SINGAPORE
★ GAY TRAVEL ★ GAY DAY ★ GAY NIGHT ★
AMAZING SINGAPORE
Singapore, a sunny, tropical island in Southeast Asia is a beautiful city, influenced by different cultures and modern buildings scratching the skyline.
Singapore has always been on our minds as a destination we wanted to visit. And this time it happened in December 2022! We went traveling for a month and a half through Asia and started in Singapore where we stayed 3 nights, enough to see the main highlights!
After a flight with Air France that departed from Lisbon, with a stopover in Paris and that took about 19 hours in total, we arrived in Singapore in the morning.
Depending on your country of residence, you'll need to check the criteria and documentation required to enter the country. In our case, being Portuguese, we did not need a Visa. But we had to fill in the SG Arrival Card & Health Declaration online.
It's very easy to fill in online and you can only submit it 3 days before the day of entry into Singapore, but don't forget to do it. You'll then receive an email with confirmation. You can apply at the following link: ica.gov.sg
When we arrived in Singapore, at the exit in the arrivals area of the airport, they stopped people at random to pass their luggage through the x-ray. It happened to us and we had to x-ray all our baggage before we could leave the airport.
Everything was ok, but be aware of certain things that you don't even remember or imagine and that you cannot take with you when entering this country, or at least, that you have to declare. Examples of what you cannot take: chewing gum, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes. Cigarettes must be declared. You can read on the internet that if you take an open pack, maybe you can pass but the law says you have to declare even if it's just one cigarette. We smoke but decided not to risk it and we didn't take anything: we bought them in Singapore, but we warn you: cigarettes in Singapore are expensive.
In any case, before travelling, research and visit up-to-date government websites to find out what you can/cannot take with you to avoid paying a fine.
After leaving Singapore airport, which was very quick, we wanted to get to our hotel which is in the Chinatown area.
We researched beforehand and decided to take the Metro to Chinatown. Still at the airport, follow the signs to Changi MRT Station and take an airport train to take you to the Metro area. Arriving at the Metro area, we took the metro to the area where we were going to stay: Chinatown.
Depending on where you are staying, if you want to use the Metro, you can search for the best route here: rome2rio and you also have the Metro network website here: www.lta.gov.sg
It wasn't difficult to get to the destination by Metro, it was a bit long! Perhaps because we were very tired from the trip, it took a while but it was easy to do/find.
A tip: at the Metro station they don't sell tickets nor are there ticket machines. The options you have are these:
- Buy a Singapore Tourist Pass - You can find more information here: thesingaporetouristpass.com.sg
- As we didn't intend to use transport many times, we opted for a very practical way to travel on the Metro: use your Mastercard or Visa contactless credit and debit cards and mobile wallets to pay for your train and bus fares, and skip top-up altogether. Just touch the card to the machine to enter the platform. Each person must have a different card, because at the exit station you'll have to tap it again and it cannot be the same card.
Another transportation option is Grab (same as Uber). The prices are not too expensive but of course, it depends on the budget of each one. Just install the Grab app.
As we mentioned before, we stayed in the Chinatown area. We chose this area because it's very central and easy to walk to the main places to visit and, of course, also because it's the gay area of Singapore with some gay bars in the area. We can already say that we really enjoyed staying in Chinatown.
We had the rest of the afternoon on the day of arrival and two full days to visit the city, which we can say is enough to see the main.
On the day of arrival, we took the opportunity to explore the area where we stayed, Chinatown. It's a lively area, with historic buildings and many shops perfect for buying souvenirs.
Depending on the time you have, you will organize your itinerary to visit as much/most important as you can. Here are some tips on what to see/do:
In Singapore Chinatown area there are many things to see, visit, buy and eat!
You really have to visit Pagoda Street. A very lively area, full of historic buildings with shops, restaurants and bars and yes, lots of fantastic photo opportunities. You can really spend a good time here with so much to see. And the architecture is really amazing.
In this area you also have the Sri Mariamman Temple, a Hindu temple. Sri Mariamman Temple's ornate and elaborate detailing makes it a wonder to behold. Another temple to visit is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, also in the area.
You have the Chinatown Heritage Centre, which when we were in Singapore was closed for refurbishment but if it's open when you visit, we think it deserves a visit: it is a time capsule that holds stories of Singapore’s past.
In the Chinatown area you will find several painted murals and they are amazing. One of the most talked about is the 'Paper Mask & Puppet Seller' but there are really many. When walking in the streets, look everywhere and you'll find beautiful murals in alleys and smallm streets. On your walks, go through Sago Street and Smith Street and visit the Thian Hock Keng Temple.
It's really worth walking 'lost' through the streets of the Chinatown area for its cultural splendors, hip lifestyle establishments and age-old places of worship. This area is also home to Singapore's gay bars, so don't forget to check out Singapore by Night tab.
Take a walk through the skyscrapers until you reach Marina Bay.
We like to walk. And we walked a lot. We think it's one of the best ways to get to know a city and see as much as possible, sometimes even finding those places that you wouldn't have been able to do if you weren't on foot.
From Chinatown we head towards Marina Bay, but along the way there is a lot to see, namely the fantastic skyscrapers of Singapore, many of which are authentic vertical gardens. We advise you to organize a walking route from the area you are in, in order to pass by these buildings.
On the way, we passed Hong Lim Park for its proximity to the Central Business District. And of course, we head towards the famous Republic Plaza, one of Singapore's tallest skyscrapers, standing at 280 meters in height. All along the way, look up (way up) and admire the fantastic skyscrapers, walking towards Jubilee Bridge, the pedestrian bridge spanning the Singapore River, connecting Merlion Park and The Esplanade.
Upon arriving here, you'll have the best views ever, namely of the famous Marina Bay Sands building and then just keep walking because there is a lot to see, namely:
- The Float @ Marina Bay: also known as the Marina Bay Floating Stadium, it is the largest floating stadium in the world.
- Singapore Flyer: Asia's largest observation wheel.
- The Helix Bridge: is a pedestrian bridge linking Marina Center with Marina South in the Marina Bay area.
- Marina Bay Sands: the building with 3 towers crowned with the Sands SkyPark.
- Gardens by the Bay: a sanctuary for nature lovers and budding horticulturalists alike.
You can stroll through the gardens, but there are several spaces that have to be paid for. The best thing is to visit the official website, see everything there is to visit and the prices and depending on your time and budget, decide what you want to visit. You have the website here: gardensbythebay.com.sg
From the description we made, you can see that you have many things to visit and you can easily spend the whole day in this area (or more, depending on how much time you have). Make this visit during the day, but you really, really have to visit it at night also: it's impressive!
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More places to visit/pass in Singapore:
Boat Quay - Clarke Quay - Hill Street - Raffles Singapore (where the famous Singapore Sling was born) - National Museum of Singapore - Fort Canning Park - Walk and visit according to your interests.
Two other places to visit in Singapore (depending on how much time you have) are Little India and the Arab Quarter. When you arrive at both places, especially Little India, it feels like you've changed countries.
Little India, a buzzing historic area that shows off the best of Singapore's Indian community, from vibrant culture to incredible shopping. Highlights: Serangoon Road; Tekka Center - a multi-use building complex comprising a wet market, food center and shop; Little India Arcade - a cluster of conserved neoclassical shophouses built in 1913; House of Tan Teng Niah - the last surviving Chinese villa in Little India; Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple.
Arab Quarter, also known as Kampong Glam, a very small area formed by a few streets around the Sultan Mosque, filled with indie boutiques and trendy shops, street arts, restaurants and bars. The visit is very simple: just walk through all the streets and guarantee fantastic photographs of these colorful buildings.
If you have time, you can also visit Orchard Road, Singapore's most beloved shopping district.
In Singapore, for lunch or dinner and with very affordable prices, you can go to Lau Pa Sat: many delicious food choices that can be found within this historical building – from authentic Singapore cuisines to well-loved international favorites and you also have the Maxwell Food Center: home to some of Singapore's best hawker stalls. We've visited both and can say the food is fantastic with a wide variety to choose from.
In some places you will also find fantastic bakeries with bread and lots of delicious cakes!
HELPFUL TIPS WHEN VISITING SINGAPORE
- We took a trip through Asia, 3 countries: Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam for a month and a half and we always like to have mobile internet. Many people know that you can buy a SIM card on arrival, but this time we opted for something different and very practical: an e-SIM. No physical card is needed, we bought it online still in Portugal before starting the trip and only activated it upon arrival in Singapore. We can say that it has always worked very well and it only takes one person to have it installed, because you could share the internet with another device. Easy to install and top-up was very easy too. You just have to pay attention if your equipment is compatible with an e-SIM. We bought ours at airalo.com
- If you are staying in Singapore for a few days, organize your itinerary/routes well with the main attractions you want to visit.
- You can't smoke almost anywhere. There are designated smoking areas. Areas without these places, as long as it's next to a rubbish bin with an ashtray and away from people, there shouldn't be a problem. That's what we did and it went well.
- Cigarettes are only sold in small street supermarkets.
- Cigarettes and alcohol are very expensive in Singapore.
- If you want to save on meals and still eat out, go to the Food Centre's. They are very safe and clean.
- You can drink tap water.
- Always cross on the crosswalk.
- You are going to walk a lot: wear comfortable shoes.
- The weather in Singapore is very hot and humid. We visited in December and there are sporadic rains at this time and it happened: for about half an hour/1 hour it rains heavily without stopping.
- If you don't have much time to visit the city, in our opinion, you can skip Little India. We visited, it's different, but if there was little time we could skip it.