Singapore: Part 2
This is part 2 of my travel recap to Singapore during April 2023. We stayed in Singapore for 1 week and we were in Bali for 1 week prior as well.
Here is a quick summary of everything we did and where we ate for our last few days in Singapore.
Recommended: Read about everything we did and where we ate in our first few days in Singapore part 1. I have also included some info on getting to Singapore and where we stayed.
Things to do in Singapore
Here is what we did in our last few days!
Universal Studios Singapore
Universal Studios Singapore is located on a separate island resort called Sentosa. You can get to Sentosa in a variety of ways because it is connected to the city by road, cable car, pedestrian boardwalk and monorail. We took an express monorail from VivoCity for around $4 and we were there within 10 minutes.
Adult tickets for a one-day pass to Universal Studios Singapore costs about $82 SGD on a Friday (~$82 CAD). I highly recommend for you to also get the Universal Express fast pass for $50 SGD. With the Universal Express pass, you get to skip the line for all the rides once per person. You don’t get to skip straight to the ride (although sometimes with short lines, that may be the case), but you do get to skip quite a large portion of the line and you end up in a faster “express” line. For popular rides like the roller coasters, this can save you over 1 hour of waiting in line. Without the Universal Express pass, I think it is impossible to go on every ride during your 1 day there (and the entire theme park itself isn’t even that big compared to its American version).
They have 6 different zones although most of them are so small you can walk past a whole zone in just 5 minutes:
- Hollywood: basically the entrance when you first arrive past the gates. Here you can meet some characters and some shops if you want to purchase items.
- New York: very Sesame Street based. There is an Elmo ride (more for children) and another attraction that is about movie sets (warning: you may get wet!)
- Sci-fi city: the more thrilling rides are located here (i.e. roller coasters ๐!). It is Transformers themed and the 2 roller coasters are actually really cool because they were designed to kind of “fight” each other. One roller coaster (Human) is the Transformers side, where you are team Transformers on a mission to fight the enemies (these red looking monsters), and the other roller coaster (Cylon) is where you’re on the enemy team. Out of the 2, I found the Cylon roller coaster to be more fun and thrilling.
I also liked the Transformers 3D battle ride.
And lastly, I would recommend the restaurant inside Sci-fi city because it had A/C and it was dark/shady inside. - Ancient Egypt: this area is based off of Egypt and it has a really fun Revenge of the Mummy ride. Best part about this ride is that even the lineup is inside/under cover with AC so it’s not that hot when you are waiting in line!
- The Lost World: This is mostly Jurassic Park themed and very popular. We did not end up lining up for the popular park rapid ride because even with the fast pass, it was still over a 1 hour wait. It is basically the same Jurassic Park ride as the American Universal Studios where you are sitting on a round circle in a river and you can get wet. I recommend you to maybe come here first when you first arrive in the morning to avoid long lines (we were just following the map, which is more of a one-way road).
- Far Far Away: This was probably my favourite zone because it is modelled after the fairytale world of Shrek and I love Shrek ๐คช. So as you enter, you see all your favourite characters from Shrek like the gingerbread man, Pinocchio, and the kingdom looks just like the movies. I was excited for Shrek’s 4D adventure in the castle (also has A/C during the line).
Shopping!
Aside from Funan mall, where our hotel is, we checked out several different malls throughout Singapore. They are almost always connected to a skytrain station so they are all easy to get to, has AC and are often times underground (kinda cool!).
For clothing, I would recommend Love, Bonito. I would describe it as the Aritzia of Singapore. I love that a lot of their tops include padding so you don’t need to wear a bra, and when you go to pay with your item, they give you a new one that is still packaged from their store room.
There are also a lot of figurine/collector stores that caught Kelvin’s eye. So if you are into certain characters and like to collect these figurines, there are a lot of options! They even have the real and authentic Japanese lottery tickets and prizes like the one we won during our trip to Japan. Prices are much higher than if you were to buy these lottery tickets in Japan though.
Recommended: Read about how we won the lottery (not the money lottery ๐) in Japan.
Drink at a random lit bar
I wanted to spend a night drinking at a bar and maybe doing some bar hunting so we actually checked out Club Street. Unfortunately, when we arrived there wasn’t a lot of action happening so we left to go back to our hotel.
However, as we were walking back to our hotel, we heard loud music and tons of laughter and noise coming from a bar. We went over to check it out and this bar was packed and there was even a girl at the front with a spinning wheel for prizes? We weren’t sure if it was booked out for some sort of event but mostly everyone there was Thai and they were celebrating a Thai holiday called Sokran.
We drank here for a bit – they had some interesting buckets of alcohol called “slut bucket” (I feel attacked ๐) and “Goodbye, C U later” ๐ for around $59 SGD.
There was a live singer and someone dressed up in drag. Everyone in the restaurant was singing and dancing and it was lit. But don’t ask me for the name of the bar because I literally had no idea where we were or what was going on ๐.
Haircut
We both got haircuts for $20 at a local salon. Something to consider if you’re not too picky about how your hair is cut!
Night safari
Something that was recommended to us by our friends was to do the night safari at the Mandai Wildlife Reserve. You basically go to the zoo at night and get to see all the nocturnal animals (other animals will be asleep but you can still see them). The wildlife reserve is actually quite large and there are many different walking trails you do and observe animals along the way.
There is also a show that you can watch where they bring out different animals for a closer look. This show is free with your ticket admission but you still need to reserve a show time in order to watch it.
2 adult tickets costed us $99 SGD.
And lastly, we enjoyed the tram ride where you sit on a moving train/tram and it gives you a quick tour of some of their animals (hippos, lions, etc.).
Worth a visit as it is a cool experience – I have never visited a zoo late at night before. It is also a little bit cooler (but still hot) so I think it is a better experience than coming during the sweltering day time.
Changi Airport
Lastly, we return full circle to the Changi airport. I recommend for you to explore this airport by arriving early to your departure rather than staying after arrival. This is because you do not need to pay for tax if you are shopping in the airport as a departure, but if you are on arrival, you will have to pay tax.
Aside from taking a rest at the waterfall inside (which is just so amazing ๐… beautiful airport with so much greenery), they have a bunch of attractions like a bouncy net on the top floor, butterfly garden, cactus garden, art displays, slides, and interactive labs. Most of them you will need to pay a fee, but still super cool that there are so many attractions inside an airport.
Where to eat in Singapore
Here are some of the places we ate at during our last few days in Singapore.
Butter Bean
Butter Bean is a chain of bright yellow cafes serving up halal-certified Nanyang coffee, toasts and baked goods, and small set meals.
Loewe’s rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Recommended: Read my full review of Butter Bean at the Funan location.
No Signboard Seafood
Our friends took us to No Signboard Seafood in the Geylang area to eat the famous Singapore chilli crab! We actually ended up ordering the white pepper crab because it is No Signboard Seafood’s signature dish instead of the regular chilli crab.
Loewe’s rating: โญโญโญโญ
Recommended: Read my full review of our seafood feast from No Signboard Seafood in Geylang.
So Good Char Chan Tang
So Good Char Chan Tang literally translates to โSo good cafรฉโ from Cantonese ๐. It is a HK style fast food restaurant located on the first floor of Capitol Singapore.
Loewe’s rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Recommended: Read my full review of our HK style breakfast at So Good Char Chan Tang.
Lady M
There are a lot of cafes and afternoon tea options in Singapore. We actually happened to pass by Lady M at one of the shopping malls and decided to buy a slice and sit down. Note: you can only sit down in their areas if you purchase something, and usually there’s a minimum spend per person.
We bought a slice of crepe cake and got the rose flavour since it looked the most unique. We also got a pot of tea.
Maxwell Food Centre
Maxwell Food Centre is a hawker so think of it like an outdoor food court with cheap options. We came here for the Michelin guide rated chicken rice from Tian Tian that only costs $6 SGD. If you are looking to try the famous Tian Tian chicken rice, just make sure you are lining up for the right one. There are other chicken rice stalls that mimic their blue stall banner, but it was pretty obvious to me which one was Tian Tian since it had a much longer line (it moved quickly though!).
I actually wasn’t too impressed with the chicken rice from Tian Tian. For $6, it is undoubtedly a good deal and a yummy plate of chicken because the meat was moist. But I really like eating chicken skin and they do not include it. I also felt the amount of chicken is good for 1 person, but for 2 people to share their regular size M dish, it is too small. Overall, I would say I liked the chicken rice at Boon Tong Kee more.
Recommended: Read my full review of Boon Tong Kee, the best chicken rice I had in Singapore.
We also ate some other dishes as well that was popular, like the oyster cake from the Fuzhou stall. When we arrived at around 7/8pm, they only had a few left and after they sell out, they actually close the stall completely. So don’t come too late thinking it is a late night market! The oyster cake was quite good even though it looks slightly burnt on the outside and it only costed us $2.50 SGD for one.
And lastly, we got a simple wonton soup from this random stall for $5. Pretty decent!
Honestly, we were feeling really hot at the hawker (this happened to us a lot) and it made us lose our appetite. There is no AC as it is an outdoor food court.
Dining in Changi airport
We made the grave mistake of eating after we went inside the gate ๐ฃ. There are 10x more options if you eat in the mall before departure gates. Once you’re inside, there are only maybe 3-4 options. We ended up eating at the Chinese food option and got some XLB, egg noodle and cucumbers. Airport prices made the meal almost $50 SGD.
Final thoughts
Our last few days in Singapore seemed to fly by, but we truly did feel like we did almost everything we wanted to do in Singapore. Near the end, it would have mostly been just more restaurants, more shopping malls and arcades, etc. Singapore indeed is not that big and I think 1 week is a good amount of time to spend.
Universal Studios Singapore definitely was a highlight of our time in Singapore ๐คฉ. I love amusement parks and I spent the whole day there feeling like I got the most out of it. It was really hot though, and I haven’t sweat that much in a long time. Waiting in line in the heat all day made me feel very gross and even at night I didn’t feel very cool ๐ฅต.
If we had some extra time, I would’ve liked to explore Sentosa island a little more. They have a man-made beach with imported sand, and it’s supposed to be more like a fake Hawaii.
The night safari is pretty unique and family friendly. I would also recommend it as something that’s more cultural and good for folks who think museums or historic sites are boring.
The shopping in Singapore is by no means cheaper and they don’t have lower luxury taxes or anything, so you probably won’t be able to save much shopping in Singapore. However, they do have more unique items (e.g. collectible toys) and even when I was doing some luxury shopping, they had more quantity of special colours (I was looking for pink!).
Changi airport is definitely super cool and a nice way to end your trip. I would recommend spending at least 2 hours exploring the mall before you hop on your flight home.
Food-wise we loved the food in Singapore ๐คค. Even though we had a really hard time eating in the heat at hawkers, I think we should’ve eaten at more hawkers in the day time for lunch since the really popular and Michelin-rated ones likely close before dinner service even starts. There were items we didn’t even order like Malaysian laksa and hot dishes because we always felt so hot.
Even if you don’t eat at hawkers, I would say food in Singapore is very reasonable and quite cheap so lots of options!
We actually did not go home from Singapore, but flew back to Bali and visited Uluwatu for a few more days before flying home to Vancouver from Bali. We probably won’t be returning to Singapore for awhile since we felt like we explored most of the city in our 1 week visit. But we had a wonderful time in Singapore and felt like it was such a great blend of old school Asia (with the street hawkers) and futuristic (Gardens by the bay, underground shopping malls).
Sincerely, Loewe
Bali + Singapore trip 2023 recap
Seminyak | Ubud | Kuta + Uluwatu | Singapore part 1 | Singapore part 2