Singapore in a week

day 1: arrival in Changi Airport Singapore with a Singapore airlines flight, after checked in the hotel, a walk through Chinatown, along Boat Quay, the Raffles monument, the Padang, the Merlion park.

day 2: Bright Hill temple and the Singapore open Zoo

day 3: Little India, Arab street, Raffles Hotel, Fort Canning

day 4: Jurong bird park, Science Center, Chinese and Japanese gardens

day 5: Haw Par Villa park, Discovery center, Clarkes Quay

day 6: Sentosa

day 7: Botanic garden, Orchid park, Orchard street, Night Safari

So as you can see I had a full schedule.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

I booked this hotel via the site link. When you book a hotel via this site you get a serious discount. At first I was a bit sceptic of this way of booking, but I tried it and it worked very well, they replied very quickly and when I arrived at the hotel it all went easy and 100% correct. I payed 75 Singapore $ a night for a single room.

This perfect restored hotel only provides suites, which are decorated in a Colonial style. You can enter the main Lobby and feel the Colonial atmosphere.

Don`t forget to go to the back of the building and visit the Long bar and try the famous Singapore Sling Cocktail.

There is also a museum, where you see more about the Hotel`s history and famous guests.

More Info: link

Opposite this restaurant is a small Hindu temple with some beautiful decorations (see pics).

The Long Bar is similar to the Raffles Hotel in a colonial style. There is one funny detail here; at several places in this bar you see big bags with monkey nuts. Just fill a basket with nuts, and eat them with your drink. Don`t worry about the shells; you just can throw these on the floor. I know it is strange, but at this Singapore spot you must litter.

So it happens when you visit this bar in the evening hours you really walk on a carpet of shells. What you find in every tourist guide (and if you ask me, it is a bit of a must when you visit Singapore) is the suggestion to taste the famous Singapore Sling Cocktail served in this bar. This Singapore Sling was created here around 1900 by the Hainanese-Chinese bartender, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon. For some time the recipe of this cocktail was a secret, locked away in a hotel safe, but nowadays you can get it from the friendly waiters.

Recipe
30ml Gin
15 ml Cherry Brandy
120ml Pineapple Juice
15 ml Lime Juice
7,5 ml Cointreau
7,5 ml Dom Benedictine
10 ml Grenadine
A Dash of Angostura Bitters

In Chinatown a lot of the old shophouses (downstairs was the shop, upstairs was the living quarters) are restored and painted very colorful, it was a pleasant sight.

The magnificent Pagoda-tower (or Gopuram) was built in 1903 and was restored in 1984 and is decorated with many Hindu Gods. It was built in the Tamil-style of South India. Craftsman from India built this beautiful tower.

If you want to enter this temple, you have to take off your shoes, as a matter of respect.

Inside the Thian Hock Kheng temple, in the big hall, you can see a statue of the goddess Ma chu Por, the mother of heavenly Sages).

This temple has magnificent decorations. This Temple was built with materials from all over the world. The wall that surrounds the courtyard is covered with Delfts Blue, the altar is decorated with English tiles, the door opening is decorated with Scottish wrought iron.

I am pretty sure that this is one of the most photographed spots in Singapore. I must admit that it is quiet impressive when you stand in front of this huge building.

According to the legend, the Singa or Lion, which Prince Sang Nila Utama first caught sight of on the island was seen near this very spot. Integrating the Lion head with the body of a fish was a means of paying tribute to Singapore`s history as an ancient sea town.

You can also see a larger version of this Merlion at Sentosa Island

As I walked Serangoon Rd already after 50 m there were the first temples, on the left side of the road there were 2 beautiful Hindu temples : Sri Vadapathia temple and sri Rama temple.

These temples are not so big, but anyway great to visit. These temples are not visited frequently by foreigners, I did not find them in my travel guide either. But as these temples are not so crowded it gives better opportunities to look around, take pictures and talk to the people around this place of worship.

Take off your shoes and socks if you desire to enter this holy place.

Inside the temple, admire the decorations. However during ceremonies you must show respect and stay in the background.

There is a very special atmosphere inside these tmples, especially during the ceremonies, when men are playing misic with a kind of large trompet and a drum.

In the main building you can see an altar devoted to Kuan yin, the Goddess of mercy and compassion, and there is also the Sakyamuni-Buddha.

Location: Little India

This name comes from the many colored lights that surround the 15 metres high sitting Buddha (weight : 300 tons). When devotees give a donation, then the lights around the Buddha lighten up.

Go around the Buddha statue and discover a hidden room with a beautiful reclining Buddha.

This is also the starting place of the procession of the Thaipusam-festivity. This is a very important Hindu festivity, male devotees bring themselves in a kind of trance, and then they are covered with a kind of portable altar, that is fixed on their body with hooks, even in their tongue and cheeks they put pins. This ritual is a kind of penance to honor the lord Murugan, God of courage, power, beauty and virtuousness. This procession ends about 3 km further at the Chettiar temple at Tank Rd.

The beautifully decorated entrance tower (Gopuram). This 20 m high tower is decorated with 6 layers of statues.

I am not sure if I can call this man (see picture) a priest or a monk (I know so little about Hindu religion, in fact to be honest it was the first time in all the years that I travel that I really had a contact with this religion, I agree I did see also a bit of Hindu when I was visiting Angkor in Cambodia, but over there I did just see some statues of these gods).

But anyway these men were there in every temple I visited and they did a kind of ceremony in front of some believers.

The Sri Veerama Kaliamman Temple : this temple is built by Bengali workers. Veerama Kaliamman means `Kali the Brave`, so this temple is devoted to the Goddess Kali, the spouse of Shiva the destroyer, one of the Gods of the Holy Hindu-3 unities.

You can see the Goddess Kali with many arms and legs and in every hand a deadly weapon inside the temple.

The building at the end of the field is the Singapore Cricket Club. It was founded around 1850. In the beginning this Club was for British only. And still nowadays it is as closed club with only about 4000 members. In this Clubhouse there is still a bar for men only, no ladies allowed.

At the right side of the Padang you see the Supreme Court and the City Hall.

Supreme Court (building with the dome) was built in 1939 at the place where once stood the famous Hotel de l’Europe.

City Hall was built ten years earlier. In this building the British signed the capitulation in 1942, even so for the Japanese three years later. Nowadays City Hall houses different Ministries, like the Foreign Affair Ministry.

It is not only a very big Temple complex, but there are also the luxurious decorations of the buildings. As you can see again this is a paradise for the amateur photographer, as all these buildings are very colourful decorated.

In this Temple complex you can see different pagodas, pavilions and statues with fine Chinese decorations.

The buildings are all decorated with mythical figures like dragons, phoenix`s, . . .

In the big pool next to the Temple complex you see a lot of green turtles, these turtles are given by devotees because they bring luck.

To get there : Take a taxi from Bishan MRT (N8) (price : +/- 4 S$)

There are over 3000 mammals, birds and reptiles. There is also a possibility to have breakfast or afternoon tea with an orangutan.

To get there : Take SBS bus 138 from Ang Mo Kio MRT (N9)

Open : 8.30am to 6pm (daily)

To see everything you need a day There are different animal shows and feeding shows : Check the times near the entry gate.

Admission : adults : 12S$, children : 5s$, there is also a possibility to buy a package ticket (valid for the zoo, the nightsafari and Jurong birdpark) this costs : 32.35S$, which is a good bargain if you plan to visit these 3 parks, just ask it at the ticketting office as it was not posted (I had read in a local travel magazine)