Things To Do In Singapore ( Tips And Advice )

[lorddaverichards]

Hello Peeps last year I posted a topic about things to do in Hong Kong not necesary in the GB as the info i got back was 1st class and made my trip worthwhile thought I would do it agin as I am taking the wife to Singapore for 3 days next month.

I have accomodation sorted in Chinatown so am looking for advice on places to eat drink and see - we love hawker street restaurants to expensive hotels and restaurants - also any good bars that do happy hours know beer is expensive there - any advice on places to go gems that are not highlighted in the Guide books - also what about Universal ? value for money ? any off th beaten places for the Mrs to go shopping ? places to Chill ? travel ? told to get a pass at the airport - similar to the one in Hong Kong ? correct ? any places to avoid? many thanks any experiences would be appreciated and the time you take to add is always helpful not just to mme but assume to others who may read

regards

Dave

[doggie888888]

Little India was lovely and unusually chaotic for Singapore.

I thought the botanic gardens, zoo and Jurong bird park were great. After so much greenery, it was quite a shock to come back to Pattaya, but that's another story.

[johnh101]

There is a good Thai restaurant in ChinaTown, half way down the main drag (Pagoda Street) good food and cheap beer ..... well for Singapore anyway !

Pulua Ubin, an island off the Changi (East) coast is a great place to get away from the city. Take a bum boat over, there are good hawker type restaurants and good walks or cycle paths through the jungle. You can rent bikes on the island.

[necronx99]

The rooftop bar and pool at the marina sands casino.

[theblether]

Have a look at this little topic OP

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/530994-anyone-been-to-universal-studios-singapore/page__hl__%2Bsingapore

[PattayaParent]

Universal Studios is value for money if you are up to all the rides. We arrived opening time and left at closing and had time for 3 goes on everything.

Also out that way and well worth it is "Songs of the Sea"

In fact you could spend all 3 days hanging out and doing things on Sentosa but I supppose the missus wants to go shopping?

There's a Hawker Centre on Maxwell Road and Neil Rd, South Bridge Rd. junction near China Town, and the most famous one Lau Pa Sat on the corner of Shenton Way and Cross St.

The Singapore Flyer is NOT worth the money.

[theblether]

@PP, just being nosey, did u go on the flier at night? Or daytime? I enjoyed it at night but I wouldn't fancy it at daytime. To my recollection, I booked the flier using a mastercard and got a good discount on it ton.

[chuang]

If you are staying in Chinatown area..there is a large "Chinatown Hawkers Centre " just opposite Peoples'Park just ask the hotel staff...food are aplenty and cheap....beers are easily available too..all types even thai beers...enjoy yourself..

[PattayaParent]

@PP, just being nosey, did u go on the flier at night? Or daytime? I enjoyed it at night but I wouldn't fancy it at daytime. To my recollection, I booked the flier using a mastercard and got a good discount on it ton.

It was sort of dusk time when things were just starting to light up. We timed it so we could do the boat trip after dark.

I thought the first half of the 'flight' was boring as you are looking away from Singapore city into nothing and it's only the second half that you are facing the sights.

I found Chinatown around the MRT station very touristy.

Raffles City was a good place for shopping.

[soihok]

Pagoda Street. ChinaTown.

About half way down, heading away from peoples park, at a side road that joins from the right, is an eating house that serves seafood, etc. It is well priced and has beers at a good price (bottles of Tiger, Carlsberg) compared to tourist orientated resturants. It right on the pavement on a corner. If you walk down (away from peoples park) and keep looking on your right you will come across it, it is quite large for places around that area as its very busy.

Try to avoid eating at Boat Quay as it is well over priced, eat elsewhere and have a few drinks there instead as the views are cool.

Forget Orchard Road for eating, to me I find it a drag and don't go there unless I have to. All the shops are overpriced and its just not worth the effort.

For a few beers in the afternoon, Brewerkz do happy hour prices for drinks in the week and make their own beers, well worth an hour or so looking over towards Clark Quay.

http://www.brewerkz.com/

Clark Quay has loads of bars / resturants with prices to match, worth part of an evening to visit. There is a really cool place called Indochine at Clark Quay, well worth a few drinks.

http://www.indochine.com.sg/home/locsingapore-wfwaterfront.php

Avoid Takashimaya (huge shopping centre on Orchard Road ), vastly overpriced.

For all things Thai, head to Golden Mile Complex on Beach Road.....not exactly nice, but all things Thai are there.

East Coast Park (tell the Taxi driver to go to MacDonalds), there are bars/resturants along the sea front, better on weekends. Further up the seafront, walking towards Changi ( East ), you will come across East Coast SeaFood Village.....chilli / black pepper crabs,,,,its ok and the places are popular with Singaporeans.

All taxi drivers speak English and use the meter,,,,,,have a nice time.

[brit1984]

The night safari is cool

[JRinPDX]

It's been a few years for me but my best memories of Singapore are:

Pepper Crab at one of the seafood places on the East Coast. (Red House, or any of them really.. they're all in a row.

The zoo is well worth visiting, both day and night.. the night zoo is completely different and we've always found it fun for adults as well as w/kids. It's at the North end and the residential area around there is nice.

There's a new giant wheel, right downtown, like the London Eye.. A bit pricey but you do get some great views of the city. It takes while.. long enough for people to have weddings or formal dinners in the gondolas in one revolution.

Sentosa Island has a few attractions.. a butterfly garden, and underwater aquarium thing.. neither is spectacular, but the pink dolphin shows are fun.

And I understand there are now a couple of casino's; haven't seen them.

Driniks at Raffles, Scotch and cigars if you're so inclined in the Bar and Billiard Room or a more casual stint at the Long Bar, home of the Singapore Sling.

Shopping/dining/bars at Chijmes, walking distance from Raffles, etc. http://www.chijmes.com.sg/

One of my favorite cities.. tied with HK. (Now having written this, I'm getting the bug to go there. But like the song says. Money, money, money money... Money!)

:-)

P.S. Oh, yes.. Many think that Malaysian durian is better than Thai.

Edited July 2, 2012 by JRinPDX

[blackjack281]

The latest attraction is Garden by the Bay

[soihok]

Just been remindered.

Don't bother with a Sing Sling in the long bar at Raffles hotel......100% tourist trap and vastly overpriced. They have plastic containers of the cocktail pre-made to serve to tourists for extorsionate prices.

Although I have been here for about 11 years, I haven't been to the casino or the new look Sentosa.

Have fun.

[theblether]

I was in the Casino at Sentosa, good stuff, everything you could ask for and the biggest I've been in. My lady had never been to one, so she stuck $10SGD on black and the roulette, a winner!! $10 again, on red, a winner!! $10 on red again, lost!!!

She gathered up her chips and said, " I am in big trouble with Buddha, my heart goes too fast, I get out of here before I have heart attack ".

She's never going back, she reckons Buddha is going to do her in for being a bad girl.

[IsaanUSA]

I really enjoyed the Botanical Garden. It's free admission. There's an orchid garden on the grounds of the botanic gardens, and you have to pay extra for that. It was worth it to me.

[Captain Chaos]

Personally I think Sentosa is better with (small) kids. The island itself does little for me, although taking the cable car over from Mount Faber is fun (great photo opportunity), and the underwater world aquarium is pretty good.

I prefer East Coast myself. Great for some gentle exercise, walking, jogging or hire a push bike. Cheap beer at the East Coast Lagoon hawker centre. Large bottles of Carlsberg etc for S$6 (150 baht) a pop. Get some beers, walk up to Bedok Jetty (10 mins further up) and watch the fishermen, or have a go yourself if you have a hand line or better still a little spinning rod.

If you need a Thai fix, and especially if staying in Chinatown, then the Thai-Isaan restaurant on Pagoda Street is tried and tested (we lived in Chinatown for 4 years). Better and wider choice of grub to be had over at Golden Mile Complex (aka Little Thailand) on the Beach Road though IMHO. Some of the Thai community here also like to hang out over in Kallang Riverside Park, which is just over the other side of Crawford Street from Golden Mile. Very peaceful spot, and can watch the kids from a local canoe and dragon boat club paddling up and down for all they are worth.

Zoo is very good, I especially like the large orangutan habitat they have where the apes can roam relatively freely and you can see them pretty close up. Haven't done the Night Safari so can't comment. Botanical gardens very nice - try to go on a sunny day! - but prepared for a decent walk if you go all the way around.

Singapore Flyer - yes, it is touristy, but then you are tourists! Best time to go up is a clear evening around dusk IMHO - can get some awesome pictures of the city area as the skyscrapers light up. It is not all that far from Golden Mile.

Agree with soihok that Brewerkz is a good spot, and very cheap if you go early/mid-afternoon (they put the prices back up to Singapore city area norms in the evening though). Not the right place if you dislike American microbrewery-style beer though. Clarke Quay gets busy in the evenings. Boat Quay is quieter at the weekends in my observation, as during the week it is mainly populated by the after work drinks crowd. Not going to find much cheap beer round there though.

If the wife wants to go shopping, take her to Orchard Road (with a fixed budget!) and then retire to "Bodegas y Tapas" restaurant and bar, which is on the junction of Orchard, Tanglin and Orange Grove Roads. They do buy one, get one free all the way from opening (12 noon) to 8 or 9pm - they have San Mig and a few other pints on draft, and a wide-ish range of bottled beers too. Food is pretty good, but they have never objected to me just sitting there having several beers whilst awaiting MrsChaos' return! Great people watching spot, especially as it is just around the corner from Orchard Towers!

Have fun...

[PattayaParent]

Captain, what is it with the taxis there in Singapore?

Couldn't work out the fares which seemed reasonable on the meter but then suddenly surcharges are added on for 'after time' 'inner city pickup' and it's suddenly triple charged.

Was I being scammed?

[Captain Chaos]

No mate, you weren't - the govt has loaded up the electronic surcharges on taxis going around the city area within peak hours (which appears to be any time except 12 midnight to 6am!). A bit like loading up the permit charges for car ownership, they think they can control traffic volumes by pricing it off the roads, and therefore everyone will take the bus or the MRT (underground).

Example - my commute to work (roughly 4km) would cost me maybe 8 dollars via cab, including ERP surcharges. On the bus, it is 86 cents!

I don't think it will work ... as Singapore gets more prosperous, the demand for private vehicle ownership, or people taking cabs instead of mass transit, will only increase...

[soihok]

Especially when some of us are building MRT tunnels

But, will be moving talents to KL soon

[geriatrickid]

I really enjoyed the Botanical Garden. It's free admission. There's an orchid garden on the grounds of the botanic gardens, and you have to pay extra for that. It was worth it to me.

This is one of my fondest memories. It's beautiful.

The other one is drinking the clean, safe tap water.

[Captain Chaos]

The other one is drinking the clean, safe tap water.

Tastes a bit chemically though, as the water is ferociously recycled here ... a legacy of not being water self-sufficient when Singapore broke away from Malaysia I suppose. Locals boil tap water then stick it in a jug in the fridge to cool before drinking. Certainly no need to buy bottled water although I know a few expats who insist on wasting their money on it ...

Edited July 5, 2012 by Captain Chaos

[soihok]

There was the recent case of the Bangladeshi worker who killed his Indonesian girfriend, who was working as a maid here. He decided to dump her body in the roof top water tank supplying a block of flats. I think it was Yishun.

Her body was only discovered after residents complained that water had a bad smell and taste and the authorities checked out the water tank.......

I buy bottled water for the wife and kid, but drink tap water at work.

[johnh101]

Robertson Quay, just up the river from Clarke Quay is also a good spot, lots of bars and restaurants.

[barefoot1988]

har par villa, not many been there. its a horror theme park, top of that, its abandon. really creepy. i had been there once and one would never imagine that singapore had such creep theme parks.

[PattayaParent]

har par villa, not many been there. its a horror theme park, top of that, its abandon. really creepy. i had been there once and one would never imagine that singapore had such creep theme parks.

Isn't that also known as the Tiger Balm Park / Gardens?

[mrtoad]

har par villa, not many been there. its a horror theme park, top of that, its abandon. really creepy. i had been there once and one would never imagine that singapore had such creep theme parks.

I think Haw Par has been closed for a long time, went there in 1991, was pretty crap.

[johnh101]

Haw Par Villa aka Tiger Balm gardens is still there, its worth a walk around and there is a new MRT station right beside it.

[lorddaverichards]

Thanks to everyone who replied all good advice and suggestions- we went to Universal Studios a blast and great day with the bonus of Sentosa which was different - Walked a lot around Singapore Raffles, Clarke Quay and Marina Bay - went up to the top of the hotel - blagged our way up and got great views - love to be there for the Grand Prix in Sept !!! Food expensive but went to many Hawkers places in Chinatown and food halls on Sentosa and at Marina bay sands shopping mall - Watched as people paid 100k baht for a Louis Vuiton bag - to much money forgot to bring my passport on the day so couldnt get into casino- Hotel small room and not great but we were out from 8.30 am and returned about midnight each day we were there so that was OK - Missus went shopping got here perfume and so she was happy, she couldnt belive that copying is illegal in Singapore !!! would love to go back and only wish Bangkok would adopt some of the positive things about this city ( safe pavements to walk, people queue ( apart from Chinese and Indian tourists ) clean streets ) not much to ask !!! planning to go back again as Air Asia have deals on at the moment for travel next year

[canman]

Pagoda Street. ChinaTown.

About half way down, heading away from peoples park, at a side road that joins from the right, is an eating house that serves seafood, etc. It is well priced and has beers at a good price (bottles of Tiger, Carlsberg) compared to tourist orientated resturants. It right on the pavement on a corner. If you walk down (away from peoples park) and keep looking on your right you will come across it, it is quite large for places around that area as its very busy.

Try to avoid eating at Boat Quay as it is well over priced, eat elsewhere and have a few drinks there instead as the views are cool.

Forget Orchard Road for eating, to me I find it a drag and don't go there unless I have to. All the shops are overpriced and its just not worth the effort.

For a few beers in the afternoon, Brewerkz do happy hour prices for drinks in the week and make their own beers, well worth an hour or so looking over towards Clark Quay.

http://www.brewerkz.com/

Clark Quay has loads of bars / resturants with prices to match, worth part of an evening to visit. There is a really cool place called Indochine at Clark Quay, well worth a few drinks.

http://www.indochine...fwaterfront.php

Avoid Takashimaya (huge shopping centre on Orchard Road ), vastly overpriced.

For all things Thai, head to Golden Mile Complex on Beach Road.....not exactly nice, but all things Thai are there.

East Coast Park (tell the Taxi driver to go to MacDonalds), there are bars/resturants along the sea front, better on weekends. Further up the seafront, walking towards Changi ( East ), you will come across East Coast SeaFood Village.....chilli / black pepper crabs,,,,its ok and the places are popular with Singaporeans.

All taxi drivers speak English and use the meter,,,,,,have a nice time.

As an update to the reference to east Coast park above; the MacDonalds refered to and the Irish bar in the nearby complex are gone. That area is being redeveloped.