Budget Travel in Singapore

Singapore can be seen pretty completely in 4 or 5 days.

Food Courts:
Great food is all around you in Singapore: Chinese, Indian, Malay, etc. It was definitely the highlight of my trip. The best part about it is that it can all be had for very cheap. I ate at one of the many food courts around town for every meal, usually paying no more than or for a delicious meal. All the food stalls are clean and safe, and you're almost always guaranteed that it will be top-quality food.

Little India:
This is a great neighborhood for everything Indian. In parts of central Singapore it feels like you’re in China, and then when you walk into Little India, where you could easily be in southern India. Bollywood music blasting out of shops, cheap Indian food, and a generally more chaotic atmosphere offer a nice contrast to the sometimes overly sanitized rest of town.

Botanical Gardens:
This is a refreshing break from the city, and it is quite close to the center. The gardens feature paths through forests of plants and trees from all over Southeast Asia, as well as an orchid garden. Admission is free, except to see orchids.

Shopping:
I’m not much of a shopper, but walking along Orchard Road and going in and out of the bright and modern mega-malls that line it for miles is fascinating. Another benefit of this: Singapore is always hot, and these mega-malls can be great to walk through for 5 minutes to cool off. Generally there’s one not too far from you no matter where you are in the city.

Quick Tips:

Onward Travel:
A great option if you want to save money when traveling north to Malaysia and beyond is the cheap express bus to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, just across the causeway from Singapore. The bus costs roughly US.50, takes about a half hour, and involves a border crossing in which you get off the bus twice, once to leave Singapore and once to enter Malaysia. Remember to keep your luggage with you, as the bus will sometimes move on before its passengers are out of immigration. Don’t worry; another will be on its way shortly to pick you up. From JB, you can get onward buses, trains, and planes for much cheaper than if you bought a ticket out of Singapore. You’ll see the biggest savings on flights.

Information:
At the airport and around town are several free guides to weekly events in Singapore, as well as free maps of the city, which are useful to pick up. The help desks in the airport arrivals area are also very useful. The woman at the desk actually gave me .20 to make a call to my hostel, which I found amazing.

Best Way To Get Around:

MTR (metro):
This is by far the best way to get around, as well as into town from the airport. The trains are modern, air-conditioned, and efficient, and on the newer ones, you have LCD screens playing movie previews, etc. Fares are cheap enough, especially from the airport, paying roughly .50 to get into the center of town. Instead of buying standard tickets, try to get one of the multi-ride cards, which require a deposit which you get back when you leave. They’re great because you just wave it past the sensor on any subway or bus entrance and it automatically deducts the fare.

Taxis:
They are fairly inexpensive and useful if going to outlying portions of the island (i.e. the zoo) but mostly unnecessary in the center of town.

Walking:
It’s very hot out all the time, so it can get tiring, but walking can be great for seeing the city. And when you get tired, there’s usually an MTR station nearby where you can catch the train.

This is a great little hostel right in Little India and very close to the center of town, major sights, and bus and metro stations. For the price (S$18, about US$11), I don't think you can beat this in Singapore. There are dorm beds and slightly more expensive double rooms (S$24 per person if two are sharing the room). The dorm area is very comfortable, clean, and nicely designed, with lots of natural light and nice colors on the walls. The beds are decently comfortable, and the shared bathrooms are well-maintained.

Downstairs is a nice common area with a TV, a bar, lockers (free of charge), a kitchen, computers, and laundry facilities. A basic breakfast and 30 minutes of internet access a day is included for free. The staff is more than happy to help with any questions you might have. Their website also has useful information on travel in the area; visit www.the-inncrowd.com.

I frequented this food court because it was right by my hostel (see the InnCrowd entry) and found it to be a very pleasant place to eat. It's indoors, air-conditioned, and has lots of seating. There are probably about 20 different food stalls, mostly Chinese, Japanese, and Malaysian food. It's all great. There's a vegetarian stall that makes things out of tofu, a durian cake stall (I dislike the fruit, but some might find it interesting), etc. Everything is cheap as well, usually no more than S$5 or s$6 (about US$3 or US$4).

Finding it is pretty easy. It's on the ground floor of the mall as far as I can recall. If not, it's right along the street somewhere very near to there.

As a side note: In the back by the bathrooms, there's also a large selection of books on Buddhism, in Chinese and English, that are free. I found some really interesting stuff there.

This is a very small café in the Middle Eastern area, on Arab Street. While checking out the textile shops, I came across it and stopped because it had sheesha available (flavored tobacco in water pipes). I didn't try the food and the iced coffee I ordered wasn't the best I'd had while in Singapore, but it's one of the only places for sheesha that I found in the entire city. I also didn't see any other tourists there, which was nice for a change. There are a couple of tables out on the street, which seemed a lot nicer than the seating inside. Overall, it is a good place to take a break if in the area.

The Night Safari opens shortly after the zoo closes, when it gets dark out, to give people a chance to see the nocturnal animals that wouldn't be out during the regular zoo hours. It's a little theme park-ish, which doesn't appeal to me, but it's actually pretty nice, with torches and a bunch of footpaths that you can take. If only they could have cleared out all the people using flashes on their cameras and making noise, it would have been a great experience. The jungle and animals at night are both enchanting and eerie. If you can try to tune out the humans around you, it's very nice to stroll through the various areas. Animals seem to have a good amount of space, and it all feels very open--one of the better zoo experiences I've had. As mentioned, I would avoid the trolley/bus that takes you on a guided tour. All I wanted the whole time was for the guide to shut up and let us observe for ourselves.

Of note: you'll probably want to take a taxi to get here, as it's toward the north of the island. Buses come here, but if you have a few people, the taxi is worth the money.

This is a worthwhile day trip. To get there from central Singapore, you need to either take a bus or taxi out to Changi jetty on the northeast side of the main island, near the airport. There you catch a bumboat (ferry) for a 15-minute ride out to the island.

Pulau Ubin is largely undeveloped and supposedly a lot like what the rest of Singapore used to be like before all the development. When you get off the ferry, there's an information desk where you can get a map of the island, as well as a bunch of bike rental places and simple restaurants and snack shops. I chose to walk around for a couple of hours, and found it to be relaxing and beautiful. I did get a bit lost, but finding my way back was no problem. I had some really great Hongqiao noodles at one of the restaurants as well. If you're tired of the city, head here for a break.