Inside Singapore? Hmm, yeah, there are some places that you should see, to get a sense of Singapore, just a little warning, pretty much every marvel on this tiny island is man-made, even forests and sounds of singing birds:)So yeah, when you want real nature and real sense of adventure, venture out of Singapore to experience the truly Asia! I'll have another post about what to do in Singapore, but for this post, I'll just discuss about other exotic destinations in S.E.Asia.
Singapore has the best flight connections and deals to virtually any parts of Asia, there are numerous cheap airlines to various destinations in Asia and Australia! Check out Tigerair, AirAsia, Jetstar Asia, when you want to fly to popular places in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, even South Korea, India and Australia. You can just subscribe to their mailing list, and they'll send you some crazy deals from time to time. So pretty much you can just book as late as a few days before your intended trip and the fares are still pocket-friendly J If you want to compare prices of different airlines, a highly recommended site is www.skyscanner.com, which offers fairly extensive list of all airlines to your preferred destination.
One tip about Tigerair, I found an Indonesian travel website called www.tiket.com, if you intend to book any flight tickets from Tigerair, check out from this page first before you check from the official Tigerair page. Almost 99% sure you'll get a cheaper deal from tiket.com, and for exactly the same tickets:)
And not just by plane, it's also extremely easy to venture into Malaysia and Indonesia via bus from Singapore. You can easily reach Kualar Lumpur, Melacca, Johor Bahru,etc in Malaysia with a bus, for only 20-something SGD =))
Overall, I traveled to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, not so many places as my other exchange friends, since I want to explore the place well. I traveled quite often to Vietnam to visit my family during the exchange semester; most of my other traveling plans are executed only by the end of the semester.
From my own experience, I highly recommend a visit to Tioman Island, Malaysia; Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam for the unexploited nature/snorkeling lover. If you are a devout shopper and Buddist, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Bali is a must for your travelling checklist in S.E.Asia. If you'd like to see a civilized city situated between magnificent mountain ranges and sandy beaches, with the best seafood on offer at a remarkably reasonable price, Da Nang& Hoi An in the middle of Vietnam is for you.
And it's a must that you have to see the Lunar New Year festival, usually happening in the beginning of February, at places like Ha Noi, Bali or Bangkok, where you'll witness the authentic traditions that we honor for generations. Ticket prices usually skyrocket during this time, as almost every Asian want to reunite with their families, so you should buy the tickets much earlier in advance, if you plan to go somewhere else instead of Singapore during this time.
In the following posts I'll go into detail about each travel destinations that I've been to:)
