Sunday, May 21, 2017

Nuts and Bolts I Singapore

        



               A city, a country, an island, a lion of Asia, This is Singapore.   In my last post I put forth some ideas of things to do in Singapore on a tight budget and still enjoy your time in the city.  Today I plan on getting into greater detail in regards to my specific budget, accommodation, and meals.  Basically how I had a great time in Singapore and STILL stayed on budget.        

Speaking of budgets, my realistic budget for my over seven month trip through Asia and Europe is $50 a day when converted to Singapore that's about S$70.  Since I was staying in Singapore for 6 days, that gave me a total budget of S$420.

    When most people arrive in Singapore the do so by plane at Singapore Changi Airport. The good news is the airport is connected to the city by Singapore's fantastic subway station.  The bad news is it usually doesn't start operating until 6 am so if you have a late arrival you could be stuck at the airport for a few hours OR you can pay more for a shuttle bus to whatever part of the city your staying in OR you can shell out big time for a taxi which will put a big crimp on your budget.    I waited for the subway.  

               Now to ride the subway you're going to have to buy an MRT pass which you can purchase at the airport for as little as Singapore (S)$12 S$5 for the card itself and S$7 worth of MRT or bus rides which is easily topped up at most MRT stations.  Once you get your card it's pretty easy to figure out how to use it.   

So you got the subway thing down, now you have to find a place to sleep, on this tight budget you're not gonna be staying in a four star hotel.  In Singapore hostels are going to be  your only real option.  Fortunately Singapore has a lot to choose from.  A simple google map search will show you just how many choices you have, better yet do what I do and use Hostel World.  If not for booking (which kind of defeats the purpose of on a whim budget travel) at least for researching different hostels and reading reviews of people who have actually stayed in those hostels, so you can make a more informed decision for yourself.  

                   I stayed in the Little India neighborhood at the INNCROWD hostel for about S$18 a night.  The things I liked were the free breakfast and the excellent location.  What I didn't like, was being stuck on the third floor when the closest bathroom was on the second.  the showers always had hot water, unfortunately the air conditioning was almost a non factor.  Overall next time I think I'd try to find a different place in the same area just because Singapore has so many choices and use the INNCROWD as a backup. 


So now you have a cheap easy way to get around the city, and you have a place to sleep at night, but what are you going to eat?  No matter where I go, I do one of two things to feed myself on a budget.  I go to the local grocery and 'cook' for myself or I eat where the locals eat.  Avoid the familiar fast food places, because they're going to taste just as bad as they do back home, only for a much higher price.  Also avoid the places near major sites, they might give you a  great local taste, but its gonna be at rip off prices.  Eat where the local workers eat for lunch or when they're off work.  With my free breakfast I spent about S$20 a day on meals and became a regular at a GREAT 24 hour Indian place right around the corner from the INNCROWD.  For  less than S$ 8 I had the greatest chicken biryani I've ever had and the roti was pretty good as well. 

So with food, shelter, and transportation paid for (I had to top up my MRT card twice at S$10 a pop) I still had S$28 a day for activities, snacks, alcohol and postcards.   Not too bad right?   

BUDGET BUSTERS!!!!!!!!  

      Two things that will absolutely kill your budget in Singapore S$12 beers at the pub and Sentosa Island!
If your on a budget in Singapore but absolutely need a beer, don't go to the pub.  Go to 711 and buy a cheap can or two of beer Chang take it back to your hostel and drink it there, hell share the other one with a hostel mate, that's a great way to meet new friends and still stay on budget!  

Sentosa island, what can I say?  Yeah I got some cool pictures there, but the place is one giant overly commercialized rip off machine.  I still feel like an idiot for shelling out S$32 for  a roundtrip cable car ride.  The view was cool but definitely not worth S$32.  The  free "nature" hikes might go through woods, but your head will soon be pounding because of the annoying whine of the cable cars above you.  If you must go to Sentosa walk!  The boardwalk connecting the island to Singapore proper is  probably the best part of Sentosa.     

Even with the cable car set back and the expensive pub visit I still only managed to spend S$403 in my six days in the city/state leaving me at plus S$17 for the beginning of my long journey.  But now I was going into Malaysia with a different currency (the Malaysian Ringgit or MR for short) and a different budget to live on.     


Tuesday, May 16, 2017

4 free, but awesome things to do in Singapore!

                                           Anyone feel like they're in the movie Avatar yet?   

Singapore is famous the world over for the strictness of its laws.  It's also slightly well less known as being one of the most expensive cities in ALL of Asia.   In my opinion both are greatly exaggerated.  It's a safe city, its a fun city, and no its not the cheapest city, but with so many fun, interesting, and most importantly FREE things to see and do.  Singapore can be  budget traveler friendly.  So here's my four favorite free things to do in the  lion city! 



1.    GARDENS BY THE BAY LIGHTSHOW (pic above)


This is the DO NOT MISS event when visiting Singapore!  Held every night at 7:45 and 8;45pm, its basically a light show set to music, with the solar powered lights of the giant man made supergrove trees providing the show.  It's cliché to say you have to see it to believe it, but  it was the highlight of my Singapore experience Word of warning if you want to watch  it from the skywalk it will cost you S$5.00,  but seeing it from the ground is just as amazing!     





2.  SINGAPORE BOTANICAL GARDENS   

 158 years old the Singapore botanical gardens are a UNESCO world heritage sight and the only tropical gardens to be named as such.  Spread out over 182 acres amongst three lakes, anyone could spend a full day wandering its different gardens (my pick of the bunch is the rain forest)  Garden lovers could  spend two days or more.  The flora is excellent, and the fauna can be quite surprising too!  

3.  SINGAPORE CHINATOWN 

When I travel to a new country or city (or in this case both)  I like to stroll through different neighborhoods and really get a feel for the daily lives of the people who live there.  Unfortunately most of Singapore's residential areas are just soulless apartment high rise after soulless apartment high rise.  However there are some exceptions. One of them is China town.  Thanks to British colonialism the de facto language (at least the one taught in school) is English, but the Chinese are by far the largest ethnic group in the country, which means you'll hear Mandarin being spoken everywhere, especially in Chinatown.    
         Here its not just the language that's Chinese, its, the store fronts, medicine shops, temples, and food hawkers.  IF you close your eyes and just take in the sounds and smells, you can almost imagine what Singapore was like back in the day, back when it was a seedy seaport, full of vice and character.

4.  SINGAPORE LITTLE INDIA 

One of Singapore's minority ethnic groups, the Tamils of India have left a giant mark on the country as well.  Instead of the Chinese temples and medicine shops, here in Little India you find the vibrant flowers and colorful idols of Hindu temples.  Mix with that elaborate mosques and the five times a day call to prayer of little India's local Muslims, and its almost like you're in a different country, instead of just a different  neighborhood.  Walk among the hawkers selling everything from flip-flops to durian fruit (try not to gag on the smell) from incense to bootleg Justin Bieber CDs.  Visit the temples and the mosques (but be respectful) and talk to the locals, learn about them.  Let them tell you about Singapore, let them tell you about life.   Because you know some of the best things in life are free. 





All apoligies from the George R.R. Martin of travel blogging.

First of all I'd like to say I'm sorry.  From  my own bone headedness in forgetting a power adapter to not having any wireless connection on Tioman, to my own writer's block, and mainly to outright procrastination,  a month into this journey and I'm finally making  my first blog post. 

I had originally hoped to blog at least once every four days which means I'm 7 posts behind.  Over the next two days I WILL be catching up!  (By  the way this one doesn't count.)  So again I'm sorry, and thanks for the patience!  Now on to the good stuff.