Singapore: Third Time, Still Charmed

I have to admit that my happiest vacations happened in Singapore (not that I've trotted around the globe, yet). My first time was with my parents where I was able to see how well Western culture meshed with the East, discipline could certainly be achieved and by God, how clean the country was my lungs were in shock.

The second time I came back was with my close friend, just right after we graduated from med school. We went to visit our barkada who has been residing and working there in Changi Hospital. We were able to experience the now defunct budget terminal, did a crazy side tour to Malaysia which we vowed never to go there again by bus, and riding the MRT as if we have lived there for years (thanks to our friend's flatmate who lent us a copy of a guide on transport around Singapore). We ate as the locals did at various hawker's area and we had fellow Filipino tourists asking us how to get from point A to B seeing that we were fearless in getting around the city.

On my third time, I came with my sister who had an hour's glimpse of the airport during a stopover en route to Auckland, New Zealand for greener pastures (literally). Since our family vacation to Macau became a bust, my sister gladly decided to tour Singapore before heading back to her daily grind in NZ.

You might probably wonder what tips I could impart since it's my third time touring this lovely little country, which couldn't be seen on the globe as our Singaporean taxi driver pointed out. Well, first of all, it won't hurt if you plan ahead.  For this trip, we had little time to plan (like 5 days) and work out all the details.  But we had help from Trip Advisor and other travel sites on where to stay. According to my friend who travels a lot, if you're booking a trip way ahead of time, then you can really save if it's a promo flight or budget airlines. But if you have to make a quick get away, flying full service doesn't cost as much as you think compared to non-promo flights on a budget airlines.

On arrival at the airport and after getting through Immigration, you can have your money changed for Singaporean dollars at the airport.  The chances of getting fake money are nil, and the exchange rate is fairly priced. Before going out of the airport, head over to one of the counters that sell NETS FlashPay cards, priced at 12 Singaporean dollars. This will save you a lot of time in paying for the bus, and MRT and you can buy food with it (fastfood). There's 5 Singaporean dollars worth that you can use right away to commute.  Top-ups are available at the MRT stations and convenience stores.

If you're in no hurry to get to your hotel or you could certainly wait, there are bus transfers from the airport at 8 dollars each for adults. Since we arrived at around 1 am and getting through Immigration took about an hour due to huge tourist traffic so we took the cab and it cost us 24 singaporean dollars. Don't forget to take the free maps at the airport. They're very useful guides in going around the city by determining which line to board and where the different MRT stations are. Also, the counter where we bought our NETS Flashpay card also sells cheaper tickets to Universal Studios and they also sell tickets to other attractions as well.

We were booked in BIG Hotel in Bugis area. I was apprehensive at first since during our first trip there, we toured around Bugis and it was the only place where we saw the police patroling the place. So much has changed now since the area is now the artsy district, where the Singaporean National Library is located, with numerous school for the arts, and art galleries now filling up the place. They did retain the huge market place where you could buy a lot of stuff for a very small fee. You could get diabetes from eating all those Lindt chocolates because they come sooooo cheap here. BIG Hotel came with buffet breakfasts serving Asian and Western food. So we usually eat up before we go. Stores still open around 10 am like they used to 8 years ago so we end up eating our lunch like around 4pm, just when are feet really get tired from going around.

Look at what we found in Bugis

In order to save and maximize our time in Singapore, we planned the places to visit according to the route of the MRT lines. The drawback of BIG Hotel's location in Bugis is that most of the streets are one way and the bus was just confusing so we had to rely on the MRT. On the first day we were able to cover Chinatown, Little India, Orchard Road, and Clark Quay which is best to visit at night.

Escalator leads to MRT Station (Chinatown)

Chinatown is the best destination during daytime and you could get your souvenir fix here at amazing prizes. Nobody forces you to buy anything and they don't get mad if you're just window shopping. We were hoping to find the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple but the old woman kept pointing to a building that looked like part market and part cultural center. We also tried looking for the Heritage Centre but it was so inconspicuous since it was flanked by jam-packed restaurants. My sister and I were so happy to stumble upon The Tintin Shop.

The 5th Tintin Shop in the world

We were able to go to what felt like the weirdest mall ever! We went round and round in search for an exit. Turns out the big entrance is where you exit to the main road.

Round and round we go

Find me if you can

Tourists and souvenir fix

Next destination was Little India while we didn't stay long. Not too many people walking around in some parts.

In Little India

Main thoroughfare in Little India

One of the churches found in Little India

We were getting hungry so we decided to head out to Orchard Road. We forgot which mall it was where Nando's was located but what happy tummies we had.

Chicken Peri-Peri

To spice things up

The best sidewalk ever!

Where we got off the MRT from Little India

Ngee Ann City, Orchard Road

Posh as they come

If you're brave enough to go out of your comfort zone, a very good experience would be to eat with the locals. There's a hawker's area every block or so and you can save 5 dollars at least for meals.

The Mosque

Just right across the mosque was the best murtabak. Since they ran out of beef, we had mutton. No grease, no annoying lamb smell. Another good place to eat is at Lau Pa Sat, which is the biggest hawker's place according to our friend. Adjacent to it is a street full of satay stalls much like to Larsian's in Cebu City. My apologies for the lack of pictures. The place was too hazy with smoke and we were too overcome with hunger after touring the Gardens By the Bay. The Super Trees were truly super!

The Super Trees

Time flies when you're having fun... will definitely visit Singapore again to explore hidden treasures in shops located in narrow alleys in Bugis area. Au revoir!