Have you ever wanted to thank a brand so much?

Wanted to end the year with some bang so headed over to Penang for a 10 day vacation staying half in Georgetown and half on Batu Ferringhi beach. Well once you arrive at the airport, first question you will probably ask is which transportation should I pick to get to my hotel? Remember you can't assume everything works the same everywhere. Well I resorted to good old way of a taxi but I thought I would give #GRAB a chance. Emailed customer service and they said I need to uninstall my grab app (which is singapore) and re-install the app (which will take me to Grab Penang). I gave it a miss....

Until I had to wait for a taxi from E & O hotel to a restaurant. There was no certainty how long one would take to arrive and we ended up waiting for 10 mins. Further they name the price. Curious to compare I finally used another phone to download Grab Penang. My experience with GRAB then reminded me of the very first Microsoft windows-smartphone I launched for O2 (manufactured by HTC) when 2 words clicked in my head "#itworks". Many may not have experienced that first ecstasy of seeing your emails pop up on a small screen in your hand to truly appreciate how far we have come.

So here are all the great reasons the winner goes to GRAB and I actually want to say thank you for a hassle-free vacation and grateful as I am I can imagine how many things could go wrong without GRAB.

#1 car pulls up within a minute 90% of the time, 10% a little longer....regardless if I was in prime tourist area #georgetown or in a more remote area or in a crowded area such as penang hill or by the beach

#2 incredible rates....we are talking about more than 2 to 3 times less than regular taxis without any need to haggle or suspect (remember we are not local to estimate distance and routes), the startup rate is around US$1.10 in a comfort of an air-conditioned car with friendly drivers pulled up to wherever you are. And there was no surcharge on any festive day!

#3 itworks....I mean the whole ecosystem. It is logical to deduce that there is enough critical mass on both the demand and supply side to enable the above factors to be in place; thereby creating the best customer experience we have experienced. The app and maps were all seamless. Having said that, it did work better than in Singapore.

I just thought it is nice to say "thank you" because sometimes it is easy to take things for granted and not remember the team that made all these possible. I would like to state that I have no affiliations with GRAB on any basis so this is a pure kudos feedback to ra-ra great innovations when credit is due.

#digitalinnovations #startupasiawomen #asiastartups #womenstartups #vacationbliss

Christina Teo is the chief community builder of Startup Asia Women community, previously with strong TMT background. Facebook.com/startupasiawomen