Day 1 After a long flight we touched down in Singapore at about 7pm, the first country of many on our 6 month trip to explore Asia. I will admit that Singapore was not somewhere I had 'dreamt' of going to and I had spent a few hours here the year before quickly exploring Orchard Road between flights, but it's a good gateway to Asia and somewhere we both wanted to spend a few days getting to know while we got over our jet lag...a decision I am pleased we made. Singapore is a great first introduction to Asia, it breaks you in gently...it's clean, safe, pretty Westernised, easy to explore using the public transport, with snippets of what is to come on your Asian travels...strange looking foods, woks on what appear to be jet engines, insane hustle and bustle, humidity and those delicious food smells and tasty Singapore noodles that entice you at every turn. We quickly found our way around the airport to the train station, and into the city to the stop we needed. I can highly recommend the trains in Singapore, they were easy to navigate, cheap and safe. We were staying at a hotel I had found on booking.com I always like to have the first night booked after a long flight as I know the last thing I want to do is trawl the streets trying to find somewhere to stay. Our home for the next two nights would be Hotel 81 Bugis, accommodation wise and as we were on a budget this suited us fine, although the room had no window which was a little disappointing but I am sure you can request one with a window. It's a fairly central hotel that was clean with helpful reception staff and cost us around £50 a night (2024 price is nearer to £75 a night), this way off our budget but we made our peace with it as we knew it was an expensive city. On our first night exhausted and feeling slightly delirious with the humidity we walked around the corner from the hotel where we found a hotpot restaurant, not entirely sure what it was at the time, we sat down. Basically there is big pot which is sometimes split into two, with two broths normally one spicy and one not so spicy. This pot sits on top of what is effectively a camping gas burner and is bubbling away, inside there is a huge buffet of raw meat and vegetables. You pick what you want, bring it out and cook it yourself in the hot pot, thankfully some friendly locals who spoke some English helped explain to us what was going on. You will see lots of weird and wonderful foods to chose from at the buffet bit so you can be as adventurous as you like! Again it was expensive for our budget about £13 ($22 SGD) each but we were so tired we just went for it! Day 2 We decided to go touristy today and get Hop on Hop off bus tickets, having now done this I would totally recommend anyone to do the same it was by far the best way to get to see the city and we learnt loads too. For about $33 SGD aprox £20 each (2024 update these are now about $63 SGD or aprox £37 each) we got a ticket valid for 24 hours. We saw so much of the city and there is an audio commentary you can listen to as well on headphones they give you which tells you so much about Singapore and it's history. We jumped off in Little India and grabbed lunch in a food mall, the most awesome curry for just a couple of pounds each, then off again at China Town to sample some street food...that's the way to do it in Singapore. If we go back I would head here and to China Town for my meals, so much cheaper! Back on the bus we saw the most peculiar sight...a boat floating in the air high above the city, we learnt this is Marina Bay Sands, a huge hotel type complex that has been built to look like a boat in the sky, absolutely incredible!
The imposing Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
We hopped off here to check it out, there is a Skydeck here where you get a 360 degree view of Singapore but it cost about £14 ($23 SGD) (2024 update $32 SGD aprox £19) per person to get up there. Reluctant to pay this extortionate fee we inquired if there was a bar up there and if we had to get a ticket to enjoy a drink, no ticket required for the bar...bonus! So they put us in an elevator and up we went, the view is incredible, there is no denying it and it is totally worth going up to see. We sat down and enjoyed the most expensive beer of our lives (it was $19 SGD per beer!) but it was so worth it!
Looking down on the Botanical Gardens from the bar.
We were here in late November so the Christmas lights were up everywhere, in the evening we headed to Orchard Road...you have to see the decorations here if you are visiting around the same time, it is all so over the top it's brilliant! Later we went over to Raffles to experience the iconic Singapore Sling, I have participated in many a Singapore Sling before so I thought it was only fitting to have one where it all began.
The Long Bar at Raffles is pretty cool, it's all so colonial and the atmosphere is brilliant, every table gets a small plate of monkey nuts and it's traditional here that you drop all the shells on the floor so the floor is just a sea of nut shells it's random but I loved it. I didn't love the Singapore Slings though at £16 ($28 SGD) (2024 update $39 SGD aprox £23) each I was expecting something pretty special and sadly it wasn't, but I loved the experience of going there and for me that was worth it!
The iconic Singapore Slings at Raffles Hotel.
The floor of the Long Bar covered with Monkey Nut shells!
Day 3 Up early to make the most of the time left on our bus tickets, we saw the outskirts of the city where there are some very large houses and some very interesting info on the audio tour. After a quick bite to eat we grabbed our bags from the hotel and had our last journey on the bus to the nearest tube stop as this afternoon we are flying to our next stop...Bangkok!
The colourful MICA Building on the bus tour
SINGAPORE HOLIDAYS TOP TIPS
- Do the Hop on Hop off bus, it's the best way to view and learn about the city
- Go to the bar on the Marina Bay Sands sky deck, you only pay for a drink then instead of the expensive Sky Park tickets
- Save money and eat in Little India or China Town NEXT STEPS - Purchase a Lonely Planet guide for your trip here
NEXT DESTINATION Bangkok - Read now...
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