To Malaysia... and beyond!

amictus

slinga wrote: »

If you are in Sing and fancy some seafood then ask your friends to take you to the East Coast Food Centre.
Lots of places for seafood in Sing but imo this is the best. Maybe 8 seafood restaurants there.
Also Race Course Rd, either Muthu's or the Banana Leaf for a great Fish Head Curry. Not to be missed.

Malaysia including Penang can be a bit off putting for hawker food as it's not the cleanest environment.
But seldom get gut rot from it.

If you are in the Batu Feringhee/Tanjong Bungah area of Penang then look out for the Crab House Restaurant, worth taking the time to find.
Great prawns and crabs dry fried and ask them to point out the height the water reached during the Tsunami.
And right next door there is a hawker centre where 'pratta ice cream and banana dish' is a great dessert after the Crab House.

Thanks a lot for these recommendations. It's always good to know that I've got a number of places that I can go and be sure of good food... particularly as it seems like eating will be one of my main activities!

Doshwaster wrote: »

There are certainly worse ways to spend your time...

Yup true... though if I'm not careful I'm just going to spend my all my time in food markets and restaurants, and not actually get to see any of the sights!

Doshwaster wrote: »

I hope that when you come back you give us a comprehensive trip report. Going from Singapore to KL to Bangkok you are going to see three very different cities - though Penang will surely be the highlight.

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time. Malaysia really is a undiscovered country for British holiday makers. Unlike certain parts of Thailand it hasn't yet been spoiled by mass tourism so now is a good time to go (well, a few years ago was even better when the exchange rate was much more favourable!)

Yeah, I'm hoping to get a real feel of what this part of Southeast Asia has to offer, and hopefully inspire me to return sometime soon! With a trips to Taman Negara, Cameron Highlands and Ayutthaya, I should get a sense of the less developed countryside too. Well, I'm sure I'll have a fantastic time anyway!

Doshwaster wrote: »

I hope that when you come back you give us a comprehensive trip report.

I really appreciate all the advice I have been given here, so the least I can do in thanks is give some feedback on my experiences during my trip.

bafty_crastard

Doshwaster wrote: »

There are certainly worse ways to spend your time...

I hope that when you come back you give us a comprehensive trip report. Going from Singapore to KL to Bangkok you are going to see three very different cities

We did a similar trip a couple of years ago. Started in KL then to Singapore (only for a day!) then to Bangkok and Kanchanaburi before returning to KL for a final night before flying back to the UK.
We loved it - we had 2 teenagers with us and they really enjoyed it too as it was so different from anything we'd done before. We ate street food everywhere and didn't get fed up with it at all

haveibeendone

We went to Singapore and then flew to Kl and flew back to Manchester. This was all booked through Expedia who have a multi stop option. We noticed in Singapore that there is a bus to KL which we may have used but we had the flight booked.

Two really good hoels (IMO) Plaza on Scotts (Singapore) and The Ritz Carlton in KL.

blunther

For what it's worth, I went to Malaysia and Singapore this time last year. Stayed in the Impiana KLCC in KL and loved it! Really liked KL too, but it was my first taste of the far east - heading back that way to Thailand for three weeks soon! Went to Taman Negara for a couple of nights, which was nice - never had any anti-malarials though. Didn't really notice too many mozzies - but tons of cicadas!!

amictus

bafty_crastard wrote: »

We did a similar trip a couple of years ago. Started in KL then to Singapore (only for a day!) then to Bangkok and Kanchanaburi before returning to KL for a final night before flying back to the UK.
We loved it - we had 2 teenagers with us and they really enjoyed it too as it was so different from anything we'd done before. We ate street food everywhere and didn't get fed up with it at all

Sounds good to me. As I said, I'll be ending my trip with 4-5 days in Bangkok. I'm hoping to have a day trip (and maybe overnight stay) out to Ayutthaya, but don't think I'll be able to squeeze in Kanchanaburi this time.

haveibeendone wrote: »

We went to Singapore and then flew to Kl and flew back to Manchester. This was all booked through Expedia who have a multi stop option. We noticed in Singapore that there is a bus to KL which we may have used but we had the flight booked.

Two really good hoels (IMO) Plaza on Scotts (Singapore) and The Ritz Carlton in KL.

I won't be staying in a hotel in Singapore, but I'm still on the look out for somewhere to stay in Kuala Lumpur. The Ritz Carlton looks like an awesome hotel... but at £120+ per night it's little out of my price range unfortunately!

blunther wrote: »

Stayed in the Impiana KLCC in KL and loved it!

I did a quick check and the prices seem fairly reasonable, so I'll definitely be considering this one. Thanks for the recommendation!

blunther wrote: »

Went to Taman Negara for a couple of nights, which was nice - never had any anti-malarials though. Didn't really notice too many mozzies - but tons of cicadas!!

This is the one part of my trip that I'm still most unsure of. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps you could answer a few questions based on your experience in Taman Negara...

How long did you stay there? Do you think this was enough time to get a good feel for the area?

Did you take a tour package run by a private company or did you organise everything yourself? Do you think this was best way to go about it?

Will be straightforward to organise trips (river cruise, night treks, overnight stay in a hide, etc.) when I arrive at the park HQ?

Did you stay in the Mutiara Taman Negara resort or in Kuala Tahan village (across the river)? How did you find the accommodation?

You didn't notice many mosquitoes and didn't use any anti-malaria medication... do you know if this was the same for other tourists visiting the area?

Sorry for all the questions... just some things that are going through my head while I think about this part of my trip. Of course, any more general advice would be very welcome!

blunther wrote: »

Really liked KL too, but it was my first taste of the far east - heading back that way to Thailand for three weeks soon!

Thailand looks fantastic. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Doshwaster

owains wrote: »

I won't be staying in a hotel in Singapore, but I'm still on the look out for somewhere to stay in Kuala Lumpur. The Ritz Carlton looks like an awesome hotel... but at £120+ per night it's little out of my price range unfortunately!

It may sound expensive but for that £120 you get far a better hotel than you would find for £500 in London. If you don't stop in 5* hotels very often then it's a chance to treat yourself to a taste of luxury even if it's for one night. If £120 a night really is too sharp then are some excellent top end hotels in KL and BKK at around £50-60/night.

amictus

Doshwaster wrote: »

It may sound expensive but for that £120 you get far a better hotel than you would find for £500 in London. If you don't stop in 5* hotels very often then it's a chance to treat yourself to a taste of luxury even if it's for one night. If £120 a night really is too sharp then are some excellent top end hotels in KL and BKK at around £50-60/night.

Oooh I'm tempted! As it's just 2 nights, I may well just treat myself... particularly as I'll probably be staying in much cheaper guest house type accommodation during the rest of my time in Malaysia. Looking at prices again, it's surprising how much cheaper the rooms are when breakfast isn't included. Though it's not as convenient, I guess I could get food after leaving the hetels in the morning. From what I hear, I'm sure I won't be short of tasty breakfast options!

Still got my 5 nights in Bangkok to organise too!

blunther

owains wrote: »

This is the one part of my trip that I'm still most unsure of. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps you could answer a few questions based on your experience in Taman Negara...

How long did you stay there? Do you think this was enough time to get a good feel for the area?

Did you take a tour package run by a private company or did you organise everything yourself? Do you think this was best way to go about it?

Will be straightforward to organise trips (river cruise, night treks, overnight stay in a hide, etc.) when I arrive at the park HQ?

Did you stay in the Mutiara Taman Negara resort or in Kuala Tahan village (across the river)? How did you find the accommodation?

You didn't notice many mosquitoes and didn't use any anti-malaria medication... do you know if this was the same for other tourists visiting the area?

Sorry for all the questions... just some things that are going through my head while I think about this part of my trip. Of course, any more general advice would be very welcome!

Hiya,

We actually booked a package before we left at Taman Negara - it was this place I think:
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/tahaneng.htm

We booked accommodation and various activities before we left, then booked transport at the Mandarin Pacific Hotel in Chinatown, which has alittle desk for such things. Not being seasoned travellers, I'm sure we could have got it cheaper or something, but still worked out incredibly cheap by western standards so we weren't too bothered. The trip left from Chinatown KL, via Jerantut, then a couple of hours on a boat, then we had two nights, then returned the same way - got back into KL about 5pm I think.

As I say, the activities were arranged - we had our own guide between the trhee of us, but we could change our activities within reason - for example, my old man wasn't up for the hill walking, so we went on a nice boat trip to a fish sanctuary instead. Also did a tree-top rope-walk thing, visited a hill-village (bit of a human zoo... didn't feel right knowing how many tourists they must get....), a night-safari whcih was interesting. It wasn't exactly a proper jungle experience, but then we never expected that either, since we didn't want to hardships. Some of the boat rides, especially the one to the fish sanctuary, were beautiful, and tehre was ample opportunity for swimming in the river and near a waterfall if that's your thing.

The accommodation was fine - we had a room with AirCon which was good to keep the bugs out - basicish, but comfortable, and the food was fine!

I don't tend to get bitten, but I think I was a bit too laissez-faire with things really - never had any jabs or anything either!! My old man covered himself in deet spray as he gets bitten by anything going!

If I were to go again, I'd book everything independently, as I now have a bit more knowledge of how to book thigns and what to expect - I've sorted my Thailand trip completely independently - but we were very happy with our taster of the rainforest!

Hope this helps, and have a great trip!

amictus

blunther wrote: »

Hiya,

We actually booked a package before we left at Taman Negara - it was this place I think:
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/tahaneng.htm

We booked accommodation and various activities before we left, then booked transport at the Mandarin Pacific Hotel in Chinatown, which has alittle desk for such things. Not being seasoned travellers, I'm sure we could have got it cheaper or something, but still worked out incredibly cheap by western standards so we weren't too bothered. The trip left from Chinatown KL, via Jerantut, then a couple of hours on a boat, then we had two nights, then returned the same way - got back into KL about 5pm I think.

As I say, the activities were arranged - we had our own guide between the trhee of us, but we could change our activities within reason - for example, my old man wasn't up for the hill walking, so we went on a nice boat trip to a fish sanctuary instead. Also did a tree-top rope-walk thing, visited a hill-village (bit of a human zoo... didn't feel right knowing how many tourists they must get....), a night-safari whcih was interesting. It wasn't exactly a proper jungle experience, but then we never expected that either, since we didn't want to hardships. Some of the boat rides, especially the one to the fish sanctuary, were beautiful, and tehre was ample opportunity for swimming in the river and near a waterfall if that's your thing.

The accommodation was fine - we had a room with AirCon which was good to keep the bugs out - basicish, but comfortable, and the food was fine!

I don't tend to get bitten, but I think I was a bit too laissez-faire with things really - never had any jabs or anything either!! My old man covered himself in deet spray as he gets bitten by anything going!

If I were to go again, I'd book everything independently, as I now have a bit more knowledge of how to book thigns and what to expect - I've sorted my Thailand trip completely independently - but we were very happy with our taster of the rainforest!

Hope this helps, and have a great trip!

Thanks, this was really helpful. From my quick check, it looks as though it should be pretty easy to book any day trips at the park HQ when I arrive. I was just a little concerned that I would arrive and find everything was fully booked!

Perhaps you could just clarify one thing for me. Can you remember the name of the place you stayed in? Was it in the Mutiara Taman Negara resort or somewhere in Kuala Tahan village (across the river)?

Moonchild

owains wrote: »

Perhaps you could just clarify one thing for me. Can you remember the name of the place you stayed in? Was it in the Mutiara Taman Negara resort or somewhere in Kuala Tahan village (across the river)?

The Mutiara is *so* tired and *so* overpriced you will probably feel ripped off (even though it is cheap). Stay across the river (can't remember where I stayed).

Highlight for me (but I'm odd ) was an afternoon coming down the river in a big rubber tube. Basically they take a bunch of you up river by boat, then you just float down the river enjoying the sounds and sights of the jungle! Might sound boring but I loved it (and no boat noise!). They are waiting for you back at the village to pull you in a couple of hours later!