Food Trippin' Singapore: Tiong Bahur

Before we finally go home, we had our last lunch at Singapore at Tiong Bahur Haineanese Boneless Chicken Rice and Curry Rice near our inn in Clarke Quay and just across Central Mall.

This restaurant is located at the side streets and among the array of restaurants in the area. It is like an eatery similar here in the Philippines. The place is just small and there are a lot of tables for the customers. It is packed during lunch time that they extend to the streets just to accommodate hungry customers. At the back of the place is the counter and kitchen area. Here is where you pay your food upon ordering. By the way, the staff there seats you first then hands out the menu then you chose and tell them. They then give you a piece of paper and you have to pay it on the counter.

Food Trippin' Singapore: Bongo Burgers at the Night Safari

After our trip around the Night Safari and enjoyed the animals and shows inside, we are all feeling hungry and a late night dinner is the only option we have right then.Just near the entrance of the park is a small restaurant which serves burgers and pastas. We decided to have dinner here at  Bongo Burgers.

We decided to have dinner here since the place is not much crowded and it was much cooler in the area. The place is just small, a small counter and kitchen plus the tables that extend up to the walk ways of the park. You have to queue on the counter upon ordering and the waiters serves you your food on your table. The place is with the park's theme. It was like a safari with zebra prints and a lot of native stuff all around.

Food Trippin' Singapore: Sergeant Hainanese Chicken Rice

While we are touring Singapore on our third day of vacation, we decided to have lunch before heading to Orchard Road and one of the first malls we have gone into as we alight at the Orchard Road Station of the MRT is Wisma Atria Shopping Centre and there, we looked for a food court where we found Sergeant Hainanese Chicken Rice and decided to have lunch there.

Since we're all fond of eating Chicken Rice on our stay in Singapore, we all agreed to have lunch on this place. Sergeant Hainanese Chicken Rice is located at the far end of the Food Republic of Wisma Atria Mall.Their stall is quite big and you can see the chicken that they served being hanged on display behind a thick glass. Basically, you can see them prepare your food upon ordering.

Backpacking Singapore: Siloso Beach at Sentosa

There are a lot of attractions to find at Sentosa but since we enjoyed our Universal Studios for almost the whole day, we have a few hours to spare in exploring Sentosa. So off we went to Sentosa Express and alighted at the last station where you can find a shuttle or tram going to Siloso Beach.

A reclaimed area using the the sands bought from Indonesia and Malaysia, the beach is just an artificial one. There are two other beaches with Siloso on Sentosa, they are Palawan and Tanjong. There are also shuttles to bring you at these sites but we chose Siloso since the shuttle going there comes regularly.

Backpacking Singapore: Universal Studios Singapore

Our trip at Singapore would not be complete if we have don't visit one of its main tourist attraction, Universal Studios Singapore located at Resorts World Sentosa at Sentosa Island.

To go there, you need to go to Harbourfront MRT Station and go to Vivo City Mall. At the top floor, you can see a large area where you can buy tickets for Sentosa. You can also opt not to buy there if you only wish to go to Universal Studios. You can ride the Sentosa Express which is a monorail train going to Sentosa Island and alight at the first stop which is where Universal Studios is located.

Food Trippin' Singapore: Wall's Ice Cream Sandwich at Orchard Road

If you're familiar with Selecta Ice Creams here in the Philippines, you can be easily recognize the familiar heart shaped logo it has, however, in Singapore, it is called Wall's and they have this ice cream treat that you shouldn't miss whenever you are in the streets of Singapore.

When we are in Orchard Road in Singapore, we happen to pass by a Wall's Ice Cream cart and for SGD1, you can have an ice cream sandwich!

Food Trippin' Singapore: Curry Café

On our first day at Singapore, after we dropped off all our stuff at River City Inn, we all went looking for something to eat. Good thing there is a mall nearby the Inn and we all went there. At the lower level of The Central Mall in Clarke Quay, they have a food court with a lot of food choices to choose from. Since most of the stores are already full, we found ourselves at Curry Café which is the only one that can fit all of us.

The place is super small and can only fit less than ten guests. We just joined the tables so the eight of us can fit comfortably. The owner is very accommodating and even if she cannot speak in English well, she still tried to understand us.

Backpacking Singapore: Night Safari

Our day in Singapore is not yet done after the visit to HawPar Villa, Orchard Road and Merlion. We still have the night and we all decided to go to the Night Safari which is located very far to the main area where we were touring around.

Night Safari is located at 80 Mandai Lake Road. We got there by riding the MRT and alighting at Ang Mo Kio Station. From there, we need to look for bus number 138. We got a bit lost and since we were a bit tired, we went to the small marketplace and bought some drinks. 

Backpacking Singapore: Merlion at Marina Bay

After our tour around Orchard Road, we all decided to go to the famed Merlion in Marina Bay. The Merlion is a creature with a body of a fish and a head of a lion which is the main symbol of Singapore.

The Merlion Park has two structures of the Merlion. One is a miniature version and the other one is the big one found at the bay. People usually go here to take pictures since this proves that you've been to Singapore. Most of the tourists go here and most of the time, the place is packed with people all the time.

Backpacking Singapore: Orchard Road

Orchard Road is a famous tourist destination in Singapore. It is considered as the retail and entertainment hub of the city. It is a one way street with lots of stores along it. Most of the branded items are found here, all you have to do is walk the streets and enjoy shopping or window shopping on the different things on the stores. This place is a shopaholic's heaven.

The road got it's name from the different fruit plantations on it during the 1800's. However today, the place is all buildings and stores all around save for the trees along the streets. Tall buildings line the streets along with the displays that will sure attract people walking by.

Backpacking Singapore: Haw Par Villa

One of our goals for our Singapore trip was to look for cheaper alternative in touring around. We researched on some places that offer free admission and we had Haw Per Villa on the list which is located at Pasir Panjang Road. We got there by their bus system which was about an hour ride from our place in Clarke Quay.

We got up at around 7am in the morning so that we can leave the in at around 9am. We have a lot planned on that day and we need to start early so that we can do everything. We went to North Bridge Road, near Funan DigitaLife Mall and waited for SBS 51 bus at the bus stop there. We should have waited at South Bridge Road at Boat Quay because it was just across the street we are staying in. Waiting for Bus 51 takes time and so you need to wait for a while before it arrives.

Place to Stay in Singapore: River City Inn

For our four day stay in Singapore, we pre-booked an inn so that there is no hassle when we get there. We booked River City Inn which is a backpacker's inn found in Hong Kong Street in Clarke Quay in Singapore.

From the MRT station, we got into Central Mall which is accessible from the station. We got across the mall and a few blocks from there is Hong Kong Street and just a few walk is River City Inn. We got there on our first day in Singapore just to leave most of our baggage. Originally, we planned to leave the stuff at a friend's house but it was quite far. As we talked to the owner of the inn, we learned that we could leave our bags there for a day for a fee. They charged us SGD3 each baggage and we availed of it. It is better and convenient for us since our booking was for the next day when we get back from our day tour in Malaysia.

Backpacking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Traveling with Aeroline

After our Little India Tour, we all headed to Harbourfront Centre where the departure of Aeroline Bus are. You can actually travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by land. You can opt to ride a sleeper train going there or board a bus going straight to Malaysia. Our first option was the train, however, we cannot access their website and booking there had been difficult, and so, we opted to go with Aeroline which is a sleeper bus that takes about 5 hours from Singapore all the way to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

As we got to  Harbourfront Centre, we waited for the departure time. It was a wrong move since we should be getting some boarding pass first. It was a good thing the crew of Aeroline were nice and they let us get our boarding pass first before leaving Singapore. It was a bit stressful because we thought that they would leave us but as we aboard the huge bus, we were all relaxed because of its cozy ambiance.

Backpacking Singapore: Walking Around Little India

Singapore is a mix of many different cultures. A melting pot of different traditions and way of living. Since the population is consist of Chinese, British, Malay, Indian and other Asian roots, you can see many different people as you roam its busy streets. There are places here that represents the countries these people came from like Chinatown and Little India.

One of the first places we went to on our trip to Singapore is Little India. We were thinking of staying at Central Mall in Clarke Quay but we decided to tour Little India instead because we wanted to get the most out of our stay there.

Backpacking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It is my first ever international trip and I was really excited. I planned to save up but since I have other trips, I failed to achieve my goal and so, with the little money I had and some credit cards, I managed to survive my 5-day trip out of this country.

Singapore is located at South East Asia at the tip of the Malayan Peninsula. It is much closer to the equator than the Philippines. From Manila, you need to take a three-hour plane ride to get there. The country is particularly small and you can go around it just by using their train system which is the best train system I have ever experienced.

Flying with Tiger Airways

A few months ago, there had been a sale on Tiger Airways and we all agreed to book a flight to Singapore and so, before July ended, we all flew to our major out of town trip this year.

Tiger Airways is a budget airline. It is more like Cebu Pacific here in the Philippines. Going to Singapore, they depart from Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 and they land in Changi Airport Budget Terminal which is quite isolated from the other two terminals that it has. Our flight was scheduled at 5:50 am and so we were already there at around 2:30-3:00 in the morning just to check in and while waiting for the boarding, it was delayed. So don't expect much on this airline, however it is one of the cheapest flights you can get to go travel around Asia.