๐ Hidden gems remaining: 10
Singapore is a teeny-tiny country. Being 30 times smaller than Slovenia, you can imagine Carniolians walking it kreutz und quer. Fun fact: its size changes with time. The last measurement was done in December 2024. Though they didn't specify whether it was during the tide or not.
The Chinese named it "the south-most part of Asia", then some other peoples named it "the lion land", literally translated as Singapurr. Singapore features a highly-developed public transit system called SMRT with an unfortunate name for Slovenian speakers. To avoid finding confusing tickets, you can simply tap your MasterCard/Visa card, and on you go. They call it "bank card โ simply go". Toilets are freely available all around the country, competing for being the cleanest, and so is drinkable water.
The city is very car-oriented: red pedestrian lights are endlessly long and they are not in sync (meaning you have to wait at every crossroad, and there are many!). They implement the go-look-stop mentality. I didn't see any traffic jams, however. Many empty lanes.
Although the big city centre is chaotic, you can enjoy and relax in the nature reserves.
Singapore is very multi-clutural, hence you will find various churches, temples, mosques ... Walk around and visit them. They will always lend you a longer piece of clothing should you need one.
One of the many.
Bugis street.
You don't need to come all the way to Ljubljana to see the Metelkova. According to the host, the Bugis street is a 1-to-1 representation of the Slovenian subcultural place. Enjoy the grafitti and spiral staircases while sipping your smoothie from the nearby market.
Grocery shops, at least the ones open in the evening, don't really sell food, let alone fresh fruits. To avoid late-night cravings of your favourite fruit, think in advance and buy it while you can! Here, you can also taste the durian, but be aware it is forbidden in almost all closed public places.
Fruits of all types with crisp huge grapes.
No, Little Indian is not just an encoding for your computer files, it is also a district in the northern part of the Singapore city centre. Here, you'll immediately feel the Indian vibes, only with less chaos.
While there, stop for some Aloo Ghobi Adraki or another favourite Indian food of choice. But still, you'll need to go to actual India to get the most pristine food.
Little India.
The main temple.
South of the Singapore, there is a wonderful island. Sentosa was built artificially to provide some more roomspace for endless activities. ๐ถ You want to drive a cable-car, they can help you with this! ๐ถ But seriously, they have theme parks, zip-lines, downhill mario carts, and many more.
Even though its main attraction is the vast endlessness of budgy resorts, short-term visitors also benefit from the beaches and hiking trails. By the way, the whole Sentosa island is covered with free high-speed Wi-Fi!
Yes, I'm standing in the middle of the water
Isn't it an identical copy of Ljubljana's Aleja Sky?
Use the Sentosa Express monorail to fly to the adventurous island!
Once you disembark the monorail, follow the clearly marked walking path along the beaches. Every now and then, you will find a toilet, a water dispenser, a cute path in the park, but most importantly, the beach.
Two important things to note: if you just walk, you will reach the next sign in half of the time marked on the sign, as expected from a used-to-hiking Carniolian. However, save your legs some steps and sit onto the Beach Shuttle Tram, as they call it (it's actually like Tomica at Croatian seasides or the tractor-train around the lake Bled). It is free and runs on 15-miinute intervals.
At the western tip-top of the beach hike.
If you exit the monorail one stop early, you will find your way into the Imbiah Trail. Otherwise, just go here on your way back, as I did. This one follows the natural jungle forest. It was a happy trail. Far away from the city chaos, you will feel the peace. Discover plant and animal species along the path. Reach the waterfalls. Do you think waterfalls are natural in a natural forest on an artificial island?
At some point, you will be able to enclimb (is that a word?) the treehouse bridge spanning above the forest.
Two roads diverged in the jungle wood
You thought you'd reach it by going south? Rethink your decisions. The so-called southernmost point has nothing to do with geography. It is just a tourist attraction around the middle of the coastline. Cross the bridge, take pictures, climb the towers, don't climb the 90-degree palm.
If you are a geographer and actually want to go south, do it. You will reach a few beaches souther than this. However, the endpoint won't be accessible as it is private property.
I did it!
View from the top.
Perfect angle!
Every evening, quarter to eight (nine? ten? check for up-to-date schedules, as you want darkness), visitors from all around the world gather at the The Tree in anticipation of a renowed light show. The trees are covered in lights and shined upon by reflectors. The light dances and changes colours in accordance with carefully chosen music.
You will find something for every good music taste (from classical to pop), and the show changes every month.
It is just a bigger version of christmas Jelka at the FMF.
Singapore is the new Sweden. Part of Malaysia in the past, now part of Scandinavia. At least that's the feeling I got when visiting natural parks. Nature is for everyone, available for free, with good public transport access, free toilets and drinking water available. They even have grass on the roof for insulation!
You will immmediately feel welcome here. Peace, just the sounds of flowing water and animals. The most representative sound of all tropical forests is probably the cicadas. They do differ here from the Thai ones, though. Here, they produce two musical tones: C2 and three quartertones lower than C.
Endless trees, shrubs and palms will give you shade and informative signs will inform you about the life around you. But beware of monkeys! They realised people wrap everything (food) in plastic. As soon as they hear the tiniest rustle of plastic bags, they will emrege from nowhere and steal it from you, before you even finish taking it out! Thus, make sure you do not enter the natural park hungry.
To make it easier for you to find the entrance, start here (metro brown line brings you quite close).
I'm a frog now
Pretending to be picking berries when actually peeking towards the tourists' snacks
The TreeTopTrailTrek
You will be hungry when you finish in the trail. Funnily enough, the best food is the closest to you: head towards the 305 Family Restaurant (just around the corner of the MRT station). They serve one food, and they serve it well. For you no speak the language, just say: "I would like to eat". They will adjust the portion size to fit your needs! You will still eat it all, thanks to it being so tasty. Value for money: best.
It works some sort like a buffett, only that the lady will scoop the food parts for you. Just say "more" or "enough". Or just "yes".
Bee Hoon. The plate was big. They nailed the portion.