TOMFORD

Hi all, I have three free days in Singapore in March but can't seem to find much to do. Let me caveat the words below by saying that I have spent half my life in China, and half my life in/near NYC; I also frequently visit Asia. When I travel, I am most interested in food, culture, and history, in no particular order.

Food: I did some extensive research, and the thing most interesting to me about Singapore is its food (assuming that Chinese food isn't rampant there). I have planned to visit a bunch of hawker centers.

Culture: I know there's little India and little China, but having been to the actual India and actual China, and a bunch of little Chinas around the world, I don't care for those. I also do not care for botanic gardens, parks, theme parks, or zoos.

History: I like historical sites and monuments, but not museums.

Basically if it's something I can easily see in the US, I don't want to spend time there abroad. I know another attraction is shopping - I don't do much shopping either. I go to stores knowing what I want to buy, so shopping to me is going to pick up things at the store. Any recommendations on what else I can do besides just eating myself into a food coma?


Also, simple questions...

1. Is there some special way to spot/hail taxis?
2. Where can I pick up MTRs, and can they be used for taxis? (The MTR website has a taxi section)

uk1

Some of the food centres are more orientated to certain cuisines, so for example if you go to Golden Mile it is Thai orientated.

In terms of culture it would be helpful for you to say what you liked rather than just what you don't like. Although you may avoid museums I suggest you google the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum and also Baba House. These are social history orientated and fascinating for an understanding of Singapore and it's history.

BBxCoreb

Taxis are relatively easy to flag. There is a electronic sign on the top of each taxi, red means its occupied. Green means its vacant and flagging it will direct the driver to you. Usually at certain times of the day (4-6pm) its the time for drivers to change their workshift & they may decline taking your job if you are heading in an oppesite direction, dont be alarmed if this happen. Usual thing to do is to flag down a cab, tell them your location (example, you say : taxi uncle, going to Chinatown. He would usually say ok and signal you to enter the cab or say no no no, and waves you away).

Locations you may wish to visit which has historical/phototaking value in my opinion.

1. Marina Bay Area - Views of Marina Bay Sands from Hotel Fullerton/Merlion area. View of Singapore Cityscape from Marina Bay Sands. Noticeable places to see in the area, The Esplanade, Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the bay, Victoria Theatre, Parliament House, Old Supreme Court, City Hall
2. Evening Drinks @ Parkview square with "wine fairies" Not Cheap but the interior decor still fascinates my overseas friends up to today
3. Singapore River Area, Clark Quay & Riverside Quay. Usual drinks & alfresco dining area. For nice japanese ramen head to either the Central Mall or Liang Court. Don't do, have seafood here.
4. Chinatown & Duxton Area. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, and many cafes in the area of tanjong pagar road, south bridge road etc. Plently of food choices.
5. Vivocity, one of the biggest shopping malls in Singapore. Place to take a monorail into Resort World Sentosa & Sentosa. You may also take a 15-20min stroll via the walkway to RWS.
6. Geylang. Singapore red light district but also home to lots of great local food. you have been warned its the red light district. The food place are located at the odd numbered streets and along sims ave. Go with a local friend to know what to eat and where to eat, could get pretty confusing if alone.
7. If time is ok to you, take a train/cab out to have a meal at some of the outskirt hawker centres such as old airport road/seah imm/hong lim food centre/tiong bahru market for more local food/crowd.

Thats the usual place ill bring my foreign friends to. my 1 cent worth. =)

SanDiego1K

I've sought out various cultural and historic sights on my visits to Singapore. Some that I particularly enjoyed:

1) Chinese Heritage Museum - fascinating look at how life was in Singapore

2) Peranakan Museum

3) Changi Prisoner of War Camp - I visited Singapore many times before I learned about this. This is close to the airport. We flew in mid morning, so went directly to the POW Camp. Staff obligingly kept our luggage while we toured the grounds. We then picked up our luggage, staff halled a taxi for us, and we went on to our hotel.

TOMFORD

I like old and historic scenes. For example, when I go to Shanghai, I spend a lot of time in nearby areas like Ningbo, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuzhen, etc places that still have a whiff of old China.

Are you signing yourself up for that?

Thanks! Will take a look at them.

tentseller

Since you know about New York Chinese food and American Chinese food; let me comment that in Singapore it is Singaporean Chinese food, heavy with roots of the region where the early Chinese migrants came from along with added local ingredients.

Singaporean Chinese food should be a branch by itself just like Hong Kong Chinese food which has more Western fusion influence than traditional GuangZhou Cantonese cuisine.

jpatokal

I'm afraid Singapore is pretty much entirely the wrong place to go then, since not only is it pretty short on history by Chinese standards, but everything old and historical has either been a) demolished, b) placed in a museum, or c) had its facade restored to within an inch of its life, plus the innards gutted and converted into a hotel or a shopping mall.

Now some of those museums are pretty good, but if you're looking for the "real deal", warts and all, try eg. Georgetown or Melaka in Malaysia instead. (Although both are hardly like stepping out of a time machine either.)

invisible

I can take you around Geylang and Four Floors (google it) - I actually to it with every of my friends (including females) stayed at my place. Nobody got disappointed. We can eat frog porridge, if you'd like.

For time machine one needs to go to rural Burma or Laos. Better - Bhutan.

aztimm

Don't forget a Singapore Sling from Long Bar!

http://www.raffles.com/singapore/dining/long-bar/

There were a bunch of food stalls over near the marina, not far from my hotel (the Conrad), which made a great place to get some local food at decent prices.

MSPeconomist

Museums: Asian Civilization, Chinese Heritage, plus the art museum (and its annex) and history of Singapore museum, both near the Singapore Management University campus in the downtown area. The art museum is good for contemporary Asian art.

It you go to MBS, don't miss the helix bridge and the general architecture of the new science museum. On the other side of MBS, there's a small (IIRC museum) that has a model of Singapore. The theater building by the bay also has unique architecture.

You might want to allow a bit of time to explore SIN airport, although I guess you would reject the butterfly garden, cactus garden, koi ponds, etc.

glennaa11

It might have made sense to figure this out before planning the trip. :-)

But if you don't like museums then you're missing out on some interesting places. The Asian Civilisations Museum has a very good collection from all over the continent. I ended up getting a free ticket from the concierge desk of the hotel I was staying at. Nice English language 1 hour tour of the collection was very informative.

I also loved the Singapore City Gallery which explains the evolution of the city and it's planning. Basically it's all about urban planning. And there's a cool scale model of the island.

That National Museum also explains the history of Singapore very well.

I found all of those places very informative. But I like museums. It seems a little odd that you like historic places but not museums. However, to each their own.

Lots of the best places in Singapore (or at least the attractions) are apparently not the kinds of things you like to see or do.

gilbertaue

It's called Makansutra Gluttons Bay

TOMFORD

Hi all, thanks for all the recommendations so far. It looks like I will be visiting some museums since I still have some free time on my itinerary!

Is the Singapore MTR easy to navigate? There's no need to extensively research that before hand? Also, I can use Singapore ATMs to get cash? I remember reading some horror stories about the ATM charging not only a service fee, but also a X% of amount withdrawn as fees.

dsgtc0408

The MRT can be ok in terms of straightforward especially if you stay within a particular line (eg East/West or Northeast line). It gets a little more complicated if you need to change lines. The walk between lines at interchange stations such as Dhoby Ghaut or Outram Park seem to go on forever. Having said that, if you're familiar with the NY subway, it will be like the 34th Street station changing from the F to the N train or at People's Square station on the Shanghai Metro. I'd suggest a little research on which MRT stop is closest to the place you want to go (eg attraction, museum) and your hotel to determine if there are any transfers.

You probably want to do some advance research on minimizing ATM usage fees. If your US bank is Citibank, I don't think they charge transaction fees for withdrawing from overseas Citi ATMs. You'll be happy to know that there are Citibank ATMs in the MRT stations and a few other spots. I can't speak to the fees charged by other banks, however getting cash from Singapore banks will not be a problem.

Here's something to get you started on your ATM research - but note that this article just gives you the background you need. You need to figure out what your bank will charge, and how much the Singapore bank will charge for letting you use their ATM.

http://thepointsguy.com/2013/07/avoi...veling-abroad/

One other thought. If your Singapore visit is for just three days, it might be simpler to change US$ cash at one of the banks at Changi Airport as soon as you arrive. Offhand I don't know what rate they will use but it won't be a ripoff.

uk1

Our approach is really straightforward.

Download one of the Singapore travel apps. If it is convenient and easy. I tells you costs and specifics on how take a bus or MRT or taxi with costs. The app tells you exactly the options including knowing where you are, the closest bus stop and bus and mrt and all fares. But taxis are so cheap you can easily take a cab.

Enjoy your stay.