Explore South East Asia on a Student Budget – Lion City

Traveling to Singapore

You can take a bus to Singapore from many locations such as Kl Sentral, Pasar Seni, Bandar Tasik Selatan, Times Square and One Utama. The trip should take you about 5 hours and 30 minutes. Some people prefer to travel at night so that they can sleep on the bus and get to Singapore in the morning. Once you get there, you can go around and check out places and do some shopping before boarding the night bus heading back to KL.

Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT)

If you know how to travel in KL using the LRT, then you will know how to use the Singapore MRT. Singapore is way smaller than Kuala Lumpur. Just get hold of a map, plan your trip and off you go.

Visit Gardens by the Bay

Location on the MRT Line: Gardens by the Bay is right next to Bayfront MRT Station.

This is a man-made garden built on reclaimed land. You will get a good view of the waterfront and see a good selection of flowers, trees and plants. The highlight is the huge Super Trees! You would have to stay until night time to see these big vertical gardens that light up at sunset. All the lights are powered by solar power for all you earth lovers! You get to see the Supertree Grove, Sun Pavillion, Heritage Gardens, World of Plants as well as Dragonfly & Kingfisher Lakes for free.

Watch Free Concerts at the Esplanade

Here you can get some inspiration in the form of music and dance performances. If you are an artistic person or looking for things artistic to whet your appetite, check out the what is happening on the Bay at their website below;

https://www.esplanade.com/whats-on/date

Mustafa Centre

Location on the MRT Line: Near Farrer Park MRT Station

If you want to go shopping 24 hours, you can go to Mustafa Centre

Mustafa Centre is located near Little India MRT Station. You can explore the sights at Little India as you make your way here. It is open 24/7 and you can find many products at great prices. Sort of like Walmart. It’s really biiiiiiiig. You never know what you will find here.

With five floors to explore for household products, clothes, electronics, and so much more, plan to spend some time in this shopper’s haven.

Little India

Location on the MRT Line: Little India MRT

If you have been to Little India in Malaysia, head out to Little India in Singapore.

Little India is commonly known as Tekka in the Indian Singaporean community.

The Tekka Centre is famous for its wide selection of hawker stalls and stalls for cheap clothes. You can also find quality fabrics and materials here. Of course, no stop off at the Tekka Centre would be complete without grabbing some food. For a wide selection of food, you can head to the hawker stalls on the second floor. Here you will find Chinese, Indian, Malaysian and Singaporean hawker stalls. If you’d like some authentic thosai and teh tarik, you are guaranteed to find it here.

Universal Studios

Location on the MRT Line: Take the MRT to Vivocity and then go to Level 6 of the mall. Find the Sentosa Monorail and this will take you directly to the Universal Studios Entrance

If you are not on a student budget, you might want to add Universal Studios to your itinerary. This will cost you about RM250 for entry, but do check with the service provider for accurate information. At Universal Studios there is tonnes of Hollywood themed fun. This theme park is designed with dynamic architecture and aims to give you the buzz of America’s biggest and grandest city (New York) as you enjoy the walkways and the famous landmarks. You can also go on some exhilarating rides such as the Transformers or you can choose to be transported back to the age of the Egyptian pyramids. Explore Jurassic Park, Waterworld and travel to Madagascar and meet Shrek and Donkey.

Singapore Island is quite small. It is 41.8km long and 22.5 km wide, however there are plenty of things to see and experience. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

While you are in Malaysia, make sure you take the opportunity to visit Singapore. You could also take a flight to Singapore (about 1 hour), and it pays to compare bus prices with flight prices. You could actually get some good deals on flights!  Yes, while a day trip is possible, you might want to plan a longer trip. If you have the budget and the time, why not stay over for longer, before you head back to school.