3^rd DAY

Ferry

Expense : S$6 per person (return)

P/S: Always bring your poncho in case it rains

You could see in the map that Pulau Ubin is quite far from the mainland of Singapore so it took a little bit of time. However, the beauty of the sea hypnotises you with serenity and tranquility, instilling calmness in your heart. For about 45 minutes, both of us safely reached Pulau Ubin.

Unfortunately, it was raining at time we arrived but luckily we brought our poncho together with us. Rain should not stop you from anything! Nothing should not stop you from travelling. Its best to inhale Pulau Ubin by renting a bike.

Renting a bike

Expense : S$12 per person

P/S: Price adverse for different types of bike

The ‘aunty’ (I think Malaysians and Singaporeans share this trait of calling Chinese women whom older than us ‘aunty’) will hand a map of Pulau Ubin to you but since it was raining, the map was kinda useless. We just ride anywhere we preferred to by just following the trail. Do not worry, you would not get lost.

It took about one hour for us to reach Chek Jawa Wetlands, the most prominent place to visit in Pulau Ubin. A hilarious incident happened when my sister parked her bicycle, a wild bore wrestled with her bicycle because there were foods her bag. So guys, be careful as well haha.

Then you will need to walk to enter Chek Jawa, we walked to the coastal lines of the island but there were nothing to be seen because it was raining. The water turned chalky. The suspended bridge continued along to the wetland and it was beautiful. You should see it for yourself.

One-way road has definitely busted us off, we both took our steady time to reach back to ferry stop. We could not speak so it was an eternal moment of silence. As we arrived back at the mainland, we were starving so we took Bus No 58 at the Changi Village to Tampines (way to pronounce; Tam-pe-nis, not Tam-Pin) to look for “Sup Tulang Daging Merah” at Haji Kadir (I cannot seem to dwell on it). To me, it tasted like a pot of diabetes so I ate just a fifth of it because I ordered Chicken Biryani for myself.

Sup Tulang Daging Merah at Haji Kadir.

Expense : S$9 for 5 pieces of marrow bones

P/S : It was in a neighbourhood area

Bloated and full especially my sister, we took Bus No 152 to Tampines MRT Station (no more walking). From there, we foot off at How Par Villa Station to go to How Par Villa Park. Unfortunately, it was closed. So we headed back to our hotel to retrieve our bags and recharge our gadgets.

We took the MRT to Bugis to return our passes and killed some time to buy some things for us (something useful) especially foods at Bugis Street. And we bought the cinnamon rolls again at Bugis Junction! Yay to us!

Star Cinnamon Rolls

Expense : S$11 for 6 pieces

At about 10.45pm, both us have diminished and felt wore off so we decided to wait for our bus home to Malaysia Golden Mile Tower. Soon after we departed from Singapore back to our home country, Malaysia. We hope to see you again soon Singapore!

2^nd DAY

Coldness reached our feet causing us to wake up coincidentally. The room was too cozy and comforting. I did not feel any aches within my body, I knew that it went away temporary. It was the perfect time to hunt in Singapore especially in this blue weather! Mundane morning as usual, finished with sprays of mist and off we went. 

Last night before I washed away into dreams, I had listed and organized our plan for tomorrow and the day after through researchers. My one and only advice to those who want to travel on budget is to do research, read reviews, anything that you can use to consensus your plan.

Okay, moving on to our day, we walked to Lavender Station and descended to south of Singapore’s famous island, Sentosa Island. As I said before, most MRT stations in Singapore are connected with a mall. This time, it brought us to VivoCity. Then we took a 10 minutes walk to HarbourFront Tower 2 to take on a cable car!

Singapore Cable Car

Expense : S$29.00 per person (Mount Faber line)

P/S: You can redeem a free keychain at one of the giftshops!

Blue morning and greens are always a good recipe for morning breeze. Nonetheless, my sister and I went to Mount Faber, the highest peak at Singapore. Replenishing our lungs with fresh air. We had a brisk walk around the lush greens area to spot for Henderson Waves (A wavy-built bridge). The aftermatch was exhausting! Then we immediately boarded the cable car towards Sentosa Island. There are pretty much nothing there except for Madame Tussauds.

To continue our day,we had lunch at City Hall station’s food court. After that we departed to our next destination which was...the National Museum of Singapore!

National Museum of Singapore

Expense : S$5 per person for foreign students

P/S : Student card really helps you, always bring it together!

I would say the approaches were magnetizing. No such boredom occurred during my visit to this museum. The way they assembled everything was interactive. I am pleased with what it has given me ; history, geography, politics, musics, entertainment and fun-learning. I love everything especially the Zoetrope at the sport section!

Soon after we embarked by MRT to Raffles Station to visit one of the most famous spot in Singapore; the Merlion! The park was packed like sardines. Locals and foreigners were all there to capture the typical pose with the Merlion statue (mouth open camera trick). You can also witness everything from this park including Marina Bay Sands, skyscrapers, the Esplanade and many more.

After we had enough, we sat back and took a sip at the nearest  Starbucks Coffee and we got back to our hotel to have a little rest cause what we were about to do next was ecstaticly exciting!

At about 8pm, we descended to the underground Lavender MRT station, we exchanged stations towards Ang Mo Kio. This time, we opted for bus to somewhere mystery. You can really rely on their public transportations, everything was convenient, efficient and effective. They even have an app to ease your journey while in Singapore.

30 minutes of casually sitting on the bus has been the longest time I have ever experienced. We got off the bus right in front of the Night Safari Zoo!

Night Safari

Expense : S$45 for two persons

P/S: The original price was S$45 per person, they were having 50% off after 9pm during my visit.

We never experience such open space with wild animals before but this time, no boundaries, there was nothing separating us. Every visitors would need to ride the tram, in total darkness with bits of light, we were injected with goosebumps cause it was kinda eerie. You can hop off at this one stop and experience the satisfying night safari with your friends (the animals!). Some of them were just giggly and cute! But some….. may fright you up. The zoo guide on your tram will explain every time we encounter with new animals. It was purely enjoyable!

Till then, this koala whistled that he needed some sleep. P/S: Discounts made us bought him! and his twinsie too! 

It was a very last minute plan as we did not intend to travel to Singapore but hey we did anyway! I would say Singapore sets the bar up high for Southeast Asian countries to follow. As a developing nation, we shall indoctrine what is good for us Malaysians, especially their efficiency on public transportations!

I shall start now with the itinerary do not you think so ?

Luckily, few days before we embark on our trip to the Lion City, Jetstar was having a promotion off to certain destinations which include Singapore! 

KLIA2 (Kuala Lumpur) – Changi International Airport (Singapore)

RM45.00 per person x 2 = RM90.00

We directly booked the flight tickets without hesitation and we are up to the next thing ; accommodation. Since we want to experience what the city can offer us, we decided to stay in Singapore instead of Johor Bharu which also restricted our overall budget. Beware that the currency at that time was RM3 = S$1. After much researches and discussions, we opt for :

Aqueen Hotel Lavender

139 Lavender Street, Lavender, Singapore, 338739, Singapore 

2 days and 1 night cost us around S$229

through Booking.com

1^st Day

Morning flight has not been easy for us cause it was tiresome. We asked our brother’s help to drop us off at KL Sentral at 4.30am then we boarded Skybus at around 5.00 am to KLIA2. The fee costs around RM10 per person (if you book it online) and RM11 for walk-in. The bus departs at an interval of 30 minutes.

The journey to KLIA2 took about one hour so we arrived there at around 6.30am. We ate our breakfast, checked-in at the counter and went to our gate to doze off . We departed from KLIA2 and finally stepped on the land of Singapore at 9.55am.

We retrieved our bag packs and enthusiastically went off to the city by Singapore MRT (SMRT). Be sure to get your Singapore Tourist Pass at the ticket counter. It works like TouchNGo and very convenient to use.

Singapore Tourist Pass

Expense : S$20 + S$10 (deposit) per person

For 3 days

P/S : You will get S$10 back when you return the card at selected stations

Straight away we hustled to Lavender Station and walked to find our hotel. Before that, we stopped at 7Eleven to get our local sim card. 5 minutes of brisk walking and we reached our hotel, put our bags and immediately went out for lunch at Arab Street where you can find halal restaurants at every glance. We went to Haji Lane, where locals sell quirky yet fashionable stuffs that are trendy and eye-candy.

Starhub Simcard

Expense : S$15 for 100GB + unlimited calls

P/S: You will need to show your passport as an affirmation

After we had our lunch, we got back to our hotel and did permanent check-in, rest for about 1 hour to feed our sleep-deprived and off we go again to experience Singapore!

Our first pit was Bugis Street by MRT (of course). At every stops, you will end up at a mall (I guess Singaporeans love shopping). We stepped out the MRT and it teleported us to Bugis Junction where my sister and I managed to find the best cinnamon rolls ever! It comes with diverse flavours, their best is Royal Cheese!

Star Cinnamon

B1-k2 Bugis Junction

Expense : S$5 for 2 pieces of deli rolls

P/S: Everything looks yummy!

We free ourselves to walk thoroughly at every corner of the Bugis Street. If you want to bring back some souvenirs from Singapore, I would suggest you to spend your money here cause they sell it cheap and you can bargain! You can even get 5 bags for S$10 at certain stores. My sister and I managed to buy nothing (mission accomplished!) until we set eyes with this one confectionary store which allured us into buying jumble of foods. Our principle when we are travelling would always be [ Food > Souvenirs ].

Both of us have listed places to visit so we got along with our plan ; to cover as many places as we can. We got into the MRT to Little India to encounter colorful buildings and they sell a lot of fruits here! Then we sprinted to Chinatown to visit the holy temples and see people worshipping.

It was raining cats and dogs, the weather was not favourable for us to walk around the city so we decided to go to Orchard Road, spend some time to eat again in the mall. Then we proceed to Marina! The journey took about half an hour with no speed walking (too much walk made our feet aching).

There you go, the icons that resemblance Singapore in this millennium! The Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay! I never thought the garden would be so enormous. Those artificials man-made trees were so magnificent and beautiful. To boost your experience here you should ought for either Skywalk, Flower Dome or Forest Dome!

Skywalk at Gardens by the Bay

Expense : S$8 per person

Flower Dome and Forest Dome

Expense : S$28 for both domes per person

From the top, you could see the scenic view of concrete jungle of the city. It was dusk, each building started to bright up indicating the work day has over and it was time for Friday night to hit Singaporeans for either leisure or entertainment. We feet to Marina Bay Sands mall to have dinner. Price of the foods are still affordable and reasonable and most importantly the taste was beyond okay.

After we had our dinner, we went out the mall to witness fountain show. It was exhilarating, colorful and oddly satisfying. Singapore has been treating us well so far. Songs were played as the show successively potrayed pictures of people of Singapore by refraction of lights on water. So sciency yet amazing.

Time is always full with envy which dissipate us to go back to our hotel at around 10pm so we can recharge and gear up for our second day in Singapore.