Unique Singapore

By: Richard Greaves

Singapore is an unmistakably modern city with its gleaming office towers, bustling port, and vast swank shopping centres. But the thing that strikes most visitors immediately is the greenness of the place. It's not nicknamed the Garden City for nothing. Trees line the roads and parks and gardens offer greenness in profusion. Here we'll look at three of downtown Singapore's most popular and impressive green spots - the Singapore Botanical Gardens, Fort Canning and Haw Par Villa.

Singapore's commitment to nature is most evident in the Botanic Gardens. After all, not many other cities boast 157-acre gardens right in their centres. And it plays an important role in the lives of Singaporeans. Other than oxygenating and beautifying the city and providing a recreation area, the Gardens also houses some specialised plant collections. These include the National Orchid Garden, the Ginger Garden, and the Evolution Garden, all housing rare specimens of flora. For example, the Orchid Garden boasts over 20,000 plants on display.



Another feature of the Gardens is Symphony Lake, a venue for outdoor concerts. The gardens also play an important educational role. This takes the form of the Children’s Garden which aims to cultivate an appreciation in young people for plants, nature and the environment.

Another city centre park is Fort Canning located on Singapore’s main strip of Orchid Road. Established in 1859 as an arms store, barracks and hospital, Fort Canning was in fact the location of original botanical gardens of Singapore established by Singapore’s founder Sir Stamford Raffles in 1822. You can see the prototype of the original 19-hectare botanical garden in the form of the Spice Garden in Fort Canning.


Fort Canning is also a historical treasure house containing artefacts dating back to the 14th century and the bungalow where Sir Stamford Raffles once lived.

Other than its green areas, Fort Canning is a popular centre for the arts with regular art and sculpture exhibitions, plays and open-air ballet performances.

Finally we look at a park more intriguing for its displays than its greenery, namely the famous Tiger Balm Gardens now known as Haw Par Villa (Villa of the Tiger and Leopard). It was built by two brothers who'd made a fortune from the menthol and camphor rub named Tiger Balm. They opened the gardens in the 1930s with the aim of teaching traditional Chinese values. The mode of teaching was via over 1000 statues and 150 tableaux representing Chinese legends.

In 1985, the park was transformed into an amusement park with most of the original exhibits replaced with playground rides. This procedure proved unpopular and was later reversed. Among the attractions gracing the gardens are a giant sumo wrestler, Thai dancers and a huge gorilla.


A recent addition to Haw Par Villa is the Jade House which showcases the family's extensive collection of jade items.

Admission to the ground is free though there's a small charge to enter the Jade House.

So the next time you visit Singapore, don't just go shopping and swanning around the quays. Remember that this green and leafy city state is a premier location for nature sight-seeing, too. When visiting Singapore, be sure to have a reservation, because hotels in Singapore could be fully booked in high season. Of course the Internet offers many opportunities to book Singapore hotels in advance.

Vietnam Travel - Exploring Minh Dam Base in Ba Ria-Vung Tau

By: Jim Olivero

Hiring a motorbike in Vung Tau is quite easy. As we disembarked the hydrofoil, a man offered to lend us his motorbike for two days for VND200,000. After some bargaining, the price dropped to VND120,000.

We started the journey early the following day. We left Vung Tau behind as we crossed the Cua Lap Bridge toward Phuoc Tinh Commune in Long Dien District. Previously, when tourists traveled from Vung Tau to Minh Dam base or Long Hai, they had to take a roundabout route through Ba Ria. However, the journey today was only half the distance due to newly built roads.

Riding along the coastal road to Minh Dam, we were thrilled by the beautiful scenery, especially the sections of road straddled by mountains and beaches. The road is planted with white and pink cherry blossoms. According to locals, the road is most beautiful in the springtime when the trees are in bloom.

Minh Dam is located in the Chau Long-Chau Vien Mountains on the southeast side of Long Dat District. Minh Dam reaches 355 meters and extends eight kilometers. The mountains were renamed in 1948 after Minh and Dam, two revolutionary martyrs in the liberation troops.

The mountain is bordered on three sides by the sea and has many natural caves and fresh spring water. The mountain served as the military base for the liberation troop against the French and the Americans.

The base is comprised of four main sections - Da Che (split rock), Gieng Gach Pagoda, Chau Vien and Da Giang. Da Che is where important troops were stationed during the war. Gieng Gach Pagoda is located on the north side of the mountain. It is named after an ancient pagoda that was completely destroyed. Chau Vien, the west side of the mountain provided shelter for the army medical corps and security units, while Da Giang is located on the foot of the mountain. Da Giang no longer exists today.

During the two wars, Minh Dam suffered from intense bombing. In fact, bullet holes still remain on the mountain.

We also visited Bach Van Cavern and Bach Van Temple, remnants of Cao Dai religion. We spent two hours exploring the base's caves and climbing to the cavern and the temple where we were able to see a view of the beaches of Long Hai and the coastal road. While we explored the sites, we caught glimpses of wild squirrels and monkeys.

Without enough time to visit near by sites like Monkey Pagoda, we left the base with regret. On our ride back to Vung Tau, we passed by temples, resorts, crescent-shaped beaches and the Co Temple.

How to Find Cheap Ticket Online

By: Mark Lee

How often have you licensed your thoughts to sprint the highest level of imagination and then, the very next moment, fallen off. Dreams always take a toll when they strike the hardcore realisms of life. Who doesn’t dream of exploring the world in his/her life span? But then it’s not all that easy, isn’t it? The biggest obstacle in any traveler’s log book over the years has been the expense associated with air travel. But now times have changed. Today, you have the license to incorporate all your fantasies to reality with the help of these travel sites. With options of several airline services to choose from you can get to your desired destination without much nuisance. Grasp your cheap ticket online and experience an unforgettable holiday.

The only thing that should come to your mind when you plan a vacation is spending time with family, lots of enjoyment, fun and some of the most cherished moments of your life.
Don’t even think about those days when standing in long queues and paying a lot of money was a frequent activity for any vacationer. With changing times the task of finding cheap ticket online is not as tedious as it was earlier. You just have to log on to any of the travel sites and pick the options that best accommodate with your travel schedule.

Switch on your computer to witness how these numerous travel sites help you experience a much awaited vacation. You just have to find an appropriate travel site and tag along the instructions as mentioned there. Irrespective of the reason for your travel, be it personal or professional, saving some money is always sensible and helpful too.

Many travel sites argue that they offer the best discounts and most attractive deals for their customers; you just have to evaluate few deals and select the one that best suits your travel plan. Get up to investigate the authenticity of these travel sites and ultimately experience a vacation that you have been dreaming of for a long-long time.

Now you have the luxury of being at home or your workplace and still avail these fabulous offers. Eliminate all your distressing thoughts about your hard earned money as picking up the best and the easiest option is just at a distance of few mouse clicks. If you have already decided where to go then you have done your part. Leave the rest to these travel sites. They will provide you with all the relevant information about the schemes and plans being run by different airlines which will make things easier for you. Scheduling your dream vacation is no longer as complicated as it was easier.

You can easily get all the information regarding places to visit, hotel accommodations, currency, and transport services right from the comfort of your computer. Log on to these web sites and single out the one that convinces you the most. Abbreviate all your traveling woes and select the quick way of traveling with cheap tickets online.

How to Book Cheap Air ticket Online

By: Mark Lee

What people expect today is comfort at it very best. Each one of us would want our respective lives to be as comfortable as possible. Computers have made our lives easy, fast and very efficient indeed. There are infinite things that this machine is capable of doing for us in a jiffy. In today’s hi-tech phase computer makes our dream of flying not only possible but uncomplicated too. Now you have the luxury of booking your cheap airline tickets to the destination of your choice and that too from the comfort of your home. Your computer will help you search these cheap plane tickets, book a flight, know about the hotel accommodation, weather conditions and all pertinent information that will make your trip a dream vacation. With options of so many travel sites at your discretion, your vacation becomes all the more enjoyable and economical.

Whatever time you premeditated to be served for locating cheap plane tickets can now be used for a superior reason. Plan to spend some of the most cherished and mesmerizing moments of your life with your loved ones and travel wherever you want to. There are myriad places to visit and infinite experiences to gain, so why not we start exploring the world as soon as we can. Once you manage to select the destination of your choice leave the rest for these travel sites.

With a single mouse click you get all the mandatory information about various deals and offers available with different airline service providers. No need to waste your precious time in enquiring about information related to your trip. Just log on and get all the information you want. With several cheap flight options to select from, you have the liberty to choose the deal that best suits your itinerary. These travel sites are predominantly very user friendly and you just have to tag along the easy instructions available and book your cheap air tickets.

Be it a business trip or a family vacation just try the services of these travel sites once and you surely will have a long relationship with them. They are not only time saving and uncomplicated but also make the task of navigation very interesting too. With so many travel sites claiming to be the best, there is a healthy competition and the only one to be benefited from this is the customer.

Cheap plane tickets to the destination of your choice are not only easy to access but easier to buy as well. With just a few mouse clicks you would be able to crack a deal that would make your vacation an unforgettable affair. So this summer when your kids approach you and ask you to take them out for a holiday don’t be relentless. Gone are the days when a trip was cancelled just because the expenses were too heavy on your pocket, especially the travel expenses. Log on to any of these websites today and travel to your dream destination. Life is short, go travel.

Dubai - The Best Holiday Destination

By: Gulf Business Guide

The emirate embraces a wide variety of scenery in a very small area. In a single day, the tourist can experience everything from rugged mountains and awe-inspiring sand dunes to sandy beaches and lush green parks, from dusty villages to luxurious residential districts and from ancient houses with windtowers to ultra-modern shopping malls.

The emirate is both a dynamic international business centre and a laid-back tourist escape; a city where the sophistication of the 21st century walks hand in hand with the simplicity of a bygone era.

But these contrasts give Dubai its unique flavour and personality; a cosmopolitan society with an international lifestyle, yet with a culture deeply rooted in the Islamic traditions of Arabia.


Since earliest times, Dubai has been a meeting place, bringing together the Bedouin of the desert interior with the pearl-diver, the merchant of the city with the sea-going fisherman.

Dubai City

Having expanded along both banks of the Creek, Dubai’s central business district is divided into two parts — Deira on the northern side and Bur Dubai to the south — connected by a tunnel and two bridges. Each has its share of fine mosques and busy souks, of public buildings, shopping malls, hotels, office towers, banks, hospitals, schools, apartments and villas.

Outside this core, the city extends to the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah to the north, while extending south and west in a long ribbon of development alongside the Gulf, through the districts of Satwa, Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim.


At first glance, the city presents a predominantly modern face, an ever-changing skyline of new developments, from striking glass and concrete towers to gracious modern buildings incorporating traditional Arabian architectural motifs and features.

The Creek

The Creek, a natural sea-water inlet which cuts through the centre of the city, is the historic focal point of life in Dubai. A stroll along its banks evokes the city’s centuries-old trading traditions.

Visitors will be captivated by the colour and bustle of the loading and unloading of dhows which still ply ancient trade routes to places as distant as India and East Africa.

An attractive way to view the Creek and the dhows is from an abra, one of the small water taxis which criss-cross the Creek from the souks of Deira to those on the Bur Dubai side.

Boatmen will also take visitors on a fascinating hour-long trip from the abra embarkation points to the mouth of the Creek and inland to the Maktoum Bridge, passing on the way many of the city’s historic and modern landmarks.

Redevelopment work has transformed parts of the Creek’s banks. On the Deira side, a broad and well-lit, paved promenade extends from the Corniche, which faces on the Arabian Gulf, all the way to the attractive purpose-built dhow terminal constructed beside Maktoum Bridge.

On the Bur Dubai side between Maktoum and Garhoud bridges, Creekside Park provides pleasant paved walks and extensive landscaped public gardens.

At the inland end of the Creek is a large, shallow lagoon, now a wildlife sanctuary which has become a haven for migrating shore birds. Some 27,000 birds have been counted here at one time during the autumn migration. The most spectacular are the many Greater Flamingos which have made the Creek their permanent home. know more about dubai visit www.gulfbusinessguide.com

Go Jakarta: How to appreciate the ‘Big Durian’
By: Pete Prinyaroje

Colossal chaos under a blanket of pollution. That is the common perception of Jakarta. But much like its nickname ‘The Big Durian’, this bustling Southeast Asian metropolis may turn your nose at first, buts its rich culture, tremendously friendly residents and historical charm are so full of flavor, they soon become addictive. Let me take you on a fruitful journey into the heart of this fabulous, bewildering city.

If you’re interesting to travel to Indonesia, Jakarta is simply too massive to explore without fragmenting your experience into specific things to do. Here is our suggestion list:

• Be seen in the trendy suburb of Kemang. With its selection of boutiques, fine dining and drinking lounges, this is the place to see and be seen.

• Visit the phallic-shaped, flame-lit national monument (MONAS) otherwise known as Suharto’s “last erection”.

• Sojourn into the Thousand Islands. The further you venture away from the city, the more pristine the water and vibrant the wildlife. Check out Pulau Sepa, Pantara and Pelangi for the best diving and snorkeling, or if you can, make friends with a billionaire who owns one of the islands!

• Shop at Plaza Senayan (Pondok Indah) SEA’s second largest shopping mall

• Traipse around Old Jakarta and see the Museum Wayang (puppet museum)

• Stay in absolute style at the Mandarin Oriental or designer hotel Kemang Icon

• Go clubbing at the upscale Dragon Fly and the internationally famous, 24 hour pumpin’, Stadium

• Munch at restaurants with local cuisine to die for, such as Dapur Babah, Pendoka Kemang or Lara Djonggrang

• Dream on at Jalan Taman Impian Jaya Ancol themepark

Follow these trip advices, and your holidays in Jakarta could be a delightful vacation after all.

let us know more about India in the complete travel India guide.

By: Musharf

Your wait is finally over. A complete Travel Guide, www.travelgoindia.com that focuses completely on India has been launched. The days of scratching about for information on India before you embark on a tour of this beautiful country is passé. Learn more about the beauty of this enchanting land from this exhaustively informative website www.travelgoindia.com. This travel guide has quite a few useful tools that enable it to become a traveler’s best friend.



Are you ready to pack your bag but not very sure about your destination? At TravelGoIndia.com you will get to know about some tourist locations, whose existence you were never aware of. No wonder, this is by far the best India Travel Guide that you will find in the Internet. Rich in information, this exclusively India centric travel guide is surely destined to become a tourist’s best pal.

TravelGoIndia.com is conceived to provide travelers with enough information on travel so that it becomes easier for them to take decisions. The website enables you to book hotels in more than 150 Indian cities. You also have the choice to book a luxury hotel or a budget hotel. One added advantage that this complete India Travel Guide has is its ability to book hotels real time through partners and give instant confirmation facility. It has more than 500 hotels of all categories throughout India in its database. You can, therefore, be pretty sure of getting a hotel room anywhere in the country.

This extremely informative guide on Indian tourism will help you plan your tour without getting sand between your toes. Tourists who love to stay off the beaten track will find this website to their liking. There are plenty of exotic tour packages like safari tours, golf tours, beach holidays and adventure tours. If you want to re-live history, you will have plenty of information on historic places like Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. Enjoy life in throbbing metropolitan cities like Mumbai. The website aims to provide you will all the travel resources that you may need. Here you will find popular tourist destinations as well as lesser known paradises on earth.

Knowledge is power. Your tour can be safe and delightful if you have all the information about the place where you wish to go. At TravelGoIndia.com, you will have more than enough information on tourist attractions. Small things often make big difference. TravelGoIndia.com has an eye for detail. Here you will get the direction of tourist hot spots from different transit points like airport, railway station and even bus stop. You will also get to know about the hotels near that attraction. TravelGoIndia.com has the ability to book a flight or car too.



This complete India Travel Guide is the only one of its kind. It has more information than a typical travel search engine. At the same time it enables you to book hotels, flights, cars and packages online. These entire things combine together to make www.travelgoindia.com a unique India oriented travel guide.

Are you a real bona fide traveler?

By: Musharf

I’m making an assumption that at want point in your life you’ve been a tourist. You’ve carried a map, a camera, maybe even had a tour guide. You’ve traveled to different destinations, relaxed on remote beaches, climbed stairs in buildings you see on television. You’ve done all of these things but somehow when you get arrive home, all your left with is a short memory, and a few photographs.

Vacations are nice every once in a while, but it doesn’t make sense to me why we will travel thousands of miles to sit in hotel rooms and watch movies, or lie on a pool deck and catch some rays. These are all things that we can do where we are from, I want you to think about being a traveler not a tourist. You want to soak in as much of the new country and culture that you can rather than bring as much of your culture to them. It’s really quite simple. In one step you need to forget about your way of live, and adopt theirs.

It’s simple things like the mindset that we have when we go abroad, and what we bring. Don’t bring all of the things that we depend on in America. Bring what it is that you are going to need to survive and stay healthy during your visit. The more comforts you have, the more you will depend on them, and the less you will step out to become the traveler you ought to be!

Put yourself out there. Locals are always interested to interact with foreigners, and it’s best to take advantage of this. Meet people that you can share life with while you are in their country. Immerse into their culture and be open to new ideas. A lot of times we are closed to new ideas and we miss out on opportunities for better things to come along. Be open, willing and accepting.

If you want to be changed, and to experience you need to leave the tourist at home. Bring out the inner traveler in you and see the world in the way that it was meant to be seen.

10 Hot Tips on What to Prepare for your next Travel!


By: kawayan

Hi!

Are you planning to go somewhere during this summer vacation? I am sure you would want to save on your travel expenses so you could shop for more on souvenir items and extend some more days perhaps. For sure you would want to have a perfect, hassle free and a safe vacation, right?

Summer is fast approaching and it is about time to plan for your next vacation. I am sure every one of us would like to save money from their travel expenses. You would want also to save time so you could see as many places as you can. This is very important if you are traveling on a very limited time and on a limited budget. You would not want also to have a bad experience of no Hotel room available, fully booked flight and you forgot to bring your digital camera with you, is it not? This is due to poor preparation.

Two other important aspects are: a safe travel and a healthy body. Perhaps you will agree with me that if you are feeling well, you can not enjoy your trip. It might even cut short your trip. Traveling in an unsafe condition is the worst thing that could happen to you on a long trip.

Well, here are 10 tips I would like to share with you with the hope that this might help you have a fruitful vacation.

These are my top ten hot lists on what to prepare for your next travel:
1. Plan your itinerary at least one month ahead. In this way, advance booking for your airline tickets and Hotel bookings will be cheaper.

2. Group bookings are another way of reducing your travel expenses. Not only that, it will save your time searching for the place. Looking for the location is time consuming and transportation cost will be more expensive compared to package tours.

3. Google search is very helpful. It can give you many ideas and information on the location where you can go.

4. Save your Discounted Coupons from your Groceries and magazines.

5. Subscribe to membership club where thousands of shop owners and companies are offering excellent club membership discounts.

6. Read from Ezine Articles about cheap and safe travel.

7. Subscribe to blogs. Get new ideas from the experiences of others.

8. Bring only those things that you will need. If you are traveling by car, total car weight load can save gasoline expenses especially for a long drive.

9. Make sure you bring along with you your first aid kits.

10. Do not forget your medications and important contact address and phone numbers in case of emergency.

As a summary, plan your trip in advance. In this way, you can save time and money. This will ensure you of airline bookings and hotel room availability. Searching through the internet about the place you want to go to gives you a better idea on how many days you are going to spend there and how much budget you will set aside for it. If you are driving on your travel observe traffic rules and safety all the time. Bring your ID and do not forget your membership discount cards, medical insurance cards and passports . Take care not to loose your valuables and eat moderately.
That is it. I hope for your full summer trip enjoyment and a safe return!

Asian Travel Guide to Scintillating Shanghai

Shanghai. It’s hard to imagine how this once humble fishing village at the mouth of the Yangzte River grew into China’s biggest city and the eighth largest city in the world. And yet it has become the pride of China in more ways than one – a sprawling, progressive city with a proud, resplendent past. An epicenter for art and culture as much as it is for commerce. Yes, this cosmopolitan city has plenty to offer the curious tourist and Shanghai trip has become a popular option for those traversing the East. For first-timers, why not adopt a chronological order approach to sightseeing to truly get a taste of Shanghainese history?

Part I: Imperial Era – Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.)
In Puxi district (west bank), make your way to the Yuyuan Garden, a traditional Ming style private garden built in 1559 and opened to the public in 1961. Within the garden are rockeries, cloisters, pavilions, halls, ponds and many scenic areas.

Part II: 1930s
Visit the Bund (Wai Tan) where European architecture lines the streets. This area was once the financial and commercial districts in Shanghai, where foreign businesses and governmental buildings were established. Wander the French Concession where shikumen townhouses, art deco-buildings, cafés and shops stand. Evidence of the city’s hedonistic past can be seen in these colonial buildings abound. For those who want an authentic shopping experience, head to Nanjing Road.

Part III: 21st century
Cross the Huangpu River to Pudong, and you will find China’s Wall Street. For a grand city view from atop, head to the Oriental Pearl Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world.

There are numerous hotel options in Shanghai as well as an endless range of dining choices, from delicious street foods in Wujiang Road to upscale, expensive eateries in Xintiandi.

China celebrates a number of festivals and timing your trip to coincide with an event might be a good idea for folks who prefer a bona fide taste of Chinese culture. However, avoid going during the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) in February because most places are closed. For more information try the official Shanghai city website.

Simple Things one should know before going to Thailand - Asian travel tips

Things one should know before going to Thailand

The Asian Tiger:
Thailand is considered as an Asian Tiger. This is because, in the late 70s’, this country emerged as an economic power in the region. In that time, employment raised, GDP raised, tourism raised, so did the hotel industry. Till now, it is continuing to do the same. In the last couple of years, hotel business in Thailand took new tern and started offering exclusive customer services. However, no matter what types of services and features, Thailand’s hotels offer, the major services include hotel discount services and the reservation services. The offers however, differ from hotel to hotel.

Effect of high hotel discount sourcing:
In the last few years, high hotel discount sourcing opened the doors for hotel businesses of Thailand to grow even more. Now, Thailand hotels offer a number of excellent discount and reservation services to the customers. Provision of discounts and reservation services are some of the major factors for hotel businesses to boost up. Hotel discount services in Thailand are quite attractive which helped the hotel businesses to rise at a new level.

The discount services nevertheless may come in packages. For example the package might vary by number of guests or by number of nights spend in the hotels. In addition, tourists get one type of discount services while business people get another type. And obviously, frequent tourists get healthy discount services, whenever they reach Thailand.

Like in other countries, level of discount services demands of seasons. For instance, during off-seasons, tourists enjoy around 30% to 40% discount. Additionally, there are some hotels in Bangkok and Phuket, which charge low rates and offer high discounts as a strategy for attracting low budget tourists. Discounts are too offered depending on the number of days within which booking is placed.

Types of hotels in Thailand:
There are different types of hotels spread all over Thailand. There are diverse categories of hotels as well. For example some are family hotels, some beachfront hotels, some shopping area based hotels, some long stay hotels and some are even budget hotels. Some of the hotels in Thailand are activity based; for example some focuses on sightseeing, some in cruise, some in spa and entertainment etc. The common thing about all these hotels is, they all focus largely on discount services.

The reservation service:
The methods of reservations have changed over the year. Wide use of the Internet promoted thousands of travel websites to be opened, which offers free reservation services for the Thailand hotels. In addition, special discounts are offered to the customers using these websites in regular base. Other than that, reservations for Thailand hotels can also be made through the common ways like telephone and postal services.

Emerging competition:
Since the late 1990s’, Thailand’s tourism industry faced huge competition from other Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and India. To pace up in the competition, Thailand’s hotels expanded discount services and reservation services. It is expected, in the coming years, competition will be even higher as China and Vietnam have already join the race. It will be interesting to see, how the Thailand hotel industry responds.

How to be in Malaysia Holiday - Packages Tips and Guides

Malaysia is one of the most pleasant, hassle-free countries to visit in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is divided into two major regions: Peninsular Malaysia, which lies just south of Thailand, and East Malaysia, which can be found north of Indonesia on the island of Borneo. The Southeast Asian nation experienced a financial boom and underwent quick development during the late 20th century. The travel packages wrap Malaysia’s famous and well-liked destination that includes cities, resorts, beaches, island and beautiful as well as themed packages such as diving, adventures, fishing, mountain climbing and cultural tours. Malaysia, after all, thrives on nature and on the archeological, cultural and historical attractions which react very sensitively to environmental influences. You plan to visit Malaysia related honeymoon.

You select a Malaysia honeymoon vacation package that fits your budget if price matters to you, and then you should know locate discount or special rate honeymoon package. You consult joy-travels. I suggest you book the vacation package this website. Kuala Lumpur, Klang Valley, Johor Bahru and Penang to famous tourist’s designations. Malaysia is a shopping Mecca for garments, electronics, computer goods and much more, with very aggressive prices. The cheapest place to easily buy national souvenirs is in Kuching, East Malaysia, and the most expensive place is in the major, posh KL shopping centers. While trying to attract the flow of tourism,' citing cases of new eco- resorts such as Datai Bay Resort in Langkawi and the Karumbunai Resort in Sabah. Malaysia's tourism sector expects to benefit from this boom Sabbaruddin puts the situation in proper perspective, saying that there is, generally, lack of information in Europe about the Southeast Asian region. He says one of the most attractive features about Malaysia for tourists are prices have declined further for foreign tourists. `Malaysia is the only country in the region where prices are quoted in the local currency and not in US dollars.

This makes Malaysia a low-priced destination for foreign tourists whose currencies have appreciated considerably against the ringgit. Sabah is basically an agricultural state. He says Sabah's unique location right in the heart of Southeast Asia makes it an attractive designation for foreign visitors on a jaunt to any of the Southeast Asian countries. `Sabah has two major attractions. We have first of all Mount Kinabalu and second, the Danum Valley which is a huge rain forest reserve bigger than Singapore.' The Sabah government is promoting three aspects of tourism - the western coast with a cluster of hotels, resorts and other tourism facilities, the eastern coast noted for eco-tourism, and the interior of the state with Mount Kinabalu as a major attraction. The region is generating considerable interest in a number of European countries as a tourist destination, according to Mohamed Idros, the director of the Frankfurt-based Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board. We provide customized and regular tour packages. German tourists prefer jungle tracking, scuba diving and such things while Asian tourists prefer comfort and well-arranged facilities for them,' she says. Our services are nature and culture oriented.

We have been marketing public relationship which has proven to be popular with the worldwide that come and stay with local hosts with whom they establish a long-term relationship. Accustomed to taking even two vacations a year and considered a major contributor to the country's flourishing tourism industry; he has now become tight-fisted and even denomination aware when it comes to travel. While financial constraints will prove to be a major stumbling block, foreign tourism promoters will have to resort to imaginative ways of attracting tourism. Singaporeans, for instance, have embarked quietly on what is described as `dental tourism' - tourists from developed countries, unwilling to pay the high costs of dental treatment and prosthesis fixtures at home, are being lured to Singapore where they are also offered dental treatment services plus a holiday in a good hotel as part of an attractive airfare- cum-hotel package.