What to do in Singapore is a legitimate question when seeking to maximize your travel experience. This city has everything to seduce! Four things struck us in this city of 5.9 million inhabitants: its utmost cleanliness, its lush greenery, its incredible wealth and the horrendous heat!
What to do in Singapore?
Marina Bay
Singapore’s main attractions are located around Marina Bay, which also represents the city’s historic heart. Among them:
- The Merlion, this statue with a lion’s head and a fish body has become an icon of the city;
- Marina Bay Sands, the world-famous hotel with its infinity pool;
- Garden by the Bay and its imposing super-trees;
- The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which contains what would be a large ( if not huge) Buddha tooth that was discovered in 1980 after a collapse of a stupa (unfortunately it was forbidden to take a picture of the tooth).
Merlion
Marina Bay Sands
Spectra – A Light & Water Show
Rain Oculus at The Shoppes
Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay
Marina Bay
Singapore City Gallery
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
In addition, we visited the Singapore Botanical Garden, which is also the only Singaporean site listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And what a magnificent park!
Singapore Botanic Gardens
Changi Airport
Singapore’s Changi Airport, which has been recognized for years as the best airport in the world, is an attraction in itself! In addition to being the 6th busiest airport in the world, it has been designed for the well-being of its passengers. Thus, it has a large number of artworks, a swimming pool with Jacuzzi, two complimentary movie theaters, entertainment/games rooms, playgrounds for children, relaxation rooms, fish ponds, a butterfly garden, cactus and water lily gardens, as well as orchid and sunflower gardens.
Changi Airport Butterfly Garden
Changi Airport Game Center
The Kinetic Rain is a moving sculpture featuring 1216 bronze droplets that rise and fall with perfect synchronicity.
Changi Airport Kinetic Sculpture
Recently, a new section of the airport was inaugurated: the Jewel. And it bears its name very well, because it is a real jewel! Located in the very heart of the airport, it is an incredible tourist and commercial complex enclosed in a huge glass dome. In its center is the world’s largest indoor waterfall, with a height of 40 meters, as well as a forest of 3,000 trees and 60,000 shrubs.
Jewel at Changi Airport
For a better preparation
Itinerary
A brief history lesson: in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian federation because of the economic and political differences between the Malaysian Muslim majority and the Chinese who were the majority Singapore. Within a single generation, the city-state has transitioned from an emerging to a developed country. Singapore is now a first-class country in several areas: the most technologically advanced nation, the city with the highest investment potential, the smartest city in the world, the safest city in the world, the most competitive economy in the world, etc.
Lifestyle
Singapore is known to be very expensive but it is possible to spend a few days there without having to sell a kidney. We rented a room with a shared bathroom to reduce the cost of accommodation.
The city-state has a rich and diverse cuisine, with influences from China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India. So not a single second did we ever think of cooking! We chose to eat in the famous “Hawker Centers”. Scattered throughout the city, these establishments offer an incredible variety of foods at ridiculously low prices. And since a host of stands at these “Hawker Centers” are among the Michelin recommendations year after year, we have been eating like we never did before!
Maxwell Food Centre
Baozi
Chicken Rice
Roast Duck and Pork
Wonton Noodle and Char Siu
As our visit to Singapore was in line with the durian season, all the Singaporeans we met were telling us to eat it. So we didn’t deprive ourselves of this opportunity! Our accommodation was located in the heart of a neighborhood full of durian shops, so every night we would do a tour of the dealers. We became regulars, so much so that our favorite seller would keep his most beautiful pieces for us. Like me, he spoke Teochew (from Southeast China), so we could talk in our common mother tongue. We tasted almost all the varieties: Mao Shan Wang, XO, Red Prawn, D101, D13, from the sweetest to the bitterest, firm and creamy, sticky and fibrous, in all shades from yellow to orange.
Luka ate it sassily. It must be in the genes! My parents taught me not to be difficult when it comes to food. And fortunately because nowadays I eat everything. Since eating is an important part of travelling, we in turn pass on these beautiful values to our boys!
A Durian Shop
Durian Tasting
Expenses
Although our crave for durian has significantly increased our cost on food, I consider our spending in Singapore to be very reasonable. The cost of our stay for our family of 4 is:
- 1,464.00 SGD (1,091.28 USD);
- 183.00 SGD (136.41 USD) per day;
- 46.00 SGD (34.29 USD) per person and per day.
In detail:
Expense Category | Amount Spent |
---|---|
Flight | 195.00 SGD / 145.35 USD |
Accomodation | 761.00 SGD / 567.26 USD |
Transport | 138.00 SGD / 102.87 USD |
Eating out | 200.00 SGD / 149.08 USD |
Groceries | 170.00 SGD / 126.72 USD |
Activities | 0.00 SGD |
Total | 1,464.00 SGD / 1,091.28 USD |
In a nutshell
Dates | 2019-05-30 to 2019-06-03; 2019-06-05 to 2019-06-08 |
Number of days | 2 stays: 8 days in total |
Cities we visited | Singapore |
Inbound | From Indonesia by plane |
Outbound | To Germany by plane |
Mode of transport | Train, bus, taxi |
Distance travelled (excluding flights) | 138 km |
Number of photos taken | 1850 (231 per day) |
Currency | The Singapore Dollar (1.00 USD = 1.34 SGD) |
Conclusion
Breathtaking is the word that comes to mind when we think about our stay in Singapore! Just the thought about eating durian again in its best season makes us want to return there. But until then, it is with great sorrow that we must now close our Asian chapter. I now invite you to join us on our next adventure in Morocco! Yippee!
==> Download all our photos of Singapore for free!
[columns size=”1/3″ last=”false”]
[/columns]
[columns size=”1/3″ last=”false”]
[/columns]
[columns size=”1/3″ last=”true”]
[/columns]