Singapore was really awesome to visit though. It was kind of like experiencing a mash-up of lots of different Asian cultures all in one place, and in English. Even though we had just left Japan we found new Japanese food in Singapore just because we could actually read the menus. It was also a super nice and clean city, since it's against the law to litter. It's a really pretty city as well with very unique architecture and there is a lot of plant life in the city. You can see grass and trees along the big sidewalks and up the sides of buildings and on rooftops. You can tell they really make an effort to integrate nature into the city living.
I had never been to a city-state before so it was interesting to me that you could get around the entire country relatively quickly. The public transportation system was also superb. The stations were very modern and clean and trains were always on time. It was also super cheap to use the public transportation, so that was nice as well.
There are lots of unique laws in Singapore though that you should know before visiting. Jaywalking is illegal, as is singing obscenely in public. No littering and if you don't flush a public toilet after using it you could be fined. Smoking is illegal in most places but there are designated areas. No kissing in public. And gum is illegal. I'm still not clear if it's entirely banned or if you can have it but not sell it; I've heard different things. The idea is that they don't want chewed gum stuck everywhere. I would just not do anything with gum. I did actually bring some in with me since I like to fly with gum, but I just kept it packed away while I was there and didn't have any problems. There are benefits to all of the laws though. Along with it being just really clean it also feels very safe. Theft never felt like a real concern and we never felt uncomfortable walking around at night, although I'm sure there are areas that would be best to avoid after dark.
Overview of our trip
We spent 7 nights total in Singapore. Our first day there we actually went to the cinema to see Beauty and the Beast since I was anxious to see it before it left the theaters. We also explored around the many malls around Orchard. The next day we visited Sentosa which is the small island resort right off the coast. We mostly hung out at Siloso beach. We also saw the Merlion while we were there and encountered wild monkeys up on the skywalk of Fort Siloso. That night we went out to 1-Altitude roof-top club for Wednesday "Ladies' night" which was awesome. It had beautiful views of the night skyline. Our airbnb host gave us the hookup and we were treated like VIPs with bottle-service and the best table in the house.
While in Singapore you definitely have to check out the hawker centers which is a market with ready-to-eat food. It's a unique experience and we found the cheapest food in town there. You should also really try Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle, which was the first ever food stall to receive a Michelin star. Seriously, you can get a Michelin star meal for like $3. It's over in the Chinatown Hawker Center and it also has a new restaurant near there. But get there early otherwise you'll be standing in line for awhile!
Over the course of two different days we also explored all 4 of Singapore's wildlife parks. The zoo, river safari, and night safari are all near each other and can be done in one day if you move relatively quickly. The zoo is well-known for it's cage-less exhibits as they use water and other natural barriers to keep the animals in place. It's also a big zoo and they have lots of unique things so it's definitely worth checking out. I was less impressed with the river safari. Other than the giant pandas it just wasn't very exciting. We missed out on the Amazon River Adventure though so maybe that's cool. The night safari was fun to do since I'd never been allowed in a zoo at night and a lot of animals are nocturnal, so you could see them more active. On a different day we went to the Jurong BirdPark, which is exactly how it sounds. We probably wouldn't have gone if we didn't already have tickets, since we had bought the ParkHopper pass to see the other three parks. I still don't feel like I would've missed much if we hadn't gone. If we had it to do over again I would skip the ParkHopper pass and just do the zoo and night safari.
We also went to Gardens by the Bay which turned out to be cooler than I expected. The conservatories were nice. I liked the Cloud Forest better than the Flower Dome. The Cloud Forest has a man-made mountain with waterfall in it that you could go to the top and walk around and all the way down and through. These and the outside gardens were cool to see during the day, but you really should go back at night to see the Supertree Grove and do the skywalk. At 8 and 9pm they do a light show where they light the trees up along with music and it's really pretty. A lot of people go to see the free show though so be prepared for crowds and to stand in line to do the skywalk.
Budget
I spent $559 total while in Singapore. This doesn't include any flights since all of our international flights were bought together. This is per person and in US dollars. There were two of us traveling together most of the time so most things were split equally two ways. Here is the breakdown:
Ground Transportation: $39. $29 of that was for our Singapore Tourist Passes, which we used for almost all of our transportation. It works on all buses, trains, and light rails. We did the 3-day pass two times. The public transportation was all really nice and also cheap so that was awesome.
Lodging: $255. We stayed at one airbnb the entire time and it was awesome. It was south of Orchard in a pretty central area with easy access to bus and train stations so we could get places easily.
Activities: $63. Almost all of this was for our ParkHopper passes which got us into each of the safari and zoo areas.
Food: $164. Eating out was pretty expensive other than the food stalls. It helped that we were able to buy groceries and have lots of meals, including all breakfasts, at the airbnb.
Miscellaneous: $38. Almost all of this was for a haircut I desperately needed.
Summary
Singapore is a unique place to visit with lots of cultures to experience. There are lots of cool things to check out like Gardens by the Bay and the zoo/night safari. Going to a hawker center is a must-do as well. English-speaking and lots of affordable public transportation make it very simple to get around. Just be prepared for the heat!
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