i went on a trip to korea&jeju in oct 08 with focal, simon was our tour leader, the whole trip was very enjoyable, he was really professional & entertaining and he really did his job well, nothing like what marie has mentioned. I dont mind going for another trip with him as our tour leader again.

Sorry I forgot to add something. Angela and I are friends and we went for the Taiwan/Hong Kong trip together. We were so impressed by Simon and the Taiwan tour guide that we decided to go for our Korea trip next year... On that condition that our tour leader is SIMON!!!

Since Angela has written something, I think its only good if i add something too. I saw this review by marie before my trip with Focal from 8 to 16 Nov. I was worried cos my tour guide is Simon. All my worries were totally unfound!

Simon was totally professional and caring. He's been so responsible throughout the whole trip and we witnessed him running all around just to gather all of us on the coach, never getting impatient nor upset with us.

On our way to Taiwan, two of our tour members cannot be found and didn't appear even after announcement. He insisted on waiting for them to appear since we still have the time before our flight takes off. It shows the level of professionalism and experience in dealing with different situations.

I came back to Singapore to look for this forum to confirm that its the same Simon that we are talking about. The things mentioned about Simon are totally ridiculous. I'm sorry to say, but I think Marie is being a bit too exaggerating in her description. As Angela has mentioned, if Simon is such a person with connections, I think she won't really live to write such things on the net, will she?

All in all, I just wanna say that sometimes wat people say in forum may not be the truth. I laughed to tears when I read the comments once again about Simon when I got back to Singapore. Hahaha...

I had just return from my 9 days of Taiwan & Hong Kong trip on 17 Nov and was shocked to read these comments. Simon was our tour leader and the service that he rendered was superb and professional!!! My friend and I feel very comfortable and was greatly taken care of throughout the trip. I do not think that Simon is a gangster like what Marie wrote. In fact those tour mates that I came acrossed with, all had positive feedback about Simon.
Lisa, do not be worried or feel insecure about your Dec trip. You just have to go and experience it urself den to believe in those comments that might have personal grudges in it. With no offence, I think it not right as it is unethical to quote people name and psost his mobile number online. If you really feel threated than you can jolly well write in to the company and express your fear and your valuable feedback. If he is really a gangster, won't you feel your live in more danger as you have post your "comments" online for the whole world to see. You are contradicting yourself by doing so. He did not point a gun on your head to write a positive feedback on the form so you can just put no comment instead of having to crack your brain to write positive feedback which you claimed is against your wish.

I am going to Taiwan, I felt unsure and worried. The service that Focal Travel provided, I really have doubt in them. Anyway, instead of allowing them to spoilt my holidays, i change to free and easy.

Oh my god........... I felt very worried for the coming Dec 08 tour........

the service is totally bad. we had a very very bad experience with the whole company....

I join their tour early this year and its a horrible experience. The tour leader named Simon Lim from Focal Singapore is vulgar and through the trip, we hear more vulgarities than information on tourist attraction. It got very awkward for me and my husband as our primary school son is around the whole time listening to his dirty talk.

None of the passengers dared to stop him as he claim to have connections with gang members. The local tour guide then called their ah beng friends to join us during lunch to prove their point.

He said that Singapore gang leaders of Ang Soon Tong, 21, 24, 108, 369 gangs are his dogs and must bow down kiss his shoe when they see him. He also told us stories of what secret societies are capable of if they have information from your I/C or passports.

On the last day to collect tourguide tips and fill in survey form for tour feedback, he conveniently reminded us that he photocopied our passports to keep in case he need to use them in future. Since we have to submit the survey to focal through him with our names on it, I think you can guess how "great" our feedback on the trip was and the huge tips we had to give.

It was a traumatizing trip and thats the last time I will join that tour. You can contact this Simon Lim at 98578567 to confirm what happen. As for myself, I don't want to have anything more to do with these people and risk the safety of my son. I just hope others will not make the same mistake. Don't just look at the prices, its more important to go for reputable agencies and have a safe trip.

Hi !!Anybody got any comments on this Focal Travel Agent. I had book a Taiwan Tour with them for this coming Dec 08.