Visiting Australia with stop over in Malaysia & Singapore

muwaahidi

Hi there,

I have plan to visit Sydney for 8 days stay there with 3 night stop over in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and 1 n half day stay in Singapore on return back to Dublin.

Could you please advise what can be explored / see in

- Sydney or surrounding city / area in 8 days

- Kuala Lumpur (3 nights)
Is public transport good/cheap to visit different places there?
Is Taxi better than Train / Bus for local commute or is it too expensive?
Would there be good choice of food?
What places should I put on list to view there?
Where would be best place to book hotel for conveniently connecting transport to see most of Kuala Lumpur

- Singapore (1 and half day or total 32 hours stop over)
* What is the most I can touch/see in 32 hours?
* Should I book hotel near to airport or City centre?

Any additional tips for the above travel be highly appreciated if you could advise? Thanks

Cake Man

Living in Sydney the last 8yrs, visited KL a few weeks ago and was in Singapore a few years back so ask away if you have anything else. Responses below...





- Sydney or surrounding city / area in 8 days
The usual touristy stuff in Sydney - Circular Quay/Opera House/Harbour Bridge, The Rocks, Darling Harbour.

Take a trip out to the Blue Mountains

Ferry over to Manly and visit the beach there. Shelly Beach nearby also a good spot for snorkelling.

Bondi and the eastern suburbs beaches. Lovely coastal walk between Bondi and Coogee beaches would definitely recommend. Would take you about 1.5hrs one way.

Plenty of good shopping malls in around the city. Birkenhead Point and DFO Homebush good spots for designer outlets if that's your thing.


- Kuala Lumpur (3 nights)
Is public transport good/cheap to visit different places there? Yeah fairly cheap although I mainly just got taxis around the city.
Is Taxi better than Train / Bus for local commute or is it too expensive? As above but the metro line cheap enough too.
Would there be good choice of food? Yeah, if you like Asian food. Plenty of street stalls and markets.
What places should I put on list to view there? KLCC is an obvious one (where the PETRONAS Towers are, big shopping mall underneath it. Recommend going to the Petaling Markets and Central Markets nearby. Get metro line there (Petaling Jaya station if I remember correctly) and walk. LOADS of cheap knock off designer gear, food markets, trinkets etc. Good experience to get of KL.
Where would be best place to book hotel for conveniently connecting transport to see most of Kuala Lumpur Anywhere in the city centre, I was there on business with work in September so not too sure in terms of what else is there but anywhere near KLCC or Central station you'll be fine.

- Singapore (1 and half day or total 32 hours stop over)
* What is the most I can touch/see in 32 hours? Would recommend a trip to the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool if you can get there. Stayed there 5 years ago and is a great spot. Prob way out of your price range to stay there as it is very expensive but think you can pay to go up to use the infinity pool.
* Should I book hotel near to airport or City centre?

muwaahidi

Cake Man wrote: »

Living in Sydney the last 8yrs, visited KL a few weeks ago and was in Singapore a few years back so ask away if you have anything else. Responses below...





- Sydney or surrounding city / area in 8 days
The usual touristy stuff in Sydney - Circular Quay/Opera House/Harbour Bridge, The Rocks, Darling Harbour.

Take a trip out to the Blue Mountains

Ferry over to Manly and visit the beach there. Shelly Beach nearby also a good spot for snorkelling.

Bondi and the eastern suburbs beaches. Lovely coastal walk between Bondi and Coogee beaches would definitely recommend. Would take you about 1.5hrs one way.

Plenty of good shopping malls in around the city. Birkenhead Point and DFO Homebush good spots for designer outlets if that's your thing.


- Kuala Lumpur (3 nights)
Is public transport good/cheap to visit different places there? Yeah fairly cheap although I mainly just got taxis around the city.
Is Taxi better than Train / Bus for local commute or is it too expensive? As above but the metro line cheap enough too.
Would there be good choice of food? Yeah, if you like Asian food. Plenty of street stalls and markets.
What places should I put on list to view there? KLCC is an obvious one (where the PETRONAS Towers are, big shopping mall underneath it. Recommend going to the Petaling Markets and Central Markets nearby. Get metro line there (Petaling Jaya station if I remember correctly) and walk. LOADS of cheap knock off designer gear, food markets, trinkets etc. Good experience to get of KL.
Where would be best place to book hotel for conveniently connecting transport to see most of Kuala Lumpur Anywhere in the city centre, I was there on business with work in September so not too sure in terms of what else is there but anywhere near KLCC or Central station you'll be fine.

- Singapore (1 and half day or total 32 hours stop over)
* What is the most I can touch/see in 32 hours? Would recommend a trip to the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool if you can get there. Stayed there 5 years ago and is a great spot. Prob way out of your price range to stay there as it is very expensive but think you can pay to go up to use the infinity pool.
* Should I book hotel near to airport or City centre?

Thanks a million for such a comprehensive reply. Really appreciate it.
Regarding local currency for Singapore, Australia and Kaula Lampur (KL): should I bring / exchange local currency from Dublin beforehand or my Euro ATM card can withdraw local currency from these location is cheaper option without paying high exchange rates?
Would credit card be accepted in most of these countries without having huge credit card charges on transaction?

Shopping in Malaysia : Does it worth shopping in KL, Aus, or Singapore especially when ts same brand as in Ireland comparing prince in Ireland or price would be same or cheaper there? Or what can I shop say electronics (Toy, Mobile phone or electronic gadgets)

Type of dress in KL and Singapore?
Considering November weather in these two countries, what would be good option of type of clothes I should wear? Any tip?

Thanks in advance.

Cake Man

muwaahidi wrote: »

Thanks a million for such a comprehensive reply. Really appreciate it.
Regarding local currency for Singapore, Australia and Kaula Lampur (KL): should I bring / exchange local currency from Dublin beforehand or my Euro ATM card can withdraw local currency from these location is cheaper option without paying high exchange rates?
Would credit card be accepted in most of these countries without having huge credit card charges on transaction?

Shopping in Malaysia : Does it worth shopping in KL, Aus, or Singapore especially when ts same brand as in Ireland comparing prince in Ireland or price would be same or cheaper there? Or what can I shop say electronics (Toy, Mobile phone or electronic gadgets)

Type of dress in KL and Singapore?
Considering November weather in these two countries, what would be good option of type of clothes I should wear? Any tip?

Thanks in advance.

I'd probably bring some currency anyway as it's always handy to have a bit on hand. I used my debit card to withdraw some cash in KL when I ran out of the bit that I brought over and was charged around $10 (about 6euro) transaction fee. Credit card would be accepted everywhere yeah (although fairly sure at markets and places like that it would be just cash only) but not sure what the transactions would be, you'd probably have to check with them. Your euro will go far as 1eur = about MYR4.5. You could get a meal in places for 15-20 ringgit.


Shopping: I don't think there was much of a difference in prices when it came to designer brands and stuff. Can't really say for consumer electronics and that as I didn't really take much notice when I was over in KL in September but the few clothes shops (Nike, Adidas etc.) I didn't notice much difference in prices with Sydney to be honest...and I'm guessing that wouldn't be much different from Ireland. Main thing I noticed was price of food was a good bit cheaper there.


Singapore wouldn't be cheap, cost of living there generally a good bit higher than every other SE Asian city as it's like the New York city of SEA (i.e. the place to be).
There's a street called Orchard Road which is like the Oxford street of Singapore, wall to wall of shops most of which are high end retailers.
Like I said in the previous post you could fill a suitcase with stuff you'd get from the markets in KL, you can haggle pretty much anything (incl. taxis - before getting into a taxi ask how much to a location and counter offer like 50% of what he offered and go from there. They don't put the meters on so you basically just agree on a price. All part of the experience though!).
Worth bearing in mind you'd be then lugging anything you buy in KL when you get to Sydney so I'm sure you'd be limited in how much you could get.


Clothes/weather: Shorts and t-shirt and comfortable pair of walking shoes to be honest. Definitely not jeans as walking around a bit you wouldn't be comfortable in them in the humidity. Even though KL is predominantly a Muslim country it's very relaxed so don't worry about having to cover up or that kind of thing. It's fairly westernised with loads of ex-pats.
There's no real concept of summer/winter in KL/Singapore. It's pretty much 25-30C all year round and fairly humid. It's just in wet season now so you likely will get a few wet days and/or heavy showers...but it'll stay warm and humid.