Singapore

Located in south-east Asia this city-state has a lot to offer!

If you’ve ever heard of Singapore you might of heard it’s extremely clean!

With zero tolerance on littering, fines of up to S$5000 and even jail time for repeat offenders it’s a pretty clean place!

Even the Airport changi is like one of them fancy bathroom showrooms where not even a spec of dust is to be seen and you’d happily eat your food off the side.

Transport in Singapore is the most efficient systems I’ve ever witnessed, the MRT spreading all across Singapore, mostly underground it’s similar to the London Underground, just without all the fighting, drunks, and people having the loudest phone calls imaginable without reason… there’s many rules in place to make sure everyone has a enjoyable journey.

Don’t fancy the train? There’s also a really good bus system spreading the whole of Singapore too.

Don’t fancy the bus? Get an Uber! With thousands of drivers around the city there’s never a long wait!

We also discovered a pretty sweet bike rental called Ofo! Scattered across the streets was lots of yellow bicycles, then we met a man form New Zealand that was riding one and told us that all you have to do is download an app, sign up and then you can ride them around and just leave them where ever you want when you’re done for the next person to hire! it was really cheap and we hired a bike for around S$1 a day as an introductory offer!

Food

Love food? Love Singapore.

With hundreds of resturaunts open until the early hours, you’ll never go hungry!

There’s many varietys of food to try but believe it or not, most will contain rice!

We stayed at the Hotel Boss, perfectly located just a 2 minute walk from an MRT station, McDonald’s, a food hall and a five minute walk from Kampong glam a neighbourhood littered with beautiful scenery, bars and resturaunts we found our favourite was called Kampong Cafe situated opposite the Sultan Mosque, at night time it looked amazing with lights shining and the busy atmosphere.

At prayer time we could hear the Islamic call to prayer across the whole neighbourhood and even from our Hotel!

The meals there was amazing, and extremely cheap! We had between us: 2 mains, 2 soft drinks and 2 chocolate brownie puddings washed down with a Teh Tarik each! In total it cost us S$22! We had to leave a considerable tip just so we didn’t feel like we’d robbed them!

Please note I mentioned soft drinks, there’s a good reason why!

The first bar we went in to, we ordered 2 bottles of Budwiser, i normally like to pay for my drinks at the bar straight away instead of opening a tab, but like most places abroad, it doesn’t work like that and they like to open a tab for you.

We guzzled down the refreshing Buds then of course, wanted another!

After we’d sunk another we decided to move bars and get around a bit.. when we got the bill we almost needed first aid! S$55 for 4 small bottles of Budwiser! Soft drinks was quite popular for the rest of the Holiday!

Around Singapore you’ll see lots of stalls offering fresh fruits etc.

You’ll also see a weird looking food that sort of looks like a cooked chicken breast in a polystyrene tray wrapped with cling film.. don’t be fooled though. It’s not chicken!

That will be the Durian fruit also known as ‘the king of fruits’!

Banned from all MRT and with a smell strong enough to make you wish you didn’t have a nose, this super fruit is a must try while you’re in the area! If you can stand the smell!

The taste is some times described as a diced garlic, caramel and whipped cream concoction, mind the large seed inside when your eating it!

Exploring.

We love to explore and thanks to the MRT passes we brought we had unlimited use to the bus and train networks so it was really easy!

First off, we headed to Sentosa Island off the southern coast.

Home to Universal Studios Singapore, Soloso Beach, and the Tiger Sky Tower along with cable carts, bars, resturaunts and other fun activities there’s plenty to do and see!

We accesses Sentosa Island via cable cart, what an entrance!

Then we headed to the beach to cool down, after all, it was 30°C!

Don’t worry if you forgot your swimming shorts like me, there’s a shop selling everything you could need for your time there!

Next the Skyline Luge, so much fun we did it twice!

After trying Pitaya/Dragon fruit for the first time, we went to Palawan Island for a a picture at the Southern most part of Continental Asia

then across a long rope bridge to the lookout points for some perfect pictures.

Although our eyes were full of beautiful sites and awsome memories, our bellies was empty so we headed for a food stop at Flame.

There’s lots more to do at Sentosa Island as you’ll see for yourself, I’ll revisit this topic when I get onto Universal Studios.

Next stop: Gardens By The Bay

The gardens are free entry to all but entry to the Cloud Forest, Flower Dome and OBCD Walkway cost S$28 for Adults and S$15 for Children, but boy is it worth it! The Gardens host some of the most amazing walks, architecture and Horticulture imaginable.

Out side in Super Tree Grove, there’s dining options like IndoChine situated at the top of the iconic super tree, it offers Indochinese and western food along with spectacular views of the Gardens and, the Marina Bay Sands!

Visiting Super Tree Grove at night time is an absolute must! Hosting a fantastic light show Called the ‘Garden Rhapsody’ its definitely not to be missed! Show times are: 7:45pm, 8:45pm (Daily).

Now its time to head off to the Bay Front for some super food and entertainment. The bay front is the location for ‘Spectra’ a mind blowing Light and Water show hosted by the Marina Bay Sands.

Sunday to Thursday – 8pm & 9pm
Friday & Saturday – 8pm, 9pm and 10pm

There’s plenty of music down at the Promenade, so don’t worry about making your own, after all you could get arrested for it!

As playing an instrument in a public place in such a way to cause annoyance to any person could see you receive a fine of up to S$1000!

There’s lots of peculiar laws in Singapore here’s some of my favorites!

• Walking around your house Naked is Illegal, so draw your curtains!
• Chewing Gum is illegal!
• Drinking Alcohol between 22:30-07:00 is Illegal! And don’t even think about appearing drunk as that too can see you receive a fine of up to S$1000 or even a month in prison! Not that you’ll be able to afford to get drunk as you’ve seen the cost of a few beers!
• Drug Smuggling will cost you your LIFE!
• Going to the toilet and not flushing will cost S$500
• Smoking is illegal almost everywhere in Singapore, you have to stand by designated ashtray-bins if you want to chuff!
• Committing suicide is Illegal! As if things weren’t tough enough, you’re breaking the law at the same time!

Now lets talk about Singapore’s most recognizable and unmissable landmarks…

The Marina Bay Sands.

With three, 56 story high towers and a total of 2561 Luxury rooms.

The Marina Bay Sands even has its very own Casino with 15,000 square meters of gaming space, 600 tables and 1400 slots and a Gigantic mall called ‘Shoppes’ with its own lake inside offering boat rides up and down the baby blue waters.

Inside are some of the worlds most exclusive designer shops so you won’t be short of places to glam up your wardrobe… but you might be short of dollars by the end of it! Save some for food though as there’s over 50 Restaurants to choose from inside!

We was lucky enough to be able stay in the Marina Bay Sands for one night, WOW! it was Incredible, I’ve never stayed in a hotel room with so much room!

Electric self opening curtains, wide screen TV, Luxury bathroom, and super king size bed!

Here’s a tip: We booked a Twin room to save some money, then at the check-in the woman looked at us confused and told us we’d booked a twin room. We acted surprised and disappointed that our stay may be ruined by this ‘mistake’ and the woman was happy to upgrade us to a super king size city view room free of charge! We didn’t even need to ask!

With out a doubt though, the best thing about staying at the Marina Bay Sands is having exclusive access to their infinity Pool!

57 Stories high and the worlds largest infinity pool, it gives astounding views of Singapore! Daily: 6am – 11pm

Pool side waiter service, music, sunbeds, great food and selfies… memories are made at the Marina Bay Sands.

Night time at the Infinity Pool reveals more great sun set views and when the sun goes down, the music turns up at CÉ LA VI Club Lounge.

Fancy a Day out at the Beach?

Head down to the Docks to get your Island Cruise Ticket form Marina South Pier! see the Schedule below!

• Marina South Pier
• Sister Island– Unfortunately there’s no daily ferry to the Sister Islands, contact Singapore Island Cruise for a Charter ferry!
• St John’s Island
• Kusu Island

First stop St Johns island! A beautiful Island with a Dark past…

In the late 19th Century the island was a quarantine station for immigrants with cholera and later on other diseases too.

Now, it’s a stunning get away from the city with swimming lagoons, beaches and picnic grounds and walks.

Bring your own supplies though, as there’s no shops on any of the Islands!

With caretakers going up and down the beach throughout the day, you’ll find no waste on these sands.

Once you’ve soaked up the heritage, views and heat of this beautiful island, it’s time to head off to Kusu Island!

The legend of this Holy island is quite interesting!

apparently there was two men: one Malay and one Chinese, who became shipwrecked!

They was saved by a tortoise who transformed into an Island to save them!

The men then built a Taoist shrine and a Muslim ‘keremat’ to show there gratitude!

The Island is littered with tortoises, great scenes and even a Temple dedicated to the Chinese God of Prosperity! See below the Da Bo Gong Temple!

Unfortunately Kusu islands beautiful Lagoon was contaminated with quite a bit of plastic waste on the beach when we was there! So instead of sunbathing, we spent the rest of our stay there picking up all the plastic waste we could out of the Ocean and off the beach and put into the bins provided!

Everyone has to do their bit!

Time for the Zoo!

If you think this is going on a bit now, I’ve kept this brief!

Using our MRT Pass we got to the Zoo by 1 Train then 1 Bus, its a brilliant day out with lots to see and do including live shows! Be warned, you’ll have aching legs by the end of the day and don’t forget your sun cream, and brolly!

There’s also a KFC there! As well as many other restaurants but, KFC!

Just up from the Zoo is the River Safari! A great way to see even more animals without moving a muscle! I’d save this until last as its a nice way to rest your legs before the journey home! You may need to book your time slot, double check at the ticket desk on arrival, we brought a triple pass which included entry to the Zoo, River Safari and Night Safari! Lets talk about that…

The Night Safari will require a separate trip to the Zoo, i wouldn’t recommend trying to do all three in one day as you’ll be extremely exhausted and entry doesn’t start until 20:00/21:00. Plus, there’s only so many animals you can see in one day right?

It’s a great way of seeing the animals in a different light “excuse me”.

most are much more active at night and without the cages and tourist in their face you’re much more likely to see them close up in their ‘natural’ environment!

Plus, your chauffeured around so it’s easy on the legs!

No flash is allowed during the Night Safari so there’s no pictures to add…

Back to Sentosa Island now for Universal Studios Singapore!

There’s so much to do at Universal Studios!

It has seven themed areas where you can meet your favourite characters, see live shows ride the best rollercoasters!

We arrived at 10:00am on a Wednesday and there was no queue at all at the entrance, when we got through the gates we was instantly mesmerised by the detailed sets and the astounding atmosphere, we headed straight for the Madagascar,and went on the water boat ride ‘A Crate Adventure’, it was pretty hilarious, a gentle start to the day at least.

shortly after we headed for the big ones in Sci-Fi City, ‘Battle Star Galactica!’ Being the tallest dual rollercoaster set-up in the world, with high speed twist and turns intertwining with one and other you honestly fear for your limbs!

To calm down we thought we’d go for a 5D Transformers ride expecting it to be like the space shit simulator you get at the fair… We couldn’t have been more wrong, it was unbelievable it was actually a rollercoaster with 3d glasses! the only thing that ruined it was a man in front of us trying to film the whole experience and ended up getting told off through a megaphone.

Then we entered The Lost World!

With a roller coaster, live sea war, shops, food hall and definitely the best thing: Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure (We queued for 45 minutes)!
One of the most amazing things we seen was at New York City called: Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg, it was a sound stage fitted with props and special effects to mimic a massive hurricane about to hit New York!

After we was lucky enough to see an awesome street performance by basket ball stars out side the New York Public Library just before a massive thunder storm! We quickly headed off to see a show inside ‘Far Far Away’ before we got too wet!

Quick Tip- If You’re travelling without children and you are in ‘Ancient Egypt’ avoid ‘Treasure Hunters’ we thought it was a really good ride because of the size of the queue to then be absolutely deflated when we was sat in a vintage jeep going around a tiny track at 2mph…

Before you head back home from Sentosa Island.. Head down to the Waterfront at 20:00!

There’s an astounding audio, visual and water show with ground breaking technologies! its a magical story about two mechanical Crane Birds that are in love, and in the end transforms them!

Thanks for reading!

Check out my other Destinations!