DIY Singapore, Malaysia trip

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agantuk

Forerunner
Guys, going by the HUGE response received by a similar thread created by raksrules, I am starting another thread for my trip to Singapore this November. Expect some great discussion.

Places planning to visit: Singapore (compulsory), PLUS Malaysia (if costs aren't too high)
Going with: Parents
Time of visit: Month of November, 2010 (this year)
Once there, plan to: Go sight seeing and shopping, adventure sports are ruled out
Duration: max 4 days if only Singapore, max 1 week if Malaysia also included
Budget: Don't have much clue on how much it costs, so looking to get an idea.

What information I have gathered so far: yatra, and makemytrip have Singapore only 3/4 day packages for around 26 - 29 K per head. Also saw a deal from Cox and Kings for 25K for a week's Singapore + Malaysia trip, BUT taxes and other charges come to a whopping 17.5K extra (10K has been put for documentation alone :O )

At the outset, just need to know my options. Is a DIY trip to Singapore more economical AND enjoyable than the packaged ones?

Folks staying or having visited Singapore or Malaysia, please guide :)
 
^^You can check Air Asia fares to Kuala Lumpur, guess they are the cheapest. But mind you it does not include any check in baggage so take that into consideration.

For hotels go to agoda.com, hotels.com (India site) or hotelscombined.com to search for best deals.

Agoda is recommended for great deals as well as super fast refunds in case you cancel a hotel. But they will charge 15$ for processing.

Hotels.com has also good options and if you get a good deal on hotels.com as against agoda go with hotels.com as they dont charge cancellation fees (unless specified).

For air tickets (except air asia), look at the current on going offer of ICICI Cleartrip. I am assuming you and your parents (total 3 people) are going so you can save on at least one return ticket. I have saved around Rs. 5500 on my total cost of 31k for tickets. (effective cost around 26k types).

Mind you for a DIY trip, you have to take pain for all the bookings and stuff. I have done the same for my Thailand trip in early next year. Too many things to look out for and things to check.

I suggest you get the details from those travel people about hotels and sightseeing and then plan yourselves.
 
I've been to singapore so i can tell you Sentosa islands, singapore zoo/night safari and jurongs birds park are the places you must go.

each of these can take an entire day, so ideally you should be visiting them on alternate days and shop on the days between these trips. Raffles place, orchard street, bugis street are the best to shop around. i think you should travel by singapore airlines.. by far the best flying experience and you also end up gettin some discounts on the entry passes to jurongs, sentosa and singapore zoo.
 
My parents went for a trip to Singapore and Malaysia 8 days and 7 nights with 2 days of cruise .Total trip cost is 75K per head.
 
@Metalspree, was that a guided tour? If so, from which operator?

@gauz88, sounds like yours was a DIY trip. Did you book the hotel and opt for the hotel's sight seeing package?

raksrules said:
^^You can check Air Asia fares to Kuala Lumpur, guess they are the cheapest. But mind you it does not include any check in baggage so take that into consideration.
Click to expand...

Yea, they do seem to have the cheapest fares for Malaysia considering their 'tax' component is much on the lower side. However, I am considering Malaysia only is an add-on at this point with Singapore being the priority. What are the cheapest options for travel? I saw Tiger Airways come at 11K round trip per head. Is it reliable enough not to cancel their flight at the last moment?
 
my uncle is in singapore so i didnt have to arrange for any hotel bookings and as for the the sight seeing, we did it all by ourselves.. you go to any of the places i mentioned you have a map and you can navigate your way around. Sentosa for example is huge, so you cant actually cover all the islands.. there are some like underwater world which you really shouldnt miss and there are some which you can probably skip.

In case of zoo and the birds park, you must make sure you see the birds and animal shows that happen.

i really think you should choose between cathay pacific, singapore airlines, jet airways for your travel. the reason i am saying is singapore is like a 5 and a half flight. if you are sure about your dates and book your tickets in advance you can get good fares on cathay and singapore airlines.
 
+

singapore flyer

in malaysia if going to kuala lumpur

genting highland (one night stay here else it's hectic)

+ petronas tower + KLM tower
 
gauz88 said:
i really think you should choose between cathay pacific, singapore airlines, jet airways for your travel. the reason i am saying is singapore is like a 5 and a half flight. if you are sure about your dates and book your tickets in advance you can get good fares on cathay and singapore airlines.
Click to expand...
I checked the fares on Singapore Airlines, and they are a good 4K per round trip per head more than Tiger Airways. Given the travel duration of 4 hours from here, is it worth the difference? Does Singapore Airlines also charge for baggage?

Additionally, is English good enough to find our way through the city?

tech1978 said:
+
singapore flyer
in malaysia if going to kuala lumpur
genting highland (one night stay here else it's hectic)
+ petronas tower + KLM tower
Click to expand...
Thanks! I hope you meant fly by Singapore Airlines :)

I have been checking with folks outside TE too and they too seem to have visited Singapore outside of guided tours. That being the case, what would be some good hotels to stay in - looking at atleast 3 star, in a centrally located OR well connected place. Security is important :)
 
malyasia

i was there for around one month...i explored only city/town...during weekends....follwing might help u bit...

Arrival....two airports.....KLIA and LCCT(air asia uses this airport but still u need to check out with your travel agent)

from KLIA u can catch TRAIN (located at lowest level of main building) for KL Sentral station.

KLIA main terminal building and LCCT are interconnected.

u will find hotels near(arnd 500mtrs) KL sentral station [(myhotel) twin/double/triple bed is @ around RM100/-( `1400/-)[ and all possible kind of tranport system available from this station.....monorail,rapid kl,bus,taxi,rail connecting to various parts of malaysia.

places to visit....from KL sentral...

u can get map(trasport as well as city) from ur hotel ...if ur willing spend extra u can always hire taxi...but here is the least expensive ways to travel across city.

SHOPPING : -bukit bintang plaza(electronic stuff and others),low yat plaza(computer related must visit ),time square mall ---- use monorail get down at bintang station which connected to bukit bintang plaza & time square mall.





KLCC(suria mall and petronas twin tower),Chinatown(shopping chinese stuff) ---- use Rapid KL....there is station called KLCC which is underneath of petronas twin tower and its connected to suria mall.

and for chinatown ...get down at paser sani station use rapid kl only

if u want to visit petronas tower sky bridge....u have to queue up early in the morning before 7 am.....ow u wont able to get ticket for visit...on every mondays it remains CLOSE.

Genting (MUST visit....i didnt got time to visit :( ) --- u can catch bus from KL sentral station

putrajaya and so many places to visit....i know only about town

if u have any doubt let me know.
 
agantuk said:
I checked the fares on Singapore Airlines, and they are a good 4K per round trip per head more than Tiger Airways. Given the travel duration of 4 hours from here, is it worth the difference? Does Singapore Airlines also charge for baggage?

Additionally, is English good enough to find our way through the city?
Click to expand...

afaik singapore airlines does not charge extra for baggage.. though the baggage allowance varies according to the time you travel.. sometimes you may get a 30 kg allowance as opposed to the standard 20 kg allowance (hand luggage 5-8kg extra). Depends on the season i think.i would personally prefer singapore airlines for its service. Cathay pacific i think has a 2 hour stopover at bangkok if you fly from mumbai. I cant comment on air asia and tiger airways since i haven't travelled by those before.

English is good enough to find your way through the city. additionally you may want to check out Singlish :p

Singlish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
universal said:
malyasia

i was there for around one month...i explored only city/town...during weekends....follwing might help u bit...
..........

if u have any doubt let me know.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot bro! Quite a detailed post that. I am going to look into details based on your post for Malaysia, since I haven't got any other info from TE for there :)
gauz88 said:
English is good enough to find your way through the city. additionally you may want to check out Singlish :p
Singlish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...

Was a pleasant surprise learning that English is the primary language, though I am to blame, I should have checked it out earlier :)
Metalspree said:
Start using the words can-can and la :P
Click to expand...

I hope you are not trying to land me in a soup. :P With so many Chinese around, don't wish to take chances :D
 
how much is food n local travel in malaysia?? general bus / taxi / train rates would be good, and an approx on how much u need to spend on a decent meal. not only hotels n stuff but small restaurents and road food??
 
Checking with different tour operators is giving me an indication that a Singapore + Malaysia trip for around a week's time comes to around 65 - 70 K per head on twin sharing basis, lunch, dinner, and shopping extra. Similar to what Metalspree mentioned. I hope to complete my decision making process - guided or DIY - this weekend. More inputs are welcome :)

btw, what about phone calls there? Will taking a Matrix card along for each one of us be a good option - to be able to contact each other too :) Are there other options too?
 
Bump for some help :)

Questions I still have:

a) How much money to carry?
b) What about phone calls within Malaysia/Singapore from cell phone to cell phone?
c) Any other important 'things to remember'?

:)
 
Camera's r much cheaper in Kualalampur, i bought my last two cams Sony SR 42E camcorder & Sony DSC HX1 via friend from Kualalampur, both were almost 25% cheaper compared to Indian price & both were Japan made with International warranty.
 
universal said:
malyasia

i was there for around one month...i explored only city/town...during weekends....follwing might help u bit...

Arrival....two airports.....KLIA and LCCT(air asia uses this airport but still u need to check out with your travel agent)
from KLIA u can catch TRAIN (located at lowest level of main building) for KL Sentral station.
KLIA main terminal building and LCCT are interconnected.

u will find hotels near(arnd 500mtrs) KL sentral station [(myhotel) twin/double/triple bed is @ around RM100/-( `1400/-)[ and all possible kind of tranport system available from this station.....monorail,rapid kl,bus,taxi,rail connecting to various parts of malaysia.

places to visit....from KL sentral...
u can get map(trasport as well as city) from ur hotel ...if ur willing spend extra u can always hire taxi...but here is the least expensive ways to travel across city.

SHOPPING : -bukit bintang plaza(electronic stuff and others),low yat plaza(computer related must visit ),time square mall ---- use monorail get down at bintang station which connected to bukit bintang plaza & time square mall.


KLCC(suria mall and petronas twin tower),Chinatown(shopping chinese stuff) ---- use Rapid KL....there is station called KLCC which is underneath of petronas twin tower and its connected to suria mall.
and for chinatown ...get down at paser sani station use rapid kl only
if u want to visit petronas tower sky bridge....u have to queue up early in the morning before 7 am.....ow u wont able to get ticket for visit...on every mondays it remains CLOSE.

Genting (MUST visit....i didnt got time to visit :( ) --- u can catch bus from KL sentral station

putrajaya and so many places to visit....i know only about town

if u have any doubt let me know.
Click to expand...

+1 what he said that u can travel or roam anywhere for check this trip..

p.s i have stay Malaysia past 2 months where i got mu-til-visa where i visit Singapore for extra 1 months then back to Malaysia :P as travel by bus as cheap fare cost just 50 RH

btw if your have any uncle of good friend or any relative u can stay it for better that they might help to guide any recommend place for safety
p.s Singapore is the mostly safety country and free roam

in Malaysia i have hear some experimenter some what not safe due to some proper area :P like Chinese shopping
 
Guys what about the amount of foreign currency that we need to carry? Is using the debit card a good option? My bank says that I will be charged a surcharge of 3.5% of transaction value + 2.5 USD + 10.3% tax on this (surcharge + 2.5 USD) value for each ATM withdrawal.

Also, for getting some notes, what would be a good option - travel agents, or the grey market?
 
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