|
So I've been living in Singapore since September. Prior to moving here for work I had no idea what to expect. From reading online it sounded like there would be a lot of censorship on TV and what have you and in general not much fun. Well I really like probably because it is not what I expected. You can learn a bit from this Article in National Geographic mostly about how politics still is not exactly open and hillarious quotes from the Minister Mentor. Things that I found interesting so far: -Can drink Booze in public, and people do -Rent is not that bad (Paying $700 USD for a room in a nice condo w/ pool, gym etc) -Drugs: People still smoke up, but are careful much like most of the world -Porn is banned, eg token bans like playboy.com, but you can go to Geylang where I used to live for 2 months and get a girl from any country in the world for $30-60 USD, including Australians and Russians haha -Booze is expensive compared to costs in say Germany or maybe the US but not too bad. You can get duty free booze if you leave for a few days or hours not sure. Lots of illegal smokes from Indonesia and Malaysia are sold, they have markings so that cops could actually catch you red hand smoking them. -Food: National past time and you can get amazing meals eg Steak dinner w/ corn on the cob whatever for $5 See here -Electronics: You will likely pay far more for your camera if you come here and just head to Sim Lim. I am positive many greedy tourists come and walk a way with a camera they could get for less from Amazon.com Here are pictures of mine from the last few months. If you have any questions feel free to ask, hopefully there are some lurker Singaporeans who can do a better job of answering.          
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2009 00:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 00:25 |
|
|
What are you doing out there? Student, Work, Military? Is Orchard Towers still flaming hot on the weekends?
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2009 09:58
|
|
|
Which Hokkien and Malay insults have you learned yet?
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2009 10:53
|
|
|
Sial, heh. Got to love Crazy Horse in Orchard towers.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2009 05:01
|
|
|
Working, got a job through a friend clicking a mouse. Haven't made it to Orchard towers myself yet. However a friend went "with work" (yeah sure) and said the lady boys were grabbing his dick through his pants. I enjoy the Clarke Quay area a lot although I hear it's mostly for the white and hence rich expats (I'm doing fine money wise but my take home for now is more or less the same) I haven't learned any insults. Only malay I know is relating to how to say street or order fried noodles with meat. Also had no idea there was a crazy horse at Orchard towers I thought it was just at Clark Quay. I just find it hillarious how before I came too I really bought into the hype that it is a repressed city state and censorship runs wild. There are some interesting laws on record but I know every state in the US and Canada also has a lot of bullshit laws that are basically never enforced. Only thing which sucks is when/if you loose a phone there is no way to protect it. All the people need to make a quick buck is a phone and one dude who can defeat any security you might be using. /me kisses away his qwertz German smart phone Also just saw infected mushroom last night here ohh hell yes
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2009 11:32
|
|
|
I could never find anything fun to do while I was there due to the internet not being as friendly at the time. I find there are alot more ex pat forums and more international travelers there as of late. The hostels are hella expensive now supposedly. A big deal when I was there was male prostitution of indian day laborers. They should make their way to the quays if they have such a big problem with prositution, friend was robbed there by some ladyboys. By the way, adding lah and mixing in some malay to your everyday speech is stupid Singapore. Stop doing it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2009 13:18
|
|
|
Singlish is an art form. It's really difficult to pick up unless you live in Singapore for the longest time. If you're a tourist and you're looking for electronics, don't ever go to Sim Lim. You will be roasted alive. Sim Lim is only for local enthusiasts who know exactly what they want and even then plenty of locals get fleeced there. Just stick with the big stores and make sure you know how much the stuff costs in your home country. Prices can be a little hit-or-miss in Singapore. There are a few Singaporeans here on SA, but we're mostly lurkers.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2010 15:52
|
|
|
I'm going to be moving to Singapore soon and I'm curious about a finding a place to live there. I've been trying to search for a place over the internet, using Craigslist and trying to find a good rental site. I haven't been able to really find anything that isn't full of 4bd places at ridiculous prices. You said you found a place for $700 USD, are you living on your own or sharing a condo with someone? How did you go about finding a place to live?
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2010 00:15
|
|
|
Have you been to Tokyo? If so, how does it compare? I'm currently working in Tokyo, and at some point, I'll probably have the opportunity to work in Singapore. I really enjoy Tokyo though, and some friends have told me that Tokyo (and surrounding areas within a train ride) is vastly more entertaining. But I've never been to SNG, so who knows. What are your thoughts? Singapore seems quite small -- how realistic is it to travel on the weekends and such? zmcnulty fucked around with this message at 11:44 on Jan 8, 2010 |
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2010 11:28
|
|
|
zmcnulty posted:Have you been to Tokyo? If so, how does it compare? Cleaner, cheaper, hotter, more/better English, less fun overall (this last part is of course subjective). I've only visited both of those places a couple of times each though, haven't lived in either. Singapore is small but you can catch inexpensive flights to countries around the region from budget carriers such as Air Asia or Tiger Airways. The fares do go up once you get to the last stage of the purchasing process where they add on taxes and surcharges, but it's still very reasonable for weekend trips provided you're not on a total pauper's salary.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2010 00:11
|
|
|
Keevon posted:I'm going to be moving to Singapore soon and I'm curious about a finding a place to live there. I've been trying to search for a place over the internet, using Craigslist and trying to find a good rental site. I haven't been able to really find anything that isn't full of 4bd places at ridiculous prices. You said you found a place for $700 USD, are you living on your own or sharing a condo with someone? How did you go about finding a place to live? Try SingaporeExpats.com, maybe under Room Rental.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2010 11:58
|
|
|
I was thinking of doing the midnight marathon in Spore this may, have you heard of this before? It seems like an awesome way to run while escaping the heat, and of course a good excuse to visit a new country for a weekend. It sounds like a pretty big event from what I've heard so I thought there might be a chance you knew something about it. If not, where are the best convenient no nonsense places to stay? Obviously cheap is a bonus... the race starts at Changi Exhibition Centre. http://www.sundownmarathon.com/index.php?page=race-details
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2010 17:31
|
|
|
I lived there as a child in the early 90s. I really wish I got a chance to work over there myself. I'm assuming you are a guy, how is the dating? Are there white females? Are they mainly Brits, Aussies, or Americans?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2010 00:24
|
|
|
Honestly, if you're white and looking for an Asian to date, there will be loads of locals ready to throw themselves at you.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2010 06:01
|
|
|
For housing I found my place on easyroomate.com.sg or smth like that google easy roomate singapore. It is worth paying $25 for the 3 month membership! I paid $450 SGD to stay in a terrible place in Geylang for 2 months to a real estate agent. Also gumtree singapore is far better than craigslist. There are a TON of Germans and French, in fact at takashimaya a huge book store on Orchard there is an entire long row of French and German books/magazines etc. There's lots of Brits and surprisingly not a ton of Aussies living here. There's lots of free parties you can go to like check out http://www.heineken.com.sg/greenroom/ and see some of the old parties. Here I'd say it's a lot to do with who you know. I'm going to see Diplo Friday and I got on the guest list which either means I get to jump the queue or free entrance either way all I had to do was email the promoter when he said on facebook email me for guest list. So you can spend a lot of money but you can also spend very little. I came with my Euro girlfriend here. But there are lots of expat kids. I had one night where some Aussie who was on the larger size for sure, but 18 with a pretty amazing rack literally say come on lets go home and was drat persistent. Same night a gay euro tried to pick me up, all whilst waiting for the gf to make it over here. The local girls are all pretty easy on the eyes especially if you wander around the financial district at lunch time. I usually go to the Golden Shoe Hawker center where you can get choose say 4 diff types of food (eg diff meat veggies) + rice for $2.50 SGD. Singapore seems pretty awesome as far as there being a ton of work, low taxes, clean air, pretty clean streets. It's so nice to be able to sit down and just read the newspaper. Check couchsurfing.com and you can surf with someone here or they have links and reviews of hostels that are maybe only $10 USD or $15SGD a night. It will also likely still be bloody hot at night like 25 Celsius with a humidity above 80%. Here is the funniest most passive aggresive website ever http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/ it's a citizens journalism site where people report crazy things that people do to annoy them and they take photos. Kessel we should meet up some time for shits and giggles haha. I went to Bali for 9 days and it cost me about $150 SGD to fly there all in with health insurance and silly taxes.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2010 07:52
|
|
|
Ret posted:There are a TON of Germans and French, in fact at takashimaya a huge book store on Orchard there is an entire long row of French and German books/magazines etc. Takashimaya is the department store. The book store is called Kinokuniya, which is inside the huge department store. It's an awesome chain book store, better than the Borders across the street from Isetan.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2010 08:34
|
|
|
wid posted:Takashimaya is the department store. The book store is called Kinokuniya, which is inside the huge department store. It's an awesome chain book store, better than the Borders across the street from Isetan. Also you will have to have roomates unless you are getting your rent paid for by someone else. There are hardly any studio apartments and small HDB's are still pretty pricey. If everyone is working it's not bad at all. Especially in singapore as people will go to work at 9:00 or 9:30 am but still till 6:30 or 7:00 pm. I'd say 7:00 - 8:00 pm is some of the busiest times on the MRT and or Bus. Time for Free flow Singha Beer from 7:30pm till 9:30pm thanks to timeout. drat it pays to sign up to silly things.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2010 11:28
|
|
|
Im heading over to korea soon and have a 5-6hr layover in Singapore. Anything you can recommend doing in that time frame. Even worth leaving the airport? Few people have said to head over to clarke quay. Timeframe is 6pm-11pm give or take an hour for customs.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2010 03:48
|
|
|
zhaligkeer posted:Im heading over to korea soon and have a 5-6hr layover in Singapore. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Coast_Park_Panorama,_Mar_06.jpg It's pretty at night with all the boats out and there's good food, wakeboarding and a skate park. It's really close to the airport. I mean you could also take a bus to the city and see it at night as it's purdy too. If all your checked in just throw your carry on in a locker and go wild. You should be able to get a taxi from or back to the city from anywhere near city centre for $20 SGD which is like 10 euro one way. You can jump on the MRT too but if you want to get back in a hurry go for it. The airport is really close to the city from https://www.gothere.sg Airport to Fullerton Hotel TOTAL TIMEAPPROX. FARE 23 min$20.00 Flagdown fare $2.80 Metered fare $14.20 Airport surcharge $3.00 + booking fee
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2010 04:24
|
|
|
Cheers for the info. Do you think clarke quay is really worth checking out - my friends gave it a pretty big rap so am interested too hear your opinion.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2010 05:55
|
|
|
Clarke Quay is great if you're going clubbing, which it doesn't sound like (if you're intent on going, have a couple of drinks in the courtyard of Forbidden City/Indochine, it's pretty hard to miss... and if you really, really have to step into a club during your stopover then check out Attica). If you're not drinking then it's a generally nice but very touristy atmosphere around the river. What Ret said is the best advice though as you'll get some fresh air and great seafood at East Coast, and it's really close to the airport.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2010 12:58
|
|
|
  ^--- Busy P from Ed Banger Records at Zouk   ^---- Diplo at butter factory    ^---- Bape in Singapore T-shirts are about $110 SGD which is likely pretty drat cheap for outside of Japan  ^---- Cutting up a fat rear end pig leg that has been cured for 2 years. Meant to post these yesterday. If you're bored it'd be worth spending a weekend in Singapore prior to going to Korea 
Ret fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Jan 29, 2010 |
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2010 04:43
|
|
|
I used to live in Singapore from when I was 5 to about 13. Don't want to step on your toes OP but I honestly have to throw this out there. Food wise you have to sample: Dragons beard, roti prata!!!, chicken rice (if there is still that one in the woodgrove shopping center thing), and the red square shaped meat that I can't remember the name of.  Also Singapore's zoo is also pretty drat nice and definitely worth checking out if you're into that and if I remember correctly they have a night safari zoo too. Sentosa I remember being really fun too but most of this stuff was through the eyes of a kid so I guess it's not as fun if you are older. PS: goons with spoons didn't have a recipe for legit roti prata so if anyone knows of one, please let me know as it's been too drat long!
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2010 09:43
|
|
|
walkenator posted:Which Hokkien and Malay insults have you learned yet? Cao ni ma chao chi bai. I don't know if they're spelled correctly, as I know Mandarin not Hokkien, but it's pronounced how it looks and it means "gently caress your mom you smelly oval office." I've been to Singapore for a combined total of four and a half months, and I'm going back for three this Summer, so I can try to answer some questions too. Edit - Prata is the best food ever. Extremely cheap and quite filling. You can get two egg two plain for something like three dollars USD or less. Satay is amazing too. Random Singapore Facts: Universal Studios is opening soon but I don't know much about it. There's a couple casinos opening too. Sentosa is really touristy and expensive but not really worth it besides to see the fake rear end beach. Orchard Street and Plaza Singapura are really nice around Christmas, and there's almost always decorations for some sort of holiday in Chinatown or Little India or one of the other ethnic areas. DO NOT DRVE TO LITTLE INDIA ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHTS. It is absolutely packed with migrant workers. It is a good time though if you go there via bus or subway. My girlfriend and I ate with some random dudes in a clearing and we were surrounded by workers and such, but they all seemed nice and didn't give us any problem. It's probably one of the more dangerous parts of the country though, so be wary. There's a soccer game every Sunday at 6:30 at West Coast Park if anyone likes to play. There's also pickup games pretty much any other day, but the times aren't very consistent. There are some on Tuesday and Thursday and I think they start at around 5:30. A lot of places don't take credit cards. I had to pay cash for at least 80% of what I bought there. The major places mostly do, but the smaller, more "uniquely Singaporean" places mostly don't. This includes markets and a lot of the smaller stores in HDB flat areas. Taxi drivers are often assholes who "get lost" and end up charging you more money. Buses are reasonable and if you need to take multiple buses to get somewhere you get a discount. MRT stations are pretty common too, so that's another option. On weekdays except Friday and Sunday public transportation stops at 11:00 PM (I believe, not 100% but it's definitely not much later). On Friday and Saturday, I think it's open until one, but I'm not 100% on either of those numbers. I'll update as I think of more stuff. Cuatal fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Feb 2, 2010 |
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2010 01:41
|
|
|
Cuatal posted:A lot of places don't take credit cards. I had to pay cash for at least 80% of what I bought there. The major places mostly do, but the smaller, more "uniquely Singaporean" places mostly don't. This includes markets and a lot of the smaller stores in HDB flat areas. Most small places don't take credit cards anywhere, the fees are too expensive, too much paperwork, and there are chargebacks. Can't say I've seen markets in the Occident use credit cards either.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2010 09:59
|
|
|
Just chiming in with the roti prata love. Ever since moving back to the US from Singapore two years ago I had constantly recurring dreams where I was back in Singapore and my sole mission was to obtain egg prata, and I never succeeded. The dreams only stopped when I went to DC to visit a friend from Singapore and she took me to a Malaysian restaurant where they had some. It's divine.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2010 04:17
|
|
|
walrusonthehill posted:Just chiming in with the roti prata love. Ever since moving back to the US from Singapore two years ago I had constantly recurring dreams where I was back in Singapore and my sole mission was to obtain egg prata, and I never succeeded. The dreams only stopped when I went to DC to visit a friend from Singapore and she took me to a Malaysian restaurant where they had some. It's divine. Oh my god.....I thought I was the only one who had roti prata dreams! I seriously dream of roti prata all the time and always wake up saddened by the fact that I probably will never have an authentic prata again.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2010 08:03
|
|
|
So, looks like my woman may have a conference in Singapore this summer. Do I want to go? If I want to go, do I want to bring a 5 year old? I like museums and strange food and scenery. Clubs and club girls probably aren't an option. Still worth 26 hours and 1500$ in airfare? Is there stuff a 5 year old would remember forever, or should he stay with the grandparents?
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2010 01:51
|
|
|
Universal Studios and the zoo. I'd say it's worth bringing him.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2010 01:58
|
|
|
Yeah, Singapore is a beautiful, clean, modern country. No issue with bringing your kid.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2010 03:04
|
|
|
Slo-Tek posted:So, looks like my woman may have a conference in Singapore this summer. Definitely go!
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2010 04:23
|
|
|
Singapore beats the poo poo out of New York, you should definitely go.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2010 04:38
|
|
|
Fun nerd fact... all phones here must be sold without a sim lock. Also DO NOT BUY CAMERAS AT SIM LIM. There are some shops at Sim Lim that have a gold star on their floor near their entrance they are okay. The other shops are assholes. Basically you will get ripped off if you are white and not paying attention it's what these guys do to old people getting off cruises. I heard from one gent that 10 years ago it was okay there but it's really not nice. http://www.funan.com.sg/ is WAY better. There's lots of chip fabrication and also Seagate manufactures disks here so some stuff might be cheaper. EG I bought a 1.5 TB drive from WD w/ a 64MB cache for about newegg prices. Usually if you offer to pay cash instead of Nets or esp credit card they will knock off some money. I paid $665 SGD w/ tax for a Canon S90 last fall which I think was a good deal at the time. But Asking recently other shops they told me $700 best offer blah blah. Just go in be honest with what you want research what you want to pay and see what happens. At Sim Lim when I did this the staff were insanely rude haha good fun cause it doesn't really bother me... but at same time wow. Also Singapore is definitely Asia's shopping mall. Everyone comes here to shop shop shop so there's lots of really wacky Japanese, Korean, Chinese products all available.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2010 15:49
|
|
|
Whiteboy posted:
The Singapore Tourism Board... has a recipe on their website. Here is a video of a guy doing the twirling thing they do, for reference. Um, good luck. Edit: Also square shaped meat mentioned in the same post. randomdumbnick fucked around with this message at 11:30 on Feb 6, 2010 |
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2010 06:11
|
|
|
A good friend of mine in Singapore is getting married this summer (June). What would be a "good" price for a RT ticket from Phoenix? So far I've found $1,500, which seems pretty steep to me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2010 14:02
|
|
|
randomdumbnick posted:The Singapore Tourism Board... has a recipe on their website. Here is a video of a guy doing the twirling thing they do, for reference. Um, good luck. You are a god!
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2010 20:04
|
|
|
SirPablo posted:A good friend of mine in Singapore is getting married this summer (June). What would be a "good" price for a RT ticket from Phoenix? So far I've found $1,500, which seems pretty steep to me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2010 22:22
|
|
|
SirPablo posted:A good friend of mine in Singapore is getting married this summer (June). What would be a "good" price for a RT ticket from Phoenix? So far I've found $1,500, which seems pretty steep to me. I get Florida to Singapore for 1,200 - 1,400 round trip, you should check other websites.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2010 00:36
|
|
|
Ret, I'm no longer living in Singapore these days, else I'd certainly meet you for a drink! Protips from a native: - You can get prata in frozen packets at Asian groceries if you're overseas. They're usually made in Malaysia and you can fry them up for a semi-authentic taste. It'll never be as good as the real thing, but it keeps me sane. - If you're bringing a kid to Singapore, we have an absolutely kickin' rad zoo and its night version, the Night Safari, that kicks the poo poo out of most zoos and is modelled after the awesome famous one in San Diego. We also have a kickin' rad Bird Park which has more birds than you could possibly want to see in one lifetime and a HUGE walk-in aviary. - Ret is correct. If you look foreign (i.e. not Chinese) for the love of God DON'T SHOP AT SIM LIM. Go to Funan instead and stick to the more reputable stores. The nicer stores tend to want to maintain good standing with the tourism board so they will treat you better. If you get shafted at a store, TELL THE TOURISM BOARD. They run a blacklist. - Clarke Quay is a good clubbing spot, but it's getting overcrowded. If you have a few days to burn in Singapore, check out our nature spots! We have some gorgeous nature trails and rainforests you can explore. - if you are not stuffing your face at all given moments you are doing it wrong
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2010 05:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 00:25 |
|
|
SirPablo posted:A good friend of mine in Singapore is getting married this summer (June). What would be a "good" price for a RT ticket from Phoenix? So far I've found $1,500, which seems pretty steep to me. Also, if at all possible, fly Singapore Airlines. It really is worth the money. In fact it's easily the best thing about Singapore, heh. :ducks:
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2010 07:48
|
|
