My One Week Trip to Singapore

Got to travel to Singapore! What is great about Singapore is that most locals speak either chinese or english. Which is great for me because I know chinese and english. The country is very clean and you can see greens like trees and plants everywhere. Singaporeans are very nice and I don't feel any discrimination. They have wide variety of food, shopping areas and entertainment. They have convenient public transportation. So it's very easy to be a tourist in Singapore. The following below are some of the sights and experiences I encountered while staying at Singapore for a week.

My One Week Singapore Trip Itinerary

Got to travel to Singapore! Here's my itinerary for this trip to Singapore. Actually this should be 6 days but when we were booking online we counted the days wrong, silly us. While looking at my itinerary its better to open Google maps in another window so you can see how far from your hotel is these place below. My hotel was in Grand Central Hotel in Orchard Road. My basis for my Singapore Itinerary was the day and distance. I grouped them by location so that you don't have to return to a certain area again to save time and transportation money.

Singapore's Budget Terminal is Disappointing

I hated the so called Budget Terminal. I heard so many good things about Singapore's huge airport terminals so I expected to see it. But I didn't know that if you flew Cebu Pacific you would land and depart in Singapore's Budget Terminal. I didn't even know that there's such a terminal in Singapore. The word budget says everything. I don't know about the other terminals, but there are no baggage checkpoints in the budget terminal. The waiting area is small and for food there you have only two choices, one of which is McDonald's.

Shopping Tax/GST Refund in Singapore

Got to rebate my shopping taxes! Some tourists don't know this when they go to Singapore. You can actually get the tax refund which is the GST charges when you purchase an item in Singapore. So what is GST? It stands for Goods and Services Tax and is similar to VAT or Valued Added Tax in most countries. Singapore's customs offers "Tourist Refund Scheme" where tourist such as myself can claim GST refunds from goods we purchased in Singapore at the airport before departing. But it's not that simple. Here are few reminders so that you won't make the same mistakes as we did. 

Shopping Malls I Like in Singapore

Got to Travel to shopping areas of Singapore! Honestly I'm not a fan of shopping. But I do appreciate the malls in Singapore. The best place to shop for me is in Orchard Road. Grand Central Hotel, which is the hotel we are staying in is located at Orchard Road, so it was convenient for us to walk and shop their. If you love to shop better check in a hotel along Orchard Road. There are so many shopping malls there that it will take you few days to finish all of them. 

Suntec City and Esplanade Theatre, Singapore

Got to travel to Suntec City and Esplanade Theatre! Suntec City is not as good as the malls in Orchard Road but still big though. Suntec City is surrounded by a number of malls like Raffles City, Marina Square, Esplanade Mall and others. Every building is interconnected underground so it's very convenient to transfer from one mall to the other. 

Short Morning Walk in Clarke Quay, Singapore

Got to travel to Clarke Quay, Singapore! Preferably you should go to Clarke Quay at night but we didn't have time so we went straight to ClarkeQuay after a visit to Chinatown. Clarke Quay is basically for yuppies or anyone who loves to hangout at night and have a drink. It has many internationally well-known restaurants. The Place was colorful and I can only imagine it during night time. It would have been a great to place to have a drink and meet people. 

Brief Visit to Chinatown, Singapore

Got to travel to Chinatown Singapore! We went there too early, most shops were still close. I noticed that the buildings in the area are colorful. There are lots of souvenir shops. So if you want to buy gifts or pasalubong, Chinatown is the place to be. Most of the stores there sell Singapore keychains, shirts, fans, chopsticks and many more. The best part is that you can bargain with the store owners. 

Singapore Zoo

Singapore Zoo Main Entrance

Got to travel to Singapore Zoo! I love animals so I enjoyed visiting here. It has so many types of animals and really one of the places where any family would enjoy. The offers not only viewing of rare and exotic animals but also a chance to feed and interact with them. There are also shows inside the zoo but unfortunately we were in a hurry so we weren't able to watch any of the shows. There's also "Kids world" a place where kids can enjoy. The ticket prices are affordable and for me is worth every penny.

Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore

One of the Casino Entrances at Resort World Singapore

Got to travel to Resorts World Sentosa Singapore! Was not able to spend so much time in Resorts World. I used up the day in Universal Studios. Universal Studios Singapore is inside Resorts World Sentosa. There are two attractions there that should be watched but we were not able to because we have to back by 8:00P.M. and the shows starts around 9:00P.M.. One is the robotic Crane Dance and the Lake of Dreams light show with fireworks.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Got to travel to Singapore's Marina Bay Sands. We went there late afternoon. Why late afternoon? You'll see why. There are two sections of Marina Bay Sands. The first is the hotel which you can visit the sky park with a magnificent view of Singapore. The other is the shopping mall and Casino. The shopping mall there is huge. Not that many shops yet opened but the place was big. 

Sentosa, Singapore

Got to travel to Sentosa, Singapore! This is our second round to Sentosa. I scheduled two days because 1 day is for Universal Studios and Resorts World. We only spent half a day on our 2nd day there, because we still have other places to visit. So we started in Vivo City and rode the Sentosa Express (more transportation details below). You have two station to choose from. Imbiah Station or Beach Station. We chose Imbiah Station because we wanted to be early for the attractions there. Usually attractions open at 9:00A.M. but better to be earlier so you can take a good picture with the merlion statue and sentosa.

Universal Studios Singapore

Universal Studios Logo at the Main Entranc

Got to travel to Sentosa, Singapore! We went to the newly opened Universal Studios within the Resorts World Sentosa. I haven't been to the United State's Universal Studios so I can't compare them. So here we go. I suggest go to Universal Studios Singapore on a weekday and avoid national holidays and school breaks. Ticket prices in Universal Studios Singapore will vary depending on what day you are going to visit. They have different prices for holidays, school breaks and regular days.  The prices ranges are the following:

Waterworld Live Stunts in Universal Studios Singapore

Got to see Waterworld in Universal Studios Singapore! This is one of the best shows in Universal Studios Singapore. It has live stunts and gunfire. It's like watching a live action movie. The actors are great and their props are very real. They even have real explosions where I can feel the heat of the flames even when I'm 12 rows behind. I was just smiling the whole time I watched it.