Day 1 - Friday
Travelling between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is very easy. It’s a short 50 minutes flight. Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia, Singapore Airline, Tiger Air and Jet Star all has direct daily flights between the two cities. For those land-lovers, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is also connected by railway and highway. I booked my return trip with Malaysia Airlines for RM438 (US$130) as I’m a member of their Enrich/One World loyalty program.
At Changi Airport’s RHB bureau de exchange, I exchanged currency and switched my SIM card to the local carrier. I purchased a SingTel Hi! Singapore prepaid card for SG$20 which comes with SG$38 call/SMS and 1GB data on a 4G network. Switching to the local carrier means that I can make use of cellular data for surfing and maps without paying ridiculous international roaming rates.
The trip from airport to city centre by taxi takes around 20 minutes. I’ve booked two nights at Ibis Hotel Bancoolen. Hotel prices in Singapore are steep compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. The alternative is to stay at the backpacker hostels. I got my room for around RM363 per night thanks to discounts from Agoda.com. The room is small and basic but it is clean and comfortable.
The rest of the day was spent meeting friends who had migrated south for better exchange rate and the ‘international’ lifestyle.
Day 2 - Saturday
The next morning we decided to go to the picturesque Arab Street with the magnificent mughal styled Sultan Mosque and charming 19th century colonial shop houses. I always enjoy seeing how traditional shops selling carpets or textiles can coexist with more modern establishments like small cafes and backpacker hostels.
Breakfast was late and pleasant at Working Title. I ordered a bowl of Greek yogurt mixed with muesli and fruits, with black coffee. The service was slow as the cashier also prepares the drinks and food. The restaurant makes up for it with its surprising little details. There’s a small bookshelves with a jar that sells classic literature for SG$5. Picked myself a copy for Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
By noon it was time to head to Gardens by the Bay for St Jerome’s Laneway Festival. Many friends I’ve spoken with shied away from this year’s festival because they have not heard of most of the bands.
It was a beautiful day for a music festival with blue skies and friendly breeze. The venue and crowds were as good as it gets. I read somewhere that there must’ve been 10,000 people at the festival. I could not appreciate all the performances – especially during the day – but I thoroughly enjoyed the synthpop band, Chvrches. I’ve now downloaded their album The Bones of What You Believe (2013) from iTunes.
Post festival it was time for some wee hour street food near the hotel.
Day 3 - Sunday
Sunday morning was spent at Tiong Bahru, a dainty neighbourhood lined with beautiful white and grey art deco buildings. I had learned about the neighbourhood after the independent bookshop, Books Actually had moved there from Ann Siang Hill. We decided to have breakfast at Plain Vanilla, seeing that the place was jam-packed – that’s always a good sign. I ordered eggs Benedict and long black coffee, which came served on a vintage metal plates and cups.
After breakfast it was a short crossover to Books Actually where I picked up The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking by Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler and some postcards.
It was a nice trip. By the time it was over, I was dreading the thought of going back to office the next day.
