I am flying to Manila in January and I am planning a reunion with my college girlfriends. We would like to spend 4 days together chatting, sightseeing, dining, cultural immersion, shopping, nightlife and just spending time together and doing some fun activities. We first thought about going to a beach resort in Kota Kinabalu or an island in the Philippines but we will be limited to just the beach. We will be flying out of Manila so we want to limit our trip to South East Asia or within less than 6 hours travel from Manila.

Exclude
Beijing - weather will be winter
Tokyo - im going there for work
Bangkok - im going there for work
Hongkong - seems to be just a lot of shopping

Choices
Macau
Singapore
Vietnam??????? not sure about this

Any ideas or feedback? Thanks in advance

Robin

I'd take a look at Oct 2009 issue of Conde Nast Traveler. The issue is devoted to Asia and has articles on Ho Chi Minh City and Malaysia. I think Malaysia is an a great place to visit. I've only been to Eastern Malaysia. I like Kuching better than KK. Mainly because of the culture and food. There are several nature reserves near by. I did not think the beaches were great near Kuching. I have pictures of both KK and Kuching posted on my blog linked below - check the posts under the tag Borneo Journal.

For my next trip to SE, I'd love to visit the peninsula area of Malaysia. Penang and Georgetown really interest me both for culture and food. For a beach area, Langkawai looks really nice.

But I'm going to lean towards recommending Singapore for a girls get together. It has the widest variety of attractions for 4 days. You probably wouldn't want to stay much more than 4 nights but I think there would be a lot of variety for the short visit. It is also easy to get to. There are also lots of inexpensive flights in case you want to do another night in a different location. The shopping is excellent and great food. For culture, there are Hindu, Chinese and Arabic neighborhood and temples. The night zoo is a lot of fun. I didn't get a chance to go to Sentosa. It is also easy to get around with either the metro or taxi.

Sounds like a great trip.

Hi Marta
Thanks for your feedback. We were thinking of going to KL at first but heard that all there is there is shopping and the Petronas towers (I say that as an exaggeration but you know what I mean...not much variety to see and immerse in)and we arent looking for beach. I am leaning towards Singapore for the reasons you have mentioned. The beauty of Macau I heard is the east meets west culture and history. Ill keep on researching coz we need to book by November.

Robin

I recommend Penang. Has history, eats, the sea. I think there are even possibilities of taking an overnight junk-boat to Phuket/Krabi or to Koh Samui.
Try to stay at the fabled E&O hotel if it is not - AGAIN - under renovation. The E&O is like the old Raffles of Singapore.
January is also non-monsoon season there.

Do you golf? The nearby Cameron Highlands have great courses and very interesting old architecture.

Penang/Butterworth also has a great night train to Bkk. I know you exclude Bkk. But think 6 girls on a great night train with good food.
I think there is also a night train from Butterworth to Singapore, but I have not taken it.
See this description .

Macau
I have been to Macau as a child as well as a few years ago. It is not so much east meets west as Stanley Ho meets Steve Wynn now. It is like Las Vegas but with thinner people.

I just thought id update this thread. Thanks for all your feedback. Guess where we ended up? Drumroll please.... CAMBODIA! For 3D/2N I think a trip to Siem Reap and of course Angor Wat seems ideal. I feel that it will be such a cultural experience. MAcau seems to be just a lot of Casinos and Singapore has great sights but not too much culture since they built a lot of these sights to attract tourist just in the recent decades.

The flight is not direct coz we have to fly from Manila to Bangkok or KL and then from there to Siem Reap. It will cost like 300 USD approximately with all taxes and fees. Air Asia seems to have the best deal. We wanted to stop by Phnom penh but its such a long drive from there to Siem Reap (6 hours by land) which means we have to make this a 4D/3N trip but im not sure if Phnom is as worth visiting as Siem.

Im so excited about this trip with my girls. I heard they filmed Tomb Raider in the temples of Angor.

quote:

Originally posted by RobinD:

Exclude
Beijing - weather will be winter
Tokyo - im going there for work
Bangkok - im going there for work
Hongkong - seems to be just a lot of shopping

Choices
Macau
Singapore
Vietnam??????? not sure about this

Any ideas or feedback? Thanks in advance

Robin

I was just in Singapore for work. If your going to exclude Hong Kong because, "seems to be just a lot of shopping", then the same probably applies to Singapore. There are modern tourist attractions there - Zoo, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park, Sentosa Park and Beach. There is a modicum of historical things to see, as well. But you can do better if you want culture and history or great beaches. While I was there, the Singapore Grand Prix was a blast also but that only happens in late September.

quote:

I heard they filmed Tomb Raider in the temples of Angor.

Luckily there's Tomb Raider to put AngKor on the map. Gee, I wonder what else ever happened there…

quote:

Originally posted by RobinD:
I just thought id update this thread. Thanks for all your feedback. Guess where we ended up? Drumroll please.... CAMBODIA!

Did you see that slow traveler Gard reported on his trip to Phnom Penh? It might give you food for thought when considering whether or not to include it...

I live in Kuala Lumpur.

There's nothing to see here unless you are interested in tall buildings and traffic jams.

I think there are more things to do in KK
(disclosure: I am originally from Kuching).

There are no direct flights from Manila so we have to fly through Saigon which is great for me since I dont mind seeing this town. We only have a few days so we are limited in our stops. Since its only 3D/2N I think being in Siem Reap and seeing Angkor would be great. I did look at Phnom but it didnt strike me as much as Siem. Thanks for your inputs