Eastern Experience 1

Multi-cultural cuisine, old and new architecture, natural and manmade attractions – Singapore is a real melting pot. Here, markets sit in the shadows of designer malls and sky-high hotels tower over temples. But this is the City in a Garden, so the green to grey ratio’s higher than usual. The island nation’s freckled with parks, rainforests and futuristic vertical gardens. Run your finger along the waterfront, and you’ll find Sentosa Island – a resort dedicated to theme parks, beaches and animal encounters.

• Take up a spot on the SkyPark deck at Marina Bay Sands. It’s a great place for snapping the city-state’s giant supertrees in all their glory.
• Feast on steaming bowls of curry or laksa at a hawker centre. The stalls cover Malaysian, Chinese and Indian flavours. If you’re having trouble picking, look for the one with the longest line.
• Get up close to wildlife at Singapore Zoo. This 64-acre site blurs the line between zoo and rainforest, with big, natural enclosures. You can combine it with visits to the River Safari and Jurong Bird Park, too.

Multi-cultural cuisine, old and new architecture, natural and manmade attractions – Singapore is a real melting pot. Here, markets sit in the shadows of designer malls and sky-high hotels tower over temples. But this is the City in a Garden, so the green to grey ratio’s higher than usual. The island nation’s freckled with parks, rainforests and futuristic vertical gardens. Run your finger along the waterfront, and you’ll find Sentosa Island – a resort dedicated to theme parks, beaches and animal encounters.

• Take up a spot on the SkyPark deck at Marina Bay Sands. It’s a great place for snapping the city-state’s giant supertrees in all their glory.
• Feast on steaming bowls of curry or laksa at a hawker centre. The stalls cover Malaysian, Chinese and Indian flavours. If you’re having trouble picking, look for the one with the longest line.
• Get up close to wildlife at Singapore Zoo. This 64-acre site blurs the line between zoo and rainforest, with big, natural enclosures. You can combine it with visits to the River Safari and Jurong Bird Park, too.

Laem Chabang’s sat on the southern coastline, overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, and is home to the country’s largest port. A gateway to the Chonburi Province, it’s got party-hard Pattaya as a neighbour, and connects to Bangkok – the capital – via an eight-lane motorway. On the horizon, you’ll be able to see the island of Ko Sichang. This tropical spot lines up the postcard-worthy, white-sand-and-blue-sea combo that Thailand’s become famous for.

• Bangkok’s an hour and a half’s drive from Laem Chabang, and is stacked with must-sees. In between the Wat Arun temple and the Grand Palace, you’ll see a buzzing street food scene and long-tail boats lazing down the river.
• Visit the Harbour Mall – it’s seven storeys high, and houses shops, restaurants, an ice rink, and an adventure zone under its roof. You’ll find it a 10-minute drive from the cruise terminal.
• Make tracks to Pattaya. Laem Chabang’s lively neighbour has a reputation as something of a wild child. But look beneath the exterior, and you’ll find the city’s mix of golden-sand beaches, plus-sized shopping centres, and attractions like the Sanctuary of Truth.

Phu My is the gateway to Vietnam’s largest city. Drive an hour and a half north from the port and the new expressway will lead you into the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City – the country’s former capital, which also goes by the name of Saigon. You can learn about the history of the Vietnam War by visiting the War Remnants Museum. Other popular spots include the historic Ban Thanh Market, the red-brick Notre Dame Cathedral and the French-style Post Office. Add on another hour’s drive from the port and you’ll reach the famous Cu Chi tunnels – a 200-kilometre underground network of passageways, which played a vital role in the war.

• Head south along the coastline and you’ll find the city of Vung Tau perched on a peninsula, hemmed by the ocean. Here, you’ll find beaches backed by palms and colonial-style buildings.
• Visit Christ the King in Vung Tau – this huge statue of Jesus stands 36 metres tall on the top of Mount Nho. Climb the staircase inside the sculpture and you’ll reach the viewpoint, where you’ll have sweeping views of the city and out to sea.
• Watch a traditional water puppet show. The colourful figures use the water’s surface as a stage for telling the history of Vietnam’s culture, and a live band provides the soundtrack.

Multi-cultural cuisine, old and new architecture, natural and manmade attractions – Singapore is a real melting pot. Here, markets sit in the shadows of designer malls and sky-high hotels tower over temples. But this is the City in a Garden, so the green to grey ratio’s higher than usual. The island nation’s freckled with parks, rainforests and futuristic vertical gardens. Run your finger along the waterfront, and you’ll find Sentosa Island – a resort dedicated to theme parks, beaches and animal encounters.

• Take up a spot on the SkyPark deck at Marina Bay Sands. It’s a great place for snapping the city-state’s giant supertrees in all their glory.
• Feast on steaming bowls of curry or laksa at a hawker centre. The stalls cover Malaysian, Chinese and Indian flavours. If you’re having trouble picking, look for the one with the longest line.
• Get up close to wildlife at Singapore Zoo. This 64-acre site blurs the line between zoo and rainforest, with big, natural enclosures. You can combine it with visits to the River Safari and Jurong Bird Park, too.

Multi-cultural cuisine, old and new architecture, natural and manmade attractions – Singapore is a real melting pot. Here, markets sit in the shadows of designer malls and sky-high hotels tower over temples. But this is the City in a Garden, so the green to grey ratio’s higher than usual. The island nation’s freckled with parks, rainforests and futuristic vertical gardens. Run your finger along the waterfront, and you’ll find Sentosa Island – a resort dedicated to theme parks, beaches and animal encounters.

• Take up a spot on the SkyPark deck at Marina Bay Sands. It’s a great place for snapping the city-state’s giant supertrees in all their glory.
• Feast on steaming bowls of curry or laksa at a hawker centre. The stalls cover Malaysian, Chinese and Indian flavours. If you’re having trouble picking, look for the one with the longest line.
• Get up close to wildlife at Singapore Zoo. This 64-acre site blurs the line between zoo and rainforest, with big, natural enclosures. You can combine it with visits to the River Safari and Jurong Bird Park, too.

Malacca – which is also known as Melaka – started out as a pint-sized fishing village before the 15th century. Although it’s grown since then, and has earned itself UNESCO recognition, it’s still small enough for you to explore its colourful streets on foot. Thanks to its colonial past, you’ll find a mixture of cultural influences scattered around in the architecture of the city, including Chinese, British, Dutch and Portuguese.

• Go for a ride up to the top of the Taming Sari Tower. This gyro tower’s the first, and so far the only, in Malaysia. You’ll be greeted with panoramic views over Melaka city when you reach its highest point.
• Pause for a picture at the remains of A’Famosa Fort, which was originally built by the Portuguese in the 16th century. It was later taken over by the Dutch, and then the British, so it’s a good place to see the city’s blend of cultural influences.
• Make sure the Dutch-built Christ Church is on your to-do list. Its bright-pink colour and impressive size make sure that you won’t struggle to spot it.

Penang is often said to be Malaysia’s most popular destination. And, with its melting pot of cultures and top-notch food scene, it’s easy to see why. You’ll disembark into UNESCO-accredited Georgetown. You can do your sightseeing on foot here, or hire a rickshaw to trundle around in. However you choose to explore, you’ll get a feel for the rich history of the town, which has left its mark in the form of picture-perfect Chinese and colonial architecture.

• Try traditional Malaysian food on Macalister road. This place has earned itself a reputation as a hotspot for foodies, as it’s lined with restaurants and street food stalls. Make sure you taste some char kway teow, a stir-fried dish with flat noodles.
• Take the funicular railway up to Penang Hill – the track’s the longest of its kind in Asia. Once you reach the top, step out onto one of the observation decks for panoramic views over Penang City.
• Browse the stalls at the Lorong Kulit Flea Market. Whatever you’re looking to buy, you’ll find it here – this place offers up an eclectic selection of goodies. Plus, the prices are bargain hunter-friendly.

The island of Phuket does plenty to earn its nickname of ‘the pearl of Thailand’. Like a pendant on a necklace, it’s strung to the southwest coast of the mainland by a kilometre-long bridge across the azure-blue Andaman Sea. Phuket is home to reams of postcard-pretty beaches, tree-cloaked mountains and opulent temples. And it’s within easy daytripping distance of the Phi Phi islands and Phang Nga Bay, both of which have starred in blockbuster movies. The former is where Leonardo DiCaprio hit The Beach was filmed, while the latter featured in James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun.

• Kick back on a white-sand beach. Over 40 kilometres of Phuket’s coastline is fringed by picture-perfect beaches peppered with loungers and locals selling coconut water fresh from the shell.
• Hike up to the Giant Buddha. This 45-metre-high statue sits at the top of the Nakkerd Hills and offers up sweeping views of two picturesque bays – Chalong and Kata.

There’s a paradisal quality to Langkawi, which is anchored off the west coast of Malaysia, in the Andaman Sea. Things are pretty laidback in the island’s premier town, Kuah, which has a waterfront that’s home to family-run shops and rustic bars, plus a huge statue of a swooping red eagle. In the north, you can take boat trips into vast cave networks, and the centre of the island’s dominated by rice paddies and the tree-draped Gunung Raya Mountain. Sleepy fishing villages are dotted around the unspoiled coastline, with meringue-white beaches punched between them.

• If you’ve got a head for heights, take the Langkawi Cable Car to the top of the Gunung Machinchang Mountain. Soak up the views from the peak and the Langkawi Sky Bridge. This suspended walkway curves high above the leafy canopy, and offers the best panoramas of the island.
• Tanjung Rhu delivers one of the best sunbathing scenes in Langkawi. Rocky islands out to sea are like a scaled-down version of Vietnam’s Halong Bay, and you can explore limestone caves and mangroves when you’re not on the pale sands.
• At Telaga Tujuh Waterfalls, you’ll be able to dip your toe in Langkawi’s top-rated natural attraction. The name translates as ‘Seven Wells’, but what you get is a series of pools and channels with waterfalls trickling between them.

Port Klang’s hidden from view as you coast along the Malacca Strait – you’ll weave between a quartet of green-tinted islands to make your way to the harbour. It’s the largest port in Malaysia, so it’s no surprise to see multi-coloured cranes lined up along the waterfront. There’s plenty of room for restaurants to get in on the act as well, and you’ll find seafood places perched just above the shallows. Port Klang’s also a good jumping off point for visiting Klang. This town’s cut from a different cloth to super-modern Kuala Lumpur, and instead serves up historic monuments, temples and lively shopping streets. Kuala Lumpur itself is just over an hour’s drive away, so it’s easy to pay the skyscraper-filled city a visit, too.

• Head to Port Klang’s Bagan Hailam neighbourhood, and you’ll find a big selection of restaurants propped up above the water. They dish up local favourites like salt-baked crab, deep-fried squid and steamed crayfish.
• Take a boat trip to Pulau Ketam for a seriously authentic experience. This island’s set just off the coast of Port Klang, and all of the locals live in ‘floating’ houses on stilts. It’s known for its fishing trade, and the name even translates as ‘Crab Island’.
• Treat yourself to a spot of retail therapy in Kuala Lumpur. Pavilion KL lines up luxury labels, and Berjaya Times Square has 10 floors packed with shops, restaurants and a cinema.

Multi-cultural cuisine, old and new architecture, natural and manmade attractions – Singapore is a real melting pot. Here, markets sit in the shadows of designer malls and sky-high hotels tower over temples. But this is the City in a Garden, so the green to grey ratio’s higher than usual. The island nation’s freckled with parks, rainforests and futuristic vertical gardens. Run your finger along the waterfront, and you’ll find Sentosa Island – a resort dedicated to theme parks, beaches and animal encounters.

• Take up a spot on the SkyPark deck at Marina Bay Sands. It’s a great place for snapping the city-state’s giant supertrees in all their glory.
• Feast on steaming bowls of curry or laksa at a hawker centre. The stalls cover Malaysian, Chinese and Indian flavours. If you’re having trouble picking, look for the one with the longest line.
• Get up close to wildlife at Singapore Zoo. This 64-acre site blurs the line between zoo and rainforest, with big, natural enclosures. You can combine it with visits to the River Safari and Jurong Bird Park, too.