Singapore: Part 1
This is part 1 of my travel recap to Singapore during April 2023. We stayed in Singapore for 1 week after 1 week in Bali and it was my first time visiting Singapore! Luckily, we have 2 friends who actually moved to Singapore recently so they were awesome and showed us around to a lot of cool spots.
Recommended: Read about the beginning of our Indonesia trip, starting with Seminyak in Bali.
Getting to Singapore
We flew from Bali to Singapore with Scoot airlines for around $650 CAD roundtrip for 2 adults. Flights are actually really cheap (can be around $100-200 roundtrip) but since we both had large luggages, we had to pay an additional $100 roundtrip per person for large luggage.
The flight duration is around 2.5 hours and we arrived at the Singapore Changi airport with no trouble.
Changi airport was beautiful and really hyped up my mood the moment we arrived. It had a luxurious Asian mall feeling to it and of course we stopped by to take some photos with the famous waterfall! Super cool vibe and it also happened to be Disney’s 100th anniversary so they had some special pop-up decorations as well 😍.
SIM card
We were told to get a SIM card from the airport but don’t do this because they scam you 😡. We thought prices wouldn’t be too different vs. a SIM card you can get from a convenience store, but they charged us $50 SGD (basically $50 CAD) for 1 week of data in Singapore 💸. I think you can get it close to $25 if you go to a smaller tech store or convenience store after leaving the airport.
Gojek/Grab
Leaving the airport, we called for a Gojek. Gojek and Grab are both ride-sharing and food-delivery apps commonly used in Bali and Singapore. Think of it like Uber in Vancouver – I would highly recommend you to download at least one of these apps if you plan on traveling to Indonesia.
The Changi airport has an area for you to wait for your ride if you are using Gojek or Grab, and they have a separate spot for taxis and other private airport transfers – very organized!
The ride from the airport to our hotel costed us less than $20.
Accommodations
We stayed at the Iyf Funan hotel because our friend recommended it as a reasonably-priced hotel that is also clean and modern. We stayed in a studio room for 4 nights and paid $891 SGD total after tax and fees.
The room is decently sized and has everything you will need, including a small desk station. There is also a small washroom in the studio room as well. My only gripe is that I didn’t like how their closet storage was kind of out and open, but aside from that the room was fine. We didn’t spend too much time in our actual room.
The hotel is lots of fun. They have a lot of co-op spaces and sharing spaces so you don’t need to stay inside your hotel room and you can meet other hotel guests while eating, working, or just hanging out in their meeting rooms, shared kitchen and work spaces. They also have fun events every week too for hotel guests.
The hotel is also located on the top floor of a mall called Funan. This made our hotel super convenient because there are a bunch of shops and food options right in our building, and we can also walk through underground passages to MTR stations. The mall itself was almost as if it was designed for Kelvin because it was full of toy and game stores – super fun!
Things to do in Singapore
Here are some of the things we did in our first few days in Singapore.
Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay is a giant park (101 hectares) with tons of different attractions for visitors and residents. The main attractions include:
- Cloud forest
- Flower dome
- Floral fantasy
- Supertree observatory
- OCBC skyway
We bought a combo package ticket that includes the cloud forest and the flower dome for $53 SGD per adult (for non-residents). They also had a special exhibit based on the movie Avatar that is included in this ticket. You can basically stay as long as you want in either the cloud forest or the flower dome, and it is mostly an immersive walking experience.
You can also just walk around this huge park for free. This is where you can see those iconic alien-looking trees! At night, they also have a light show on these trees.
Flower dome
We were told the flower dome is less exciting than the cloud forest, so we decided to start with the flower dome. It is like an indoor botanical garden with lots of pretty flowers and plants you can take photos with. I’m not a big gardener so I can’t say I was too interested in the different types of flowers/plants, but it was certainly pretty to walk through.
They actually had some sort of Pokemon theme when we went, so there was one section that had some Pokemon figures in the midst of their garden displays.
Overall, the flower dome was pretty average to me. Inside there is a cafe if you want to grab a drink or a bite. The best part is probably that it has AC and big spacious washrooms, so if you have a hard time tolerating the heat in Asia, you can consider visiting one of these exhibits in the Gardens by the Bay during the hottest time of the day.
Cloud forest/Avatar experience
Upon entering the cloud forest, I was immediately impressed because it had this giant tower covered in greenery and a waterfall falling down from it. It really felt like something out of Avatar (even though this structure is always here even without an Avatar exhibit).
The temperature of this area/dome is more wet/humid than the flower dome but still nice and cool with AC.
You essentially walk through this biodome and there are very clear instructions and pathways on which direction to go (mostly a one-way), unlike the flower dome where you can circle around. Again, there are lots of different plants and greenery, as well as life-sized figures of Avatar characters.
There is even one area where you can “Avatar” yourself. You stand in these machines and they will turn your photo into an Avatar version – a silly activity that made me lose my self-esteem 😂.
Keep on walking and you will also walk through some cool light and display show, similar to what you may find in TeamLab locations in Japan. Again, it is modelled after Avatar scenes where lights will explode when you touch or step on them.
They also had large Avatar creatures and even baby versions where you can pay to touch it or take photos.
You eventually venture all the way to the top of that waterfall structure you see in the beginning, and begin a descent down like a spiral. Very cool walking experience.
We spent a good half of our day exploring Gardens by the Bay and the 2 exhibits but beware – it is a lot of walking! Wear comfy shoes. They do have a shuttle service but I’m not really sure where it goes to since the staff ignored us when we asked 😂.
Marina Bay Sands Singapore
There is actually an exit via the Gardens towards the Marina Bay Sands hotel. You cross this big bridge and you see this really tall 2-tower building with what looks like a ship at the very top. We struggled a bit to walk there since we already walked so much, but once we reached the hotel we were greeted with some nice AC.
Even if you are not staying at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, you can check out their rooftop pool and bar (not for free) and shop at the mall that is attached to the hotel.
There are many luxury shops in this mall like Chanel, LV, Dior, etc. If you keep walking towards the food court, you will see lower brands (ex. Sephora, Adidas, etc.). They also have a rebate system where if you set up an account with the mall, you get 3% rebate on your purchases (not every luxury store is eligible. Chanel is not but Prada does it).
Marina Bay Sands casino
I heard gambling is severely discouraged in Singapore, but our friends wanted to check it out. Apparently it is much easier to go to the casino as a foreigner than as a resident, so just bring your foreign passport. Kelvin and I both received a $10 credit to the casino as a foreign visitor, but we did need to make an account and that took like 20 mins.
Starting bets at tables are a bit higher than average (I think more than $25 start) but I used my $10 credit up on the slot machines and lost it all.
Chill and drink by the Merlion
Also right next to the Marina Bay Sands hotel is the famous Merlion statue. At night, it is lit up and quite a pretty sight. There is a lake that surrounds the area and lots of bustling restaurants and bars facing the water. We simply bought some drinks from a convenience store and hung out by the steps/water.
This area is really cool because you can kind of see all these famous landmarks all in a close proximity. I realized that Singapore is pretty small and considering how we walked from the Gardens of the Bay to Marina Bay Sands to the Merlion, it felt like we already walked across all of Singapore.
Where to eat in Singapore
Here are some of the places we ate at during our first few days in Singapore.
Paradise Dynasty
Our first meal was actually at Paradise Dynasty, a Chinese dim-sum restaurant located inside the Funan mall. We had a mini-meal here after we landed to Singapore and wanted something Chinese and clean since we still had a bit of diarrhea from Bali 💩.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommended: Read my review of Paradise Dynasty, located inside the Funan mall in Singapore.
Boon Tong Kee
Our friends brought us to Boon Tong Kee because it is their favourite spot for chicken rice – and I agree! It. Everything was super delicious and the chicken is a must-get!
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommended: Read my full review of Boon Tong Kee, the best chicken rice in Singapore!
Hawker: Lau Pa Sat
On our second day, we had lunch at a hawker called Lau Pa Sat. It is located in kind of a business district so lots of people were there in suits and office-wear for lunch. At night time, this hawker has an area closed off and they call it Satay Street, but in the day time, Satay Street is not open.
It was really hot for me and Kelvin during lunch hour so after walking around a few times to check out all the different options, we ended up ordering a sugar cane drink, a hokkien mee for $8 and Kelvin got a duck noodle dish for under $10.
Ya Kun Kaya Toast
Ya Kun Kaya Toast is a mega chain of restaurants that offers the quintessential Singaporean breakfast – toasted bread with kaya jam and thin slices of butter, kopi (coffee), and soft-boiled eggs seasoned with pepper and dark soy sauce.
There are many locations of Ya Kun Kaya Toast and luckily, there was a location right inside our Funan hotel/mall. You can share a breakfast set for as low as $6.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommended: Read my full review of Ya Kun Kaya Toast.
Newton Food Centre
Newton Food Centre is the hawker featured in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. Located right beside Newton station (easily accessible via MTR/sktrain), there are tons of food options in this outdoor food court.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommended: Read about everything we ate at the Newton Food Centre.
Final thoughts
Our first few days in Singapore was busy! Coming from Bali where we were relaxing at huge airbnbs with pools (but also lowkey suffering from diarrhea 💩), Singapore was quite a different experience.
Firstly, our accommodations were much smaller and more expensive. We still enjoyed our stay at the Iyf Funan hotel, but it definitely could not be compared to the villas we stayed at in Bali (even though there was no AC in the living areas and there were bugs). Still, our hotel room had everything we needed and Kelvin actually was really into the Funan mall itself because it had all the toy and collectible stores he was interested in (very gamer based). They also had some cool clothing retailer options for me as well.
The food in Singapore really suited our tastes. I would say a lot of places in Singapore have cheap and good quality food, especially things like Chinese, Malaysian, and other Asian cuisines. Food courts inside malls and hawkers all had delicious food. And the best part was we didn’t really have to worry about food poisoning like we did in Bail.
Again, the weather was really hot so we kind of lost our appetite when eating at hawkers during lunch time 🥵. We preferred spaces with AC for lunch, but many popular hawker stalls would sell out or close by dinnertime.
Activity-wise, we did a lot of touristy things. I highly recommend the Gardens by the Bay and checking out the Marina Bay Sands area because it has that city-life and very unique/special greenery. Everything is within walking distance and I realize how small Singapore actually is, but my feet were hurting from all the walking and the heat also kind of rubbed my shoe material against my skin.
Stay tuned for part 2 of Singapore and check out my travel recaps from Bali!
Sincerely, Loewe
Bali + Singapore trip 2023 recap
Seminyak | Ubud | Kuta + Uluwatu | Singapore part 1 | Singapore part 2
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