how to be a traveler in singapore (12 things to do)

1. Eat at the hawker stalls

I think this is an obvious one but I thought I’d list it anyway. After all, one of the best ways to learn about a culture is through their food. And in Singapore, you won’t find a shortage of hawker stalls to expand your palette at

Hainanese Chicken @ Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice @ Maxwell Food Center

2. Marvel at the nighttime light show of the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay

(32 SGD/24 USD) Known as, “Garden Rhapsody”, the show comes alive every night at 7:45 and 8:45 PM. There’s plenty to do in the daytime too. Gardens by the Bay also includes Cloud Forest, and the Flower Dome, which is the largest glass greenhouse in the world. While the Supertree Observatory is free to observe from the ground, the skyway overlooking it does require a ticket, as does the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. But the good news is that you can pick and choose which gardens you’d like to visit with their combo tickets

The Cloud Forest has a walkway throughout the building

You’ll find lots of topiaries at the Flower Dome

3. Take a silly picture with the Merlion

This statue is the official mascot of Singapore and has the head of lion with the body of a fish. Water shoots out from it’s mouth, so you’ll see plenty of people trying to get that perfect shot of them pretending to drink the water. Like this one:

4. Tour the Tiger Beer Brewery

(25 SGD/19 USD) This pilsner was first introduced in 1932 and was Singapore’s first locally brewed beer. I will warn you though, that it is far and isn’t easy to get to. If you want to take public transportation from the city centre, it will take about an hour and 15 minutes. A cab will only be 20-30 min and around $16 USD, which is totally worth it in my opinion. But it’s not getting there that’s the issue. It’s getting back. The brewery is located in a quieter office area, so it was difficult to find a Grab, or call a cab (but this one might have been because we didn’t really know how to dial internationally from our cell phones. That or maybe they saw an international number calling and didn’t pick up). After half an hour with no success of finding a ride, we walked about 20 minutes to the closest train station and were able to get back to the city centre that way

Marina Bay Sands made from Tiger Beer labels

5. Check out the Marina Bay Sands Hotel

If you’re lucky enough to stay here, you’ll get access to the famous infinity pool. But at $700 per night, this just wasn’t in our cards. The hotel itself is still a sight to see though, especially at nighttime all lit up. Even if you’re not staying here, there are other things to do in the area, like the Shoppes at Marina Bay, the casino, and the SkyPark Observation Deck

At the Marina Bay Shoppes, there’s this exhibit where you stand on opposite ends. When you whisper, you can hear the other person

6. Get a 360 view of Singapore at the SkyPark Observation Deck

(37 SGD/31 USD) At 56 stories high, it is definitely a view for the books. It’s so cool to see the Supertrees from that angle. You’ll even get a glimpse of the infinity pool if like me, you couldn’t experience it first hand. Just make sure to bring plenty of water because there isn’t much shade up there

5 digital copies of these cheesy prints are included with your ticket

7. Hang out at the Jewel Changi Airport

I never thought I would suggest an airport as a thing to do but the Jewel Changi is on a whole other level. It is consistently named the no. 1 airport in the world, and is much more than just a transportation hub. It is home to the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. But if you want to see this, it’s after passport control/baggage claim – which I guess makes sense because there are people who just visit the airport without actually flying anywhere. I visited the waterfalls after I landed because I didn’t want to build in extra time to see it when leaving to go home, since catching a flight is always rushed already. It was a little annoying with all of our luggage, but it was worth it. Besides, we had already spent 9 hours on a layover at this airport on the way here, when we were flying to Bali. You could say we explored most of the airport in that time. Each terminal has its own attraction, and they have connecting shuttles that are frequent and easy to navigate. You’ll find shops of course, hawker stalls (pricier than actual hawkers but still pretty cheap), a butterfly garden, and even a movie theater

The tallest indoor waterfall in the world at Changi Airport

8. Take a cable car over to Sentosa

(15 SGD/11 USD) This is an island off Singapore’s main island. There are multiple stops you can get off at before Sentosa, so you can easily spend half a day doing this. I found there wasn’t much to do at Sentosa (unless you are a gambler – there is a Resorts World Casino there), but the cable car ride was fun and the views were worth the trip

9. Admire the architecture and relics of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Just be sure your shoulders and knees are covered before entering. While you’re in the area, don’t forget to check out the rest of Chinatown

10. Take in all the colors of Little India.

You’ll find vendors selling everything, like food, fabrics, jewelry, and gold, just to name a few

11. Take a stroll through the Emerald Hill neighborhood

You’ll find a bunch of colorful and picturesque houses. It’s also down the road from Orchard Road, a shopping mall that has a Don Quijote, a discount store from Japan (though the prices here are not quite discount)

12. Explore the Singapore Botanic Gardens and see 1,200 different species of orchids at the National Orchid Garden

(15 SGD/11 USD) The park itself is free to enter but the Orchid Garden requires a ticket. The park itself is huge and we didn’t even go through it corner to corner, but you should expect to spend at least an hour in the Orchid Garden