The Traveling Abroad Jacksonville Thread (house, malls, train station)

[projectmaximus]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

As an aside - I've heard that Singapore is Asia 101. We've been to Japan twice - and that is probably Asia 201 (because of the language stuff). Penang is perhaps Asia 301 (at least in terms of the shots you need - OTOH - all the shots you need for certain countries in Asia are easy to get here in JAX - we just got our first round of Hep A shots at Walgreen's). If you're been to Singapore recently - and have any favorite places to dine - please DM me. Robyn

It took me a minute to understand that you're talking making an analogy to course levels and how advanced of a traveler you should be for each destination. I also checked the CDC's vaccine recommendations for Malaysia cause I was kinda caught off guard. I have visited Malaysia (and most of Asia) numerous times and don't recall ever getting any specific shots, except for the one time I went to a semi-rural part of China.

Anyway, Penang itself should cause no worries, though I suppose one might want vaccinations for more remote areas of Malaysia. (or, as I learned from the CDC site, also if one is expecting to engage in sexual activity with new partners)

Yes I spent five days in Singapore recently, but I'm not sure I can recommend anything special. I ate a terrific meal at Din Tai Fung but 1) it's actually Taiwanese and 2) there are numerous locations here in the US. I had two other fantastic meals but they were near my uncle's house far from the city center (well, Singapore is tiny so nothing is really far...I just mean not at all convenient for tourists). Pretty much the rest of my meals were at random food courts or hawker centers, in malls or at train stations, and it was all delicious.

Definitely try some Hainanese Chicken Rice, Chili Crab, or any curry dish. I think Singapore is also trying to become more of a fine dining/foodie destination, like Hong Kong, so you can try some highly-acclaimed Western cuisine but I'm not sure how it really stacks up.

[Robyn55]

There's a lot of fine dining/good eats in Singapore. I'll let you know how it stacks up.

WRT shots - you don't need anything for Japan. And only Hep A is recommended for a place like Singapore. But for most of the rest of Asia - you need more - including Hep A and Hep B (even if you're young and not a sex tourist - you might get into something like an auto accident - and need a blood transfusion):

Health Information for Travelers to Malaysia - Traveler view | Travelers' Health | CDC

Also FWIW - we got our first Hep A shots at our local Walgreens. And it was totally clueless about billing our Medicare Part D policies (we had to file the Part D claims ourselves - and were reimbursed about 50% in accordance with the terms of our Part D policies). Robyn