Singapore – The city of fun

Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt and his wife Sheree (who you might know from The Great Australian Doorstep TV show) run fully escorted motorhome convoy tours in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and Alaska. Sometimes, however, they leave the motorhome at, um, home! Here, Spida takes us to Singapore.

With Singapore being one of the most diverse and exciting cities, we had no option but to pop on over and check it out for ourselves.

Upon arrival, and not too sure what to expect would greet us, we were very pleasantly surprised at how nice, clean and western the city is, and how super-welcoming the people are! Everyone has a smile on their face and you are instantly hit with the sense of how safe this city is.

We stayed on Orchard Road, the world’s most famous shopping district. It features shopping malls and boutiques, technology centres and, of course, the most diverse range of food you could ever imagine. From Little India to Chinatown to the street vendors and the five-star hotels, there is a menu to suit absolutely every taste. If it’s bargain and market shopping you’re after, the markets in Chinatown and also the Bugis Street Market are sensational.

One of the most important aspects of being a tourist is public transport. My number-one recommendation would be to do the open-top, double-decker bus around the city. It’s a hop-on, hop-off scenario and for as little as $18 you can travel all day long, seeing all the main attractions as well as getting a great view in between each stop. It’s also a great way to get your bearings. The MRT and LRT rail systems are also fantastic, with train stops in all major areas. They are super-clean, super-quick and super-easy to use. Taxis, like in most Asian cities, are very economical and also very plentiful, so therefore easy to get. Or you might just like to take your time and enjoy the ride on a trishaw.

Singapore also offers many free activities, including visits to the Botanical Gardens and City Gallery. The National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore Philatelic Museum and Peranakan Museum are also free to enter on a Friday night from 6-9pm. The waterfront esplanade is an attraction in itself, and you’re free to roam and explore at your leisure.

One of the most imposing and stunning icons of Singapore is the Singapore Flyer, the huge ferris wheel which will give you views over the entire city, and also the amazing boat-shaped rooftop area of the Marina Bay Sands resort. 

Singapore is a city that will keep you on your toes, as well as allowing you to relax and rejuvenate, thanks to an enormous range of places offering massages and spa treatments, facials and beauty treatments, and some of the world’s best non-invasive and non-surgical plastic surgery. Not that I was game to try any!

Day three saw us venture out to explore Sentosa Island. There are many ways to get to the island, including a taxi on the causeway, a short boat trip, the LRT rail. Or, like us, you can take the Singapore Cable Car, which has for many years been voted one of the top 10 Singapore landmarks. Head up to Mt Faber to jump aboard and enjoy the scenic bird’s-eye trip across to Sentosa. Each cable car seats up to eight people and has 360-degree views. Upon arrival at Sentosa Island we jumped aboard the free shuttle bus which took us to the S.E.A. Aquarium. It’s an aquarium like no other. The walk through – featuring 49 ocean areas, vast glass tanks and more than 100,000 marine animals from more than 800 species – will take you at least an hour, and that is rushing it. Remember your camera! It’s a place where you can sit and be mesmerised for hours on end at these magical creatures. 

From there you can then go on to explore Universal Studios Singapore, Adventure Cove Waterpark, Dolphin Island, Mega  Adventure Park, Tiger Sky Tower, Skyline Luge or the Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom, do a Segway tour, and see the famous Merlion, to name just a few of the things that this magnificent island has to offer.

On our final day, we decided to take in the brilliant Gardens by the Bay. Featuring the best horticultural, sustainability and architectural designs you will ever see, they include the Flower Dome (which replicates the cool and dry Mediterranean climate, with nine different gardens from five continents), the Cloud Forest (which is full of orchids, pitcher plants and ferns from the Tropical Montane region, and features one of the world’s tallest indoor waterfalls) and of course the Supertrees (where you can travel between the vertical Supertrees on OCBC Skyway – a walkway suspended 22 metres above ground). The Supertrees come alive every night with a free light and sound show between 7.45 and 8.45pm.

From Singapore it’s only a quick hop, step and a jump over to Malaysia, where you can enjoy Johor Bahru in a single day – so if you’re travelling with your grandchildren, you can take them to Legoland Malaysia! 

We enjoyed so many different experiences that one just has to go back to enjoy it all again.

The Great Australian Doorstep is on Channel 7Two on Saturday afternoons, or tune in to the radio show every weekend across the TripleM and FlowFM networks – 68 stations, Australia-wide.