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World travel from the Philippines: News, features and tips

Bling is the thing on this corner of Bali. Ratchet things up among the macramé-clad, flash-bulb popping babes at Ku Dé Ta, a modern and trendy spot that faces the surf . It's shamelessly sceney. Score a beachfront chaise and watch the waves, illuminated with floodlights, come crashing in.

Hotels & travel tips
 

36 HOURS IN SINGAPORE

You can have fun in Clean City
By Joshua Kurlantzick, New York Times
Singapore may be clean, efficient and manicured, but the prosperous island-state knows how to get down and dirty, too. At a string of open-air bars near the main shopping drag, young Singaporeans with stylishly tousled hair toss back martinis until the early morning.
A sex therapist who styles himself “Dr Love” has become one of the biggest celebs in town. And the Ministry of Sound, the famous British house music nightclub, has opened a branch in Singapore that pounds with local DJs.
That’s not to say Singapore has gone off the rails. Just stroll along its bougainvillea-draped streets, where order is still enforced by Big Nanny signs, like the one that recently read, “Low Crime Doesn’t Mean No Crime – Be Vigilant.”

Friday, 3pm: Orchidarium
Get a taste of Singapore’s cultivated side at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1 Cluny Road; phone 65 6471 7361; www.sbg.org.sg), an ambling 157-acre park where you’ll see a medley of Chinese, Indians and Malays practicing martial arts, doing yoga and flirting.
Founded in 1859, the landscaped gardens are dotted with intricate Victorian gazebos, a micro rain forest and a dazzling collection of orchids – from the flamingo-pink hybrid Vanda Miss Joaquim (Singapore’s national flower) to varieties named after visiting VIPs like Margaret Thatcher.

6pm: Beer therapy
Southeast Asia isn’t known for beer, but that’s starting to change. Brew connoisseurs recently opened Archipelago Brewery (79 Circular Road; phone 65 6861 6200; www.archipelagobrewery.com), a microbrewery that revived a Singaporean beer works originally founded in 1931. Archipelago mixes standard pilsners and ales with local flavors like lemongrass, tamarind, star anise and wolfberries, a traditional ingredient in Chinese medicine.

8pm: Sidewalk chefs
Singapore has its share of white-linen restaurants, but food-mad locals salivate for hawker centers, open-air food courts where each stall serves one dish and the cooks yell out their specialties like ballpark vendors.
One of the most popular, East Coast Lagoon Food Village (1220 East Coast Parkway), sits in a tropical park on the beach. With more than 50 stalls, the Village offers everything from barbecued tiger prawns to Indonesian satay to drinks made from grass jelly and aloe vera. Dinner for one costs about S$10 (about US$7). For a quieter, cleaner atmosphere, try the appropriately named Makansutra Gluttons Bay (Esplanade Mall; phone 65 6336 7025; www.makansutra.com), by the Esplanade arts complex.

10pm: The hip hill
Cap off the evening in style. Skip the Boat Quay night-life area, unless you hanker to meet hundreds of sodden, sunburned European tourists. Instead, head to Emerald Hill, an upscale area with a cluster of hip pubs, and sip martinis at Alley Bar (2 Emerald Hill Road; phone 65 6738 8818) a long and sleek lounge frequented by aspiring fashion models.

Saturday, 7am: Wild side
Singapore’s skyscraping downtown makes it easy to forget that parks cover much of this island. But in recent years, Singaporeans have gone wild for adventure sports.
Get up before the mercury rises and head to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (177 Hindhede Drive; phone 65 6468 5736; www.nparks.gov.sg/nature_bukit.asp), a 400-acre rain forest that is home to garrulous macaques and some 500 other animal species. Hiking and biking trails wind through the jungle, creeping with vines and giant ferns. Watch out for the flying lemurs: the possum-sized critters glide overhead between huge jelutong trees.

Noon: Arresting art
In the past decade, wealthy Singapore has become a regional hub for contemporary art, attracting painters and sculptors from China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.
For a glimpse of the expanding art scene, visit the MICA Building (140 Hill Street; www.mica.gov.sg), a colorful gallery warehouse in a former police station, now run by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. In the building, the Soobin Art International gallery (phone 65 6837 2777; www.soobinart.com.sg) features groundbreaking Chinese artists like Luo Jie, known for his sharp political cartoons.

2pm: Cooking, lah?
Long before Jean-Georges, Singapore’s chefs created the ultimate fusion food, a mishmash of Chinese, Indian and Malay influences that resulted in unique, if not always pretty, dishes like chili crab and fish-head curry. Many of these dishes are created in a single wok, and are much easier to master than, say, classic French cooking.
Shermay’s Cooking School (Block 43 Jalan Merah Saga, 03-64 Holland Village; phone 65 6479 8442; www.shermay.com) was created by Shermay Lee, who wrote the definitive cookbook on Nyonya cuisine, which marries Chinese and Malay cuisine. Courses, which last roughly three hours, start at S$109.

5pm: Extreme shopping
Shopping is a national sport, and the main drag, Orchard Road, resembles a tourist mosh pit on weekends; one tour group knocked me down as they scrambled, like escaped convicts, into a sporting goods store.
You can avoid the crowds by arriving early, but then you’ll miss the action. Or skip Orchard altogether for the high-end boutiques in Holland Village, a suburb of villas and leafy streets that draws local fashionistas and expatriates. Galerie Cho Lon (01-76 43 Jalan Merah, Saga; phone 65 6473 7922), an exquisitely cluttered boutique, has classic Chinese chairs and screens, antique wood furniture and books on Asian history and art.

8pm: Dining with art
Singapore’s National Museum (93 Stamford Road; phone 65 6332 2659 www.nationalmuseum.sg) is housed in a neo-Classical-style building from 1887, but it’s not just for art lovers. At night, the soaring marble rotunda becomes the funky restaurant Novus (phone 65 6336 8770; www.novus.sg). It serves modern European cuisine with Asian touches like five-spiced duck with poached quince (S$32) and crispy-skinned snow cod with garlic pain perdu (S$34).
If you arrive before your reservation (highly recommended), sidle over to the nearby bar, Muse, and rub elbows with the high-society crowd, who were spotted comparing their silver-plated cellphones on a recent visit.

Midnight: Ethnic canteen
Though many ethnic neighborhoods have lost their authenticity (Little India resembles a movie set), the Arab Quarter remains dingy, crowded and real. Wander along Bussorah Street, the main drag, where you’ll find halal cafes open until the early morning.
Most draw a mixed crowd of Singaporeans, Lebanese, Moroccans and Indonesians, who come to smoke shisha pipes, snack on olives, flatbreads and other tidbits and occasionally watch local belly dancers shake it up.

Sunday, noon: Coffee and kabbalah
Take a cab to Chinatown, where young entrepreneurs have gutted classic old Chinese shop houses painted purple and pink, and turned them into a warren of new and New Agey cafes. The Whatever (20 Keong Saik Road; phone 65 6224 0300; www.whatever.com.sg) is a cafe that serves organic salads, soups and nutty coffee (S$10 Singapore for breakfast), along with yoga, reiki and enough kabbalah books to satisfy Madonna.

2pm: Spa island
For a quick getaway, Sentosa is an island resort over a causeway bridge, or eight minutes on the new Sentosa Express monorail (www.sentosa.com.sg). The resort is being developed with two new casinos, but for now you can stroll through lush green scenery and small, Disney-esque theme parks.
If you tire, stop at quiet Tanjong Beach. Or head for a rubdown at Sentosa’s Spa Botanica (phone 65 6371 1318; www.spabotanica.com), a pleasure palace set inside tropical gardens and complete with an open-air volcanic mud bath. A 90-minute steam bath and massage costs S$170.

Singapore basics
For colonial-era décor and exhaustive pampering, check into the Raffles (1 Beach Road; phone 65 6337 1886; www.singapore-raffles.raffles.com). Dating back to 1887, the hotel has been painstakingly restored and is staffed by Indian attendants in white coats with gold tassels. Rooms start at around S$1,000 Singapore (about US$680).
Singapore has also blossomed with boutique hotels. The New Majestic Hotel (31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road; phone 65 6511 4700; www.newmajestichotel.com) enlisted local contemporary artists to design each room, including one covered wall to floor in mirrors. Rooms from S$300.
The Royal Peacock (55 Keong Saik Road; phone 65 6223 3522; www.royalpeacockhotel.com), in a converted Chinese shop house, offers nicely designed rooms starting at S$135. For deep hotel discounts, try www.asiarooms.com, though you may have to pay for the room in advance.
For event listings, check out Time Out Singapore (www.timeout.com/sg/en/), I-S (www.is-weekend.com), a free local magazine, or the Straits Times (www.straitstimes.com), the leading English-language newspaper.

myPH recommendations
•   Flight and hotel deals for Singapore are available from Travelocity.
•   Advice and tips from other travelers about Singapore, especially about the hotels there, are available on  the TripAdvisor website.
•   Sightseeing tours around Singapore can be booked through the myPH Viator website.

36 HOURS IN BALI

Versions of paradise: Temples, bars, beaches, art and bling
By Erika Kinetz, New York Times
Say Bali and most people think paradise. There are stunning sunsets, sculpted rice terraces and a temple on almost every corner. And for less spiritual seekers, this steamy Indonesian island also has great surfing and a rollicking nightlife.
Sure, it's gotten pretty touristy, especially on the pub crawl along Kuta Beach, where beer-swilling Australians rule. And while terrorist bombings have rattled Bali's blissful pace (it is a Hindu-majority island in a Muslim-majority nation), they have done little to temper its popularity or discourage super-chic resorts from being built.
Paradise, after all, is as close as the nearest temple, finding yourself on your knees with a blue flower pressed between your fingertips, asking for blessings from Brahma or one of the other gods. Here are some ideas for a 36-hour weekend sojourn in Balinese paradise:

Friday, 3pm: Monkeying around
There's nothing like 200 macaques grooming each other, snuggling together and nibbling on small bananas to make you realize you're not in Kansas anymore. To find the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary (Jalan Monkey Forest, Padangtegal, Ubud; www.monkeyforestubud.com) drive an hour north of Kuta Beach to the town of Ubud, often called the cultural heart of Bali. The monkeys, the town's most beloved residents, live in a dense, jungley stretch of green at the southern edge of town, complete with its own temple.
A word to the wise: Leave your snacks at home and don't buy any bananas on the way in unless you enjoy being mauled by possibly rabid little tykes. When it comes to bananas, the monkeys will win. Admission is 10,000 rupiah (about US$1.10).

4.30pm: Four hands beats two
It's said that labor is cheaper than electricity on Bali, so why not book a four-handed massage at Spa Hati (Jalan Raya Andong 14, Peliatan, Ubud; www.spahati.com), a stone and thatched-roof compound at the edge of town. Add in a lulur body scrub – a traditional Javanese blend of rice flour and herbs – for 90 minutes of rapture (225,000 rupiah).
Afterward, the unhurried staff lets you relax for as long as you want in the hot tub, listening to little frogs make big noises in the rice paddy next door. And about that cheap labor: spa profits help support the Bali Hati Foundation, which runs community programs, including a school for local children.

7.30pm: Dance, dance, dance
Bali is brimming with fire dances, mask dances, trance dances, monster dances and puppet shows, all of which have been refined over the centuries to the point that eyeballs, fingertips and toes all move in elaborate choreographed precision.
On a typical night in Ubud you can take your pick from a half-dozen different shows. It's worth ducking

into the Ubud Palace (Jalan Raya Ubud; phone 62-36197 5057; 80,000 rupiah) to watch good and evil duke it out in the Barong dance. Set in a Balinese-style pavilion, the dance is performed by two fat guys whose choreographed fight scenes draw inevitable comparisons to the WWF wrestling.

9pm: Go for the grill
For tasty Balinese food in a relaxed setting, expatriates flock to Naughty Nuri's Warung (Jalan Raya Sanggingan, across from the Neka Art Museum; phone 62 361 977547), a cozy hangout opened by Isnuri Suryatmi and her husband, Brian Kenny, who grew up in New Jersey. It does justice to classic Balinese dishes like chicken sate (27,000 rupiah) and nasi goreng – Indonesian fried rice with vegetables and meat (17,000 rupiah).
But the main draw of this grubby little warung, or food stall, is the grill. There are succulent pork chops, steaks from Australia and even great hamburgers – and something uncommon in Asia, a good microbrew: Storm Pale Ale (12,000 rupiah).

Saturday, 9am: Down in the river
Most of the super-luxury hotels in Ubud are built along the top of the gorge that the Ayung River runs through. There's a good reason for that: the views are gorgeous.
Down on the river, climb aboard a rubber raft and watch the thick vines, low-flying swallows and waterfalls go by. Bali Adventure Tours (phone 62 361 721480; www.baliadventuretours.com) runs 90-minute trips down the river starting at US$60 for a morning trip that includes a basic lunch of rice and egg rolls.

2.30pm: Museum Mile
Ubud's artistic appeal is, for the most part, historical. Its reputation dates to the 1930s when Western artists and intellectuals like Walter Spies, Colin McPhee and Rudolf Bonnet moved in, boosting the local arts scene and sparking foreign interest in this tiny island.
To understand that history and see some fine examples of Balinese art, start at the Neka Art Museum (Jalan Raya Sanggingan, Campuhan; www.museumneka.com), which was founded in 1982 by Suteja Neka, an art dealer whose son now runs the slick Komaneka Fine Art Gallery (Jalan Monkey Forest; phone 62 361 976090; gallery.komaneka.com). For some high camp, make a quick stop at the Blanco Renaissance Museum (Jalan Campuhan; phone 62 361 975502; www.blancobali.com); the only thing grander than the peccadilloes of Antonio Blanco, a Spanish painter who settled in Bali in 1952, was his ego.

5.30pm: Best show in town
Ubud closes early. By 11pm, everyone is home, leaving the streets to bands of marauding but basically harmless dogs. If you want to make a night of it, head south to Seminyak, a sophisticated beachside alternative just north of Kuta. The hour-long taxi runs about 150,000 to 200,000 rupiah ($16 to $22).
For a front-row seat for the dazzling sunset, grab a chair at Breeze, a sleek beachside bar and restaurant at the Samaya Hotel (Jalan Laksmana; phone 62 361 731149, www.thesamayabali.com), and order a glass of wine (about 70,000 rupiah). The teak deck juts out so close to the surf you can almost feel the foam from the breakers.

7pm: Bust that bikini
When the last ray of sunlight has faded, head next door for dinner at La Lucciola (Kaya Ayu Beach, Temple Petitenget, Kerobokan; phone 62 361 730838), a popular beachfront spot, for rich Italian fare like prawn and snapper pie with truffled potatoes (125,000 rupiah) and orecchiette with pancetta and gorgonzola (80,000 rupiah). There might be a line, but don't worry. Sit at the bar for free hors d'oeuvres and watch the frangipani flowers fall around you.

9.30pm: Bling is the thing
Ratchet things up among the macramé-clad, flash-bulb popping babes at Ku Dé Ta (Jalan Laksmana 9, Seminyak; phone 62 361 736969; www.kudeta.net), a modern and trendy spot that faces the surf . It's shamelessly sceney – a DVD is sold showing highlights of the high season. Score a beachfront chaise and watch the waves, illuminated with floodlights, come crashing in.
After hours, all roads lead to the Double Six Club (Jalan Double Six, Blue Ocean Boulevard, Seminyak; phone 62 361 733067; www.doublesixclub.com; 70,000 rupiah admission), which sports a giant dance floor and bungee jumping on weekend nights. But don't show up before 3am.

Sunday, 10am: Expresso it
If for some unfathomable reason you tire of Bali's thick, rich coffee, duck into Tutmak Warung (Jalan Dewi Sita, Ubud; phone 62 361 975754 ) for an iced latte (14,500 rupiah). It's a favorite of local expatriates – a casual, breezy place that looks out on a scraggly soccer field frequented by local kids.

11am: Paradise within paradise
The six-hectare Botanic Garden Ubud (Kutuh Kaja, Ubud; phone 62 361 970951; www.botanicgardenbali.com) opened last summer – a magical park with white fairy lilies, weeping figs, a labyrinth, banana twist orchids and a miniature rainforest.
Stay for lunch at the Chocolate House Cafe, which is housed in a 130-year-old jogglo, a traditional Javanese hut made of teak wood. The guava and passion fruit juices (12,000 rupiah) are garden fresh and the chicken kutu kaja, which is cooked slowly in banana leaves and served with red Tabanan rice, is a local specialty (42,000 rupiah). The menu rotates, but if it has it, don't miss the coconut and jackfruit ice puter, ice cream made with coconut milk in a hand-cranked drum.

2pm: Sarong as art
Ubud is famous for art, which is probably why an awful lot of drek is now on sale. Fear not. For the good stuff, start at the Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women (Jalan Sriwedari 2b, Banjar Taman; phone 62 361 975485; www.seniwatigallery.com), which Mary Northmore, the British-born wife of Abdul Aziz, a prominent Indonesian artist, founded in 1991 after she was told by several Indonesian art experts that “Balinese women don't paint.”
For textiles, stop in at Threads of Life (Jalan Kajeng 24; phone 62 361 972187; www.threadsoflife.com), which commissions local weavers to make textiles the same ways their grandmothers did, which is to say painstakingly. Even if you're not in the market for a handspun sarong for 4.3 million rupiah, it's well worth the visit.

Bali basics
Depending where’s starting out from, several airlines fly to Denpasar, Bali, some of them via the Indonesian capital Jakarta. From Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, a taxi to Ubud costs 150,000 rupiah (about US$16). Taxis can also be hired for half-days or longer; negotiate a price in advance, but it should run about 350,000 rupiah.
Central Ubud can feel like an outdoor mall. If you're on a budget and want rice fields instead of retail, stay south of the Monkey Forest. Alam Shanti and its two sister hotels, Alam Indah and Alam Jiwa are situated along Jalan Nyuh Butan in tranquil Nyuh Kuning village (phone 62 361 974629; www.alamindahbali.com). Rooms are $50 to $175.
If you want to splash out on luxurious solitude, try the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan (phone 62 361 977577; www.fourseasons.com/sayan/). The hotel was built around a rice paddy, and villas come with private plunge pools. The hotel's Jati (Bahasa for teak) Bar is perched on the edge of the Ayung River and an excellent place for a sunset cocktail. Rooms start at $460.

myPH recommendations
•   Flight and hotel deals for Bali are available from Travelocity.
•   Advice and tips from other travelers about Bali, especially about the hotels there, are available on  the TripAdvisor website.
•   Sightseeing tours around Bali can be booked through the myPH Viator website.