Singapore Travel tips and suggestions

napstersquest

napstersquest

Not Harold
Herald
I am traveling to Singapore for a week with family.

Please leave suggestions and tips if you recently visited or have something to share.

Could be
  • Must visit places
  • Places to avoid
  • How much cash should I carry?
  • Where and what to shop?
  • Where to eat (veg options)?
  • Must try local food items (veg)
  • Which credit/debit cards to take with me (I have Indie, Niyo (Equitas) with 0% forex fees and some other non-premium credit cards)
  • Must have travel accessories
  • ... and whatever you can think of
Thanks in advance!
 
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  • Must visit places
    • sentosa island and marina bay (and surrounding places), china town, zoo.
  • Places to avoid
    • nothing as such. you can roam any road at midnight and feel safe.
  • How much cash should I carry?
    • when I went alone, carried 300SGD as hotel was booked by office. Once this cash was depleting, I used my citi debit to withdraw cash.
  • Where and what to shop?
    • everything there is expensive. you will get cheaper prices here in India. Chocolates, prunes are cheaper there and you will find variety of chocolates if you go to Mustafa Center. This is one place where things are cheaper.
  • Where to eat (veg options)?
    • very difficult. Just order on Grab app (you can even book taxis on grab).
  • Must try local food items (veg)
    • SG is heavily nonveg. Just eat whatever veg you find. THere are lot of indian restaurants though.
  • Which credit/debit cards to take with me (I have Indie, Niyo (Equitas) with 0% forex fees and some other non-premium credit cards)
    • HDFC forex card i think is very good. do not remember exact name.
  • Must have travel accessories
    • SPF50 or higher sunscreen lotion, umbrella. Out of the blue, it rains for a minute or two and suddenly stops.
  • ... and whatever you can think of
    • buy local SIM card before you even get out of airports. Its bloody cheap (data especially), metro is best way to travel in city.
Note: If you go to any roadside or fast food center, make sure that you are not getting your veg food cooked in oil used to fry fish or in fish oil. Stick to pure veg restaurants or to Indian hotels. Go to 'Lau Pa Sat' near Marina Bay. lot of options there and food is bloody cheap.
 
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Most tourist spots have entrance fee (Jurong, Universal studios, Zoo, Gardens by the bay etc) book tickets via klook and pay in INR. Saves on conversion, queuing at these places.

Along with tourist sim, get a NETS prepaid card and top it up. You can use the same card pretty much on all forms of transport.
 
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Apart from Sim lim square, you can visit Funan mall opposite to cityhall MRT for electronics/computers. Across from sim lim square, there is sim lim tower that hosts mostly electronic parts and hard to find spares
 
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rsaeon said:
Sim Lim Square! That place has been legendary way before social media.
Click to expand...
IMG20240317133038.jpg

Couldn't find anything much in the entire mall that I needed and wasn't available for cheaper on amazon.in or on TE

Left with some screen cleaning kit and cable twist protectors, that's it.

Most of the shop owners were selling either new-in-box items with prices comparable to India, or refurbished stuff that was cheaper in India. For example the refurb Dell Wyse 5070 box with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD was being quoted at SGD120 (roughly 7500) which is a bit on costlier side.
 
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If you are a basshead, then you can audition and pick up one of these from their outlet there -
fatfreq.com

Maestro Series

Immerse yourself in a lifelike concert experience. BASSCANNON™ technology recreates deep subwoofer tremors that you can feel.
fatfreq.com fatfreq.com
Their claim to fame is "deepest bass on earth".
 
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eTernity2021 said:
Hope UPI payment system works there,i am not sure though!! is SG roped in UPI usage?
Click to expand...
I only saw one banner on Bugis Station exit about UPI usage.
But it wasn't required anyway. 99% shops accept VISA/Mastercard, most shops prefer digital contactless payments.
Only one vendor (ice cream sandwich trolley on Helix Bridge) I saw that didn't have digital payments, so only accepted cash.
All of their public transit accepts contactless credit/debit cards. You don't even need their NETS/SimplyGo Ezylink cards.
rockstah said:
Samsung and apple mobiles are way cheaper compared to India. My friend bought a s24 ultra at a close to 30k discount.
Click to expand...
Not exactly looking for a phone at the moment, so would have to pass on that one. My Nord 2 is going good after a battery replacement, and wife has an iPhone 13 she is happy with. Nobody else in my home really cares what phone they use as long as their taken pictures look good, WhatsApp and calling works and storage space is available.
ibose said:
If you are a basshead, then you can audition and pick up one of these from their outlet there -
fatfreq.com

Maestro Series

Immerse yourself in a lifelike concert experience. BASSCANNON™ technology recreates deep subwoofer tremors that you can feel.
fatfreq.com fatfreq.com
Their claim to fame is "deepest bass on earth".
Click to expand...
Not much into IEMs, and they look out of budget anyway XD
 
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eTernity2021 said:
Hope UPI payment system works there,i am not sure though!! is SG roped in UPI usage?
Click to expand...
SG is Apple Pay country.
rockstah said:
Samsung and apple mobiles are way cheaper compared to India. My friend bought a s24 ultra at a close to 30k discount.
Click to expand...
Better not. Warranty won’t be honoured in India afaik. Why risk it, unless you have people who frequently travel between the two countries
 
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rockstah said:
ya samsung doesnt have international warranty but apple does
Click to expand...
Check once. If you buy in some conuntries, warranty is not valid even if you get Apple care. Australia is one such country.

Update: checked with colleague who got iPhone from SG. International warranty is valid if you buy in SG through proper channel.
 
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desiibond said:
Check once. If you buy in some conuntries, warranty is not valid even if you get Apple care. Australia is one such country.

Update: checked with colleague who got iPhone from SG. International warranty is valid if you buy in SG through proper channel.
Click to expand...
does apple care and regular apple warranty have different tnc in or within countries?
 
hellblazer33 said:
does apple care and regular apple warranty have different tnc in or within countries?
Click to expand...
I believe it’s all the same now. Problem comes if you purchase say phone from one country that is not available in another. Eg: USA iPhones have mmWave modem and India does not. If you need phone replacement under warranty, it may be difficult. Don’t know if they will replace that model with India specific model.
 
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