Christmas is coming and we long for christmas atmopshere. That´s why we decided to travel to Singapore! Od course we do not expect winter or snow. Singapore is famous for its christmas decoration in Gardens by the Bay which hopefully will wake up the Christmas mood even in 35 degrees of heat:D
We flew to Singapore from Phuket with FlyScoot. Plane had very little foot space, but we could handle it for two hours. We arrived around midnight, so we stayed overnight at the airport. Singapore has a modern airport full of comfortable seats, so sleeping was not a problem. In the morning we went to the city center to find our accommodation at the Circular house hotel. One of the cheaper in Singapore, this hotel is centrally located and offers accommodation in form of capsule. It is like larger box where is one big bed 😀 This type of accommodation is more and more popular in Asia.
Quick itinerary of places we visited in Singapore
DAY 1
The first day we went to Fort Canning Park, which is located on a small hill and contains a water reservoir for Singapore (bounded by a fence and chain), a small botanical garden, various gates and interesting buildings or photographers favorite spiral staircase (see photo). The road up the hill is not long or difficult, but in the heat we sweated a lot :D.
Our next way was to the famous Merlion Fountain, located just across from Marina Sands Bay. There were already crowds of Chinese tourists. View of Marina Sands Bay aroused a passion for its visit, and therefore our next steps had a clear goal! First we went through a luxury shopping center in front of Marina and then we visited the hotel itself, which is huge and luxurious. The only thing that regretted us was that we could not get to the hotel pool, which is located on the roof of Marina and has a wonderful view of the city! (Tom was in the pool a few years ago with his friends, so at least he told me about it vividly :D).
Next to the hotel is also the ArtScience Museum where we did not go to, but I would definitely consider its visit next time. Especially because of the light exhibition. In the evening we went to see the water and light show in front of Marina, which is every day at 8 pm.
DAY 2
Second day we went to Gardens by the Bay. This day we made one of the biggest mistakes during our travel. We didn’t make proper internet research and we paid expensive admission fee for attraction we even didn’t plan to visit before. We wanted to see famous “Supertrees” and there was no entrance fee! Only event Christmas Wonderland was paid. So in addition to Supertree we visited also Flower Dome that has Christmas decoration and Cloud Forest where was located amazing waterfall.
We waited until the evening for Christmas Wonderland. We experienced snow in the form of foam, enthusiastically plunged by Singaporean children, a light show with Christmas songs and we checked also Christmas market 🙂
In the evening we arranged meeting with our Singaporean friend from Erasmus in Korean restaurant located close to Večer Clarke Quay – another interesting place for visit in Singapore.
Where to find tasty and cheap restaurant in Singapore
Our favorite place in the heart of Singapore was Lau Pasat Food Court, which offered a wide range of world cuisines and dishes in one place. Prices here range from 2,5 EUR and higher. We also tasted Korean ice cream, which is made from grated milk ice and is decorated with various delicacies. Or Japanese Teppanyaki food served on a grill pan. The food was already in our hands, and it was still baked. It was super delicious and at the same time interesting experience.
You can find another cheap Maxwell Food Court with chinese cuisine in Chinatown. We got tasty noodles and Hainanese chicken rice (specially prepared chicken with rice) that is typical for south part of China.
Many bars in Singapore offer promotion and special price for alcohol drink (beer) and food in the evening. We went with our Singaporean friend to bar close to Clarke Quay and had promotion for 3 Korean been with delicious chicken wings, vegetables and chips for 33 SGD (22 EUR) which is great price for this country!
Where to find cheap accommodation in Singapore
This question is difficult to answer as there is no really cheap place to stay in Singapore. We searched on Booking.com and in the end we preferred a location in the city center, breakfast included (can save a lot if you eat a lot in the morning) aand little bit of privacy over the cheapest price. Circular house met all our requirements. One capsule with king size bed cost us 33 EUR for two people.
