Travel News Round up

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Alist

Reaching end of 2009, travelers around the world are getting more problems in this December.

Heavy snow in America and Europe delayed almost half the scheduled flights in major airports like Washington DC, Frankfurt, London Heathrow and CDG Paris. Those airports became very crowded and almost like chaos.

For those still plan to travel in this season, consider using train as first option. Train schedule is more reliable although in bad weather like heavy rain and snow.

Exception is on EuroStar trains, which connect London with Paris and Brussels via Channel Tunnel. Last week, 6 trains freezed in the middle of tunnel for more than 10 hours because of electricity problem. Thousand of passengers left without electricity and food supplies in those trains and thousands more in each stations are unable to depart for several days.

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Brief Travel Guide to Malacca

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Alist

Melaka / Malacca is a historic city located on south of Kuala Lumpur. Its position facing Malacca straits has made it an important city during eighteenth century and until now.

Transportations

From Kuala Lumpur
Take bus from Puduraya Bus Station, there are many bus companies offer this route, so nearly half an hour you can have a bus to Melaka. Journey time is about 2 hours.
From Dumai or Pekan Baru
Take boat from city port and will be arriving at Malacca port. It is quite a distance, so have a good sleep during journey
From KLIA / LCCT Airport
There is a direct bus from airport to Melaka Central or Melaka Mahkota Hospital. The bus company is Transnasional, it is located on stop #6 outside LCCT. Bus fare is RM 22/adult, journey time is 1 hour 30 minutes.
From Singapore
Take bus from Lavender St bus terminal and directly arrive at Melaka Central. Journey time is about 3.5-4 hours

Melaka itself has limited city transportation means. There are several bus lines serving this city. You can take city bus from Melaka Central (this is central bus terminal) to Mahkota Hotel and Hospital for only RM 1.50-2.00. Bus is not well maintained but quite reliable. But for tourist your the best bet is to catch tourist panorama bus. It is a double-deck bus (I believe imported from London), red color, and traveling across tourist spots.
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Staying Online While Traveling to Malaysia

Posted on December 1, 2009 by Alist

As a traveler and Internet-depended guy, I really like to travel to Singapore. Wifi hotspots are almost everywhere, and the best of it – it’s FREE. Wherever you are: malls, hospitals, tourist spots, most of them covered by wifi using name Wireless@SG. By registering myself from GSM phone (from my home country) I can get a free wifi pass for whole day use.

How to get Free wifi account to access Wireless@SG hotspots? You need to switch your preferred network to SingTel (codename: STM). Then dial *168# using mobile phone. In short time you’ll receive sms contains username and password to connect. The account can be used until midnight of the day, and you need to ask for new account again on next day.

But in Malaysia, thing gets different. Free wifi is rare from government, except offered by hotels or cafes. As I stay in Melaka (Malacca), there’s no such thing called free Internet. So how to connect to Internet in Melaka, or any Malaysia cities? You need a 3G capable mobile phone.
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