Mr Siegfried Boerst and Mr Philip Skitch with Ollie the Dragon. Image courtesy of Legoland Malaysia, used with permission.

With the unveiling of a 10,000-brick Lego dragon called "Ollie", Siegfried Boerst of Legoland Malaysia and Philip Skitch, GM of the Thistle Johor Bahru Hotel (compare rates) brought the new Lego-themed park - already scheduled to open at the end of this year - one step closer to reality.

Guests of the nearby Thistle Johor Bahru Hotel may enjoy preferential rates to the park, says Mr. Skitch - "Our hotel is very excited with the possibility of partnering with Legoland Malaysia," he announced earlier today. To mark the partnership, Ollie the dragon will be hanging out at the reception of the Thistle Johor Bahru - "until the end of the year when he will be relocated to the park," confided Mr. Skitch.

The Thistle Johor Bahru won't be the only hotel to sign up for a partnership with Legoland Malaysia - "This is a great start and we look forward to collaborating with more hotels in the months to come," said Mr. Boerst.

(Of course, with Johor Bahru only being a short ride from Singapore, guests can choose to stay at one of many Singapore hotel options if they choose to do so.) Read More...

Photo by Eugene Tang / Singaporesights.com

The Chinese New Year celebrations in Penang (Malaysia) and in Singapore are heating up, with the eve of of the Year of the Dragon coming on January 22 (January 23 is the official first day of the Chinese New Year). Plan your trip calendars around the following important days:

• January 21-29 - Singapore River Hong Bao Carnival, Singapore.
  Deriving its name from the traditional red packets of money given by older Chinese to unmarried younger relatives during Chinese New Year, the Singapore River Hong Bao carnival is a celebration of Chinese culture on the Singapore riverside, featuring nightly cultural performances, adaptations of traditional Chinese artwork, and giant lanterns fashioned after popular Singapore landmarks.
• January 22 - Chinese New Year Countdown, Singapore.
  Join Singapore's locals and local celebrities along Chinatown's Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road, as they ring in the Chinese New Year with firecrackers and fireworks.

Read More...

Image courtesy of Getty Images.

Southeast Asia travel is personal. That's what we try to live up to in this outfit; we're neither aligned with the corporate voices (staid, sales-centric) nor with the amateur travel bloggers (personal, passionate, but somewhat less coherent). Guides like yours truly are somewhere in between: creating a personal perspective with which travelers can make decisions that involve travel providers like hotels, airlines, and travel bureaus.

It's the same insight, scaled up, that's driven Hybrid News Ltd. managing director James Craven and his news aggregator site Asian Correspondent: "the idea of a collective of bloggers, organized in a professional way, but still allowed to express themselves, still focused on their own countries and the stuff they generally know about," he explains.

What Asian Correspondent did for Asian current affairs, Craven hopes to accomplish with his new site Travel Wire Asia: "we're going to invest heavily in the international blog community in Asia to provide us with fantastic content from their own countries and their own travels," says Craven.  Read More...

Image courtesy of Ritz Carlton, Millenia Singapore / Zuji.com.sg.

With the Lunar New Year holidays in Singapore coming up, the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore (compare rates|buy direct) offers a special package for guests who want to enjoy the festivities while ensconced in luxurious comfort.

Starting from SGD 388 per night (about US$303), the Ritz-Carlton's Oriental Grandeur package offers a one-night stay in a Deluxe Room, together with breakfast for two adults and two children (below 12 years of age) at Greenhouse, complimentary extra bed per room booking (subject to availability), and a limited edition Ritz-Carlton red packet (hong bao) set. (For more info about the Chinese New Year tradition of giving out hong bao, read this article: Chinese New Year: Red Envelope.)

Oriental Grandeur guests also get a chance to win a two-night stay in The Ritz-Carlton Beijing (compare rates), as well as exquisite gifts from luxury outfitter Shanghai Tang (www.shanghaitang.com).

The Ritz-Carlton's Oriental Grandeur package is available from January 13 to February 5, 2012. Compare rates on the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore and other Marina Bay, Singapore Hotels.