Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore Aug 2018 mini trippie FINAL THOUGHTS

Geordieprincess · 3 Sep 18, 11:59 AM

We’ve really enjoyed our trip to Malaysia and Singapore, the people have been super friendly, welcoming and helpful, weather a bit hot and humid for sightseeing but great for pool time. I'm generally of the opinion the world is a big place and we don't return to the same place often and I feel the same about this holiday... been there seen it done most of it, no plans to go back. But if I went back anywhere it would be to Sentosa Island.

We’ve stayed in 4 different hotels in 3 places over 2.5 weeks and while the packing etc was fine with my packing cubes, the stress of worrying if people were going to be ill when we had stuff planned or an internal flight to get means I think I’d go more free and easy with less of a packed itinerary in future.

We struggled with toilets in Malaysia - even at very touristy places they often just had the hole in the ground squat type and if they had seat toilets as we know them there was no paper but just a hose pipe to wash yourself. We quickly learnt to carry a roll of toilet paper from the hotel and go whenever we found a sitty down toilet. We definitely walked out of more toilets than we used and there was a lot of crossing legs going on!

3 out of 4 of us had stomach problems during our time in Malaysia which made me think maybe while the kids are still young (12 and 8) we should stay a bit more western. We’d love to do a tour of China but I don't think we are ready for the food, packed itinerary and general culture shock yet!

Singapore was great - i know people say it's small and easy to get around on the MRT so you can just stay in one place and I completely agree you could, BUT definitely do a split stay in Singapore city and Sentosa island. I loved Sentosa, felt very much like a holiday resort such as staying at Universal onsite - with loads to walk to on your doorstep. A very different feel to the city break of Singapore.

Both countries were very hot and humid - great for no cold pools but it was just too hot for being out and about doing stuff. We did Florida in Aug and I think Malaysia/Singapore were even worse! Shops are all air conditioned but often malls are not - they may just be covered walkways with fans! We also surprisingly struggled a bit with food. We do all like Chinese/Japanese food but it's just a bit different there so we ended up at McDonald's, Pizza Hut etc which wasn't really the plan! Breakfast was probably the most difficult as I couldn't stomach noodles, rice or curry at that time of day like the locals do! The food courts where we did find English style Chinese e.g. sweet and sour, the dishes were lukewarm at best. Penang hawker market was the best place for local hot food and averaged £2 a dish so you could try something and not worry about wasting money if you didn't like it.

I have a few regrets from the holiday such as in KL missing the rest of the sights due to giving up on the HOHO bus - our driver from our trip said his company do half day city tours and zip around the quiet streets to the sights - wish I'd known about the traffic before as this would have been better use of time than HOHO bus.
Missing the fireflies - couldn't be helped due to DS stomach cramps and he'd been a trouper battling through the rest of the day, but I still wish I'd seen them.
Not sure if we missed something in Georgetown as heard it was lovely but we just didn't get it and thought it was a smelly dump.
The water park next to orangutan island wasn't really worth a visit and a bit run down - probably better to combine with something else.
Wish we'd stayed at Singapore before Sentosa. Marina Bay Sands was supposed to end the holiday on a high but apart from its location and iconic structure it's over rated. Much preferred the holiday resort feel of Sentosa and the empty pool at Festive hotel.
Raffles was being renovated so we missed the traditional Singapore sling experience.

So that's it! A year of planning and it's all over.

Pumpkin Pie · 3 Sep 18, 05:11 PM

Thanks for your trip reports. I have never been to Malaysia but we were in Singapore (and Hong Kong) this year. I loved it and would like to back sometime. The only part of Sentosa we saw was Universal one day and even then we left early because of the heat!

Little India was the only area we didn’t like also.

Geordieprincess · 3 Sep 18, 05:42 PM

Singapore and Hong Kong was actually my son's dream holiday but Hong Kong had to wait a couple of years so daughter could have beach time. What time of year did you go? I was thinking Easter as I don't think I could take the heat again for sightseeing / Disney, but then pools might not be warm enough.

Melbatb · 3 Sep 18, 08:09 PM

Thanks for a great report.

I enjoyed KL but I went in November and had no kids with me! You have reawaken my interest in Singapore!

I loved HK - I went in an August so it was hot but bearable!

Geordieprincess · 3 Sep 18, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Thanks for a great report.

I enjoyed KL but I went in November and had no kids with me! You have reawaken my interest in Singapore!

I loved HK - I went in an August so it was hot but bearable!

I read your great KL trip report for ideas but we didn't have long in KL really. Singapore was great - definitely think about going! You're very brave doing your solo city trips!

Melbatb · 3 Sep 18, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by Geordieprincess

I read your great KL trip report for ideas but we didn't have long in KL really. Singapore was great - definitely think about going! You're very brave doing your solo city trips!

Not brave at all! So far I have been lucky in chosing great cities (NY x 2, Vegas, HK, KL, Montreal and Bangkok) plus a very understanding DH (who actually likes the idea that it gets him out of travelling with me

)

Pumpkin Pie · 3 Sep 18, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by Geordieprincess

Singapore and Hong Kong was actually my son's dream holiday but Hong Kong had to wait a couple of years so daughter could have beach time. What time of year did you go? I was thinking Easter as I don't think I could take the heat again for sightseeing / Disney, but then pools might not be warm enough.

We went at the beginning of May. I don’t think it matters when you go to Singapore - it’s always going to be hot (no rain at all for us). What surprised us was that Hong Kong was just as hot too! It was more manageable I think as it was not as humid. Hong Kong is great and really easy to travel around on the MTR.

Mel49 · 3 Sep 18, 10:15 PM

My Mum and Dad actually met in HK where they both lived at the time due to work, came back to the UK, got married and then lived in Malaysia for a year or so and I was lucky enough to share a few Far East Trips with them. Definitely on the cards to go with DH and maybe the kids at some point in the future as this has rekindled my memories so thank you for sharing places I visited many years ago as they look as good if not better than what I remembered

Also has reminded me to get my Mum to try and find the old photo albums to share with the kids.