Singapore Travel Notes

I haven't been to Singapore yet but these are notes from a friend:

From K

Definitely visit Sentosa & Pulau Ubin is cute for biking & kayaking.
The others are Indonesia - need passport & visa - Bintan & Batam - I didn't think much of them but people I knew loved it for the golf!

Here's a few other things you might like to explore:

- Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery Temple (Bishan temple)
- botanic gardens
- gardens in the bay
- river cruise along the quays
- McRitchie reservoir
- cable car to sentosa
- China town: market & temples Chinese & Indian
- eat chilli crab
- of course marina bay sands. have a drink at rooftop bar - ku de ta & enjoy infinity pool


From RL

Marina Bay Sands (MBS) - The rooftop is definitely something to see. I didn't really go up there at night (only once early evening for a drink) so I don't know what night costs, how it is, etc. but I could tell by those waiting in line for the elevator that it's fancy. There is a dress code so check into that if you want to go at night. You can also pay to go during the day which is my recommendation. I bet you can carry it into early evening to see the city from up there when it's dark if you want. I don't know what it costs since I was a guest but the pool is cool and there are servers and such for drinks. There is an area where kids aren't allowed if you prefer.

Pulau Ubin - This was my favorite and I think it's a must. You pay $7 Singapore dollars for the boat ride and then negotiate your price to rent a bike. I think we paid $7 for that as well. There are live monkeys and wild boar. We did most of the island (all but the mountain biking part) and we're back in Singapore by like 1/1:30. We went around 9 I think. There are places to have lunch there if you want. There are also a couple temples.

Chinatown and neighborhoods- we liked Chinatown a lot but you might feel like doing something different and eating something different since you live in China lol. They have one street called "Food Street" that is pedestrian only and lined with food vendors and picnic tables. I heard Little India is a good neighborhood to see but we didn't go there. We did go to Kampong Glam. It's a muslim neighborhood and has older looking architecture in the midst of this modern city with skyscrapers. There is a Mosque but all the stores there are fabric and/or rugs. I don't think this area is a must see. Clarke Quay is an area on the water with a lot of restaurants. It's a good place to go to dinner. Makansutra Gluttons Bay (outdoor food court) was recommended by a hotel staff person but I didn't eat there. There are a few restaurants near there as well if you decide to go but then don't want to eat there. It's also on the water and has good views of Marina Bay Sands.

Sentosa - I wasn't impressed. It's the beach if you want to do that but the sand was nowhere near as nice as Indonesia and the view is filled with cargo ships. Overall it's an area with parks you can pay to get in to (Universal Studios, a water park, zip lining, etc.) The beach is free but the taxi drivers tack on extra because they have to pay to take you in. You can take the subway though. It's likely I didn't see it all so maybe there are good things there but we basically had lunch and left. It does have "The Southernmost point of Continental Asia" and there is an observation deck type of thing that you can walk up. If you only have a weekend, I'd skip this. If sun is on your agenda, go to the rooftop at MBS instead.

Zoo - We only paid for the River Safari part so we could see the Pandas. It's lame except for the Pandas and of course you have to pay extra to see the whole thing. I've heard the regular zoo is pretty good. I've heard mixed reviews on the night zoo. Don't go so that you're leaving at the end of the day..the cab line was at least 40 mins long! We went on our Pulau Ubin day and were just so hot and exhausted!

Gardens by the Bay - This was outside my hotel room so I watched the light show from my balcony. I didn't go to it down in the park to watch it from there but heard it's cool.

Bintan, Indonesia - It's a 1-hour ferry ride (you lose 2 hours on the way back bc it's 1-hour behind Singapore). The beach we went to was unbelievably beautiful. It was at a resort but surprisingly empty on the day we were there. The resort looked very Polynesian and picturesque. My co-worked said "it looks fake even though we're actually here." Not sure I'd recommend this though unless you want to just go to a resort and sit on the beach or do resort activities all day. The ferry pulls into the middle of nowhere so right away we had no choice but to pay a guy to drive us around all day. There is no ATM at the terminal but there is a money exchange place. There are 2 cities on island but the larger one is 1.5 hours from the ferry. The smaller one is 30-40 mins. We went to the beach for 2-hours and then to the little town. I don't know how else to describe it except to say that it was very third world. Good to see culturally but hard to see and almost impossible to talk to people. Not many spoke English and I personally found their money confusing so I didn't even attempt to shop or eat. It just wasn't easy to get around and navigate. We ended up getting an earlier ferry than planned. I think we left Singapore at 8am and had planned on a 4:30 ferry but took the 3:30. Something like that. Oh, and as you probably know, it's freaking hot! I was zapped by 11am...seriously even getting my body into an air conditioned car was hard lol.

Hope this helps if you make your way to Singapore!