Malaysia and Singapore... who's been? (1 Viewer)

[paper cup]

*is hungry* I can't wait to go back and eat.. if there's one thing I like- it's CHEAP, GOOD QUALITY FOOD... made even better by the 24/7 atmosphere.

Oh and to the topic creator- when u get there- BUY TISSUES IMMEDIATELY. Most supermarkets (in Singapore there's "Cold Storage"- pretty much identical to Woolies in design, colour scheme, layout.. I think they are same company) stock them.. and wherever you go make sure you bring at least 2 or 3 packets (you'll see what I mean when you buy them)- you need them when you eat, when you go toilet, or just because you touched something dirty... very few places give out tissues.

rofl mao re tissues - same in china...........

 

[ujuphleg]

touristy places the islands of Penang and Langkawi are pretty cool.

Excuuuuuse me? Did you just say that Penang is touristy?

I'm insulted!!

* what's the main language/s?
* what's there to do?
* what's the night life like?
* are they clean?
* what's the shopping like?

Main Languages are Malay, English, Cantonese in KL and Hokkien in Penang/Singapore, Mandarin in Singapore and other local dialects elsewhere.

Not much to do I suppose in the way of sight seeing - theres the Petronas Towers in KL and LOTS of cheap shopping virtually everywhere.

Nightlife - would have no idea as when I go, I am unfortunatley with parental units who don't venture out past 10pm or so

Cleanliness is a construct. To many Malaysians, Malaysia is clean. To us, its filthy. Most parts of it are. It really depends on where you stay and where you're going. The International Hotels in Malaysia (like the Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Hilton etc.) all maintain a high standard of cleanliness which is normal for anywhere in the world. In the shopping centres, depending on how old they are, they are usually ok. I would never go to a toilet in a coffee shop or a market place though.

Singaporeans pride themselves on cleanliness. Its cleaner than Sydney, there are fines for not flushing toilets and chewing gum.

Harsh drug trafficking laws apply. After the year we've had in 2005 I don't think I need to say more.

Watch out for snatch-thieves in Malaysia - there are a lot these days. If you're a girl, always keep your bag close to you and on the other side of you from the road, as the thieves are usually motorcyclists that take your bag and will hang on. They don't hesitate to drag you along, and people have died. In the event of a snatch-theft, let go of the bag. Its not worth your life.

Singapore is known to be VERY safe, but I reckon that a lot of it gets covered up by the media so I'd be wary still.

Have fun!

 

[fatmuscle]

Nightlife is Sungai Wang isn't it? or that street next to it.
my geography is really bad when i comes to malaysia. I know next to nothing about it.
But it's really clear in Google Earth now!!!

what ujuphleg about bag snatches isn't a joke.
ppl are insane over there when it comes to committing crime.

 

[fatmuscle]

that's not completely true.

but you are right about the sex thing. ppl over there do care about their careers a lot more than other things.

if you're a lover of food, go to Newton food markets
it's cheap and nice!

ther'es the night safari to go to
and lots of shops.

 

[xxFiveWords]

Well I went for 10 days, first was Singapore, rained all 4 days I was there lol we stayed like 2 minutes from Little India, near a 24hr mall (woo!) went to Sentose Island, but it was raining so all we did was ride around in the bus and the cable cars... wasn't game enough to eat from those stall thingies... went to Suntec City, saw the fountain of wealth, rode on the MRT, went to an Orchid Garden thing, twas pretty... we did a city tour thing so yeah...
Malaysia, stayed 3 night in Melacca, went to the Little India (I'm fijian-indian), took a ride on a tri-shaw... a laser and light show at night near our resort, night market... that's about it... then 4 nights in KL, I <333 KL! lol Went to pineapple looking tower, the two towers, chinatown, little india, Times Square, all the malls near my hotel... the shopping in KL was awesome ... we did a city tour thing there to... then we flew back to Singapore and it was nice and sunny, so we shopped on Orchid Road... alot. haha

all in all, it was great.

 

[seremify007]

yes! how big is One Utama!
my gf killed me for not taking her there. I took her to Pyramid, MidValley and KLCC though.

ROFLMAO!!!! My friend missed out on going there... and I felt so sorry for her. One Utama is HUGEEEEEEEE to the max. It makes shopping centres like Westfield Parra and Macquarie Centre feel like little surburban shopping complex.

Excuuuuuse me? Did you just say that Penang is touristy?

I'm insulted!!

Haha.... Penang Laksa =]

But what about Genting? Genting is a pretty tourisy place.. and the weather is like Autumn in Sydney!

Singaporeans pride themselves on cleanliness. Its cleaner than Sydney, there are fines for not flushing toilets and chewing gum.

LOL wait until you go to the surburban areas... it's not "that clean" as you'd expect *sigh* But in all the tourisy places and shopping centres, and even train stations, the toilets are probably as clean as the ones in my house! Although over there they don't seem to have any design rules for bathrooms... in Australia I noticed that alot of the time you need to go through two doors to get into the actual toilets area, or there's a wall blocking outsiders viewing in.. but in one MRT station in Singapore I remember the cubicle was side on but with the door left open to the bathroom (the cubicle was inside) and you could see the person's shoes underneath the cubicle walls.

Oh and watch out, they don't have public liability over there I don't think because there's a lot of areas whereby you can have an accident so easily whether it be in the streets (bad cement footpaths) or the edge of doors/walls/etc.. being very sharp >< I found it ironic that in another MRT station there was a toilet cubicle wall which was really sharp and everyone scratched their leg when they walked past- but then there was a shop set up right next door which sold bandaids >__>

Nightlife is Sungai Wang isn't it? or that street next to it.
my geography is really bad when i comes to malaysia. I know next to nothing about it.
But it's really clear in Google Earth now!!!

what ujuphleg about bag snatches isn't a joke.
ppl are insane over there when it comes to committing crime.

Haha Sungei Wang... i haven't been there in so long- i stopped playing playstation. But we stayed in a couple of hotels (forgot the names) which were near there... parkroyal or something? and... this other one which had very small rooms but really nicely decorated. Anyhow, the night life there is pretty good, but I've seen a lot better in M'sia... the pasar malams (night marks) in other areas are better.

As for Google Earth, can you pass me some coordinates? or email them to me (jace.88@gmail.com)

Oh and yeh bag snatches are mild.. over there there is also a lot of motorbike crime whereby two ppl on bikes drive next to u and smash your windows in and then hold a gun to you, and take your bag... if you drive nice car they might even carjack you. But fortunately enough over there you can just be an ass and ignore any laws, and knock them off their bike =] .. or you could just speed off.

 

[*Minka*]

Havn't been to Malaysia, but when I was in Singapore for a few days, all I did was shop.

 

[tlodg]

Singapore:

Awesome food, I love Mee Siam, Laksa, Hainan chicken rice, Ketupat, Satay, Singapore Noodles, Duck Quay Teow....etc
Go to the hawker centres, they have really good food there....
and usually you will be served with a little sauce on the side that has half chilli and half tomato (a special tomato sauce)
I really love the food they serve in school canteens too

Shopping: other than the famous Orchard Rd, go to Jurong Point...... it was my favourite place, had lots of memories there.....I don't know if it has changed or not, but be sure to check it out. Clementi is a fun place too, I remember there was a Macdonalds there and beside that there are many shops around, I remember a shop selling bags....I had one for Christmas present when I was young....I miss it so much..

Have fun, and enjoy the delicious food.

 

[tlodg]

...and Singapore is not a boring place. I didn't get bored of it at all. I miss Singlish.

 

[lala2]

We drove up from KL to Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and Penang, and then back down again to Johor Baharu, so yeah, pretty much been on the western side of West Malaysia....haven't been back to Malaysia since I came to Australia 5 years ago, so meh, but as for languages, it's really everything, ummm Malaysia speaks English, Tamil and assorted Indian languages, Bahasa Melayu, Chinese--not to sure about the areas but from what I know.....Cantonese in KL, Hokkien up north, Mandarin everywhere I guess, Hakka also up north, there's some Teochew which I'm not too sure about but I think East Malaysians particularly around Kuching and Sibu speak--dunno, Malaysian Chinese speak a bit of everything I guess--I know my parents can! Also Fuchow in Kuching I believe, but dunno what the KK and Sabah people speak.

As for Singapore, English--or rather, Singlish , Chinese (mainly Cantonese and Mandarin)....yeah. Singapore is SO clean it's not funny--so don't attempt to litter there at all or you'll be publicly humiliated as a punishment....I read about it in a newspaper article sometime ago--I think it was they force you to pick up rubbish in the streets wearing a sign saying 'LITTERBUG!' or something like that.

sidenote: I was really good at geography when I was younger, so I used to be the map reader for our journeys anywhere, so I memorised all the states of Malaysia when we drove up and down the length of Western Malaysia....lemme see:

- Penang--Georgetown & Butterworth --> ahhh...the bridge....also plenty of whitewashed houses there
- Kedah--Alor Setar & Sungai Petani
- ...--Ipoh --> limestone cliffs!
- Wilayah Persekutuan--KL --> remembered eating ma ku teh there! mmmm....
- Selangor--is that a state? Never got the difference between it and KL
- Malacca--Malacca
- Negri Sembilan--Sembilan (?) --> was sooooo clean!
- Johor--Johor Baharu
- Sabah (East Malaysia)--KK, Sandakan
- Sarawak (East Malaysia)--Kuching, Miri, Sibu
- Terranggenu (?!--never knew the spelling of it)--remembered it as the place that always flooded in monsoon season

And I think at least a good three to five other states which I've totally forgotten about.

seremify basically has the lowdown on it all, but yeah....memories *dreams*

 

[tlodg]

Are you Malaysian?

 

[lala2]

Yes and no...I tell people yes I am but was born here in Australia. Are you?

 

[tlodg]

Yes and no...I tell people yes I am but was born here in Australia. Are you?

Oh I see. That's why you know so much about it!
I'm not....I have been to Malaysia a few times though. It is very nice.

 

[lala2]

Yeah, Malaysia is a nice place. But I have never lived in Malaysia--only been back to see relatives and stuff. Hence my very elementary grasp of Bahasa Melayu--selamat pagi, some of the numbers one to ten, kopi, teh, makan, ayer, kampong, jalan, selamat hari raya, selamat malam, pasar pagi/malam...yep, that's about the total sum of Malay I know.

Maybe I'll make it my next endeavour after I've learnt Cantonese and then Mandarin.

 

[PatG]

I've been to Malaysia... if you count not leaving KL airport as being in Malaysia. The Burger King there was pretty rubbish, their meat is not of the same quality as ours is. The exchange rate was pretty good though. Also one of the toilets was just a hole in the ground which I thought was quite bizarre.

Well at least they didn't mind a bunch of teenage boys playing touch footy in their airport at 3am in the morning.

 

[lizziegirl]

bugis street ROCKS for shopping in singapore

warning: dont eat the hawker food in Johor Bahru. my entire family were sick for 2 wks after eating that stuff.

 

[stazi]

I'm in singapore now. I've never heard of shopping on bugis st though. Will have to check it out. I haven't actually been out of Orchard and Novena much.

 

[tanjin]

I've been to Singapore twice and will be going to Malaysia at the end of this year!

Edit: All I can remember of Singapore is that it was clean and extremely humid. Shopping's not too good though. Maybe I didn't look hard enough.

 

[blue_chameleon]

My girlfriend's from KL, but she's a bit of a banana. Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.

Never stops talking about he shopping mega complexes over there. Going there this year for a few months, should be awesome.

Mmm, Nasi Lemak.

 

[stazi]

I've been to Singapore twice and will be going to Malaysia at the end of this year!

Edit: All I can remember of Singapore is that it was clean and extremely humid. Shopping's not too good though. Maybe I didn't look hard enough.

shopping is brilliant you noob (unless you stayed in Little India).