My experiments in the Land of Merlion. Review on Singapore, General

~:o:~Scene 1~:o:~ A pleasant morning in Pune: My husband declared that he is going to Singapore to attend a conference. And I said, “Fine, when are we leaving?”

~:o:~Scene 2~:o:~ Hum dono Singapore mein :o)

It was raining when we arrived in Singapore. Singapore enjoys a typical tropical climate – hot and humid with thundershowers every now and then.

We were booked in Concorde Hotel on Outram Road. I was on my own for two days because my husband was busy with the conference.

Moving around in Singapore is very comfortable with MRT. But then you must be well conversant with the lines and connecting stations. The MRT stations are well organized and have location maps with key points marked and lines distinctly mentioned. I opted for taxi for excursion, which is an expensive affair as compared to MRT.

The most striking feature of the City is its cleanliness. There is a fine of 1000 SGD for littering.

First thing that I did was to buy a prepaid card from SingTel’s office on Orchard Road. Mobile connectivity in Singapore is very smooth and easy. It is said that every 7th person in Singapore owns a mobile. Then I picked up a map from Visitor’s help centre. These centers are located at prime locations in the city to help the visitors in organizing their trips. There are several one day trips to Malaysia. Indian nationals require visa to visit Malaysia.

Orchard road was buzzing with activity. After all it was “Great Singapore Sale” and “Food festival” time.

My first stop was Heeren on Orchard road. It houses HMV, the largest music store in South East Asia. I had my lunch at Movenpick Marche at the basement. Being a vegetarian, I thought that I will have little choice there, but this place offered me enough variety to choose from.

Next on my list was the Japanese store Takashimaya and Ngee Ann City which were just across the road. This store has been honored by award for “Best Shopping Experience”. It is a huge store and I kept losing track of my location. It houses all the big designer names and if browsed at leisure can easily take a full day. It has largest bookstore in SE Asia Kinokuniya. (Hmmm, too many largest in SE Asia titles). Frankly speaking the very size of Ngee Ann city and the swarm of shoppers got on my nerves soon. May be it was because of upto 70% off sale that the place was so crowded.

Next was Wisma Atria. I had sole intention of checking the Sony gallery in this centre. Generally, people prefer to browse through Sim Lim Square for electronics. But locals were of different opinion. If you can make out fake parts from genuine ones, then Sim Lim square is the place for you to bargain and get good deal. But if you want peace of mind and don’t mind spending few extra SGD’s for electronics,then its better to go to authorized dealers.

Lucky Plaza and Far east Plaza are Singapore’s version of Palika Bazaar, Janpath and Sarojini Nagar Market of Delhi. My perception is that general shopping in Singapore is no better than India. Infact it is more expensive. But electronic items are far cheaper there.

After a tiring day, and no shopping, I returned to hotel. Our hotel was very near Singapore river and in the evening we went for a walk along the river at Clarke Quay and Boat Quay. In pre-independence era, the river was used for unloading the goods by Chinese coolies. The same place now is marked with small riverside restaurants which bore a festive look. We took a river cruise, which took us along the river till the mouth of the river where white statue of Merlion greeted the boats coming in Singapore. The Central Business district and Theatres by Bay looked magnificent on that full moon night.

I planned my next day carefully and took a taxi to Orchid Garden. But guess what… the concierge had instructed the taxi driver to take me to Orchid farm in Madai. Luckily, the driver was helpful & talkative person. He took great pride in telling me all about the City. When I reached the farm, I didn’t like the look of it because it was at a very desolated place. If I relieved the taxi then I had no way of returning back to the city. So I decided to move a little further and go to the Zoo. I had a great time in the zoo. It looked like a small rainforest full of birds and animals. I enjoyed the “Elephant Show” surrounded by 100 school kids. I wanted to go to Jurong Bird Park but it was quite far and I had a choice between bird park and tropical cruise. I chose the cruise.

Tropical Cruise can be booked from Clifford Pier. It is a 2.5-3 hours cruise on an old Chinese Junk. Chinese junk is a boat which was originally used to ferry goods to and from Singapore. There are 2-3 agencies which offer cruise to islands. The route covered is same and stop over time is also same. Only difference is in the boat and the refreshments that are offered on board. Price ranges from 20-25 SGD. The islands covered by the cruise were Kusu Island, Twin Sisters islands, St John’s Island, Lazarus Island and Sentosa. There was half an hour stopover at Kusu Island. There is a legend about this island which says that in ancient times, a Chinese and a Malay sailor were caught in a storm. A huge turtle turned upside down to form an island and saved their lives. The Indonesian archipelago is clearly visible from the boat. It takes only 45 minutes by ferry to reach Indonesia. After 3 hours at sea I returned back to the hotel.

By then my husband was back from his conference. After relaxing for an hour at hotel, I dragged my husband to Mustafa the 24X7 shopping mall in Little India. It was so huge and cramped and full of people owing to Friday night rush. It had an amazing variety of goods.

Next day was planned with a friend of mine. Three of us went to Sentosa. I wanted to check out MRT, and my friend obliged me with all the needful information which I mentioned above. Sentosa can be reached by cable car from Faber Mountain or by road.

Our first stop was The Underwater world and honestly speaking, I was disappointed. May be it was too claustrophobic with so many people moving in the small tunnel. But my day was made when we went to The Musical Fountains. The light and sound show and Grand laser show was an experience I would remember throughout my life. It was already 8:45 when the show ended and there wasn’t much time left because Sentosa closes at 9:30. So we went for the Merlion Walk.

~:o:~Continued in comments~:o:~