Singapore with side trip to Legoland

Last year, I made a promise to take my dad to Singapore in 2013 to visit the place where he spent most of his working years. It’s been a decade since our last visit because we intentionally removed it from our travel list. Back then, Singapore was a “no brainer” destination for our summer vacations.  My simple summer joys include strolling and shopping in Orchard road, buying frozen chicken in NTUC, eating lots of pork jerky and Gardenia bread (this is where I first tasted Gardenia and I immediately I fell in love). Singapore makes me happy because at a young age I can go to the mall by myself through public transportation. It was also easy for me to cross the street because drivers will stop at the sight of a person standing at the corner of the pedestrian lane (though I suggest you shouldn’t go near the road because they have the tendency to make a sudden hit on the brakes when they reach the tip of the pedestrian lane). During that time there were few malls and trains don’t have a circle line, but I was happy and felt safe.

I never expected that we will be excited for this trip. We look forward to comparing how it was 10 years ago when there were only a few tourist spots like the “not-so-developed” Sentosa, cable car ride, Haw Par Villa, Zoo, Jurong Bird Park and etc. On the contrary, the main attractions we know now such as Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, Arts & Science Museum, Night Safari, Universal Studios, ResortsWorld, SEA, Esplanade and Skyflyer were definitely out of the question.

Our 4 days/3nights stay is short with an objective to visit new places and a sidetrip to Legoland (upon request of my husband). I’m sharing our itinerary and budget journal with you. Top priorities for this trip are Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, Esplanade, Resorts World Universal Studios and Legoland.

Our itinerary was so packed that it provided very limited time for shopping, we even failed to visit Orchard! In our next trip to Singapore, I’ll make shopping our priority because we will visit this July to enjoy the Great Singapore Sale.

Travel Itinerary and Budget Journal (excluding meals and pasalubong):

Day 1: We arrived Singapore 45 minutes late and while I’m looking for our driver, my mom had her USD exchanged to SGD. I highly suggest you have your money exchanged at the airport because they provide the same exchange rate for 100 USD and smaller bills unlike money changers in malls who provide a lower rate for USD bills in lower denominations.

We took the train at Novena to go to Marina Bay. We spent a few minutes at Gardens by the Bay and decided to leave due to heavy rain. We went to the nearest waiting shed but unfortunately, we still got wet. I made a note to self to come back to Gardens by the Bay to see the flower dome and cloud forest.

Wooden benches at Gardens by the bay allows tourists to sit and relax while enjoying nature.

Once the rain stopped we walked to the Arts and Science Museum to experience the Art of the Brick. I am not a fan of Lego (unlike my husband), but the exhibit definitely changed my point of view.

Since the museum is basically outside Marina Shoppes, we decided to visit the mall to buy some stuff and have dinner.

Day 2: This day is dedicated to the child in us. I look forward to our activities because my family loves to visit theme parks. We went to Universal Studios in Resorts World (USS), took a lot of family photos, laughed, ate and rode almost anything (yes, including Cylon of Battlestar Galactica).

Family picture with Oscar

Replica of New York Public Library

Note: If you have plans to visit Universal Studios in Los Angeles, I highly suggest you visit Universal Studios Singapore first to veer away from disappointment due to lack of mascots and shows that weren’t impactful enough (specifically Water World).

Day 3: To give in to my husband’s plea, we included Legoland in our itinerary. I believe the theme park is promising but now is not the best time to visit it. Legoland is huge but the attractions are limited and the rides are mostly for children. The only part of the park that I enjoyed is Miniland, which is a Lego version of scenic spots in various Asian countries.

Legoland offers a limited variety of food but you may walk to the nearest mall (Disini mall) to grab a bite and purchase some local Malaysian treats that are perfect for pasalubong.

The heat in Johor, drained our energy so we decided to have dinner at Bugis and bought some pasalubong at Bee Cheng Hiang then went home.

Day 4:  Our last day in Singapore was very short because our flight is at 2:20PM. We had breakfast then we went to Changi Airport Terminal 2.