Singapore - A Land of Man-Made Wonders

Singapore is a wonderful holiday destination for the entire family, with the focus being on the kids. For such a small country (4716 times smaller than India), it has a lot to offer. In fact, Singapore is among the Top 5 tourist destinations in the world and got over 10 million visitors in 2015. In comparison, India, with all it's history, culture, architecture, mountains, beaches, etc managed to attract only 8 million the same year.

And amazingly, most of the attractions have literally been created from what was once a swamp, by sheer human ingenuity and engineering. Even the nature reserves have probably been meticulously designed to give it a 'natural look'.😇

We recently went to Singapore for a week long holiday. In the next few posts, I will give you my planned itinerary, the problems and what we actually managed to do and, finally, a better itinerary incorporating the lessons we learn't. I desist from calling the final proposal an ideal itinerary because I am learning with every new trip that 'No itinerary survives contact with the first day of the holiday'. 

At the end of every holiday, I spend a few days agonizing over the mistakes, lost opportunities and how we could have done it better. That is followed by the blame-game - didn't plan enough, the weather didn't cooperate, didn't anticipate travel time, etc. But finally, in life, I hope to reach the stage where I remember both the good and not so good parts of the holiday as an experience to cherish. A holiday is a journey, and not a destination with a tag of success or failure.

Duration.     How many days is good enough to see Singapore? The answer, as always, is subjective. But suffice to say that there is enough to keep you and your family occupied even on a month long trip. Unfortunately, we tend to club Singapore with a trip to Malaysia and Indonesia. This leaves only a few days in Singapore, which I think is grossly insufficient. The logic of going to Malaysia, at least for Indians, has always been that we should see it since we have gone all that far. However, this is no longer a valid argument as the cost of an air ticket from India to Malaysia/Singapore is comparable to the cost of going from Singapore to Malaysia. The Visa charges remain the same. So there really isn't any great saving by going to both in the same trip. Each place deserves your undivided attention.

Planning.     Our methodology for booking Hotel rooms and air tickets remained the same as that in our trip to Europe. The details can be found here.

Visa.    You can apply for a visa only 15 days in advance. For getting a visa, the hassle-free method is to download the list of authorized agents provided at the  Singapore High Commission website. Select the agent closest to your place from it. The visa application, Form 14A, can be downloaded from the same site. There are some specific requirements for the passport size photos which is also available on the website. However, most agents have a photographer available nearby providing the necessary services. It took just 2 days to get the Visa.

Planned Itinerary

After considerable deliberation, we decided to go for a 6 day trip. All our planning indicated that it may be too less. Our earlier experience of a minute-to-minute plan going awry had persuaded us about the importance of free time in any travel arrangement. However, the constant litany from others, who had been to Singapore, saying that the duration was too long, dissuaded us from increasing it further. The final itinerary when we left Indian shores was as follows -

Tue Oct 11, 2016	0730	Reach Singapore
	Forenoon	Singapore Zoo,
	Afternoon	River Safari
	Night	Orchard
Wed Oct 12, 2016	Full Day	Sentosa Island
	Late Evening/ Night	Little India
Thu Oct 13, 2016	Full Day	Universal Studios
	Late Evening/ Night	China Town
Fri Oct 14, 2016	Forenoon	Asian Civilisations Museum
	Afternoon	Gardens by the Bay
	Night	River Cruise
Sat Oct 15, 2016	Forenoon	Jurong Bird Park
	Afternoon	Botanic Garden
	Night	Night Safari
Sun Oct 16, 2016	Forenoon	ArtScience Museum
	Afternoon	Chinese and Japanese Gardens
	Night	Lau Pa Sat
Mon Oct 17, 2016	Morning	Singapore Flyer
	Forenoon	Peranakan Museum
	Afternoon	Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
	Evening	Chinatown Heritage Centre
Tue Oct 18, 2016	Early Morning	Return Flight

💥💥💥

It did not even survive the first few hours in Singapore. 

😄😄😄