🇸🇬 Singapore Part 4 - Six Days in Singapore: The Places, Food & Moments I'll Remember

In Part 1 - How I Planned a Solo Singapore Trip Under ₹60,000, Singapore was just an idea and a budget.

Part 2 was about turning that plan into something real — visa, money, documents, packing and the final countdown.

And in Part 3, I finally left Mangalore, travelled to Chennai, boarded a newly commissioned Boeing 787 Dreamliner, climbed to around 45,000 feet, watched lightning illuminate thunderstorms outside, experienced some serious turbulence, saw the lights of Malaysian cities below...

and eventually watched Singapore get closer.

Then, at around:

6:50 AM

on September 10, 2026, we touched down at Singapore Changi Airport.

Not late at night.

Not with the day already over.

Singapore was waking up.

And so was my trip.

Good Morning, Singapore 🇸🇬

There was something perfect about arriving in Singapore in the morning.

I had spent the night travelling through the sky.

Thunderstorms.

Turbulence.

Malaysian cities below.

And then Singapore.

When I finally stepped into Changi, I wasn't arriving somewhere just to find a bed and sleep.

I had an entire day ahead of me.

For months, Singapore had existed inside Google Maps, YouTube videos, screenshots, bookings and itineraries.

Now I was standing inside Changi Airport at 6:50 in the morning.

The planning was over.

Day 1 had already begun.

From Changi to Chinatown

My base for the next six nights was:

Royal Lodge @ Pagoda Street

A 10-bed mixed dorm right in Chinatown.

Back home, choosing Chinatown had been a strategic decision.

Affordable hostel.

Good MRT connectivity.

Food nearby.

Plenty to explore on foot.

Now it was time to see whether that decision had actually been a good one.

Suitcase with me.

Phone out.

Internet working.

Google Maps ready.

And for the first time, Singapore's public transport system wasn't something I was studying from India.

I actually had to use it.

My First Singapore Commute 🚇

Before the trip, Singapore's MRT map looked beautifully organized.

Different coloured lines.

Stations.

Interchanges.

Everything neatly connected.

Easy.

Of course, looking at a map from home and navigating a completely new transport system while carrying luggage are two different experiences.

But Singapore started making sense surprisingly quickly.

Station by station, I was getting closer to the place that would become home for the next six nights.

Chinatown.

Pagoda Street

Eventually, I reached Chinatown.

And this was one of those strangely satisfying travel moments.

I had already seen Pagoda Street.

Technically.

Google Maps.

Street View.

Photos.

Hostel listings.

YouTube.

But now I was actually standing there.

The shophouses.

Signs.

Restaurants.

Temples nearby.

Tourists.

Locals.

And somewhere along this street was the hostel I'd booked months earlier from Mangalore.

Royal Lodge @ Pagoda Street.

Found it.

My ₹8,520.76 accommodation booking was no longer a line in my travel budget.

This was home.

Well...

for six nights.

Walking Out Into Singapore

Once the luggage problem was sorted, there was only one thing I wanted to do.

Walk.

No complicated strategy.

No rushing immediately towards the biggest attraction.

I was already in Chinatown.

So I started there.

And almost immediately, I realised why choosing this area as my base had been such a good decision.

I didn't have to travel somewhere to begin experiencing Singapore.

I could simply step outside.

Chinatown

This was the Singapore I wanted to experience.

Not just the giant futuristic buildings.

The older neighbourhoods too.

Shophouses.

Temples.

Food.

Narrower streets.

Restaurants.

Markets.

Then, behind all of it...

modern Singapore rising into the skyline.

That contrast became something I'd notice repeatedly over the next six days.

Singapore could feel historic on one street and futuristic a few minutes later.

First Mission: Food

Eventually, walking created the obvious problem.

I was hungry.

One of the places I wanted to experience was:

Maxwell Food Centre.

I wasn't looking for some elaborate first meal in Singapore.

I wanted hawker food.

Over those early hours, I tried things like noodle/prawn soup and Hainanese chicken rice.

Then I found something beautifully simple.

Fresh orange juice — S$2.

Cold.

Fresh.

Cheap.

Perfect.

This was reassuring.

Singapore was expensive, yes.

But eating in Singapore didn't automatically mean spending S$20–30 every time I got hungry.

Hawker centres were going to become extremely useful.

Chinatown to the CBD

After Chinatown, I kept walking.

And Singapore started changing around me.

Old shophouses gradually gave way to taller buildings.

Then much taller buildings.

Glass.

Steel.

Banks.

Offices.

Luxury cars.

I started spotting Porsches and Teslas around the city.

And suddenly the Singapore I'd associated with finance, technology and modern architecture was everywhere.

The transition happened remarkably quickly.

That became one of my favourite things about walking Singapore.

You could move between completely different versions of the city without realizing how far you'd gone.

Clarke Quay → Boat Quay → Fullerton → Marina Bay

This became one of my favourite walks of the trip.

Clarke Quay.

Then:

Boat Quay.

The Singapore River.

Old shophouses along the waterfront.

Restaurants.

Modern towers rising behind them.

Then towards:

Fullerton.

And eventually...

Marina Bay.

This was one of those moments I'd been waiting for.

The skyline I'd seen hundreds of times in photographs was suddenly in front of me.

Marina Bay Sands.

The waterfront.

The Merlion area.

Singapore's skyline.

And the best part?

I hadn't paid anything to experience it.

I had simply walked there.

This was exactly why I'd built so much of my Singapore itinerary around exploring the city itself.

Then I Found the Seafood 🦞

Boat Quay introduced me to another side of Singapore.

Seafood.

Lots of seafood.

Live seafood displays immediately got my attention.

Crabs.

Lobsters.

Massive crustaceans.

Things that looked like they should be living inside the Oceanarium I was going to visit later.

And then I saw one particular deal.

Australian live rock lobster.

Weight:

500+ grams.

Normal price:

S$148.

Offer:

S$58 nett.

No additional GST.

No service charge.

A S$90 difference.

There was one tiny problem.

This was absolutely not part of my carefully designed ₹60,000 Singapore budget.

Budget vs Lobster

My brain had two competing thoughts.

Responsible traveller:

"You literally came here with a budget."

And then:

Me looking at a giant Australian lobster:

"But... lobster."

The lobster won.

😂

Catching My Own Dinner

This wasn't simply a plate arriving from the kitchen.

I actually got to handle the live lobster.

That made the entire thing much more memorable.

One moment I was looking at this huge Australian rock lobster alive.

Then it disappeared into the kitchen.

And eventually...

it returned.

As dinner.

The lobster arrived covered in a dark, savoury, peppery sauce.

I tried it.

And...

It was good.

Really good.

Was S$58 expensive compared with my hawker meals?

Absolutely.

Did it damage that day's budget?

Also yes.

Did I regret it?

Nope.

Some expenses become numbers on a bank statement.

Others become stories.

The lobster became a story.

Garden Rhapsody 🌳✨

Later came a completely different side of Singapore.

Gardens by the Bay.

More specifically:

Supertree Grove.

And then:

Garden Rhapsody.

Seeing the Supertrees during the day is one thing.

Seeing them illuminated at night with music playing around you is completely different.

The entire grove transformed.

Lights moved across these enormous structures.

Music filled the area.

Everyone looked upwards.

Earlier, I'd been walking through historic Chinatown.

Now I was standing underneath giant artificial trees glowing in the Singapore night.

That contrast was becoming the Singapore experience for me.

Sentosa Day 🏝️

One of the days I'd been looking forward to the most was Sentosa.

And there was one major reason.

Singapore Oceanarium. 🦈

If you've read any of my aquarium blogs, this probably isn't surprising.

There was absolutely no chance I was travelling to Singapore and casually walking past one of its biggest marine attractions.

I went inside.

And then basically disappeared for:

Three hours.

😂

Singapore Oceanarium 🐠

This became one of my favourite paid experiences of the entire trip.

Sharks.

Jellyfish.

Reef ecosystems.

Poison dart frogs.

Cleaner shrimp.

Huge marine displays.

A sunken-ship environment.

And tank after tank after tank.

This was exactly what I'd meant during the planning stage when I said I was willing to spend money on experiences I genuinely cared about.

I wasn't interested in buying tickets simply because something appeared on a:

“Top 10 Things to Do in Singapore”

list.

But an Oceanarium?

Yes.

Take my money.

Jellyfish

The jellyfish exhibits were mesmerizing.

They barely looked real.

Just drifting.

No hurry.

No obvious direction.

Light passing through their bodies as they moved through the water.

I ended up recording multiple clips because every few seconds the scene changed.

You could stand there for ages watching them.

And I almost did.

Sharks 🦈

Then came one of my favourite parts.

The sharks.

Seeing sharks through a phone screen is one thing.

Standing in front of a huge aquarium window while one swims directly past you is something else entirely.

They moved almost effortlessly.

No panic.

No unnecessary movement.

Just calm, controlled swimming.

I took photos.

Videos.

The Reef and the Sunken Ship

Another display that stayed with me was the reef surrounding a sunken-ship environment.

There was so much happening in one tank that it was impossible to focus on everything at once.

Fish at different depths.

Corals.

Structures.

Marine life moving in and out of view.

And the wreck itself slowly becoming part of the underwater world.

This was one of those tanks where looking at a different corner completely changed what you saw.

Cleaner Shrimp

Even the smaller creatures got my attention.

Including the cleaner shrimp.

I already keep shrimp myself, so naturally I wasn't going to ignore them just because there were sharks nearby.

😂

That's probably the best way to explain how I spent three hours inside.

The big exhibits were incredible.

But I was equally happy staring at tiny marine creatures most people walked past.

Poison Dart Frogs 🐸

Then, somehow, among all the marine life...

poison dart frogs.

Bright.

Tiny.

And extremely photogenic.

Another unexpected addition to my Oceanarium camera roll.

Singapore Weather Had Other Plans 🌧️

Of course, travelling in Southeast Asia means accepting one thing.

Weather does not care about your itinerary.

At some point around Sentosa, the rain came.

And it wasn't exactly subtle.

Suddenly the beautifully organized plan became:

Wait.

I ended up stopping at Starbucks.

Charged my devices.

Waited for the weather.

And watched the itinerary temporarily collapse.

This is something travel plans don't really show.

On paper:

Oceanarium → next attraction → next attraction.

Reality:

Oceanarium → rain → battery → Starbucks → wait.

And that's completely fine.

S$7 Lunch

After hours inside the Oceanarium, I needed food.

Lunch:

Around S$7.

After the lobster adventure, this felt like my budget and I were rebuilding trust.

😂

Skyline Luge 🛷

Then came something I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did.

Skyline Luge.

I paid around:

S$39

for three Luge rides, along with the Skyride.

And I did it at night.

That made everything better.

Ride One

The first ride was basically:

"Okay... how does this work?"

Steering.

Braking.

Understanding the track.

Trying not to embarrass myself.

Ride Two

Then confidence appeared.

Suddenly I knew what I was doing.

Or at least I thought I did.

Ride Three

By the third ride, this was no longer a casual tourist attraction.

This was competition.

With whom?

No idea.

😂

But apparently I needed to go faster.

Three rides turned out to be perfect.

The Skyride at Night

The ride back up was completely different.

Quiet.

Slow.

Suspended above Sentosa.

Lights below.

Darkness around me.

A few peaceful minutes before immediately wanting to race downhill again.

It became one of the most unexpectedly fun experiences of Singapore.

Not Every Day Needed a Big Attraction

One of the smartest things I'd done while planning was leaving room for days that didn't involve expensive attractions.

Because some of my favourite Singapore experiences cost almost nothing.

One of those days took me towards:

Mount Faber.

Marang Trail

I started from around HarbourFront and headed onto the Marang Trail.

And then Singapore reminded me of something.

It is hot.

And humid.

And apparently I had voluntarily chosen to climb.

😂

Step after step.

Up.

More up.

Still up.

At some point you begin questioning the decision.

Then eventually you reach the top.

And suddenly it makes sense.

Mount Faber

Mount Faber showed me another version of Singapore.

Green.

Quiet.

Elevated.

Far removed from the skyscrapers and malls.

After several days of dense city exploration, this felt completely different.

And I kept going.

Henderson Waves

Henderson Waves.

This was exactly the kind of place I'd wanted when designing the low-cost side of the trip.

Interesting architecture.

Nature.

Views.

Walking.

No expensive ticket.

Just go.

Explore.

And enjoy the place.

By the time I eventually returned to Chinatown, my legs were very aware that I had chosen walking as my primary Singapore activity.

East Coast Park ✈️🚢

Another day took me through Siglap towards:

East Coast Park.

This again felt completely different from Marina Bay or Chinatown.

Cyclists.

Joggers.

Families.

Beach.

Sea.

Ships.

And aircraft.

Lots of aircraft.

Plane Spotting

After flying into Singapore on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, there was something satisfying about sitting near the coast and watching aircraft around Changi.

Planes appearing.

Descending.

Disappearing.

Another one arriving.

Another departing.

You didn't really need to do anything.

Just sit and watch.

Ships Everywhere 🚢

Then there were the ships.

Look towards the horizon and they were everywhere.

Cargo vessels.

Tankers.

Ships waiting offshore.

It was one of the simplest reminders of Singapore's location and importance.

You can read about Singapore being a major global maritime hub.

Or you can stand at East Coast Park and look at the horizon.

The second option makes the point rather effectively.

S$4 Mee Rebus

Then came another budget win.

Mee rebus — S$4.

This perfectly summarized my Singapore food strategy.

One day:

S$58 lobster.

Another day:

S$4 mee rebus.

Both belonged in the same trip.

I wasn't trying to spend the absolute minimum on everything.

I was trying to spend less where it didn't matter so I could spend more where it did.

Gardens by the Bay — This Time, Inside

I'd already experienced Garden Rhapsody.

But another day brought me back to Gardens by the Bay for something completely different.

This time:

Cloud Forest.

And the moment I walked inside...

That waterfall.

Cloud Forest 🌿

The huge indoor waterfall immediately dominates the space.

Cool air.

Mist.

Plants everywhere.

A giant mountain-like structure rising inside the conservatory.

After walking around hot and humid Singapore, stepping into Cloud Forest felt like entering a completely different climate.

And then there was another surprise.

Dinosaurs.

Jurassic World: The Experience 🦖

Cloud Forest had been transformed with:

Jurassic World: The Experience.

Which meant I was now walking through a massive indoor conservatory...

filled with plants...

mist...

waterfalls...

and dinosaurs.

Somehow it worked perfectly.

The vegetation already made Cloud Forest feel prehistoric.

Adding dinosaurs pushed it completely into another world.

Walking through the mist and suddenly seeing a dinosaur between the plants made the entire attraction feel less like a botanical garden and more like a movie set.

This became one of the most visually memorable experiences of the trip.

Flower Dome 🌺

Then came:

Flower Dome.

And the atmosphere changed again.

Cloud Forest had been dramatic.

Dark in places.

Misty.

Vertical.

Almost cinematic.

Flower Dome was brighter.

Open.

Colourful.

Filled with plants and flowers from different environments.

Two conservatories next to each other.

Two completely different experiences.

Satay by the Bay

Eventually, the usual problem returned.

Hunger.

So I stopped at:

Satay by the Bay.

Meal:

S$7.80.

Considering I was eating right next to one of Singapore's biggest tourist attractions, I was happy with that.

Then it was back to walking.

Obviously.

Dragonfly Lake

I spent some time around:

Dragonfly Lake.

After being inside the conservatories, walking beside the water was a nice reset.

Plants.

Water.

Singapore skyline in the distance.

And one building that was almost impossible to ignore.

Marina Bay Sands.

That was where I was heading next.

Marina Bay Sands

For several days, MBS had been part of the skyline.

Now I wanted to explore it properly.

First:

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

Luxury brands everywhere.

Massive open spaces.

Beautiful architecture.

And then...

an indoor canal.

Because apparently Singapore looked at normal shopping malls and decided:

"Needs boats."

😂

Ferrari 🏎️

Then I came across a Ferrari display.

Singapore already had enough expensive cars driving around.

Apparently Marina Bay Sands needed one inside too.

Naturally:

Photo.

Apple Marina Bay Sands 🍎

Another place I wanted to see was:

Apple Marina Bay Sands.

The spherical Apple Store sitting directly on Marina Bay is one of the most unusual Apple Store designs I've seen.

I went inside and also got to experience Today at Apple.

Even if you don't want to buy anything, the architecture alone makes it worth walking inside.

Especially when you look back through the glass towards the Singapore skyline.

The Casino 🎰

Then came another side of Marina Bay Sands.

The casino.

Completely different atmosphere.

I wasn't there with a master plan to gamble my way into recovering the Singapore budget.

😂

I simply wanted to experience the place.

And then it was time to go considerably higher.

Level 57

Eventually I made my way to:

LAVO — Level 57.

And suddenly Singapore looked completely different.

For days I'd been exploring the city from street level.

Walking through it.

Taking MRT trains underneath it.

Standing beside the water.

Now I was looking down at everything.

Gardens by the Bay.

Roads.

Buildings.

Water.

Places I'd already visited.

Places I'd walked.

Things that had seemed far apart suddenly looked close together.

There is something particularly satisfying about seeing a city from above after you've explored it on foot.

You start recognizing things.

"I was there."

"I walked through that."

"That's where I came from."

For the first time, Singapore didn't feel like a collection of separate destinations.

It felt like one city I'd spent days moving through.

Spectra 🌃

And somehow the day still wasn't finished.

That night:

Spectra.

The Marina Bay light and water show.

Water shooting into the air.

Lights.

Music.

The Singapore skyline behind everything.

It was almost ridiculously Singapore.

Earlier that day I'd been walking among dinosaurs inside Cloud Forest.

Then flowers.

Satay.

Dragonfly Lake.

Luxury shopping.

Ferrari.

Apple Store.

Casino.

Level 57.

And finally:

A light and water show over Marina Bay.

That was a day.

😂

Singapore Wasn't the Trip I Had Planned

One of the funniest things about looking back at the trip is remembering how much effort I put into the original itinerary.

I planned Singapore extensively.

And I'm glad I did.

It meant I understood the city before arriving.

I knew roughly where things were.

I knew how much I could afford.

I knew which attractions mattered to me.

I had backup options.

But once I arrived...

the itinerary stopped being the trip.

Singapore became the trip.

A S$58 lobster wasn't on my spreadsheet.

Waiting out the rain in Starbucks wasn't part of the plan.

I didn't know how much I'd enjoy the Night Luge.

I didn't know I'd spend so much time staring at jellyfish.

Or watching ships.

Or looking at aircraft.

Or simply walking around Chinatown.

Those things couldn't really be planned.

And those became some of the things I remembered most.

The Singapore I Remember

When I think about those six days now, I don't immediately think about an itinerary.

I remember fragments.

Walking onto Pagoda Street.

Fresh S$2 orange juice.

Hainanese chicken rice.

Old shophouses with skyscrapers behind them.

The Singapore River.

Boat Quay.

Holding a live Australian rock lobster.

That same lobster returning from the kitchen.

Supertrees lighting up above me.

Jellyfish drifting through illuminated water.

Sharks swimming past.

Cleaner shrimp.

Poison dart frogs.

A reef growing around a sunken ship.

Rain hammering Sentosa.

Charging my phone in Starbucks.

Racing downhill on the Luge.

Floating above Sentosa on the Skyride.

Climbing the Marang Trail.

Standing on Henderson Waves.

Watching aircraft near East Coast Park.

Ships covering the horizon.

S$4 mee rebus.

The Cloud Forest waterfall.

Dinosaurs appearing through the mist.

Flowers everywhere.

The indoor canal at Marina Bay Sands.

A Ferrari.

The spherical Apple Store.

Looking down at Singapore from Level 57.

And Spectra illuminating Marina Bay.

None of those moments alone were the Singapore trip.

Together...

they were.

Six Days Went Very Fast

This is probably the cruelest thing about travelling.

Planning takes months.

The countdown takes weeks.

Getting there takes days.

And then suddenly...

it's almost over.

The hostel that had felt unfamiliar when I first arrived now felt normal.

The MRT no longer looked complicated.

I didn't need to constantly check whether I was doing everything correctly.

Singapore had stopped feeling completely foreign.

And that was exactly when it was almost time to leave.

One Last Day

Eventually, the suitcase had to come back out.

Clothes had to go back inside.

Chargers.

Adapter.

Documents.

Whatever I'd accumulated during the trip.

Royal Lodge @ Pagoda Street was no longer going to be home.

And there was one final major place I wanted to properly experience.

Technically, I'd already been there.

It was the first place I saw when I arrived in Singapore.

But arriving with luggage and immigration on your mind isn't exactly sightseeing.

So before leaving Singapore, I had one more destination:

Jewel Changi Airport.

And then came something I had been avoiding calculating too carefully.

The money.

After six days of MRT rides, hawker food, attractions, a S$39 Luge experience, a S$58 lobster and everything else...

Did I actually keep Singapore under ₹60,000?

There were also things I'd done wrong.

Things I'd packed unnecessarily.

Things I'd underestimated.

Things I'd do completely differently next time.

And beyond the money, there was a bigger question.

What did travelling alone in another country actually teach me?

That's where the final chapter begins.

← Previous: Singapore Part 3 — Mangalore to Singapore: The Journey Finally Begins

Next → Singapore Part 5: Goodbye Singapore — What I Spent, What I Got Wrong & What Solo Travel Taught Me 🇸🇬