Welcome to my travel blog website, Malaysia Asia. I am an avid traveller and enjoy exploring new places for positive values. From photographing to learning about the place, I can share my travel experiences with my readers and on social media.
This About Me David Hogan Jr page has been edited several times since 2007, as I have changed what I do and how the platform has developed into one of Malaysia’s leading travel blogs. To support that, I have won numerous tourism awards from various tourism boards in Malaysia, including the prestigious Tourism Malaysia Award for the best travel article in Malaysia.
About Me David Hogan Jr
In the main picture above, you see me sitting with probably the last traditional Iban shaman from Sarawak, Borneo. If I remember correctly, he was in his early 90s when we took this photo back in 2005. All of those tattoos you see on him were done using a bamboo needle and tapping.
In 2024, I created a new About Me page that includes more information on Malaysia Asia, the team involved, and its current direction. Also, a new writer on board who specialises in scuba diving and birding has joined the team. You may also want to read that for the latest information.
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| Posing with one of the local cultural entertainers in Lombok, Indonesia. |
Who is David Hogan Jr from Malaysia Asia?
I have lived in the lovely city of Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, for almost all my life. I also consider myself a city person with city ethics, but I have a passion for the outdoors, adventure, nature, and wildlife. I am into birdwatching, scuba diving, trekking, food, and culture. Generally, I am an overall person, meaning I can adapt to any kind of travel.
I came from a film background from 1990 to 2006, and now I focus mainly on travelling, social media marketing and management, and Malaysia Asia.
On the lighter side – Life is good if you ask me, as it is always full of unexpected situations when you choose to live this kind of life. How we look at and decipher them is another ball game altogether.
As you know, I started travelling when I finished school in 1987. A 26-hour Bangkok trip by train opened my eyes, and I have never stopped since. I had experienced working and living in Tokyo, Japan, at the ripe age of 19 and partied in the Northern Mariana Islands of Saipan and Guam (in the Pacific Ocean) when I was 20 years old.
Me at Angkor Wat, Cambodia, in 1998.
Where Have I Been?
In the early years, I travelled to various places worldwide, starting with Australia’s Brisbane and Gold Coast and progressing to Perth in the ’90s. From there on, I just kept going. In the nineties, I visited the United Kingdom six times and Los Angeles, the United States, about five times. A month-long trip to Northern Europe, Finland, Sweden, and Amsterdam, taught me about life in the colder countries, as I had never experienced this when I came from a tropical country.
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| Places that I have visited. |
One of the best places I have visited in all my travels has got to be South Africa’s Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope back in the early 90s. From there, I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to experience South American culture and visit Evita Peron’s Tomb, among other activities.
Since then, I have been focusing on local travels in and around Southeast Asia, and here is where you see most of my current work in Malaysia. Scuba diving and birdwatching have become personal hobbies, especially when I travel for work and have that extra time.
Update 2020: I have semi-retired from scuba diving and have been travelling much less since the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world. My main focus now is primarily birdwatching and general travel, food, lifestyle, and gadgets, which I also write on David.my.
What Have I Been Doing Since 2019?
One of my latest projects in early 2019 was creating and managing a dedicated birding website called Bird Watching Asia, and this is part of my passion and hobby. I aim to develop a niche website about birds, birdwatching, and birding in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. I plan to expand to greater Asia and the world.
Currently, Bird Watching Asia’s focus is on Malaysia, where I highlight birding destinations, tours, and related events. As you may know, working with tourism boards and the private or government sector is really difficult in Malaysia.
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| Malaysia Asia on Facebook. |
MalaysiaAsia Social Media
I am also active on Social Media; you can reach me on popular platforms under @MalaysiaAsia or David Hogan Jr. My company (MyAsia Services) focuses on Social Media Management, Marketing, and campaigning for the travel and tourism industry.
I work closely with Tourism Boards, Hotels and resorts, and even Travel Companies, assisting them in getting more out of Social Media platforms and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for tourism. Contact me if you need to learn more about this.
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| The Malaysia Asia Group, pre-2024 logo. |
Conclusion
In January 2019, I officially announced that I was scaling back on constant travel and, together with my wife, Janice, opened a unique metaphysical and sound-healing business in Malaysia. While I still take on specialised tourism promotion projects from time to time, I no longer travel as frequently as I once did. After more than 30 years on the road, I realised it was time to slow down and create space for a different chapter of life.
With that, I hope you enjoy reading my travel blog and that you’ve discovered a little more about me — David Hogan Jr. If you’d like to reach out or have any questions, feel free to email me at juniorhogan [at] gmail [dot] com, or simply use the Contact Me form. Or the one below.
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Totally – Bangsar Girl here. Ive been wanting explore Malaysia a little bit more these few months. Who knows what's lying around in our own backyard?
LOVE your blog – will take your travel ideas and roll with it. Im going to the Hilton Long House, and also doing Rawa Island (hopefully before the monsoon kicks in) and also the Jungle railway to Kelantan!
Hello Lena, thanks for the kind words and hope you already done the places you mentioned. Do let me know how it went.
Regards,
David
Malaysia Asia
Thank you very much Webroyalty.
SC, thank you too. So far it's been 6 solid active months from June 2009.
Regards,
David
Hi David!
Thanks for visiting my humble blog – Tepak Sireh. We have things in common; an avid traveler, like photographing, Gemini, writes travel blog….
Will link your blog..
cheers!
Hello Rush, thank you bro.
Karlota, yes they are the real tattoos of the Shaman. Awesome isn't it?
David
Thank you very much Alec. Glad you are living the dream and enjoying life! Explore while you can is my motto too 🙂
Hi David, it is really nice to meet you and what you do here on the web. Stay in touch! Best Regard -Diana
Hi Diana, thank you so much and all the best!
Been reading ur blog….facebook and etc!!! You can really write!!! O.,….we went Imbak together! We shoot "star and cloud trail"!!! You inspired me with ur passion to travel and to see the world! Thanks Bro!
Hi David! I'm Nawal from TheJumpingTravellers and I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!! very informative and well written! Keep it up and hope we can backpack together one day!
C YA!
Heya guys, thank you very much and hope to do some 'flash-packing' one day 🙂
One23Smile – Thanks and what was your name again? 🙂
Hello Renata, thank you for the kind words. Also, if you have any questions about Malaysia, please do ask me anytime.
great to know people like you david!
Quite jealous that you get to travel. Would like to after college. Keep it up! 🙂
Good infomation.tk
HI.. congrats for being finalist. very informative blog, definitely to add this into myblog list 🙂
Hey There!
I'm from the 180th, the largest Rover Scout crew in Canada. We're coming to Malyasia on May 2-17. Gonna be blogging about it everyday. http://www.pccrovers.com/iproj2015
Any tips you can share with us about Malaysia?