Amazing Time Lapse of scenic Singapore

Singapore Budget Travel Tips

It's been a month since I travelled to Singapore. It took me 7 years to go out of the country again, and 15 years prior to that. So, I haven't been traveling as much as I would really want to, but I aim to change that. Enough about that, and let me share some things you need to know when going to Singapore. A few tips here and there, which should help you save a bit on travel in a country regarded as one of the most expensive in the region.

Let me list them in no particular order, so here goes:

1.) Always have a water bottle handy. Singapore's tap water is potable and they have a lot of water fountains are available in many locations around the country. Most, if not all of Singapore's attractions entail a bit of walking and with temperatures ranging from 31-35 degrees Celsius [88-95 degrees Fahrenheit] on a daily basis, you can expect to work up a sweat every now and then. Bottled water costs somewhere between 1-2 SGD [per 1-1.5L bottle], and those costs add up as you go along. What I noticed is that they position these water fountains near comfort rooms. 

2.) Eat like a local and find the local food center or hawker stall. They are fairly easy to find in most places, and you could save a lot of money compared to eating at restaurants on a daily basis. Food centers can be easily located, and simply put, is a food court for most hawker offerings. Restaurants and most fast food chains normally charge around 6-12 SGD per meal [this does not cover fancy restos which may charge a bit more], while you can find hawker stall meals ranging from 2-5 SGD. I would probably need to write about this even more on a separate post.

These two meals for a total of 8.50 SGD. Great value!

A hawker stall in Little India

3.) If travelling as a backpacker, you should consider living in a hostel. Singapore has a lot of hostels, inns, or dorms which are a fraction of the 

price of regular hotels. A hotel costs somewhere between S$100-200, maybe even more, while a hostel costs around 30-50 SGD a night. As a tourist, your main aim is not to stay at hotels the entire day. They are mainly places for you to a.) keep your things b.) sleep c.) take a bath, and prepare for your next adventure.

However, it may not be for everyone because a.) you share a room with x number of guests, which depending on the situation can either be really good roommates, or can be really obnoxious. b.) some people just want their privacy, which is perfectly understandable.

4.) Buy tickets to attractions in advance. The worst thing you can do would be to buy your tickets on the venue itself, which would cost you the full price, compared as to, say, buying them at the airport [there are many Changi Recommends stalls around the airport], at the hotel where you're staying [The place where we stayed, Bunc@Radius offers tickets for Universal Studios, River Safari and other places to go to], and a lot of websites sell ticket packages for a much lower price than face value. Let me give an example:

Changi Recommends sold us a package for three attractions for $73:

River Safari with Boat Ride - $28 per head [adult] and $5 Boat Ride

Gardens by the Bay [Cloud Forest / Flower Dome] - $28

S.E.A. Aquarium - $32

Total = S$93

Three attractions bought at a discount for Singapore

I saved roughly 20 SGD by buying them beforehand. I've seen offers for Universal Studios for around S$65 [compared to S$75 when buying it on the venue itself]. Virtually any attraction in Singapore is offered at a discount if you search for it and plan for it prior to getting there. 

Do you have other tips, and suggestions for a fruitful, yet budget saving trip? I'd love to hear about them and if there are a lot, I'd write a part 2 to cover those as well. 

Humpy Dumpy in 2015

As I was browsing through the supermarket aisles lately, I ran into two of my favorite chips from childhood. I didn't fully expect them to be around after no longer making commercials or any fanfare and the rise of other available junk foods in the market.

I wonder if it still has that pungent odor which fills enclosed spaces like crazy like it used to during field trips?

Dunkin Donuts' price increase

I'm not sure when this change happened, since I haven't really been buying a lot of doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts lately, but it turns out that one of my all-time favorite flavors, the Choco Butternut, is now part of what the store labels are "premium" donuts and as such, it costs 35 pesos a piece. 35 pesos! It's nearly twice the price of other "regular" donuts where it used to be part of.

It's within the same price range as that of other high end doughnuts such as Krispy Kreme [roughly around 40-45 pesos per piece] and J.Co Donuts [42 pesos per piece]. These higher end brands tend to go cheaper as well if you buy by the dozen. It's just sad that what I consider to be part of their original flavors have to be tagged to be part of their pricier group, when they could have just continued to come up with newer flavors to fill that void instead of alienating loyal customers with such a big price increase. Then again, I guess, I'm just not updated.

J.Co Donuts - Hi Lychee!

On a Sunday morning, I was with my girlfriend spending time at J.Co Donuts. I love the variety in their doughnuts, and how they seem to capture the flavor accurately with their products.

So, today, there was this new flavor [or at least it seemed new to me], and I just had to give it a go. It was called "Hi Lychee" and as the name implies, is Lychee-flavored.

Nothing much to write here, except that if you like lychee, this doughnut captures that flavor quite well. Reminds me of those canned lychees with syrup that my dad buys from the grocery.

Red Ribbon Tiramisu Meltdown

It is a Maundy Thursday. Most, if not all malls are closed. I'm at work. Under normal circumstances, it would be a regular grind, except that I would not have to deal with the heavy traffic [while riding buses due to the malls being closed] and the hordes of people at the MRT stations. 

My boss had a craving for cake, and thankfully, Red Ribbon was open and was ready to deliver, and she treated our team to some cake. Tiramisu meltdown galore, and before the cake was consumed by the team, a picture was taken to prove its existence before it becomes a memory.

With the absence of a knife, we had to improvise and use plastic forks to cut into the cake, and as such, the slices are imperfect, but wouldn't you say this still looks enticing? 

While it does taste good, and it was quite an experience, it doesn't really feel much like a tiramisu for me. It was more like a chocolate cake. It had a soft foamy texture, and if you have a sweet tooth, you'd like how sweet this cake is. For me, a tad too sweet, but it's all cool. 

What's more important is that I got to bond with my team on a day at work. Any opportunity that comes along is a great time to spend time with folks at work. It certainly helps with coping and the tedium of the daily work and commute. 

Burger Logic 6: Jollibee Ultimate Burger Steak

In one of my treks to Jollibee, I noticed something new to their menu. I took out my digicam to take a snap of their menu while I was on queue. This is how it looked like from their menu:

A rice meal with fries? I already do it occasionally

I ordered it since I've always been a big burger person and I took a snap of what I was served. Unfortunately, the place was jampacked even at 10PM [it was, after all in Cubao], and I had to eat in a slightly dark corner of the branch. Excuses aside for my poor shot of the food [I try to avoid using the flash as much as possible], let me provide my take on it.

It is 100% beef, all right. When I ordered, you are given the normal "12 minute" wait time whenever you order a Champ [they are using the same patty for this], but in my case, it took less than 10, which is a good thing considering the poor service I get from fastfood places. It includes a regular serving of french fries, where the 1/3 pound patty sits and it is swimming with the mushroom sauce. An egg afterwards and its a fairly big meal.

I tried eating this on two separate occasions, one dine-in, and one on take out, just because I'd like to take note if having the fries would make any difference. When I ate it freshly prepared, the fries were still new and crispy and provided the added texture that I really like. The burger itself? Well, it tasted like the regular burger steak that you can order through them. It's nothing special. 

The time I tried take out, it didn't work out well. The mushroom sauce definitely made the fries very soggy and the overall meal was less enjoyable [note: I ate it around 2-3 hours after ordering it]. Still, the pure beef patty was good and on both times, I felt compelled to reach out and get extra rice. 

Just as much, I took a short video trying to zoom it in, and provide a more detailed look into it. Who knows, maybe next time, I can do a speaking role or some such.