aster

It's the most well-known street in Singapore or possibly all of Asia and is the beating heart of the city-state. It's where you can get a feel for the place the first time you are there.

For someone who hasn't been to Singapore it's the perfect place to start whilst at the same time using it as a base from which you can venture out from and explore other places like the Esplanade, the Singapore River, Chinatown, Harbourfront (incl. Sentosa).

On subsequent visits to Singapore you can move more east towards the Esplanade (Swisshotel/Raffles hotel area) or south from there towards Clarke Quay and Chinatown.

Personally my top choice to stay nowadays would be somewhere along the Singapore River. For a first visit though I would still recommend the Orchard area.

mrcoconut

Really? I thought the Shibuya crossing is (and the Glico running man symbol neon advertisement), for specific street probably Ginza in Tokyo (although I don't know what street any of those are called). Also probably Shanghai Bund (again not a street). Never heard of Orchard Street or the Raffles until I visited for the first time at 25. The only landmark I knew about was the Merlion, Marina Sands, and possibly the Trees in the Garden by the Bay? And that is all by watching Crazy Rich Asians (minus the Merlion which I knew because it is common sense the rest not so common sense).

wandering_fred

My wife prefers the Perak Hotel near the Rochor MRT station.
Should be close to your budget level and definitely cleaner than the Hotel 81 / Fragrance chains and likely somewhat more spacious.... Always important when wandering
Fred

aster

Before the age of the internet I would say Orchard would have been the best known street in Asia due to so many tourists passing by in transit.

I only heard of Shibuya and that big crossing when I was planning my trip to Japan for a couple of days, but nowadays it's in movies, etc. so it gets heaps of media attention.

mrcoconut

Weird, I just knew that Singapore is a FINE city. With a merlion that spits water from the mouth. That is it (in all seriousness). Me too. I always saw that croswalk picture but never paid attention to it never registered in my head subconsciosly but don't know it's an actual site until I thought about visiting (how absurd). And previously never knew much about it because never had the need to travel there (never heard of Ginza or the Japanese Palace not even the Tokyo Tower) just the names Tokyo Osaka Hiroshima Nagasaki (because World War 2) and Fukoshima (cuz effing nuclear plant) and Sendai (probably because the red arch in the water postcard picture) and and there are cherry flowers and hot spring. And of course Mt. Fuji. And cat island. And Hokkaido is wild and cold and like Europe. And that Okinawa existed. That was the extent of my knowledge. Weird as everyone around me visited Japan countless times and I'm like I haven't even been there once and don't know why you guys visiting an overcrowded mundane polluted country (same with Korea).

And I would have thought it would have been Beijing (Wangfujing Street) or Shanghai (The Bund/Nanking Street)because it is the epicenter of China and everyone has been there in China. Don't know how many China people will visit Singapore (a lot but not a significant proportion of the population). Meanwhile Japan/Koreans/China people have little reason to visit Singapore since it is so far away as opposed to its neighbours. And if I were to take the long "regional" flight to Singapore I might as well fly a few extra hours to USA/Can. I would say Singapore is more popular around SE Asians/India/Australia since it is their "regional" hub even though it is a major world city but then Asia has so many major FIRST WORLD cities that it makes it more or less interchangeable (Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Guangzhou)

Also do you by any chance study in W'saw (based on your profile) ?

aster

mrcoconut

I always thought the most well-known place in Singapore is Marine Bay Sands and Merlion (therefore the pier in front of the Marina Bay Sands probably the most well-known road). I can imagine visiting S'pore and not visiting Orchard (hey that's what the Changi is for and would argue it is more unique than Orchard in that it is an attraction by itself (shopping mall and waterfall) but can't imagine not visiting the Marina Bay Sands/Merlion/Garden by the Bay.

747FC

You don’t want to go to the Writer’s Bar if you are trying to get a room at $100 a night. My wife ordered a vodka martini there and it cost $45SD.

aster

All the traffic between Australia/NZ and Europe would usually go via Singapore, Hong Kong or Bangkok. Then Bangkok sort of fell out of the race, followed by Hong Kong, leaving Singapore as #1. So you'll see not just Qantas use SIN as a connection point but also British Airways and, more recently, Turkish Airlines as well (IST-SIN-MEL). Recently I even think a Finnair flight goes to SYD via SIN but I understand it might have been some kind of lease by BA. KLM also flies to Bali via SIN. Not sure if Etihad still has the BNE route operating via SIN or not, it's been a long time since I checked...

Of course a lot has changed in recent times due to QR/EK offering non-stop flights from Australia, so a lot of people have been going that route at the expense of Singapore/Bangkok/Hong Kong/etc. I never opt for those as I always prefer to fly via SIN so I don't even check for prices on QR/EK. Not interested.

As for Warsaw, I know the city quite well and nowadays I usually do a month or so there every year during the summer. You been?

When I moved to Singapore the Marine Bay Sands wasn't even built yet, so nobody heard about it. It's definitely the most recognisable building in the country nowadays, or even in all of Asia some might argue.

Good hotel for a one-off, bucked-list tick. Very spacious rooms, even the bathroom is bigger than many hotel rooms in other places. Good views, nice pool, connected via MRT and just a short stroll to the Esplanade. So the location is decent though it wouldn't be my hotel of choice because I would prefer to stay on the other side of the bay and further west along the river, ideally where the Paradox hotel is now situated.

moretimeoffguy

I just checked in to the Holiday Inn Little India. Got upgraded from a standard room to what I believe is a Premium Queen Loft. Not much more square footage than a Standard room but I appreciate the novelty of the loft concept.

This hotel fits my needs but it’s a bit dated—lots of scuff marks on the walls in different places; a bit worn. Not something that bothers me terribly, but the Holiday Inn Ao Nang in Krabi Thailand I just came from is in much better condition. Had to move rooms once due to a broken AC unit.

Love the location—not only is it *close* to the MRT, it appears to be built atop the Farrer Park MRT station—the entrance is just outside of the rear entrance of the hotel. To say the MRT is “near by” is an understatement. There’s a 7 Eleven in the same place, so quite convenient.

Thanks for recommendation. Glad to be using my IHG points.

moretimeoffguy

Can anyone recommend an affordable place for breakfast within a short walk of the Holiday Inn Little India? Breakfast wasn’t included in my rate and presumably it’s expensive at the hotel’s restaurant.

I am a 4 min walk to Mustafa Centre if that helps any.

UPDATE: the breakfast buffet is SDG $26 incl taxes so *way* too expensive. What do you Little India fans recommend for an alternative?

mrcoconut

I had breakfast at the Fairmont breakfast which was $35 after 25% discount lol. It a 5 star experience may be worth it in Western countries but hey that equals 5 laksas from Toastbox. So what's your definition of reasonable versus expensive vs way too expensive? To me probably in the $20 or $25 category (in Asia) if it's just the standard western contienntal breakfast which I can easily make at home at no cost (same cost as getting 4 standard meals from food vendors I presume? Or 3 depending on how high the inflation is currently right now)

IluvSQ

There's a couple of reasonable dim sum places on Jl Besar, near Syed Alwi.
Also a few places open for breakfast at the Berseh Hawker Centre.

Midships

Go for a Dosa or Prata in one of the Indian restaurants, try Tekka centre.

moretimeoffguy

Thanks everyone. My friend in Singapore took me to a Ya Kun Kaya Toast place this morning and wants me to try prata for breakfast tomorrow.

mrcoconut

i only got the laksa from toastbox and one of the chckn rice from the Food Republic stalls. Don't feel like I am missing out on much. any spore's willing to comment?