This is my first time in participating Blogfest, thanking the host of the festival for bringing it to Penang.
Being born an islander allows me to appreciate big picture from a very special and unique perspective - every big achievement begins with baby steps. Being a part of Blogfest 2010 gives me the honour to witness how little efforts make a long way.
Seeing this little pearl by the equator striving to shine is a big part of my life - we have been through the labour age, moving from trees to infrastructures and receiving overwhelming responds from MNC around the globe yet we still preserving the juicy heritage stories in our little Georgetown impressing the world how we make this little island as lovely as ever yet growing to meet the demand of the growth.
Since the visiting Penang Heritage Sites trip is limited to 40 pax only so my experience started with the pleasantly arranged dinner at QE-II, located at Church Street Pier (built in 1897), hosted by Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia. The place itself welcomes every participants with Penang's 2 greatest signatures - Ferry and Penang Bridge. Indulged in the evening breeze enjoying the casual dining experience has allowed me to mingle around meeting new friends - those that I'll get to know more throughout the following 2 days of the festival.
I think the most incredible thing about the night is - everyone blended in so well. I guess bloggers are special in our own way - we are familiar with words although we might not share the same language so we can easily make ourselves comfortable with topics that we each and everyone interested in.
Myself grew up in Khoo Kongsi, one of the heritage sites, when it was still open renting to tenants of different backgrounds. Back then (almost 30 years ago) we were using the very traditional kind of toilet service - all "big businesses" were collected in a big pail/bucket and will be collected by feces collector knocking every household 6 in the morning.
A lot of feelings crossed my heart when I stood in front of the statue of "TowKay Yeap Chor Ee" at the campus of Wawasan Open University. It touches me when I think about how efforts have been put in to build and make this place prosper.
The second day starts with a very interesting opening speech - once again bloggers are not boring person who can only play with words behind the screen. Representatives from different countries share their blogging experience back in their own place helping one another to understand what is happening in places outside their country and, perhaps, appreciate, blog, this piece of thought sharing platform.
Blogfest has created an opportunity to allow bloggers from countries to come to this small piece of land named after a fruit called "Pinang" witnessing not only the pride of having the recognition as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site but also bring together great minds that share one passion - to record and express what we love and we care with our heart (well, with fingers dancing on the computer keyboard).
It means a lot in help bringing the attention of looking at the duality of all things. What does this island have to offer? It has hills (Penang Hill) and beaches, traditional hawkers and international cuisines, multi-races people that almost can speak or at least understand our local dialect (Hokkien), and most of all it shows, not only to the visitors, but also me that it possesses the gift in offering the hospitality and courtesy that everyone needs when they come to her - a great sun shinny day with cooling drizzles whenever possible.
The afternoon sessions were even more interesting when diverse topics and workshop were held and we each get to choose our own preferred subject to learn and share. I've chosen Commercial Blogging – How to get your blog noticed; Journalistic values for documenting events via your blogs; Speed Up Your Blog With Content Delivery Network (CDN). All different sessions were mind-blowing. As a result I got a very congested head and have to retire to rest early (and yes that means I am "forced" to skip the evening dinner, and MyBloggerCon Award, and PARTAY!!!!!!). Sob sob~~~
Anyway, I am so very looking forward to the final day tomorrow whereby I am sure I will have another inspiration-blasting day with the rest of the bloggers.
What have I gained from Blogfest 2010? Many new friends and also great opportunity to attend inspiring sessions. But most of all, being proud as one of the citizen here. Special thanks to Ministry of Tourism for ushering us into this wonderful festival, Blogfest 2010 for making this remarkable experience memorable, Wawasan Open University for a very comfortable journey, and other sponsors for making this event a great success.
I am blessed to have a peaceful and beautiful home and can be a part of this.
Oh by the way, the t-shirt is cool and I love that tiny packet of dried nutmeg as well as the sling bag!
