Singapore: wanting more! The complete 5-6 day itinerary
Overview
I’m Australian, so writing about Singapore could be considered boring amongst my own. However, since it was my first time there I am writing from the fresh-eyed point of view of a newbie who thoroughly enjoyed exploring a new and unique place in South East Asia, despite many other forays into this part of the world. It’s great for a one or two night stayover but if you’ve got 5-6 days, there’s so much more you can squeeze in. So if you find yourself with a week off of work: give it a whirl!
First open disclosure point:
I am a huge planner before an overseas trip.
I will research for days and weeks all of the places and sites and bars and restaurants that I intend to include. The itinerary becomes somewhat of a jig saw puzzle: first brainstorming a list of all the things I want to do and see in a city; and then looking at these places geographically to see what can be done on any given day. This includes transport options. Usually, I want to see everything: cultural and historical sites, points of interest, nature activities, finding the highest views for photography opportunities, eating local fare, exploring nightlife and visiting the occasional museum. For this trip, I have included my exact itinerary below. It was reasonably full.
Second open disclosure point:
I have been told that I have a preponderance of energy.
I do admit that this itinerary was frequently ‘on the go’ with a high ratio of walking. You can easily cut out components that don’t suit or appeal; likewise you can add a few extra days to enjoy some more R&R.
Essentials: 5-6 Days in Singapore
Singapore is known for some major icons: The Marina Bay Sands, the Gardens, Sentosa Island, the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park and that illuminous city scape. I’ll show you some secrets as to the where and how on the next few pages but first, here is the rough itinerary outline for a jam-packed but scintillating trip to Singapore.
Jurong Bird Park
33 Brewery & Marina Bay view
Lau Pa Sat Hawkers Corner
Orchard Road – Shops
Cuppage Street – Food markets
Gardens by the Bay
> Cloud Garden,
> Flower Dome
> OCBC Skyway atop the Supertree Grove
Merlion Park
Orchard Road – Bars
> The Other Room
> Drunken Poet
> Corner bar
Kampong Glam
Arab Quarter
> Arab Street
Beirut Grill
Haji Lane
Little India
Chinatown
> Potato Head Folk
Marina Bay Sands observation deck
Ce la vi
Raffles Hotel (Singapore sling!)
Singapore Zoo
> Breakfast with Orangutans
> River Safari
Ann Siang Hill
> Oxwell & Co
> Fry Rooftop
> Screening Room Rooftop Bar
Sentosa Island
Universal Studios
from Level 33 Brewery
But first, some logistical points…
Accommodation
Is plentiful. You can find a cheap hotel, a luxurious hotel, or an airBnB and the standard is reasonably high. It’s also of mid-range expense given that Singapore is one of the top 20 smallest countries in the world and so competition is reasonably high. I suggest choosing an area where you’ll spend most time, and then choosing your accommodation based on that. I’d still make sure it’s reasonably central so that you can use your metro card for ease of access. We stayed on Shenton Way in Central Singapore which had easy access to all public transport options and was within walking distance of an upmarket hawker corner which became our ‘go to’ place for a tasty meal on the run.
Cultural precincts
Despite its size, Singapore is a melting hot pot of different cultures. Just jump on the metro and in no time you will feel that you have been transported into another time and place! We explored 4 or 5 such regions (including the Arab quarter, Kampong Glam, Little India, China Town and Central) but there really is no end to the feasts for the senses that await you! I’ve included my favourite aspects of each in the itinerary on the next few pages.
Transport: Metro Card
I’m not going to lie. I like to get places quickly. Even over the expense of being comfortable. If I can have both, I’m going to go that option every time. Unfortunately this means getting an uber in many cities to avoid the hassle of luggage on public transport, waiting times, connections and all of the intimate personal space encroachment by strangers.
In an exciting turn of events, Singapore offers a class ride to literally anywhere in the city on its Metro system. Even the day I was encouraged to use public transport with my luggage it was pleasantly quick and not nearly as cumbersome as I had imagined. The Metro underground system is clean, efficient, extremely (insanely!) affordable, fairly simple to navigate and has you ‘from a to b’ in no time at all. You can buy your Metro card at the airport with only a minimal deposit (at the time of writing it was SGD $10 minimum). I would 100% get the Metro card again in Singapore.
Please note: Uber has been taken over by the company ‘Grab’ in Singapore. So you will need to download the Grab app to utilize a similar service.
Attractions pass: iVenture card / Passion Pass
I’m in two minds about the iVenture card (now called the Singapore Passion Pass). For us, it probably worked out best that we bought it. It comes in different options – a set price for 2, 3 or 5 of many listed activities plus or minus some premium activites (eg. Universal Studios). I suggest reading the activities available and deciding what you would or would not like to do and then going from there. In reality it might save you SGD 10-40 for a 3 day pass but it completely depends on what you elect to do and if you think it is feasible to actually visit all of those attractions in your time there. If you like flexibility of movement and being amenable to a changing itinerary in a new city, it’s perhaps not for you. You’ll need to be fairly stringent in keeping to your plan if you are to make the savings offered. Also, we were required to collect our cards from a pre-prescribed place, which meant catching the Metro to the office and then back tracking to start our day, only to find that someone was giving away 2 passes at our first attraction outside the venue anyway: hardly an efficient use of time.
Day 1 – Arrival afternoon
Jurong Bird Park
33 Brewery & Marina Bay view
Lau Pa Sat Hawkers Corner
This is a half day itinerary and allows for a morning arrival into Singapore.
Jurong Bird Park
Another point of open disclosure: I am somewhere between bird disliker and ornithophobe. However, my traveling companion is a professional photographer and the kindest-hearted animal lover you will ever meet so I found myself agreeing to Jurong Bird Park on day one of the trip. It is not untruthful to say I was not expecting this to be a trip highlight.
Can I say: very pleasant surprise.
After flight connections, etc, we arrived at Jurong in the early afternoon. It is not in the city centre, so be prepared for a 30-40 minute Metro ride. No eating or drinking is allowed on the Metro so we had to disguise our fruit bubble teas extraordinarily well (as we only realized once seated). Jurong Bird Park is extraordinarily well set out. It has ring circuits that direct you to various enclosures and a readable, accurate map that navigates one around the park in a very practical fashion. There are a variety of large and small birds, raptors and bird shows. If you’re a photographer or an ornithologist, you’ll 100% be in heaven.
33 Brewery & Marina Bay view
I was totally psyched for the next part: Level 33 Brewery. It did not disappoint. If only I could finish every day like this. Perched aloft a business building on their 33rd floor, with views across the entire Marina Bay at sunset, I purchased my beer tasting paddle in the highest craft brewery in the world and set into a corner with my camera, ready for some epic pictures. As you will hear soon, Marina Bay Sands is a world-famous hotel to visit, but if you wish to take photos of the building itself, you absolutely MUST visit Level 33 Brewery. Astounding. It’s a popular place, but you can usually find a place to squeeze into and take your once of a lifetime shot at sunset. Then relax and enjoy the young-professional after-work atmosphere with a bevvy.
Lau Pa Sat Hawkers Corner
Onwards and upwards! It was time for a Hawkers Corner dinner! Since our accommodation (AirBnB) was in Downtown Singapore, we were close to all the action, and especially close to the Lau Pa Sat Hawkers corner: an insatiable mix of Asian cuisine, humid evenings and refreshing beer. With multiple cuisines to choose from, we both received the most delicious bowl of ramen you could ever sample, combined with two cold Tiger beers.
Tip for the wise: it’s been relayed to me that if you’re a British male traveler you may wish to find a dish involving more carbs and meat and forego the ‘spicy water’. But for me: heaven.
Day 2
Orchard Road – Shops
Cuppage Street – Food markets
Gardens by the Bay
> Cloud Garden
> Flower Dome
> OCBC Skyway atop the Supertree Grove
Merlion Park
Orchard Road – Bars
> The Other Room
> Drunken Poet
> Corner bar
Orchard Road & Cuppage Street
It’s an incomplete trip to Singapore without Orchard Road. That being said, you could spend all manner of hours or days on this shopping strip. For me, I didn’t want to spend my holiday shopping, but it was still a ‘must see’ so made its way onto the list. It was enormous. After wandering around near the Metro station where we alighted, we finally found our way to the iVenture card outlet we were looking for. The collection of our multipass attractions cards was easy enough from the shop, but the mission to find the shop was not. After this, we found ourselves on the very cute and hipster ‘Cuppage St’ off of Orchard Road, showcasing 17 Malacca-style two-storey terrace houses with a distinctive and uniform façade design with full-height French windows on the upper floors. This road is particularly popular in the evenings with its many cafes, restaurants and bars. However, we managed to find a ground level Hawkers corner to fill up on a lunch of chicken, rice and some delicious gelatinous desserts (and fried banana balls – I will provide a link to this recipe at some point) prior to our next adventure: The Gardens by the Bay.
Gardens by the Bay & Merlion Park Precinct
It was hot and it was humid. We sat in the middle of a large concrete paved area by the river attempting to set straight our confusion regarding all of the words to describe the attractions in the nearby district that sounded acutely similar: sky, park, bay, way, dome, walk, garden, clouds… help.
The ticketing for the various parks within Marina Bay are confusing: they are not all associated with the hotel!
It is definitely worth doing some research the night before in the comfort of your hotel room, as there are many options within the park to see and they’re not all feasible on a short time span. As it was, we fit in most of them but were striding around at a fairly quick pace. This was the fateful day after which my blog post was named!
Merlion Park
One of the nearby tourist options to visit is the Merlion statue in the Merlion Park that fronts Marina Bay where it stands on its relocated land in front of the famous Fullerton Hotel. After sitting in the humidity for an hour and realizing that this was well across the bay from us, we opted on using our camera zooms to take some photos, and then continued on to the Gardens by the Bay, immediately behind the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
Having alighted off the Metro station one stop too soon, we were again ruing our carelessness of transportation however decided on walking to the park. The closest stop to Gardens by the Bay is Bayfront Station, not Marina Bay Station! We were taken past (and directly beneath) the incredible, impressive and infinitely tall Marina Bay Sands Hotel with its roof in the shape of a surfboard that looked an absolute marvel from beneath.
Gardens by the Bay
- Cloud Garden
- Flower Dome
- OCBC Skyway atop the Supertree Grove
On arrival to the Gardens by the Bay, we were again encountered with a few choices of ticket: some long standing features and some pop up displays. Please note: none of these displays are associated with the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (which has its own Skydeck). We used our iVenture (Passion Pass) tickets here to enter two feature displays: the Cloud Garden and Flower Dome.
They were both impressive but for me, the Cloud Garden was just mesmerizing: high indoor glasshouse waterfalls, suspended walking ramps with stunning views in a veil of mist and botany at its finest. Again, I had initially set out to ‘see this sight’ without an immense feeling of impending enjoyment, and I was left astounded.
The Flower Dome itself is listed as the largest greenhouse in the world as per the 2015 Guinness World Records!
The final sensation to this park was the OCBC Skyway, set above the Supertree Grove. Supertree Grove is a free display; a population of trees with large canopies that provide much relieved shade in the day and come alive at night with a mesmerising display of neon lights and jungle sounds. To ascend the Skyway, some 22 metres high boardwalk within the canopy itself requires an extra ticket (at the time of writing, SGD $8). This is highly worthwhile if you are a lover of heights or panoramic cityscape photography.
With a timely descent at dusk, you can then catch the free lights show amongst the Supertree Grove at dusk, at 7.45pm and 8.45pm each evening for 15 minutes.
Orchard Road Nightlife
By now it had been a long day of walking and seeing amazing sights and we were ready for a night of relaxation and some hidden city bars! Fortunately this is my forte and I’d done some slick research before we came 😉
The Other Room
Ok so after living in Sydney for 4 years, I am an avid fan of secret bars. I’d read about this hidden bar in Singapore and so I’d read up on websites that had given the direct entry instructions complete with pictorial guides to ensure I didn’t look like a complete idiot on arrival. It actually went fairly smoothly and we found ourselves in a small chic den with hilarious captions on the walls and glass mirrors. The Other Room is hidden within a door in the lobby of the Marriott Plaza Hotel. We were greeted with a welcome drink (espresso martini in a dropper bottle) and from then on you’re hooked into the signage, dark-speakeasy feel and dapper cocktail list. It’s a great ‘first date tension breaker’ before you move onto somewhere else or just a really cool bar to take some girlfriends!
The Drunken Poet
Despite my affinity for grungy pubs and down and out dimly lit second rate locales, we unfortunately moved onto the Drunken Poet. It had all the trappings for an Irish bar success but felt like an enclosed expatriate affair with a few men watching football on the raised TV screens and not much else happening. I ended up in a game of thumb wars with my friend to bide the time while we finished our drinks. The good thing about traveling however is: it’s a choose your own adventure! So we moved on…
Corner Bar
Perhaps a good thing to realize in advance is that Singapore nightlife during the week slows to a halt around 2am, so we were (incredibly) lucky to find a corner pop up bar on Orchard Road where we sipped and laughed into the evening. I can’t take credit for this, my friend is an amazing winner of souls and somehow talked the bar tender into staying open for us. (Tip for the wise: find a travel mate with tricks).
Day 3
Kampong Glam
Arab Quarter
> Arab Street
> Beirut Grill Restaurant
Haji Lane
Little India
Chinatown
> Potato Head Folk Bar & Restaurant
Marina Bay Sands observation deck
> Ce la vi Rooftop Bar
Raffles Hotel (Singapore sling!)
Kampong Glam/Arab Quarter
I awoke really nervous this day. My friend was relying on me for having researched these places and I didn’t know if they would be worthwhile or a complete waste of time. I knew from what I’d read that they sounded great and at least worth a visit but you just never really know until you visit. Hence my turmoil. Turns out: I won!!!!! This was one of my favourite days!
We caught the subway from our closest stop in Downtown Singapore, Tanjong Pagar, to Jalan Besar, a stonesthrow from the Arab Quarter & Kampong Glam. This area is steeped in history and prior to colonization by the British in 1819, it was home to the Malay aristocracy. Once Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles landed however, the area was divided amongst various ethnic groups such as the European Town, Chinese, Chulia, Arab and Bugis kampongs. It has continued to change with time and today is a melting hot pot of culture.
Nested behind the main streets of Ophir Road, North Bridge Road & Beach road, is a thriving bustling quadrant of shops and streets where you could easily spend a day. The energy is palpable and lively and my only disappointment in waking up for the day should have been the small amount of time we allotted here! If you’re walking from Jalan Besar or (indeed from the equally distanced) Bugis stations, you won’t help but notice Masjid Sultan Mosque and it’s piercingly glistening golden onion domes. If you look closely at the base of the main dome you’ll see a dark band that appears to be tilework but on closer inspection this actually consists of the bottoms of thousands of glass bottles! This mosque is the beating heart of the local Muslim people.
From here, our first stop was Arab Street, a delightful row-by-row of shops containing luxurious textiles, Persian carpets, and aromatic Arabian teas. The colourful facades are enough for a picture alone. A beautiful archway adorns the dissection of Arab and Muscat streets and is worth a quick stop. In reality, you could easily spend an hour or two wandering around all of the little laneways that feed off of the larger Arab Street. However our tummies were calling!! The aromas which emanate from the restaurants became too much to bear (and by this time so was the humidity and heat of the midday sun) so we had a little browse but couldn’t pass the Beirut Grill on Bussorah Street. It had other worldly scents and some airconditioning busting out from its front door! I couldn’t go past the chargrilled marinated prawn kebabs and my friend had arguably the biggest item on the menu: the mixed grill kebab platter which comes out with each kebab hanging from a metal beam. It’s impressive and certainly made up for the previous evening’s ‘spicy water’ debacle. However, the famous last words after finishing the meat behemoth: ‘I’m still hungry’. Combined with two pints of Erdinger, we were set to continue.
Haji Lane
To be honest I had a Lonely Planet guide on Singapore that I’d briefly read and this little lane had been mentioned. Well! What a treat. It’s a complete little hipster mall filled with cute Mexican taquerias, boutique clothing stores, ecofriendly body products and our favourite: the Elephant Parade shop. This store represents the social enterprise that runs the largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues around the world – you may possibly have seen them in other cities. The shop in Haji Lane sells handcrafted (albeit smaller) replicas and 20% of net profits are donated to elephant welfare and conservation projects. This street certainly had a strong party vibe happening and would have been great to return to in the evening.
Little India
This region is a little more ‘rustic’ shall we say. The main street (Serangoon Road) is crazy, quite untidy, full of cars and locals on mopeds (or their version thereof) and multiple old rickety shops selling fruits and vegetables, sweets, handmade bags, second hand electrical items and other assorted goods. I’ve not been to India but I’ve been told this area is a reasonable replica.
It’s worth taking a stroll to see the detailing of the Sri Veeramakaliamman temple although this was closed when we were there. Still, if you’re a photographer, you can certainly take some interesting pictures of the roof.
Another photography/Instagram hotspot: The House of Tan Teng Niah. This is possibly one of the most colourful buildings I’ve ever seen, with wooden beams, window and door frames all painted in a myriad of bright colours. In fact, the wall art in this region is quite impressive in general. The locals are friendly and I’m told the ultimate dish to try is the fish head curry. It was time for icecream.
Chinatown
This place is unreal! Ok so they have the usual light- and Chinese art- adorned street with stalls selling sumptuous food and towering archways at the entry and exit. However! Chinatown in Singapore extends to much more funky regions. It’s home to Ann Siang Hill, an entire precinct of hipster bars, rooftop settings and some high end restaurants. I was like a kid at Christmas walking through, and busy cultivating all the times I could fit another trip here into our itinerary.
We stopped at the Potato Head Folk bar for a refresher after many hours in the sun: sangria, thank you!! With a menu boasting dishes such as: LL Kool Slaw, Secret Garden, Broc Party, Mofo Spicy and Beets by Dre, you just can’t pass this place up, or their uber hipster rooftop bar. More on this region later!
Marina Bay Sands & Ce La Vi Rooftop Bar
Despite my head spinning, palpable excitement over Ann Siang Hill, I needed some discipline to somehow recollect and regroup to ensure maximal enjoyment at the next venue, the infamous Marina Bay Sands. We had considered staying at this hotel but to be honest, it is a little further out of the Downtown area and less amenable to foot transport. Also, it is literally one of the most amazing hotels you could ever stay at (think the popularly photographed infinity pool) and I doubt I would have wanted to leave the premesis, which would have severely limited the remainder of our exploration in Singapore.
I think if you want to book the MBS, you really should consider adding extra time to your schedule so that you make the most of it. It is astounding.
The Observation Deck at the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark requires a ticket (SGD 25 at time of writing) that must be purchased 24 hours prior to the day of visiting (if to be used with the iVenture Passion Pass) with an approximate hour of arrival. It does beat the queues however. It should be on your list if you love photography and heights. It’s also in a swanky hotel so worth getting a little dressed up for. There are multiple restaurants in the different towers of the Marina Bay Sands so if you wish to go out for dinner after the sun sets at the top of the Observation Deck, it’s worth not being turned away because of your attire! Also make sure you catch the correct lift up as restaurants and bars are located in different towers!
We went to Ce La Vi, which is a booming bar elevated above the SkyDeck, filled with glamorous people and cool cocktails. The bar can be entered from the elevator below within the hotel without a ticket, or from the SkyDeck. However once you enter from the SkyDeck, you can not return. It’s worth a cocktail or two.
As a side note, if you are an avid shopping enthusiast, check out the exclusive Louis Vuitton store on its own private island….
Raffles Hotel
From here we had worked ourselves into a slight party feel and thought it might be nice to move elsewhere for another drink. I’d been dying to tick off one thing in particular: a Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel. It’s iconic and I wish I wasn’t but I’m a sucker for those things. I was in heels and wanted the option of a Grab but ended up using the subway and again, it wasn’t a disaster. In fact, it gave us one of the most surprisingly beautiful views of the famous Raffles Hotel from across Beach Road after alighting at the Esplanade subway stop.
Raffles Hotel in gleaming white magic at night is unforgettable. It transported me back to the gorgeous large plantation homes I saw in Savannah, Georgia. On to Long Bar! This is the famous dimly lit two-storey tropical plantation inspired bar, complete with peanut shells brushed onto the floor and fans whirring overhead which serves a primarily gin-based cocktail called the Singapore Sling. Rumour has it that the Haianese bartender Ngiam Tong Boon created this cocktail in 1915 with the rosy hue (imparted by the grenadine and cherry liqueur) in order to allow female Singapore socialites a means of disguising their drink choice and comply with socially acceptable norms. The cocktail will set you back SGD $31 each, so don’t go too loco ….
amidst a table of peanut shells at Raffles Hotel
Right! Home time via Lau Pa Sat for some late chicken rice and Tiger beers and then some sleep before the events of tomorrow: my birthday!
Day 4
Singapore Zoo
> Breakfast with Orangutans
> River Safari
Ann Siang Hill
> Oxwell & Co
> Fry Rooftop
> Screening Room Rooftop Bar
Singapore Zoo
I’m not sure I ever thought I’d have a birthday where I sat and ate from a buffet bar at breakfast whilst a family of Orangutans entertained me from their stage. To be clear, these animals are well looked after and there is strictly no touching of the animals. They are fed well and have an abundance of high leafy trees to play in and showcase their comical human-like ways. These creatures are really so fascinating and we watched them for what felt like hours. The best pictures came from standing directly below and looking directly up, whilst they hung from ropes with their tails and feet, looking curiously down at us. Their expressions are so humanlike that one just can’t help but be completely enthralled.
The Singapore Zoo houses many more enclosures than this however. So I had to tear my friend away from his favourite (and largest tree-living) mammals in the world to explore the rest of this well laid-out zoo which doesn’t seem overwhelmingly large or over-packed given it’s reasonably simple layout. There are various enclosures such as:
- The Great Rift valley of Ethiopia
- Primate Kingdom
- Elephants of Asia
- Australasia
- Fragile Forest
- Frozen Tundra
- Treetops Trail
- RepTopia
Of course there are always additional enclosures/activities available at an additional charge. Some of these are included on the iVenture/Passion Pass card. It has 11 zones which showcase a journey through distinct global wildlife habitats. Along the way, you can stop for various daily shows. We stayed to watch the Elephant Presentation and Rainforest Fights Back Shows.
After circling around the zoo and nearing 4pm, we decided to use our iVenture cards to purchase the River Safari option. This included a free water ride, home to a collection of wildlife found in the Mekong , Yangtze and Amazon Rivers, as well as the Giant Panda Forest full of rolling happy playful black and white cute ones. Lining up for the River ride, we overheard an honest statement from a youngster with his family: “Dad, I want to sit next to you; you know more about animals than Mum”. Father’s reply: “Er, ok son, but your mother knows more about birds”. Silence.
A word on transport: strangely, for its popularity, Singapore Zoo is awkwardly difficult to reach on public transport. There is no direct subway to the Zoo; each of the closest metro stations requires an onwards bus connection to the large depot outside the Zoo. The wait times can feel tedious after a long day out in the sun. From our apartment in Downtown and after a night of cocktails, it was preferable to jump in a Grab car to make the breakfast in time. We did brace the journey back via public transport which was interesting: we passed the local military base and had personnel jumping on board at the end of their work day. If you can manage, this is one venue that I would pay for a Grab both to and from.
Ann Siang Hill
Ok so I know I mentioned I was waiting to get back here and what better excuse to use than one’s birthday!!! I’d done a furious search of all of the bars and I had a MASSIVE list of all the places I wanted to go!! Somehow I whittled it down to 3 or 4. I also bargained for a Grab to save on a fraction of time and well, you can’t fight a birthday girl! These 3 rooftop bars are all in a conveniently spaced triangle of heaven!
Oxwell & Co
By now we were ravenous and the fourth floor upstairs bar at Oxwell & Co (although delightful and intimate and lit up with festoon and fairly lights with a view to the well populated Ann Siang Hill street below) unfortunately did not serve food so we found ourselves on the first floor devouring their menu. I am partial to a few off-beat food items, so I am not going to say it was a completely ridicule-free evening when I chose the octopus with a side of Brussels sprouts, next to the more socially acceptable Wagyu beer burger that was ordered next to me.
Fry Rooftop
Next on the list: Fry Rooftop. Absolute win. To begin with, you certainly earn some points for the multiple floors of stairs it requires to climb to these bars. Additionally, Fry Rooftop is perfectly positioned on the corner of Ann Siang Hill Road and Club Street, so you can cherry pick which rooftop bars you envisage visiting subsequently, based on their location from this vantage. After a few obligatory (stunning) photos, we were so wrapped up in conversation that it wasn’t long before suddenly we had an unusual beverage land on the table: the Unicorn Ale by Trouble Brewing Company. It’s certainly a label to take you by surprise. We were quite keen to sample the local drops, which also included: Yellow Van Pale Ale and Mac’s Three Wolves.
R: Fry Rooftop bar
Screening Room
After waxing lyrical for an hour or so we moved on to Screening Room, a popular haunt which indeed has a boutique film theatre onsite with a calendar of exciting films, as well as a chic Champagne lounge and outdoor alfresco rooftop bar with comfortable lounges or high tables with bar stools lining the perimeter of the roof with a grand view to the streets below. This is the perfect way to finish the night… just be careful not to lean too far back on those stools!!
and Oxwell & Co rooftop bar on the left
Day 5
Sentosa Island
Universal Studios
This morning was our last day in Singapore and we had both booked late night flights. What to do with luggage in an AirBnB without a hotel reception? Enter BagBnB. This phenomenal brainwave is exactly as it sounds: small holdings scattered around the city where you can store your luggage on an hourly or daily rate. Boom! So with our bags safely stored and our childlike enthusiasm on a high, we were off to Sentosa.
Sentosa Island & Univeral Studios
I used to love rides and fairs as a kid but have been to numerous theme parks over the years: Universal Studios in Orlando and Hollywood, Disneyland in California and a gamete of theme parks in my home country of Australia. Sentosa Island is a large man made park in Singapore, filled with exotic hotels and beaches, child-friendly activities and parks, one of which is Universal Studios. To be honest though, Universal on Sentosa is much the same as the other parks. The difference however, is in the mode of transportation to the island: a cable car and monorail. See the images below for the amazing aerial views while on the monorail!
An adult one-day ticket will set you back SGD $81. The island contains 14 hotels, a 2km long sheltered beach, Fort Siloso, two golf courses, a casino and of course the Resorts World. Had our flight not been leaving later in the evening, it would have been great to explore the rest of the island, although if you’re after a cultural hit, Sentosa is probably not the best place to land. My favourite favourite favourite part of the day was convincing my friend onto the rollercoaster. Sure, it was an hour and a half wait and we would DEFINITELY recommend paying additional for the express lane access (SGD $70) but in hindsight, it was a tantalizing way to build the suspense (insert angel emoji here). It must have been about 10-15 years since I was last on a rollercoaster and the Battlestar Galactica did not disappoint. The only let down was its duration. I was on an adrenaline high, which if you know my usual baseline, is a real sight.
Lunch options are the usual for a theme park: Western take away type food or Singaporean chicken rice (spicy or non-spicy option) and kebabs. Obviously it was our last time for chicken rice and we were glad to enjoy this post-rollercoaster ride (and not before).
Sadly, the trip was nearing its curtain call and we made our way back to the BagBnB and then to the airport. For others using this itinerary, please be aware that the journey to and from Sentosa is made considerably longer by use of the cable car and monorail system so please remember to budget time accordingly!
Epilogue
Places I missed that I wished I’d seen or would return to do
- Haji Lane at night
- Book a room at Marina Bay Sands Hotel
- Explore the remainder of Sentosa Island
- More of Ann Siang Hill!
In a nutshell
Singapore is a vibrant hotpot of cultures and comes complete with family adventures, views from soaring heights, scrumptious food, great nightlife and a moderate-to-expensive price tag, although many street corner options can offset the bank balance. Well worth travelling for a week’s holiday.
