I am still in shock. This past week had been surreal. I have finally achieved one of my biggest dreams for this little passion project – to be able to call MeiMeiChu.com an award-winning travel blog!

By a stroke of good luck, I won the Website of the Year (Personal) at the Malaysia Website Awards 2017!

Last August 2017, I had quietly submitted this travel blog for Exabyte’s Malaysia Website Awards for fun. I had forgotten about it until one day I received an email saying that I won Website of the Month (August)! A couple of months later, I was invited to the awards ceremony that happened last Saturday (Jan 27).

I was happy with winning Website of the Month, but never thought this little travel blog could make it all the way to Malaysian Website of the Year at the awards ceremony! The winners were judged based on five criteria – design, SEO, accessibility, performance and content.

It was an unexpected win, one that I was totally not prepared for. You should’ve seen me all shocked and confused as I stumbled up on stage to accept the insanely heavy award. I even had to give a speech! Gosh, that minute of me bumbling on stage has officially made it to my hall of most awkward and nerve-wracking moments in life!

I am so, so, so honoured and humbled by this win. The one thing I strive for in this travel blog is high-quality content and it means the world to me that I won because of good content.

To be honest, I started meimeichu.com 5 years ago on a whim because I was tired of writing depressing news stories during my day job as a reporter. I had so many good stories in me dieing to be written and I needed a creative outlet. It was a spur of the moment decision, hence the lame name.

But this Malaysian travel blog has since grown into something beyond my whim and fancy, it has become a place where I take people on adventures with me. It has become a place where young women come to find inspiration and courage to travel solo, and a place for them to find empowerment.

To everyone who has read even just one single story on meimeichu.com, you are the reason I continue to write and the reason why I managed to win these two really heavy awards. :’)

I can’t see a better way to mark my 5th year of blogging and 10th year of solo travelling too! After all the late nights writing my heart out to an audience that only existed in my mind, and many weekends editing photos after my 40-hour work week, it honestly feels so, so awesome to get this recognition.

For hustlers like us, small recognitions like this and even little things like reader comments give us ownership and inspiration over our passion projects. For me, it is pride to keep writing better stories for you.

I’m going to stop rambling now but seriously, thank you so much for being with me on this journey that I’m still figuring out, this win would not have been possible without your support. Thank you for giving me motivation, love, and a voice.

And of course, kudos Exabytes for hosting the awards. It was my first time attending an awards ceremony like that and it was definitely one to remember.

But most importantly, l’d like to send my love and gratitude to my daddy, mummy and brothers, who have given up on stopping me from travelling solo, grew to see the value in my blogging, and learnt to trust that I know what I’m doing with my life (I don’t). I won the family jackpot.

This Malaysian travel blog is fueled by wanderlust and a love for storytelling, and I hope to keep it that way.

I love you all. Here’s to more adventures and great stories for all of us. XOXO

From the bottom of my heart,
Mei

P/S: Congratulations to fellow travel blogger Kaki Jalans for winning Site of The Month (November)!

The last milestone I hit was in 2016, read:

The Wandering Writer 

My favourite adventures on this blog:

A True Story About Alzheimer’s, Familly, And Getting Lost In China
What It’s Like To Swim With Humpback Whales In Tonga

__________
I’m dedicating meimeichu.com to honest travel stories that’ll teach and inspire. If you like armchair travelling, do follow my personal Facebook and Instagram profiles where I share more stories. :)