Introduction
A lot of people going to Asia have to pass through Singapore because they fly with Singapore Airlines.
From Singapore there are excellent connections to a lot of Indonesian cities with Silk Air, like Manado, Ujung Pandang, Denpasar, Solo, Mataram, Medan etc..., and all the capitals in the other countries.
It can be regarded to be a pain in the ass having to stay for some hours or even a day in Singapore before going home, or before going to Indonesia, but it really shouldn't be. We thought our day in Singapore was well spent, so here are some hints.
Guidebooks
We had the LP guide on Singapore which is a handy pocketbook. You'll find the usual quality info of the LP guidebooks. Latest edition 10/2000.
Arrival at the airport
It's incredible how efficient the airport is run. I think it was the first time our luggage was waiting for us, and not vice versa. Customs were also very smooth.
If you have to wait for more than 5 hours for your next flight, then
go for a free tour of the city by bus and boat.
There are plenty of fast food restaurants at decent prices.
There are also 2 transit hotels which are quite good. the one at Terminal 1 is a bit better and more expensive, there's a cheaper one in Terminal 2. The rooms are clean , modern, compact, no windows. While staying there, you don't need to go through customs.
Have a look at the website of Changi airport, including more info on the hotels and the free citytour at
www.changi.airport.com.sg/
Getting to town
Most expensive option is to take a cab, this will cost about 15 S$ (11/98).
There is an Airport Shuttle Service between 6 am and 12 pm. It operates from Terminal 1 and 2 and costs 7 S$ for adults, 5 S$ for children. You can ask to be dropped off at any convenient point in the city or at any licensed hotel. The bus can only take 6 people.
Another option is to take the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). The ride from the airport station to the city centre is only 27 minutes. Trains operate at an average frequency of 12 minutes and its service hours are as follows:
- Changi Airport station to City Hall station: First train: 5:31am (Mon to Sat), 5:59am (Sun and public holidays) Last train: 11:18pm (daily)
- City Hall station to Changi Airport station: First train: 6:09am (Mon to Sat), 6:45am (Sun and public holidays) Last train: 12:03am (daily)
The fare for a single trip from Changi Airport station to City Hall station is SGD 1.40. For the convenience of travellers, trains serving the Changi Airport station provide luggage racks and free space in every carriage.
Cheapest option is to take bus nr. 36 which will take you to Orchard road (with stops in between) for only 1.60 S$) (9/98).
Getting to Malaysia
There are trains going to Kuala Lumpur, and from there you can go on to Thailand. Have a look at the
KTM website for more info on train schedules and fares from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.
Accommodation
If you fly with Singapore airlines, it is absolutely imperative that you book with them a "Stopover holiday package". It is not as cheap as it used to be, but you will still save a lot of money. For 30 US$ pp per night, you'll stay in a good quality hotel including airport shuttle and also free entrance to sights like the Singapore Zoo. Have look at their site for more info on this. I specifically checked whether we could have gotten the same hotel at same price, but it was much more expensive if you booked it on your own at the airport.
It is necessary to book the package BEFORE you board the plane, once in Singapore it's impossible. (10/2000).
We stayed at the 5-star
Orchard Hotel which is not really recommended. It's located in the shopping area, but it's a huge hotel with no personal service (5/98)
Second time we stayed at the Furama Hotel. This is in Chinatown, thus a bit out of the center. Still, I can recommend this hotel. It's only 30 US$ pp on the package, and they were extremely helpful. They have an efficient storage room and will give you a room for 30 minutes to take a shower before you get on the plane (10/2000).
For those on a budget who cannot profit from the SAL offer, a good alternative is Lee Travellers Club Guest House at Beach Road 75, Fu Yuen Building (6th floor Unit 2), Singapore 189689, tel 339-5490. From the airport you can take bus nr. 36 and get off at Stamford road (Info provided by Johan Rotsaert 10/98). There are some thing you should take into account:
- If you choose the fan dorm (8 S$), take the one at the sixth floor because it's safer since personnel is always hanging around there. The other fan dorms are situated in a kind of entrance, and people pass by on their way to their AC rooms (35 S$ for a double). T
here's also a dorm with AC for 9 S$, but the AC starts only at 9 pm and stops at 10 am.
- The place is clean, breakfast is OK with tea, toast and marmalade, and there are a lot of cheap restaurants in the neighbourhood. There's also a useful message board.
-
However, 2 recent postings on the LP thorn tree said this place was to be avoided (6/99).
You can also have a look at the
listings of the Singapore tourist board.
Restaurants
If there's 1 restaurant to be recommended, it should be the one on the 70th floor of the Swissotel the Stamford. You will have an incredible view, actually the one you see on many postcards (the picture underneath was taken from there), and the food was really great. Go their for their so-called "High Tea buffet. This is an "eat as much as you can"-buffet of great quality with real Chinese Dim Sum and a fantastic buffet of Chinese and Western deserts for 27 S$. You can also eat a la carte but this is much more expensive. Look at
this site for more details and offers (4/99).
Go early enough, because there will probably a queue waiting.
For a nice dinner, Clarke Quay and Boat Quay are very lively and have good restaurants. Recommended are Papa Joe's and nightclubs Zouk and Spark.
Cybercafés
Level 3 of Terminal 2 at Changi Airport has a neat Cybernet Café for S$8 an hour.
The top floor of the Funan Centre has a couple of places for about the same price.
The longer-standing Cybernet Café in Tanjong Pagar is still going strong and the 'Coffee Bean' on the Boat Quay has a few terminals.
The basement of the Bugis Central Market has a rather crowded and expensive Pacific Net centre: S$11.50 an hour.
The National Library is the cheapest at S$2 an hour - web browsing only and you have to get a cashcard to use the terminals.
Travel clinic
If you're looking for a travel clinic, go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
What to do
There's so much to do in Singapore you'll have to make a choice.
We went to the Zoo, which is really beautiful, especially if you go with kids. They have Urang Utans, Komodo Dragons (although quite small), Pigmy hippo's, tigers etc... Entrance is 10 S$, but free with the voucher of SAL. Take the underground till Ang Mo Kio, then take bus nr. 138 till terminal. The zoo has a website at
http://www.zoo.com.sg A less touristic place is Bukit Timah Nature reserve. You can get good views of forest. However, during weekends there are a lot of joggers and schoolkids.
The shopping area is around Orchard road, but my impression was there are no real bargains to be done nowadays. Ten or 20% off the usual price will be the best you can get.
A more cosy shopping area is "Clarke Quay", not too far from the Westin area. There you have smaller shops selling little things and clothes (no hifi or electrical goods).
Here are some tips I got from gwen Tan, a Singapore citizen now living abraod (6/99)If you have a little more time and would like to check out how old time s'pore is like, go to the Changi jetty and take a boat to
Pulau Ubin (I don't think LP's author for S'pore mentionned going to this place). It used to be a Quarry for Granites. Now abandoned and filled up to become a lake, and most (I think all) of the villagers relocated to mainland, is a treasure few people remember, and is soon to become a commercial development. The outward bound school is there. You can take a hike (maybe not if you do not like to be hot and dusty) or mountain bike the many trails that are totally deserted on weekdays. Or canoe around the island. Eat at the coffee shop by the jetty or the seafood "restaurant" (I think it is still there). It is cheap, and the best. You'll experience a beautiful past that's long gone on the mainland, where civilization and urbanization had taken over for prosperity and globalization.
If taking in the nature is not your cup of tea, I always recommend travellers to simply take the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) for
a joy ride around S'pore (there are souvenir tickets for S$6). Going through all the well laid out, clean and mostly attractive residential neighbourhoods. You'll see how and where the people live, where most visitors to S'pore missed. I, as a local living abroad, would do that joy ride every year when I return to visit my family. Keeping up with changes.
There are other walks that's worth doing - Little India (if you are not going to India) and
Chinatown (it's pretty big if you explore the small allys and check out small stores with old trades that's redundant and long forgotten).
Article Comments:
| 04/24/2006 |
| Ann-Mari Reinholdsson (1) |
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Hi!
We want to know where we can find the place in Singapor where you can swim with the dolphins.
Ann-Mari and Astrid
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| 03/28/2006 |
| tseku (1) |
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singa is very clean. my mother live in singapor i want go to singapor
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| 03/16/2006 |
| Stacey (5) |
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singapore is the only first world country in the region. it's very, very clean and very, very modern. make sure you try the local food. it's incredible. you can get malay, indian, or chinese (and hybrids thereof). delicious. also, public transportation is very simple around there, so that's good news for any traveller. they have incredible museums and parks and such. as said before, you can get by with english just fine, though cantonese is the official language, i believe. it's also pretty simple to cross over into malaysia when you're there. side bonus: the airport is very nice (which may not seem like a big deal, but when you travel a lot, good airports are the icing on the cake). enjoy your trip!
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| 03/14/2006 |
| joij r marasigan (1) |
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I really intended to browse your site to get a feel of how it is to be in your beautiful country, Singapore. I have learned a few from friends and relatives and it impresses me and feeds my curiousity to be there. In this regard, my friend and I intend to travel within the month of April 2006 and see for ourselves what had been just a dream....to be there and see SINGAPORE...a chance in a lifetime.
More power, your information helped me a lot.
Thank you
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