Travel guide for Singapore

Although this happened a few months ago and I will need a serious memory exercise, I promised myself that I will try to put on paper my travel experiences as they come. I have started this within my previous post, when I was telling you about a day trip in one of the regional parks here close to Auckland.

Today I will share my experience from October last year, when I travelled for 5 days in Singapore. We arrived there during the evening and the first thing that stroke me was the incredible Changi Airport. It is one the best I have come across and I have loved it for its personality and the will to make life easier for the people transiting it every day. The second was the weather… hot and humid, the air very hard to breath… Otherwise the city was an incredible mixture of new and old, so many architectural styles, flowers and green everywhere. Seeing it for the first time from the taxi, was a long WOW from the airport to the hotel.

One of the best spots to find good hotels is on Bencoolen Street. There are quite a few and the prices are good value for money. The only disadvantage is that you are pretty far away from a subway station and considering the weather it could become quite problematic if you are not used to it and come from a cooler climate.

The best way to get around Singapore is to use Singapore Tourist Pass (http://www.thesingaporetouristpass.com.sg) which is available to be bought for 1, 2 or 3 days. Basically it gives you access to the vast majority of travel options in Singapore and can take you almost anywhere. The card you get to help you travel around is refundable, so if you want the one day one it is practically for free.

We made the most of stay there. Singapore is a beautiful city which will provide full entertainment and lots of places to visit. Out first day there we decided to visit the Sentosa Island (http://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/attractions/#resorts-world-at-sentosa). The place is famous for all the attractions it hosts and is one of the most important tourist spots in Singapore. We decided to spend a full day there, half at the S.E.A. Aquarium which hosts the largest window aquarium in the world and half in Adventure Cove Waterpark. Both places were quite nice and offered us a full day of excitement.

Second day we did one of the recommended walking trails (http://www.marina-bay.sg/funtrails.html). The Architecture trail took us around Marina Bay, along the most important architectural icons that make Singapore skyline famous. The trail is 6km long and the recommended time is around 1h and 15m. For us it took longer as we stopped often for pictures and to enjoy the wonderful views. Our stops were first at the Millenia Singapore with the Fountain of Fortune and Marina Square. Then we proceeded to Fullerton Heritage and the Merlion statue (the symbol of the city). Next, along the bay, we experienced a lovely combination of heritage colonial styles and modern features… a mixture of buildings surviving from old times and new, tall, shiny towers. The next highlights were the Marina Bay Financial Centre, The Sails @ Marina Bay and the impressive Marina Bay Sands hotel. We have finished our tour with a couple of hours spent in Gardens by the Bay and enjoying the views on the Singapore Flyer.

Our third day was reserved for Singapore Zoo. The day was nice and captivating, although quite difficult sometimes because of the heat. We loved the animal variety and the shows where the caretakers were engaging with the animals in funny ways and providing entertainment for the visitors.

During the last half of day we decided to visit Chinatown. The temples in the area are quite beautiful and you can find lots of bargains if you have enough time to spend there. For us, we were under a little bit of time pressure so we couldn’t take advantage of the full experience, but I would say it is definitely a place for the bargain hunters.

My last note would be on the places to eat. Singapore provides a large variety of cuisines, due to the vast cultural heritage. The restaurants that we loved were a German one called Brotzeit (http://brotzeit.co/rafflescity/promo/) and a Japanese one called Standing Sushi Bar (http://standingsushibar.com). Both are great spots for dinner and the earlier you are present, the better. Our first tentative with both of them was a huge waiting line, that would have scared even the bravest.

We found Singapore a wonderful city… great architecture, modern and old beautifully integrated, great food variety and so many forms of entertainment that would satisfy even the most demanding of us.

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