Singaporean Week-end escapes

Singapore is just the perfect place to always feel on holiday! Whatever short weekend destination you choose, it’s already a relaxing break.

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Phnom Penh

One of my roommates lived in Phnom Penh for almost 2 years and adores the city. However, as a tourist, I can’t say it’s immensely exciting… The city does have many temples a few museums, plenty of cafés, restaurants and French bakeries, but « the beauty that made it a ‘Paris of the East’ before 1970 is now hidden beneath modern day Cambodia, where the wide boulevards and promenades envisaged by the French are mostly used as parking spaces and market stalls.« 

I guess Phnom Penh is were Cambodia’s recent History lives the most, as the main tourists sites are directly linked with its dark past.

Yangon

Yangon and it’s fabulous streets. They are a mix of colors, temples, people, sometimes overcrowded, sometimes empty, full of beauty, of poverty, yet have these amazing crumbling old colonial buildings and houses, hiding behind courtyards and high gates, which were once rich and grand, where you just want to adventure yourself until you see a dog running up to you, with the housekeeper looking at you from afar thinking “I’m watching you young lady”… And there’s the smell, this smell of Betel that you quickly get used to and that, if ever you were to smell again elsewhere, you would think back to it with tenderness and would always tie you back to your Burmese adventures.

Spa Boat party weekend

That was a very special weekend for me, as it marked my entry into a new decade and man it was an amazing entry ! We booked a sort of cruise, with SpaBoat, off of Phuket, for 20 people (they also have a boat which can accommodate 30) and just chilled and partied for the full weekend in this amazing scenery. 

Medan, Bukit Lawang

Bukit Lawang, I seem to remember translates into « Door to the Mountain », is a National Park, which offers treks through the Northern Sumatran jungle and a unique opportunity to see rehabilitated Orangutans. The treks go from half a day to 7 days, we contented ourselves with 2 weekend days. 

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur literally mean ‘Muddy Confluence’. KL got this nickname because it was founded near the cross between the rivers Klang and Gombak. It has now because this major South East Asian hub where cultures, shopping malls, foods from all over the place were splashed everywhere.

Penang

Georgetown is a cute city. I preferred it to Melaka. An interesting mix of old and new, authentic and rebuilt. It can be done in one day minimum, but if you like these charming little cities, sparkled with small cultural pearls, you could stay a day or two extra. Most of it is walkable; I think the botanic garden is a bit far, but then again… another one…

Chiang Mai

First thing you need to know about Chiang Mai, is that it is very cheap compared to other places in Thailand (accommodation, food, shopping, etc.)! Anyhow, so what do you want to do when you come here? This is what I got up to:

Some Singaporean bites & bars

 

Part 2 – Central & Northern Thailand (April & May)

 

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13/04 – day 74 to 21/04 – day 82: Koh Tao again