PUBLISHED ONAugust 14, 2023 9:52 AMByMelissa Teo Singapore is known to be an expensive destination and some travellers may find this daunting.
But is it possible to explore our little red dot on a budget? Full-time travellers Nicole and Mico try to find out during their recent trip here and documented the experience in a YouTube video posted last Saturday (Aug 12).
"Unfortunately for us budget travellers, Singapore is often regarded as one of the most expensive cities in the world," Mico pointed out at the start of the 20-minute vlog.
The Canadians, who have spent the last two years on the road, gave themselves each a budget of US$100 (S$135).
They factored their hostel cost into this as well, which added up to $22 per pax.
One perk is that it included breakfast so they didn't have to worry about forking out money for that.
Their first stop for the day was Kampong Glam, where they wandered around Haji Lane and Arab Street.
There, they got their caffeine fix at a cafe that prints your selfies onto the whipped cream on top of your cuppas.
"That is so cool, we have to drink our faces now," said an amused Nicole.
A cup of coffee was $6 and the couple split this amount, so it was $3 from each of their budget.
Next up was lunch at Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant, where they ordered chicken biryani and murtabak for $10, so it was $5 per pax.
And this, they noted, was absolutely delicious.
"Oh my god, that is heaven. It's so rich. It is spicy, but it is like a good spicy," a pleased Nicole said after having her first bite of some chicken biryani.
In fact, the pair enjoyed the food so much that they didn't know which dish they preferred more.
"I'm going to have a hard time choosing between these two," confessed Mico.
After a satisfying lunch, the couple took the train to their next destination — Bayfront MRT station.
"The city is incredibly well connected using this MRT [network]. It's pretty simple to navigate in terms of big cities," praised Mico.
However, they ran into some complications because Nicole forgot to bring her EZ-link card.
The pair tried to share one EZ-link card but the system rejected them.
And as they were on a budget, they didn't want to fork out more money for a brand new EZ-link card.
They also did not want to buy a ticket because they read online that this was a less cost-effective option.
Eventually, they were advised to just tap their credit card like an EZ-link card.
"We don't know how much it charged us, but it's going to be less than the $10 that it was going to cost us to buy a new card," pointed out Nicole.
When they tapped out of the station, they were charged $0.75 on the EZ-link card but were still not sure how much was deducted from the credit card.
"Hopefully I'm only paying a dollar [with my credit card]," said Mico.
When they got off at Bayfront station and walked into the The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, they were immediately blown away by the canal running through the mall.
"It is Venice? Or is it Singapore?" remarked a fascinated Nicole.
But they weren't there for the canal — they were there for the SkyPark Observation Deck, which is located right at the top of Marina Bay Sands.
Tickets per pax cost $17 and they had purchased these online beforehand.
"My ears are popping," Mico said as they took the lift all the way up to the 56th level of the building.
Once they were at the top, they were greeted by a majestic view of Singapore.
"This city is humongous!" exclaimed Nicole while she and Mico pointed out different landmarks like the ArtScience Museum and Helix Bridge.
Since they were in the area, it made sense for them to check out Gardens by the Bay too.
While there, they decided to grab another cup of coffee from Starbucks, which cost them $6 each.
"Starbucks is definitely what we need because this is a big day and I think we still have got a couple of things ahead of us," rationalised Mico.
After their caffeine fix, they bought tickets to visit the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. This was $39 per pax.
"We read online that this is one of the top [things] to do here, so we spent the rest of the day's budget on the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome," explained Nicole.
She also added that she hoped the attractions lived up to all the hype because she found the ticket prices pretty steep.
Upon first impression, the couple found the Cloud Forest beautiful.
But it was too soon for them to decide if it was worth the price.
"It's really nice but I definitely need to see more to feel like I'm getting [my] $39 worth," Nicole remarked.
Mico theorised that tickets were so expensive because of all the plants.
"It's like a little zoo for plants," he said with a laugh.
Next up was the Flower Dome.
"So we might not be able to appreciate all the different kinds of flowers and plants that are here because they're starting to all look the same to us, but this is a very peaceful place," Nicole admitted.
And their conclusion for both the attractions?
"Unpopular opinion you guys, Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome are not worth [it]," said Nicole.
"Honestly, this is a waste of your time and money."
"While we tried to take as much time as we can to make it worth it, we still [finished both attractions] in two hours for both of the places," Mico added.
Their final destination on the itinerary was the Supertree Grove light show, but before doing so, they grabbed dinner at McDonald's, where they spent $6.50 each.
"It's the cheapest and closest thing to us here at Gardens by the Bay," Mico confessed.
But while it didn't hurt their wallets, Nicole admitted that she was "embarrassed" that they were eating McDonald's.
Finally, they made their way to the iconic Supertree Grove.
"Whenever you Google Singapore you'll always see these huge trees and it's so cool to actually be here for the very first time," Mico said, adding that they lived up to the hype and are "wonders of architecture".
It got even better when the show started and the couple stared up in awe at the towering structures twinkling against the night sky.
In fact, Nicole was so blown away by the Supertree Grove that she felt that this place was too good to be free.
"I can't believe this is free, and we paid $39 for the [Cloud Forest and Flower Dome]," she said.
After the spectacular show, the couple tabulated how much they spent and happily shared that they kept within the budget.
"That was so good, I think for under $100, we had a pretty wicked day," Nicole said cheerily.
"Singapore is the most expensive city in the world, so we were totally shocked by how much we could do for $100 each in Singapore!" they couple added in the video's description.
In the comments, one netizen pointed out that the media has distorted the idea of Singapore being the most expensive city in the world.
Another netizen, who is a local, admitted that they too feel that Cloud Forest and Flower Dome are not worth the splurge.
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melissateo@asiaone.com