Hostel Heaven

Quote: Modern in every way, the malls are very common with plenty to bargain for and execellent transportation to take you anywhere in the city. The airport is pristine, the immigrantion stops offer candy, and the luggage arrives before you do.

With perfect advice on transportation to the hostel, I hopped on a bus and then another bus but was a little overwhelmed with the amounts of people and my heavy backpack. I have got to stop shopping! :) Hoards of people packed the streets with night markets, thousands of lights line the streets, and there I was the lost traveler with large backpack.

The highlights for me were the cheap prices on electronics (many fellow travelers have purchased digital cameras), the very friendly owners of the hostel--Ping and Hai--and the Night Safari.

Quick Tips:

So as not to overload yourself with too much shopping, I suggest spending one day in the modern malls and packing another with good cultural activities. There is lots to see in this city such as Chinatown, Little India, Geylang Serai, the Colonial district, Orchard street, the river cruise, the other islands such as Sentosa and Ubon plus beautiful parks and sport activities.

Best Way To Get Around:

With my map in hand, I spent my first day walking and shopping. It is very easy to lose and find yourself through the city streets. The city has excellent transportation and plenty of signs at corners telling you where the local MRT station is. I was a little confused by the bus system because there seems to be hundreds of different numbered buses and I couldn't figure out the logic of the numbering system. A taxi is expensive but very important if you are traveling late at night, and a trishaw is a tourist way to see the area.

No matter what you will find it very easy to get around and if you have any problems many people are willing to help you through your journeys.

Quote: Cute, clean, comfortable, compact, and cheap! I have nothing but high remarks for this haven within Little India.

I searched on the internet for a cheap place to stay in Singapore and found that it was lacking in nice hostels and affordable sleeping arrangements. I was very LUCKY to find the website (www.the-inncrowd.com) with loads of information for the fellow traveler, great visual pictures of the tourist areas, and the chance to stay in a nice, new hostel run by angels.

Hai and Ping take care to spoil travelers with an area for free internet access, seating lounge with books, music, and more plus free breakfast, access to a beautiful kitchen, comfortable dorm style beds, and clean, hot showers. Oh, they also have one double room if you want your privacy and I have been told that the bed is extra comfortable.

Now, I know that you are thinking that this place sounds too good to be true. If you don't believe, please take a look at their website and think about traveling to Singapore. I feel like I could spend days just enjoying the environment of the hostel with no need to see the outside world. Ping and Hai are always willing to listen, talk, and give advice for the lost traveler, and even organize group trips to places not to be missed.

I'm off to hit Chinatown and the openning of the Esplanade for the free cultural events.

Quote: This was the a local cafe that I found just down the street from the hostel. This is not a fancy restaurant for the menu is on the wall and there are pictures. The food is very good, fast, hot, and vegetarian. You can sample Idlys, rota, and many more Indian breads. I really liked their Idlys, which are a meal paddy that come with various dipping sauces. Plus there are curries and veggies and even sweet goodies for dessert. Remember that Indian food should be eaten with your hands, but only with your right hand. The traditional food will be served on a plate all messed together and ready for you to dig in. Try new things, but remember that some of the dipping sauces are very hot. For drinks, you can have tea or coffee. Iced coffee is in the South Asian tradition, with lots of sugar and milk. Plus their iced tea is similar to Thai iced tea.

Quote: The zoo is off the beaten path of the city. If you are traveling by yourself, you have to take two different bus and it takes a good hour to hour in a half. My suggestion is to get a group together. A bunch of us from the hostel piled into four cabs and raced to the Zoo. Being from San Diego, which has the world famous zoo, I didn't think that this was going to be worth the time or the money. I was very wrong!

Everyone should go to the bat cave. Fruit-eating bats fly through the air with nothing in between you and the bats. You enter their cage and see these amazing creatures up and personal. They hang from the trees and you can feel their wings beating as they fly right over your head. I figured that these would be the small little bats that I had seen at home, and well, again I was wrong. The small bats are there and then there are the large crow size bats. :) It is a must see!

On the train, you see many animals and then you have to opportunity to get off the train and walk the trail to see them even better. There are tigers, bears, deer, sloths, and so much more. The trick is that the Zoo is only open for certain hours and this is the time that they feed them. Plus each animal's area is not too large, which gives you more of a chance of seeing them.

Take the family, take a loved one, take a group, but take my word and go to the zoo.