So to those who wanna plan your holiday for next year, make sure you attend the up coming Matta Fair 2011 which will be held in the month of March. Keep yourself update.

Matta Fair - Star Cruise

Matta Fair - Malaysia Airlines

Matta Fair - Reliance

Matta Fair - MAS

Matta Fair - Reliance

Matta Fair - Sabah Tourism

Matta Fair - Holiday Villa Hotels & Resorts Team

Matta Fair - One of Holiday Villa's Fan

Matta Fair - Holiday Villa Lucky Spin

Matta Fair - Holiday Villa Hotels & Resorts

Matta Fair - Berjaya Hotel

Matta Fair

Matta Fair - Resort World

Matta Fair - FireFly Holiday

Matta Fair

Matta Fair

Matta Fair - Sentosa

Matta Fair - YourSingapore

Matta Fair - Bird Park

Matta Fair

Matta Fair - Creative Booth

Matta Fair - Me posing with Holiday Villa's Lucky Spin

For those who are planning to have your buka puasa within these few days, make sure you make a reservation because they are fully packed during that time.

We ordered their famous Avacado drink which is enhanced with chocolate syrup. At first I was hesitant, but after tasting it, it was a great choice. The drink was sweet and thick like a milk shake.

The food was then displayed on our table. This is something different, they will display all the food that is available in a small plate on our table. We will be charged for what we take. It is said that the same method is also done in Indonesia.

This is not my first time here, infact it was my second. My favourite among the dishes was their prawn sambal and “pucuk masak lemak”. A total of 6 of us had to only pay RM122 at the end of the session, which I found fairly cheap.

We also brought along a cake, which was sponsored by Kak Edel from our office, she couldnt make it to join us that night. And as usual being the photographer, you don’t usually get a photo of yourself in there

Entrance Area

Jeannie and Lilia

Sitikay and Suzana

Waterfountain

Dishes available

Dishes available

He can carry all in one hand

The dishes displayed on our table

Prawn Sambal

Ikan Masak Lemak

The dishes displayed on our table

Sitting Area

Avacado with Chocolate Syrup

Cleaning all one shot

The bill

Birthday Cake from Edelina Tamrin

Birthday Girls blowing and Cutting the Cake

Thank You

The reason for the gathering is of course to get to know some Travel Bloggers, who in the future, Holiday Villa would like to engage with to help promote all the promotions and competitions that we have in store. We were placed in a private room and that gave us alot of private chit chatting time with each other sharing tips and skills on Social Media. I’m currently quite active with Facebook and Twitter (@thristhan), but still finding it  a challenge with FourSquare, only because of my old skool mobile phone (!#$#@!$ someone give me an iPhone).

I’ll introduce everyone with the photos below. Enjoy.

At the Hotel Lobby

Our Private Room

Oyster, Prawns and Mussel

Barbecue pit, with a Skewed goat

Malaysia Local Dishes

Curry section and vegetables

Cakes and Desserts

Oyster

Ulam, local raw vegetables

Guest helping himself to some mixed rice

Fresh Bread

Kebab etc

Local Malay style Kuihs

Steam stuffs

Tepanyaki

Check out the size of that Wok

Ice-Kacang Area

Anna Bella helping herself to some delicious food

One of the many eating area

Crowd at the Ramadhan Buffer

Gorgeous Anna and Cheeky Feeq

The Charlies Angel - Edelina, Lillian and Rebecca

The Macho looking guys - Kenneth, Tian Chad, Marcus and Feeq (right to left)

I felt left out here, everyone was FourSquaring - David with the wide smile.

The Gang, Holiday Villa Team and Bloggers

Special thanks to Tian Chad, who I’ve met for the second time now and who also gathered most of the bloggers to join us at Holiday Villa. Also Anna Bella for being such a darling (you’re too quiet la). Special thanks to Malaysia Asia and BeautifulNara for joining. Last but not least, Rebecca, Marcus, Nicole and the Little Monkey. Be good guys

Eventhough I was born in the city of Kuala Lumpur, I lived most of my 28 years in the state of Selangor Darul Ehsan. During my younger years, we rented a house at Subang Jaya because my Dad was working as an Air Traffic Controller at Subang Airport, namely Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport. Years later when I was 3 years old, we moved to Klang, Royal Capital of Selangor.

Thristhan.com features interesting places that you can visit in Selangor. To start with, I would like to talk about I-City Shah Alam (Shah Alam is also the state capital of Selangor). I-City Shah Alam is a retail and commercial hub with advanced information-communication infrastructure in Section 8 Shah Alam, and to introduce this place, it has installed millions of LED lights to brighten up the night.

I-City Shah Alam

I-City Shah Alam

Bukit Cahaya Sri Alam (Bukit Cahaya Agricultural Park), which is also in Shah Alam is a place to promote the agricultural and forestation advancement in Malaysia. It hosts all sort of activities which consist of jungle tracking, camping, cactus farm, animal farm with parrots, deers, peacocks, horses, buffalos and many more. The highlight of Bukit Cahaya Sri Alam is the Four Season House where you get to experience Winter, Summer, Spring and Autumn here in Malaysia.

Bukit Cahaya Sri Alam

Tropical Fruit Garden

Animal Farm

Four Season House

Cactus Garden

Nearer Meru, which is about 15 minutes from Klang is a Shooting range called Klang Shooting Club. You have to sign up as a member in order to be able to access this area due to security issues. Experience using a Handgun is marvellous.

Klang Shooting Club

Klang Shooting Club

Malaysia has the biggest limestone caves in the world, Batu Caves is one of them. There are also alot of restaurant around Batu Caves who serve delicious Indian Cuisine. Inside the cave reside Indian temples where prayers are conducted.

Batu Caves Selangor

Batu Caves Selangor

Batu Caves Selangor

Just a few kilometers North of Selangor is a town called Sekinchan with vast paddy fields and windy atmosphere. This location is one of the biggest rice producers in Malaysia. Famous for fresh fruits like Mango, water apple (Jambu Air), Corn and Coconut Juice. Since Sekinchan is just beside the coast, it is also famous for Sea Food.

Sekinchan Selangor

Sekinchan Selangor

Sekinchan Selangor

Sekinchan Selangor

Food wise, Kajang Satay at Dengkil is a must try. Pulau Ketam near Port Klang is also a recommended place to eat seafood. Klang is famous for it’s Bah Kut Teh which is a herbal pork soupy dish, usually eaten with rice. If you’re around Kuala Selangor, try their famous Begger Chicken at Ijok town. The restaurant name is Ijok’s Begger Delicious Restaurant where each delicacy is marinated and wrapped in foil before heating it up in an underground oven.

Satay Kajang at Dengkil

Satay Kajang at Dengkil

Ijok's Begger Delicious Restaurant

Ijok's Begger Delicious Restaurant

As you have just witnessed, Selangor is a great state to chill at and I would surely recommend it as a tourist destination to all my friends locally and internationally.

I’m entering a competition to promote Selangor along with Selangor Tourism. Kindly vote for my post at www.myselangorstory.com so that I will be motivated to write more about this wonderful state. Thank you in advance

Matta Fair 2010 @ Putra World Trade Centre

Holiday Villa Hotels & Resorts @ Matta Fair 2010

As usual I will be representing Holiday Villa Hotels & Resorts and we will be selling value added vouchers during the Matta Fair 2010. Holiday Villa Hotels & Resorts will not only sell vouchers for stays in Malaysia, but we will also be giving our discounts for our overseas properties such as Holiday Villa London, Holiday Villa Paris and many more.

Many Travel and Tour companies will be promoting their travel packages to offer you great holiday trips. Do expect more than 800 booths to be there. The holiday packages are for many types of travel goers including diving packages, honeymoon packages, family travel discounts, holiday packages, holiday cruise packages, europe tour packages, asia tour packages, malaysia tour packaces, cheap airline tickets and many more. The airline companies will also be there at the matta fair, including Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, FireFlyz etc.

Crowd at Matta Fair 2010

Scene at the Entrance of Matta Fair 2010

Based on my experience, I strongly suggest that you attend the Matta Fair at least 2 of the 3 days. First day is more of window shopping and getting to know what are the offer holiday packages that are made available. Collect the brochures and flyers, take them home, sit down with your holiday partners and start planning. The second day is where you go to those interested booths and start bargaining. Make sure they you also observe the added value offers. A particular package maybe slightly higher than another, but the value added items could be worth the extra cost.

There will be an entrance fees (usually only a few ringgit), and this fee will only apply entry for that day. Multiple entry is allowed for that one day as you will be given a wristband. Do wear something that you are comfortable walking with so that you will be able to cover the wide area that the Matta Fair have provided.

Towards north of Malaysia, there’s a town called Alot Star (used to be know as Alor Setar between 2004-2008). Alor Star also happens to be the capital of one of Malaysia’s state, namely Kedah. Alor Star is famous for the distribution of manufacturing and agriculture products such as Paddy. Below is the list of the things that you should visit if you happen to go to Alor Star Kedah, in no particular order. If you haven’t yet booked a place to stay, you may want to try Holiday Villa Hotel & Suites Alor Star, one of the top 4 star hotel in that location.

Kedah State Art Gallery

Kedah State Art Gallery

The Kedah State Art Gallery holds a good collection of paintings, photographs, musical instruments and handicrafts. It used to house the office of the Sultan, the state treasury, audit office and the British Adviser residence in 1912 but was converted to its present day gallery in 1983.

Pekan Rabu

Pekan Rabu Alor Star

Pekan Rabu or literally translated as Wednesday market, is located near the government offices in Alor Setar. Eventhough it is named such, they market is open every single day. Pekan Rabu is open from morning till night. Many goods are be available at a bargain including crafted products and delicious tidbits. Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Tun Maharthir was once a trader at the Pekan Rabu.

Menara Alor Star

Golden Jubilee Park

The Golden Jubilee Park in Alor Star was built in commemoration of the Kedah Sultan’s golden jubilee celebration in 2008. The park took seven months to be completed, was designed with a beautiful landscape comprising a golden jubilee landmark, sculptures of Kedah’s rulers, fountains, a mural wall, man-made lake, jogging track and skating rink.

Batu Hampar Waterfall

Batu Hampar Waterfall (aminzaki Photo Copyright)

This place is roughly about 30KM drive from Alor Star. This Recreation Park can be reached easily from Yan. Just outside Yan there is a junction where you take right to Batu Hampar. The falls are not spectacular but the stream is nice and quiet.

The Birth Place of Tun Mahathir

A visit to Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s birth place will give you a different perspective of the life of this revered leader. He was born in Alor Star on Dec 20, 1925 at No 18 Lorong Kilang Ais, off Jalan Pegawai. His home has been seen as a historical building and was restored by the National Archives in 1992.

When visiting this place, you will be able to view items from his childhood to his schooldays to the time he became a doctor. There are photos, furniture and other household items. You can even take a look at his old bicycle. Just Amazing

It is open on monday to saturday from 9 a.m to 6 p.m.

The Paddy Museum

The Paddy Museum

The Paddy Museum is an important tourist attraction in Kedah as the state is known as the Rice Bowl state of Malaysia due to its important economic contribution to the country. It honours the history, culture and significance of paddy farming in Kedah and is dedicated to the hardworking and simple paddy farmers, whose blood, sweat and toil have contributed to the objective of achieving self sufficiency in the rice industry.

The Paddy Museum opens daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It closes for Friday prayer from 12.30 to 2.30 p.m. on Fridays. Admission fees are RM3 for adults and RM1 for children while school groups are charged RM1 per person. Each camera brought in will be charged a RM2 fee. (This details was derived from VirtualTourist)

So peepz, remember to visit these place during your visit to Alor Star Kedah. Drop me a comment with your experience and photographs.

Unfortunately, she’s been over-drifting and her tires were badly worned out. To the extend that it punctured. And being a lady and not giving a shit about cars, there were no tools nor space tire available for us to fix that night. After a couple of team came to help us, none were capable to help us. Due to that, fortunately or unfortunately we had to bunk the night at our good friends place, Thomasu Kussu.

One of the reasons we wanted to meet up at Seremban was because of the burger that they had there. It is claimed to be Seremban’s best burger that’s available. I still remember a couple of years back, they only had a corner to themself with 2 tables. Now they have merged with a restaurant and their sales are superb. They are known as the Ijan’s Burger. Now the have all sorts of meat burger, including Deer meat, Rabbit meat, Ostrich meat and many more. They also have their own blog, Ijan’s Burger Blog.

Ijan's Burger Seremban

Ijan's Burger Seremban

Ijan's Burger Seremban

After the tire incident, Rao Broom was kind enough to drive us to Ijan’s Burger to takeaway. Jaz My Ass and Leon The Shorty suggested that they go and buy a crate of beer. Being Fasting Month and Hari Raya is a month away, the Police are all of a sudden hardworking and working at road blocks, probably to collect a few bucks for the celebration, you know what I mean? This is something obvious in Malaysia.

We then chilled in front of Thomas house, the best place to chill with some cold beer and Ijan’s Burger by our side. We were talking about absolutely everything, we surely did have alot to speak about being 5 months of no conversation. We only went to sleep at nearly 6 in the morning.

Hweeli and Leon

Rao and Jaz

Thomas and Thristhan

Thristhan, Rao, Tiger and Ijan's Burger

Thristhan and Ijan's Burger

Woke up at 9.30am and Thomas parents were already at Church. Rao came by to help Hweeli and myself to our car that was conviniently parked in front of a tyre shop. After fixing the tires, we went over to Rao’s place to meet his wife Letch and son. I did not have a chance to minggle with the little boy the last time we met because he was fast asleep. But this time, I managed to play with him for a few minutes, one gorgeous dude. The smile this boy emits is just adorable.

Cute right?

So adorable

So thank you guys for all the fun we had. Till our next plan (which we all believe it’s going to be a night out at Avilion Port Dickson) have a great day and keep in touch.

All they needed at that point is your Identity Card, and you will be registered to the address based on your IC. Mine stated a address that we used to stay at 2 years ago, and according to them, if I want to vote at the new area, I’ll have to update the address on my IC first. Anyway I didn’t bother as the old house wasn’t to far away. So when voting, I’ll have to go to a school that’s located nearest to Kapar.

I was given a copy of the form that they kindly help fill up for me and I was to check a website whether my application is successful. It takes 3-6 months for them to register me. So peepz, do your part and make a difference in the next coming election.

Registering as a Voter

Registering as a Voter

What I loved about the movie is that the Idea behind it. A few years back, a good friend and me was having a conversation on Dreams and how we were in control with them, creating whatever we like in that special world of ours. But what went through my mind or rather dream at that time was very hard for me to describe or explain in words. This movie explains that very clearly.

Multiple level dreaming. Frankly this is very possible, I’ve gone through 2 levels of dreaming. Waking up and only to find out that I’m actually still dreaming. I also had the ability to split myself into so many me in order to solve conversations and so on. Imaging talking to yourself, but each one has their own opinions.

I’m not sure how true it is when they mentioned that 5 minutes of sleep in the real life, is about 4 hours in our dream. I know once I only had about 5 minutes to sleep, and with that 5 minutes I sort of programmed my mind to believe that it was 1 hour instead. It could be meditating or self-hypnosis, I’m not too sure.

Leonardo is surely the best actor for this movie, the only alternative that I can think of right now is Keannu Reaves. Prince of Persia is still the movie of the year for me.

Inception 2010

Angelina Jolie in Salt

The whole movie is about a young Angelina being sent to taiwan, her parents had died in a car crash and she’s sent to some training school. Only to find out that she’s a spy. So goes against her creators and somehow manages to get revenge. I don’t want to talk alot about the story of the movie as it will kill the suspense.

Overall I still feel that Prince of Persia still stands as my favourite movie of the Year. Salt will be following close by at second place.

Eventhough Angelina looks quite old in this movie, and seems like she’s losing her figure. She still did a great acting in SALT.

Salt the Movie - Angelina Jolie