Malaysia & Singapore

duffyciaran

Hi!!

Going to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for a month on the way to Oz - does anyone have any tips or recommendations of what we should go see/do while we're there???

Not too pushed about Thailand - heard its VERY touristy so don't think we'll stay there very long - more interested in Malaysia and Singapore.

Anyone been recently??

Cheers!

Brian Griffin

Look into the very north of Thailand, might be a little different then the normal image of thailand that you have.

Larianne

Just do a good research on the net for the various places you're going to. What some people might find touristy, others won't.

Chang Mai and around up north in Thailand is meant to be amazing and more relaxed than Bangkok and around. But if you're flying in to Bangkok you'll have to double back to head south. (although not gonna cost you much, just watch out for bus scams/gassing etc.)

You could stop off at a place called Koh Lat in Thailand and from there make you're way over to Langkawi (which is in Malaysia) and very nice and relaxed. I like it because the people were so friendly and the tourists were mainly Russian, dutch and american older couples and families.. so not the place to party but really nice. If you don't want that, try head to one of the islands off the east coast. The scuba diving is meant to be amazing there!! The food is great in Malaysia!

Then there's KL which hasn't got much but it's okay for a day or two.

Singapore should only be stayed in for MAXIUM 3 days!!!!!!!!!!! It's a small island and its mainly shopping to be done. I went to the Night safari there. But that was about it (had an injury) but the nightlife is meant to be great there and if you want to hop over to Indonesia I think that's a good place to do it. It's about the same as Ireland price wise for food/drinks etc.

I've posted on another thread on what are good websites for information on those places.

Enjoy!

dory

Yea, I wouldn't stay in Singapore very long. Any watersports I looked into were cheaper up the road in Malaysia so I did them there. In Malaysia, I thought Cameron Highlands was great. Mostly walking trails, but the butterfly and strawberry farms were cute, not exactly an adventure place.
I went scuba diving on Tioman Island. I thought it was amazing, much less touristy than the other islands. ABC is the quiet place, Salang is the party place on Tioman. Just so you know.

RATM

TBH I found Malaysia and Singapore a bit boring compared to Thailand. But I can recommend the Perrentian Islands which are good for snorkelling/ diving. KL is alright for a few days, if you have the time/inclination then taking a flight across to mainland Malaysia ( Borneo ) to see the Orangutan Sanctuary is well worth it.

watna

I spent two and a half weeks in Malaysia and Singapore on the way to NZ.

We did Singapore, Melacca, KL and KK in Borneo and back to Singapore. I'd recommend flying to Boneo. You can fly with air Asia. If you have more time then we did you can do a lot of tours in the jungle and rafting etc. There's a few tour companies that do different things.

I loved Singapore but you wouldnt want to spend more then 2/3 days there. One thing I regret is that there is a bar in Robertson's quay called clinic. The chairs are all wheelchairs and the couchs look like hospital beds. The staff wear scrubs and you can gt srinks served in a drip that you suck out of. We went to go to it on our last afternoon there, before flying on to Wellington but it was only open at night. Go there for me!

Melacca was lovely (do a river cruise, we saw monitor lizards swimming beside the boat which was awesome!), again 2 days is enough there. We stayed in a fab hostel there in chinatown called twenty guest house. It's the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in.

There's lots to do in KL and the shopping is unreal, everything is so cheap. I bought my bf's birthday present there, a 750GB media drive for about €120. Go to the night market in chinatown too. I've never seen so many "designer" goods! It is a big bustling city though so after we stayed there it was a relief

There's plenty of other places to fly too like langkawi. We didn't see any of the islands cos we only had two weeks but I'd love to so them again.

I know people above are suggesting Thailand but I have to say I really enjoyed my time in Malaysia/Singapore and it was handy to travel around there and get back to Singapore to fly on to Sydeny/Wellington.

SheroN

RATM wrote: »

TBH I found Malaysia and Singapore a bit boring compared to Thailand. But I can recommend the Perrentian Islands which are good for snorkelling/ diving. KL is alright for a few days, if you have the time/inclination then taking a flight across to mainland Malaysia ( Borneo ) to see the Orangutan Sanctuary is well worth it.

How much are you looking at to fly to Borneo? How long would you recomend spending in Borneo?

watna

SheroN wrote: »

How much are you looking at to fly to Borneo? How long would you recomend spending in Borneo?

I paid €50 return with Air Asia from KL to Kota Kinabalu (KK)

S.M.B.

+1 for Borneo!

Well worth the trip even just to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in SE Asia.

Nerfmenow

I just moved back to Ireland last year for Uni after living in Malaysia for 3 years. Been to both Thailand [Bangkok, Phuket, Chang-Mai] and Singapore along with living in Kuala Lumpur. It all depends on what you want. Out of the three, Singapore has the best shopping [Orchard Road] and modern Asian architecture. It's also the most efficient in terms of its airports and public transport.

In Malaysia, KL specifically, there is more of a mix of the old colonial blended with the new modern. You'll find skyscrapers next to rundown buildings and poor apartment blocks. Public transport is chaos but taxis are very cheap [only a couple of euros but you must INSIST on the driver using the meter, or else they will give you a vastly inflated fixed fair if they know you're a tourist]. The shopping is not as good as Singapore however you will be able to buy all the counterfeit DVDs and CDs you can handle [try The Amp Walk or City Square, both are malls with good quality ones] and there is also China town [Petalang Street] where you can find fake sunglasses/handbags/tshirts etc but you will have to haggle [always offer 1/3 of whatever they're trying to sell their good for]. The food in Malaysia is probably the best thing about it. Much of the best food comes from 'Hawker Stalls' on side streets, which may look shady, but are actually perfectly okay to eat in. One of the best places for upmarket food is The Star Hill next to the Westin Hotel. In terms of going out to bars/partying the best places are Asian Heritage Row, Bangsar and along Jalan Bukit Bintang.

Bangkok, like Malaysia, is very cheap. There's an elevated Metro to commute around the city in. Thailand, out all three countries, was definitely the place that felt the most authentically 'Asian' to me. Both Singapore and Malaysia have a colonial past, where as Thailand has never been colonized and still revers their own Monarchy. The most fun I had in Thailand was around the side streets, where the small bars will serve you a 'Bucket' filled with Rum and Red pull with Giant straws, a local 'specialty'. Phuket has beautiful weather, lots of outdoor activities and nice beaches, however can be pretty sleazy in terms of hookers.