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Start in Hong Kong and we promise you no other country will ever look the same again! Hong Kong is small in area - so you'll see it all - and huge in scope. Holidays Far East are what Hong Kong is all about. The place is chaotic, but the people very friendly if you ask. The food is glorious and quite safe - even roadside vendors have to maintain very high standards. The shopping - for electronics and high end fashion is out of this world. On the island, the shopping around Admiralty includes every fashion name you've ever heard of. The Landmark, Galleria and itc Malls are the biggest and best. If you want cheap kids stuff and knockabout clothes at a fraction of the back home price, try the Lanes - Li Yuen Street East and Li Yuen west. The street stall hawkers will test your bargaining skills.
The bars and nightlife of Hong Kong are legendary. Your first stop, an aperitif as it were, the Lan Kwai Fong area. Centred around D'Aguilar Street in Central on Hong Kong Island, this place goes off 7 nights a week. It's a madhouse on the weekends and fairly busy during the week. Bar hop and you'll be fine. Best beer is in the Hong Kong Brew House. Most bars will also have a food menu.
Jump on a plane for holidays Far East, because you're heading to Singapore. This is the cleanest city in Asia and pristine only just covers it. Singapore is tiny but packs it in. Many people come on holidays to Far East for the shopping and Singapore delivers. The downtown area, centred around Orchard Rd is one long shopping mall. Air-conditioned malls abound at every subway stop. And designer brand super stores line the street. You can find every electronic device you've ever wanted in Sim Lim Square on Rochor Canal Rd. Start on the top floors and work your way down.
Holidays to Far East are also about the bars and the nightlife. Your first stop in Singapore is Raffles; the one and only. This is where the Singapore Sling originated and you can still get the real deal right here. It's a swanky place in the Raffles Hotel and gets crowded with the moneyed set at night. By day is a very pleasant place to idle away a few hours. The Night Hawker markets in the Arab section are still good after all these years. The food in Singapore is of a very high standard and street hawkers have to abide by the rules.
The newest jewel in Singapore's crown is Sentosa Island. If you like cheesy cabaret type shows, there's plenty of that but the island also boasts world-class entertainment and restaurants in the many malls centred on the island. The cable car ride to get there is really exciting!
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Singapore's transit system is exceptional, clean, fast and relatively cheap. Get a travel card to make life easy and top it up when required.
Up the road from Singapore in your next Far East holidays jaunt is Malaysia. This beautiful country is where you'll find the beaches you crave and the spicy food the Far East is famous for. On Penang in the old city are some of the best Asian restaurants - genuine Asian - in Asia. The back streets are full of spicy seafood; fresh vegetables and stir-fry dishes that will put the lie to that stir-fry from the supermarket back home.
KL, as Kuala Lumpur is known, is your airport city and here's where to do any shopping (unless you're going to Singapore or Hong Kong). The Petronas Towers are still two of the highest buildings in the world and 1,000 tickets to get to the top are issued every day. If you get one it's an exciting ride and a brilliant view across the surrounding countryside, not just the city.
If you're adventurous, the best beaches are on the eastern side of Malaysia. They are around Kuantan has plenty and on some of the beaches at the right time of year you'll see baby turtles making a mad dash for the ocean.
Thailand is north of Malaysia and your entry city is Bangkok - a wild, chaotic place full of hawkers, touts, car horns and tuk tuks. These little three-wheeled menaces are huge fun to ride around town in if you don't mind crazy drivers and breathing in the fumes. Bangkok's shopping malls are huge - air-conditioned palaces with prices half what you'd expect to pay back home for clothing. The food everywhere is stunning - even street vendor food is of a high quality. The Thai people are some of the friendliest you'll meet.
Head out of Bangkok though to the beach resorts. The west coast boasts Phuket, surely one of the most beautiful archipelagos ever created, with a jade sea, warm water and crystalline sand. On the east coast lies Koh Samui. This once sleepy little island dotted with fishing villages is a tourist mecca for the young set. The famous Moon Festival parties take place just off shore at another island called Koh Phangan. The beaches are idyllic and the boating, diving and jet skiing options will cover everyone's needs.
Holidays to the Far East are very different to the usual Mediterranean fare - exotic food, extraordinary people and sights, sounds and smells unlike anywhere else on planet earth. Will you like it? Take the time to find out!
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