Singapore for museum lovers

I adore museums. There’s something about having pieces of art/culture/history arranged neatly in a central location with captions that makes me go weak in the knees. That, plus air conditioning during hot days.

I had the chance to visit 7 national museums (including one that is not listed as a museum) in Singapore last August.

I want to share my very biased list of which museums to go to (or miss).

Best museum in Singapore:
— Asian Civilization Museum

Best for general knowledge of Singapore:
— Singapore National Museum

Best for kitsch:
— Peranakan Museum

Do not go:
— Singapore Philatelic Museum

For WW2 history buffs:
— Singapore National Museum
— Reflections at Bukit Chandu
— Memories at Ford Factory

For art lovers:
— Asian Civilization Museum
— Singapore Art Museum

One museum to visit if you only have 1 hour
— Peranakan Museum

PS I have not included the Art Science Museum in the list because I’ve not been there. The entrance price S$28 (US$22.6) is just too expensive. Even the Lourve doesn’t charge as much €15 (US$19.8).

Asian Civilisation Museum

The best museum in Singapore in many of my friends’ opinion. Why? Because the collection is the best among the museums around here.

The collection features items from many parts of Asia. I particularly like the part on China and the ghosts guardians.

The museum is near the Esplanade and the Merlion. So if you’re around the area, drop by ACM.

It’s best to allocate about 1.5 hours.

Nitty gritty:
Website: http://www.acm.org.sg
Opening hours: Monday 1pm- 7pm; Tuesday-Sunday 9am-7pm (to 9pm on Fridays)
Entrance fee: S$8 (Discounted admission on Fridays, 7pm – 9pm)

National Museum of Singapore

If you want a good look at this museum, you’ll need at least 2 hours for the permanent exhibition on Singapore’s history. There are two routes on the audioguide: story telling and history telling. I like the story telling since it’s very different from how other museums show their collection.

If you have an hour, the collection upstairs about Singapore’s food, fashion, film and photography is a good place to kill time.

The travelling exhibitions are usually top-notch. I loved the Pompeii exhibition and the Museum of Orsay collection.

Nitty gritty:
Website: http://www.nationalmuseum.sg/
Address: 93 Stamford Road S(178897)
Opening hours:
Singapore History Gallery 10am to 6pm, Daily
Singapore Living Galleries 10am to 8pm, Daily **Free admission from 6pm to 8pm **Last admission at 7.30pm
Entrance fee: S$10

Singapore Art Museum (SAM)

When I first visited the Singapore Art Museum, it was full of rather boring and depressing art pieces. I regretted paying my entrance fee and swore never to come back.

But I did come back because of the free entrance on Friday night. The art work were better and there were more things being exhibited.

The main building (picture in the photo above) was a boy’s school. It’s rather fun imagining how it would be studying at the school.

The cooler exhibition is at the new “wing” at 8Q, which is just a corner away. Things are more exciting at 8Q.

The exhibition at 8Q is more interactive as you should be part of the art pieces. Exhibit A, B, C, D:

Nitty gritty:
Website: http://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/
Opening hours: Monday-Sunday 10am – 7pm Friday 10am – 9pm (Enjoy complimentary entry on Friday evenings from 6pm – 9pm)
Entrance fee: S$10 (Free entry on Fridays from 7pm – 9pm)

Peranakan Museum

If you like bursts of colors, the Singapore Peranakan Museum is where you should go. Everything about it is beautiful.

Let me try to explain what Peranakan is. (Or you can click on the link there to head to Wikipedia.) Once upon a time, men sailed from China to what is now known as South-Southeast Asia (yes, I made up that term). The men who settled down here and married local women. The children would grow up in a mix of two cultures–Chinese and local–and thus the Peranakan culture was born.

To be honest, this museum is not my favorite museum in terms of content. It does show you how the daily lives of Peranakan is like with reenacted locations of the house filled with furniture. But somehow, it felt like it was trying to commercialize the concept of “Peranakan”.

Unlike the Pinang Peranakan Museum in Penang, everything in this museum has a little note explaining the scene. That’s a bonus point for the museum, I guess.

Nitty gritty:
Website: http://www.peranakanmuseum.sg/
Opening hours: Monday 1pm to 7pm; Tuesday to Sunday: 9am – 7pm (to 9 pm on Fridays) (50% discount on admission charges on Fridays, 7pm – 9pm)
Entrance fee: S$6 (Free entry on Fridays from 7pm – 9pm)
Asian Civilisations Museum & Peranakan Museum Joint-ticket** S$10

Check out part two where I introduce the lesser visited museums: Singapore Philatelic Museum, Reflections at Bukit Chandu and Memories at Ford Factory.

Tips to maximize your trip to Genting

Genting Highlands is a hill resort located about an hour away from KL Sentral. It’s popular among gamblers who visit the casino and families who visit the theme park.

[Note to Singaporeans, Genting is not pronounced “jen-ting” like “generation”. It’s more like “guh-n-ting”. Here’s an audio clip here.]

Purchase Genting Go pass at major bus terminals

If you are heading to Genting for a day trip or for even for an overnight stay, do consider getting the Go Genting Golden package.

The package is sold at various important locations: KL Sentral, Pudu Sentral, 1Utama, Terminal Gombak and Hentian Kajang. (The package is RM58 for the first four departure locations and RM63 for the last.)

The package gives you same-day return bus transfer, same-day return cable car and either an Outdoor Theme Park ride pass or buffet lunch.

Considering that the 1-Day Unlimited Ride Pass for Outdoor Theme Park is RM54 for adults, the package is really bang for your buck (or ringgit, in this part of the world).

Plus the cable ride is amazing.

Be flexible with Go Genting pass

Even though there are various time slots, the Go Genting packages can be sold out for certain timings. (Most likely the early morning slots from popular departure points such as KL Sentral.)

This happened to us. We were at KL Sentral before 8am and there was a sign saying that the next bus will leave at 12.30pm because earlier tickets were sold out.

Instead of heeding the taxi drivers’ advice to take his car, I called up the Pudu Sentral ticket counter and checked that they have tickets for 8.30am. We bought a taxi coupon from the official point and zipped to Pudu, with plenty of time to spare for our ride.

Go early and get back before last bus

Queues at the theme park can get long on weekends. To be sure that you can test out all the rides before sundown, go as early as possible.

Similarly, you don’t want to be stranded up on the mountain with no bus back to KL. Check the bus timing!

Book a room on Saturday

If you are staying at the hotel for a night, choose Saturday because the park closes at 10pm then.

I didn’t know of this when I booked the room and found out only when we were there. It was a very pleasant surprise. We ended up leaving only after 9.30pm.

Check in early

IF you do book a room, you don’t have to wait until 3pm to check in for First World Hotel.

The self-check in kiosks allow you to check in rooms that are available. They even have a sign with the number of available rooms.

Bring your own food or instant noodles

Food at Genting is expensive. If you want to save money, bring your own food.

Consider bringing instant noodles. You can get hot water when you go up the hotel room floors.

Eat at food court

At First World Hotel, head to to 2B where there is a Kopitiam food court.

The claypot stall sells fairly reasonably-priced food that is quite tasty.

Do you have other tips for Genting? Share in the comments.

Journey to the Tip of Borneo

When I was back home for my 10-day holiday in Sabah, the only tourist attraction I visited was the Tip of Borneo. It is publicized as the most Northern point of the Borneo island.

Getting there was no easy even with our own car. The road signs were very lacking.

3G connection was bad and we had to rely on our inner GPS to guess which road to take when at a junction.

Along the way, we saw a lot of oil palm tree plantations. The plantations were thick with oil palm trees with their evil-looking pointy leaves.

There were also coconut trees which looked like they were beheaded and left with pointy tree stumps.

On our way, we passed by several homestay houses that didn’t look as comfortable as a city person wants. But if you want to be able to see the beautiful sea during evey waking moment (only that and not much else), I suppose staying at the Tip of Borneo area is good.

After several turns and windy roads, we reached the seaside. The weather that day was great. The sun was bright but not too hot and the sky was clear with only some clouds.

The Tip was at the very end of the road and we had to park our car. There was an uphill slope that we needed to climb before we were at the edge.

Visitors of the Tip of Borneo

We reached the Tip of Borneo at around 10am. I was surprised to see that many people were already there and some just about to go back. What time did they leave their house/hotel to come here so early?

We also saw a TV production team with a TV host in a red T-shirt, a couple taking wedding photos (stunning view) and a few lovebirds.

As usual, there was a large globe-thing with words like “YOU ARE AT THE TIP OF BORNEO. NOW GET A COOKIE” so people can remember where they actually were when they look back at the photos. “Hmmm…this stone looks like the one in Sandakan, or was it Kudat?”

The actual Tip of Borneo is a protruding rock surface which is half-heartedly fenced off with a small wooden road block that said: “DANGER” in Malay.

Mom and I played it safe and didn’t walk down, although I would have if I were with friends.

We listened to the waves crash and the cicada sing as we stared at the very end (or beginning) of the Borneo island.

Have you been to the Tip of Borneo?

Why you should visit Singapore’s Arab Street in the early morning

I like Arab Street for its food and the pretty Sultan Mosque.

But whenever I am in the area, the sun is shining too brightly and I feel dehydrated from walking around. There is just too much noise and people–the tourists with their gigantic cameras, cars waiting for the green light and shops laying out their wares on the sidewalk.

It’s sometimes a little too much to handle.

One day, I had the chance to visit Arab Street early in the morning around 7am. It was a different Arab Street without the people and the cars.

It was a little surreal but I liked it. The sun wasn’t out yet and the people were still away.

Deserted pedestrian street in Arab Street

Sultan Mosque, Arab Street, Singapore — Sultan Mosque, Arab Street

Do you like crowds when travelling?

Come see to a ‘tamu’ Sabah’s version of a Farmer’s Market

If you happen to visit Sabah, please time your visit so you can go to one of the weekly “tamu”.

Pronounced as “tah-moo”, the weekly market (or Farmer’s Market) where vendors gather to sell different produce and products.

Different areas have different tamu days. For example, Donggogon’s tamu is on Thursday and Friday. Putatan’s tamu is on Saturday and Sunday. Kota Belud has one on Wednesday. Kinarut is on Saturday while Lok-Kawi where my parents have a shop has tamu on Thursday.

In olden days, it was a day in the week where villagers flock to a central location to either sell or buy their excess agricultural or anima stock. Nowadays, you will find all sorts of things on sale at a tamu, including clothes.

Seeing the Kota Belud tamu on Wednesday

Gate of Pasar Tani Kota Belud — Gates of Kota Belud agricultural market

I had the chance to visit the tamu in Kota Belud on the day of the roadtrip to Kudat. Kota Belud is a little town halfway between Kota Kinabalu and Kudat which takes about 1.5 hours to reach there by car.

My family began our journey to Kudat on a Wednesday. On the way, we stopped by Kota Belud for lunch. We were in luck since Kota Belud’s tamu was on a Wednesday.

According to a guidebook which I just returned to the library today, Kota Belud is the home of tamu. I couldn’t really tell when I was there.

It was fruit season that period and my parents managed to buy durian and rambutan for cheap.

For those used to the sanitized markets in the western world, Sabah’s Farmers Market might be a culture shock with overpowering smells, heat and humidity.

Vendors lay their wares on sheets of plastic. For peel-able fruits, you are able to taste some before you decide on buying more from the vendor.

In Kota Belud, most of the durian sellers (who also sell mangosteen and rambutan) were lined up on the pavement and not in the real market area. Some of the vendors bought the fruit wholesale and didn’t plant it themselves.

If you speak Malay, bargaining can be easy. I’ve not seen vendors quoting prices to those who do not speak Malay but I suspect they will not rip people off too badly.

From nearest: Unknown fruit, langsat, mangosteen, jackfruit

Have you ever been to a tamu? How was your experience?

What I do when I am back home in Sabah

I just came back from an 11-day trip home (which is about 9 days long if you take away the travelling days). It was a good recharging of my batteries.

Since some people–okay, maybe only my uncle–are curious about why I go home so often. (I only went back home 3 times in 2012.) I’ll share what I do when I am home.

See the parents

The main reason I head back to Sabah is to see my parents. Or maybe for my parents to see me. I’m not sure which way it goes.

I also bicker (good humoredly, I hope) with the parents.

Eat seafood

A good reason to head home is for the cheap yummy seafood. A meal for two which includes a kilogram of cooked crabs, steamed fish, a stirfried vegetable and rice costs only RM63 (US$21).

Steal Wi-Fi at restaurants

My parents cancelled the fixed broadband line because it doesn’t work 95 percent of the time. In the end, I had to surf on my mobile phone.

For long blog posts, I had to bring my laptop to restaurants and use their Wi-Fi while I wait for the food to arrive.

Meet friends

I usually multitask by stealing Wi-Fi and meeting my long-time-no-see friends.

Help a little at the shop and house chores

My parents own a grocery store in the neighborhood where I grew up. I didn’t really like tending to the shop because it’s mindnumbingly dull to sit at the cashier, key in prices and bag groceries.

But then, this was the place which provided my university tuition.

Play mahjong

I played plenty of mahjong with my mom and her friends when they lacked another player.

I’m not very good at it but I did win some (a minority) rounds.

Travel

When my holidays are too short, I don’t move around much. This time, I had 11-days so my mom drove us to Kudat for a one-night trip. We saw the “tip of Borneo” and ate some seafood.

Visit the temple

I’m still rather confused about which religion I am partial to. I grew up believing I was Buddhist when I was praying to Taoist gods). I do like Greek gods now but I don’t think that’s considered a religion now.

Despite my confusion, I still visit temples. There’s a Taiwanese saying “有拜有保佑” which means “you will be protected if you pray”. The saying means that it doesn’t hurt to pray to as many gods so you won’t be left out on Judgement Day.

Welcome the new year

My mom and her friends have a tradition of going to the beach around 11pm on new year eve. Before the clock strikes 12, we head into the sea to wash away the bad from the current year and welcome the good luck from the coming year.

Where is home?

Last time, I wrote a post about how I am homeless because I cannot tell which is home. When I was back in Sabah this time, I realized that it’s possible to have many places you call home.

It all depends on how much you feel that you belong in a place.

Do you live away from home? What do you do when you are back?

Trip to Pinang Peranakan Museum

What do you do when you are planning a trip to a place where you’ve been to with Person A but now you need to Person B to the same place.

That was the question I had to answer when I was planning my parents’ trip to Penang. Previously, I went to the Pearl of the Orient once with L. I didn’t really want to visit sites which I’ve visited because it would be a waste of time for me.

However, I made an exception for the Pinang Peranakan Museum.

Background of Pinang Peranakan Museum

Pinang Peranakan Museum's facade — Pinang Peranakan Museum’s facade

The museum was previously the house of a rich Peranakan family.

Even though the mansion is big, it doesn’t seem be to big enough for a family with 3 generations, including the multiple concubines and their kids. Perhaps the lower ranking people lived in the compound and not the main house.

Pinang Peranakan Museum's interior — Pinang Peranakan Museum’s interior

The museum is divided into two levels. The lower level is the place where guests visit. It includes a gigantic dining table, a room for card games and loads of antique.

Many of the wooden panels or carvings were decorated with a layer of gold (probably only paint) which made the whole floor look a little like the showfloor for houses targeted at the nouveau riche.

The upper floor is similarly packed with antiques but is more “personal”.

The wedding room is a little ominous with the red lighting which made the room feel like a brothel instead of the suit of a newly wed couple.

After seeing Singapore’s Peranakan Museum, the Pinang Peranakan Museum feels like everything was thrown together in haste for the exhibition. This isn’t a bad thing because it feels more approachable. It’s easier to imagine how the family might have lived..

I’m a star

Based on the fading movie posters at the entrance, the house was the filming location for multiple period dramas.

A popular Singapore period drama, Little Nyonya, might be filmed here. I’ve never watched the drama but after reading the character bios, I think I might like the show because it doesn’t have a “Happily Ever After” ending.

The parents and I at Pinang Peranakan Museum

The compound of the museum had a few bamboo-like plants. They were decorated with the entrance stickers which were stuck on by tourists. I like that it gave the green tone of the wall and plants a pop of color.

Comparing Pinang Peranakan Museum and Singapore Peranakan Museum

If I must choose between Pinang Peranakan Museum and Singapore Peranakan Museum, I would choose the museum in Penang as my favorite.

The site feels more friendly and human because all the wares are right in front of you.

If you like reading explanations in museums then Penang’s peranakan museum might not suit your taste.

Singapore’s Peranakan Museum is housed in a beautiful building but the content of the exhibition is a little sterile. It played up the peranakan nostalgia to the highest volume.

Visiting information:

Location: 29 Lebuh Gereja George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Entrance fee: RM10
Time required to look around: ~1 hour

Like Penang? Check out my other posts on the Pearl of the Orient.

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My first visit to a wine fair

I visited the Singapore Wine Fiesta on Saturday.

What is the Singapore Wine Fiesta? It’s an open air wine fair organized by the Straits Wine Company.

Entrance fee is S$38 but more expensive if you purchase it at the doors.

Luckily, I won two tickets to the wine fair through a Facebook contest organized by MyDestination Singapore or else I don’t think I would have ever gone to one.

This year’s Wine Fiesta’s held at the Customs House which is just opposite of Marina Bay Sands.

I asked D along to the fiesta since she’s my drinking buddy.

No, we don’t go out drinking but we buy back a bottle of wine sometimes and have a glass or two to celebrate the weekend.

I guess it’s also a wine shopping trip for us.

Entering the Wine Fiesta

The tickets allowed us to visit the Wine Fiesta on one of the three days. I picked Saturday, just in case we have a hangover that we need to sleep off on Sunday.

After showing our tickets, we were given a pink tag. Then we collected a wine glass by handing over a S$10 deposit and was given a yellow tag.

Even though it was a paid event and it was about 3pm, it was really crowded.

The venue itself is tiny and a lot of people would stand in the middle of the already crowded path to chat about the qualities of the wine they had.

Being a non wine connoisseur, my comments usually are: “It’s nice.” “I don’t like it.” “It’s so dry.” “Yummy!” and so on.

There were 65 different brands, according to the booklet. That is a lot of wine!

We mostly tried out Moscato since I do not like dry or tannin wines.

Since it was wine “tasting”, the amount doled out is usually enough for two sips. However, sometimes, one sip of a terrible drink is half a sip too much.

Nice finds

One really fun wine was Chocolate Wine by Rubis. The dark red liquid smelled like chocolate. It was sweet and smooth. But I didn’t like the high alcohol content (15 percent) as it made me dizzy just from the few sips.

Another cool wine was Little Miss Collet Moscato 2012 by Australian winery Woodstock Estace. It was named after the daughter of the winery owner. It smelled like mangoes! Imagine that, a mango-scented wine.

There was a booth with Japanese white wine from Grace Winery. It was too dry for my liking.

I’ve tasted a bit more than 10 different bottles of wine and ended up with a the Rosso Brachetto N.V. (S$27) from Villa M while D bought the Bianco Moscato.

It was the best tasting wine among the rest of the drier wines. Ok, I admit that I was attracted to its price too. There is no way I will spend more on a bottle of liquid.

Take lots of breaks

In the beginning, we went in search of only Moscatos.

After a few 1/8 glasses, we were starting to feel a little woozy so we took a break. We took a lot of breaks afterward too.

Marina Bay Sands was just opposite so everyone who wasn’t drunk had a nice view.

After some tasting, I wasn’t too drunk but I was starting to space out too much. One of my daydream was living in a vineyard (or a house next to a vineyard) and sneaking out to eat the plump grapes. Mmm…

One reason I didn’t as much as a lot of the red-faced visitors there was because I haven’t been trained to down copious amount of alcohol.

I used to break out in hives when I drink wine. So at the start of my Venerdì Vino (which I hope translates as “Wine Friday”), I had hives and rashes.

After a while, I stopped getting bad rashes. Now I’m more used to alcohol so having a little is fine but I get rashes if I drink too much.

Thoughts about the Wine Fiesta

Honestly, I would not pay to join such an event.

Despite the high entrance fee (I could have bought another Rosso Brachetto N.V. and a meal to go with it for S$38 ticket.), the event was really crowded.

It’s not pleasant trying to elbow your way to the table for two sips of wine. It wasn’t fun waiting for the person in front to finish flirting with the wine guy before I could actually hand my glass over for some tasting.

Plus, a lot of people were flushed and looked drunk. You would think that this is a posh event where people float around in clouds of fabric and take delicate sips of wine instead of the huge gulps.

With that entrance fee, I wish the organizer could find a bigger venue. There were too many times, the crowd couldn’t move because everyone was stuck.

Have you visited a wine fair? How was the experience?

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24 hours in Singapore

This post first appeared on Diario de un Curtido as 24 horas en Singapur. Spanish version available for those who read español.

Singapore, the Lion City, is the smallest country in Southeast Asia but it is also the wealthiest. The country has a reputation of being clean, safe and strict in enforcing its laws.

For many travellers from the west, Singapore may only be the stepping stone to other countries in the region or to Australia. If you do end up in Singapore for only a day, here is a sample itinerary. I would recommend giving the city at least two days so there will be a second “24 hours in Singapore” coming up.

Day 1
9 a.m.
1. Explore Bugis area for food and temples
Take the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) to Bugis Station and head to the Bencoolen hawker centre on Albert Street. Choose between the Chinese, Malay or Indian stalls for breakfast.

For coffee lovers, skip the Starbucks and get a Kopi which is served with sweet condensed milk.

After food, head to the Goddess of Mercy temple, or Kwan Im Thong Hood Choo Temple on Google Map [178 Waterloo Street]. You won’t miss it because of the scent of incense. Outside the temple, there are flower sellers and fortune tellers who will read your palm or your face and tell you if you will have a good life or a bad one.

guanyintang — Temple of the Goddess of Mercy

A couple of doors away is the bright and colorful Sri Krishnan Temple which is over 130 years old. You can visit the temple after taking off your shoes. The statues of gods and goddesses inside the temple are worth looking.

Opposite the temples are stores selling dried food. When you approach the stores, you will smell a unique scent of dried mushrooms and Chinese herbal medicine.

After the temples of Bugis, turn back into the shaded Bugis Street. Inside, there are many souvenir shops and drink stalls. If you are adventurous, at the other end of Bugis Street, right next to the bus stop, is a Chinese food stall selling marinated spicy duck neck and duck feet.

12 noon
2. Arab Street
It is time to head to walk to Arab Street for more sightseeing and also lunch.

On Arab Street, you can visit the Sultan Mosque[3 Muscat Street] which is said to be the most beautiful mosque in Singapore. Tourists can go into the mosque at specific hours.

For food, you can visit the various restaurants on Haji Lane for Arabic food. For Indian food, I recommend Zam Zam Restaurant [697 N Bridge Rd] which also has another branch at the other end of the shophouse lot.

After lunch, you can wander around the area for trinkets and even Sari cloth.

3 pm
3. Chinatown
From Arab Street, the easiest way to Chinatown is by bus. If not, you can take the MRT to Outram Park and change to the purple line and to Chinatown.

I’ve heard many tourists say that Singapore’s Chinatown is the cleanest Chinatown that they’ve visited. Still, the area is a bit stuff so try to be there when the sun is not too high up.

Recommended sights:
Chinatown Heritage Centre [48 Pagoda Street]
In this three-storeyed shophouse is a recreation of a typical Chinese quarters in Singapore’s early days. The early Chinese immigrants lived in tiny rooms during the night while they did labor work in the morning.

Sri Mariamman Temple [242 South Bridge Road]
If you did not visit Sri Krishnan Temple in Bugis, there’s another Indian temple in Chinatown. This temple is even bigger with even more painted statues.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum [288 South Bridge Road]
This Buddhist temple houses the tooth of Buddha. I find the exterior of the temple too “modern”–the walls too white, the paint too fresh and the lines too straight.

There is plenty to eat in Chinatown. Opposite the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is Maxwell Food Court where famous chicken rice stalls are located. I prefer the food court next to People’s Park Complex although it can get really hot in the day.

7 pm
4. Clark Quay
After dinner, walk along Eu Tong Sen Street to Clarke Quay MRT station. This area comes alive at night, although I must warn that the restaurants and bars are targeted at tourists.

If you feel like it, take a boat ride on the Singapore River. I would not recommend this as it is too touristy.

Sit by the river next to The Central shopping mall and watch boats float by or hear people screaming on the G-MAX Reverse Bungy & GX-5 Extreme Swing.

Then take a stroll to the mouth of the Singapore river. You will walk through many underpass and past many bars and restaurants. Use the brightly lit Fullerton Hotel as your guide, walk towards it. On the left of the bank is the Asian Civilization Museum which has a good collection of Asian artefacts (but is closed at night).

After you pass The Fullerton Hotel, cross the road to the Merlion Park. Here, you will find two Merlions–half lion, half fish beings made up by the Singapore Tourism Board.

Opposite, the strangely shaped Marina Bay Sands sparkles. At night, it has lazer shows with light beamed to the sky.

Our last stop is the Esplanade, which is the shiny durian (prickly local fruit) building. It’s like the Sydney Opera House, but pricklier.

10 pm
5. Mustafa Center
After the Esplanade, you can choose between going to more pubs, heading back to your hotel and rest or visit Mustafa Center. The nearest MRT station is Farrer Park.

The shopping center is 24-hours and has almost everything you need. If you want to get Indian spices, gold chains, a watch, T-shorts, souvenirs, this is the place.

After all that shopping, maybe it’s time to head back to sleep so you won’t miss your plane.

IF YOU GO

ACCOMODATION
Rooms in Singapore will not be as cheap as the rest of Southeast Asia. As transportation in the city is convenient, it does not matter much where you are staying.

If you only have a short time in Singapore, the best locations will be near the sights: Little India, Chinatown, Bugis, Clark Quay etc.

This list is only a reference:

Five Stones Hostel http://www.fivestoneshostel.com/
Near: Clark Quay
[Disclaimer: One of the owners of the hostel is a friend of my colleague.]
From photos, this looks like a funky place to stay. All dorms and rooms have shared bathrooms.

Value Hotel Balestier http://www.valuehotel.com.sg/
Nearest MRT: Novena (It might be faster taking the bus./)
I’ve shared a three-person private room with my parents at this budget hotel.

MONEY CHANGER
Most money changers in Singapore are honest and give rates that are similar (even at the airport), although those inside shopping malls have more expensive rates.

While these are the more famous money changers, it’s not worth the transport fee to reach them just so you could save a few cents. “Best” (everywhere is quite good) places to change money are Chinatown and Mustafa Center.

STAY CONNECTED
Prepaid 3G in Singapore is not as cheap as Malaysia. There are only three mobile operators here: SingTel, StarHub and M1.

Personally, I use StarHub’s prepaid because it gives me 50 (yes, five-zero) free international SMS for the day when I send 5 international SMS in a day.
StarHub has a special Preferred Tourist Prepaid SIM Card with free 300MB data and has S$18 credits for S$15.

I’ll be doing a part 2 of 24 hours in Singapore. Have I missed out any must see sights? Tweet me or leave a comment below.

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#FoodFri Murtabak @ Singapore

It’s very rare that I praise local food in Singapore. By local food, I mean Chinese, Malay, Indian or Peranakan dishes. (I would rather put American food to represent Singapore.)

Why? Because the Malaysian-made version is usually better.

But, I admit that the beef murtabak at Zam Zam Restaurant is up to standard. The dough was fried crispy and they were not stingy with their corned beef.

However, at the price of S$6, it’s really a lot more expensive than what we could get in Malaysia.

Zam Zam is located at the Arab Street area. Address: 697 North Bridge Rd, Singapore 198675

#FoodFri is a post up on each Friday featuring a dish or meals I’ve had when travelling (or staying put). Happy eating!