Hey everyone,
So as promised here is the second blog on my recent travels. When we were booking the flights and organising our itinerary we had the map in front of us and one literally said to the other “Will we go to Singapore too for a few days” as “It’s only down the road”. And we planned it into our itinerary and booked the flights a few weeks later.
I should have mentioned in my Thailand blog, we booked all the different flights over a few months to spread out the cost and to make sure we didn’t have to book any of them when we were there. Our flights from Phuket to Singapore cost about €50 and then our return flight to Chiang Mai cost a little more and I think it was €80 but it was a 2 hour flight.
When we arrived in Singapore airport, we were heading out to get the train to our hotel as we had looked it up. There was a tourist pass available for about S$26 Singapore Dollars which is about €18. This was a great idea, everywhere in Singapore is pretty much accessible via their underground system. Also if you return the tourist pass card you are given 10 dollars back which makes it even cheaper.
Our hotel was the Jinshan Hotel, in Chinatown. Of all the hotels we stayed in this was probably bottom of the list. It was fine and it was the best value for money in Singapore for when we were travelling. Our room was tiny, there wasnt even a shower, it was a shower head over the floor in the bathroom that would have soaked everywhere. The door was rotting a little bit from what I presume is water damage. Luckily we were only staying here 2 nights. The location for us however, was perfect. It was so so central, that I would probably put up with the hotel again for the location and price.
First stop for us in Singapore was Gardens by the Bay. This is like Singapore’s version of Central Park. The difference being that this park has some really really tall tree like structures that are all lit up. Every evening at 7.45pm there is a theatrical light show amoung the trees. This is amazing. Like I can’t put it into words really. It’s so fab. We went back both nights in Singapore to experience it. Every person just sits and looks up at the trees. There are people lying on the ground just watching the show. It lasts for about 15 minutes and believe it or not it is free of charge.
Down along the Marina, is also the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. I wanted to see this hotel after hearing about it from a few people. It is very extravagant. It has 3 towers and then the top row of floors has 25 restaurants and an observation deck. They charge you to go up to the observation deck so we opted not too. However, we both said we would have loved to experience staying in the hotel and and we wished we had just splashed the cash and booked there instead.
Next on our agenda for here was the Singapore Flyer, a Ferris Wheel on the Marina. It is similar idea to the London Eye. This wasn’t by any means expensive I think it was like S$11 and it lasts half an hour. I would recommend doing this at night. I think the last trip is at 8.30pm. The views you get of Singapore when it is all lit up is just fabulous. It’s a really special city.
One thing I couldn’t get over was how clean the city was. Singapore have very strict laws though and if you are caught littering you can be fined S$1500. They all seem very law abiding too. (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing lol) They all walked in single file up the escalators, they waited patiently in designated spots before people get off the trains. It was all very structured but not in a bad way. I did a bit of research on Singapore since and the population is 75% Chinese which could explain why they are so big on sticking to the rules.
On our second day in Singapore we went to a place called Sentosa. Sentosa is an island just off Singapore. It was a British Army Fortress back in the day, for anyone who has an interest in history. Today, Sentosa is like the Hamptons of Singapore. It is home to Universal Studios and other parks, there is a beach and playgrounds. There are a number of ways to get there, the cheapest being by train and this costs S$4 from the last city stop at the Marina. Another way of getting to Sentosa is via Cable Car. This is abit more expensive I think it was S$32 return trip and this was the way we opted to go. Our view was thought we are on holidays so do the stuff you wouldn’t normally do.
Now Sentosa is beautiful, there is lots to do particularly for families. The most southern tip of Asia is on this island and you can walk out to it. There are plenty of activities for all ages and I really enjoyed it. That was until we decided to leave island. Sign posts and directions are not a strong point of the Singaporeans apart from the train transport which they excel at. There was a few things we went looking for on Sentosa and struggled to find. The flow of the activities was off. And coupled with the heat which was roughly 40 degrees, the experience of leaving the island was stressful. Now for clarity, I am an organiser and planner by personality and profession, so the apparent dis organisation of something that should have been so simple, stressed me out. Someone else might not have a care in the world about this situation. Eventually we got going in the direction we needed to and got back to mainland Singapore. The journey was about only about 25 minutes.
Once back on the mainland we wanted a night out. We looked up an Irish bar because that’s what you do when you are Irish and abroad. We found a McGettigans Irish bar and decided to go there as my friend had been the one in Dubai. There was a live band playing there, a good atmosphere and the whole area itself called Clarke Quay was just lovely. Lots of little bars and cool places to have a drink, nice little restaurants and little food bars, so walking by you can buy food over the counter. It was a really hip little place and I really enjoyed it and recommend going there if you are in Singapore.
The one thing about Singapore I wasn’t keen on was the food. I love Asian food, I would eat it every evening but there was something odd about the food choices there. I tried a couple of dishes but ended up in a Subway because the food was just not nice in my opinion.
Everything else about the city I loved. I recommend that everyone puts Singapore on their bucket list.
Any questions let me know,
If you have been I would love to hear your experiences too?
Lots of Love
Laura
Xxx
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