Singapore, a very familiar name throughout the world. Why not go to this country and explore something ? What is making this country so special ? Is Singapore a clean city ? I had many more questions similar to these until I made a trip to this country in the month of December 2017. We traveled as 2 couples to this beautiful city. Internet was the best guide throughout the trip. Trip preparation started hardly 30 days before (Which is why we ended up paying more than usual for the flight fare ).
A short video of Singapore is posted at the end of this article. Some tips are added at the end
 |
| The Merlion - Marketing Icon of Singapore |
Q1: How much will it cost ?
The most common question!. Here is my math ("$" represents Singapore dolor).
- Food: As far as I have seen in my trip, a meal costs maximum of 10$/person. Therefore in a day, a minimum 30$-40$ required for food expenses.
- Sightseeing Entry Fee: Biggest share Universal Studios, which costs 76$. Zoo and Bird park tickets cost 60$ approximately. Singapore Flyer , SEA Aquarium, Wings of Time will cost around 20$ each. Gardens by the Bay will add another 50$. Note that these are approximate prices.
- Hotel: As far as hotels are concerned, I was looking for a decent and pocket friendly one. There are reasonably budgeted hotels available, but make sure to read the reviews before booking. A 3 star hotel named The Noble Hotel, Jln Besar costed me INR 3750/day approximately. The hotel was close to 2 bus stops and 1 metro station. Please make sure to choose wisely based on your budget. Hotel booking can be made from Make My Trip website (links are given in the end )
- Internet/Phone calls/Transportation: This will add up another INR 3500 if you want to take up good international roaming pack.
- Flight: Book in advance! Flight is another piece that makes you sad about budget. Flight fare varies from as low as INR 5000 to INR 10000 one way from Bangalore. Couple booking costed me 18500 approximately back and forth. Remember that some airlines like Scoot Airline do not consider check-in baggage. This additional top-up costs you around INR 5000 more
Therefore the whole trip would cost approximately INR 40000 ! In addition to this, there are VISA Charges, local expenses like tourist pass, Shopping (another biggest expense if you have ladies in the group) will add up another INR 10000.
Q2: Package Tour or Self ?
The answer for the above question varies from person to person. Guided tour/package is an one shot straight forward booking. Little research required before you shortlist a package. Whereas in a self booking, you are the guide to you and your family. In my opinion, it is better to work out both package price and individual booking price in a sheet of paper. If you end of saving good money, go for it.
I and my friend decided to go for individual booking. If you are an Indian, it is good to book hotel near Little India area. This area has more Indian restaurants compared to any other place.
Q3: What about VISA ?
It is not on-arrival , if you are traveling from India. For other countries process might be different.
Note: VISA regulations will change time to time. Kindly do thorough research how to get it before you travel.
Applying for Singapore VISA from India is through agents. There are plenty of them available in Internet. Thomas Cook seems to be a little bit cheaper. It cost 2850/person approximately considering including the agent fees. After submitting relevant documents, it took 8 working days to get the VISA . It was given for 1 year in my case ( definitely you would love to travel for the second time ! )
Q4: Do I have Internet Access ?
Apart from the hotel, most of the public places do have free Singapore Wi-Fi. SSD broadcasted as "Wireless@SG". There are many blogs suggest that WiFi is good in speed, however I noticed WiFi is not user friendly. Frequent login were being asked and frequent disconnection is observed. In a crowded areas like Bugis Street, Chinatown I hardly could connect to the Internet.
If you want to save mobile data, this can be temporarily relied upon. In my opinion, get your own Internet throughout the trip. Some options are..
- Calling Cards: These are available right at the Singapore Changi Airport. Fare starts from as low as 15$, 35$ etc. Please do good research on, before you purchase, because our mobile consumes more data than we generally think. 1GB, 2GB are very minimal for 5 days trip.
- International Roaming: In India, Vodafone, Airtel have (at the time of my trip) free international roaming packages. When I say "free", it is only incoming free. Activation of international roaming costs INR 149/- both in Airtel and Vodafone . In addition to this INR 2499/- gives you unlimited 4G internet, unlimited call to India for a month. Airtel has similar package which costs little less but limited data and call. I must say Internet speed was impressive in Vodafone and certainly happy about it
Q5: How do I get around ?
Getting around in Singapore using Metro (known as MRT - Mass Rapid Transportation ), Bus and Taxi is very easy. However, bus/MRT are the most economical ways to travel around. Singapore public transportation is world class. During my 5 days , only once I opted for a private cab due to rain.
Every tourist must know what is Singapore Tourist Pass. The pass available with validity of 1day/2day/3day. A 3 day pass costs 20$. It works both for MRT (metro's) and buses. Singapore Tourist
 |
| Bus in Singapore |
Pass can be collected in selected metro stations only. In my opinion, get the Singapore Tourist pass (website links are at the end of my posts) for 3 days which gives you flexibility of traveling in both Metro, Bus for 3 days. I felt this is pocket friendly.
Q6: What about food ?
There are plenty of local restaurants in almost every place. Little India area has plenty of Indian restaurants. However, going back to this area for every lunch is not a good option. If you like burger, Mc-Donald's could be a good option. Apart from this almost all international chains like Domino's, KFC are available.
 |
| Pizza at Universal Studios |
Though I had an intention to check out local cuisines, I could not explore more on this part as focus was to see more places. In my opinion, do not restrict yourself. Try out new dish every day :)
Q7: What are the places to see ?
Marina Bay Area: Marina Bay area offers plenty of places to kill the time. Headed to this place upon arriving to Singapore on the first day by Metro. All high rise buildings offered a fantastic view of city.
Marina Bay looks entirely different in the night. Spectacular lighting in every corner makes this place glittering.
 |
| Night View of Marina Bay |
Merlion Park: Merlion park near Marina bay has free entrance. Place is open to public. Good place to click pictures. Place is little crowded but not to be missed
Gardens By the Bay : Place is accessible through Bus, Metro. It offers stunning look in the night. Once you get inside the Gardens, there are more attractions Cloud Forest Dome and Flower Forest Dome etc. Each place has its own entrance fees. Tickets can be purchased easily from the ticket counters. Sentosa: Sentosa is an island resort off Singapore's southern cost. Island can be reached by various means. There is a Mono rail starting from Sentosa Staion. There are 3 more stops within the island Waterfront, Imbiah and Beach station. A single ticket can be used to navigate within the island.
Monrail- Sentosa Express
Universal Studios: Tickets to Universal studio can be purchased 'online' or from VIVO City (sentosa station). Universal Studio is 1 stop away from the Sentosa Sation. Place is good for kids, family, adults (in fact for all age group). It has got adventure rides(roller costar is a must!), Fun rides, Movie shows, Universal Studios creations (Transformers, Madagascar, Jurassic Park etc.. ). There was waiting time up to 40 min for rides in the morning. In my opinion, it is good to skip rides in the morning. Cover rest and enjoy the rides later in the afternoon.SEA Aquarium : This is located near Universal Studio. An underground aquarium having lot of species. I saw such a huge underground museum for the first time in my life. Here is short video
 |
| Wings of Time |
Wings of Time : Wings Time is a laser show happens near Beach Station.These are scheduled shows later in the evening. Check the timings before you go there. Laser show runs on the beach side.
·
 |
| Singapore Flyer |
Singapore flyer: It is giant wheel located near Marina Bay. There is an entrance fees to get in. One complete rotation included in the ride. Overall a rotation took more than 20 minutes. Flyer looks good in the night. Such a giant wheel offers a fabulous view of entire Marina Bay area. Flyer rotates very slow. Each chamber can accommodate at least 10 people. Since Chamber is covered with transparent glass, entire journey on this flyer offers fabulous view of Marina Bat in various angle. Make sure you click as much
 |
| View from Singapore Flyer |
Zurang Bird park: For the first time, I visited an exclusive bird park. Walking is necessary with the park at least couple of hours. Vast variety of bird species are visible here. There is combo ticket (discounted price) for both Singapore Zoo and Zurang Bird Park. Buy this if you are planning to go Zoo as well. Zoo can be visited within the validity days.
Do collect bird park map in the entrance so that you do not miss anything. There will be various bird shows mentioned on the map itself.
 |
| Bird Park Map |
Singapore Zoo: This place is not to be missed. Zoo is situated little outskirt of Singapore city. Zoo is pretty big and be prepared to walk at least 3-4 hours. Zoo is well maintained. Reach the zoo at the earliest, preferably in the morning so that you have can plan for visiting some other place afternoon Do not miss the Zoo map near the entrance. Walk accordingly. Zoo booklet has all the necessary information.
Do not get confused with River Safari and Night Safari. Both of them are situated within the Zoo. River Safari takes you through river surrounding the Zoo. I do not know how it feels like as we opted to walk around ourselves by land. Night Safari goes in the night.
Casino: If you have not seen how a casino looks like, go to Marina Bay Sands
Q8: Where to do shopping (of course pocket friendly) ?
I visited 3 places based on recommendations from my friends, and Internet. Indeed, they are the best place to buy gifts ( at very less price under 10$ ) to your loved once.
- Mustafa Centre : A huge shopping complex located near Little India area. Virtually every item is available here starting from Jewelry, Groceries, Electronics, Cloths and many more.
- Bugis Village: It is more or like a commercial shopping complex with lot of small vendors. Key chains, Singapore T-shirts, stationery and many more. Do not miss this street when you are out there.
- Chinatown: Very easy access from Chinatown Metro station. Pagoda St. looks to be a very good street to shop here. I observed that items available here are same as Bugis Street.
Tips:
- Book your flights well in advance.
- Get a map of Singapore Metro well in advance and study the route.
- Ask for map near sightseeing place.
- If you are foreigner, get a good Internet pack. At fewer public places free WiFi did not work.
- Get light cloths since weather is humid.
The blog is incomplete if i do not show this 5 minutes of video.
Comments
Post a Comment