Singapore, directly translating into “Lion City”, is the only island city-state in the world. This unique country is filled with interesting architecture, opulence, and modern experiences that really make you remember this place forever. I visited Singapore with my cousin right in late May and we had so much fun exploring here. We visited for 3.5 days and it was a good amount of time to just get a perfect taste of the city. I put together this 3.5 day guide for some of the best places to see, visit, and experience.

DAY 1

We arrived to Singapore at midnight, so we went straight to our hotel to sleep. We stayed at Bliss Hotel in Chinatown, which was a great location because it was right next to the Chinatown NE4 MRT station and walking distance from many restaurants and places to explore.

After we woke up, we immediately ventured out to find food, which Singapore is really well known for. The walk from our hotel to the food center was so beautiful. We took a little detour through a small, raised park that was covered in beautiful leaves and it even had a small bridge that led us back down into the street.

We ended up at Maxwell Hawker Center to get breakfast. We ate at a food stall with fried rice, noodles, and veggies and got some fresh fruit smoothies from another stall nearby. Food centers are designed to have a plethora of options, and most portions are small so you can try a lot of different meals and snacks! Most places here seemed to prefer cash more, so we made sure to always have a few Singaporean dollars on us.

During the walk around Chinatown, we saw many beautiful temples. The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is right next to Maxwell. It was under construction when we were there, but it was so beautiful just from the outside. We stopped by the Thian Hock Kang Temple and walked around inside. It’s free entry to walk around and look at some of the incense shrines. After walking around so much, we got way too hot, so we stopped inside the Singapore City Gallery to learn more about local history and look at some of the original city architectural designs prior to construction. I recommend stopping in here because it’s free and well laid out for visitors to learn about Singapore.

After checking out this area, we took the MRT to Little India to enjoy the colorful architecture and soak in the culture. This area is well-known for its Indian restaurants and stores dedicated to selling Indian spices and food. Tekka Center is a very popular spot to grab food and explore the wet market. We walked through many little streets to just see what was going on and entered little shops. We stopped by the famous Chinese villa, Tan Teng Niah, to revel at it’s bright colors. It’s easy to get lost among the many small streets in this area but each turn introduces new beauty of the area.

We walked towards Haji Lane after exploring Little India. Haji Lane is inspired by Middle Eastern design and has many boutique stores and small cafes. My cousin and I stopped by a little upstairs boutique and found really beautiful, airy dresses that we bought after trying them on. We changed into them right away because it was so hot outside and these dresses were lighter than what we were wearing before.

On our walk towards the downtown core area, we passed the Sultan Mosque, which was actually built in 1824 for the first sultan of Singapore. It’s very grand and opulent-looking, with gold paint covering the ball on top.

After exploring that area, we wanted to check out Marina Square and cool down inside the shopping center for a bit. We also walked through the Helix Bridge to see the views during the day. We passed The Float @ Marina Bay which is this really interesting venue that floats on top of the water. My cousin wanted to chill in a cafe for a while since it was the afternoon and getting really hot outside, so she went back to Marina Square and I took a mini solo adventure and crossed the Benjamin Sheares Bridge to the Bay East Garden.

This park is so beautiful and peaceful. There were maybe 5-10 people here max - a few were jogging along the water path and some people were gardening. This spot in Singapore allows you to see all of the monuments of the city, especially all the Marina Bay buildings. I spent some time here flying my drone over the water, capturing some beautiful shots of the Singapore Flyer and the rest of the city. I highly recommend taking the time to come to this area, especially since there aren’t many tourists on this side. This is a great place to come picnic in the grass to enjoy the view with some good greenery!

I walked back to Marina Square to meet my cousin, and then we decided to check out the National Gallery Singapore. Singapore is filled with so many beautiful museums so we wanted to explore a more classic gallery. You can get tickets on Klook, which is an activity booking website that is heavily discounted, or you can purchase on the museum’s website itself. The website offers a student discount of $15 instead of $20 with a presentable student ID. The museum itself is an art piece. The entrance is huge and the inside has very tall and grand columns that support the structure.

We spent quite some time here, walking through the different floors. My cousin and I enjoyed the Asian art galleries and the special exhibit as well. There is an outdoor rooftop garden area on the 4th floor/mezzanine level and an outdoor deck with reflective pools that project onto the ceiling on the 5th level, called “Smoke and Mirrors”. Even though we stayed until 7pm, closing time, there were still a lot of exhibits in the gallery that we didn’t get to see.

Since it was evening, we were super hungry, so we went to Rong Hua Bak Kut Teh in Marina Square. This is an authentic Chinese restaurant known for their pork rib soups. We ordered a pork rib soup, steamed tofu with braised minced meat, sliced smoked duck in crispy spring roll skin, kong bak pau (pork belly buns), and oyster sauce vegetables. Dinner was sooo delicious. Singapore is truly known for its blended cuisine and this restaurant definitely pleased us.

After dinner, we took the MRT back to Chinatown to get to our hostel, where we cleaned up a bit and then went out to bars in the area. We ended up at Dorothy’s Bar, a cozy gay bar right in the heart of Chinatown, and the location itself is actually considered a heritage site. We were welcomed by a really kind bartender who recommended seats on the balcony, which overlook Trengganu Street, so it was the perfect place to drink our Tiger beers and people watch. Tiger beers originated in Singapore and taste really crisp with slight hints of grain and apple.

We walked around the streets at night and enjoyed just moving around. The streets in Chinatown are pretty lit up with decorative lights so we spent some time just talking and spending time there before going back to our hotel and sleeping.

DAY 2

When I woke up this morning, I had the worst headache and feelings of nausea. Every time I sat up in bed, I felt like throwing up, but because we were in Singapore, I really didn’t want to halt any travel plans. I pushed through and forced myself to get up and go to breakfast with my cousin. We took a Grab, which is Singapore’s main ridesharing transport network company, to Lau Pa Sat Food Court. Once there, I still felt awful, so my cousin went around and bought me some baozi and got dried fruit candies for herself. The baozis sold here were so big! I even took a photo with it because I was so mesmerized by the size. Luckily, I was able to eat one baozi before feeling terrible again, so she also bought me water to chug.

Since my sickness wasn’t getting better, we stopped by our hotel again so I could take a breather and lie down for a bit. After texting my mom (who thank goodness, used to be a doctor), she realized that I had gotten heat exhaustion from walking and sweating so much the day before. Thankfully, heat exhaustion symptoms don’t last that long, so I rested on the bed and drank water before I felt entirely fine and was able to go out again. Singapore is very hot and humid, so it’s important to stay hydrated with water and electrolytes!

My cousin decided to stay back and do some work in the hotel, so I left for another adventure on my own. I took a Grab to the Singapore Botanic Garden, definitely a must do when here because the garden design is so grand and beautiful and it’s free entry. Once here, I just walked around the many paths and looked at everything. The park entrance welcomes you with a beautiful plant tunnel, where many people enjoyed taking photos.

Inside the park, there’s even a huge symphony stage in front of the large pond. Next to that, there is a ginormous patch of grass where people were chilling and having picnics with friends. Near the water, I saw many giant lizards, pond turtles, and dragonflies. Really great and peaceful to just walk through on your own.

After walking around the main botanic area for a while, I decided to check out the National Orchid Garden inside. I came on a really good day because the park was allowing free entry for students. The Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid is actually Singapore’s national flower, because it represents vibrance and resilience, which describe Singapore’s spirit. No wonder why this garden is heavily protected and treated! This section may have been my favorite out of the entire garden because of how many orchids were blooming everywhere. Orchids are nearly impossible to take care of, so it was amazing to see hundreds of different orchids incredibly well maintained in this area.

I spent the entire afternoon in the garden just soaking in the greenery and goodness before going to the Marina Barrage to fly my drone and watch the sunset. On top of being very aesthetically pleasing and the perfect grassy venue for picnicking and kite-flying, the barrage is a dam that serves as a water source and form of flood control. There were so many families, students, and just happy people enjoying the sun out here. I loved hanging out in this location because I felt very welcomed and excited since there were just so many positive vibes all around. It was also the perfect spot to send my drone to get shots of the city.

After watching the sunset, I took another Grab to Clarke Quay, which is a historical riverside quay with lots of shopping and restaurants, so I could meet up with my cousin and then go on our river cruise. Although pretty touristy, going on a cruise is so much fun because you can listen to the guide talk about the history of Singapore and enjoy the beautiful lights of the city. I recommend going a little bit after sunset, so you can still see the city transition into a place of sparkling lights. We booked our river cruise on Klook, so we just had to pick up our tickets at a kiosk before getting on board.

The tour was so nice! Singapore at night is an entirely different place, because all of the buildings are lit up, even the Merlion statue! All of the bridges that we crossed also have lights across them. Since the river opens up in the Marina Bay area, we were so lucky to see the Marina Bay Sands hotel light show. The showtimes are Sunday to Thursday at 8pm and 9pm and then Friday and Saturday at 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm. The light show was amazing to see especially being right on the water! Such a great addition to our cruise.

After the boat tour, we walked across the street to Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (11 New Bridge Road - there are multiple locations) to eat dinner. The line was so long. We waited for 30 min or so, which was definitely on the shorter end because we were only a party of 2. We got seated at a pretty small table and ordered right away. We got the classic pork ribs soup (aka Bak Kut Teh), braised pig’s trotter (which was so so tender and flavorful), braised fried beancurd (basically tofu), kai lan (Chinese broccoli), and some rice. The meal was really delicious and authentic.

We stopped by a small liquor store on our way back to our hotel to get some Tiger beers to pregame our night out. It’s legal to drink in public in Singapore, but during 10:30pm to 7am it is illegal to consume in public and to purchase from stores. We brought our beers back to our hotel room to drink and get ready. We took the MRT to the Marina Bay Sands area to go to MARQUEE. It’s this insane, newly-built 3-story nightclub located inside the MBS mall with a small ferris wheel inside. We waited in line for a while, since MAKJ, an American DJ, was playing that night. Cover charge was $20 each, but once inside, you could redeem that fee for a drink. The vibes inside were insane. There were people everywhere and everything just looked so bright and fun. We got our drinks, watched people go into the ferris wheel, and just explored the bar for a while. More lit music started to play so we went down to the main area to start dancing. It took a while before MAKJ came on, but his set was incredible and we stayed until 3am dancing and making friends.

By the time we got out of the mall, it finally hit us how much our feet got destroyed, so we called another Grab back to our place. Such a great end to the night!

DAY 3

We woke up and went to get a late breakfast at Maxwell Hawker Center again, to eat the famous Michelin star Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice. We waited in line for such a long time, so while my cousin waited, I ventured out to find some fresh smoothies and fruit juice for us to drink while in line. We finally got to the front and ordered 2 medium-sized chicken rice plates and a plate of beansprouts. The chicken rice plate comes with sliced cucumbers and a red spicy sauce that tasted great on top of the chicken. The food was definitely worth the hype - and the price! It’s affordable too. We walked around Chinatown a bit more after eating, since it was our last day in that area. We ran into a store that had a cluster of rubber chicken toys that I obsessed over.

We went back to our hotel to check out, since we were switching hotels to spend one night at the Marina Bay Sands hotel! We got to Marina Bay Sands hotel and walked into the lobby, immediately overwhelmed by all the high-end stores that were even just at the entrance of the hotel itself. We waited in line for quite some time for check-in, but the hotel staff kept us happy by giving us free ice cream bars and water. Such nice customer service. When we finally checked in, we immediately sped up to our room to check out the view. We were placed in a room that overlooked the Gardens by the Bay side, which meant that we also had an ocean view! The hotel left an adorable towel buddy for us so that was a great little treat to see as well.

Since the ArtScience Museum was right below, we visited there after checking in. My cousin bought us the “Any 2 Exhibits” tickets. There are multiple options for tickets on the website here. We first checked out the Future World exhibit, which is a permanent exhibition designed and developed by teamLab, a Japanese art technology company that uses animations and light manipulation to create beautiful experiential pieces. We spent time wandering around in here, playing with the hands-on light exhibits, and taking cool photos. Probably one of the more famous exhibits is the walk-through hallway of infinity lights, which is a mirrored room filled with hanging LEDs.

We moved on to the Alice in Wonderland special exhibit, which was an all-interactive exhibit to look for clues in Wonderland. We were given slips of paper that we had to hold under special lights to illuminate a hidden surprise. Although there were a lot of little kids in this exhibit, it was still a lot of fun to explore a scavenger hunt-like museum! The art displays were also very historical, showing the timeline of illustrations that brought Alice in Wonderland to life. My favorite part of it all was the tea party room, where we were seated at a giant table with tea party items and light projections bounced across the entire room creating animations all over the walls and table. It was awesome!

After seeing Alice, we relaxed outside the museum area for a bit because the outdoor design was also really pretty. There is a lily pad pond and the city views are nice here. It’s well shaded so many people were sitting out here waiting as well. We went back inside the mall to get to our hotel room. The MBS mall is so exciting. There’s a canal that runs through the middle where you can actually hop in a boat for a ride (reminds me of Venice, Italy and Venice, Las Vegas, if you will) and a massive, cylindrical crystal waterfall right at the entrance.

We finally walked to our hotel tower - which took forever because each building of the hotel has a very long walkway. Once back, we went straight up to the pool in our bathrobes. You need a hotel key card to get in here, so it was only hotel guests who were able to access this area. The set up here is incredible. There are lounge chairs right by the pool, so you can dip your feet in and chill comfortably. We swam for a bit on the edge so we could see the entire city while in the infinity pool. Hotel staff come ask if you want drinks and food, which if you do order, is a pretty nice addition to have. After seeing how pricey some of the items were, we decided to pass and kept swimming instead.

Since it was near late afternoon, our reservation to see the Flower Dome was approaching. Since this destination is highly popular, it’s required to make a reservation before visiting. You can buy tickets here and see the operating hours. We made the mistake of reserving a time during peak hours (4pm-7pm) and there were people everywhere. It was honestly really crowded and did take away from the experience, but besides the people, the flowers inside were stunning. The entire design of the place was really well thought out and it was fun to walk around and look at all the different types of flowers.

After the Flower Dome, we went to the second conservatory of the Marina Bay area, Cloud Forest. You can get tickets here. Similarly to Flower Dome, it was also very crowded, but still very interesting to see. The first thing we saw walking in is the huge, 30 meter waterfall covered in tropical plants and mist. The Cloud Forest focuses on showcasing a variety of plant species that grow in tropical climates like orchids, ferns, and pitcher plants.

By the time we finished, the sun had almost finished setting, so we went to Satay by the Bay, the food center of the Marina Bay area, to eat dinner. There were a lot of choices here, but definitely pretty touristy selections, so we settled for chicken satay, Chinese noodles, and dumplings from various food stalls. For dessert, we got the Ais Kacang (“bean ice”), which is an incredible Malaysian shaved ice dessert topped with red beans, vanilla ice cream, grass jelly, coconut condensed milk drizzle, and sago (similar to tapioca). This dessert was delicious! My cousin and I devoured it so fast. Highly recommend trying this while here!

After dinner, we walked back to the Supertree Grove to watch the Garden Rhapsody light show. This show goes on every night at 7:45pm and 8:45pm and it was beyond incredible. The lights are timed perfectly with the music and it was such a great vibe to sit and enjoy the show. Hundreds of people come watch this because it is free, so make sure to come and get good spots to watch!

We walked back to our hotel through the bridge walk so we could watch the 8:45pm show from our hotel room balcony. It was really beautiful from our room as well. I flew my drone from the balcony around at night to get some shots of the city lights and it was very rewarding.

We wanted to check out the hotel’s night scene some more, so we went up to CE LA VI, the rooftop bar and restaurant at the top of MBS, to grab some drinks. We ordered the famous Singapore Slings which were honestly pretty pricey, but delicious and worth it for the experience. We spent some time up here enjoying the beautiful city view, since we were at one of the taller points in Singapore. There weren’t too many people here because it was a Sunday night, but we danced a bit on the dance floor before leaving the bar.

The hotel is still pretty busy at night with some shops and the casino open, so we went downstairs to check it out. Singapore casino law is interesting. If you’re a Singaporean citizen or resident, you have to pay a $150 entry fee. This is the country’s way of discouraging gambling among their citizens. I wasn’t 21 when we visited, so I couldn’t enter the casino, but my cousin wanted to check it out later so we walked around the hotel shops first before she went in by herself. After walking around the shops, I went back to our hotel room to sleep and my cousin checked out the casino.

DAY 4

We woke up pretty early so we could go to the Supertree Grove to walk on the OCBC Skyway, which is the bridge system connecting the supertrees, in the morning. You can get tickets for that here and plan the time of your visit. The Supertree Grove is amazing. There are 158,000+ plants living on these trees that are mostly tropical and suitable for vertical growing. The grove was designed with sustainability in mind, with 11 Supertrees either harvesting solar power or serving as air exhaust receptacles. I really enjoyed walking on the walkways, observing plants and enjoying the view! It’s really hot up here, so definitely bring a hat or sunglasses to protect yourself.

Since it was our last day, I walked around the garden a bit more before leaving because I loved it so much. We went back to MBS and I went up to the pool one last time to swim and look at the Singaporean skyline. After chilling at the pool, we checked out of the hotel and left our luggage with the front desk to get lunch at the MBS Shoppes food court. There are quite a few options here, but we settled for pan fried dumplings and sauteed noodles on our last day. We went back to the hotel to call a Grab to our final destination.

We went to the famous and symbolic Merlion fountain. The fountain is so pretty and this area has a great view of the rest of the city. We got Merlion-shaped popsicles from a small dessert stand right next to the statue. I got a purple taro-flavored popsicle and it tasted so good! After taking some fountain drinking photos at the Merlion and sitting down for a while, we left for the airport.

The amazing Changi Airport is a destination in itself that’s packed with incredible shopping, food, and experiences. We got there a couple hours before our flight so we could explore the terminals. Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit the Jewel, which is the prettiest airport shopping mall ever, because we didn’t have enough time to go out of customs again and shop around. Once in the airport, there are trams you can take to go between terminals, so we took advantage of that to explore. In our terminal, there was a beautiful koi pond surrounded by plants and eco wooden benches that promoted how thoughtful the entire airport design was.

I took the tram to go outside the airport so I could get a view of the waterfall in the Jewel, and I was not disappointed. I rode it 3 times to look at the nature inside the mall.

My cousin and I walked around some of the shops and honestly I was blown away by some of the designs. We found IRVINS Salted Egg in terminal 2 and waited in line to get these snacks that are covered in salted egg yolk and are super famous in Singapore. We waited in line for 30 min but it was worth it. I balled out on 2 bags of potato chips, cassava chips, and the original fish skin chips. These. Are. So. Good. I devoured the cassava chip bag while waiting for our flight. Another really good snack we bought before taking off were seri muka desserts. These are Malaysian two-layered desserts that have steamed sticky rice at the bottom and a green custard layer at the top, with a deep coconut milk infusion. These are so sweet and addicting and I honestly wish they lasted longer so I could bring more home.

Irvin’s Salted Egg are the best snacks here!

Singapore was such a wonderful adventure and because of the amazing culture, food, and architecture, I would love to come back. Definitely add this destination to your list when traveling in Asia!

SINGAPORE

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4