Have you ever experienced any Night Safari or been to Nocturnal Park?
Have you ever been to or transitioned through the World’s Best Airport…? Which is it?
Have you ever seen any statue which has the head of a Lion and the body of a Fish?
Till the time you think through these questions, let’s take you all through this fun-filled amazing trip to Singapore..
In case you don’t know who we are………..
We call ourselves Travel Freaks……..
Before we start our day trip in Singapore, let’s start with your curiosity…..
1. How did we arrive at Singapore?
There are multiple ways you could choose to reach Singapore. As we were coming from Siem Reap so we took JetStar Airlines to reach here. Singapore’s Airport is known as Jewel Changi Airport.
Jewel Changi Airport has been awarded as World’s Best Airport record 12th time in a row by Air transport research firm Skytrax. This airport is well connected with all parts of the world.
We reached around 6 PM. After getting down as we completed our immigration and collected our luggage, we headed towards exchanging some currency quickly.
Tip: Exchange some currency for your immediate needs like stay/ food. Also, there are various ATM options from where you could withdraw cash.
Also, we booked the Starhub sim through Klook, so we collected it at the Airport from their counter. You could easily locate their counters or ask at Information desk. Staffs were very helpful over there.
Now, you might want to know….
2. Where did we stay during our trip?
Singapore is well connected through Metro services. As we enquired, we came across an option of a Singapore Tourist Card, which has accessibility across Metro, a few selected bus routes, MRT, and LRT, except Sentosa Island. It cost us 30 SGD per person, also they took a deposit of 10 SGD per person which is refundable once you return the card at the Airport.
There is a free MRT service from Changi Airport to the metro station Expo from where you could purchase this card.
After collecting our tourist card, we headed to Tanah Merah by Metro. From there we had to take a metro ride again for Tuas Link on the East-West line. We got off at a station named Lavendar from where our stay was at a walking distance of a few minutes.
As we headed towards our stay, you might wonder…..
3. Why we chose Lavendar as our stay area?
Lavendar was well connected with Metro services and was near to many tourist attractions such as Merlion Park, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens By the Bay, etc. Additionally, there were multiple food options available around this area, hence we chose this area.
Back to our story, as we had luggage we booked a Grab ride from Lavendar to reach our stay.
This time we booked a hostel which was in the middle of the city. It had various amenities like a common room where one could read, relax, and play games such as snooker, board games, etc. There were tea and coffee maker where one could prepare tea/coffee on their own; also there was a refrigerator and a micro oven for those who were staying over there.
After reaching the hostel, we completed our check-in, kept our luggage, freshened up and went down for dinner.
The best part of our stay was that there were multiple food outlets just downstairs of this hostel. As we came down, we glanced through their food joints and ordered Nasi Lemak, Chicken curry, and rice.
We called off our day early as there was a long list of places we had planned for our next day.
Do you remember one of the questions we asked at the beginning of this blog?
A statue which has the head of a Lion and the body of a Fish. Yes, you guessed it right, it was the first destination of the next day, which was Merlion.
Let’s guess what you might be thinking…
4. How did we reach Merlion Park?
After a good sound sleep we got ready by 7:30 AM and went down for the breakfast. There we had bread, butter with jam and coffee.
Wait, before heading towards Merlion Park, we went for an RT-PCR test, which we booked online.
We had a return flight to India within 72 hours and there were COVID restrictions for entering India. RTPCR test was mandatory back then.
After getting our tests done, we took the Metro and got down at Raffles Place. From the station, Merlions Park was at a walking distance of 5 minutes. Unfortunately, it was drizzling that day. So we had to halt at multiple places for reaching our destination.
As we reached the place, there were many travellers clicking pictures. Also, Gardens By the Bay was at the opposite side of this park.
The statue was clearly visible from distance. We were pretty excited for our first destination.
Merlion is the official Mascot of Singapore. As we witnessed this majestic statue, it spouted water in the Marina Bay. The statue was made up of bronze.
Many food outlets were there in this area. After spending some time there and clicking pictures, we headed to the next place on our list, Marina Bay Sands.
The place is considered to be one of the Entertainment Hubs and Architectural wonder.
It was located just opposite to the Merlions Park. But to reach here, we had to take metro to Bayfront.
Seeing the word “Entertainment Hubs” you might be wondering….
5. What are the activities to do at Bayfront?
After we got down at Bayfront, the area was fascinating however the drizzle continued. We quickly entered through one of the nearest gates of Marina Bay Sands. It felt like we got teleported to some different world.
As we started exploring the area, there were luxury brand showrooms, boutiques, dining areas, etc. Food lovers will definitely fall in love with this place.
This place had one of the world’s renowned Casinos.
Also, this has luxury accommodation consisting of around 2000+ rooms, world class theatres named Grand Theatre and Sands Theatre.
Arts Science Museum is an integral part of Marina Bay Sands which resembles the shape of open Lotus flower.
One could easily spend the entire day exploring these places. We already booked our ticket online for the observation deck. It cost us around 1300 INR per person approx.
As we reached the deck area, it started raining and we had to struggle for getting some good snaps. Despite the rains, we enjoyed the panoramic view from the top.
One of the most fascinating facts about Marina Bay Sands was its Infinity pool. We could sight it from the deck area. However, it is only exclusively accessible to hotel guests. The pool was located 57 storeys above the ground level. It is one of the largest and highest infinity pools around the world.
As it was raining, there was no crowd at all in the deck area. It was around 12:30PM and we were starving so we moved downstairs at the Food court area for the lunch.
There was a running canal inside the mall, a first-time experience for us. Visitors can also opt for boating there. Food court was jam packed. A few of us went to search the seating place while others were glancing and sorting what needed to be ordered for lunch.
We finally settled for Fish and Chicken platters. It was way too delicious beyond our imagination.
By the time we finished the lunch, it was around 1:30 PM. As there were few hours left before dusk and we had our tickets booked for the evening show at Gardens By the Bay, we thought to get back to our stay to have some rest.
As we reached our stay we rested for a while. Then around 6:30 PM, we again got ready for the Light and Sound Show at Gardens By the Bay.
Now, you must be wondering….
6. What is so special about Gardens By the Bay?
The most amazing part of this Light and Sound Show was that it was completely free. We also booked online tickets that included entry to the Dome and Supertree. It cost us around 1300 INR per person approx.
After we got our tickets checked at the entrance, we started walking towards the show area. The area was vast. You could also opt for a golf car to reach the show area. On the way, there were many places where we stopped to get clicked. As the show was about to start at 7:45 PM, we had to hurry up.
Once we reached the spot, we saw it was crowded. People have already taken up the places for the best views. We also searched for one and settled quickly.
In no time the Garden Rhapsody show started, and the magical Supertrees started glowing on and off with the music in the background. It was a magical experience.
Here are a few of the fascinating facts about the Supergrove tree:
- Supergrove trees are embedded with photovoltaic cells.
- They also serve the purpose of irrigation by collecting rainwater.
- Last but not least, these provide shade to the visitors.
As the show went on, we moved to the entrance area of the Supergrove tree. It was a magnificent view from the top. We enjoyed our hearts out.
At the end of the show, one of the popular Bollywood songs, “Chhaiya Chhaiya” was played, and the crowd, especially Indians, got super excited and started dancing to its beats.
It was a 15-minute show, after which we moved to another famous area: Flower Dome. It is one of the world’s largest glass greenhouses that is full of plants from Mediterranean and semi-arid regions. The area was quite big; if you love nature and plants or are into gardening, you could spend your time here.
Apart from Flower Dome, there is Cloud Forest which you can opt for. It resembles a mountainous region with a cool climate.
On the way to the exit area were heritage gardens where one could take a walk. There were Indian, Chinese, and Malay-origin plants. For kids, there was a children’s garden.
We even spotted Dragonfly lake with a Dragonfly bridge. This place also hosts outdoors concerts and seasonal floral display.
We were not yet done with our day. There was one more destination left.
Do you remember one of the questions we asked at the beginning of this blog?
Yes, you guessed it right now, we were on our way to the Nocturnal Park.
Now, you might want to know…..
7. How was the experience at the Night Safari?
As we were not left with much time for our Night Safari, we quickly booked a Grab. The distance was around 28-30 km. Because of the good road conditions, we reached within time.
It is the world’s first night zoo that allows visitors to observe nocturnal animals. We already booked our tickets online, so we quickly proceeded to the entrance. It cost us around 2800 INR per person approx. Multiple slot timings were available for this safari between 7:15 PM – 12 AM. One could choose as per convenience. Also, one could opt to explore the area on foot through four available trails or by tram.
As we entered, we were guided to take the seats in one of the trams standing out there. There was an audio speaker giving visitors information about the areas and the animals to spot.
They were requesting the visitors not to use any flashlights/speak loudly.
We took our seats in the tram. The ride started soon and we were able to spot Deers, Lions, Elephants, Hippopotamus, Hyenas, Flamingos, etc. It was around 30 minutes ride. By the time we finished the safari it was already 10:45 PM, so we booked our ride back to the stay.
It was a long eventful and exciting day for us. With this we finished our day keeping our fingers crossed for another exciting journey that awaits us the following day.
Don’t worry; we are always there in your planning and are just a click away.
Wait! We are not ending this blog without this last question.
8. What kind of help are we going to provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will give you a glimpse of our journey and help you plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and watch for the next destination story of a new place. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau