Punjab News Express/Vinod Kumar Gupta
CHANDIGARH : Singapore, the Garden City, is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world for a lot of reasons. Singapore, an island city-state is a global financial center is one of the world's most prosperous countries with a tropical climate and multicultural population.
The normal perception is that Singapore is a costly tourist destination. But it can be made budget destination if one plans all the things in advance. We tried and were successful. The visit should not include weekend as hotel tariff is higher on these days. Moreover one can avoid weekend rush. Perhaps it is the safest city in the world.
Our budget trip started with from New Delhi with Air Asia with only hand bags and no baggage. After a stopover at Kualalamapur we reached Chang Airport Singapore. From airport we went to our hotel near Little India .The hotel was selected in area where Indian food at reasonable rates is easily available particularly south Indian dishes.
From the nearby mass rapid transportation station one can reach all the places in Singapore. For travelling within the city the best and cheapest mode of transportation is the trains which leave station every two minutes. Most of the railway system is underground except adjoining airport areas. The single ticket price varies between two stations is 1.5 dolor to 2.5 dolor.
The major tourist attractions are Gardens by Bay, Universal Studio, Sentosa resorts, and boat tour of city. On line tickets for all including children’s the tourist resorts are available at cheaper rates and can be booked in advance. The senior citizens discount tickets are only available at ticket counters.
The Gardens by the bay is amongst the ten best indoor gardens in the world. The entry to garden is through Marina Mall. Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, the indoor gardens showcases shows countless flowers brought from across the different continents. World’s tallest indoor waterfall and a skywalk inside Cloud Forest make it a memorable visit. During evening hours after sunset two lights and audio programmed of half an hour is worth watching while sitting on the lush green lawns. The 22 meters tall super trees looks beautiful.
Sentosa and Universal Studio should be visited with a day in between otherwise tour becomes very hectic. While visiting take your packed food and water bottles with you as these are very expensive.
Universal studio is located in Sentosa Island can be reached by car taxi or train. Here brave hearts can enjoy the cutting edge rides including world’s tallest dueling coasters. Other attractions include Transformers, the ride the ultimate 3D battle with virtual reality, Revenge of mummy, 4 D movies, Hollywood Madagascar, and more than 20 entertainment schedules. The half an hour a light and fire live r show on water front is held thrice a day.
. After a one day break, a full day visit to Sentosa with around 30 attractions and finally late in the evening laser show “Wings of time” is held twice at an interval of one hour. The visit to Sentosa should be planned so that one visits maximum attractions. With a full day pass start with SEA Aquarium. With about one lakh fish varieties from across the world, cable sky car, Skyline Luge, Trick eye museum for photography, sky tower etc.The 20 minutes laser show is executed beautifully depicting a complete story.
The morning time should be utilized by visiting china Town. It is a great place for cheap shopping and one sees the authentic Chinese culture. The Singapore by night can be watched on a boat ride at Clarke quay. The cruise takes you to Merlion, Marina bay sands along sky scrapers housing various offices and tells history about these places.
In Little India on one side of road are jewellary shops and on the other side of road are souvenir shops. A number of restaurants serving Indian food are also located in the market. Mustafa a 24 hour shopping mall is at the other end of Little India where people purchase chocolates souvenirs and all verities of watches, baggage and other items. The currency exchange here is completely hassling free.
From Little India we went to Airport on train reached within 20 minutes for return Air Asia journey. One must order food on line for both ways journey.