Singapore is indeed
one of the closest Indonesia's neighbor country. This city-state has many to
offer to tourists as it has lots of spot ranging from heritage centre, parks (I
seriously love this one), to shopping destination. I recently spent six days
there with my two friends, Albi and Rama. Fortunately, I didn’t have to think
about accomodation since we stayed on Rama’s cousin apt. On this vacation, Albi
and I took major parts on deciding the destination. Since we’ve visited Singapore
before, we want the different Singapore taste, though the main reason was:
maximizing happiness by minimum payment. So we did some research to what can we
visit/get by free, cheap good meals, and learn the country’s transportation
system. I’m going to write with time-based what I experienced here. I also listed my spending each days so I hope it’s going to help whoever read this blog.
18 April 2016
We bought a budget
flight ticket on October last year which I slightly forget how much it was, but
I guess it’s around IDR 500k for a round-trip. We depart from Jakarta (CGK) and
fyi, AirAsia has moved its counter to T3. It wasn’t a good start because we had
to wait upto 3hrs of delay. On 4.40 the plane just took off, the flight was
1h50mins, and we arrived in Singapore (SIN) on 6.20 if I’m not mistaken.
Singapore is one hour earlier than Indonesia, mind the time difference. As we
arrived, I could directly accessed airport’s wifi although it requires some
password that would be sent to your local number (I’m using Simpati). Please always
be ready with your passport and ticket for multiple checking on the airport (on
departure) and immigration check (on arrival). As there has been so many Indonesian
going to Singapore, the immigration officer will kindly speak Indonesian to
you.
We stayed on Tampines
neighborhood so we had to get MRT. The MRT station on Changi airport is located
on T2. For MRT and Bus access, I reccommend you to take Singapore Tourist Pass
(STP). It has one-day pass for SGD 20, two-day for SGD 26, and 3 day for SGD
30. Each pass comes with a refundable deposit of SGD 10. It’s different if you
got EZ-Link; it costs SGD 12 with SGD 7 value for use. The left is
non-refundable, but you could save your EZ-Link for another trip to Singapore
as it has 5 years lifespan. When you choose to get STP, use it optimally
because you can go anywhere without worrying how much left in your card. For a
EZ-Link user, you could use it to purchase TransCab and other outlets and
services that basically could be access here. That evening, I took the 3-Day
Pass and directly went home because we definitely exhausted.
Expenditure : SGD 30 for 3-Day STP
Tips : Bring a tumblr because you can find drinkable
tap water almost everywhere, to save your money. If you’re lucky, the water
might be cold which is very refreshing.
19 April 2016
We went to Jalan
Pisang on Arab Street area to join Rama’s family lunch invitation. We ate on
Hj. Maimunah, a famous halal restaurant. This one serves Malay food, but also
has Rendang on its menu. After lunch, we
split with the family and went to Arab Street. We visit some famous places like
Haji Lane and had salah in Masjid Sultan. This area has many small boutiques
and stores that sell unique things with quite cheap price. The afternoon on
Singapore could be very hot it reaches to 36 Celsius, wear your shades and
light clothes, keep hydrated.
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| Three kids are happy getting free big lunch |
Oh, I bought local
simcard (Singtel) on Sevel here. I bought Singtel for Tourist for SGD 15. It packed
with 4GB local data, 100 local sms, 500 mins local calls, 30 mins international
calls, and active upto 5 days. Singtel is the best provider, but you can also
try others like StarHub (they provide free 100GB data). When you buy a simcard,
the seller will need your passport to input your data. A surprise came up after
I purchased: I got 3 free portable charger. Yes! I got three!!! *happy*
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| mainstream spot: Haji Lane |
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| around Joo Chiat Rd |
After salah, we went
to Joo Chiat Rd to find Katong Antique House that latter we couldn’t find. It
was so hot and we walk until we decided, that we cannot find the housing. I got
some pretty pics, tho. Hehehe. From Joo Chiat Rd, we went to Garden by the Bay.
We took a bus to Eunos, the nearest MRT station. From Eunos station, we headed
to Bayfront station, took the Exit D, and walk to the Garden. You must be
familiar with the icon of this garden: the super tree. I was too tired to talk
that I kept silent during walk, until we stopped by McD to get some lunch.
After lunch, Rama went to his family house while Albi and I stayed until the
light show over. I was amazed with the light show. It’s beautiful!!! I love the
ambiance, the songs, the people, the smile. The best part was I got to enjoy
the show right across the super tree so I could saw the other smaller super
trees. It is indeed magical, I even asked Albi to come again another day.
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| a super cute corner at McD Gardens by the Bay |
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| under super trees |
After the show, we
took the MRT to Chinatown, without any working devices because my phone was out
of battery and it had some trouble when I charge it. We stopped on the Telok
Ayer station and walk around 10 minutes to reach the most famous hawker centre
on Singapore: Maxwell Food Centre. It was our first hawker centre that we got
on its almost closing hour hahaha. Unfortunately, some stalls were closed
because it’s pretty late. It closed at 10 pm. Done with our meals, we directly
went home. Fyi, Tampines is one of the most crowded neighborhood, located on
the last two MRT station of East West Line. So everyday, I went home very tired
because sometimes I had to stand and the train was always almost full. But it’s
still much much better than KRL, don’t even compare. Lol
Expenditure : SGD 6 (shared
cab to Jalan Pisang)
SGD 1.30 (a drink at Sevel)
SGD 5 (shared simcard)
SGD 5.70 (McD
combo menu consist of ;burger, fries, drink)
SGD 3 (Roasted
Chicken Rice at Maxwell)
Tips : It's preferable to wear long clothes when you're around Arab Street, especially if you want to pray on Masjid Sultan. If you wear shorts, you can take kain batik/sarong in front of Masjid to cover it, but to avoid awkward situation, wear long one. Do simcard sharing when you go in group.
The provided data (4 or 100 GB) is more than enough to spend for a week. Use
tethering facilities so other phone could access the internet. Hawker centre is
the other name of food centre with lots of food stall that serves main food
from SGD 2. Spent wisely, don’t only have chicken rice/hainanese rice. Order
some noodles or other food that cheaper but filling. Your visit to food centre
could also be your culinary time. Some Singaporean food worth to try: Hainanese
Chicken Rice, Kaya Toast, Laksa, Chilli Crab (pricey), Carrot Cake, (any) Mee,
Roti Prata, Naan, and I could keep write those deli food basically just try
many many foods!
20
April 2016
MY HAPPIEST TIME: THEME PARK!
Three
of us went to Universal Studios Singapore with Rama’s brother, too. From
Tampines station, we transit to Paya Lebar station to change to Circle Line and
get off on HarbourFront station. The station located on VivoCity, the largest
mall in Singapore. We went back and forth as we decided to buy ticket first and
back to VivoCity to have lunch. It’s quite tiring because we walk through 670m
Sentosa Boardwalk, tho there are some travelators. After we purchase our
ticket, we ate on Kopitiam at VivoCity. It’s similar to food centre so you can
choose your own preference. We bought some bread, too, in case we got hungry at
the park. If you’re on budget travelling, eating on USS is not a recommendation
as the food sometimes be overprice. But you can find fastfood restaurant such
as McD or Subway on the RWS area.
I
got to say, I enjoy USS because it contains several zones that I love. From
Hollywood to Madagascar zone, I love Sci-Fi and Far Far Away. The first journey
is on Hollywood where I met Mel’s Dinettes and Minions. I
missed out the photo session with Minions but just realize it when we finished
the journey. Sad. We entered the Spaghetti Space Chase (New York zone) and it
was fun hahaha no tensity, tho. And I
missed Sesame Street photo session when I just arrived to the queue. Double
Sad. As we walked, we moved to Sci-Fi City where we ride our first 3D coaster
ride, Transformers 3D Ride. Unexpected! I love this coaster because it somehow
distract our fear of coaster to the battle movie. Totally want to ride this
over and over again hahaha! As it rains, we moved to Far Far Away because any
outdoor rides were closed. We watched Shrek 4D Adventure that made Albi asleep
at the end. Hahaha. The happiest moment was; when we finished watching the 4D
show, the Puss in Boots ride opened! The happiness is doubled when I got a
photo session with the Puss!!! Miaw :3 Well, I ride almost all the coaster
except the Battlestar Galactica which shivered me out just when I stand under
those giant-longest coaster. BUT I REALLY WANT TO RIDE ACTUALLY :( IT’S SO THRILLING!!!! The boys went, tho. Shame on me. After USS, the boys ate
on McD (again, guys? I don’t recommend).
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| on my favorite zone *welcome home, Princess* hehe |
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| the only one I didn't ride *shame* |
I
had my dinner on Seah Im Food Centre. Again, I want to try foods as many as I
could. Rama and his brother went home first because he felt dizzy. Again, Albi
and I being the wanderlust strolling around like a Singaporean. Two days on
Singapore has changed my English accent to a bit Singlish but I rarely use it.
It went well when I talked to the seller and when I could respond to their
Singlish fast, I got a satisfaction. *SelfProud* I must suggest, it doesn’t
matter what kind of accent you use as long as you could respond them fast, they
will understand, so practice your English too. Sometimes, you must be lucky to
interact with Malay as we share pretty much similarity on mother language. But when
you interact with Chinese, well, I got to say, it’s much better for you to
practice your English long before you depart. It is also useful when you plan
to go overseas, any other English speaking country. In Seah Im, we found so
many halal stalls—from Malay to Indian one. I got Fried Mee with Ikan Bilis
(similar to Ikan Teri in Indonesia, but not salty).
Expenditure : SGD 74 (USS)
SGD 3.50 (Fried
Mee)
SGD 1 (shared iced coffee)
Tips :
If you’re not the type of walker, take a cable car from HarborFront to Sentosa
Island for about SGD 13.
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| Round of Happiness |
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