This was published 9 years ago
Singapore travel guide: How to do Singapore on a budget
The city-state's success has pushed up prices, but some value options remain.
By Paul Chai
Marina Bay Sands (right) and the Singapore Flyer observation wheel. Credit: Paul Cai 123rf
In 2014, the "little red dot" that Lee Kwan Yew successfully annexed from Malaysia in 1965 celebrated the eve of its 50th birthday by being named the world's most expensive city by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Topping a list of 131 cities, and edging out Sydney at No.5 and perennial winner (loser?) Tokyo, this powerhouse city-state's standard of living is one of the main conversation points in any Lion City taxi or around the condo pools where the cost of living is outstripping even the generous expat packages that draw in foreign talent.
But there are ways to have fun and still end up with a note or two left in your wallet...
The search for happiness
In the Lion City, people prowl around in search of happy hours like a starving student in a share house. There are plenty, but any list should include: No.5 Emerald Hill, where you can sit in a heritage shophouse sipping on $7 house pours and $9 beers and it lasts all day.
Recline on the roof at Loof for their "Beat the Clock" happy hour; $5 drinks from 5pm, $6 drinks from 6pm and $7 from 7pm. But it's all over at 8pm.
One of the cheapest on famous party strip Club Street is SaVanh Bistro + Lounge where you can grab a balcony table and get 1 for 1 beer, wine and house spirits til 9pm.
Singapore Gardens by the Bay.Credit: 123rf
Day at the museum
The city-state's public museums are often not the first thing people think of but they are interesting, cheap and air conditioned (a big plus). Start with Singapore Art Museum ($10 for adults) on Bras Basah Road. The Signature Art Prize runs until March 15, 2015, and has 15 finalists from all over the world: robotic seals protect portals to another world, a brutal (and real) Eskimo wolf trap is recreated in a small room and a series of ghostly projections chomp noisily on their favourite food -- all housed in a school built in 1855. See also the Asian Civilisation Museum and the National Museum both of which have free permanent exhibitions.
The run down
Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, Singapore.Credit: 123rf
Popular, and free, fun run initiative Park Run (parkrun.com.au) recently came to Singapore. Runners kick off on a five-kilometre track along East Coast Park every Saturday at 7am. The track runs along the coast so you can get fit while admiring the twinkling lights of the super-tankers lined up along the bay
Park life
Singapore's public parks are a necessary getaway in a city that likes to envelop every inch of private green space in a big concrete hug. The daddy of these outdoor oases is Gardens by the Bay a two-kilometre waterside development in the shadow of Marina Bay Sands. You can spend a pretty penny if you head into the Supertrees, Flower Dome or the Cloud Forest but for free you can wander the well-manicured gardens, set the kids loose in the new water park and the hidden kids playground behind it and then go and grab a cheap meal at Satay by the Bay which is touristy, but has a bargain jug of beer deal for just over a tenner.
Hokkien soup prawn noodles bowls in a Singapore hawker stall.Credit: 123rf
More local is the Toa Payoh Town Park, or the Turtle Park as it became known in our house due to the sheer volume of … well, you get the idea. Itt is a lost oasis of calm next to the 11 lane Pan-Island Expressway.
Lost temple of value
Also in Toa Payoh is the Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, one of the largest (yet least visited) Buddhist temples in the city-state. It's name means Twin Grove of the Lotus Mountain Temple and it was built in 1902 by groups of Chinese workers from the Fuzhou, Guangzhou and Zhangshou. You can explore the 50 acres of pagodas, shrines and hidden deities standing sentry in tucked away alcoves and throw coins at a bell for luck.
The Lime Juice Index
Hawkers are your friend in Singapore when it comes to cheap food, but they vary greatly. One way to quickly gauge the value of your hawker is the Lime Juice Index. A staple of any hawker experience, lime juice should never cost you more than $1.60, if it does you are in a touristy hawker.
Recommended hawkers include Balestier Market on the underrated foodie street Balestier, the original Chinatown Food Complex (avoid the Smith Street replica carts where you will pay double for the same thing) and Maxwell Food Centre.
TRIP NOTES
MORE INFORMATION
GETTING THERE
Major airlines Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com), Qantas (qantas.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and British Airways (britishairways.com) all fly to Singapore from Melbourne and Sydney. For low-cost carriers, Scoot (flyscoot.com) flies from Sydney to Singapore and Jetstar (jetstar.com) flies from Melbourne to Singapore.
STAYING THERE
Hotel Clover: Doubles from $255 with breakfast at this good mid-range option in the Arab Quarter, see
DRINKING THERE
Get a drink at No. 5 Emerald Hill, (emerald-hill.com) open from midday; Loof, 331 North Bridge Road, #03-07,Odeon Towers (loof.com.sg); SaVanh, part of the big food and beverage group IndoChine, 47 Club Street, Chinatown (indochine-group.com).
SEEING THERE
Singapore Art Museum, 71 Bras Basah Road; singaporeartmuseum.sg. Asian Civilisation Museum, 1 Empress Place; acm.org.sg. National Museum of Singapore, 93 Stamford Road; nationalmuseum.sg.
Gardens by the Bay, entry to the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome costs $25, while the Supertree Grove OCBC Skyway costs $4.50.
Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, shuanglin.sg
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