Singapore on a budget

I first came to Singapore early 2007 after the New Zealand cricket tour and loved it.  It is hard to put my finger on what exactly I liked.  Since then I have always had a desire to return and have harboured dreams of coming here to work.  I was here again for New Year 10 months ago, and I felt the same.

Maybe it is the cleanliness, maybe the low crime rate, maybe the excellent public transport system but actually I think it is the great blend of some fantastic cultures, Chinese, Malay, Indian, locals.  The combined culture makes a great mix.

Singapore Marina bay - great place

Rather like viewing a new home you feel instantly it is right for you, similarly this is how I feel about Singapore.  Singapore has a down sides, it is very hot and humid and is also expensive, or can be. However, I found an Air B&B out of town in a brand new luxurious apartment block.  I had a private bedroom and shared a bathroom with another guest from Malaysia.  She introduced herself to me, "Hello, I'm Bonnie" thankfully I bit my tongue and despite thinking 'you're not wrong there', said "Hi, I'm Phil".  I never saw her again! The price for 4 nights was the same as one night in the city centre on my last visit.


Meditation Jacuzzi

One of the swimming pools I could use



Duck noodles, soup and sugar cane (£1.64)

It was good staying in the residential area, it was a 3 minute walk to the underground station and just a 20 minute ride into the heart of the city.  It had a fitness centre which I never used and two huge pools that I did.  It was near a food court that wasn't expensive and had excellent range of Chinese, Indian, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian and local dishes.


Mango Sago for pudding (£1.12)

I had just about been everywhere in Singapore on my previous visits and had 3 full days to make revisits to the highlights.  I managed to have an action packed 3 days/4 nights and all it cost was the cost of the metro card and credit (about £8 for my full stay).



Haw Par Villa

On day one I met up with a Singaporean girl whom I'm first met in Lithuania (or possibly Latvia) about 13 years back and I have met up with on each visit since.  We went to Haw Par Villa first up, it was somewhere I'd not been, was free of charge and quite interesting.  It was good having a local guide who explained to me clearly what it was all about.  

Basically the belief is that when you die you go to one of 10 chambers.  The first chamber is for the good people and end up in a heaven like paradise.  The next 8 chambers are where you go if you have been a bad lad.  Sins range from book abuse, through to murder, some of the crimes were not proportionate and to one and other in my opinion.  I think the punishment for chamber two was to be thrown in a volcano and they got progressively more gruesome through to chamber 9.  Chamber 10 was were you 'went' after the punishment for forgiveness and reincarnation.

Next up was the Botanic Gardens (free of charge) for a look around.  We didn't bother with the Orchid Garden (not free).  A decent day and it was good to catch up with a friendly face and have a discussion about life and what is next for me.  

I had hoped to visit many recruitment agencies whilst in Singapore to check out the job prospects and visa requirements.  This unfortunately didn't happen, but I did quite a bit of research on the internet about it.

Next day I went to Sentosa Island just off the south coast of Singapore.  I hadn't been on the Island since 2007 and it had changed a lot.  Three options to get across the water, Cable car (did this last time £££), monorail (came back by this last time (££) or walking over the boardwalk.  It isn't far 10 mins and is free (yes you guessed I took this option)!

On Sentosa I did everything that can be done for free which was surprisingly quite a bit.  For example instead of going up the Singapore lookout 'ride' I did a sky walkway which went almost as high and allowed you to walk around and gave lots of information on the WWII site of Fort Siloso.

Fort Siloso - Sentosa Island

I walked across a rope bridge (free of charge) to tick off the Southernmost point of Continental Asia. Walked the man made beaches of Palawan (Philippines) and Siloso.  Wandered around the theme park like playground taking snaps of statues, fountains and unusual buildings.

'Palawan' beach Sentosa Island

Ticked

 

I then headed to Marina Bay, glorious hotels overlooking the impressive skyscraping office blocks.  I had a walk around the 'Gardens by the Bay' (free of charge - mostly) and after dark took in the light show (free of charge) overlooking the bay. The show is quite good, it is images projected onto water spray. The breeze was in the wrong direction and most people left as we got soaked by the mist, I found it refreshing from the 30+ heat.

Gardens by the Bay

Marina Bay

My final day I went on a self guided walking tour. Taking in raffles place, the financial district (hoping to stumble on a career opportunity), Chinatown, The Arab Quarter and Little India. A classic walking day, plenty of miles and great stuff to stimulate all senses.

Raffles Place

 

Chinatown temple

Arab Quarter

Vegetable Biryani in Little India (£2.24)

 

My trip took in the fountain of wealth which on my previous visit you could only view from outside but for one hour a day you could get inside it.  Touching the fountain is supposed to bring you wealth, I'm not sure if it is a coincidence but a day or so later I had my first ever win on the premium bonds.

Fountain of Wealth - Touching the fountain paid dividends

Booze is one thing that is expensive in Singapore, which is why I decided to have a few days off it.  That said cans in the local food court were selling for under £2 and a giant bottle of tiger about £3.60.  The cans the locals were on was called Knock Out, it was strong lager and I can imagine it did exactly what it said on the tin.
 

Did I miss out by choosing free attractions, no I don't think so, I had a great time and if something I wanted to see had a charge I'd have paid it.

So my trip to Singapore didn't blow the budget and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay. Will I return for a 4th visit in future, definitely, would I return to live and work, I sincerely hope so. Best start polishing my CV up and applying for jobs.

Next up an unplanned visit to Vietnam once i got through a troublesome immigration at Ho Chi Minh City airport.