Why should I do for two days in Singapore?

In My Humble Opinion
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I’ll be in Singapore on a stopover for almost two full days sometime in March, and I’d like some advice on the best things to do while I’m there. As part of my hotel deal, I will have free access to the Singapore Zoo, Sentosa Island, a Night Safari, the Jurong Bird Park, the National Orchid Garden, a Singapore River Boat Tour as well as five National Museums.

The Bird Park and the Orchid Garden probably don’t interest me too much, but the rest of those all seem pretty cool. Will two days be enough to fit them all in (plus some shopping) or should I sacrifice some to make sure I get the most out of the others. And what else is worth doing that isn’t on that list?

Any other Singapore travel tips / hints etc would be appreciated too.

thanks!

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Geez, I don’t see how you’ll do all that stuff in two days. Sentosa was a full day trip for me. Walking around the old forts and seeing the state of the art aquarium. (Well, it was state of the art when I went 15 years ago anyway.)

As part of shopping I would say that you need to buy something that you can’t buy at home, like a tailored suit. Go there first thing. It took them a day or so to make mine.

The only thing I see missing is a trip to an alligator farm. Try to arrive at feeding time. IF you show up after feeding time like I did the alligators are all just sleeping.

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Ooops. I suppose being a trillionaire you can probably afford tailored suits any time. In that case, go to the Raffles Hotel. Get an overpriced Singapore Sling in commemorative glass (but don’t break it later while drunk).

Fodor’s discussion of just this question!

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The Singapore Zoo Night Safari program!

It’s wonderful.

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Actually, I’m going to Indonesia after Singapore and I plan on getting a suit tailored there :p. Cheers for the rest of your advice though

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go to Boatkey and Clarkkey … boardwalks with shops, restaurants and cool live music, they sit along the waterway, which makes for great viewing of boat taxis… the museums, imho, are nothing to write home about… however, interesting info and photo images of Singapore’s capture by Japanese during WWII… walking/browsing down Orchard Road (Singapore’s infamous upscale drag) can be interesting.

BUT BY ALL MEANS, DO visit their Hawker Centers!!! The best damn delicious asian food you’ll find no where else on the planet!!!

ciao ciao!

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Dammit, just noticed the typo in the thread title… it should of course be What should I do for two days in Singapore?

If a passing mod could fix it up for me that would be swell.

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Not chew gum for one thing.

It’s actually illegal there, which makes me pretty sure that we’ve got a real live Singaporean on board here. His/her location tag says “No Gum Here”, which makes me think they’re from there.

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There are some awesome walking tours that you can get involved in that will take you to some of the durndest, coolest, out-of-the-beaten-path places that you can possibly imagine.

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Eat, eat, eat!

Bird Park, Zoo, Museum, all worth the effort!
Ancient Civilizations Exhibition (not to be missed if you’re going to Indonesia or any other SE Asian Country, context is everything!)

Eat, eat, eat!

Make sure you eat some Indian food, (it’s better than in India), and chicken rice, and wonton mee, and hokkien mee, and mee siam, bbq squid, chillie crab, damn, now I’m hungry!

When I was doing my traveling, Singapore was where we always started and ended as we have close friends there. It has the added advantage of being the perfect spot to by consumer electronics at a great savings, y’know, to make those months on the road a little more pleasant, camera, cd player, converters, cheaper to purchase once arriving in S’pore than at home before you leave. Even things like, prescriptions, dental work, eyeglasses can realize a great savings by waiting till you get there. It’s all good quality, efficient and much cheaper than the west. I had a filling replaced there, and I am terrified of dentists, it was painless, easy to arrange and cost $12.

I know you didn’t ask about Indonesia but I’ll just add; avoid the all third class trains.
Trust me on this.

Good Luck, colour me jealous!

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GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR IT’s not illegal to chew gum!! It’s illegal to IMPORT for distribution! And in my 15 or so years under the ban, I’ve never heard of anyone arrested for possession of gum! Or importing, for that matter, seeing as it’s the duty of any person going to Malaysia to bring back a carton (I estimate around 100 packs or more) or two of gum!

fume simmer simmer simmer

Okay, but drugs are nono. Really nono. You can get hung for importing drugs. Please don’t do that, I don’t want another trainwreck.

Okay, real live and fresh Singaporean here. Currently in the UK. I think there are at least 5 other Singaporean lurkers around, and more have worked a bit there but no longer.

Anyway, highly reccommended are the Zoo and the Night safari. I guarantee you these two will take up your entire day.

Boat Quay and Clarke Quay (;)) are the expat drinking spots.

River cruise is pretty… well… meh, I guess. Sentosa is nice for the old colonial stuff, if you’re into that kind of thing. I highly reccommend the Asian Civilisations museum on Sentosa itself, it gives an insight into the Chinese, Malay and Indian culture in Singapore, back in the old days. Sentosa itself is… well… kind of like a theme park, with a monorail that takes you around the small island. As has been said, the Underwater World is pretty impressive… or at least, it used to be. Slightly more run down now, after a decade or so, but still nice.

The musical fountain is kind of cheesy, but hey, the tourists seem to like it. :stuck_out_tongue:

Orchard road is the main shopping district, and it’s rather… dense. If you’re into shopping, you can easily spend a whole day there.

If you want to see ethnic culture, you can try and visit Chinatown, Little India, or Bugis, the old Chinese, Indian and Malay “enclaves”, before the policy of racial integration. I’m not sure if it’s good to go by yourself, however, as you’ll probably miss a lot of things. Get a walking tour, if you can.

I would probably skip the other museums, really, it’s not that interesting. But then, I have access to the British museum now, and I find that a bit dry, so YMMV.

2 days really isn’t all that much time. :stuck_out_tongue:

Travel:

If you’re thinking of renting a car, DON’T. Public transport is fast and cheap, and clean and sparkly. A bus/subway ride might range from S$1-S$2, which would be around… UD$0.6-US$1.5? ish? Not too sure. The exchange rate was 1.6 ish the last time I checked. However, if you’re in a hurry and not too budgety (If your swank hotel gives you all the free stuff, I assume so), a taxi should only cost about S$10 per ride around town. Of course, it’s metered, but that’s a fair price for trips near downtown.

What else… hmmm… In Singapore, it’s said that there are only 2 things to do: eat and shop. And you should definitely EAT! You can get Thai, Malay, Indian, Chinese, and some uniquely Singaporean dishes for cheap, if you avoid the tourist traps. It’s somewhat difficult to tell you where to go, but if you ask the hotel staff, they should be able to give you some reccommendations.

Seafood is generally good, and one of the famous dishes of Singapore is the Chilli Crab, or its cousin te Black Pepper Crab. Most people like those. Then you have the Indian and Malay curries, and the standard Chinese fare. No Kung Pao Chicken, though. :stuck_out_tongue: One traditional Singaporean dish is “Chai Tow Kueh”, or “Carrot Cake”. Also, you have “Char Kueh Teow”, or “Fried Kueh Teow” (Kueh Teow is a kind of noodle. Flat and made of rice). Your hotel should either carry a reasonable facimile in their restaurant, or a nearby foodcourt should suffice, if your hotel is in a downtown area.

Food Courts are a cheap and easy way of trying out as many different kinds of local dishes as you can. Each dish in a food court is about S$3-4, and is enough to feed one person. Well, a Singaporean sized, person, at least, you may have to buy two. :stuck_out_tongue: Just go into any food court, sniff around, and look at the things on offer. To order, just point at the pictures on the signboard, if there’s no english (There usually is in the foodcourts in town). I’m not sure about what food courts are like in America, but generally in Singapore most people eat in food courts or hawker centers, which are the dirtier, noisier and smellier predecessor of food courts. Cheaper and better tasting most times, though.
Bring sunscreen. Too many pink whales walking around. :stuck_out_tongue:
I’m not sure how much that helps, but if you want more info on any specific thing I will try my best to help.

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Chewing gum isn’t sold in Singapore, but if someone brought it in from abroad, which I do all the time, it’s fine… the “fine” is for discarding gum on the ground, as with any other trash.

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May I buck the trend by saying “don’t see all the sights”. I’ve been in Singapore four times in the past year, as well as many many visits in the past, and I had a great time always.

However, the sights were not what made it. Sure, take a bus round Sentosa (though the aquarium that so impressed me tn years ago only took me 30 minutes to see this time round) or the HUGE cable car, and also do the night safari, but to be honest most government approved “attractions” are all a bit Disneyland.

Better instead to hang out on Boat Quay or Clarke Quay, then take a wander into the heart of the town. Or take a taxi into the 'burbs. The taxi drivers have all been trained as tourist guides - seriously; they have certificates to prove it - and they all speak perfect English. But more importantly, talk to the locals. They’re almost universally nice, and very proud of where they’re from, as well as being very worldly. Singapore also has a dark underbelly, too, if you look for it.

The bit of my travel journal that includes Singapore. (Read on to find the dark underbelly.)

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[QUOTE=jjimm]

Better instead to hang out on Boat Quay or Clarke Quay, then take a wander into the heart of the town. Or take a taxi into the 'burbs. The taxi drivers have all been trained as tourist guides - seriously; they have certificates to prove it - and they all speak perfect English. But more importantly, talk to the locals. They’re almost universally nice, and very proud of where they’re from, as well as being very worldly. Singapore also has a dark underbelly, too, if you look for it.

[QUOTE]

i’d also suggest visiting Chinatown

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Oh yeah, definitely. And Little India too.

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Tabby_Cat and elbows have hit of the important points, but in addition to Clarke and Boat Quay (who called them keys?) consider the great open air seafood restaurants along the east coast parkway. A great place for chili crab and drunken prawns.

I like to stay on or near Orchard Road, and just walk up and down this busy shopping area. It’s close enough where you can take a morning run (or walk) in the botanical garden too.

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Yeah, the area around the Crazy Horse and it’s sister establishments can be a bit gritty, but it still always seemed less seedy by a large margin then comparable red light districts in Asia or even eastern Europe. Any large metropolitan area is bound to have one.

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Addendum: Do NOT go to “Newton Circus” for seafood. They are a ripoff tourist trap. They will charge you $99 for 4 prawns. DON’T DO IT. East Coast Parkway is a better place to go.