Malaysia MATTA Fair September 2014

Hey! :P

Last Sunday, I decided to check out the MATTA(Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) fair after hearing about it for the very first time in March. Since everybody says there are cheap deals and since I love travelling, why not!?

It was held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) which is easily accessible by the LRT along the Sentul Timur line. It wasn't difficult to find the place, even though it was my first time there. I just followed the crowd and finally, I was there.

At first, I bumped into the airlines section where there were many airlines, each boasting about the incredible low fares and true enough, there were a lot of good deals. There were numerous airlines, the famous MAS, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Korean Air and so on. Strangely, I did not find AirAsia or other budget airlines or maybe I just did not happen to see them. But true enough, there were some really good deals for the big airlines.

Personally, I find the long haul destinations very worth it. For example, tickets to France were on average around 2.4K (return and all-inclusive) which is really cheap for a European destination, bearing in mind that you can go to so many more nearby European countries once you reached there. London was priced a little bit higher, at 2.6K on average. People can also choose to go USA for a mere 3.5K(NY, Washington, Miami) or even a mere 2.3K (to San Fran/Boston/Honolulu), all offered by MAS. SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE!!! On the other hand, the short hauls are relatively good too but you can always double check with the low-budget airlines as well, to make a better choice. But, it also depends on the level of comfort and budget you want for your flight. Low budget airlines would be most probably cheaper but more crammed. I do definitely recommend going to MATTA fair with you wanna buy for long haul destinations. MATTA fair is usually in March and in September (in KL). Short hauls can always be cheap with so many budget airlines around.

Other interesting thing is that you can also buy other stuffs rather than just tickets during the fair. There is a section for all travel accessories/goods. For example you can get travelling bags (as low as Rm 499 for a set of 3 luggage bags), winter wear, powerpanks, beanies, gloves, backpacks, etc... However this section is small and it would be great if they could include more sellers and variety of products related to travel. 

The main section was governed by the countless travel agencies, each advertising about their different packages and a fee of Rm 4 applies. There was one hall for inbound destinations and another hall for outbound destinations. Depending on the travel agencies, some packages would include airtickets and some might not. Some are only concerned with ground tours. I made a few rounds and there are some pretty good deals but to be honest, I find it difficult to buy a package, unless you really know your exact dates and you have a lot of money. There are so many agencies offering different packages and the least would be to go around and compare the differences and then get an idea. To be frank, this would be a real headache for me. It is like going to Low Yat to buy a phone but you have very competitive prices and deals of the phone on every floors and thus, it makes it a difficult decision. Moreover, there are numerous people and there is a lot of waiting time before you get information from the tour agents. But you can always take your time and find the deals that you want. However, it would be best if your travel dates are within the period until the next matta fair. If your travel dates are too far, they might not want to entertain you.

One thing that attracted me was the Matta Academy. They propose a few courses if you want to know more about the travel industry. All the prices for the courses are discounted during Matta fair. After the fair, the prices are back to normal.The courses proposed are as follow:

1- Tourist Guide Course 

     Basically, a tour guide course, priced at Rm 5000 instead of Rm 6000. (5 months course)

2- Tour Leader Course

    A professional tour leader is important to ensure group travelers are well looked after and have a         memorable holiday. A 2-day course at Rm 350 (Normal price: Rm 600). This is ideal if you have a     full time job and you want to travel for free during your weekends.

3- Tour Coordinator

    This course is more to travel and tours operation (more to the management/marketing side). A 2-         day course priced at Rm 350 (Normal price: Rm 600).

4- Driver Guide

    Training to have the desired skills/knowledge for a driver guide.  A 3-day course at Rm 500                 (Normal price: Rm 700).

5- Airline Reservation

    Ticket tracking, reservation and issuance. A 3-day course at Rm 350.

6- Airline Ticketing

    More to the ticket tracking, fare record tracking, deletion of fare record, etc... A 2-day course at           Rm 300.

I was personally interested in the tour leading course which can help me to get a part time job in the future. 

To conclude, MATTA fair is a really good place for cheap deals but I advise that you have a good idea of what you want when you go there, that makes things a lot easier rather than you going through various deals to make up your mind of where to go. Know where you want to go and when, research a bit on the place(s) you want to go and if you are travelling in groups, make sure that everyone is on the same page about the trip details!

Visit the following for more details:

http://www.mattafair.org.my/index.php/en/state-matta-fair

The fair moves around Malaysia the year round, so stay tuned on their calendar on the link above. ;)

Selamat Hari Merdeka Malaysia! #57

Hey there!

Haven't been really updating my blog lately. Was quite busy lately. I went to travel to a few places the past few months and I have yet to update the posts. Hopefully that will be soon. But meanwhile, here is  a little post about Malaysia, since it was Merdeka (Independence day) just on Sunday.

Malaysia has been a land, full of new beginnings for me and it has always been exciting. It's so huge that I am still discovering it little by little, one step at a time and I am loving it.

Here are 5 most exciting places I've visited in Malaysia (of course there are many more):

1. KL Helipad Lounge
Nothing better than watching a good sunset while drinking some beer on a rooftop bar. It is located near to the KL towers at Jalan Sultan Ismail. The building is Menara KH which is very accessible by monorail. You can get down at Raja Chulan and the building is next to it and the bar is located on the 34th floor. It opens at 6pm everyday except Sundays. In order to access the rooftop, you should buy at least one drink. Here are a few shots of the rooftop.

They allow casual wear before 9pm. If you want to sit and catch the sunset, try to go there early. I went there at around 6.40pm and all the seats were taken already. Nevertheless, sitting or standing, the breathtaking views will not fail to amaze you. 

2. KK (Kota Kinabalu)

I climbed mountains before but KK tops it all. This is the highest mountain I have climbed and it was really a great experience, challenging but rewarding at the end. The scenery at the top is just indescribable and so beautiful, accompanied by a real sense of achievement. It sure is tiring but that won't matter after you reach the top. I will be writing another post on KK soon but meanwhile here are some shots: 

3. Putrajaya

This place is just beautiful and clean and I believe the cleanliness is the main thing that attracts me to this place. Putrajaya is by far the cleanest place I witnessed in Malaysia and is well kept and maintained.  It bears the presence of numerous government buildings and homes to ministers. It is very accessible by train. Just take the KLIA transit from KL sentral and you will be there in less than 30 min. You can go around driving also but there is also an interesting offer for Rm 1. YES RM 1!!! Apparently you can get a 2 hour guided tour around putrajaya, at various spots and photostops for just Rm 1. You just have to sign at the booth at Putrajaya Sentral with the signboard "Best of Putrajaya Tour". It is available only on weekends at 11am and 3pm. Each slot has a capacity of 40 people. So the earlier you go there, the better. Also, numerous festivals are held there: for example the balloon festival, fireworks and so on. Here are a few shots:

4. Penang

Penang is the land of milk and honey they say. It is famous for the food : namely Penang Char Kuey Teow and Asam Laksa. I went there a few times and it was 90% about food. You can read my Penang post here : http://kelvinbtravels.blogspot.com/2014/05/penang-food-haven.html (date 24th May). Other 2 places I highly recommend to visit are : Straits Quay and the Penang Hill.

5. Sunway Lagoon

It is quite difficult to select another place because there are many nice places but if you are looking for fun, leisure and entertainment, Sunway lagoon is a really great place to go. They have added new rides in the last year: namely the Vuvuzela which is a really cool ride. Unfortunately I have lost my pictures but do check it out. This water themed park has 5 parks in it : Wildlife, scream, water, amusement and extreme. There is a wide range of activities and one day is just enough to complete most of it. Some activities include: Roller coaster, Scream park, Flying Fox, Rock Climbing, Paintball, ATV riding, Canoeing, Archery, 5D waterplexx cinema, mini zoo,etc...The tickets are priced at around RM 120 on the official website. However, it can be obtained for around Rm 90 on Asiatravel.com. But do also bear in mind that some rides are not included in this package. For example, you will have to pay for Go-Kart separately and some other attractions. Nevertheless, this place burst with life and joy. It is hard to get bored, unless you have been there a lot of times. :P

There are many more places worth visiting in Malaysia, these are only a few. My next target is to try the islands besides Penang. I haven't gone to any yet but enjoying the ride so far. To end this post, here is a video review of some of the places I have been to this year (click the link below the picture):

I AM _____ & LOVE MALAYSIA VIDEO