Singapore was absolutely awesome. Out of all the cities and towns I've visited so far on this trip, this is one that I can definitely say I'll return to.
Aside from the usual touristy things you can do like visit museums and architecture, for me, Singapore is all about eating and shopping. Food is cheap, and shopping is everywhere. There are tons of large indoor shopping malls and Bugis Street is where you can do your cheap bargain shopping, as well as eating. Most clothing items are around $10 a piece.
Chinatown was pretty cool. Lots of places to buy souvenirs. They all pretty much sell the same things, but it's more about walking around and seeing where you can find your items for the cheapest. There are also lots of indoor complexes like the ones you see in Pacific Mall in Toronto. And of course, lots of places to eat as well. In Singapore, you can buy a good plate of food for as cheap as $3 SGD.
We visited Sentosa Island too. Lots of families there vacationing on the beach or seeing the other attractions. Oh, there were tons of people all over the places because for the entire months of June, it's school holidays for all the kids.
Also met up with my cousins whom I've not seen for a long time. It was great seeing them and not to be biased or anything, but I'd say I have the coolest cousins ever! These cousins are from my dad's side. On my dad's side, I'm the second youngest cousin and on my mom's side, I'm the second oldest. It's a big difference of course, because when you're the youngest, you get to be spoiled haha. And when you're the oldest, you get to do the spoiling. It's fun either way ^_^
Singapore is great to visit, but I wouldn't live here long-term or raise a family. Why? It's ridiculously expensive for housing and cars (not that you'd need a car cuz the MRT system is good). A government subsidized 3-bedroom apartment costs $500k to buy, and a non-subsidized one costs $1 million. Yikes!
You'd have to be really rich to drive too cuz a Toyota Camry costs about $150k and then you have to buy a $50k licence to be able to drive it up to 10 years.. so pretty much $200k to drive a car. After 10 years, you have to either scrap it, or pay more money to keep driving it because of the pollution from older cars. No thanks!
The city is ridiculously clean. You're not allowed to eat or drink on public transportation or MRT stations so it's really clean there too. You can pretty much walk barefoot in the MRT stations and not feel uber dirty. There are lots of other rules too, which you should probably familiarize yourself with before coming.. like not littering, or spitting gum, etc. Don't be afraid though.. just behave yourself haha.
It's hot here.. but people don't wear hats or sunglasses. You may see the occasional person carrying the umbrella though. I don't think people wear sunscreen either, but as a foreigner, it's probably not a bad idea to slap some on before heading out.
Anyway, I would definitely come back here to visit so I absolutely recommend to anyone who wants that Asian flavour but are afraid of visiting Asian counties. Oh yes, water is drinkable here too, and the official languages are English, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil.
So I'll leave you with a few pictures! See ya!
P.S. bring tiger balm cuz I've got about 6 mosquito bites already!
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| Somewhere outside Bugis Street |
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| Some street in Chinatown |
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| Somewhere at night in Chinatown |
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| At Mount Faber |
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| View from the cable car to Sentosa Island |
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| At Sentosa Island |
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| Touching a ray at Underwater World (Sentosa Island) |
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| Songs of the Sea light/water show (Sentosa Island) |
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| Merlion (Sentosa Island) |
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| Night view of Sentosa from the cable car |
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| Some shops at Bugis Street |
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| Merlion (Marina Bay) |
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| Marina Bay Hotel |
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