CYBERJAYA-based treasure hunt enthusiast Richard Si started blogging unintentionally.

Si says the Treasure Hunting in Malaysia’s blog shares his experience as a hunter as well as a hunting event organiser.

Attending a free how-to blog workshop some time in February this year, he had to create a blog as part of an assignment. Within minutes, Si had his first two live postings on Treasure Hunting in Malaysia (http://treasurehuntingmalaysia.blogspot.com).

“Because treasure hunting has been my passion for years, what better subject to blog and share about if not something which I have flare and enthusiasm for. It also synchronises with the fact that my wife and I have been ‘treasure hunting’ regularly for close to 10 years now, and we also run an event management company specialising in treasure hunting. So, what started off as an exercise in a blogging workshop has now become one of my main real-estates in cyberspace,” the 39-year-old told Tech&U.

Si, a Star Trek fan, said the blog shares his experience as a hunter as well as a hunting event organiser.

“It gives me space to reach out and be reached by anyone interested in treasure hunting. I post videos, pictures and documents and write about anything related to hunting. It’s my gateway to treasure hunting in Malaysia!”

Asked to elaborate the features on Treasure Hunting in Malaysia, Si said he has posted video clips of himself participating in treasure hunts, among others.

“I was fortunate to make it as a finalist in a reality TV programme on TV3 about competing in various challenges of a treasure hunting event that went on for four days straight. It was an experience of a lifetime. A significant portion of my current posting is related to the multimedia items that I have specially video shot and photo edited from that event. As I am also the moderator and owner for a treasure hunting forum called Hunters-Inc (groups.yahoo.com/group/hunters-inc), I also post a convenient link, Icon, for anyone interested in joining the forum,” he said.

Other items on the blog are links to his other interests, from matters relating to politics to audio clips that he wishes to share with everyone.

“I believe in the law of abundance where the more one shares, the more one unexpectedly gets in return. Since I am tech-savvy, experimenting with various software to post to my blog is second nature to me,” said the ICT practitioner who has some 18 years under his belt.

And the response to the blog so far? Since putting in a visitor counter two weeks ago, Si said Treasure Hunting in Malaysia has tracked more than 600 hits.

“That’s not bad since there are ways and means to popularise the blog, which I have not even started trying. But the people networking that I have obtained since I started blogging is priceless. For one, I am much more ‘popular’ than I used to be and that has really helped change my outlook in life that life isn’t just about working but that one should ‘reach out’ for what one is passionate about. Blogging helped expressed that and more.”

Of future plans, Si said he hopes to popularise the blog and cross refer visitors to his Web site, www.treasurehunting.engageus.info.

“My plans are to eventually get my Web site(s) up and running, popularise it and then cross refer my visitors from the blog to the Web site(s). Meanwhile, I am already a paying subscriber to Flickr, making that my core repository for photos, while I frequently upload my custom-made videos to YouTube and Google Videos,” he added.