I've been rather slow in posting this, but we are off to Singapore and Malaysia at the end of the month. B wants a holiday before she returns to work and was rather envious of the dishes I ate while in Singapore recently.
Qantas has had some absolutely amazing airfares lately and so we decided to take advantage of them and fly the A380. Accor also had some great hotel deals. I really wanted to show her Belgium, but the costs and the logistics of taking a 9 month old baby across so many timezones were prohibitive. So we settled on Singapore, with the chance of taking a low cost carrier elsewhere in Asia.
Hong Kong? I so wanted to stay in the Novotel Citygate again and walk the heritage trail. Taiwan? Never been there. China. Err, not with a baby, plus the need for visas. Plus the above locations are all typhoon targets this time of year (indeed China and Taiwan have had severe flooding in the past week).
Thailand was tempting. Bangkok - been there and didn't face taking Alex to the places we hadn't yet visited. Phuket? Looked like a total tourist trap and there were transport issues, important with a small child. The Thai destinations were primarily selected by air service.
In the end we stuck with Malaysia. It's amazing, but B has seen remarkably little of her country of birth, basically only the Peninsula's west coast. I was seriously thinking about Kuching in Sabah. There are interesting museums, a scenic waterfront, old shophouses and a nearby orangutan reserve. I'd love to visit there one day.
In the end we decided that we would have try to include some genuine relaxation in this holiday. Normally we race around sightseeing, eating, experiencing everything. Maximising the day and night. Relaxation is for the rare Queensland holiday where there is bugger all to see anyway. But this has been a tiring year, and we have a young child who needs to spend time pottering around and sleeping.
The last two times I have visited Singapore and Malaysia all I really wanted to do was spend the day eating at hawker stalls and relaxing in the golden afternoon light.
I forget what originally made me think about visiting Kuantan and Teluk Chempedak beach. There's a couple of resorts there, beachside food stalls and beach. It's cheaper than Langkawi, supposedly quite boring, but that sounds nice for being lazy. I think it was the food stalls that sold us. No shopping, just relaxing and eating. Perfect.
I hope its as good as I imagine it to be. But I'm not imagining much.
Qantas has had some absolutely amazing airfares lately and so we decided to take advantage of them and fly the A380. Accor also had some great hotel deals. I really wanted to show her Belgium, but the costs and the logistics of taking a 9 month old baby across so many timezones were prohibitive. So we settled on Singapore, with the chance of taking a low cost carrier elsewhere in Asia.
Hong Kong? I so wanted to stay in the Novotel Citygate again and walk the heritage trail. Taiwan? Never been there. China. Err, not with a baby, plus the need for visas. Plus the above locations are all typhoon targets this time of year (indeed China and Taiwan have had severe flooding in the past week).
Thailand was tempting. Bangkok - been there and didn't face taking Alex to the places we hadn't yet visited. Phuket? Looked like a total tourist trap and there were transport issues, important with a small child. The Thai destinations were primarily selected by air service.
In the end we stuck with Malaysia. It's amazing, but B has seen remarkably little of her country of birth, basically only the Peninsula's west coast. I was seriously thinking about Kuching in Sabah. There are interesting museums, a scenic waterfront, old shophouses and a nearby orangutan reserve. I'd love to visit there one day.
In the end we decided that we would have try to include some genuine relaxation in this holiday. Normally we race around sightseeing, eating, experiencing everything. Maximising the day and night. Relaxation is for the rare Queensland holiday where there is bugger all to see anyway. But this has been a tiring year, and we have a young child who needs to spend time pottering around and sleeping.
The last two times I have visited Singapore and Malaysia all I really wanted to do was spend the day eating at hawker stalls and relaxing in the golden afternoon light.
I forget what originally made me think about visiting Kuantan and Teluk Chempedak beach. There's a couple of resorts there, beachside food stalls and beach. It's cheaper than Langkawi, supposedly quite boring, but that sounds nice for being lazy. I think it was the food stalls that sold us. No shopping, just relaxing and eating. Perfect.
I hope its as good as I imagine it to be. But I'm not imagining much.
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