Planning Malaysia Singapore tour

Two years back we had been to Malaysia and Singapore. People travel and go places, what we did, I just want to share.

 

In other parts of world, people take sabbaticals or go to same place again and again, don't plan too much for the trip or just embark but in our part of the world, we take limited leaves from jobs or schools, we plan a lot, we take packaged tours or we just go to touch the place or after retirement from job; to see the whole place without giving it a good thought at all.

 

We are not much adventure kind of people and we are more interested in SHOPPING...though the scenario is changing sharply.. young generation has started thinking like true TRAVELLERS, they are more adventurous too......

 

Here is the thinking that went into my preparations for the trip

 

1. The place to go - First thought was off course 'where to go'. We wanted to go nearby, because this was our first family trip abroad. Singapore is nearby and quite kid friendly, so for our son's sake, we zeroed in on it. With it we squeezed in Malaysia too.

 

2. Sight Seeing - After deciding about the place to visit, it was necessary to decide two important factors----- how many days we would need to spend and how much money we would need??

For that I started listing out the places to visit in both the countries. I took major help of Tripadvisor-Malaysia and Tripadvisor-Singapore. I made exhaustive list of whatever seemed interesting and see able in both the countries.

Both being South Asian countries and neighbours, their flora and fauna was got to be similar; animals, birds and insects were same. So I compared the Butterfly Parks, Zoos, Bird Parks, Botanical gardens of the two countries and chose one each from both the countries. Butterfly park and Bird Park in Malaysia (they are competitive and both are nearby to each other thus saving time in commute). Zoo and Gardens in Singapore.

Malaysia has Islands where Sarawak state is a comparatively untouched place with National Parks, World Heritage Sites declared caves and native charm. So decided to spend time there too. In addition to all these, the places unique to these countries were also included.

 

3. Rough Itinerary - I placed the places to visit in Google Maps and found out which places are located nearby and can be visited together. And from Tripadvisor Malaysia Forum and Tripadvisor Singapore Forum, I found out how much time we should give each place to see it leisurely. This way made a rough itinerary.

 

4. Planning of attractions - By searching individual websites of major attractions, I noted down their timings, ticket prices, facilities, things to take and things to remember while visiting them. Information for other attractions I got from the above mentioned Forums and Lonely Planet books.

5. Hotels - Then came the time for Hotel Booking. Our (here I needed expert advice of husband too) first choice was near the attractions. First we searched for Home stays, so that we can have the first hand experience of a Malaysian and a Singaporean family. But good home stays were mostly in residential areas, away from attractions. Then we searched for Hotels, we preferred breakfast included. In Kualalumpur, Malaysia we had booking in Club Mahindra-Malaysia, in Mulu,Sarawak,Malaysia we stayed in a home stay and in Singapore found a good hotel in Bugis area, with good reviews and near the MRT station and Bus station just outside the hotel.

 

6. Commuting - Taxi/ Cab is easily available in Kualalumpur, Malaysia (though we need to check the Ids of cab drivers and pay according to meter or if paying lump sum then we need to negotiate, they may charge double the amount). There are two lines of MRT or LRT (local trains) in Kualalumpur. In Singapore taxis can be hailed from their stands only but the city has a very good network of Buses and MRT. Bus stands and railway stations are very user friendly.

 

7. Itinerary correction -  Now that various sights to be seen were finalized, hotels were booked and ways of commuting were found I corrected the Itinerary for any flaws. 

8. Flights Booking - After finalizing itinerary it was time to book flights. This giant task I handed over to hubby dear, he searched and searched various flights and options for cheap, convenient flights. Timings of flights to be selected was also taken into consideration, so that we can save on days of our vacation too.

9. Visa - This task we outsourced. Agent was roped in for both the visas.

10. Insurance - We searched online for best option.

11. Exchange - For exchange, I compared available options and choose the best one offering good deal.

12. Taking care of Small Details - Lastly I prepared the program in a spreadsheet and worked out every detail like weather, language, drinking water and food etc.

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