Well, since the referenced thread was started by me, perhaps I can give you an update and some of my thoughts.

Singapore 1st night was an award stay at Hilton (25000 pts), not worth the price despite my like for this hotel. Arrived at about 2 a.m. and woke at 10. No upgrade, free breakfast (not eaten due to late rising) as Hilton Gold.

Took a taxi to Causeway, shlept luggage thru immigration and customs to platform for Causeway Link. Took bus across to Malaysian immigration. Did not get on bus at this end, but found taxi to Puteri Pacific Hotel. Costs S$16 for taxi. S$2 (no change) for bus and RM10 for taxi (ripoff due to not using meter).

Next morning at 0330 took prearranged taxi to Senai (JHB) for RM50 for Air Asia flight to KCH. Should have left at 0430 because one does not need much time in advance to check-in for FD. Travel time to airport is approx. 30 minutes. Since the provincial government has taken over the Pan Pacific, it is not as good a deal as previously. Better to stay at the golf resort near Senai for an early morning departure. Ripoff taxi guys at immigration charge RM50 to airport.

Kuching Hilton: Arrived at around 9a.m. Sent from front desk to conceirge floor. As discussed in other threads, this hotel treats Golds and Diamonds extremely well. Room was not available so was invited to have breakfast in the lounge. Note: the staff manning the desk and the conceirge staff are excellent. Of special note and I usually do not name names were Stella and Jasmine. This hotel is doing something right in terms of employee selection and training.

As I was eating, Stella came up and said that she had a king size non-smoking with river view available. I said that after breakfast, I would pick up the key. Surprise, I was upgraded to a suite. As it turned out, there was an airconditioning problem with the assigned suite and I was later moved to the adjoining suite.

Kuching is an interesting city. It is friendly. Most people speak English fluently so language is not a barrier for most international travelers. I really did very little while there. Spent part of a day searching for a prepaid SIM. Ended up with a DiGi and a prepaid international code. This is not the best provider since calls are often dropped and inputting the codes to call outside Malaysia is a ponderous process. Later discovered that for approximately 4rm per minute more than the two part process one can direct dial internationally. Also DiGi does not work in some areas of Borneo including Batang Ai. Better is Comtel (I believe that is the carrier). Did a little shopping for my wife including buying some unusual stones. Also bought some traveling CDs of Malaysian and international rock and pop.

One day, I decided to take a boat trip to Sibu. The conceirge staff did not have much information about the trip, but since the boat left at 0830 and a return boat left at 1230, I assumed that the trip was 4 hours. Since that was the case, I booked a business class seat on the 1600 MH return to KCH at the MH office in townfiguring that this gave me sufficient time to explore Sibu, have a Chinese lunch and taxi to the airport. The boat trip reminded me of Oregon in the early 1970s. Log decks and saw mills all along the route. An incredible amount of logging just along the river, despite very few clear cuts being evident. Logging must be occuring away from the rivers and then transported to the mills or loading docks. Four hours into the trip, we arrived at a dock. People got off the boat and followed them up to the boarding area. For some reason, I asked if this was Sibu and was told that it was not. I rushed back to the boat and got back on board just as they were casting off. A little after 1400, we finally arrived at the dock in Sibu. I grabbed a taxi and rushed to Sibu airport. So no visit to Sibu. My 1600 departure was delayed until 1830 by thunderstorms and we arrived back at KCH at 1900. Since it looked like I might be stuck in Sibu overnight because of the weather, I called the Hilton and left a message that they should not hold my transfer to Batang Ai should I not show up.

A must do in Kuching. Seafood dinner at Top Spot. Booth #24. Top Spot is not fancy, it does not have uniformed waiters, there are no table cloths, the floor is not travertine marble. It actually is a group of seafood sellers sharing the 6th floor of a parking garage. Walking distance from the Hilton (right out front door, up the hill past the 7-11 to the 1st street, then left, down the hill past the disco and across the street look for the parking structure. Elevator is on the right side of the garage, go to 6th floor, 24 is at the left rear. Pick out your meal, decide how you want it prepared, take a seat at a table, order a beer from the guy next to the booth and wait for a culinary treat at a rock-bottom price. The restaurant is "Halal", the beer, well?

From the previous thread, there was discussion about Batang Ai Hilton. I had originally booked 3 nights there to take advantage of a Visa promotion (stay 2, get 3rd free) but received e-mails that they could not get me to my 1930 departure to Miri on the return. E-mails went back and forth and finally, I decided to bag Batang Ai and just stay at the Kuching Hilton for 4 nights. During my stay, I mentioned the Batang Ai difficulty to the staff and Victoria (reservations manager) discussed the situation with me. She could not understand why they could not drop me at the airport on the return (airport is approx. 20 minutes from hotel just off the road to the resort) and arranged for me to spend my final night at Batang Ai. Note: trip is 4 hours, scenery reminded me of Jalisco or Ranong Province-Thailand. It was a pleasant ride, but as others have stated it my not be worth 8 hours to go to the resort. As a solo traveler, one night was enough.

TBC