Inggo and I went on an adventure a few weeks ago. It wasn’t our first adventure together, but this trip still had many “firsts”. So let me list some: first overseas trip for me, first overseas trip together, first time to go to a 24 hours open mall, first time to eat a banana-looking and delicious tapioca Thai dessert, first time to go home solo.
I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures because my digicam died and its charger is broken. Eep. But I don’t mind. Live for the experience, right? So here are some photos that I took from my digicam (before it died) and my phone. Picture heavy post ahead!
First agenda when you arrive in Changi Airport: Get a tourist pass! We got the 3-day pass for $30 each ($10 rebatable). Worth it!
We stayed at V Hotel Lavender. It was a good decision since its just beside the MRT.
Lunch at a Kopi Tiam/ Hawker center beside our hotel. Chicken rice is a must in Singapore. ($7.50 in this kopi tiam. Comes with soup and a veggie viand. Delicious!)
It was the weekend before Chinese New Year. So there were a lot of celebrations around the country. This one was at Bugis. I love that there’s only 1 red lantern in this shot.
We didn’t do the touristy route on this trip (a.k.a. Universal Studios / Sentosa / Night Safari). We did have an itinerary though! It was: go to our preferred places (Bras Basah complex for me, Funan mall for him) and eat the recommended food. That’s it. I love having a lot of time for exploring. And I love that its the same for him. That’s why sulit na sulit ang Tourist Pass samin. We don’t stress over the itinerary and just go with the flow. We were supposed to get off at City Hall station but we were too tired from walking from Orchard road. So we just rested and went all the way up to Marina Bay station. HAHA.
Nasi Goreng seafood at Kampong Glam Cafe, Arab street. Looks simple no? But it was full of flavor.
Late night snack at a random hawker center after exploring Little India. Didn’t like the noodles used here but I love that it had oyster bits.
Bras Basah complex. Will do a separate post about it soon.
Funan Digitalife Mall. Near City Hall station. For all your computer needs.
Thai for lunch at Funan. Green curry with chicken for him. Tom Yum Goong for me. It was so spicy + delicious! The surprising item was the dessert. I thought it was pineapple with milk so I didn’t touch mine. But he said it wasn’t so I took a bite. SO. DELICIOUS. I’m still craving for it! After further research, it’s cassava with coconut milk.
We ended up exploring Orchard Road after Funan. For what reason? He wanted to eat at Ippudo.
I don’t remember the name of this. What I remember though is that this is $6 for 4 pieces of delicious meat and onions. HUHU.
Teh Tarik menu. Research the differences between “O”, “C”, “Susu”, etc. for your preferred drink. Teh is “tea”, Kopi is “coffee”. đ
Every drink I had in SG was delicious. âĨ
Last breakfast in SG. Kopi “O”, Kopi “C”, and Kaya toast. This was beside our hotel. We decided to eat here because of the name – “Heavenly Wang” HAHA. But the food is good. A bit expensive though.
Some tips we learned during our stay:
- Get the tourist pass card! It’s worth the money. Plus you won’t get stressed out when you miss your station/stop. Just ride again HAHA.
- Take the MRT and bus. I’m pretty sure you won’t get lost. SG is a commute friendly country. There are maps inside and outside the station (map for MRT, map of the vicinity) plus the bus schedules are also posted there. If not, you can still ask the MRT staff for help. Also, they have free maps everywhere! I grabbed 3 in Changi HAHAHA.
- Some stations are nearby each other. If you have a problem riding a lot of stations to change lines, just WALK. (Example: to get to Bras Basah from Lavender. You have to ride the green line to City Hall, change to red line to Dhoby Ghaut, then to Bras Basah.)
- Wear comfortable clothes. It’s a hot country, yea?
- Get a sim card. We got one in Changi. It was $15 for 5 days with data. Very useful in case you need to google bus schedules, store locations, operating hours, etc.
- In our opinion, don’t bother going to the malls and restaurants. They’re expensive! Just go to hawker centers / kopi tiam for food. As for shopping. Souvenirs (keychain/bag): cheapest at Bugis street. Perfume/chocolates: Mustafa centre. Art materials: BRAS BASAH COMPLEX. Computer stuff: Eh, they have the latest stuff here but prices are comparable with Philippines. As for clothes: Bugis is the “cheapest”. But “cheap” in SG is $10-$20 = 340php-680php.
- Take advantage of the GST refund. Read more about it here.
Sigh. Thank you to Inggo for bringing me to SG! I had so much fun. Especially since its with you. âĨ (CHOS AHAHA). That’s all for now. Art hoard post coming soon!