THE BIG BLOG EXCHANGE 2014: Vote Jasmine for Malaysia!

This is a pinned post. For updated post, scroll below!

First of all, did you see that guy who is in first place for the Asia and Oceania region? He has over 1k votes! How can I top that off???

And then I thought, “What the hell! Let’s just do this!” So I did. I signed up and contemplated on various ways to have people vote for me. Should I bungee jump? Should I swim with the sharks? Should I give everyone some gummy bears as a thank you? (that could work actually!)

Hi! My name is Jasmine and I’ve no idea how to make you vote for me but I will tell you why I joined the Big Blog Exchange.

THREE REASONS

1) I want to show the beauty of Malaysia before it’s gone.

This is my grandmother’s backyard in our hometown of Penampang – located in Sabah, Malaysia (on the island of Borneo). Do you see the drastic change in just 10 years?

They are building a state-of-the-art convention centre there which will host offices, halls, hotel, restaurants etc. Sure, development is inevitable. However, in doing so, the locals, especially the indigenous communities such as my family and I, are in constant pressure to sell our ancestral lands to developers. The paddy field which was mended by my grandmother and her grandmother all their lives is now no more. Decades of hard work thrown away just like that. It must be traumatising for my grandmother and for many unfortunate indigenous communities.

I joined this competition because I want to show to the world the authentic and natural beauty of Malaysia. I want to show them the vibrant and rich culture that we have, the warm friendly faces of our people and the savory and exquisite taste of our local traditional foods. Malaysia today is known for our series of unfortunate tragedies, but what’s great to know that amidst all that surrounds Malaysia, there is still that bit of warmth and beauty that the country can offer to its visitors and boy, are excited to show you!

2) Culture, people and new places excite me!

Statues in Haw Phra Kaew temple – Vientiane, Laos

I love to travel and have made a point to make it a yearly event which is often a challenge when you are on a student budget. Even so, my friends and I would without fail, still make a point to travel to somewhere new, even if it’s just a neighbouring country!

The country or place that I travel to does not matter much to me; whether in the streets of Bangkok or in the hills in Switzerland, as I feel privileged as it is to be able to travel and venture out in those countries. Everything is new, exciting and wonderful and I can’t wait to explore and be amazed by the beauty that the country and its people have shaped!

3) Hostels are great way to make new friends and learn new things!

German friends that I made friends with while staying by myself in a hostel in Kuching, Sarawak for the Rainforest World Music Festival.

While attending an international conference and staying in a hostel in London, I met Finnish singer/songwriter, Alba Sun, who was a few beds away from me!

My Australian and German friends that I met in Sarawak came to visit my friends and I in Kuala Lumpur where we brought them to the most Malaysian place to chill – a mamak!

I love staying in hostels during my travels. It’s not only cheap but definitely an experience on its own! I cannot tell you how many long time friends I’ve met during my stay in hostels. I find that hostels are a great way to find new friends to explore new places with and what better way to go for an adventure with someone who you barely know and who barely knows you too! Not only are you able to share wonderful stories and experiences each other, but you also get to do fun exciting things together that your friends wouldn’t normally be game for! I.e., bungee jumping in New Zealand? Or going on a road trip in India!

I think that’s the best kind of companion during your travels and hostels are definitely the best kind of place to stay, meet and share histories and memories in ;)

Vote for me! Help me make my dreams come!!! Let me represent Malaysia!

I can’t wait to experience all these if I get the opportunity to be part of the Big Blog Exchange! I not only get to travel to a new place and live there for 10 days, but I also get to stay in hostels there where I get to meet fun and exciting people who are pumped up for an adventure as I am.

What a great opportunity and privilege to experience that!

Please VOTE FOR ME. It only takes less than 5 minutes!

How to vote?
1. Go to this link.
2. Click ‘VOTE FOR ME’.
3. Insert your email and click ‘OK’
4. Check your email to confirm your vote
5. Done! Thank you for your vote!
6. Share it with your friends and family on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even your blog!

* #6 is optional, but I would appreciate if you could help!
* One email = One vote; although if you have multiple emails, you can vote multiple times!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND SUPPORT!!! ♥

About the Big Blog Exchange 2014

The Big Blog Exchange is a global competition where it gives 16 lucky bloggers the opportunity of a lifetime to ‘swap countries’ with each other. During the swap, the bloggers will take over each other’s blogs and blog about their 10-day experience in each other’s countries. For example, if I am paired up with a blogger from Germany, then he/she will fly to Malaysia and I will go to Germany where we will live in hostels (as this competition is hosted by Hostelling International) and will record our travels in each other’s blogs.

ONE EMAIL, ONE VOTE. Hence, if you have more than one email, you have more than welcome to vote using those emails too as more votes means higher chance of me being in the lead! Please check your e-mails upon voting me as you need to ‘CONFIRM VOTE’ to be counted as a vote. It would mean the world to me too if you could kindly share this wonderful news to your friends and family.

Help me represent Malaysia! Vote for me here!