Jackie Miao

Jinx Chin

This morning I’d like to introduce you guys to my friend Jinx Chin.

After he move back to Malaysia from the United States, Jinx poured his heart and soul into composing jingles for commercials. Though you may have heard a few of his catchy tunes if you live in Malaysia, you probably don’t know who Jinx is nor heard of his true melodic prowess.

For the longest time I’ve been waiting for him to put his romantic pop rock music out there. Finally, in November 2009 his music hit the Internet and the airwaves of SBS radio in Sydney, Australia.

Jinx has a YouTube channel where he uploads videos of himself doing beautiful covers and a Jango channel featuring his original songs. He’s already got 543 fans from simply uploading his music to Jango.

Here is his first original song of 2010, Back At The Start:-

Back At The Start by J I N X C H I N

P/S: If you can’t access the widget above, please go to his SoundCloud page.

If you like what you hear, you can buy his music at Nimbit for the sensational price of $0.99 a track. For more information on Jinx’s music and to nosy into his wonderfully whacky world of music composition, visit his website at JinxChin.com

Finally the BBC ‘Best Job in the World’ documentary is out and if you are in the U.K. you can watch the replay on BBC iPlayer for the next 5 days.

For me, it was especially fun to see what the other candidates were up to as we were all being really secretive with our plans while we were campaigning for votes!

Here’s a quick screenshot for your enjoyment if you’re not in the U.K. There isn’t a lot about me in there since the documentary focuses on the British candidates. There is however a flashing of my face and a quick mention of my name along the lines of “Up in the big wheel there are other candidates with an eye on the 70k prize. There’s Jackie from Malaysia…”

Despite a small cameo, I am pretty happy I managed to get myself on the Beeb for “happy-feel-good” reasons while I was in the U.K. I wish my mom could have been around to see this (God bless her soul)! She would have been delighted to see her daughter on British T.V.

Check out this program that is hosted by two Hong Kong travel presenters on fishing and climbing Mt. Kinabalu in my home state of Sabah.

沙巴GOGOGO(第1部分)

(Added: 20th March 2009)

沙巴GOGOGO(第4部份)

I thought I’d share this to show that the Hong Kong market should not be ignored as people from the city of 7-million do travel and buy outdoor tour products.

Chinese people generally do one of two things. They either plan their holidays via travel agents that arrange cheap group tours with guides that cater specifically for them, or they get their information via sources they trust will have their interests at heart (like the one above) and  also tend to plan their trips in pairs or more.

Ignoring the Hong Kong market during the course of this campaign would be a mistake due to its proximity to Australia. It only takes 8.5 hours to get from Hong Kong to Brisbane as opposed to an 18-34 hour journey from Europe and/or North America.

With direct flights from Hong Kong to Brisbane on Cathay Pacific, Qantas Airways, China Airlines and Royal Brunei, so much more can be done to bring the right information about the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef to the Cantonese-speaking community to get them on planes and headed to the reef.

I can safely say that serving them generic brochures is a surefire way of sending them packing for destinations that embrace them with outstretched arms. This is especially true as regional tourism becomes more competitive (PATA survey).

As Island Caretaker, I would bring my cultural advantage to market the Great Barrier Reef to an international audience which will include Hong Kong, because I speak and understand Cantonese, am attuned to the habits of the Chinese community and can’t wait to share what experiences are on offer at the Great Barrier Reef to everyone including Cantonese-speakers all over the world.

Air Asia X is running a promotion to the Gold Coast from Kuala Lumpur. With air tickets starting at RM390, you don’t need to be an Island Caretaker to have a dream holiday if you live in South East Asia. If you book between the 16th March 2009 to 22nd March 2009 you’ll be going on your Australian trip in no time.

WHAT TO DO THERE
So what are some of the things you could do at the Gold Coast? You can watch whales hang out, learn how to fly a plane on a simulator and even learn how to surf at Surfer’s Paradise among other things. One of the things I’d do if I were there right now is extreme jetboating. Apparently this monster has a V8 Chevy engine that promises 600hp of fun. Slicing through water on something as fast as a sports car is something I won’t miss for the world, if only for the opportunity to scream like nobody’s looking… because truth is, nobody will be looking! . (See a video of it on YouTube)

Zu and Jezza

DREAMWORLD
My brother and his friend went to Dreamworld to do a seated reverse bungee on the slingshot a few months ago and said it was the most exhilarating thing he had done in a long time. With something ridiculous like 6Gs, I believe this would make most grown men wail like school boys.

For RM167.80 (AUD$69),  you can do all the rides and have a full day of fun experiencing some of the tallest and fastest thrill rides in the world. You must do the Big 5 which include the Cyclone Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Giant Drop, Wipeout and The Claw which will completely blow your mind, so I’ve heard!

I’d imagine it would be wise to unload your cargo before going (alternative: wear a diaper), because no matter how much fun you’ll be having on the joyrides, certain types of uncontainable glee are just not sexy.

There’s so much to do at the Gold Coast and you can find out more at VeryGoldCoast.com.au and for flight information go to AirAsia.com

Isn’t it time for you to recharge your batteries?