Originally Posted by
lighthand
With a 7 hours transit time, my suggestion would be as follow:
1. Leave the airport and head out to see some of the local streets (there are lots of places open 24hrs)
2. Eat the local food at Geylang street, where you will also see the more "colorful" side of Singapore
3. Or drop by Mustafa at Little India which is open 24 hrs to buy almost anything you want at pretty good prices. At the same time you can get really good Indian food as well
Singapore is generally pretty safe, mainly cause the island is small and there are manned cameras everywhere. That's one of the reasons you can see the silent hours are not that silent at all.
You need about 1hr 15mins to safely clear Immigration & getting to your gate. So if you just bring your carry-on luggage with you, you should have about 4~5hrs to catch a bit of the real Singapore.
Clear Immigration & Customs (leaving airport) - 1hr
Clear Immigration & Customs (entering airside) - 30mins
Getting to your gate (assuming it's the furthers gate, and you are able bodied) - 20mins
Cheers
I would absolutely agree with this plan. The only thing I disagree with is the time through customs. Before I moved, I would commute to SG about monthly without the luxury of the automated kiosks for residents. I don't think immigration and customs ever took more than about 30 minutes in either direction (especially T3) and averaged more like 15.
Before Geylang or Little India, my recommendation would be to head to Lau Pa Sat's Satay Street (go to stalls 7 and 8, called Best Satay), which I believe is open until 3 most nights (but double check this). Once you've filled your belly with meat and shrimp on sticks, then you can explore elsewhere!