ULOG 22: Planning a Short Trip to Singapore

Singapore, here I come!

I am staying in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on a “Visa on Arrival.” As a Canadian, I do not need to have a Visa for short stays. However, this stamp in my passport is only good for three months. This means I need to leave the country 90 days after I got here in August and come back in with a new stamp. My time is up at the end of October and so now in mid-September I am making plans.

I have already done many of these short trips during the two and a half years I was in Thailand. I have previously visited Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia this way. Just like in Malaysia, I had to leave Thailand each 90 days and return to prove my good intentions, character, and finances, and get a fresh 90 days.

During those trips from Thailand I learned I prefer to travel as lightly as I can, and stay as short a time as possible. The trips are tiring for me and I am not a tourist. Sightseeing is not my goal these days.

I am alone, 58 years old, and have Rheumatoid Arthritis. Eight years ago I lost “half my size” with natural methods and now my life revolves around my work to help other obese people do the same. I’m in SE Asia for the inexpensive and healthy lifestyle which facilitates my work, not to go on tours.

I have learned that I prefer to stay in hostels for these trips outside the place I live. Even though I am a silent hermit for the most part, these visits are so short that is it better for me to be with people I can talk to.

The first couple of trips out of Thailand I stayed in hotel rooms and had to figure out everything for myself. In a hostel, everyone talks to everyone, and everyone is your friend. Unless you are asleep, you will be out in the common areas and this is where you find out a good place to eat, where the transport is, and a where to find a convenience store among other key facts.

A bonus for my ego is that in a hostel I am a role model for old ladies everywhere. I am usually the oldest (female) person staying in most hostels, and draw all kinds of attention for this fact. People tell me they will let their mother know that you actually CAN travel at such a decrepit old age (even without a husband, gasp!) and I feel happy to be inspiring.

Why Singapore?

I’m going to Singapore because I have not been there yet, and it is the easiest and cheapest place to get to from here. What do I know about Singapore already? Almost nothing! But now I need to find some details.

Getting there

I have 3 options of ways to get to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur. For all of these routes, I will need to get to the transport from my place in KL, but I am a pro at the LRT already and so I am skipping that as a factor in my decision.

Train

• cheap – very inconvenient - takes up to 10 hours with several connections

The train is by far the cheapest option and I may do this for price alone. But the train only gets you to the border and then you need another train to cross, and another on the other side to get to the center city. That last train past Singapore immigration requires a taxi to get to it.

Every blog I read, and every piece of advice, says not to go this way. The inconvenience and need to keep changing transport seems to make most people regret their frugality. But since I have time to make my travel plans, I will keep this option open and look once more.

Bus

• not as cheap – very convenient – takes about 6 hours on one bus

Most of the positive reviews I am reading for this trip say that one of the many, many buses each day are your best bet. While not as cheap as the train, the bus is more convenient. You take one bus all the way from one of many places in Kuala Lumpur through to the city center of Singapore and get off and back on the same bus at the immigration checkpoints.

This is how I came to Malaysia from Thailand, and everything was very smooth. The bus drops everyone off at the entrance and is waiting at the exit of each immigration stop. Unless you stand out like a sore thumb, the authorities are likely to just waive you on with the rest of the crowd from the same bus.

In my first pass of searching, I find a round trip bus trip will be as cheap as $25 usd. So is spending $12 for a difficult train journey worth it? (No.) I do not need to book this part of the trip now. On multiple schedules, I see buses going from many locations in Kuala Lumpur to many locations in Singapore 100’s of times a day. Yes, I said 100's of times!

Most of the buses I looked at had good reviews and only one so far had terrible reviews. I have plenty of time to research this further to find a good fit for my needs. The most critical issue is for me to be out of this country before my 90 days is up and the next factor is price. And I want a reliable company with a decent bus and a good place to end up at so I can easily get to the hostel.

Plane

– Expensive – sort of convenient – about six hours including travel to the airports
The plane is about 10 times the price of a bus and takes almost the same amount of time. With my current dire financial situation, there seems to be no reason to go this route. I will travel by day and enjoy six hours of gawking out a bus window anyway.

Staying in Singapore

I found only two choices that meet my criteria for lodging which are:

• cheap
• no credit card needed for booking
• female dorm rooms with openings
• convenient to a Singapore transit station.

Both of the places I found are hostels, both serve breakfast, and both cost approximately $25 usd for 2 nights. Outrageous! I was very spoiled on my prior trips to places like Yangon Myanmar and Vientiane Laos, which had hostels for less than $5 usd per night.

Here is a short video I made of one of the hostels I stayed in on a trip to Vientiane Laos. The room setup is very similar to both of my choices in Singapore.

This photo is one of the hostels I stayed in while visiting Yangon. Each of the curtained areas leads to a capsule type bed and this is not at all like my choices in Singapore.

Singapore is a very expensive place to stay, so I think I should be happy I found these two places now. I booked both and will cancel one of them as soon as I decide which one I prefer.

Both of these hostels are in the “Little India” area of town.

All other choices are either too expensive, are far from transport, require a credit card for booking, or only had mixed dorm rooms open.

What to do in Singapore?

I will only have one day to do any sightseeing. I will most likely stay right in the area I’m at unless I find a better plan. I’m not really one to go to tourist type places and I am sure my area will be interesting enough to keep my attention for one whole entire day. It seems like I will be looking at colors during that day.

Little India Singapore - Image Search on Duck Duck Go

A couple hours of walking around a couple of times that day is more than enough for me. As I mentioned, I am OLD and arthritic so it does not take much to make me want to go take a nap. Additionally on these trips, I am on a deadline and out of my element so its best to not push it more than I need to.

Things to think about for my Singapore jaunt

• Since I am only going for two nights, I can pack light if I choose to. If I do not take my computer, I can travel with a purse. But if I do not have my computer, I will not have internet access and therefore would not post on steemit and will lose track of all my other social media tasks. So I will probably not be traveling light and will have a small rolling suitcase.
• Can I manage to use my phone for a couple of nights and get internet access that way? Probably not. I have not managed to master my phone in the two and a half years I have had it and I don’t imagine I can do it now. Why I am I such a loser on my phone? Bad hands and bad eyes are my excuses.
• I will take the time to understand the transit in my area and the transit in the place the bus will drop me.

Oh good grief! Found on Duck Duck Go Image Search

This map is not showing Singapore City Buses, of which there are many. Both of my hostel choices have bus stops on the nearest corner. Thank You God, for letting me grow up in a place where I used public transit by myself at a young age. I am barely intimidated by this part of the journey at all.

In a perfect world, I will be able to get onto some type of cheap transport where I get off my bus from KL, and quickly get to within walking distance of the hostel I choose to stay in. It will be even better if I can walk that whole last part of the trip, but that might be a fairy tale.

Since I have literally 100’s of buses from Kuala Lumpur to choose from and there are at least ten main Singapore hubs where these buses arrive at, I have my work cut out for me to figure this part out.

If I can pay a few dollars more for the main bus, and get right near my hostel as a drop off point, this will be worth it. If instead I need to take transit to get to the hostel, I will want the most convenient method, not necessarily the fastest.

• Is there some kind of Transit Pass for a few days that would be cost effective? Would it be worth it to get this pass and tour around outside my area? Should I get a pass anyway even if I just use it twice to get to and from the main bus? This is a place for further research.

• What is in the immediate vicinity of the hostel I will stay at? Once I decide which one to chose, I will drill down to the immediate few blocks on google maps and see what I can see. Normally I will print out that map and maybe one covering a larger area so I have them with me while I travel.

To be continued

This is how far I got today with several hours of work. This is the same pattern I do for all of these trips. I find a central place to stay and book that first. Then I figure out how to get there. Then I figure out what to do while I am there. With all good fortune I will completely have my act together before the end of October. Please stay tuned to find out!

Please start here to kick obesity to the curb:

Set Your Goal for Weight Loss
Anyone can beat obesity if I did. Please ask me and I will help you do it too.

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