Singapore for the Weekend

So I went with two of my closest friends (Carla and Royce) to Singapore recently for the weekend. We had so much fun. At least I did. But I think they had more fun than I did since they got to experience the night life at Clark Quay.

But before I share what happened in Singapore, I just want to acknowledge God’s blessings on me and my friends for letting us take this Singapore trip. There are people who can’t afford a weekend in Singapore while there are some people who can afford a weekend but don’t go due to time constraints. My friends and I could afford it and we had the time to do it too so I just want to thank God for it.

So here’s what happened:

• Tickets: I got my plane tickets from Cebu Pacific who, at the time, was offering the lowest ticket price. I chose to pay for a specific seat going to Singapore (P100). I paid around P7950 in total. Don’t forget the terminal fee (P1620) and another fee that I forgot what it was for (P750).
• Taxi: I arrived at the Budget Terminal of Singapore at around 1 am. I had to go to Terminal 2 in Singapore from the Budget Terminal to meet up with Carla before going to the hotel where Royce was checked in. The bus going to the “main” terminal was free. It arrives every ten minutes, I was told. The trip was maybe 10 minutes short. After meeting with Carla, we took a taxi going to Little India. The entire trip cost $69.80 SGD. I was told that was pretty normal because taxi fares after midnight is calculated this way: Regular Fare + 50% of Regular Fare + Night Differential + $3 SGD.
• The Hotel: We stayed in Hotel Aspinals in Little India. The room was neat. The bathroom was really small but I’m happy to report that it didn’t clog. The hotel fee included breakfast for two. Let me warn you: eat your breakfast somewhere else.

Mustafa Center was right across the Hotel and we bought some chips and bread and some jam because we were pretty hungry. We got red wine at the nearby 711. We got bottled water too which cost a little over $1 SGD. We drank the wine and slept at around 5 am. Woke up at 10 am, got ready and headed on to Universal Studios.

• Cable Car: We took the MRT to Harbour Front and walked around and decided to take the Cable Car ride ($24 SGD for a one way ticket and $26 SGD for a roundtrip ticket) to Sentosa. We walked all the way to Universal Studios which was a pretty long walk.
• Universal Studios: I committed the mistake of just purchasing the Express Passes ($48 SGD for one) for the three of us thinking it would be cheaper that way. When we got there, we were told that we needed to buy the regular tickets and that the Express Passes were an additional service. We all decided to just buy the regular tickets. We did the following:
• Revenge of The Mummy (must!)
• Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure
• Lunch at Marty’s Casa Del Wild
• Canopy Flyer
• Shrek 4D Adventure (must!)
• Enchanted Airways
• Battlestar Galactica: Cylon (must!)
• Battlestar Galactica: Human (must!)
• Monster Rock

We ended up leaving the park a little past 7 PM and took our cable car ride home.

Carla and Royce went to Clark Quay for some nightlife and I opted to stay at the hotel because I was so tired from all the walking we did.

Sunday morning, we woke up pretty late and had lunch at a nearby Chinese stall. We then went to Sim Lim, the place where they had the Merlion, had ice cream, then to Lucky Plaza, Chinatown and then to Clark Quay for dinner. We headed on back to the hotel to get our bags by 8pm and we were at the airport by 9:30 pm.

Useful tips for Travelling to Singapore:

• If you plan on doing a lot of walking, wear the most comfortable pair of slippers or sneakers that you have.
• Change your money for at least $200 SGD ($1 USD is equal to $1.20 SGD as of writing). Believe me, you’ll need it for transportation, food and shopping.
• Book your hotel early.
• Go to Clark Quay. They have excellent food choices. They had like a tent full of food stalls for relatively affordable prices.

That’s it! :)

Planned next stop: Hong Kong with Carla and Royce. :)