jkgourmet

We are going to Singapore prior to a trip to Malaysia. We may be there for as long as 5 nights, probably in the Perak in Little India. We are not shopping people and generally have preferred small towns to cities when we travel. Food, restaurants, culture, some historical sights, scenery - these are the things we enjoy. We travel in 2* and 3* hotels, nothing fancy (B&B's in Europe, for example), clean and convenient, but we are not backpackers.
Is there enough to keep up happy and busy in Singapore for 5 days? Can anyone recommend a day trip, or somewhere we might enjoy for an overnight, two day trip? Public transportation.

rhkkmk

i think 3 days might be better

J_Correa

We are planning a trip to Singapore in a few months, plus a side trip to Malaysia and a side trip to Bali. We are planning 4-5 days in Singapore. These are on our list of things to see:
* Botanical Gardens
* Zoo and Night Safari
* Raffles Hotel
* Museum of Asian Civilizations
* Sultan Mosque
* National Museum of Singapore
* Pulau Ubin (island off Singapore)
* Little India and Arab Street

Kathie

You can certainly keep yourselves busy for 5 days. J. Corea's list is good. Of course, it depends on your interests. We liked the Jurong Birdpark, especially the area where you walk through the natural setting with all the birds. There is a park (I've forgotten the name) where you can hike through the rainforest.

If you want a day trip or an overnight trip, consider Melaka.

Guenmai

There's plenty to do in Singapore for a five day trip. I've been there many times and have stayed as long as a week and a half. Happy Travels!

J_Correa

I have friends who tell me that you can see everything there is to see in Singapore in 2 days and to stay longer is a waste, but after doing my research, I think they must sightsee much differently than we do. I am starting to wonder how we will fit all that we want to do into 4 days (1st day I am counting out due to jet lag the need to acclimate ourselves). We haven't even gone yet and have already decided we will need to go back - LOL.

KimJapan

We spent 6 full days in Singapore in August and still have a long list of things we haven't seen yet. We certainly were not bored, and are certainly looking forward to going back.

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publis.../en/index.html is very good.

jkgourmet

Any suggestions of a clean, convenient hotel w/air conditioning that might make this longer visit for financially affordable?

Kathie

Guen often recommends the YMCA across from the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station.

Cicerone

Man, if you like food is Singapore the right place for you. Beyond some excellent restaurants of all cuisines (I recently added a short list of favourites to another post, look for something called &quot;One Night in Singapore, Need Great Restaurant&quot; there are good reccos there), their <u>street food</u> is just the absolute best, so much variety and all so good and all so cheap. You could literally spend the five days on an <i>eating&lt;i/&gt;tour…I live in Hong Kong, which has 10,000 restaurants, but IMO it can't begin to compare at all to the street food you can get in Singapore (where I also have lived). There are guidebooks to the hawker/street food places in Singapore, you might want to get one. Little India is a great place to start (more casual restaurants there than hawker stalls, a pilgrimage to Apollo Banana Leaf Curry is a must (78 Race Course Road, Tel: 6293-8682)), the Geylang area has some of the best stalls around, the area right along the Esplanade in front of the futuristic music hall there has brought together outlets of some of the best on the island into an area called, appropriately, Glutton's Bay. Most places are open almost 24 hours, so you can have a snack very late at night and also have some congee for breakfast. All very hygienic, it's Singapore, we don't even have to discuss that.

Sorry, I am leaving for Singapore tomorrow morning for the Chinese New Year holiday and am salivating at the food prospects (and also to get warm, it's 58 F <i>inside</i>my house today and the little space heaters aren't cutting it…this cold snap has lasted way too long!!!)

Also, Singapore has the best museums in SE Asia for sure. The Asian Civilizations Museum, mentioned above, has a superb permanent collection and always has an interesting visiting one (the new branch of the museum on Armenian Street may be open by the time you arrive, in a restored shop house). The Modern Art Museum is small but very good, the history museum is very good, they are opening new ones all the time or sponsoring some exhibit (currently Greek statutes from the Louvre are on loan, they are not bothering to come to Hong Kong…). I visit Singapore a lot and only shop at one place there, otherwise it's eating and museums (OK with some antique shops thrown in) and always a walk in Little India, the Arab Street area, Geylang or Chinatown depending on time.

Most visitors who only spend 2 days only see Orchard Road and the bit around the river downtown and don't know the myriad of other stuff there is to do and see, which admittedly sometime you have to work a little at, like Palau Ubin, which is a good suggestion, above. (Great seafood on the island or nearby in Punggol.) You can now even apparently <i>stay</i> on Ubin, did not know this until recently, see http://www.kampongubin.com/. Looks pretty basic (although not really cheap!) but for an overnight could be interesting, years ago I sometimes used to stay in extremely basic cabins on the other side of Ubin for water-ski weekends and this brings back good memories for me; it's a wetland/marsh and swampy area with some good bird and wildlife (and the occasional alligator), this would be good for kayaking, which I see is one of their activities, there are little waterways in the marshes to explore. Other places for scenery are Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and East Coast Park; in any of these places you can walk or rent bikes to see the area. Website for Ubin and all the parks in Singapore is at http://www.nparks.gov.sg ) There is also waterskiing in the Punggol northern part of the island there as well. If you sail you can rent lasers and smaller watercraft at East Coast Park, a bit weird to sail amongst the huge tankers anchored there, but fun when you get used to it. Of course there is the zoo, touristy of course but it is a very good zoo and the night safari is interesting too. There really is a lot to see and do in the city beyond shopping (something I always say about Hong Kong too, very little of living here involves malls or fake Prada bags, I hike more here than when I lived in Switzerland, for example).

Hotels are quite pricey and getting more expensive, prices have almost doubled in the last two years, and are only about 15% below Hong Kong prices at this point. The YMCA recco above is good, there is another YMCA on Stevens Road and a YWCA in Fort Canning, see http://www.mymca.org.sg/hotel.htm and http://nof.ywca.org.sg, respectively. The Orchard Road and Stevens Road Y's are still like US$125 a night for a room, and that might be a single rate, so don't be surprised when you see the rates. The Swisshotel Merchant Court and also the Swisshotel Stamford may be worth trying. Go to http://www.swissotel.com/index.htm, I believe you will find the Merchant Court to be cheaper.

Two others to try that are actually less or about the same as than the Y prices:

Berjaya Hotel Singapore
83 Duxton Road
Tel : :+65 6227 7678
Fax :+65 62271232
http://www.berjayaresorts.com/beachresort_duxton.htm

This used to be the Duxton Hotel. It's a little worn, but definitely has charm and has a good location in China town and the Duxton Hill area.

Gallery Hotel
1 Nanson Road
@ Robertson Quay
Tel: (65) 6849 8686
http://www.galleryhotel.com.sg/html/index.html

This gets some uneven reviews on tripadvisor.com. However, there is nothing conventional about anything in this hotel, and it is in a very interesting little neighborhood of good restaurants and shops.

The Perak always looks interesting to me when I walk by it, and is in a nice location. Don't know the rooms. You might be able to negotiate a long-stay rate. You may also want to try serviced apartments which tend to be cheaper generally. Stay away from Orchard Road which is going to be more expensive. Try tripadvisor.com where you can search by price and type, i.e. B&amp;B.
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cth98

But now Little India are having a kind of Dengue. Try the North East Line it is not bad! Maybe 5 days will be the best. BUT, PLEASE DO NOT GO ON DECEMBER. BECAUSE AT 6.30 PM IT WILL BE DARK.

Travelite

I lived in Singapore for 8 years, here's MHO. I agree with the sights recommended by J Correa &amp; Cicerone. Anyone that says 2-3 days is enough has got to be kidding.

The Visit Singapore site is fab - all you need to know is there.

Take an afternoon &amp; go over to Pulau Ubin - you'll feel worlds away from Singapore. You take a cheap little bumboat, rent some bikes, &amp; go explore.

One of the major pastimes in Singapore is eating - it's hard to get a bad meal. Chinese, Indian, Malay etc...Roti prata, Dosai, Char kway teoh(spelling?), Bee Hoon (noodles)- list is too long. In many of the inexpensive Indian restaurants you eat off a banana leaf (use you right hand only). Bon appetit.

KMLoke

Someone's talking about food?

Travelite mentioned something about bee hoon, actually they are done in various ways.
- mee siam, a breakfast favourite with a light tangy gravy. There's 2 versions- dry and wet
- prawn mee soup, normally cooked with noodles.
- fried hokkien mee, again cooked with noodles.

There's more than just Chinese, Indian or Malay. Apparently there's Burmese and African food available.

http://www.makansutra.com/makantv/ma...episode13.html

My favourite blog on affordable eats.

http://ieatishootipost.blogspot.com/

jkgourmet, as you have not mentioned when you are visiting. There's a week left to enjoy the yusheng. A tradition during Chinese New Year. Yummy I've be enjoying this at work tomorrow!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng

http://wineanddine.asiaone.com/Wine%...116-45251.html

jkgourmet

THANK YOU! 4-5 nights it is, then. You've all convinced me there's much to do and MUCH to eat. Thank you. The hotel we are looking at is the Perak in Little India ($130/night for deluxe room with window. No window would be cheaper.) Anyone care to comment on the Perak or make another suggestion in the range of $100-$140/night?

Travelite

I agree with Cicerones comments about hotels. I don't know the Perak, but the reviews sound good &amp; the location is good.

Look at asiahotels.com or tripadvisor.com for more info. You could spend hours searching for something else - or just book the Perak , it sounds fine

jkgourmet

Thank you - you are correct. I'm obsessing. Now, can you recommend a similar place in KL and/or Penang?

Gratefully,
Jkgourmet