SINGAPORE

DECEMBER 11 – 17, 2025

First off, let me dispel the rumour that Singapore is expensive. It is not! If you want to stay at the fancy hotels, eat in the fancy restaurants and shop ’til you drop, then it is expensive. However, decent mid-priced hotels and discount hostels are ever present. Street food will run around $6-15 per person. If you aren’t adverse to walking, everything is within a 2-4 km distance. If you want to ride, the MRT metro is cheap, cheap, cheap. Lots of things are free! They are sponsored by companies like Coke, Disney Cruise Lines and the Marina Bay Sands. It is super family-friendly with activities for kids everywhere.

I was told by our hostel hostess that Singapore is a FINE city. She meant there are monetary fines for chewing gum ($500), smoking in buildings ($200), littering ($200), throwing a cigarette butt ($500), and many more. Shoplifting carries an automatic 7 year prison sentence. It is a super clean and safe city!

She said they are afraid of the fines and as a result, have made it a cultural habit to throw trash in a bin, and be respectful of their surroundings. Our taxi driver from the airport said a tree is planted for every child born, which not only beautifies the city, it helps clean the air. There are many beautiful, lush parks to escape to.

There are signs to show you where to stand for proper boarding etiquette on the MRT.

We knew Singapore was going to be special from the moment we entered the baggage claim area. The walls were covered in live ferns.

The first full day was spent walking about, using my trusty GPSmyCity app. We first went to LITTLE INDIA, because it was the closest to the 7 WONDERS CAPSULE HOSTEL, where we stayed. There were hundreds of little shops lining the streets. I bought a new power bank for $10 because my old one quit. We popped in to the SRI VEERAMAKIAMMAN TEMPLE. Built in 1881 it is dedicated to the Hindu god Kali. The entrance and interior were crammed with so many frescos it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

Inside, there were devotees offering flowers, incense, rice and burning candles. Some were rubbing ashes onto their foreheads.

There were flower stalls across the street to accommodate the demand.

Interestingly, the predominantly Hindu street was covered with Christmas decorations.

We walked by the SULTAN MOSQUE, (it was closed)

and onto HAJI LANE. It got its name from the shops and shophouses that would help and house Hajj pilgrims whilst on their journey to Mecca for the Haj pilgrimage. Today this colourful street is lined with modern shops and restaurants.

We carried on to PARKVIEW SQUARE, with a building that looks like the Gotham Building in Batman.

Inside this building was the ATLAS BAR. It was so opulent it was obscene, really offensive. (line from Pretty Woman). We only looked.

Outside were the DUO TOWERS.

We passed through BUGIS MARKET, filled with food stalls and every conceivable item you may ever want.

We poked our noses into the RAFFLES HOTEL. It was once a privately owned beach house. It was converted into a hotel / boarding house in 1878. Ten years later, when the lease expired, a new renter converted it into a high end 10-room hotel. Extensions and additions were continuously made over the years, culminating in the present 115 rooms, 40 specialty boutiques and 8 restaurants. It is currently owned by Katara Hospitality, a Qatari investment group, under the global hospitality giant, Accor, umbrella. Another example of expensive, if you want it to be.

Since we did not have a reservation, the concierge was reluctant to allow me to even step inside.

However, our trusty Canada flag pin went a long way to allowing me to take a few pictures from the doorway.

We popped into ST. ANDREW’S CATHEDRAL. The church has existed on the site since 1836, although the current building was constructed in 1856–1861. The sparkling white building, with its tall sphere reaching to the heavens, sits in the middle of a lush green field surrounded by Rain Trees.

We walked past the CITY HALL.

Across the street was the VICTORIA THEATRE & CONCERT HALL.

We made our way to the MERLION STATUE. Half lion and half fish, this statue blends the modern “Lion City” resilience and evolution with its origins as a fishing village. It weighs 70 tons and stands 8.6 metres (28 ft) high.

We did the silly tourist photo op, which everyone else was posing for.

We were directly across the across the bay from the Marina Bay Sands, the Shoppes at Marina Bay and ArtScience Museum. More on them later.

On our way back to the hostel, we walked through ESPLANDADE PARK. The park was built in 1943 when Singapore was ruled by Japan, which explains why it is so beautifully laid out. There are many historical landmarks in the park.

I was more interested in the RAIN TREES. They are a massive tree, resembling an umbrella, growing up to 30 m (98 ft) tall and just as wide as it is tall. As a result, it is widely planted for shade. They look fuzzy and hairy due to the number of orchids and ferns growing in the nooks and crannies and between the layers of bark. Its leaves fold up at dusk or during rainy days, giving it the nickname “five o’clock tree”. The tree is native to Central and South America and was introduced to Singapore in 1876. It also provides edible pods and valuable timber.

Day 2 had me going to FORT CANNING PARK. This lush green oasis is located on a very high hill. After walking up a long series of stairs,

I came to RAFFLES HOUSE AND GARDENS.

A further path took me along a tranquil wooded path,

until I finally came to the TREE TUNNEL. It is basically a spiral staircase which, when you look up from the bottom, look like a tunnel into the trees. There was a long queue of people waiting to pose for pictures halfway up the staircase. I grabbed a random shot and left.

Heading back to the MRT Station, I passed the old FORT GATE.

Further along was the FORBIDDEN SPRING, with meditation benches. It was lovely.

That afternoon we took the MRT to BAYFRONT STATION, where we were greeted with the magnitude of the MARINA BAY SANDS. “MBS” is your One-Stop-Resort in Singapore. This 20 hectare (49 acre) resort opened in 2010 at a cost of $8 billion. It has 1,850 hotel rooms, a 120,000-square-metre (1,300,000 sq ft) convention facility, a 74,000-square-metre (800,000 sq ft) luxury shopping mall, a 2,183 capacity theatre, a casino with 500 tables and 3,000 electronic gaming machines and Michelin star restaurants with celebrity chefs. The three towers are topped by the SANDS SKYPARK, a 340 meter (1,120 ft) long skyway that connects the towers with a capacity for 3,900 people. The 150 metre (490 ft) infinity swimming pool that overhangs the north tower at a staggering 191 metres (626 ft) up. (hotel guest only)

The ArtScience Museum, the SHOPPES AT MARINA BAY, the floating Apple store and Louis Vuitton island are also part of the complex.

We went to the CASINO to kill some time and do a little gambling. (we lost) Locals have to pay $150 just to enter the casino to discourage gambling and prevent gambling addiction. As foreign tourists, we were allowed in for free; but not without producing our passports, getting facial recognition photos taken, and getting a clearance document. When we went to leave, the facial recognition did not recognize Pierre. How can you not recognize that face!? They had to screen him for about 15 minutes. I joked “Did you win a million dollars and not tell me”?

We walked through THE SHOPPES AT MARINA BAY. What a shopping centre! It is massive. The architecture is spectacular.

The food court is amazing, delicious, and crowded. We ate there several times, and it was always just as busy.

Going back to what the hostess told me about getting into the habit of being tidy, at the food court there was a tray return area in the corner. Everyone brought their dirty trays there. People went around wiping tables, but you bussed your own table.

There were Christmas decorations that put Canada to shame. Look closely and you can see a boat going down the “river” below the walkway.

There was an interactive play area for kids where they could chase after fish and frogs in a DIGITAL LIGHT CANVAS.

Directly outside from the mall was the ArtSCIENCE MUSEUM. It is shaped like a giant lotus flower and sits in the middle of a giant lotus garden. It is a unique place where art and science converge. Home to TeamLab Future World, which created the Digital Light Canvas in the mall.

A quick walk over the HELIX BRIDGE. It is a pedestrian bridge linking one side of the Marina to the other. It is shaped like a double helix.

The SINGAPORE FLYER was across the bay, but we did not go on it.

The GARDENS BY THE BAY is an urban park covering 105 hectares (260 acres). It is located beside the Marina Bay Sands. The various paths through the Park brought us past statues,

bushes shaped like animals,

gardens

ponds, and the giant SUPERTREES.

The tallest Supertree is 50 metres (164 ft) tall. They are not only iconic and beautiful, they collect rainwater for irrigation and cooling the conservatories on site, harness solar energy for lighting, house a diverse array of ferns, vines and orchids that not only look amazing, they also clean the air by releasing oxygen. They will eventually be completely covered in plants.

A few days later, we took a walk on the SKYWAY between two of the trees.

The next evening we came back for the GARDEN RHAPSODY. The trees were lit up and twinkling in time to Christmas music. It was magical!

After the Supertree rhapsody, we took in the LIGHT SHOW along the bay in front of the Shoppes. It was a spectacular performance of water fountains and lasers all in time to music.

We also got a nice view of the night skyline.

We bought tickets for the FLOWER DOME and CLOUD FOREST for the next day. The FLOWER DOME is the largest glass greenhouse in the world, at 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres). They had thousands of flowering plants

They also had a Christmas display with toy trains going past miniature iconic buildings from around the world,

and some that looked like fairy tale houses.

There were wooden sculptures tucked away in the trees and shrubs, which made for a mystical experience.

The CLOUD FOREST was in the next, connected, building. It is smaller at 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres), but higher. It is also cooler, replicating the tropical mountain regions. The first thing we saw was the 35-metre (115 ft) waterfall, cascading down from the 42-metre (138 ft) “Cloud Mountain”.

The walk through the cloud forest also took us past dinosaurs that moved and roared at us. It gave us an idea of what the jungle would have looked like when they still walked the earth.

An elevator took us up to the top of Cloud Mountain, where we could meander our way back down behind, past and around the waterfall. There were lots of ferns and flowers to look at, as well.

At the end, a trained animal specialist had “Blue”, the raptor, come out. He was well behaved, until he wasn’t, and had to be forced back into his enclosure. It was all fun!

I also went in to the FLORAL FANTASY. Pierre was not so interested. It was a wonderful display of, mostly, orchids that had me wandering down a garden path.

There were seemingly hundreds of varieties of orchids. I loved it!

There was also an enclosure with colourful poison dart frogs.

We took the MRT to the JEWEL CHANGI AIRPORT to see the RAIN VORTEX. It is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall at 40 m (131 ft) and is surrounded by a lush forest setting. To say we were gobsmacked would be an understatement!

A few stats on Jewel from Wiki: It has gardens, attractions, a hotel, about 300 retail and dining outlets. It covers a total gross floor area of 135,700 m² (1,461,000 sq ft), spanning 10 storeys—five above-ground and five basement levels. Its attractions include the Forest Valley, an indoor garden spanning five storeys, and the Canopy Park at the topmost level, featuring gardens and leisure facilities.

Jewel receives about 300,000 visitors per day. In October 2019, six months after its soft opening, it had welcomed 50 million visitors, exceeding its initial target for the whole year. In 2024, it achieved a record footfall of more than 80 million, the highest since its opening.

FUNNY SIDE STORY: We were asking a security guard for directions. He asked where we were from. We said Canada. He replied “Elbows Up!”

We went up to the MARINA BAY SANDS OBSERVATION DECK. It is on the 57th floor, a breathtaking 200 metres (650 ft) above the ground. We had a spectacular view of the city on one side.

On the other side was the Gardens by the Bay, the Supertrees, Cloud Forest, Flower Dome and sea full of shipping vessels beyond.

The inside of the Marina Bay Sands looked like something right out of Star Trek.

We took the MRT to Chinatown where we went to the BUDDHA TOOTH RELIC MUSEUM. There is supposedly a bit of Buddha’s tooth on display. I saw it but it looked like dust in a small bottle of plastic beads. (no photos allowed)

While in Chinatown I got a good feast of chicken feet. Don’t judge until you have tried them. They are delicious!

There are lots of unique building in Singapore.

Overall, we loved Singapore and intend to return one day. There was a lot more we could have seen and done. Knowing what we know now, it is not unreasonable to spend a few weeks here without breaking the bank.