I'm doing this page in english so more people can benefit from my experiences here. If you don't speak english I don't think you'd have much fun here anyway since english is the main language in Singapore. Although you might get by with chinese (mandarin), but I refuse to learn chinese just for writing this page.
I hope everyone will enjoy this page and if any of you happen to visit this little country maybe you can use some of the information here.
To the topIf you're planning to go out to eat, you can go to the hotel restaurant. The food is usually pretty good. However, it's expensive.
A "real" restaurant (with a waiter and tables with sheets) isn't much better, but if you do want to go to one, try one of the bigger shopping centers.
What I recommend is going to a coffee shop, or better yet, a hawker center. A coffee shop is not the kind you find in Amsterdam (or anywhere else that I know of for that matter), it's a collection of stores under an HDB block (ie. a flat) where they sell food and drinks. Usually there are several different kinds of food stores ranging from Malay, to Indian to Chinese and usually there is one drinks stand. A hawker center is the same, only with more stalls and it's not under any flats. It's under a roof with some fans on the ceiling but there's no walls. Some are open 24 hours a day.
At the coffee shops and the hawker centers you don't order food like any normal restaurant. It can be a bit confusing at first. What you do is, you go to the store where they have what you want, order it and, if it's not ready yet, sit down at one of the tables. When it's ready they come and bring it to you and you only pay when they bring the food. The prices are on average S$3 to S$5 and it's not customary to tip. The drinks are self-service: you go to the stall, buy the drinks and take them to your table. Drinks are about S$1.20 per can.
When you've finished you just get up and go. The store owners clean up when they come and take back their plates or there is someone assigned to cleaning the tables.
One thing to remember is to bring your own tissues. They don't have any at the stalls.
A good hawker center is Lau Pa Sat. At night they close the road and put tables on the street. It's something you must do at least once if you visit Singapore. Try the fish ball soup!
Other places where you can eat cheap is at the food courts. They're usually located in the basement of any shopping center and they work just like the food courts found in the US.
Ofcourse there is no shortage of fast food restaurants either: MacDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Komala's (Indian fast food), etc.
To the topSingapore is fairly small and the public transport is very good so it's easy to get around.
There is the MRT (Mass Rail Transport) and there are busses. There are also a lot of taxis driving around the whole of Singapore.
The MRT works like the London Underground: you get a ticket from one of the machines for the amount you want to travel and then you go through the gates. When you get out at the destination your ticket is not returned. At each station there is a big sign showing how much the fare is from there to any other station. You can change money for the machines (which only take coins) at the desks at every station. A train comes by every few minutes. The maximum price (eg. for going from Changi Airport at the east to Boon Lay at the far west) is about S$2.
Busses are more complicated if you're just visiting: you have to pay cash, and there is no change so you have to pay the exact amount. You get a small paper ticket to show that you payed. Also, it's hard to tell which bus goes where and how much the fare costs. The desitnation is usually shown on the side of the bus with the first stop at the top. If you're unsure about the destination or the price, ask the driver. Busses, just like the trains, come by every few minutes. Prices for the bus vary from S$0.80 to about S$2.
Taxis are cheap here. Though they start at S$2.40 for the initial fee and can go up to S$15 for an hour's drive or so, if you compare it to Holland it's so much cheaper and usually you don't have to wait long for a taxi (except at shopping centers sometimes) and they don't expect a tip.
For busses and MRT there is another way to pay: by Transit Link. It's a fare card with a magnetic strip inside, just like the other MRT cards, but this one doesn't disappear at the destination. You can get the card at the ticket office at MRTs. It costs S$12, which gives you S$10 for traveling and you can top it up with another S$10 or more at MRT ticket offices. You can use it in the bus too. Busses have ticket machines in which you can use the card. Just insert it, select the fare amount you want and take out your card and the ticket at the bottom of the machine. Don't loose the card, or your money is gone. Though the net value of a Transit Link card is S$2, it's cheaper because fares with Transit Link are S$0.10 to S$0.15 less than when you pay cash, both in the MRT and in busses, so after 10 trips you've got your money's worth. They will be stopping this service in December if favour of EZ-link (see below).
Finally there is another way of payment: EZ-Link. It's also cheaper than paying cash, but there's a risk. It works by waving a magnetic card in front of a reader when you get in and out of the bus/MRT. But if it doesn't work on the way out (especially in busses), for whatever reason (and it does happen), the next time you get in the maximum amount (I think S$2) is deducted.
Update: Transit Link will be discontinued. We're using EZ-Link now. It's not so bad, as long as you remember to tap the card when you get off the bus. To the top