Travel: Malaysia - General

[wiimum]

hquek:

Renaissance is fairly far from makhota area, and jonker area.


I heard that hotel makhota has gone from bad to worse. Used to be just ok many years back, but recently I saw very bad reviews on the internet. Can try at your own risk.

Holiday Inn is nice (cos it's new mah), but expensive. again, I think the better rates are from their own website.

Thanks for your feedback. Many years ago it was fairly new and I remember quite chaotic and long queue during check-in. If it is worse now, then I should think I don't even want to try.

[hquek]

hi wiimum,


I had stayed at mahkota quite some years back. then it was still ok (lower expectations no problem), but I have deep memories of their tv channels only showing RTM1-4.

Anyway, for hotel puri, which I personally like, the cheaper rooms can be wayyyy small and the tv reception not that great. But I like cos it's cheap (no pretensions there) and for the location. And that place has no lifts. so if there are old people in the group, may want to book way ahead to secure rooms on the ground floor.

[tcdl]

Hi,


We are planning to bring our 2 kids (aged 3 & 7) to KL during the Dec holiday. Our plan is to drive up for a 4D3N stay.

It's our FIRST driving trip to Malaysia. Thus, we need advices to make the trip smooth, safe and enjoyable.

I've read through the threads and these are my doubts ...

1) Where can we buy the 'Touch and Go' card ? Can we get it in S'pore ? If yes, where ? Is this card something like our ERP Cash Card ? What is the minimum value to be stored in the card ? By the way, how much is the initial card with/without any stored value ?

2) Which is a better checkpoint to get to KL - Woodlands Link or Tuas Link ? What is the overall toll charges we are expected to pay all the way from Singapore to KL and back ?

3) What may be the possible situation we may encounter during the whole driving trip to KL and back Singapore ? Polica stop ? Bribery ? Jams ? Dangerous roads ? ...etc ?

4) We are unlikely to drive in Malaysia s often. Is it necessary to get a GPS for the trip ? If yes, what is the recommended brand ? Roughly how much does it cost ? How do we download the updated map or it's already pre-installed ? is it easy to use ?

5) Stay in KL - We have no idea of which hotel to stay while we are in KL ? Is there any recomendation ? We just needed a decently nice and clean room since most of the time we will be out. But a comfy clean room is what we expect for the kids' sake. Budget less than SGD100 per night. Preferred near convenient area like Bukit Bintang.

6) We plan to bring the kids to Sunway Lagoon and Berjaya Times Square. Is 1 day at Sunway Lagoon enough as we heard that there is a mini zoo there also ? Any recommendation on must-visit places and places that is a no-no? As for shopping, which are malls that are worth to go ? How about Chinatown - Petaling Street ? Central Market ? ...etc ?

7) We are also thinking of visiting the Ostrich farm & Fruits farm on our way to KL and probably go for a Firefly cruise on our way back to Singapore. Can anyone direct us where the farms are and how we can book for the cruise ? How much are we expected to pay for the visits and cruise ? Any website to check them out ?

Well, I guess that's all for now. Hope to hear great recommendation and comments from you. Do advice me if there are things I may have missed out.

THANK YOU !!

[hquek]

hi tcdl,


I assume that you can get touch n go cards from the immigration counters (probably now only some counters have). There is very little money encoded inside (probably RM10?), so you may want to top up either at petrol kiosks or 7-11s.

Woodlands checkpoint is usually more crowded. i can't recall the charges offhand but tuas is about double? And coming back, woodlands is FOC, but tuas checkpoint got to pay n pay.

Regarding road safety, just keep around 110km/hr - that's their limit. If you want to overtake, by all means, go on the right lane; but go back to the left lane when others want to pass. Cars/buses/trucks are not shy to tailgate on the right lane - so don't hog. You can be mentally prepared for road blocks but this may/not happen.

I don't use GPS even though we constantly get lost there. typically we just drive to the hotel and park there....then take taxis/subway every where.

Don't feel there's much thing to look at in Berjaya times square (except for that Soo kee restaurant nearby). I prefer to go to KLCC or Bintang area for wandering around - things are pretty much the same.

Chinatown nothing very much unless you are looking for 'friendly' items (like tiffany, tshirts etc). Foodwise, the hokkien noodle at the crossroads is EXTREMELY good (but there's pig innards inside), so is the famed longan drink stall nearby. if you are there in the morning, can try 'sei ngan zai (translated 4-eyed boy) roast duck' - it used to be a bicycle but now is a mini stall...pp who like tell duck says it's VERY good (only sell duck, no rice or anything hor). Mr \"sei ngan zai\" recommended this niang dou fu stall (it's in a back alley nearby his stall) that is very very good also - can ask.

[hquek]

btw, at chinatown area, the taxis are particularly bad - they smell tourists a mile away, don’t go by meter and like to quote ‘exorbitant’ prices. I usually 宁死不屈 and walk further to take the KL version of subway.

[mummy2008]

hquek:

perhaps you can try http://www.asiatravel.com. I find their rates pretty ok.


As for hotel reviews, can try tripadvisor - always zoom there first. But take with a pinch of salt cos one man's meat is another man's poison.

This shows reviews on hotel mahkota:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g306997-d299591-Reviews-Mahkota_Hotel_Melaka-Melaka_Melaka_State.html

And for all other malacca hotels:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/HACSearch?geo=&q=malacca&inDay=6&inMonth=11%2F2009&checkIn=11%2F6%2F2009&outDay=8&outMonth=11%2F2009&checkOut=11%2F8%2F2009&adults=2#02,1257316581643,bc_airports:S,bc_convention_centers:S,availability:S1,l1price:S0%7C999999,l1rating:S0%7C999999,nameContains:S

Beside asiatravel, any other online booking which is trustworthy (security).

At asiatravel, got 2 holidayinn, which one that i should book?

[hquek]

hi mummy2008,


You can look at others like wotif (find their prices generally higher), or just google.

I checked, for malacca only 1 holiday inn leh (just there is 1 pictured and another on the list)…can show me the other?

[UmmuMuadz]

I've booked via mari-mari.com several times.


Secure and reliable.

[mummy2008]

hquek:

hi mummy2008,


You can look at others like wotif (find their prices generally higher), or just google.

I checked, for malacca only 1 holiday inn leh (just there is 1 pictured and another on the list)...can show me the other?

hi hquek,

here's the link:

http://book.asiatravel.com/HotelList.aspx?cn=MY&ct=Malacca&ciday=27&cimonth=11&ciyear=2009&nn=1&nr=1&na=2&nc=1&so=0&cid=2009-11-27&sid=1000&lan=en-US

[hquek]

hi mummy2008, the address looks the same - just that one is more detailed. There is only 1 holiday inn there.


Cheers!