Get lost in Singapore? Never. There are a lot things that should be considered before packing and buy the ticket. And by doing this, you’ll enjoy Singapore without getting lost.

Who has never been to Singapore? I believe that most people have already visited this city. As one of favorite cities in Asian countries, there are a lot of Asian people, especially Indonesian, tend to go to Singapore for their holiday with the purpose of having a weekend gate away, to do shopping or having a long holiday. If we used to have the hectic daily routines and we need to relax our mind for a short period, Singapore will be the best choice. As an Indonesian, we are very easy to travel to Singapore because there is no visa required to entry this city. We only prepare passport and absolutely the flight ticket. The flight is only take about 1.5 to 2 hours from Jakarta, Indonesia, which is very fast and it is the same duration if we travel from one destination to others in Jakarta by car, because of the traffic jam!

The Picture of Merlion

However, some people get confused why Singapore will be the best choice to visit as it is the small city and it has only few tourist destinations and less panorama. They only think that Singapore is the better place for shopping and do some businesses. I found some destinations in Singapore that you might be interested instead of shopping and working, which will be told in my next “Singapore Serial” posts. In this post, I will share to you about what to prepare while planning to travel to Singapore. Because it is too common to visit Singapore, there are some points that we might forget to prepare and left behind, which means that we need to spare extra money for replacing our forgetfulness. This information might be used as your reminder to prevent our negligence.

• ez-link card

Doc. singpromos.com

By purchasing this card, we are able to access to any kind of transportation in Singapore, including MRT, LRT and buses. The public transport in this city is very organized, neat and also very safe. We won’t get lost in the station because of clear information that stated in the signage and some boards, which are the map that shows the railway; platform information; time schedule and other information that we might need them. However, there are the ticket office as well if you need to ask more information to the staff or purchasing the ticket. Additionally, there are also many staffs pass around, you might ask them if you confuse in finding your platform. MRT can be accessed from Changi Airport and it absolutely cheaper than taxi.

However, I check from the website of ez-link, this card can be used to access the public transportation, taxis, private transportation, assigned food and beverage merchants, shopping retails, leisure & entertainment, government services, education institutions, community centres, the payment of Electronic Road Pricing, Electronic Parking System, Vehicle Entry Permit and other services (including self services). This ez-link card can be used as a e-money for variety of transaction. It is very useful, right?

We are able to get this card very easily. I bought it in the MRT station and I also do top up in there. The other places you may buy this card are in TransitLink Ticket Offices, Concession Card Replacement Offices, passenger service centers, 7-Eleven stores, Buzz Pods, My Ez-Link Online Shop. It costs me around $12 for the first purchase and the expiry date will last for long period. You may check the expiry date of the card from their website. But don’t worry, the expiry date of my card is more than 5 years.

Therefore, I suggest you to get the ez-link card and get lots of easiness while exploring Singapore.

• MRT Map

Doc. https://www.mytransport.sg/

I find this very useful for me as I prefer to use the public transportation while traveling. Therefore, preparing the MRT map is the first thing to do by getting it from HERE, I need to see this map as a guidance while preparing the travel itinerary and also this can be very useful as my handy guidance during the journey, especially if I have the connecting train. Actually, we can get the map from the airport, hotel, visitor centre and other areas but if we download it on our phone in advance, it might be better.

• Do you need the Mobile Phone Provider?

Actually, I never buy the provider while in Singapore because there are strong WiFi connection in some areas for free, such as in the hotel, airport, cafes and some restaurants. There are the direction to connect it in a very easy way. Therefore, if you are only stay in Singapore for a short period, I will recommend you to just connect to WiFi instead of buying the phone number. The first thing to do is checking whether your hotel that you decided to stay offer the WiFi connection. I know that it will be restricted while connecting with your friend while you are in the outside of the hotel but it will be costly if you buy the phone card while you are able to get free WiFi connection.

• Renting the Bike via the application

This also can be another alternative in getting the transportation to explore Singapore, which is called a bike share. There are numbers of providers that offer the service to reserve the bicycle by using the application and scan the QR Code in the bike. It is very easy to use and also the bike can be found in any designated bike parking areas. Therefore, you are able to explore Singapore and do lots of shopping by using the bicycle with free and safe. What are the providers that offer this kind of services?

1. oBike
2. Mobike
3. ofo

You may check the detail information from the website link that I embed on the above points. When I went to Clarke Quay area, I saw those bike shares, which are from those providers, parked in the hall way.

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• Bring the right clothes and stuffs!

The weather in Singapore is extra hot, eventhough it supposed to be raining season on December. There were two opposite weather when I was in Singapore on this December, which are a very sunny day and the rainy day. It means that we have to consume lots of health supplement to maintain our health in the extreme weather. There are some things that I never forget to bring while I travel to Singapore.

1. Sunglasses
2. Short
3. Tank top and thin shirts
4. Hat
5. Sun block
6. Umbrella
7. Sandals or Sneakers

Just remind to bring those stuffs during your journey!

• Spare the money for the public transportation from the Airport to your hotel

As I mentioned previously that you are able to catch MRT and bus from Changi Airport to your hotel area instead of get taxi. You may call for Uber as well. However, we might get confuse on the first arrival to get to those public transports and prefer to catch a taxi instead. It’s gonna be fine but you have to prepare more money for that. Based on my experience, I took taxi from Changi Airport to Orchard area and it costed me around S$21 – $30 and it also apply from Orchard area to Changi Airport. My suggestion would be if you have a not early flight from Singapore to your country, you better take MRT because besides save more money, you will get more moments in the train.

There are also some information that you might need those while in Singapore

• Every-time you do purchasing for foods, goods, tickets and other stuffs, you better pay them with the nearest amount of money with the selling price. Why is that? It is to reduce the amount of coins that you will bring in your bag! Usually, the seller will give the change in coins. If you already have too much coins, you just pay with coins and most of sellers in Singapore will be fine with that.
• Be attention for all smokers! You can’t smoke in all public places in Singapore, especially in covered areas. You will get fine if you catch smoking in any no smoking areas. However, you still can smoke in the designated smoking areas or in the place with the ashtray provided. In Orchard road, there are many ashtray in the pathway, which are located side by side with permanent benches.

I will give you more information about the interesting destination areas in Singapore in the Singapore Serial.

Hopefully, this information will be useful for you guys. Thanks for reading.

Published by nikensmartini

I am just a girl who loves all beauty stuffs and traveling. And I am really addicted to a hot cappuccino. View all posts by nikensmartini