. God-willing, will pack my backpack again end of next month. Brown selipar gets to rest.

I've made the decision to forfeit two flight tickets to KL in the next few weeks, to reschedule them means extra expenses incurred. Do you know that the change fee for AirAsia is now RM90 per way? Ouch. I am only comforted by the fact that the total for the 2 tickets cost me just about the same, so it's not too painful.

Anyway, the travel crisis caused by that volcano-in-Iceland-that-has-a-long-name-I-don't-know-how-to-pronounce-it is interesting, don't you think? As of today, airports are starting to open across Europe. I asked myself, would I be angry if I were stranded like the tens of thousands in Europe as well as in other cities around the world?

Maybe - but then again, who are we to be angry at a force of nature? And see how ignorant I am, I don't even know if delays and cancellations in this kind of situation are covered by travel insurance. What are the obligations of the airlines? Are they supposed to provide you with food and lodging? (I keep thinking, no shower for days?) Good to know. Someone might have written about this already.

By the way the name of the volcano is Eyjafjallajokull. What a mouthful. I still can't pronounce it. And as we speak, volcano jokes are surfacing on the net. Bad taste? Yeah, maybe ... they are still funny though :).

Anyway, have you made any travel plans for 2011 yet? I have not, though I have India, Turkey and Australia in my wishlist.

Am t-r-y-i-n-g to get ready for the BIM in two week's time - eeek!! I'm running the 10K, so it should be no biggie right? Finish in good time, my humble target.

Enjoy the rest of April!

India, Anyone?

Air Asia : The secret is out! AirAsia announces FIVE (5) new city additions to our India route - New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore!!! Gear up as India is going to rawk red this year with us opening the doors to the mystique of sights and sounds. The adventure of a lifetime in 2010 begins tomorrow. India, here we come!

விரைவில் जल्द ही आ रहा coming soon. What's Your India?

* * * * * * * * *

Air Asia's facebook page mentioned that they will officially launch five new India destinations tomorrow!

New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore will definitely see a surge in visitors once these routes take effect. I'm guessing the flights are going to fly from LCCT-KLIA, and maybe Penang.

Last time I checked we need to get a visa in advance at RM152, excluding other handling fees, and it takes 2-3 working days. My last 'homework' on India consisted of planning imagining some travel itinerary that can be covered in a 12-14 days period.

Anyway, let's see the travel dates/period offered by Air Asia.

In the meantime, yes, I shall think of an answer to : What's Your India?

Travel News : Koolred

Check out the new online community/social networking site from AirAsia's partner, Koolred.

It says, 'if travelling is your passion, get connected now!'

Will see how interesting this turns out to be, since I'm now bored with Facebook. Maybe I can find a travel buddy for next year.

Travel News : Air Asia's Convenience Fee, Update

Grabbed from the AA website :

Convenience Fee

With effect from 5 November 2009, a Convenience Fee is now applicable for all online payments made via credit, debit or charge cards. Please see below for more details on the fee. What is Convenience Fee? A convenience fee is charged when payment is made through credit, debit or charge cards. The fee is charged per guest for each way and only applies to the initial booking. Any changes or addition to existing booking is excluded from the Convenience Fee. Why is the fee introduced? To ensure that our guests are provided a comfortable and safe booking environment AirAsia has invested substantially to expand, implement and maintain our online payment systems and especially, to upgrade, enhance and improve the security features for online credit, debit and charge cards payments. The Convenience Fee is to subsidize the costs of the payment systems. Are there other payment options which do not attract a Convenience Fee? Yes, the Convenience Fee does not apply to direct debit payments. * * * So when you are buying that free seat that's on sale right now, remember to add on RM10 to the ticket price. Happy travelling!

Travel News : Air Asia Imposes "Convenience Fee"?

I caught a little bit of news on this on Air Asia's FB page yesterday. And again today found postings about the matter on Trip Advisor.

An excerpt from a TA member's posting :

"Recently AirAsia has started adding an item called 'Convenience Fee' when one make booking with them. AirAsia introduced this fee stealthily - ie w/o any annoucement or notification.

Worse still, this fee is not shown anywhere in the fare calculation and ONLY appears on the FINAL page of your booking just before you confirmed your credit card or other payment details. I believe this is done intentionally so that for those who are not alert might missed this additional charge."

The 'convenience fee' is RM5 per person per sector. So for a return that's RM10 extra per person. I remember paying a convenience fee on Tiger Airways too. Am not sure whether it is the same rate for international flights.

Unlike the other services, this is not optional so that means we have no choice; boo. I wonder why no official announcement has been made, though apparently it has taken effect immediately, perhaps it's applicable from November onwards. Just be informed travellers!

No Fuel Surcharge. No Admin Fee.

But, say hello to Convenience Fee :s

Travel News : Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2010

From : The Star Online

Wednesday November 4, 2009

Lonely Planet puts country among best-value places to visit

LONDON: Malaysia is among world’s best-value destinations, according to travel guide firm Lonely Planet.

The British-based company, in its Best In Travel 2010 guide, said Malaysia “is a clever choice for travellers on the lookout for a bargain”.

Thanks to the economic crisis, Iceland and London were also among the top 10 destinations, which included Thailand, South Africa, India, Mexico, Bulgaria, Kenya and Las Vegas,

The annual snapshot book captures “the world’s hottest travel trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the year ahead”, Lonely Planet said yesterday.

The economic collapse in Iceland meant the island was no longer punitively expensive, said the guide, putting the beleaguered country at the top of its best-value list.

Thailand, at number two, remained “perennially good value”, said the book.

Meanwhile, London’s days as a costly destination were now over, Lonely Planet said, thanks to the exchange rate which made it “much more affordable for visitors from abroad”.

The top 10 countries overall for travellers were El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Portugal, Suriname and the United States.

The top 10 cities were Abu Dhabi, Charleston (South Carolina), Cork (Ireland), Cuenca (Ecuador), Istanbul, Kyoto (Japan), Lecce (Italy), Sarajevo, Singapore and Vancouver (Canada).

Bali (Indonesia), Goa (India), Koh Kong (Cambodia), Southern Africa and southwest Western Australia featured among the top 10 regions. — AFP

* * * * * * *

An alright list by me. Morocco, anyone?

Things That Make It Go 'Beep'

I know now which items I shouldn't wear when I'm travelling by flight.

With that I mean avoiding things that make the alarm beep as you walk through the detector. I don't like being patted down for the body search, so I avoid it as best as I can. Maybe I'm just a little paranoid on being searched, not that I have anything to hide :P

Based on past experiences, I found out that the buckles on my red and green belts trigger the beep, hence no more travelling for these two. As for footwear, I have yet to be asked to remove them as most of the time I am wearing my selipar. A friend who wore heels had to remove them when we went through scanning at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali as it made the scanner beep.

When going through the security screening, except for the boarding pass and ID, I chuck everything else into my hand carry or backpack, including the camera and handphone as I prefer to have everything scanned in one go. There was one time I forgot to take out my pedometer from my pocket, which raised a little bit of curiosity and a few questions, but after I explained its functions they let me go. Phew.

Heavy jewellery and body piercings can also cause the alarm to go off. Oh, and for the ladies, some underwire bras can trigger it too. However, TSA's website mentions that gel-filled bras are permitted through security clearance and aboard the aircraft.

I wonder how they detect those : the gel-filled bras?

Cheaper Malaysian Passports

I came across this very interesting headline today, where the minister-in-charge announced that 'infrequent travellers can now opt for an alternative international Malaysian passport'.

This is very good news. Valid for two years, it will now cost only RM100 compared to the minimum RM300 that we have to pay for a 32 page-passport, which I've always thought it was too expensive. The 'savings' can always go towards a nice, little domestic holiday.

I wonder whether there's any qualifying criteria?

And I hope it will be further reduced before my passport needs renewing by end of 2010 :)

Event : MATTA Fair, KK

Come to think of it, I don't remember ever visiting a MATTA Fair before.

There's one coming up next weekend, in 1Borneo, from 4th-6th September. I'm thinking I should pay a visit this time to check out what they have to offer; all in the name of travel research. Of course.

Speaking of travel, today MAS starts promoting 'cheap' flights in its Irresistable September Deals. Fly, don't think twice, it said. It's only for very limited travels laden with T&Cs in September so that's rather last minute.

If you feel like travelling domestically in the next two weeks, check out the deals.

Trip Advisor - Fake Reviews?

Most travellers are no strangers to Trip Advisor.

I use Trip Advisor to read reviews and get some ideas about properties and destinations, and have posted one review myself. The rest of my efforts are still in procrastination purgatory, sadly :P. Got to do something about that.

Anyway, I read this and this earlier in the week, and my initial reaction was, why would anyone post fake reviews? It's just so unscrupulous and so wrong.

Since Trip Advisor is quite liberal in its posting policy - anonymous reviewers are allowed - whatever opportunity available to boost ratings will be taken advantage of. As reviews are not vetted, property owners and perhaps even its employees can easily post good reviews about their hotel, and bad reviews for competitors. Desperate times call for desperate measures?

Thus the site has responded by putting up a warning label on properties which are suspected to have manipulated reviews.

TripAdvisor has reasonable cause to believe that either this property or individuals associated with the property may have attempted to manipulate our popularity index by interfering with the unbiased nature of our reviews. Please take this into consideration when researching your travel plans.

Elliot's advice is to ignore both extremes; the 'best place on earth', and the 'never again!' reviews. We can still use Trip Advisor, however be wary not to rely 100% on its reviews.

I say, as with some things, take it with a pinch of salt.

The Forbidden Country

I remember many many years ago when our passports weren't valid for travel to a few countries. 

Now it's only one country : Israel. For reasons we all know (and won't discuss here) :)

I don't think it is impossible to go there though, since I've seen some Holy Land pilgrimage tour packages on offer. I can imagine that getting an Israeli visa would be a tedious process, one which requires us to go to either Singapore or Bangkok since there's no embassy here. I read that there's an interview process involved, with no guarantees for approval and takes about 30 days of processing.

The visa and Immigration stamps will be on a piece of paper, not on your passport. They won't stamp anything on your passport. Apparently if there is an Israeli stamp, the passport will be deemed  invalid, and confiscated upon your return. Next time I'm at the Immigration office I'll ask whether this is true. 

Going with church-organised groups is apparently the best way, compared to individual travel.

Hmm. 

I wonder if and when the World can truly be without borders.

Better Safe Than Sorry (or, Don't Get Too Drunk or Too Angry)

Sometimes what I read about travelling to other countries make me worry. About how things can get out of control. Or how unexpected things can happen. To anyone.

Like this incident in Phuket actually happened the days I was there recently. I even passed by the Aussie Pub the next day. Charged for 'stealing a rubber souvenir bar mat'? Huh? I know people who used to 'take' the salt and pepper shakers AND tomato and chilli bottles from Shakey's Pizza* and KFC**, respectively. Heck, sometimes they were daring enough to 'borrow' some a full set of cutlery, too.

So, you know, be careful, don't get too crazy when you want to let your hair down. I think the court did not accept being trashed i.e. highly intoxicated, nor it being a practical joke, as the explanation in this case.

Oh, here's another case. This one is scary coz it's like 'a ghost from their past'.

And another one . Here, the lesson is, don't be disrespectful, insulting or rude to any officials of any authority. But can you take any action against your own government for not providing the correct information about your passport's validity in the first place? Poor guy. 

I wonder if these recent cases really has to do with the tourism downturn in Thailand as is claimed in one of the articles. 

I hope not. Coz Thailand really is a nice place for travellers.

And I hope this won't worry me too much to chicken out from travelling.

*this outlet is the one at the basement/LG of BB Plaza. I'm sorry, I guess I was an accomplice then, my role was to keep quiet.

**this one was in Sg Wang Plaza, the million dollar KFC outlet. Too busy a place for anyone to notice. I was not involved. Honest, swear to God.