Singapore — Lion City
Singapore’s name itself is derived from the words ‘Singa Pura’ (which means “Lion City”). It’s a sovereign island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. It has 4 official languages i.e. English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.
Preparation
It was a warm, summer evening in September when we were just browsing around the travel app (EaseMyTrip, Goibibo, etc.) exploring where our next destination will be, as we were looking our eyes stumbled upon Bali, but as we start digging deep we found that it’s better to do Singapore as we already did beach destination early this year.
Since it’s an advanced city, all you need to do is plan the day to the dot and execute it, because people are very punctual and delay is kind of a sin there. (If you’re not at the pickup location on time, your cab will leave after 15 minutes, that’s the max waiting they will do). You also have amazing connectivity all over Singapore via MRT.
We booked the hotels, flights, and most of the attraction tickets you can get online, if not you can just go there and buy them.
Itinerary Planning
After booking flights and the stay, we started jotting down the itinerary as to how we gonna spend 5 nights in Singapore.
We came up with the following as our final draft:-
Day – 1
Arrive in Singapore, see the Singapore Airport, and reach the hotel by 12 pm (SGT).
Get yourself freshen up and go to Zoo and Night Safari at 2 pm (SGT)
Day – 2
Leave at 10 am (SGT) for Jurong Bird Park and leave for Sentosa from Jurong Bird Park by 1:30 pm (SGT)
Day – 3
Leave at 11 am (SGT) for Universal Studio and spend an entire day there.
Day – 4
Leave at 10 am (SGT) for city exploration, come back to the hotel, and leave for the garden by the bay at 3:30 pm (SGT)
Day – 5
We spent the day at Marina Bay Sands and souvenir shopping.
Day – 6
Check out and head to the airport.
Leaving for Singapore
Wohoooo! Finally, the day arrived and I am pumped. All the bookings are completed and it’s just a matter of time before will be in Singapore.
Day 1: Singapore Arrival | Zoo | Night Safari
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, this is your captain speaking we’ve landed at Singapore Changi Airport, and the temperature is 26 degree Celsius, we hope you have a great stay”
We reached early in the morning and knowing that our check-in at the hotel is at 2 pm, we tried to make the best of the morning, we went in search of Jewel in Changi Airport. The waterfall starts at 9:30 am — 10 am (SGT), so after watching the waterfall and exploring the airport a bit more, we head towards our hotel at Orchard Road via cab.
It was already half a day so we quickly changed and were on the move to Singapore Zoo, it’s a huge place where a lot of different kinds of animals reside, and it’s very famous for its orangutan. Animals perform different tricks in three shows that are more geared toward a younger audience. But it’s a must-watch because I enjoyed it thoroughly.
After the zoo tour ended, we went on a night safari which is within walking distance from the zoo, we went for a show there, where they show us nocturnal animals along with their voices and teachings on their behavior, it’s half an hour informative show. Once the show is over you need to get in the queue, and wait for your turn to sit on the bus which will give you a tour of the behavior of a different kind of animal at night.
Day 2: Jurong Bird Park | Sentosa
It was a new day and we started early in the morning to go to our first destination of the day i.e. Jurong Bird Park. The park consists of 3 shows, which you shouldn’t miss as these shows are amazing. We spent half a day at the park looking at different kinds of birds, since my wife is a birder (a person who likes birdwatching), it took a bit more time ;)
After our bird park tour, we went straight to Mount Faber and got on the cable car, the view of it was amazing, we got out at Sentosa station.
The first thing to do was a luge ride, it’s just like an F1 racing track with a small car that goes from one point to another and it’s super fun.
After completing Luge Ride we went straight to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, where we met wax idols of celebrities and also learned about Singapore's History, which was mesmerizing.
To end the day trip to Sentosa we went to watch the show called Wings of Time, which gets premiered near Siloso Beach.
Day 3: Universal Studio
I was really looking forward to this day because ever since I heard about Universal Studio Singapore, I have only read/heard good things about their rides.
We left the hotel at 11 am for Universal and as soon as we reached we saw a huge queue for the tickets, although we had tickets I wanted to upgrade them to express tickets because you get a VIP entry without the pain of being in the line and waiting in turns for hours for the ride.
You have got a locker service which you can avail for every ride so that you can keep your essentials there like bag, phone, wallet, etc.
I had an amazing day going on all rides and watching all the shows, since we went before Christmas, everything was themed around it.
Day 4: City Sightseeing | Gardens By the Bay
After a tiring day at Universal, we kept a little light itinerary for today and went on a city tour, we went around Singapore to watch Singapore Flyer, Haji Lane, Arab Lane, Chinatown, Merlion Park, and the Museum of Ice Cream.
Museum of Ice Cream is a must-go, as they provide a lot of fun activities, along with the history of ice cream, plus you get ice cream as the tour goes forward. If you’re looking for Instagram-able photos, this is your place.
After a fun-filled first half, we were famished and we went to the best pasta place in Singapore called Pasta Bar (Pro Tip: Get the reservation for lunch you can get easily). After a sumptuous meal, we head back to the hotel and got ready for Gardens By the Bay.
Gardens By the Bay is a nature park spanning 101 hectares area. It’s divided into three parts basically:-
1. Flower Dome — It had different categories of flowers.
2. Cloud Forest — Different categories of plants, tends to grow at higher altitude and less temperature.
3. Supertree Observatory — It was a huge structure on which creepers are crawling giving the illusion of being the tree.
(Pro Tip: Wear a full sleeves shirt and bottom as it gets chilly in the cloud forest)
Since we went in December, the entire gardens by the bay were designed on Avatar Theme and there were a lot of characters and creatures you could spot.
Don’t miss the light and sound show for the Supertree it’s awesome. You can also take a walk over the Supertree, but make sure you buy the ticket and go to the queue as soon as possible as there are a lot of crowds which gather and the team might not guarantee that you will do the skywalk even after buying the ticket.
Day 5: Joo Chiat | Art and Science Museum | Marina Bay Sands
Last day of our Singapore Trip and it was shopping time now, we went straight to Joo Chiat where we got to know a place called Cat Socrates from one of our friends for souvenir shopping, after spending time walking on the street and getting some photographs.
The next stop Art and Science Museum, it’s a must-go place if you’re an art or science lover because it combines the technique of both worlds and will sweep you off from the ground. They will provide you with a piece of paper and crayons, you can just color the characters on the paper and give it for display and voila your character can be seen on the wall floating for the next 24 hours.
Once we got thoroughly amazed by the museum, it was time to gamble our money away in Marina Bay Sands Casino, since my lady luck was there with me, we end up making money and took a hike before we start losing it.
It was time for the last spot i.e. Skypark observatory deck on the 56th Floor of Marina Bay Sands. The view of Singapore Skyline from the observatory deck is stunning, all I could do is appreciate the skyline hugging my partner. We came down and my partner was just about to book the cab, to which I said it’s not over as I planned a surprise date on the 57th Floor of Marina Bay Sands called CÉ LA VI, I booked this restaurant way before coming to Singapore and kept it a surprise, we had a wholesome meal and spend every penny earned in the casino as the cheque amount.
Day 6: Orchard Road | Homecoming
The morning was dull, as it was the end of the trip but we were happy that we got to see and experience different cultures, and food. We took a long walk at Orchard Road exploring the city’s retail heart with department stores, and upscale boutiques alongside luxury hotels.
After the walk, we came to the hotel packed and headed to Changi Airport for our flight back to Bengaluru.
Conclusion
Travel tips for Singapore:-
1. Always carry a small umbrella with you, you never know when it’s going to rain.
2. If you’re going to Universal Studio, get the express ticket if you don’t want to waste time standing in the queue, as it takes almost 2 hours just to get your turn per ride.
3. Restaurants like CÉ LA VI, Gaston, and Pasta Bar need to have prior reservations.
4. Don’t buy SIM cards from Airport, get one from 7 eleven stores, they are present all over and you will get them at a very cheap price.
5. Get an EZLink card so you can travel all over Singapore via MRT (Metro Service)
6. If you’re craving Indian food go to Little India, Komala Vilas, and MTR we found the best there.
