We decided to spend Lunar New Year in Singapore this year. It’s a pretty astonishing city, and I’ve never seen something like it before.
The combination of skyscrapers, big roads, a modern metro system, and a considerable effort to bring nature into the city is incredible.
China Town
Spending the Lunar New Year in Singapore included visiting the famous Chinatown in Singapore.
As you would imagine, it was pretty crowded – probably the busiest place we’ve experienced so far (let’s wait for my article about Tokyo!)
However, it’s worth the experience, and there are many things to see there, especially in the smaller alleys next to the primary pathways.
The only weird thing about it? The abundance of food. There was no street food; it was all about souvenirs, and the popular hawker centers were closed during the festivities.
The world of Studio Ghibli
Both of us are huge fans of Hayao Miyazaki films, and once we figured out there was an exhibition in Singapore, we had to get the tickets; there was no way around that!
We even watched a fascinating documentary about his work the day before we headed to the exhibition.
You can find it on Netflix, but be warned, it goes deep but explains the reasoning behind his movies pretty well.
Gardens by the Bay
You can’t visit Singapore without visiting Gardens by the Bay – it’s omnipresent in the entire city.
River Hongbao
River Hongbao is one of the most significant events around the Lunar New Year. It happens in the middle of the Gardens by the Bay.
We saw many statues of the zodiac sciences and plenty of street food, and we even watched the firecracker show at the end of the event, which, to be honest, wasn’t overwhelmingly impressive.
Cloud Forest
We visited the Cloud Forest and did the famous air walk atop the trees. While it was a pleasant experience, but it’s also costly – so if you are on a budget, you can skip both.
Sky Tree Walk
Here is my 360 video of the walk on top of the sky trees:
Sentosa
We’ve also made a quick trip to Sentosa – a little island directly connected to the city.
It’s mostly about beaches, bars, and other things, but during the Lunar New Year, they also had some shows (the primary reason for our visit).
If you never seen a traditional Chinese Dragon Dance, here you go:
Singapore Zoo
Our last destination was the zoo. While it was good, we’ve seen better ones in Europe for a fraction of the price.
Summary
Generally speaking, Singapore is insanely expensive, not from a Southeast Asia standpoint, but from a Western-Europe point of view.
We had to make sure we did not overspend and blow up our travel budget because even grocery shopping can quickly end up being an expensive experience.
I know the article sounds rather negative, but I would still recommend visiting Singapore. It’s worth it; plan accordingly and watch for your budget.