john luke Posted August 16, 2022 Posted August 16, 2022 Stayed Orchard Hotel at the top of Orchard Road. Large Hotel and within 5 minutes walk of the nearest MRT Station. Had dinner in China Town. On to Clark Quay area. Bought a new car. On to the Botanical Gardens on MRT China Town Marina Bay Singapore Eye closed for maintenance Sands Marina Bay Mall Merlion Onto Sentosa Island - A great deal of maintenance going on. Many parts closed. Last few taken from small train window on return to mainland. Last few evening time Marina Bay. 3
tommy dee Posted August 16, 2022 Posted August 16, 2022 loks amazing and great pics. i see nice hotel no balcony, wonder if thats std there as in BKK
john luke Posted August 16, 2022 Author Posted August 16, 2022 3286BAE2-0962-460A-AA61-1D4EB3C0E8A8_2_0_a.mov 1F4F77E0-32A2-4EBC-BFEE-5D98AAF3B151_2_0_a.mov
john luke Posted August 16, 2022 Author Posted August 16, 2022 Ferry Port on the south of the Island. Very un Singaporean. Around Raffles Hotel. Clark Quay Final few from Sands Marina Bay Mall. 1
john luke Posted August 16, 2022 Author Posted August 16, 2022 Singapore MRT system. The Long Bar in Raffles for a Singapore Sling. An empty MRT train - a rare occurrence Food during the trip - hotel buffet breakfast and various other places. 3
john luke Posted August 16, 2022 Author Posted August 16, 2022 4 hours ago, tommy dee said: loks amazing and great pics. i see nice hotel no balcony, wonder if thats std there as in BKK Many thanks. I would say the position generally as far as hotels in Singapore, the rooms are generally small, unless one moves into the executive suites and similar. As far as balconies I think the best way to think is that most of Singapore is City which traffic. The hotels on the City Streets generally do not have balconies; the ones around the more rural settings such as Sentosa Island are more likely to have balconies.
john luke Posted August 16, 2022 Author Posted August 16, 2022 A few observations from the trip. Singapore is generally more expensive that Thailand. No surprise and not new. We flew on Singapore Airlines, economy one way and business on the other. I do prefer the service on Singapore air to that on the low cost airlines; since I carry a fair amount of Camera equipment I am always mindful of having both check in luggage and carry on luggage. The big mistake I made was not purchasing a Singapore SIM card and looking back I do not know why I did not. I have heard it said many time that it is not necessary to have a local SIM card, because there is WIFI everywhere. Whilst that is true, there is no WIFI generally out in the open and Apple Maps and Siri both require an internet connection to function fully. It was frustrating to know that we were near a location but I did not have a clue whether it was to the left or right. Incidentally the vast majority of people in Singapore spoke English so no real problem getting directions. I know Singapore reasonably well and using the MRT was great. It was not necessary to get a taxi at all and during this trip we did not do any of the organised tours. Singapore is not as fully open post Covid as other places. There is a lot of building development and refurbishment still ongoing and particularly noticeable on Sentosa that a lot of places are not open or in the process of refurbishment. Many of the organised tours were only running one day per week; pre covid they were daily. Singapore MRT do a three day unlimited pass for 30 Singapore $; 10$ of which is refundable when you hand in the plastic card at the end of your trip. Card is renewable for 20$ for three days. It is important to buy this at the MRT ticket office. In the airport they sell a similar product but $38 dollars for three days and no refund when the card it handed in. Humidity seems higher in Singapore than Thailand. My lenses immediately on going out steamed up with condensation on the external surfaces; it was just a case of wait for the condensation to evaporate. (My cameras and lenses are weather sealed. Changi is a massive airport and took us a few minutes to work out how to get from the MRT station to departures. Check out in hotels seems to be getting earlier. It was 1100 hours. Covid and room cleaning is blamed for this, however it does not seem that long ago since check out was between noon and 1400. Food Courts in the shopping malls were very good and cheap. Menu tended to be cross Asia rather than International. Typical meal with soup and main course plus item of fruit around or less than $9 Singapore. A lot of the food is preprepared and kept warm; I avoid these and go for food that is cooked to order. 3 2
boydeste Posted August 16, 2022 Posted August 16, 2022 Thanks for the TR John, also nice to see the videos.
Lemondropkid Posted August 16, 2022 Posted August 16, 2022 10 hours ago, john luke said: Food Courts in the shopping malls were very good and cheap. Menu tended to be cross Asia rather than International. Typical meal with soup and main course plus item of fruit around or less than $9 Singapore. A lot of the food is preprepared and kept warm; I avoid these and go for food that is cooked to order Are you also referring to the Hawker Centres? Some can be in and outdoors, love them. Food in Singapore is amazing, it's strongest suit for me.
Pumpuynarak Posted August 17, 2022 Posted August 17, 2022 Thanks for the TR John, i've never been to Singers but have often thought about doing it, i just don't tend to get on too well in major cities finding my way around, i'm a true country bumkin lol Hotel room looks great but i would miss a balcony hence i never book a room without one. I have a good friend who lives and works in Singers so a visit would be easy to do. 1
Yessongs Posted September 10, 2022 Posted September 10, 2022 @john lukeLittle late to the party here John, really nice pics and TR. Been to Singapore once in 2001 on a business trip. Having been to Thailand for the first time in 1999, I did not think it was humanly possible for anywhere on the planet to have more humidity...............until I got to Singapore. Glad to see according to your narrative, nothing has changed. Great pics again... 1 1
RedDragon64 Posted September 10, 2022 Posted September 10, 2022 Great pics! Brings back a lot of memories. Singapore is great for walking around in if you can handle the heat and humidity. It's amazing how fast the place changes too. You get familiar with an area then go back there 2 years later and it is completely different. More to explore I guess. 1
john luke Posted September 11, 2022 Author Posted September 11, 2022 On 9/10/2022 at 7:53 AM, Yessongs said: @john lukeLittle late to the party here John, really nice pics and TR. Been to Singapore once in 2001 on a business trip. Having been to Thailand for the first time in 1999, I did not think it was humanly possible for anywhere on the planet to have more humidity...............until I got to Singapore. Glad to see according to your narrative, nothing has changed. Great pics again... On a few occasions, having left the air conditioned hotel room and ventured outside, I did have an issue with condensation forming on the front of my UV protective lens filter. Fortunately everything on the camera and lenses are weather sealed so after a couple of minutes it all cleared. Rarely but occasionally happens in Thailand but not the same frequency as Singapore. 1
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