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The Bloggers Guide to Singapore
Angry Ang Mo won The Bloggers Guide World Blogging Challenge - check out his quick guide to Singapore
Top 5 Useful Singapore Online Resources:
My voyeuristics friend best amusement tool, the Singaporean version of Google maps, offers you not only satelite and map views of the little island but also property listings of the condo you just “flew” over, the latest food critics of the restaurent next door and the number of calories you will burn on the suggested walk to the next ATM to get the money for your proposed to soon have meal over there.
Considering food in Singapore is for the locals what beer and soccer is for the Germans or reggae and some sweet herbs for the Jamaican, it comes to no surprise that this local food and restaurant guide is listed as one of the most visited webpages ever. It provides useful information on the latest culinary hotspots, gives reviews, charts on prices, taste, average meal size etc. A food lover’s paradise.
Kind of a monopole but then your only choice to get that seat in the first row of the Oasis concert or the VIP box at Asia’s first Winter Holiday exhibition, this is the place to go for your next concert ticket or opera performance schedule. Sistic is the official ticket provider for almost every event in Singapore and has a great event calender for whats going on at the moment in Singapore
A daily collection of the latest published and most interesting daily blog posts from the most read local blogs. Be it comments about the current political situation, pictures of your neighbour cutting his toe nails in the train or simply interesting news or guides, you will find it here, a great place to get your daily dose of local happenings in one go
Need to get rid of that strange phallic Viatnemese Statue or your Lonely Planet Books Collection check out this page. Many expats and foreigners have the problem of either bringing too much stuff or when having to leave Singapore having accumulated too many things. Asia is a shopping heaven and no one will left Singapore without burning his Credit Card at least once. Craigslist is the most easy (and free) webpage to sell your stuff againSingapore.
5 Top Tips for the City:
See also my blog post: 10 Unique things to do in Singapore
Going For A Hike In One Of The Remaining Rain Forest Nature Reserves
Once you arrive in Singapore and you stand in the middle of Orchard Road, its easy to forget that you are actually right in the middle of the tropics and all this was still rain forest not too long ago.
Luckily there are still really great Nature Parks (besides the obvious zoo) that offer you free tours through primary Rain forest with all its nature and animals. Get monkeys to steal your drink and huge ants to bite your bum while resting in the destroying mid-day heat and humidity.
My favorites are MacRitchie Nature Park (and the tree top walk), Bukit Thima Nature Reserve (with the highest point in Singapore), Mount Faber (and Singapore’s highest pedestrian bridge, called Handerson Wave) and the beautiful Botanical Garden.
Eat Local Food At A Local Hawker Center
Singapore is one big mixture of nationalities and cultures. From South African, over North Korean to German you get every food here (hell, even McDonalds offers you a delivery service!). But without question the local cuisine stands out.
It makes me wanna cry when I sit in a local Hawker Center having my Beef Hor Fun and then the obvious tourist walks straight to the “Western Food Stalls” to get his Spaghetti Bolognaise.
Visit the Hawker Centers (a local version of the food court) and try their dishes, Chicken Rice, Steamboat, Mee Goreng, Durian, Prata, and especially the fresh cut exotic fruits and juices just to name some of them. And besides the food you get the full portion of “localism”. I just blogged about it: The Top 5 Singapore Hawker Centers
Go Tandem Biking At Singapore’s Only Real Beach Side
Although partially formed by manpower (like the completely overrated and artifical entertainment island Sentosa in front of Singapore, and only useable as Tsunami barrage) the “East Coast Park” can be considered the only real beach side and promenade in Singapore. The water is still not good enough for a dive in but you have Kilometer’s of nice beach promenade with good walkways, Inline Skating Routes, artificial Wakeboarding Arena’s and the opportunity to rent Tandem bikes for less then 8$ (4 Euro) per 2 hours. This gives you plenty of time to explore the East Coast and have food at my favorite Hawker Center, the East Coast Seafood Center (next to the touristy and expensive one)
Take A Rant At Singapore’s Speakers Corner
Discussion about Singapore’s democratic political system are the all time hot topic in Singapore’s blogosphere and internet jungle. Without question freedom of speech or the right for demonstrations are handled with a different approach here then the common torurist might be used to.
This results in a mostly empty, green and nice park where it says “Speakers Corner” at the entry. Right in the heart of Singapore (and just next to a “Neighborhood Police Station”) you can find the Speakers Corner in Singapore. Go, take a speech about the cold Chicken Rice from last night and take some funny pictures.
Don’t Waste Your Time And Do The Touristy Things In One Go
There are quite some things that are officially “tourists spots” but still have their charme or are worth seeing. My personal “sightseeing trip” for my guests that have not more then 1 day starts in the morning with Singaporean breakfast, watery egg and Kaya toast at the food stall next to the MRT, then driving to Raffles Place, experiencing the bustiling business district and skyscrappers while walking over to the Esplanades, Singapore’s landmark Opera house. After taking pictures from its Roof terrace, walking back to the Singapore river and if time taking the obligatory boat ride that shows you the Singapore Icon (Merlion) and delivers you right at the tourist food mile “Boat Quay”, going for a quick lunch in the nearby Banquette (local hawker center) we walk over to Clarque Quay (the other tourist party spot) and then proceed to China Town. From there its only 2 subway stations to little India or the Arab Quarter were you can have a relaxing afternoon tea before you proceed to Orchard Road, Singapore’s signitaure shopping mile. Dive into the masses of tourists and then have a nice drink at Singapore’s highest Bar the “New Asia Bar” in the Stamford Hotel. Finish the night with Karaoke at KTV or a cable car ride to Sentosa and yo got one hell of a typical touristy dose, that should last for the rest of your life.
5 Reasons to Love Singapore:
The Weather– Hate It, Love it, its humid, its hot and never gets colder then 21 degrees. The locals build snow-domes to get their artificial winters, I take a morning, lunch and evening swim in my rooftop pool and hear my parents complaining about icey streets in Germany while sipping my Mojito.
The Live Music– Unexpected good Rock right in the tactless and seemingly unmelodic heart of Singapore. No night without (free) live performances in one of the many pubs and outdoor restaurants.
The Travel Hub– Several budget airlines operating to the whole of South East Asia out of Singapore make it a cheap weekend trip to go surfing in Bali, climbing in India or diving in Thailan.
The Food– The locals would name it for every point here. But they might be right. The local cusine is fabolous and you can easily spend motnh without eating the same dish again. And besides the wide range of wonderful tastes, food is very affordable here, have a nice dinner for 5$, easy!
Singlish – The unofficial spoken language is a mixture of mandarin and english, and simply called Singlish. Most confusing for the newly arrived tourist or stranded world travellor, it’s a fluent violation of any known english grammar and pronouncation, but its most efficient, by just leaving out the gap filling words and complications.
Examples:
What Do You Want?- Wha’ You Wann?
Can I have this piece of cake please?– That cake one ah!
Could you please do that / Is this possible – Can?
Yes, its possible / Yes I can do that –Can!
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