kolstad (11/23/82)
#N:uiucdcs:13400003:000:7258 uiucdcs!kolstad Nov 23 15:40:00 1982 One of our professors here, C. L. "Dave" Liu wrote the following for one of his traveling friends. I asked him if we could share it with the network. Here it is: ======= .ps 12 .ll 6.5i .pl 11.0i .po 1i .nh .ls 1 .he ''%'' .ce GUIDE TO SINGAPORE .sp 2 MONEY MATTERS: US dollar worths 2.15-2.18 Singapore dollars. For the rest of this guide, all dollars will be US dollars. As usual, hotels offer poor exchange rates. However, authorized money changers, of which there are plenty in shopping centers, offer very competitive rates. Banking hours are 10-3 with a couple of hours on Saturdays. Of course, Amer Exp and VISA are accepted almost everywhere. In many cases, stores and even taxi drivers will accept U.S. currency. .sp HOTELS: First class hotels are among the best in the world with world class prices to match. ($100-$150 for a double). I have no first hand experience in looking for a good but reasonably priced one. I suggest that you look into a package deal. Besides Hilton, Sheraton, Hyatt, and Holiday Inn, the several outstanding ones are Dynasty, Marco Polo, Shangri-la, and Mandarin. You should be able to find good but less than top priced hotels with the aid of your travel agent. .sp FOOD: For a truly elegant meal my first choice is the Golden Peacock in Hotel Shangri-la. I had a meal there for $40 a person without holding the line except ordering the less expensive wines. (A bottle of California wine as well as a bottle of European wine, such as Blue Nun, costs $10.) A close second choice is the main dining room in Hotel Marco Polo. Prices are more or less the same. If you miss the fast food back home, there are McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut. You must try Chinese Dim Sum once. I recommend that you go to the top floor of Lucky Plaza (on Orchard road, one of the central points of tourist hotels and shopping centers.) The name of the restaurant, as I can remember, is Eastern Palace. At noon you can have lunch there by ordering up to 20-30 different Dim Sums. It costs 70 cents a dish. You can have a light lunch for $5 -8 a person. Mayflowers on Orchard Road in another choice. Hotel Shangri-la has a Chinese dining room called Shang Palace. They also serve Dim Sum at lunch time. Slightly more elegant, less varieties, but no more expensive. Another place for Dim Sum is the Neptune 'Theater'. It is near the piers. The taxi driver will know how to get there. For regular Chinese meals, most 'first class' restaurants will cost around $10 person. You can simply order dishes from the Chinese-English menu the same way you do in New York. All first class hotels have a Chinese Restaurant. I found them adequate, neither inexpensive ($10-15 a person), nor outstanding. Most restaurants include a 10% tip in the bill. There are a number hawker centers in the city. The one in Newton Circus is a bit touristy, i.e., prices are slightly higher. However, it is within walking distance from the Orchard Road area. You might want to order one or two dozens of 'satay' beef, chicken, pork, mutton for $2 a dozen. It is one of the most popular Malay food items. You can order Chinese style noodles or soups, crabs and fish (not inexpensive, $5 for a crab, for example). There are also fruit stands. You buy from different stalls. Either they will deliver to your table or you just wait there to pick up. Another hawker center I know of is the one near Elizabeth Walk. You probably will go to that area to look at government buildings and the ocean anyway. They have hot pots you might want to try. A dish of meat, vegetables, or shrimps will cost $3-4. Three of us usually consumed 3 to 5 dishes. In Supreme House there is a Japanese restaurant that serves bar-b-q meat at lunch for $5 a person. You may eat as much as you want. One of our favorite restaurants is in People's Park shopping center, called Monte. If you go there, order roast piglet ($8), roast pork or duck Cantonese style, fresh shrimps or fish ($10-$15). If you go to Tiger Balm Garden to see the sights, there are two restaurants across the street, Paradise and 88. Paradise has seafood. At night, you can sit outside. The view of the ocean and the lights of the ships are very beautiful. Singapore is really a paradise for eating. I have not even written down 1% of the places there are. .sp TRANSPORTATION: Taxis are quite inexpensive. It starts with 60 cents. For most of the places you want to go, it will cost no more than 2 or 3 dollars. For 4 people, it is actually cheaper than bus. Some times it is difficult to get a taxi. Go to a taxi stand or the front door of a big hotel. From the airport, taxi charges a $1.5 surcharge. Altogether, it is around $8. Tips are not expected, although we left the driver with some small change most of the time. In several occasions, the taxi drivers politely but firmly refused our tips, because they did not think it was necessary for us to tip. Bus service is very good. Depending on the distance, a bus ride costs between 20 cents to 40 cents. You can get a small book on bus routes in a book store. .sp NEWSPAPERS: The major English newspaper is the Strait Times. I enjoyed reading it. There are also several Chinese newspapers. Of course, you can get Wall Street Journal (Asia edition), International Tribune, and magazines such as Time and Newsweek. You pay for them, though. (A copy of Time magazine is $2.) .sp SHOPPING: Singapore is a free port. Prices for cameras, electronic equipment, watches are very attractive. However, you need to bargain in most of the cases. It is an interesting but frustrating game, since one player has complete information while the other (that is you and I) has practically none. My advice is that you should have some idea on the corresponding prices in the U.S. before you enter the game. The asking price could be as high as 300% or more of the actual sales price. Also, I found that for cameras and electronics, discount stores in New York offer comparable prices. Lucky Plaza is for the tourists, good selections but higher prices. If you want to look for a tailor, go to Tanglin shopping center. You still need to bargain. To save all the troubles, go to Tang's or Mohan. Both of these are department stores. You pay a few dollars more. But it is reliable. I pay $15-20 for a tailor made shirt (cotton), $25-45 for a pair of pants. I was pleased with them. If you want to buy cheap cassette tapes, go to People's Park shopping center. A good price for cheap pirated tapes is 75 cent to $1 apiece. Good quality ones go for $3 apiece. Lucky Plaza also has many shops for tapes and records. .sp SIGHTS: Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden are next to each other. Take a taxi to go there. Once you get in, it involves some walking. Take a cable car to Sentosa Island if you are not afraid of height. You can either pick it up at Mount Faber (accessible only by taxi) or at the World Trade Center. Sentosa Island can also be reached by ferry boats. You can board them at the World Trade Center wharf. I consider Sentosa Island as only mildly interesting. The Tiger Balm Garden is worth a quick tour. Again, walking is involved. Bird Park, zoo are possibilities. If you do not have the time, you would not have missed much, though.