Hello Asia! Goodbye Europe for my holidays.

Like many the yearly visit to mainland Europe for the seasonal beach holiday was normal, however this year with the British Pound so weak again the Euro we looked further away from home.

With the past years credit crunch everyone is looking to cut costs and get more for your money. Air Asia's timing of the the direct service from London Stansted to Kuala Lumpur KLCC couldn't be better. After working out how much a family holiday would cost in Europe compared to the cost of a flight to Malaysia there was no competition.

The flight was excellent on a new plane with great staff and great service for a budget price.

We decided not to stay in KL but head straight for an island on the east coast Malaysia. We found a little known island called Pulau Sibu (Sibu island) from a blog and after checking the place out with reviews from tripadvisor and rough guide we booked a 10 day stay at Sibu Island Cabanas.

The scuba diving on offer at Sibu Island is excellent. The dives are from small speed boats to sites no body seems to dive at all; as the reefs are in perfect condition with little to no bleaching. Both myself and my son were able to pass our PADI open water certifications at the hotel / dive centre. While my wife enjoyed some quiet time with a good book on the beach.

It's easy to forget what you really want in a holiday! Forget about the minibar, TVs and mobile phones. All you really want is somewhere to relax as well as to have fun with family and friends.

So if you want to really get away from it all if you live in London or Singapore; KL or Perth remember what it is you really want from a beach holiday and look abit further away from the usual and you'll find exactly what your looking for.

Ever booked any hotel accommodation online only to find out that the actual room doesn't look at all like the images advertised on the website?

Welcome to the 21st century, where everything on travel can be found online and at affordable prices. But beware, the Internet is a knowledge portal with no moderator and boundaries. Hotels will publish their nicest pictures and disgruntled patrons will write the meanest reviews. How can you tell if the information is dependable? All it takes is some research while sitting down in front of your PC and a visit to the local bookshop.

Where Do I Want to Go?

Stay home and surf the net. There are numerous travel sites you can surf to get ideas on where to go. Further information can also be obtained from the country’s tourism authority site. If you still need more opinions, visit travel blogs just by searching through Google or Technorati.

Spend an entire afternoon in ‘Borders’ book shop. Sit down at the travel section and read your way through some of the destination guides to better understand what the different destinations have to offer

Lastly, talk to friends about places they’ve gone. Try and get detailed answers, most of the time they can’t stop talking about their travels.

Diving at Redang 2006

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Last week I flew to Vientiane, Lao PDR (or Laos) for work. My short working trip allowed me to discover this cool quaint place. It's like a laid back Melbourne crossed with Tumpat, Kelantan with a dash of Ao Nang, Krabi. The city is clean and not dusty.

These are my short musings of VTE (Vientiane)....
1. Upon arrival, I found out that here in VTE, they drive on the "wrong side" of the road and for this I always had trouble crossing the roads.

2. There are several interesting attractions in VTE namely 'The Great Stupa' and 'The Victory Gate'. There is also a famous market called 'morning market'. Things that you can get there are jewelery, fabric, arts & crafts.

3.There is still evidence of the French occupation in building architecture and even names of streets. (read more...)

Dear readers, I’m back from Phuket after a 4D3N vacation under AirAsia's GoPackage! The next business trip will be on the end of October to South Brisbane, Australia and I will be using AirAsia's service, too.

First of all before I do single posting on every single places I went, the below is the general review on the overall trip to Phuket, Thailand. This might (or not) be a good piece of reference to those who wish to visit Phuket anytime soon, or near future.

For my trip to Phuket Thailand, we purchased the GoPackage with www.airasia.com at about RM400+ including a 4 days 3 nights stay at Coconut Club Resort including a return flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket Island. We bought this package at about 5-6 months before the trip ensuring we got this good deal.

1. Mode of Transportation - To go Phuket, of course you need a plane. During your visit at Phuket Island, the cheapest mode of transportation are the tuktuks for short distance (It can be up to about 20Baht/RM2 for a distance of about 5km) , or opt for a van if it’s longer distance (It can be about 200Baht/RM20 for a one-day trip). Please remember to compare prices before you make any decision, there are lots of taxi services at Phuket Island just out of your door-steps.

2. Accommodation - At Phuket Island, if you have a good budget, consider staying at Bangla Road (Happening during night time). Otherwise, there are lots of low budget hotel/inn to be rented upon your arrival. You do not need to do any reservation during low period as there are too many of the hotels at Phuket Island. If it’s a peak period, please play safe, do reservation before going. The hotel rates can be at about RM50-80 per night for a low budget hotels.

3. Food - If you love seafood, go for some seafood stalls instead of seafood restaurant. They have the same type of fresh seafood but different ambiance. Why pay more for the ambiance as you can enjoy the same seafood? Some seafood in Phuket is expensive, so remember to do comparison too!

4. Travel & Leisure - Compare and buy a ticket at any Travel Agencies for FANTASEA show at Phuket if you never visit them before! It’s a recommended place to go. Not forgetting the round island trip to Phi-Phi Island or Khai Island. These 3 places will cost you about RM310.00.

5. Nightlife - If you’d like to have some beer at cheap prices, opt for 7-11 instead of pubs. A bottle of SINGHA cost about RM5.50 at a 7-11 and it costs about RM16.00 at a pub. (read more...)

Senthil, Shuba and I just got back from Tokyo, after spending a few days meeting Japanese government officials and airport representatives. We were checking out the scene there to assess the prospect of AirAsia X flying to Japan in the near future. Love to hear your views on Japan as a destination.

The last time I visited Japan was six years ago. There's definitely a feeling of more openness towards foreign visitors. The Japanese government is now aggressively trying to catch up with other Asian countries to grow their tourism sector, and they've come up with their Yokoso Japan! (Welcome to Japan) campaign to attract tourists. They have a long way to go to catch up with advanced tourist Markets such as Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and even neighbours Korea.

One thing that struck me about this trip was the mis-perception that Japan (and Tokyo specifically) is a very expensive destination. I found plenty of options for hotel rooms, ground transportation and food choices at prices below Hong Kong and Sydney. There are also a lot of guidebooks and maps in English that made using the bus and subway system easy to use for us gai-jins.

Japan has a lot of unique selling points: Tokyo is clearly the fashion capital of Asia - shopping in Ginza is overwhelming. Electronic gadget lovers will find Akihabara a paradise. The electronic stores there make Low Yatt look like a tiny corner stall! And this is home to anime - from Pokemon to Dragon Ballz to Haruhi Suzumiya! There's also Tokyo Disneyland and the ancient Shogun palaces and castles that will send you back in time to the Tokugawa era (like Hiro from Heroes!).

My clear favourite: this tiny little restaurant in Tsukiji, the main fish market in Tokyo where tons of tuna and other seafood are trucked in the wee hours of the morning and auctioned off to the top restaurants in the city. The sashimi was simply phenomenal!

Let's hope that the Japanese airports respond positively to our proposal. Its time to liberate travel to Japan from the tyranny of high fares from the legacy airlines!