Tag: Trip to Asia

Escape Plan to Bangkok in July 2012

Escape Plan to Bangkok in July 2012

Posted on by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Bangkok in July 2012:

Total duration 3D3N
Singapore is 1hr ahead of Bangkok, Thailand.
Flight time is 2hrs 25mins direct flight on Airasia from Singapore to Bangkok.
Thursday evening flight on 12th Jul and arrival in Bangkok in the night.

Day 1 – Flight
Day 2 – Platinum Mall and dinner at Mezzaluna, Lebua hotel.
Day 3 – More Shopping and Massage at Urban Retreat Spa
Day 4 – Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned to celebrate wife’s birthday out of Singapore with a shopping trip to boot.

Budget nature: Easy on the wallet 

Airplane tickets are cheap with budget airlines especially when booked 3 months before the actual flight date. Everything else if pretty cheap, a real makan and shopping and massage haven.

Complexity: DIY possible for the beginners

This is an easy place to navigate with good transportation structure and English everywhere signs. Touring the city with little planning is possible and should be DIY for maximum costs savings and flexibility.

Escape plan to Doha, Jordan and Israel April 2012

Escape plan to Doha, Jordan and Israel April 2012

Posted on by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Doha, Jordan and Israel 2012:

Total duration 16D17N
Singapore is 5hrs ahead of Doha,Jordan and Israel.
Flight time is 7,5hrs direct flight on Qatar Airways from Singapore to Doha.
Night flight on 20th April and arrival in Doha at just after midnight..
Return flight is a slightly more than 2.5hrs direct flight on Qatar Airlines from Amman to Doha, a transit of 5.5hrs and another 8hrs flight back to Singapore. Return journey started on a Saturday afternoon and touching down in Singapore on Sunday mid-day.

Day 1 and 2 Flight to Doha and Amman – Souq Waqif & Amman City
Day 3 – Dessert Castles, Jerash and Aljoun Castle
Day 4 – Citadel, Madaba and Mt. Nebo
Day 5 – Memorial of Moses, Bethany beyond the Jordan and the Dead Sea
Day 6 – Kerak Castle, Shobak Castle and Petra
Day 7 – Petra all day
Day 8 – Wadi Rum, Rivage outlet and back to Madaba
Day 9 – Jordan crossing to Israel and Tiberias
Day 10 – Golan Heights, Nazareth and Church of Annunciation
Day 11 – City of Acre, Bahai Gardens, Druze village, Caesarea and Jaffa
Day 12 – Jerusalem
Day 13 – Yad Vashem museum, Mount of Olives, Shrine of the Book, Malcha Mall
Day 14 – Bethleham in the Palestinian Authority and Masada Fortress
Day 15, 16 and 17 – Crossing back to Amman and Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned as our long trip for the year. We chose this trip because we wanted to see one of the wonder of the world, Petra in Jordan and also to hop over to Israel for a visit (though we aren’t the religious sort).

Budget nature: Budget buster.

This trip took some time for saving up as the Singapore dollars are smaller than the currencies of the Jordanian Dinar and although it is bigger than the Israeli New Sheqel and the Qatari Rial, the expenses there are expensive too. Petrol prices in Jordan are cheaper than Singapore but not in Israel. Accommodation have been chosen for the affordability and thus not luxurious. Food prices are higher than Singapore but still affordable. Entrance fees and transportation to attractions are also contributing the the costs.

Complexity: Driving a car is required to move around Jordan and Israel.

These two countries are huge and a car to move around is the most ideal. We did not take any of the public transportation during our time except in Doha where it was just a stopover for us and taxi is the easy way around and in Amman, where driving in the city is too challenging.

With a GPS on hand, navigation is a breeze. Speedtraps in Jordan were especially common and thus one has to be careful not to get caught or risk a fine on the spot.

Escape Plan to Boracay January 2012

Escape Plan to Boracay January 2012

Posted on by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Boracay 2012:

Total duration 3D2N
Singapore is in the same time zone as Boracay.
Flight time is 4hrs on Jetstar from Singapore to Manila and 1hrs on Cebu Pacific from Manila to Caticlan airport Boracay.

Morning flight on 21st January at 2:20am and arrival in Manila at 6:20am, transfer to Cebu pacific at 9am and arrival in Boracay at 10am.
Return flight is on the 23rd January at 4:40pm and arrival in Manila at 5:40pm by Cebu Pacific, transfer to Jetstar 8:35pm flight and arrival at 1235am in Singapore.

Day 1 – Arrival at Boracay and Mt. Luho
Day 2 – Day trip to Crystal Cove Island and snorkeling at sea
Day 3 – Home Sweet home

This escape plan was to get away for the long weekend due to the Chinese New Year. Wanted to go to places where it’s not predominantly Chinese so we chose a place known for it’s beautiful beaches, Boracay. We weren’t there for the scuba diving though it would be one of the nicest dive places (because we can’t scuba).

Budget nature: Affordable

Beach resorts came with touristy prices but in Boracay, it was not over the top, still affordable comparably.

Complexity: Easy to get around on Boracay, different forms of transportation to get there

Having taken 2 flights and an airport transfer, there was still a short trike ride to the jetty and a boat trip to Boracay. Not difficult though.

On Boracay itself, due to the size of the island, getting from place to place is usually in a trike and from station 1 to 3 can be done on foot, strolling on the beach of course!

Escape Plan to South Korea October 2011

Escape Plan to South Korea October 2011

Posted on by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to South Korea 2011:

Total duration 13D12N
South Korea is 1hrs ahead of Singapore.
Flight time is 11hrs 50mins on Cathay Pacific with a transit at Hong Kong before arrival at Incheon Airport.

Morning flight is on Cathay Pacific on 26th October at 1:15am and arrival in Hong Kong at 5:10am and depart Hong Kong at 9:30am and arrive at Seoul at 2:05pm.
Return flight is on Cathay Pacific on the 7th November at 10:15am and arrival in Hong Kong at 1:15pm and transfer to 4pm flight and arrival at 7:45pm in Singapore on the 7th November.

Day 1 – Arrival in Seoul, Jogyesa Temple and Jonggak shopping.
Day 2 – Palace hopping, Seodaemun Prison and Shopping
Day 3 – Mt. Sorak and Sinheungsa Temple
Day 4 – Seoraksan cable car, Gwongeumseong Fortress and bus to Daegu
Day 5 – Day trip to historical town of Gyeongju
Day 6 – Beomeosa Temple, Geumjeong Fortress, Seokbul-sa Temple and Jagalchi Market
Day 7 – Yonggungsa Temple, Gwangandaegyo Bridge and Busan shopping
Day 8 – From Busan to Jeju and Mysterious Road, Miniature Land and rocks
Day 9 – Seongsan Ilchulbong, Manjanggul Lava Cave, Sangumburi Crater, Jeju Folk Museum and Haenyeo Woman Divers
Day 10 – Daepo Jusangjeolli Cliff, Teddy Bear Museum, Sanbangsan and flight from Jeju to Seoul
Day 11 – DMZ tour – world’s most heavily fortified border
Day 12 – Shopping again at Seoul
Day 13 – Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned to cover 2 days of public holiday consecutively to minimise the number of leave days required, so that 7 days leave yielded 13 days of holidaying.

Budget nature: Affordable outside city.

Other than the big cities where prices were expected to be higher, moving around the other areas of this big country can be pretty affordable. Take public transportation and stay at non-luxurious accommodation to bring costs down.

Complexity: Not so straightforward.

Cities and tourist places were very well connected with public transport. However, language became a barrier for communication especially outside Seoul. The hand language worked though, and the translation on Lonely Planet guide book made it easier.

Driving in Jeju helped to us to get from places to places effectively in the huge island and since traffic was light, it was not difficult to drive.

Escape plan to India and Nepal January 2011

Escape plan to India and Nepal January 2011

Posted on by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to India and Nepal 2011:

Total duration 8D6N
India is 2.5hrs behind Singapore.
Flight time is 5hrs 30mins on Sri Lankan Airlines to Bandaranaike Airport in Sri Lanka, transit of 4hrs 25mins followed by 3hrs 35mins on Sri Lankan Airlines to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi India.

Flight time is 1hrs 55mins on SpiceJet Airlines to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Flight was on Sri Lankan Airlines on 29th January at 7:05am and arrival in Colombo at 10:05am and departure on the same day at 2:30pm and arrival in New Delhi at 6:10pm.
Return flight was on Sri Lankan Airlines on the 4th Febuary at 7:10am in New Delhi and arrival in Colombo at 10:45pm and departure on the same day at 11:40pm and arrive in Singapore at 6:05am.

Day 1 – Arrival in New Delhi and check in
Day 2 – Red Fort, Rajghat, Swaminarayan Akshardham temple, India Gate, Humayun’s Tomb & Lotus Temple
Day 3 – Day trip by train to Agra, Fatehpur Sikri & Taj Mahal
Day 4 – Flight to Kathmandu, Swayambhunath Stupa, Tibetan Refugee Camp & Patan
Day 5 – Kirtipur town, Kathmandu Dubar Square & transfer to Nagarkot
Day 6 – Nagarkot and journey back to Kathmandu
Day 7,8 – Flight back to Delhi and Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned during the Chinese New Year of 2011. We wanted to go to places where the festival is not being celebrated for fear that the entire place would be dead due to the festivities. So we chose India and Nepal so that we can also visit one of the new Wonder of the World, the Taj Mahal

Budget nature: Not too bad.

As much as I tried to get 3-4 stars hotel accommodation, we had to spend quite a bit of the VISAs for India, which had to go through some local agent to get it done (Nepal is VISA on arrival). We had gotten the better seats on train for the day trip to Agra and also a return flight to Nepal (which is cheaper to do so flying from Delhi compared to Singapore), and Nepal tour arranged through a local agent.

Complexity: With planning, it would be manageable.

We managed to get around Delhi by taxi and in Nepal, those were managed by pre-arranged tour agent. Stayed near the train station for the early train to Agra.

Visa for India was a pain to arrange.

Escape Plan to Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah November 2010

Escape Plan to Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah November 2010

Posted on by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Mt Kinabalu, Sabah 2010:

Total duration 4D3N
Sabah is on the same timezone as Singapore.
Flight time is 2hrs 15mins to Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

Flight was on AirAsia Airlines on the 5th November at 5:35pm and arrival in Kota Kinabalu at 7:50pm.
Return flight was on AirAsia Airlines on the 8th November at 2:55pm in Kota Kinabalu and arrival in Singapore at 5:10pm.

Day 1 – Arrival into Kota Kinabalu and transfer to Kinabalu Park.
Day 2 – Transfer to Timpohon gate and climb to Laban Rata Resthouse
Day 3 – Peak ascent, descend and return to ground and transfer to Kinabalu City.
Day 4 – Massage and Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned to celebrate my 30th birthday. As the age 30 is a milestone, I wanted to do something different before stepping into the 30s, so I thought I would scale a mountain. Kota Kinabalu presented this opportunity to do so for my birthday. While the planning was quite easy, having booked through everything with a local tour agent, the getting to fitness for the climb require months of training to improve our fitness.

Budget nature: Affordable

It was not too expensive to go for this trip as there weren’t many options to begin with and it was generally affordable in Sabah.

Complexity: Not too difficult

We went through a local agent which sorted out all our accommodations, transfer and guide and we only need to use our muscles during the trip.

Escape plan to Taipei, Taiwan 2009

Escape plan to Taipei, Taiwan 2009

Posted on by ziyi

brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Taipei May 2009:

Total duration 5D4N
There is no time difference between Singapore and Taiwan.
Flight time is 5hrs 35mins on Scoot from Singapore to Taipei.
Return is almost 5hrs on Tigerair from Taipei to Singapore.

Flight on China Airlines from Singapore to Taipei at 810am on 20th May, arriving at 1250pm in Taipei. 
Return flight on China Airlines from Taipei to Singapore is at 405pm on 24th May and touching down in Singapore at 845pm.

Day 1 Arrival in Taipei, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei Botanical Garden and Shi Da Night Market
Day 2 Long Shan Temple, 228 Peace Park, Zhong Xiao Dong Lu, Sogo, Taipei 101, Raohe Night Market and Wu Fen Pu
Day 3 Hot Spring Valley, Yangmingshan National Park, Shilin Night Market and Ximending shopping
Day 4 National Palace Museum, Martyr’s Shrine, Danshui and Raohe Night Market
Day 5 Da An Park, Ding Tai Feng restaurant, Sun Yat Sen Memorial and Home Sweet Home

This trip was planned as a short getaway to visit Taipei for the first time together as a couple. We wanted to experience hot spring baths and even more so, eat and shop in this trip! There were just so much delicious food to try that we saw on the variety shows and we wanted to try those!

Budget – affordable as we went around in public transport

We booked ourselves a decent hotel which was affordable and went around in public transport. Shopping at those massive wholesale markets instead of high end shopping malls are also great value!

Complexity – Easy

Metropolitan city of Taipei is easy to navigate as the public transportation system is quite established, literally went everywhere with the subway and the trains! English names helped a lot as we can’t read traditional Chinese which was used in Taipei.

Escape Plan to Malacca, Malaysia July 2008

Escape Plan to Malacca, Malaysia July 2008

Posted on by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Malacca, Malaysia July 2008:

Total duration 2D1N
Malacca is on the same timezone as Singapore.
Drive time is around 3-4hrs after crossing over to Malaysia, leaving Singapore on the 12th july 2008 and leaving Malacca on the 13th July.

Day 1 – Arrive into Malacca, Formosa Chicken Rice Ball, Dutch Square, Stadthuys, St. Paul’s Hill, Maritime Museum and Satay Celup at Jonker Walk
Day 2 – Menara Taming Sari, Assam Laksa and Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned as a short getaway from Singapore to a shopping and food paradise of Malacca which is just a few hours of drive away. It was a perfect one for a birthday celebration.

Budget nature: Cheap

Without flights, this trip was already affordable, coupled with a currency higher than Malaysia’s and affordable street food, this trip was cheap.

Complexity: Easy

Driving was pretty straight forward, Malacca wasn’t particularly big though streets can get busy. Of course there were concerns with cars burglary but common sense and being low profile was the way to go.