As part of a growing trend, the Alila Hotel in Jakarta has become the latest Asian accommodation to offer special services for traveling women executives.  The 15th floor of the hotel is dedicated to female travelers only.  The floor is accessible by key-card only, while rooms feature manicure sets, a selection of bath salts and an eye mask.

Sounds nice for the ladies, but I like the occassional bath salts myself.  Isn't this discrimination?

I've added a few new pages to the Bangkok guide, as well as updating a few existing pages:

• While many look forward to a vacation from diets and exercise, some of us like to stay in shape while we're traveling.  If you're one of the latter, then check out the new page on Health and Fitness in Bangkok.  I've listed a couple of the international fitness center chains with branches in Bangkok, as well as some of the hotels with better than average fitness centers.
• The French-based hotel chain Accor has a huge presence in Bangkok, with nearly a dozen properties under management in the Big Mango.  With some great locations in their portfolio, I thought they deserved inclusion in our business hotels section, but there are so many that I gave them their own page of Accor Hotels in Bangkok.

Many more pages have been updated, including new information on admission fees and upgrades to implement the new "My Currency" feature.  See the Bangkok Travel Guide for more information.

I just did a quick update of the Singapore guide, which includes the following new or updated pages:

• Updated Singapore hotels with new review of the Meritus Mandarin on Orchard Road.
• Revised information on Sentosa.  This island playground is in the middle of a multi-billion dollar rennovation.
• I've also added a brief page on safety and security in Singapore.  There's really no cause for concern when visiting Singapore.  It's one of the safest places in Asia these days.

Many other pages have been updated.

I'm just back from a quick trip to Singapore.  It's always nice to drop in on the city-state, but also just as nice to get back home to Bangkok.  It's a good time to visit Singapore, as the weather is reasonably nice and the annual Singapore Sale is in full swing.  The sale takes place every year from late May to mid-July.  Every retailer has specials of some kind, reducing what may already be cheap prices even more.

Singapore continues to develop and expand, with new projects being announced all the time.  The island playground of Sentosa is in the middle of a multi-billion dollar makeover to make it more attractive to Singaporeans as well as foreign tourists.  Three or four more hotels are being added, including one of Asia's first six star properties.  A big chunk of the island is being put up for development as either a theme park or possibly another casino.  'Insiders' are betting on the winner being a casino.

Meanwhile, on the main island, a huge shopping mall is going up on the shores of Singapore facing Sentosa.  The high end mall is set to feature many fashion brands making their first appearance at Vivo City, as it's being called.  Whether people will abandon Orchard Road for this place is a very good question.

Just found out that Cambodia now has an e-visa capability, which could save you a lot of time waiting for a visa on arrival at Siem Reap or Phnom Penh.  You can now apply for the visa online, pay by credit card and get your visa in three working days.  You pay about $5 more than visa on arrival, but it should be worth it.

As a reminder, my own guide to Phnom Penh has just been updated.