Singapore 2018

Singapore is expensive in general but the food, especially at the massive "Hawker Centre" food courts, is surprisingly inexpensive (just a few dollars), extremely tasty, and sanitary of course (this is Singapore). We visited several of the Hawker Centres (by following this video) and enjoyed the famous Hainanese chicken rice, satays, laksa (noodle), and other local cuisines.

Don't forget the Singapore special "McSpicy" at McDonald's. You can have one at the airport, too.

Inside the flower-shaped ArtScience Museum, the highlight of the "Future World" exhibition is "Crystal Universe" by TeamLab with more than 170,000 computer-controlled LED lights filling up the room that can display meteor showers, supernova, and other spectacular effects that you can walk through.

The rest of Future World was ordinary kid-friendly interactive computer programs but this "Crystal Universe" at the end really blew our mind. We stayed there mesmerized probably for half an hour.

Note: The installation seems to have gone through a renovation in summer 2018 after our visit. Check for current exhibitions.

We went up to OCBC Skyway half an hour before the light show. When ushers came around every ten minutes or so urging everyone to move forward, we went around the tree to hide from them ;) As the "Garden Rhapsody" show starts, millions of LED lights wrapped around the huge "supertrees" start blinking and changing colors to the music. The view from the Skyway while walking from right next one tree to another was spectacular.

If you have seen the fountain at Bellagio in Las Vegas, think of pouring colorful light into the streams and projecting images on the mist and that would be Spectra at Marina Bay. The show is performed 2 to 3 times every night. We watched it once right at the waterfront and another time from the SkyPark observation deck.

The architectural designs of Singapore buildings are shamelessly progressive. They look like right out of sci-fi movies. Most extreme is "Star Vista". Can't believe it's just a shopping mall. DUO opened in late 2017. So most people haven't seen it.

The view from Singapore Flyer is spectacular. Guidebooks recommend going up at night also. We didn't get to do that but we went to Marina Bay Sands Skydeck instead. Singapore Food Trail (Hawker center) is conveniently located underneath the ferris wheel.

The botanic garden is huge. But we focused on the orchid garden. You get to see tons of strange-shaped orchid flowers.

Singapore's iconic architecture and monuments can be viewed from Esplanade Bridge.

We also went to Sentosa Island to try the zipline but we wasted one hour just to find out it was too early before operation hours. Lessons learned: Do your research before going. Well, at least the view from the cable car was gorgeous.

How to plan a trip to Singapore

Singapore is (very roughly) the size of San Jose, CA. Everything is within one hour from downtown by train. The hotel prices are like in SF downtown or Manhattan.
So the first question is: How many days do you need?

• It just takes 3 days to see the major sites.
• +1 day if you like animals (zoo, Night Safari) and plants (botanical garden)
• +1 day if you like architecture and strolling around the city
• +1 day if you like night life and/or watching light shows
• +1 day if you like an amusement park (Sentosa Island)
• And adjust by how many meals you want to have ;) There are so many Hawker Centres and a great variety of foods to enjoy.

Resources

Google Maps/Docs

• http://bit.ly/singaporemap1: Custom map of the places we wanted to visit
• http://bit.ly/singaporeimages1: Images that helped us remember the names of places

Apps

Google Maps has the feature of downloading the map in advance for offline use. However, an app called Maps.me worked better in many situations. It also showed me the location while you are flying back.

• Maps.me
• Google Maps

Videos

Videos by travel agencies:

• Singapore Vacation Travel Guide Expedia
• Singapore City Guide - Lonely Planet travel videos
• Singapore Top Things To Do Viator Travel Guide

Videos by vloggers:

• Singapore Travel Guide
  This Singapore guides of this vlogger are very detailed. Check out the linked videos like this one:
• Top 9 Best Hawker Centres in Singapore
• Singapore Travel Guide (Attaché)
• Singapore 5-Days Travel Diary 2017 by @mariethuy
• 18 Must See Attractions & Things To Do in Singapore │Travel Singapore Guide
• SINGAPORE 2017 4 Days in 4 Minutes
• Singapore Travel Guide + Attractions Map
• Top 10 Tourist Attractions In Singapore ★ Singapore Travel Guide

Architecture: If you are interested in cityscape, check out these videos:

• The Lion City II - Majulah
• The Lion City
• The old and new #architecture that defines the Singapore skyline
• Best Building in World for 2015 is Singapore's Interlace
• Going Places - Singapore Architecture