On Instagram, pages such as ‘My Travel Murah’ offer products and services that are appealing to wanderlust and foodie fans

by NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK/ pic by BLOOMBERG

EVERY season and trend passes by so quickly as the hype calms down, but there will always be a new trend to take over — one just has to keep one’s eyes peeled on social media for what’s the in thing of the moment.

With pages like “KL Foodie” and “My Travel Murah” mushrooming on social media platforms, it goes without saying that the population is made up of individuals feeling wanderlust and curious to experience different cuisines and new places to visit.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Master of Architecture student Nurul Alia Nasharuddin said what’s being shared on Instagram by these major pages is what triggers anything to go viral.

“They share hiking tracks and also places to go with different cuisines or street food that are accessible in Malaysia.

“Recently, the trending spot was Hat Yai (Thailand) and it felt like every weekend, somebody would share on their Instagram story about their trip to Hat Yai,” she told The Malaysian Reserve.

On Instagram, pages such as “My Travel Murah” offer products and services that are appealing to the wanderlust and foodie fans.

Among the featured destinations are Seoul, Krabi and Singapore, while its most recent and seasonal package is called “Hat Yai on Merdeka”, priced at RM329 per pax for locals who plan to travel in a tour group alongside others.

The Instagram page user itself is an agent under Bahtera Kembara Holidays Sdn Bhd and Ayden Averroes Holidays Sdn Bhd, according to the profile description. On the other hand, “KL Foodie” is a page available on both Instagram and Facebook — sharing food, events and happenings that are bountiful in Kuala Lumpur (KL).

It shares all sorts of food places — including older or newer restaurants that might appeal to the dynamic consumer tastes — using videos, while recording the preparation and presentation of the food.

The food places that have been featured on “KL Foodie” include the Container Kebab at Plaza Low Yat, which recently opened its sixth branch in Malaysia under the Baba Rafi Group kebab chain; a nasi kukus stall located in UTC Sentul; and even a durian spot called Durian Hill in SS2, Petaling Jaya.

Nurul Alia said among the trendier activities nowadays are hiking or water sport activities during the weekends. “Some of them prefer to go outside of KL and Selangor, but some tend to stick around and among them is a popular outdoor spot such as Tasik Banding (Perak),” she said.

As a youth who enjoys hiking, Gamuda Engineering Sdn Bhd mechanical and electrical systems engineer Nurizzettie Mazlan said she personally enjoys hiking for the satisfaction of reaching the top of every climb.

“It’s a kind of satisfaction of achieving something, like when runners cross the finishing line in a race.

“I do ask my friends to come along with me, because hiking alone can be dangerous along the trails and we don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

For beginners, she recommended easy hiking spots such as Bukit Gasing and Denai Tiga Puteri, while a few challenging hiking spots for veteran hikers can be found at Bukit Kutu, Kuala Kubu Baru, as well as Gunung Datuk, Negri Sembilan.

“I don’t really have certain favourites or preferred spots; I’m the kind that likes to hike different hills and mountains.

“I feel like it drains my mental strength if I were to hike at the same spot since I already know the route,” she said.

Among the hiking trails reachable within the Klang Valley are Broga Hill, Semenyih — a trail that is popular for its view at sunrise — and the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, a space open for the public which offers an optional Canopy Walk.

Meanwhile, Jasa Merin (M) Sdn Bhd marine engineer Arif Khalib said Malaysians are investing a lot more time into e-sports as well.

“Although people don’t go to cyber cafes nowadays to practise or train their e-sports skills, they invest and spend thousands of ringgit for a powerful personal computer for gaming purposes and a reason to stay at home,” he said.

The popular e-sports games these days include “Dota 2” by Valve Corp and “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” (PUBG) by PUBG Corp. A tournament for the former was even held recently, known as “The International”, watched by players and non-players all over the world including Malaysia.

In the local mobile landscape, “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” and “PUBG Mobile” are two of the topranked games, according to Similar-Web’s ranking of the top Google Play Store apps in Malaysia.