Do you remember dream sequences shown in movies? An open field filled with flowers…A woman in a flowing dress walking among them with her features shadowed by the bright sun….a profile running through the flowers with joy and sheer abandon. That feeling of freedom and utter happiness….Some dreams are like that. Hold that kind of image in your head. You have this feeling of want and un-fulfillment till you realize them. Some have this air of un-reachability to them. But hey as the saying goes….you should always dream big. Travel has been my biggest dream especially travelling the world. 

 

     In 2012 I had to renew my passport as it had expired. Poor thing! Went through life without getting a single stamp on it 🙁 You cant even begin to imagine how badly I wanted that stamp! All of my family members have been abroad one time or the other. For some odd reason my plans would never pan out. The only place I have been outside our country is Nepal. But that does not really count coz my grandma hails from there so it is pretty much home base for us. We used to go very often before the plane hijack back in the 90’s. In fact we would have been on that fateful flight if something had not cropped up thus preventing us from going then. 

Our hotel. We got breakfast buffet and free mini bar.

 

    But this year started with a promise of change. This is a year of many firsts and breaking of jinxs for me (touch wood)….I can feel it me bones dearies 😀 So I decided to chance a quick trip! I really wanted to visit Singapore. The presence of a Sephora and Etude were deciding factors plus the best part was that is supposed to be super safe. For lone women travelers those are the most comforting words. We put in the process in a very short time and by the grace of god got our visa in the nth moment! Word to the wise for newbie travelers – give yourself ample time to get the visa before the trip as your travel agent just might leave you hanging in the balance as ours nearly did. Plus you cant get forex (foreign currency) until you show them your visa and some currencies are not easily available all the time and have to be ordered for in advance. You can even get a forex card from your bank if you are not keen on carrying cash. 

Little India

 

     I came across the funniest thing while trying to book a hotel in Singapore. Apparently they are quite expensive out there. And it turns out that windows in a room are a luxury!?! If you are not staying in something that is costing you 9k and up then there is no guaranty that you will have a window in your room. I saw many hotels that had a windowless basic room, the next upgrade would get you curtains on a wall and no windows or window and no curtain and the highest room upgrade would get you both. Stumped and wonder if I’m joking 😀 Seriously I know how you feel. Well we managed to get ourselves a room with huge curtains minus the windows. Lol!

Huge curtains in our room minus windows. And on the right the bathroom “window” just next to the bed

 

     Oh and another attribute that a lot of these same class hotels shared was a glass wall dividing the room and the bathroom. Without shower curtains!!! Boggles the mind doesn’t it. Luckily for us we had picked up a newspaper from the plane and had some tape on us to rectify this issue. So after much search and deliberation we picked one that seemed decent enough and booked it through a site called Booking.com. They helped us in getting some discount on the overall rates.

Our first meal there 🙂 Veg. biryani and pineapple juice. Quite tasty and very generous proportions which the two of shared.

     My sister created an itenary for the trip. She did her research and found out every minute detail – from the entry rates of the different places, to the best mode of transportation to reach the place, to the expected amount we will be paying for the trip to even the bus nos. 😀 Moral of the story – Google is your friend! When you are travelling alone then information is the best weapon you can arm yourself with. Here are some points that I felt you might find useful:

• For some reason Visa is not widely accepted there. Cabs and 7eleven don’t accept them at all. And places like Universal studio stores give you additional discount if you use a Mastercard. So plan accordingly. Either arm yourself with enough cash in hand or opt for a Mastercard forex/credit card. 

• You can find good deals and discounts on Groupon. Whether it is entry for some place or for your meal. 

• You can get a card called ETZ from the MTR (metro) stations. These are used for travelling in the metro but give you entry into Sentosa through the broadwalk and even can be used in buses/cabs. There is a passenger service counter on the station and the stations are huge in size so you will need to search for one. 

• There are maps for everywhere….even the airport 😀 Yes it is that big! So arm yourself with a city map and a MTR map for sure. And if you are going to shop at the airport (highly recommended) then get yourself one of that too.

• Whenever you run a bill of over 100 SGD ask for the GTR receipt. This is a tax refund receipt. You can get the refund from the airport and there are special areas for it. So don’t forget to ask for them. Coz you wont get the refund without them. You can get yourself cash this way to splurge on the airport 😀 win-win!

• Eat your meal as and when you get them! Sounds silly but it is very true. Don’t wait to reach a particular area or go back to your hotel. Our hotel didn’t have a restaurant. We were located in Little India where all the places shut down by 10:30 pm. The few places who say that they remain open till late run out of food and you might not find anything. So if you are roaming somewhere then plan to take your meal there. Vegetarian food is no problem at all. 

• Take good walking shoes with you. Don’t go all fancy with slippers or ballets. Good shoes which will keep your feet comfortable walking for hours. Trust me your feet will thank you for it! 

Quaint buildings all over Little India. But what beautiful designs and attention to detail some of them had

     Wow that was a huge post! I wanted to keep it light and fluffy in the beginning for you but as I kept on writing it struck me that there are no guides especially for women travelers that give out one’s experience in such detail. Well I hope my post will help you out in some manner and thereby giving you some confidence and info for travelling by yourself to Singapore. Honestly it is the best place. You don’t have to be worried or looking over your shoulder. I will add in more posts as I’m making it  series and will tell you in detail about the places we visited. Do let me know what you think and if you find this format useful or if you would like me to keep things brief and lighter. See ya soon!