Singapore Travel Guide 2023 4K

What's going on everybody this is Island Hopper TV coming to you from Singapore. Let's do it! Welcome back Island Hoppers. Today we are going to continue exploring Singapore as you saw in our previous video we showed you the best things to do. Now we're going to do the full travel guide. Check the description below for the link to the things to do video. Alright so here we are in front of the Merlion which is half mermaid half lion and you can see it's a fountain that just pours into Marina Bay here. It's obviously a mythical character but it's something that you'll see across Singapore. Singapore gets its name because the man who originally arrived on the island said he saw a large lion which is a Singha. And here we are at the Singapore flyer the actual ferris wheel. We're going to see if we can go up there and ride it. It moves pretty slow though so we're not sure. So it's 40 Singapore per adult that's around 30 US. It does take about 30 minutes to do a full circle from here you get great views of you get a large air-conditioned capsule that you can fit your whole family in or if you're all by yourself you'll probably share the capsule with other people. And the big thing here is the 360 degree view you get from the very top of Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay area. And as we show you around some of the views of Singapore from up top around the downtown I also want to tell you if you check the links in the description below there's time stamps allowing you to click around the video. Also I want to say there will be video links to best areas to stay in Singapore and things to know as well as things to do so definitely click on those links to watch those videos if you have plans to visit Singapore. Well we're here at the Active Garden where you can play a variety of different instruments. Let's see what this one does. Just walking around Marina Bay Sands all the way towards the Supertree Grove here. It's really a peaceful walk. It's good for people who like to do outdoor activities as it is a peaceful relaxing stroll along the bay. And here we are at the Supertrees. We're going to go up to the top of the observatory and do the skywalk. And just a couple facts as we go around the Supertree Grove here at this skywalk. So there is 5.4 million people who live in the city of Singapore which is also a country with 64 different islands. There's one big island right but 63 other ones. Now it is also one of the greenest cities in the world as they like to call it a city inside of a garden. Another thing to know is the language they speak here they call Singlish. So it's a mix between like a Malay local language and English. So if you hear someone saying it's over there law or it's okay law they're basically being colorful with the language. And as you can see over here at the Supertree Grove they have an observatory, the skywalk, and it's just generally a nice place to take pictures especially at night. The observatory up here is great because you can see all around the Supertree Grove, the gardens by the bay, and even out towards the Straits of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca. There is a nine Singapore dollar admission fee to get in here but once you're up there you will see there is a cafe and even if you go all the way up to the top you have this like astroturf scenic viewpoint. And remember this is just one area of gardens by the bay. What we're going to do now is we're going to go to another exhibit here which also has an additional entrance fee but it is called the Cloud Forest Avatar World. So we're going in the Cloud Forest. Singapore is known as a city with many man-made waterfalls and this one inside the Cloud Forest is really spectacular. And you can walk all around the Cloud Forest here inside the dome and then you can go all the way up to the top. There's many different plant species you'll see all along here so definitely check out the aerial walkway when you get inside the dome. And these avatar creatures make it interesting for kids. And when you are there at the bottom and you're heading up you take the lift to the Lost World. And up here is where you're going to get the real spectacular views all around. You can go behind the waterfall depending on what level you're at. You can walk around the skyway. I mean look at this view looking down. And now for the best view as I mentioned previously the waterfall view. And on the way out you go through this exhibit where you see these stars on the ground and they spread like the Milky Way as you walk on. And the kids love it. And next up we're going to head over to the Flower Dome. And now we're in the Flower Dome. The Flower Dome offers a variety of different sub-climates across the world so you'll be able to see a bunch of different environments inside of the Flower Dome. This one was an alright exhibit. It wasn't my favorite but many people do love coming here to take pictures. And it really does live up to its name the Flower Dome. And that's a wrap from the Gardens by the Bay. What do you guys say we head north up to check out some animals. Alright guys we've made it to the Singapore Zoo. We're going to go around here and see what kind of animals they got. The Singapore Zoo does have a wide variety of animals. We actually have a full travel guide for the Singapore Zoo approaching 1 million views on this channel. So it's a really popular zoo. They've got lions. They've got giraffes. They've got elephants. They've got orangutans which are probably my favorites. They've got hippos. You'll see when you get here this is quite the exhibit. Tickets to the Singapore Zoo range anywhere between 38 Singapore dollars to as low as below 30 dollars. I've seen if you go online you can find some websites that have codes that will get you a lower price. So do search google before you get there to see if you can get a better price. I must say the proboscis monkey with that nose has got to be one of the most unique looking animals I've ever seen. Also right next door is River Wonders and the Night Safari. We'll show you around River Wonders. This is actually where you have to go to see the panda. I would stop short of calling River Wonders an aquarium but it does have some aquatic tanks. The main objective here is to show you what goes on around the world with the rivers from the Amazon to some of the rivers in Asia and even the Mississippi River. And as I told you this is where the panda is. I find it odd that the panda is not at the Singapore Zoo but rather here at River Wonders which means you do have to pay for an additional ticket to see the panda if that's your thing. And here we are at the Botanical Garden of Singapore and it's free admission. The only time you have to pay is if you go to the Orchid Garden which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will be going there. It is 15 Singapore dollars per person but the Botanical Garden itself is free. The Singapore Botanic Gardens is actually one of the only gardens in the world to be recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. So this Botanical Garden is world renowned. Yeah and as I said it is 15 Singapore for non-local residents. Local residence is 5 Singapore per person but the cool thing about this place is UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here we are at the VIP Orchid Garden where these are hybrid orchids that are sometimes named after heads of state from around the world. Like right here you can see Lee Kuan Yew. Hey it's pretty cool you might end up one day having an orchid named after you. You know and if you want to take your picture with the orchids right here photo spot. It's a bit hot out here so we're getting some coconut water. All right so after showing you around some of the cool ecological things around Singapore like the zoo and the Botanical Gardens what do you guys say we head around the city and show you some of the nightlife areas. So here we are at Clark Quay. We're going to show you around Clark Quay and Boat Quay. Let's do it. The area is really known as The Quays. That's spelled q-u-a-y. There's actually three main quays. There's Boat Quay, Clark Quay and Robinson Quay. Nowadays it's a popular spot to hit up some seafood restaurants along the river and do some shopping. And they sit along the Singapore River which was a primary waterway during the establishment of old Singapore. And as you would imagine why do you think they called it Boat Quay? Well there used to be lots and lots of boats. If you look at old black and white photos you'll see just how busy Boat Quay was. Well we're down on Boat Quay with a Singapore sling. You got to try one of these Singapore slings. A Singapore sling or known as a Sing Sling is just a signature drink that comes from Singapore as though it was a Mai Tai or a Pina Colada or a Long Island iced tea. It's just the signature drink from Singapore. And the typical recipe that would go into it would be something like cherry brandy, some pineapple juice, grenadine, fresh lime juice and gin. Other mixers go in it depending on where you get it but for the most part you can expect those main ingredients. So it's all about the gin. Down here along the river this was really the old historical area of Singapore. So you'll see lots of historical relics and statues, monuments, all that stuff including the Kavanagh Bridge. It's also worth noting that Boat Quay is right next to downtown but now that you've seen what it looks like in the daytime let's show you around the night. Nighttime on the old Singapore river it's really nice huh. Also if you guys are looking for the local beer you want to know what the local beer is it's called Tiger Beer. You go out late at night you'll get true drunken noodles right here in Singapore. We're at one of the hawkers in Boat Quay. About 11 p.m we've had a couple beers after the world cup and we've got some drunken noodles. You can see fish ball right here, a little bit of some meat, I think that's liver. And when it comes to accommodation you can see the rooms are fairly small. I mean you can get larger rooms but for $120 a night this is pretty much what you're going to expect. As far as transportation and getting around you're definitely going to want one of these MRT cards but they say you can use a Visa or MasterCard to just simply go. Also another app that you're going to want to download for sure is Grab. Best ways to get around Singapore is on the MRT. And here we are at the Art and Science Museum. We're going to go inside there. It looks like Buddha's hand or a lotus flower. You decide. And I'm referring to the unique shape and architecture of this Art and Science Museum. There is a few different exhibits here so do pay attention to what exhibit you want to see exactly because each one requires its own entry fee. But as you can see right here by this drawing it says glass tube and then palm of Buddha. So I guess it is the palm of Buddha. By far and away the most popular exhibit they have here is this Crystal Palace in the Future World exhibit. A lot of young people like to go here and take pictures when they're walking through. It's pretty cool. I mean it's a good place to take pictures and an interesting light show. This interesting contraption that I'm putting on my head supposedly allows me to send my brainwave signals to this interesting looking contraption right here. Well once I put this thing on I can use my brainwaves to manipulate this unique looking structure. Right outside of the Museum of the Future is going to be Marina Bay Sands which is that big hotel you see there with the observation deck on the top and the mall down below. But also you have some bridges that you can walk across the Marina Bay to say the promenade or some of the other areas. Alright guys here we are at the shops at Marina Bay Sands. Let's go inside. Yeah so inside the Marina Bay building you can see they have this waterfront right here where you can actually take a boat up and down kind of like a inside Venice. As you can see Marina Bay is a mall, a hotel, a casino and also a rooftop bar with a pool. The developer of this project was the same guy who actually built most of Las Vegas, Sheldon Adelson. So he is no longer on this planet but he was the guy who basically made this all come true. And here we are at the National Gallery of Singapore. It's an art museum. Let's go inside. Tickets to the National Gallery of Singapore are around $14 per person, well $13.50. But again if you go online you might be able to get a better price using welcome codes or whatever you can find. The building itself is very impressive but what you'll see inside here is multiple levels of art exhibits. Everything from futuristic to rustic and old to cultural from around the region of Southeast Asia. What we'll do now is we'll show you some of these unique buildings they have in downtown Singapore that really incorporate the garden and the tropics into the building's structure. It's like an infusion that you really only see here in Singapore. As you guys know Singapore is known as a city inside of a garden meaning the whole island is like one big garden and there's a city built inside of it. If you look right behind me here you can see the Park Royal collection building. Up there they have like a forest growing on the top of the building on multiple different levels. There is quite a few buildings that have this kind of architecture where they grow gardens along the side of the building. All right guys we have made it down to Chinatown. We're going to walk around here and see what's going on with the food and what's going on with the vibes. There actually is several areas around Singapore that have a representation such as Chinatown. Chinatown is on the outskirts of downtown. There's also a little India and then there's Haji Lane which is more of a local Malaysian Islamic presence. So you do have this Asian fusion happening here in Singapore. When you're down in Chinatown aim for Temple Street. It's a one-way street right in the heart of Chinatown with the Outram planning area in Singapore. So if you really love Chinese food this is where you want to get your Chinese food right here in Chinatown. Now let's go check out Haji Lane. All right guys we've arrived at Haji Lane right here in the Muslim area. So let's walk around. This area is actually the Kempong Trail. This is where Muslims would come during the Ramadan season or anytime they were fasting. They would wait for the call to prayer here and then they would break their fast. Let's talk about history here in Singapore. How did it get its name? Well Singapura it's because the Sultan when he arrived here said he saw a lion. That's why he called it Singapura, Singapore. But there's no evidence that lions actually lived here. Next, it is a culturally diverse place. Multiculturalism is very real here. You have Malay, you have Indians, you have Chinese which are called the Peranakans. Indigenous people which are considered mostly Malay. You also have Indonesians. So it's very diverse. Also the British were coming here. That's why you'll see things like Bengkulin or raffles. Very British colony here dating all the way back to the early 1800s. And the main thing that makes this such a geographically important position in history is because it's at the very bottom of continental Asia and it's actually at the edge of the Malaysian peninsula if you look at a map. So right there it connects to the South China Sea, the Straits of Johor and the Straits of Malacca. It's a very important shipping route right here in Singapore at the very edge of the land in continental Asia. After all this walking and touring it's about time we show you guys around this food scene. So you're going to want to check out some food hawkers and right now we're going to show you Lao Pa Sat. And here we are at one of the best hawkers in all of Singapore right here in downtown called Lao Pa Sat. Let's go inside. And here in Lao Pa Sat you can find tons of different cuisines. You can find Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, western food. You can find Malay food, Indonesian food, local Singaporean food. The variety is endless for your taste buds right here. Wonton noodles and char siu. It seems like that's what I always gravitate towards. This is a pork and that's a chicken or a duck. I'm not sure. All right guys we've made it to Little India. We're going to walk around and show you this place. All right we're doing a haircut Yeah so I'm finished with the haircut. I thought it turned out quite well. We got a mango drink here. I don't know exactly what it's called but it's mango. It tastes delicious. We have biryani rice, chicken tikka masala, and butter chicken right here. And then we have two garlic naans. And when coming to Singapore you might want to consider going to the National Museum of Singapore. Let's go inside. So it's 15 Singapore dollar per person to go to this here Singapore National Museum. There is two levels but we can't film or record in here because no videography or pictures are allowed. Interesting history on the building here where the museum is. It used to be a library and in 1890 you can see the picture right here. It's called the Raffles Library. All right guys we're going to Sentosa Island. We're going to take the Sentosa Express. So it's 98 Singapore dollars for adults and 78 Singapore dollars for kids. That comes out to around about 75 dollars per person for an adult. And another thing to do is go to the Singapore Aquarium right here in Sentosa Island. And out here on Sentosa Island they have a casino. So out here in Sentosa Island casino you need to bring your physical passport to go to the casino. So they won't let you in with a digital copy. It has to be your physical passport. Well I got some good news for those of you who love Sentosa. They got some new projects coming as you can see right here by the mock-ups. All right so we're at the last station. This is actually where the beaches are. You can see indoor skydiving. They have ziplining and some other activities. We're going to walk around show you some of the beaches. This beach here is known as Palawan Beach and it might just be one of the best beaches in all of Singapore. Now we are here at Palawan Beach which is one of the best beaches on Sentosa Island. All right so we're at the other beach called Siloso Beach. This is another beach on Sentosa Island. If you plan to visit Sentosa Island you may just go ahead and get a hotel out here for a couple days. You can stay outside of Sentosa Island but I found it to be probably in your best interest if you plan to really experience this area. Just get a hotel out here. It's a little bit more pricey than the rest of Singapore but in the mix. Now here we are at Suntec City. Looks like they have an event going on with some sort of costumes but also this is a place you can get duck tours and big bus tours right outside of Suntec City. It's also a big mall. Some moisturizer on my face. We're going to see if it's any good. And obviously getting a boba tea. This is a lychee. Lychee boba tea. All right now we're going to the night safari here right next to the Singapore Zoo. Starts at 7. All right guys here we are on Orchard Road. This is a great place to come in the daytime and the nighttime but we're going to show you around nighttime Orchard Road right here. It is a little bit towards Christmas so expect some lighting. Orchard is a popular area with both locals and tourists because it does have some nightlife. It also has many malls and high-end luxury hotels located here including the Hilton and the St. Regis. All right guys that's a wrap from Singapore. We're going to do a Things to Know, Things to Do and Best Areas to Stay in Singapore so stay tuned for those and click one of the links to one of those videos right here at the end.