I just got back for two weeks in Asia (1600+ photos here!) where I visited Hong Kong, attended a wedding in Penang, chilled on the beach in Langkawi, explored Kuala Lumpur, reconnected with old friends in Singapore and finally wrapped up my trip again in Hong Kong.
I have a lot to say about my trip but for now here are some tips and advice.
Packing Light
I brought too many electronics (though I did use them all) and just about the perfect amount of clothes, with only my awesome Nike track jacket as anything remotely warm and otherwise just bringing shirts, socks and underwear. Only in Hong Kong was it cold enough that I needed the jacket and it was the perfect weight. Not surprisingly my umbrella got some real use and was much appreciated. I also tried to wash my socks and underwear in the sink, which would have worked better if they were able to dry quicker but the rope that I brought was still very useful to hang them (finally I found a use for it! =). Bringing my trusty BarCamp water bottle was also key. Just leave it empty through security and then fill up at a drinking fountain. Filling it in the hotel and leaving it in the minibar fridge to chill also worked really well.
Convenience Stores
They rock. In every town I visited there was a 7-Eleven on every block. Other, smaller chains (but still large!) chains like Circle-K are also good. The larger ones tend to have decent warm snacks, while all of them have lots of instant noodle cups you heat up with the water kettle that is invariably in your hotel room. Keep some disposable chopsticks for when hunger strikes – I know I has happy to have them when eating my noodles at 3am! For instance, in Hong Kong I got some decent curry fish balls for 6 HKD one afternoon when I was particularly peckish. Malaysia 7-Elevens have pretty good nut selections.
Hong Kong
An Octopus card is a must have. I paid 150 HKD for the card (50 HKD deposit plus 100 HKD in credit) at the MTR desk outside of security in the airport arrivals hall (cash only). In theory buying a deposit-less card is possible but the purchased cards seem to all cost more than the deposit, so why bother. You can use your card to pay for everything (e.g. McDonald’s or 7-Eleven), so don’t be shy about adding lots of credit. A one-way Airport Express ticket is 100 HKD so the 300 HKD Airport Express Travel Pass may have been economical for me. Using your Oyster means that any travel done on the same day before or after your Airport Express trip will be credited, as an Airport Express ticket includes unlimited MTR trips for the day (I believe), so your best ticket option may vary.
There is a tourist pass to all the city-run museums for 30 HKD but admission to most is 10 HKD, so it’s only worth it if you plan to go to a lot of them. I liked the Coast Defense Museum a lot, though I wasn’t as impressed with the History Museum. Mainly I guess because it’s I was looking for more straight political history rather than culture and geology (HK’s geological history isn’t that interesting).
You should definitely go to The Peak and enjoy the fantastic views of the city. The old tram is impressive and worth taking (it’s approximately 35 HKD round-trip). When arrive you can pay an additional 20 HKD to go to the top of the Peak Tower. Naturally you can use your Octopus card for both and there is a slight savings. Observation binoculars are fixed around the roof but cost something like 55 HKD paid via Octopus, so I wouldn’t recommend it. If you’re feeling cheap you can take a bus up and walk down (hiking up would be pretty intense!) and go on the neighboring Peak Galleria’s larger but slightly lower roof for free, where I believe the observation binoculars are also free. The shopping center also has cheaper food options, including a McDonald’s and a Burger King. I ate at a decent place there called something like Spaghetti 360.
Penang
The historic town, George Town, is nice but really only has enough things to do for a day or two. The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is definitely worth a visit (and hey, parts of Indochine were filmed there) but otherwise I just walked around.
Kuala Lumpur
Skip the Petronas Towers and go up KL Tower instead. Not only is it, I think, higher than the towers (thanks to being on a hill), its observation level is higher (276m versus 170m). Furthermore, I believe the Petronas Towers skybridge is only open from 7am to 9am, before the towers’ offices are open for work hours, while KL Tower is open all day and into the night. Have I convinced you?
The monorail is something straight out of Disneyworld and is a cheap and easy way to get around. One-way tickets are around 2 MYR and I never bothered to get any sort of pass (nor do there seem to be many types available). Two monorail lines terminate near KL Sentral, the new train station, from which I took the airport express train to Putrajaya and the (slooooow) train to Singapore.
Singapore
If you take the train from KL like I did, be aware that it terminates in a quiet, out of the way, but cool Art Deco train station. There are no ATMs there so either bring Sing Dollars, change cash at the money changer in the station, or do what I did (thanks to a helpful woman) and walk to the Tanjong Pagar MRT station, using an ATM along the way. At Tanjong Pagar I purchased an ez-link card for 15 SGD, including a 5 SGD charge. There is a tourist pass that gives you unlimited rides, but I think you’d need to be a really heavy MRT user to benefit from it.
I really enjoyed the National Museum (make sure to get one of the free audio guides they give you right before the main exhibition, it’s really good) and the Asian Civilizations Museum was also decent, though it went over some ground the first museum covered, vis-a-vis the backgrounds of immigrants to Singapore.
Everyone mentions Orchard for shopping but I also was impressed with Bugis, which was just east of my hotel. Bugis is also a great area for food, with plenty of cheap outdoor stands and with a fantastic food court in the Bugis Junction mall. The Bugis MRT line was an exit right into the mall’s basement food court, so it’s hard to miss the many awesome food stands there. I really enjoyed my crispy boneless thing but whatever your street food craving is (hot dogs, dim sum, Japanese octopus puffs…) they’ve got it.
Tags: Asia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Penang, Singapore, tips, Travel