leavinggoa

I'll be in Malaysia for a month. I'll buy a SIM card at KLIA on arrival. I understand you can get a card valid for 1 month. Which provider is best?
Has anyone hired a scooter recently in KL and Penang? I need a rough idea on prices please. Cheers

bakedbean

You mean motorcycle? You must be joking. Have you had enough of living? I can recommend La Belle Rent A Car in Penang. Just google for La Belle Penang and you'll find the website. Very nice folks and reasonably priced car rental. They'll meet you at the airport too.

leavinggoa

I drive a bike and a scooter here. I've driven a car in Malaysia before. There's no way it's worse than Goa.


Edit: Checked that out. 700 for 2 weeks is OK but I was thinking about problems parking.

bakedbean

I think you may be able to get cheaper than that if you ask them nicely. And don't forget it's rainy Low season so few tourists. A bargain should be possible. Let me see if I can find another thread and I'll stick in a link later.

Parking? Depends where you want to drive to. Parking in GT is a pain in the bum for sure but other places on the outer edges of GT and further out, no problem. You usually have to pay for parking in Penang (most places) but it's not a King's ransom, just a few sen usually.

leavinggoa

Seeing as you mentioned rainy season, maybe a car is a better option.

ex reg

We used to use La Belle years ago when the French guy used to run it.
But recently it's gotten a bit hit or miss with cars not being available and substitute cars being old. So we changed to Kasina, they were fine.
I see Holiday Autos now have cars in Penang.
If you do hire at the airport direct then it will cost more per day.
Do it over the web or by phone once there.
If you get a taxi to your hotel from the airport then it will be approx MYR 50 one way to Batu Feringhee..

I'd also say if you haven't been to Penang before then take a day or two in taxis to get the feel of the drivers etc.
Finding your way around is no problem if you have even a little bit of nous.

Davita

I rented from LaBelle in February this year.
I did ask for the cheapest car they had but not convinced that was a good idea. I think it cost around $20 a day and I stupidly left twice as much petrol as they gave me.
The car was a banger...the smallest available...had LaBelle.com painted on every body panel...rattled like a truck and was stared at by the locals.

In the end I accepted it as amusing as my wife called me Mr. Bean.

bakedbean

Heh heh. Yeh we had one of those first time too. They're not the best cars in the world but they get you from A to B. We were told that they dish out better, newer cars to long term renters.

The driving here can be a little challenging though I imagine Goa driving must be quite interesting too

leavinggoa

You have to get a doctor's certificate to say that you've had your brain removed before you take the test.

leavinggoa

What about a SIM card? Which has best coverage. I'll be using it for SMS and internet.

TopHattedCat

I'm in Penang & use Maxis for my mobile, still not got a contract so topping it up all the time. The only annoying thing is you have to keep topping up because after a week or so it times out even if you have credit on it! But I believe it is the same with all the mobile providers.

My wife has had a contract for Maxis broadband for a few years now & I use that for all my internet. I never tried the internet on my mobile so can't comment on download speeds but our contracted broadband connection is very good.

I know another poster on here said that Maxis in his area of KL was very poor & he has found Digi better....

TopHattedCat

My opinion is Maxis is better......but I am a little biased as I used to work for them a few years back. Back then I had both a Digi & a Maxis phone & always found the coverage much better with Maxis.

Also the Maxis network has more 3g coverage across Malaysia, Digi were late starters due to Licence complications & have been playing catch up. I've never tried Celcom so I can't really offer any constructive comment on them.

leavinggoa

Thanks, looking like Maxis at the moment.

Strider24

I confess i had a bad run with Maxis both wireless broadband and mobile. However while Digi is probably not much better as a mobile (internet I now use Streamyx via land line) Gigi for prepaid do a "special" where for a one off RM10 your credit does not time out of 12 months. I find this handy as I rarely use RM30 a month and travel a lot which protects my mobile number and ensures any credit left can be used immediately upon return.

I have a similar deal in oz with Savvytel who use OPTUS but rates are half the price and credit NEVER times out.

bakedbean

Strider, are you using Streamyx in Penang? Or at one of your other residences (heh heh)? I'm thinking about Streamyx for our new place and get a landline too.