Customer Reviews
Excellent travel guide as usual - By: Darren Simons, 02 Jun 2008 
As travel guides go, this one combines three very different places... first there's Singapore with its very modern outlook. Then there's Malaysia bridging the vibrant outlook of Kuala Lumpur with the colonial history of Georgetown. Finally there's Brunei which is a whole lot more laid back.
In terms of contents, there's the usual details of history, etiquette, sights etc. There's also the usual combination of excellent maps with only the occassional mistake where a particular landmark has been put on the wrong side of the road. Restaurant & accomodation advice are as usual mixed (many are gone by the time you visit) but it certainly provides good ideas if you are struggling to find somewhere, & also tells you the general area to find stuff.
What stands out about this one is the combination of Singapore & Malaysia... Singapore's a great stop-over for Malaysia & using this book means a travel guide especially for Singapore is somewhat unneeded (although the map could be better).
Happy travelling!!!
A good companion - By: Vivien Lee Jensen, 02 Sep 2007 
I livein Copenhagen, Denmark, but am originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
We visited Singapore & Malaysiain July 2007 & since our last visit to Malaysia was 3 years ago, we decided to buy Lonely Planet's 2007 edition on these countries. Information from the book definitely helped usin making decisions on where to go & what to see. My comments are mainly about our one-week visit to Sarawak, which was a great success.
In Sarawak, we spent 4 days at Gunung Mulu National Park, & 3 daysin Kuching. Colourful banners at Mulu airport urge visitors to "Do Mulu", & after our visit there, we would certainly do Mulu again. The Mulu caves & their surroundings are awesome. The Park authorities should be given top marks for their upkeep & running of the whole area. For example, the fact that only authorized guides are allowed to take visitors into the caves, ensures that the place is not overrun by hordes of tourist groups, each with their own guide. Also, we were glad to see that the area was maintained as much as possiblein its natural state, & that no local politician or developer had decided to build a "Malaysian Eye" or some other eyesore there.
We stayed at the Royal Mulu Resort. Our first impressions were very positive. Low sprawling buildings, connected by boardwalks, colourful gardens, a nice pool, a pleasant bar area overlooking the river & a large & clean deluxe room However, by the second day, we noticed a few problem areas e.g. the shower floor could have done with some chlorine to remove the mouldin the grout, some support structures of many of the boardwalks showed signs of rotting & many of the staff had difficulty understanding English!
However, the food & how it was served was what we were not satisfied with. The food was boring & unimaginative, & resembled what you get at a holiday camp, & not at a resort. On two occasions, breakfast was served outdoors, close to the river. It all seemed rather idyllic & Somerset Maugham-like until hordes of tiny bees began to hover around the jams, honey, waffles, etc. many of us fled indoors to eat our breakfastin peace. Many dairy products were served unchilled, & therefore began to curdlein the heat! After many complaints, breakfast was served indoors, but the dairy products were still unchilled. I wonder where the F&B manager was.
The Resort had a very good offer which included all meals. I would definitely recommend this as the pricesin the à la carte menu are exorbitant, & the selection is limited. Try the cafeteria at the National Park for à la carte meals. The food is good, but check if a dish is available, as the staff does not always tell you this.
Kuching was a breath of fresh air after chaotic & polluted Kuala Lumpur. The Kuching Hilton is a good place to stay at, & the shops along the waterfront had plenty to tempt us. There used to be a sight-seeing trolley bus, but that has gone out of business. This is not a problem, as most places are within walking distance, but the humid weather can be a limitation. We tried the Top Spot Food Court, & recommend the giant prawnsin hot pepper sauce. We are definitely going back to Sarawak again.
Allin all, the guide was indispensible, & we used it for many of the places we chose to visit. Reality, however, often presents a different picture.
A reader from the UK - By: Intellectual Bookworm, 24 Mar 2007 I used this book as the only reference to plan a 2 week holiday & to drive around Western Malaysia. It is stuffed with valuable information & organisedin the usual fashion for lonely planet books. After arrivingin KL & exploring the city for several days my wife & I drove north to Penang. Then we drove east to Kota Bharu & south via Terengganu & Pahang to Malacca & subsequently further south to Singapore. It is a detailed enough guide & shows the major areas of interest & is suitable for the independent traveller. I recommend it without reservation. The only & minor criticism is that the book is slightly larger than the usual small size guides from Lonely Planet & therefore I had to carry itin a rucksack & notin my pocket. However perhaps this is inevitable due to the detailed information it offers.
A Good Guide to the Major Destinations - By: W. László, 17 Mar 2007 Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei are the most developed countriesin Southeast Asia, & tourism is a long-established businessin the first two. English is widely spoken & travel is easy. More than anywherein the region, you could even get by without a guidebook - local tourist offices are pretty good for info.
That said, if you do want a guide, this is probably the most reliable one for practical details. The 10th edition, publishedin January 2007, actually seems to have been more thoroughly updated than some previous ones, with some new attractions & accomodation options added - unlikein certain other LP guides, where only prices are changed from edition to edition. Of course practical details may change even by the time the book is published (remember it was researchedin early 2006), butin general these 3 countries are pretty stable & inflation is low. Sure, the odd errorous/outdated info did slip in, but is far outweighed by all the useful stuff.
My only complaint about this book might be that it still pretty much concentrates on established, popular tourist attractions & major cities/towns. Don't expect to find many tips on locating hidden gems or exploring remote corners of the country, particularly Borneo. For that kind of info, I found the Rough Guide to these countries better than LP, though RG's practical info is often more dated. Decide what's more important to you!
If you are going to these countries for the first time, & only have a few weeks on hand to spend there, you will probably find the information provided by this guide both sufficient & largely accurate.
looks good - By: Mr. T. Shaikh, 30 Jan 2006 i havent actually go to malaysia but my uncles emigrated from there to here as a lawyer & all the sites he knows & loves arein the book so i would sya its good & worth buying
