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.     


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