Breeze Whiff

Hellllllllooooooooo!!

Well, I know the “Ls” & “Os” are not going to compensate for my long absence from the blog but I had to give it a shot, right? 😀

Since we’ve just entered into the new year, let’s spread just love 😉 Hehe!

First of all 🙂

And, apologies for the long delay in posting ❤ This was supposed to be rolled out way back but somehow I was busy working & vacation-ing 😀 Now is the time to share those wonderful experiences *Wink Wink*

So, do you guys remember our DIY-Couple Shoot post? Well, that was dominated by pretty Maldives’ pictures. Hence, a separate post on our Singapore trip today. Yay!

Anubhav & I – both of us are full of energy & are always on the lookout of activities that give adrenaline rush. So, while we planned for this trip – we made sure there is enough time for a calm & serene trip as well as an adventurous one.

Hence, Singapore came into the picture along with Maldives. Generally, a “Bali clubbed with Singapore” trip is suggested considering the distance & cost perspective however we didn’t want to miss Maldives so, Maldives & Singapore happened 🙂

Here, I will try to include Anubhav’s thoughts as well; & will try to answer the following most asked questions about Singapore.

A) Places to visit/Fun Activities to do in Singapore

Each tourist will have a different sets of places to visit in any kind of city. Singapore, being the tech hub & an island offers beaches & tall buildings, skylines & nightlife – everything! And oh yes – shopping! 😀 These are the places where we went to.

Being our first time to Singapore, it was a must to go see the following places.

i) Singapore City

1. Singapore Flyer: The Singapore Flyer is a giant Ferris wheel on which there are cars that can be boarded.
   • The view keeps changing every minute the car moves & hence it’s like an airplane view taking off & landing but within 20-25 minutes.
   • They organize special dinners in the cars (private basis) as well to enjoy the dinner with a view. The pricing details are available at the counter itself.
   • Highly recommended if you’re going to Singapore for the first time – the skyline is actually amazing.

2. Merlion Point/Park: Since Singapore is named on Singha (Lion in Hindi), this point acts as a (mythical) representation of the same. However, it does become prettier at night with light effects. We visited this during the day (as a part of the city tour). Maybe that’s why it seemed like an okay site.
   • Please go for the evening show as that might make the place experience better; we spent only 15-20 minutes here.
   • It’s okay to go here once if you’d like to go for its significance but, we thought it’d be better if we had skipped this.
   • 
   • Outfit Details:
     • Striped Cold-shoulder T-shirt: Hypernation (Myntra.com)
     • Shorts: Numero Uno (Myntra.com)
     • White Sneakers: Vero Moda (Spring Collection, 2017)
     • Olive backpack: Charles & Keith, Singapore
3. Marina Bay Sands: So, I remember seeing pictures of infinity pool of Marina Bay Sands & thinking about going there (around when it was built) & then I forgot about it. I recalled about being wanting to go there while we were planning this trip. Marina Bay Sands is a mall cum hotel cum visitors point (famous for its 57^th floor where every evening tourists/locals come to enjoy breathtaking view of Singapore skyline). Anubhav suggested staying at this hotel to take most benefit of its attractions. We had of course free access to the pool, to the 57^th floor (where a priced ticket has to be presented to enter). Our room keys worked everywhere in the building/s as access cards 😀
   • Get Sands Rewards Card: It not only gets you the membership benefits but also enables discount on various stores in the Marina Bay Sands Mall while you shop. The discounts are worth 🙂
   • Though you can enjoy the pool any time during the day, evening time is generally less crowded & peaceful 🙂 The lit buildings make it even more out-of-a-blingy experience.

> View from the 57th Floor

Outfit Details:

• Dress: Veromoda
• Sling: Charles & Keith, Singapore
• Heart choker: Forever21
• Drop Earrings: Picked them from Lifestyle almost 7 years back. Yes, I love them!

>> View from our room at Marina Bay Sands ❤

                                                                                                                                                             Spot a famous attraction in the following picture 😉

>> Marina Bay Sands Mall Area

Denim dress: AND by Anita Dongre (ShopperStop)

Do you see silver dots in the water? These are currency coins. Somehow, people kept throwing these via an inverted dome above this pseudo-river in the mall. When we asked few of them – they said it’s just for fun. Please help us know if you know any concrete reason behind it 🙂

4. Singapore Zoo (Night Safari): It’s one of the much-hyped activities on any (touristy) to-do list for Singapore however not worth it. On a rating scale of 1 to 10, the experience was just a 4 & that too because of the host of the nocturnal show which we saw just before the safari started. She was hilarious.

• If you’re an Indian, you’d have mostly seen almost all the animals unless there’s an addition now.
• There is an offroad-paths experience (for which one has to get off the tram & walk) via which one can go closer to the wildlife & experience the thrill. We didn’t know about this & hence didn’t schedule, sadly. You should include some time specially for these experiences. Maybe, it might become a better zoo-experience for you 🙂                               Outfit Details:
  • World Map olive denim dungaree & White T-shirt: Vero Moda

5. Gardens by the Bay: Astonishingly beautiful, yes – it is. Not just beautiful, it epitomizes the green technology that Singapore boasts of. Quoting Asia Green Buildings A collection of 18 man-made “supertrees” that are up to 50 metres tall, parkland and two climate-controlled conservatories . Both the supertrees and the biomes use cutting-edge window glazing, cooling and water capture and recycling technologies to maintain the indoor temperatures.

These gardens have plants & flowers from almost all parts of the world. Since my mother & mother-in-law are both plant-lovers, I kept sending them pictures throughout the journey of Gardens (Yes, the gardens are huge – we didn’t even realize the time we spent there). This trip is certainly a visual treat cum knowledge journey. Don’t miss going to the waterfall area on the top floor!

There is an exclusive jewelry (made of crystal-frozen flowers) store just around the exit area. You might want to buy 🙂

     

Outfit Details:

• T-shirt: Hypernation (Myntra.com)
• Pair of jeans: Forever21

6. Casino: Okay, so – you’d be thinking that why Casino. Both of us had never been to a casino (of course) so this was an exciting small part for us to experience. The entry to casino was free of charge for foreigners to Singapore hence passport was needed to be shown at the entrance. Though we spent very little time, it was fascinating to witness what we actually saw in the movies 🙂 I was ecstatic even seeing all the machines 😀       

ii) Sentosa Island

1. Madame Tussauds Museum: I was personally very excited for this as I had never been to any Madame Tussauds (now that there’s one in Delhi too – I might go there 🙂 ). The happiness was almost as equal as meeting celebrities for real. Well, okay the latter is better 😛 Following pictures might just tell you how fabulous the visit was! Absolutely-go-to place.            
   

   Love for Paparazzi ❤

   

   and the nominations are

   

2. Singapore History Show (named Images of Singapore show at Local History Museum just adjacent to Madame Tussauds Museum): It is – in my opinion – a superb marketing campaign. The story of Singapore becoming a global commerce, finance and transport hub from “just” a fishing island had been remarkably told via theatre & projector visuals (during this show). Sorry, no pictures for this show as it was not allowed to click 😦
3. Skyline & Luge Ride: This was post our Images of Singapore visit. Trust me the tagline “Once is never enough” actually is true. The luge ride is absolutely wonderful.
   • Recommendation: Try to smile/have the best side at all times 😉 😉 there are cameras set up at various spots while we take the rides which might help you make this memory a lot more memorable at its candid best 🙂
   • The skyline ride though was okay. Since we already visited the flyer, this was not that tempting. You may avoid if you want to 🙂
4.  Zip Line (MegaZip)/Mega Adventure Park: It was the first time any aerial experience (before paragliding) for me so for first few seconds when I was dropped in the air – I was literally frozen (hanging on a wire); but the moment I got released & saw Anubhav alongside on the other line shouting so excitingly – I was thrilled. View of the beach & trees was astoundingly beautiful – see for yourself? 🙂 I literally wanted to do it again but it was a very very long walk to the launch site & their closing time was approaching as well 😦 so we skipped it. Keep some extra time – you’ll want to do it again! 😀 Do check out their other activities offered by them here     
5. Wave House, Sentosa: It’s a beachfront complex cum bar cum wave rides centre. We didn’t have this scheduled on our trip. Anubhav saw the banner while we were in Sentosa (the first day). But there was no slot available for surfing being the closing time. So, we booked it for the next day as we were supposed to come for Universal Studios visit anyway (Since all of these activity spots are on Sentosa island – one day is never enough to experience & hence for Universal Studios – we had to come the next day). We just had one hour between our other scheduled activities so we planned for surfing only. I have literally thanked Anubhav a zillion times for having found this. That one hour was so good an experience plus super fun session 😀
6. Universal Studios: It is in Sentosa, again however this actually needs an entire day as mentioned above.
   

   After the mummy ride. Uff!

        

    

    

   • Must Visit? Absolutely! If you’re the one who loves rides & adventure. There are rides for every kind of person from okay-ish adventure lovers to want-adrenaline-rush kind of people.
   • Must have rides:
     • Mummy Roller Coaster
     • Transformers Ride
     • Canopy Flyer
     • Jurassic Park Ride – Okay-ish adventurous but worth-a-shot (because it includes brief water ride 😛 )
     • Battlestar Galactica (the BIGGGGGG roller coaster)
7. Wings of Time: We found it super amazing where sea waves (yes, sea-water directly is used to create fountains for the show) performed for us in form of fountains clubbed with lights & lasers (it’s depicted in form of a short love story). Here’s the stage + seating set-up straight on the beach. A must-watch show.                                     

 

B) What/Where to eat

Sorry but this part belongs only to the vegetarians as both of us are vegetarians. Though I am sure, there’d be many places where superb sea-food & other non-vegetarian options are offered.

Well, Sarvana Bhawan to the rescue for us. Mostly, we’d be roaming out for the activities and hence we’d be back to the hotel only around dinner. Sarvana Bhawan helped us not over-eat fast-food, be light (thank God for idlis) and savour the best tea even when we were not in India.

Btw, Marina Bay Sands has Punjab Grill (luscious food) inside the mall 🙂 Don’t forget to try the kesar-lassi there.

C) What to wear:

Well, every post will be incomplete without this. Both of us choose be comfortable & chic over glamourous anytime. I took multiple pairs of shoes & sandals but ended up wearing only white pair of sneakers for the entire trip. (It looked so tempting & chic with all the outfits 😀 ). Anubhav carried jeggings along with pairs of jeans.

You might want to carry a couple of glam dresses & heels if you plan to go for parties.

As I write always, specially while one travels – comfort is the top most priority. Be it shoes or outfits.

I trust pair of jeans, always. You can wear it with a kurta, tops, formal shirts (paired appropriately) and T-shirts.

I am a person who’d wear simple clothes & would prefer highlighting with accessories (either jewellery/bag/shoes).

 

Here – all through our Singapore trip – the ❤ “heart” choker I picked from Forever21 became my best friend 😀 Along with that, were my Charles & Keith slings 😀

D) Where to Shop?

1. City Square Mall: Not really a place from a touristy perspective if you’re from a metro city however, what I observed was that the collections are different at the stores from the ones you might find here in India.

 

2. Mustafa Centre: I didn’t buy anything from here except few hair ruffles. It’s like your “everything-that you need-is-in stock-here” kind of mega store.

 

3. Marina Bay Sands: This has mostly the luxury brands/designer stores that exist globally. However, you will find many middle tier brands also. If you’re a skincare fanatic – it also offers you many exclusive skincare products’ stores.

E) Special Notes

 

1. At Singapore (Changi) Airport – Massage chairs are installed near the flight area entrance gates. Our entry gate was too far from the airport entrance & we were super tired (read: vacation-end sadness). Anubhav said: “We forgot taking massages”. Within 40 seconds – we see a vacant foot massage chair on our right hand side of the moving walkway. Both of us looked at each other & thought/said – “Wish we had asked for something else, maybe?” Hehe! Imagine – in an airport full of people – the 2 foot massage chairs (one of them being empty)?! We just got lucky. The person on the other chair saw two of us & left 😀 That 20 minutes FREE foot massage was definitely one of the highlights. Please look for it if you’re around.

2. Charles & Keith – This is one of my favorite brands & its products are less priced in Singapore. Also, the tax gets reimbursed at the airport if you’re a foreigner. Wuhooo! Make sure to keep some budget (& some space in your luggage) if you love shoes & bags 🙂
3. If you love chocolates – there’s an exclusive Hershey’s store in Universal Studios with of course lot of varieties that you don’t get in India. We picked a big bag of chocolates from here – specially blackberry flavored 😀
4. Don’t forget to visit Clark Quay – in case you love Bollywood & night-life.
5. Please don’t forget travel insurance while you go for any trip (specially international ones). That might cost you additional 3/4k (varies destination basis) however that might help you in case of any unfortunate god-forbid event.
6. Currency Exchange: You will get a good return while you’re in Singapore (around Mustafa Centre/little India) as compared to when you’re at the airports. However, it’s recommended to carry some cash (destination currency) before you leave India in order to be safe. Take a call as per your convenience 🙂 You may want to shop with your leftover money (while you leave Singapore) once you’re at the duty-free zone shopping area.

This was snapshot of our Singapore trip. We know that we haven’t explored many places or experiences in/around the city; keeping them for the time to come!

 

Till then,

let’s all stay happy!

❤

Himanshi & Anubhav