Having gone on food trails in Sydney and the Southern Highlands in Australia, I can attest to the high quality locally-grown and produced food that makes the dining experience in Australia a superb one and this is just with local Australian chefs.  I was thus very excited when I heard about the upcoming Margaret River Gourmet Escape in Western Australia from 20 to 22 November 2015 as this is, as they called it “an extraordinary festival of food and wine” with a line-up of star chefs from different parts of the world e.g. London, Mexico City, Moscow and even from Singapore i.e. Sam Leong.

If you want to skip the itinerary and route planning to get to the Margaret River Gourmet Escape yourself, then MISA Travel has a few travel packages to Western Australia that will give you a flavour of the Margaret River Gourmet Escape and other foodie experience in other parts of Western Australia.

What makes this Western Australia Perth travel packages really unique is that you will have Chef Wan as your tour guide. Chef Wan is a Malaysian celebrity chef and a household name in Asia with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. He is known for his flamboyant sense of style and his talents range from chef, author and actor to TV host and publisher. On these MISA Travel package itineraries, you also get the opportunity to learn how to cook from Chef Wan in person over there in Australia!

There are three 5 Days 4 Nights Western Australia Foodie Experience tour options available from MISA Travel.  If you just want to experience Perth and nearby attractions like Pinnacle and Swan Valley with some food and wine tastings without doing the Margaret River Gourmet Escape package, then this 5 Days 4 Nights Perth and Swan Valley Gourmet Experience with Chef Wan tour is the tour for you.  Prices start from $1488 (subjected to taxes from $442 and may change without prior notice) and there is a $200 discount per couple and you fly with Singapore Airlines. There are land tour only package available (starting from $1280) too but no couple discounts available.

Picture credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyarch/

If you want to experience the Margaret River Gourmet Escape, then MISA Travel’s 5D4N Margaret River Gourmet Escape with Chef Wan and 5D4N Margaret River Foodie Experience with Chef Wan are the tours you want to go for. Both these tours bring you to Margaret River from Western Australia’s capital Perth with stops at picturesque towns along the route like Busselton.

The Busselton Jetty – the longest timber piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, extending 1.8 kilometers across the stunning Geographe Bay, is one of the highlights of these two tours.

Picture credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelspencer/

With the 5D4N Margaret River Gourmet Escape with Chef Wan tour, you will have a full day at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape Gourmet Village on Day 3 of the trip.  Included in your travel package is entry to this Gourmet Village hosted at Leeuwin Estate Winery. The Gourmet Village is the heart of the Margaret River Gourmet Escape festival. This is a buzzing world of culinary excitement and the perfect opportunity to experience the delectable delights the region has to offer. Hosted at Leeuwin Estate Winery, it’s where all the culinary stars come together for an action packed programme filled with cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, masterclasses, intimate Q&A’s and panel discussions.

You have the option to top up an additional S$25 for the Gourmet Village premium entry pass which entitles you to Gourmet Escape Money (GEM) with value of AU$28. GEMs is the ‘official’ currency at the Gourmet Village; 1 GEM = AU$7 so you will be provided with 4 GEMs when you top up for the premium entry option.

The price range for typical food & other things such as chocolates, jams, spices, vegetables, fruits, etc ranges from AU$7 to AU$21 . There are also recipe books and cooking utensils/accessories that you can buy with the GEMs.

Besides the Gourmet Village entry, you also have the option to top up for optional Margaret River Gourmet Escape dinner events e.g. Gourmet Beach BBQ Dinner (S$159), Feast in the Forest Dinner (S$124) and Sundown Soiree (S$109).  This option is also available if you take up the 5D4N Margaret River Foodie Experience with Chef Wan tour – you will attend these dinner events on Day 1 if you take up one of these options.

I did a quick check on the official Margaret River Gourmet Escape website – almost all of these dinner events are sold out (there are very limited spaces for the Sundown Soiree) but you will still be able to get tickets from MISA Travel as part of the Chef Wan tour.  Even if tickets were still available for these dinner events, you get a much better deal with MISA Travel as you enjoy discounted rates (for some events – almost 30% off!).

For example, you only top up S$159 for the Gourmet Beach BBQ Dinner (sold out now but it was selling for AU$224+).  At the Gourmet Beach BBQ Dinner, you can enjoy the ultimate beach pop-up restaurant in style, under tee pees on the idyllic Castle Bay Beach. Indulge in a truly unique and relaxed affair as you take in the beauty of the Indian Ocean while sampling the region’s best culinary delights matched with some of the finest regional wines and local craft beer. AUDI Gourmet Beach BBQ menus will be inspired by the guest chef and will include an intimate Q&A with the guest chef.

The Feast in the Forest Dinner is also sold out (it was selling for AU$168+) but you can still get tickets from MISA Travel as part of your Chef Wan tour for just S$124.  You can enjoy a Feast in the Forest at the Leeuwin Estate Safari Club, carved up by some of the most passionate and inspirational chefs in the country as they showcase locally sourced quality ingredients, farm-to-fork style, in a sublime forest under an authentic Aussie barn. A carnivore’s dream, the Feast in the Forest menus will be designed around slow cooking whole animals over coals on the barn’s outdoor open coal fire pit.

As of now, the Sundown Soiree dinner tickets are selling for AU$158+ but you can get it from MISA Travel at just S$109. Now considered a Gourmet Escape institution, the highly regarded Fraser Gallop Estate will once again open the doors to its private residence normally closed to the public. The ideal way to enjoy a fine wine as the sun sets at the stunning private Fraser Gallop Estate. This sundown soirée will see you enjoying award winning wines by the exclusive Fraser Gallop Winery and canapés, all whilst soaking up the beautiful scenery plus a special appearance and Q&A session with an international chef.

For an overview of what the Margaret River Gourmet Escape is all about, check out this video.

Besides the Margaret River Gourmet Escape experiences, Chef Wan will bring you to other parts of Western Australia for different foodie experiences.  This is a snippet of one of the itineraries – …visit Margaret River Nougat Company, watch how the nougat is hand crafted from start to finish and have a chance to taste them. Continuing on, we will visit Cheeky Monkey Brewery & Cidery born and brewed in Margaret River as you learn all about brewing them. Next stop, The Margaret River Chocolate Company, you may purchase mouth-watering, hand-made premium chocolate products and sample some of their finest chocolate. Thereafter, visit a three generations working winery and put your taste bud to taste some quality wines… So you can be assured of lots of eating and drinking throughout the trip and do some sightseeing along the way too.

Book your trips here by 31 Oct 2015:

5D4N Margaret River Gourmet Escape with Chef Wan

5D4N Margaret River Foodie Experience with Chef Wan

5 Days 4 Nights Perth and Swan Valley Gourmet Experience with Chef Wan

or call MISA Travel at (+65) 6538-0318 for more details

Opening of MISA Travel Online Travel Centre.

Located at Hong Lim Complex #03-104 to 107, the new Online Travel Centre aims to provide more focused customer experience with more service counters (27 service counters) and more experiential activities to welcome all visitors to our centre.

For 3 days only, from 01 – 03 October, in celebration of our 21st anniversary as the first local online travel agent, and the Grand Opening of our Online Travel Centre, MISA Travel will be holding a 3 days Superhero Fair, details as follows:

Theme: Superhero Fair…offering 21 Great Super Deals and Hero Deals
Date: 01 – 03 October 2015
Time: 9.00am – 6.00pm
Venue: MISA Travel Online Travel Centre #03-104 to 107, Hong Lim Complex (Above Hong Lim Food Centre)
Activities include:

– “Win a Free Holiday” contest when you take a selfie at our photo booth and post on MISA Travel’s facebook
– Free food-tasting & wine-tasting from around the world
– Australia “Crocodile Dundee” game

21 great travel offers will be made available to our customers, covering destinations from SE Asia to Australia/New Zealand to North Asia, and as far as Europe & USA…There are some special great travel deals for everyone including:

• Tokyo by Delta Airlines + Free Tokyo Disneyland Entrance Ticket fr. S$369* Return Delta Airlines air ticket | Disneyland entrance ticket | Discount 5% off for selected optional tour
• 4D3N Visit Manchester with Theatre of Dreams by Lufthansa fr. S$499*
  Return Lufthansa air ticket | 3N stay | Manchester United Stadium Tour
• 4D3N Gold Coast Super Hero Deal by SQ fr. S$569* Return SQ air ticket | 3N stay + daily breakfast | Return airport transfer | Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Admission | Jet Boat Ride | SkyPoint Observation Deck Entry *Prices are exclusive of taxes & surcharges fr.S$171 – S$942, subject to change due to seat availability & currency/other fluctuations. Other T&Cs apply.