The Southeast Asia SharePoint Conference is coming to Singapore in October, and I thought I’d do a short writeup for any visitors that have never been to Singapore before to give them an idea what to expect here, how to get around, etc.
Basics
- Singapore has a tropical climate. That means, all year long the temperature is around 28-32 degrees celsius, with a quite high humidity (once you exit the airport, you’ll notice it!). However, indoors is usually quite cold, aircons keep the temperature at slightly more than 20 degrees. If you plan to stay inside a bit longer, bring something with long sleeves.
- The local currency is the Singapore Dollar. You can exchange money when you arrive at the airport (exchange rate is usually ok) or at your hotel (exchange rate is…well, not that good usually), or at local exchangers all over town (good rates, but might be a little bit difficult to find for tourists).
Credit cards, such as VISA or Mastercard, are generally accepted in most places (usually minimum spending of $20). - Singapore’s timezone is GMT+8
- While Singapore is a multicultural country and many languages are used, the one connecting language that basically everyone speaks is English, thus you should have no problems at all communication with anyone (unless you have some problems understanding the local accent…).
- When you arrive at the airport, don’t forget to grab a tourist map!
- Tap water is safe! I think Singapore’s water is among the cleanest in the world, it’s even safe enough for drinking without any worries.
- In many parts of the island you can get free wireless internet! If you’re for example at McDonald’s or Starbucks, look out for the wireless@sg network. To find out more, visit the wireless@sg website
How to get around
The easiest way is to grab a taxi, of which there are plentiful! The total cost consists of a base price (usually starts at SGD2.80), a distance based fare, a "waiting time" fare, and of additional charges such as ERP ("Everyday Rob People".., no, wait, Electronic Road Payment, a toll charge that has to be paid at certain areas). There’s no need to negotiate the price, all taxi drivers always use the meter.
- The cheaper option is to take a bus and/or the MRT (the local train/subway). If you plan to use either a few times, the best thing is to get an ez-link card, which is a small card with a few dollars of value. Each time you enter a MRT station/a bus, you tap your card, once you exit you do the same and the corresponding amount (depending on the distance you travelled) will be deducted. Rides will most of the time be less than $2. Single entry tickets can be purchased at each MRT station.
A map of all MRT stations can be found here: http://www.smrt.com.sg/trains/network_map.asp - Generally, if you want to know hot to get from A to B, visit www.gothere.sg
What to eat / drink
The great thing about Singapore is that you can find all kinds of food here: Chinese (in lots of variations! Teochew, Cantonese, …), Malay, Indian, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Western, …
The cheapest option are hawker centres and food court, in both you’ll find many stalls offering different kinds of food. Price range from $2 – $8 per meal! Of course you can also go to a restaurant, prices there usually start at around $15. Again, you’ve got a huge choice.
There is no need to tip in Singapore, if you eat at a restaurant it will be included in the final bill (it will either say so on the menu, or the prices are mentioned as $10++, where the ++ means plus additional GST (7%) plus additional service tax (10%)).
Where to go/what to do
If you have time, you can visit some of the popular tourist destinations here in Singapore. Two options would be Chinatown and Little India, both which reflect a bit the different origins of Singaporeans.
Another possibility is to go to the Marina Bay area and visit the Esplanade (concert hall/opera house/cultural building), the Merlion, and maybe even the Marina Bay Sands casino (including the sky park on top of the building!).
If you have the time, you can also go on a bus tour to visit several different attractions of Singapore (e.g. at http://www.ducktours.com.sg/tours.php) 
If there’s anything else you want to know, please do not hesitate to ask me or write a comment here.
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