Singapore Expats

as the title suggests what would be your favourite 5 destinations to travel to from Singapore on weekend/ 4to5 night trips.

arriving over soon to live and work, looking forward to exploring Asia over long weekends

Tioman Island, Malaysia
Saigon, Vietnam
Lombok Island, Indonesia
Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Cambodia
Luang Prabang, Laos

The above is a mix of general interest, nothing there is touristed-to-death IMO.

If you have specialist interests, diving, hiking, mountain biking, cuisine afficionados etc., the above might end up as a revised version.

JR8 wrote:Tioman Island, Malaysia
Saigon, Vietnam
Lombok Island, Indonesia
Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Cambodia
Luang Prabang, Laos

The above is a mix of general interest, nothing there is touristed-to-death IMO.

If you have specialist interests, diving, hiking, mountain biking, cuisine afficionados etc., the above might end up as a revised version.

You forgot Hanoi, Vietnam (together with Sapa and Ha Long Bay).

the lynx wrote:You forgot Hanoi, Vietnam (together with Sapa and Ha Long Bay).

Well I was thinking 'w/e - 4/5 nights'... you have to keep the means of transportation as simple as possible*. And once there the 'target area' as compact and coverable as possible.

So you can get direct flights to all my suggested destinations.


* when I worked on Tioman, I was amazed at the SGns who would leave SG on a Friday night at say 10pm, drive all the way to Mersing, and overnight there. Get up at 5am to check the ferry schedule (set and/or changed daily according to tides etc) and get tickets, and usually turn up at the dive centre at about noon. They'd have one afternoon dive - if conditions permitted - , and the next morning another dive, ditto, then they'd take the afternoon ferry back to Mersing and drive back to SG for late Sunday pm arrival.

Why all that uncertainty and stress when you can get a direct flight for S$200r/t?

JR8 wrote:

the lynx wrote:You forgot Hanoi, Vietnam (together with Sapa and Ha Long Bay).

Well I was thinking 'w/e - 4/5 nights'... you have to keep the means of transportation as simple as possible*. And once there the 'target area' as compact and coverable as possible.

So you can get direct flights to all my suggested destinations.


* when I worked on Tioman, I was amazed at the SGns who would leave SG on a Friday night at say 10pm, drive all the way to Mersing, and overnight there. Get up at 5am to check the ferry schedule (set and/or changed daily according to tides etc) and get tickets, and usually turn up at the dive centre at about noon. They'd have one afternoon dive - if conditions permitted - , and the next morning another dive, ditto, then they'd take the afternoon ferry back to Mersing and drive back to SG for late Sunday pm arrival.

Why all that uncertainty and stress when you can get a direct flight for S$200r/t?

That is because you cannot board a plane for about 20 hours after you dive. If they want to dive on a Sunday, they cannot fly on a Sunday. The soonest they can fly would be Monday.

Plus, the flights to Tioman is not very suitable for divers who want to go there for a weekend dive. If it is a friday evening depart flight and a sunday evening return flight, it will be much better.

Is it easy to get to Boracay from SG?

Girl_Next_Door wrote: That is because you cannot board a plane for about 20 hours after you dive. If they want to dive on a Sunday, they cannot fly on a Sunday. The soonest they can fly would be Monday.

Yes I know, and I take that point, but my point is why go to all that hassle/expense? Better to take a day off work and do it in something of a more relaxed and refreshing way, no? I see a parallel in the travel ads you see in SGn newspapers '17 countries in 12 days!!'... what a hideous proposition.

Or if you have no leave, then dive in Singapore (refer: Carteki).

Girl_Next_Door wrote:Plus, the flights to Tioman is not very suitable for divers who want to go there for a weekend dive. If it is a friday evening depart flight and a sunday evening return flight, it will be much better.

Unfortunately the Berjaya flights are pitched at the mass-market, rather than divers. Oh and would you really want to take-off or land at the Tekek air-strip after dark? It is a little hairy as it is in daylight! Search Youtube for 'Tioman airport landing', there is a lot of footage.

example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6OYUzqhRo

@ c2:00 the plane is executing a 90 degree turn, low above the jungle covered hills. It then drops vertiginously towards the mere 500m airstrip. And what you don't see is that the airstrip ends in a jungle-clad cliff-face.

And you want to do that after dark issit? I expect the pilot/crew wouldn't

freshmeat wrote:Is it easy to get to Boracay from SG?

Quite complicated. You need to fly into Manila. Then fly to Caticlan. Then take a boat. Then take a land vehicle to your resort. We Filipinos pride ourselves with having the best public transport system in the region (that was sarcasm).

Transferring terminals in Manila is a nightmare and the safest bet would be to take Cebu Pacific as all their flights to/from Manila is on the same terminal.

You can also fly in at Clarke (the former USAF base) via Air Asia but the timing's not good.

That said, very, very few people do not enjoy Boracay. It's rough around the edges with some aspects but doing your research will reward you handsomely. Use wikitravel as a jumping point then scour blogs--especially by Filipinos--to get some valuable information.

You can also consider Palawan (El Nido, Coron). It's also a bit rough around the edges but it's still worth it.

Thanks Nakatago. We went to Boracay twice last year, absolutely love it. Sounds like Palawan should be our next destination.

Bali, Bali, Bali, Bali, and Bali

1. Tioman Island
2. Legoland Theme Park + Hello Kitty Town in Johor Bahru
3. Batu Caves and Petronas Twin Tower in Kuala Lumpur
4. 1 day Batam tour
5. 2 days 1 night in Bintan Island

Oh there's Legoland in Johor Bahru?? My kids love legoland. Is it big and how much is entrance??

TandD wrote:Oh there's Legoland in Johor Bahru?? My kids love legoland. Is it big and how much is entrance??

http://bit.ly/1x2acaJ

Thank you, will have a look!!

nakatago wrote:[.

You can also consider Palawan (El Nido, Coron). It's also a bit rough around the edges but it's still worth it.

you can do palawan on a budget ... Puerto princesca ...

visits to Dos Palmas, Honda Bay, Sabang etc can keep you busy and cheaper ...

El Nido / Coron costs during season can give you a coronary ...