March 2019 - Soul Full of Detours.

Poor Man’s View Of The Infamous Hotel – Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore.

Anything and everything I am about to say is not going to be surprising to anyone. Anyone, whether you have visited the city-country or not, you know it is expensive. Basically, everything you saw on “Crazy Rich Asians,” is true about this country.

As said earlier, Singapore is an expensive country – A rich men/women’s playground. If you have the money, there is so much to do, shop and eat. But the funny thing is, even if you don’t, you can still enjoy the country.

My Journey

As most of my readers know, I am a poor backpacker with a rich personality :D. Nonetheless, my amazing charms weren’t good enough to escape from the curse of opening up my wallet and swiping my credit card(s). But hear me out, I literally spent all my money on food. Hostels are pretty cheap (if you stay a little away from the city), but the food is absolutely cheap if you don’t mind skipping out on the fancy restaurants. One of the key things or attraction that Singapore is known for, other than their infamous hotel, are the hawker stalls. At the hawker stalls, you can get food pretty cheap and it will fill you up. For example, you can get a pretty decent meal for around $5 (CAD and SGD are on par). With food starting from $1, you really can’t go wrong with it.

Chinatown

The Singaporean China town is pretty well known, well for the usuals – cheap food and cheap souvenirs. This is also one of the key neighborhood with some infamous hawkers with our 200 stalls. In my opinion, nothing exciting to see here if you have been to most of SE Asia, but it is still a cool walk with so much amazing food.

Little India

On the other side is Little India. Again similar vibe to China town but the Indian version. The stalls here have mostly Indian/Pakistani food and they are quite cheap and delicious. Similar to China town, attraction wise, it is pretty limited especially if you have been to the temples and mosques in other parts of Asia.

Where should you be?

*It’ a lion, it’s a fish, its FION? LISH? – Merlion, Singapore*

In all fairness, Singapore was pretty reasonable if you want to stay within the budget. As mentioned earlier, you just have to avoid the expensive parts

Marina Bay Sands – This is the iconic hotel with the absolutely amazing infinity pool. Being a broke individual, I didn’t go inside but rather just enjoyed its beauty from outside. Talking to different people, I have heard that you will need to stay at the hotel to enjoy the infinity pool. However, another traveler told me that you just have to purchase a drink and you can head up there. Heads up! The cheapest drink is $30!
Garden By The Bay – Situated right next to the Hotel, this is another attraction worth checking out. The Garden itself is free, at least to explore most of it. However, to get into special spots/attractions of the Garden, you have to pay. There is also a light show every evening, unfortunately, I slept through it and missed it.
Merlion – I mean how often do you get to see a lion in a fish’s body (or a fish with a lion’s head?). Nonetheless, the half lion, half fish statue was a sight to see. However, when I was there, the fountain wasn’t working and they were renovating the stature. Heads up! SO MANY TOURISTS! Good luck getting that perfect selfie!
Singapore Botanic Gardens – I truly enjoyed walking in this FREE garden! Honestly, the garden being free was definitely a steal as it was a beautiful piece of greenery to enjoy in a city of beautiful skyscrapers.
Orchard Road – For all the shopping enthusiasts, head over to Orchard road! This is where you go if your bank account can handle it. From Gucci to Prada and everything in-between, you can find along this road. There are also multiple malls around here, with stores fit for the middle-class budgets as well.
Clarke Quay – Head over there for all your drinking and party needs. Filled with amazing (mostly expensive) restaurants, head to Clarke Quay during happy hour to make the best of your budget. Clarke Quay also boasts one of the top clubs in the world.

Final Verdict

Cool Sculpture In Singapore Botanical Garden.

It is a cool country to visit and obviously much better if you have a heavy purse. Nonetheless, head over to Singapore to enjoy the little things and to EAT. You don’t have to spend more than 3 days to fully explore the small country. There are a lot of things to do here, but a lot of them comes with a price tag. The trains and buses in Singapore are absolutely amazing and is well connected. Little expensive but better than the taxi.

One thing I didn’t like about the country was that I thought the people were mostly rude. I might have just been unlucky as I constantly ran into people that were rude to me. Except for my sister in law, she was just sassy lol.

Infinity Poor Where Ya At? – Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Is it really expensive? – Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

The answer to that question is a flat YES! Okay end of blog – BYE

In all seriousness, yes visiting Australia is an expensive feat and you can easily see the money slip through your wallets, simply because there is so much to see, do and eat. In regards to if Australia is [more] expensive – I don’t think so to be honest, but hear me out.

Minimum Wage

More Money? Better Freedom! – Rottnest Island

While I was planning to visit Australia, one of the key terms I kept hearing was “expensive;” everyone I talked to said it is an expensive country to visit. But after visiting the country I thought everything was fairly priced. You have to understand, the prices were created with the good ol’ Aussies in mind, and in that regards the prices were fair. This is one of the most well-payed countries in the world, with the minimum wage starting at around $20/hour; the prices make sense. I thought $15/hour in Alberta, Canada was awesome, but the entire country just beat Canada (one of the better-paying countries) in the minimum wage. So naturally, the cost of living is going to be expensive. Even then, comparing it to Canada, for the most part, it was similar or maybe a dollar or two more.

For example, a meal in a middle-class restaurant will cost you between $14 to $20, depending on what you get. You go to similar restaurants in Canada, it is about the same as well but add in the tax and tips, it is sometimes more than what you will end up paying in Australia. Of course, it is different from cities to cities and states/provinces to states/provinces. But having visited most of the major cities in Canada and Australia, and having lived in Toronto for a year, I can say that the prices are similar in Australia.

Comparison – Sydney, Toronto & Melbourne

To put things into perspective, I used the website www.numbeo.com to compare prices between Sydney and Toronto, two of the most expensive cities in the world. After the comparison, the results were that Sydney was slightly more expensive than Toronto! However, the minimum wage in Toronto is $14/hour and minimum wage in Sydney is $20 per hour, and the Australian dollar is only 5 cents weaker compared to the Canadian dollar. If I was comparing Melbourne instead of Sydney, it is much cheaper than Toronto, and Melbourne charts top 5 cities for quality of life every year, and it is one of the expensive cities in Australia.

Talking to some friends in Australia, I realized that during my time being employed, I was getting paid far less compared to the Aussies for a similar role. Even as a senior analyst at a marketing firm in Edmonton, I was making less or was on par compared to some of the ‘low paying’ jobs in Australia.

Parting Thoughts

Although I hope, as a nation Canada increases its minimum wage and follow its cousin, Canada is one of the best places to live in the world. The comparison between the two countries was simply because of my residence in Canada and due to having lived in one of the most expensive cities (Toronto) in the country and the world. The whole point of this article is to simply say that Australia is not as expensive as people make it out to be. It is on par with visiting any developed countries. Hostels, food, and adventures all have similar price tags.

EXCEPT for McDonald’s! McDonald’s is expensive in Australia, and I can’t wrap my head around it! 😀

Month: March 2019

Singapore – Get Rich Or Die Eating!