February 2023

Another solo trip 🙂

I stayed here for 2.5 days and it was enough time. I was glad it was the last stop of my Asia trip for February 2023, because I got to fully relax before the long flight back to the US. Read here for the other trips.

How to Get Around Singapore
The easiest way to get around is the mass rapid transportation (MRT). I got my pass at the airport. A side note about getting this pass – I walked to the counter to get my ticket, and they told me to take the escalator up and walk across to the other side, and then down the escalator to a ticket/pass. I was shocked, because the ticket counter should be on both sides, but it was only on 1 side!

Anyways, the MRT is clean and efficient. You can also use a Grab which is like a Uber/Lyft. You can also walk to get to the different neighborhoods, they are fairly close to one another…or I could be bias because I love walking ha!

Where Did I Stay?
I have never ever in my life spoiled myself this big before, but you have to treat yourself once in a while! I stayed at Parkroyal Collection Pickering hotel. The Marina Bay Sands was booked out for a conference, and I was bummed about that; however, when I got to Singapore, I saw the Marina Bay Sands hotel, and was fine not staying there LOL! It all worked out for the best.

I loved my hotel! When I arrived, they greeted me with a tea shot & brought up the luggages up to my room for me. The room itself was very ecofriendly. There were so many green plants around. They even have a water filter in your room! The pool and gym were on the 5th floor. The gym is open 24/7. The infinity pool was pretty and long. The decor was aesthetically pleasing. They have room cleaning every day if you want, and one of the days, I was in my room at the time they came, and they rang the doorbell. I was shocked that it was a doorbell LOL. I am so used to a knock on the door. The employees at the hotel were nice too. The only thing that I wish they had was free breakfast, especially since the hotel is definitely more on the pricier side. Besides that, if you do not stay at MBS, I would recommend to stay here IF you want to treat yourself and stay a bit closer to all the sightsees. The hotel was minutes away from Chinatown and less than a 5 minute walk to two MRT stations. 

How was the weather in February?
It was HUMID! I thought Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand were hot at this time, but Singapore was the hottest for me! Thank goodness there were some winds, but wooo, it was humid! Sunny and cloudy at times. I am glad it did not rain while I was there!

Things to Do/See
Arab Street
Chinatown
Gardens By The Bay + Cloud Forest
Jewel terminal at the airport (the famous waterfall)
Little India
Marina Bay Sands Hotel/Shopping CenterMarina Bay Sands Observation Deck
Merlion Park
Orchard Street/Shopping Center
Spectra Light Show

Things to Eat
Hainanese chicken rice
Hawker Centres
Kaya Toast
Kok Kee Wonton Noodle (it was okay!)

Arab Street
Arab Street is a colorful neighborhood to stroll around. There are many carpet shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and more. There is also the famous Sultan Mosque to go inside and pray too if you want.

Chinatown
I explored here during the night and it was very pretty with all of the lights and decorations. There are a ton of restaurants and souvenir shops. There is also the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple nearby to visit as well.

Gardens By The Bay + Cloud Forest
Spare a couple of hours to explore Gardens By The Bay (and Cloud Forest + Flower Dome). There is so much to see! You can take the MRT to the Gardens By The Bay stop or you can take it to the Marina Bay Sands stop and walk behind the hotel and over to Gardens By The Bay. Gardens By The Bay is completely free to enter in and explore the gardens, but if you want to go to the SuperTree (which is up and walk on the bridgeway, then you have to pay). If you want to go into the Cloud Forest and/or Flower Dome. You have to pay for those as well. They have a package deal for all or you can get them separately. I personally only paid for the Cloud Forest and it was chill. It was Avatar themed, so that was pretty cool. I personally would recommend to visit Gardens By The Bay in the late afternoon/early evening and stay until night time. They have a light show at 7:45pm & 8:45pm every single day and the show lasts for 15 minutes. If you spend a long time here, they have a few restaurants inside the Gardens By The Bay too.

Jewel terminal at the airport (the famous waterfall)
I flew from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Singapore and landed in Terminal 4. The famous waterfall is in the Jewel Terminal. So if you land in any other terminal besides Jewel terminal and want to see it, then you can take the free shuttle over to the Jewel terminal. The Jewel terminal has a huge shopping mall and the beautiful indoor waterfall. It was pretty cool. I spent 2-3 hours just at the terminal exploring and admiring the waterfall. They also have a luggage storage for a fee if you wanted to roam around freely.

Little India
Very similar to Arab Street & Chinatown – they have a lot of grocery shops, clothing stores, etc. You can take the MRT to Little India stop, right there when you exit! I liked it here because it gave me a small feel of what it would be like to travel to India one day.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel/Shopping Center
I mean, ofcourse, what is Singapore known for? The FAMOUS boat hotel: Marina Bay Sands. You can stop by the hotel lobby and check it out. There’s not much to see, but it is pretty. Definitely stop by the Marina Bay Shopping Center…it is huge! Lots of high end stores, restaurants, food court, and all. They even have an indoor mini gondola boat right inside too.

Marina Bay Sands Observation Deck
If you choose not to stay or cannot afford the Marina Bay Sands, you can go to the Observation Deck (for a fee). At the top, you can see all the views of Singapore and you can even see the famous infinity pool from the Marina Bay Sands hotel. I think going up to the observation deck during sunset time would be nice.

Merlion Park
The other famous thing to see is the Merlion fountain/park. It’s right across from the Marina Bay Sands and there are a few restaurants near the park. It’s a nice spot to relax and look at the view.

Orchard Street/Shopping Center
Another high end shopping area to just stroll around. I felt so poor there LOL! You can take the MRT and the stop is right at the shopping center.

Spectra Light Show
This is a water and light show that happens right infront of the Marina Bay Shopping Center. You know where it is if you see a lion statue in the water and it is also near Louis Vuitton store. I really enjoyed this show a lot! It reminded me of World of Color from Disneyland mixed with the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas. The music, the lights, and the water splashes were all so beautiful. I believe they have two shows every night at 8pm and 9pm and it lasts for about 15 minutes. I saw it both nights I was there, but at different view points. The 1st night, I saw it right infront, then on the 2nd night, I saw it across (facing the Marina Bay Sands boat hotel/on the Merlion Park side). I would highly recommend to see the Spectra Light Show!

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Overall, I liked Singapore because it was very pretty and it was my last stop of my trip and I got to relax a lot. If I am going to be honest, I do not think I would come back here in a VERY long time (or ever). I do not know if it is because I traveled solo there or what? But I feel like there is not much to do, besides sightsee and (window) shop. I did notice that there are many people in groups (at restaurants, outside, etc.), and ofcourse, it is more fun to travel with people because you get to share that experience with someone – but besides that, there’s not much. I would have LOVED to have gone to a rooftop bar, but I was intimidated. Everyone in Singapore is “rich”. Maybe, if I had one more day, I would have checked out Sentosa Island but I do not think I missed out on it. I do not want to hinder your experience in Singapore, maybe you will have a better experience than me 🙂

As always, thank you for visiting Vivian’s Ventures. Have you been to Singapore? If so, tell me in the comments/reply section about your experience. What should I do when I go back? If you haven’t been, tell me what you are planning to do there. Any questions or comments, let me know. Let’s chat! #viviansventures