I thought I would do a little report on my three days in Singapore since it’s not a destination I see on here very often. I flew in from Kota Kinabalu where I had been in Borneo on a trip with Intrepid. If anyone wants a report on that I’m happy to do one. I flew Air Asia, which only allows 7kg for carryon.
One of the things I really wanted to see was Changi airport and in particular, the Jewel. The Jewel is only open certain hours and would not be open in the very early morning when my departure flight was scheduled and not wanting to go back and forth to the airport, I elected to see it on my arrival. I had a backpack and a small roll aboard with me.
The Jewel is a building that encompasses a large mall, but also the famous waterfall that you see in photos. It is free to see the waterfall, but if you want to do the canopy or mazes, slides, topiary gardens, there is a cost. This is where I will say that Singapore is not cheap.
I just wanted to do the floral display and the canopy. I didn’t need to stow my luggage for these. I wasn’t disappointed with either. I got some neat photos and saw things from a different perspective.
I then bought a tourist card to use with the MRT(subway). This is similar to an oyster card (but this will expire after 5 years unlike the Oyster, which doesn’t expire). The card would give me unlimited use of the MRT for the three days.
I elected to take a taxi to my hotel due to the extreme heat and humidity even though my hotel has an MRT station right next door. The taxi was cheap for airport standards (26 Singapore Dollars compared to over $100 CAD for a taxi at Heathrow).
I chose the Clan Hotel in China Town right across from Amoy Alley and restaurants galore of all styles and budgets. This hotel was amazing and much cheaper than Raffles (which I didn’t think was well located) or the Marina Bay Sands. My room was lovely and I had a great view of Amoy Alley and the Siang Cho Keong Temple.
I had lunch at one of the restaurants and then took a stroll through China Town marvelling at the architecture. I went into the temple I mentioned above as well as the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. Then I took the MRT back to my hotel.
I had my Singapore Sling in the bar at the hotel. It was ridiculously priced, but I didn’t want to know how much one was at the Long Bar and didn’t want to dress up or test their shoe policy. It was just too hot for fancy footwear.
I debated whether I would go to the light and music show at the Super Trees this evening or the next and then debated the 7:45pm or the 8:45pm show. I ended up settling on this night for the 7:45 show and arrived at 7:15 having walked from the Bayfront station. It was very, very hot and humid and I was drenched by the time the show started. It was worth it though and it was free. The Trees are very impressive.
Due to the state of me and how tired I was, I grabbed a picnic at a convenience shop and had dinner in my hotel room.