1 Day in Singapore | Chinatown, Cloud Forest & Gardens by the Bay Light Show
What do you do with only 24 hours in Singapore? That’s a great question, and we were here to find out. Maybe you roam the streets. Maybe you eat at Anthony Bourdain’s favorite spot. If you’re a fan of dinosaurs, you’ll probably go to Jurassic World. While we decided to do it all, including a light show, using public transportation, and checking out one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. It is day one, only day in Singapore. And we are out. We are out. and we’re not coming back. We’re going to hit the streets. We were out the door and on our way to our first stop, the Maxwell Food Center, a 12minute walk. It’s our first day. We’re 10-minute walk away from some food. But let’s [Music] How crazy does it feel to not be in like a motorbike central? Oh my gosh, the noise level so different. The big city vibes and their ability to incorporate nature so well is absolutely amazing. That thing will snitch on you. Mix in advanced technology and you’ll feel like you’re living in the future. The Maxwell Food Center is actually in the Chinatown area. There’s a heritage site where we’re going to walk around after that. It does look a little gloomy, but we’re going to roll with the punches and make the most out of the day. And we’re still 300 m away. That’s like 600 ft for you Americans. As we walked through the city, we noticed one thing. Our last name was everywhere. So, we made it to the Maxwell Food Center, and it seems like it’s a food hall, so I can see why it might be like a good costly thing to do. I don’t know. Let’s go eat. Oh, there’s a lot. Nice. There were so many food and drinks to choose from. Luckily for us, one of our favorite TV personalities, Anthony Bourdain, led us in the right direction. We had found TNT Hyanese chicken rice. There’s two places that have the chicken and rice. I think the chicken and rice here. I don’t know if we go to the one with a line or without a line, but I think with a line, right? After waiting in line, it was finally our turn. And it felt like we were in our school’s cafeteria being served by the lunch lady. I found seats, Jade grabbed drinks, and it was time to dig in. Got the good So, we got two different styles of chicken here. We have the steamed chicken and then the roasted chicken. And then Felipe found out that this is actually Anthony Bourdain’s favorite chicken here in Singapore. So, this is the roasted chicken. This is not the Anthony Bourdain chicken, though. Fire. You got it, too. I think it’s miso. [Music] I don’t know what it is. So, the steam roasted is what we got at the Anthony Bourdain place. And we only got it steamed because they ran out of they sold out of roasted for the day. Very popular, I assume. Two very different tastes, I must say. I think the roasted is my favorite. And I want you to try it. All right. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while now. Absolutely starving. So, everything’s probably going to taste good. But, let’s give it a shot. Let’s see what this is. Like a sour? Yeah, sour. Sour soup. All right, let’s try this. I was expecting it to be hotter. The chicken is cold. Let’s see what Anthony Bourdain has for us today on the menu. Rice. It’s strong. It’s like gy. It’s good though. Let me get one more bite. I feel like that wasn’t a good bite. We finished lunch and now we’re off to the Chinese Heritage Center. It’s a 7-minute walk away. So, we’re going to go under this scaffolding, make it out on the other side. Let’s go. And just like that, we were on our way to our next stop, Pagota Street, in the heart of Chinatown, home to a bunch of local shops. We really wanted to support the locals, but unfortunately, as you know, we are living out of backpacks right now with zero space to spare. We’re on Pagota Street currently. We just passed the Chinese Heritage Center. It’s a whole bunch of shops. It’s honestly really cute. Filipe and I are not big shoppers cuz as you know, big old backpacks and they’re stuffed. But we’re going to walk around window shop a little bit to see what they have. Little boobies. We were going to keep walking around here, but honestly guys, we just had the idea of taking the MRT exploring public transportation here in Singapore. And it’s going to take 24 minutes to get to our next destination. So, let’s go check it out. I’m so excited. Oh boy, what were we getting ourselves into? Little did we know, we were in for quite the adventure. We made our way down the escalator and the fun began. This was Jade thinking she knew where we were going. This was Jade confused. And this was us lost. How could I blame her with a map like this? [Music] I would love to live somewhere that has public transportation like this, but just not New York. Not New York. Testing out a theory. Nice. You can scan yourself, sir. You have Apple Pay. Okay. If I’m correct, we’re going to get off in three sides, three stops. If I’m not correct, we need to get off at the next stop. We’ll see. You win some, you lose some. You can’t always be right. So, we’re going in the opposite direction. We’re going to get off at the next stop and then get on the next downtown line going that way. Cuz right now, we’re going that way. We’re right here, but we’re going to get off over here. We started off here, but just a little detour. No big deal. We weren’t lost. We knew where we were at. We just didn’t know where we were going. Luckily to us, traveling isn’t about the destination. It’s about the journey, the adventure, the experiences, the people we come across, and the memories we make along the way. Now, we’re following this sign. Ah, yes. It seems as though we are finally finding our way around the MRT and headed in the right direction. 8 cents in, 8 cents out. Marina Bay stands here. The airports and malls in Singapore are really nice. Okay, here’s my dilemma. Just so you can get on the same page with me, we’re supposed to be going to Garden by the Bay that says down. I think this whole thing is like Marina Bay Sands. This is crazy. This is huge. Okay, so let’s go down. We’re going back down and then we’re going to walk. That’s like garden by the bay. No, no, no. Garden by the Bay. We made our way through Marina Bay Sands and arrived at Garden by the Bay. But wait, we had a problem. It is time to retrieve our tickets. Tickets retrieved. We’re on our way. Niji just texted me and said, “When are you going to be in Singapore?” We’re here actually right now. Okay. Your ticket here is only for Oh, I’m messing up today, guys. I’m taking us on the wrong train, subways. I took us to the wrong place. Where we’re supposed to be right now is a 12-minute walk away, but I think we are going to pay for a shuttle. I think we’re going to do it. By this point, we were exhausted. Thank you. I’m usually all for walking, but boy, I really needed this break. Don’t blame us for getting the shuttle. We’re getting a lot of steps in today. We can take one shortcut. Just one, though. It was really hot and humid. We needed to cool down. And the shuttle breeze did its job. After navigating through the MRT for what felt like hours, we were finally at our next destination. [Music] We just made it to the correct place. Let’s see what’s inside. It’s going to be a surprise to both me and Felipe, but I know it’s going to be worth it. I just know it. We’re walking into Cloud Forest. Let’s see. This is so crazy. We were immediately blown away by the size of these prehistoric creatures. Entering the unknown of Jurassic World, we weren’t sure what to expect. We thought it might be another cheesy theme park, but boy were we wrong. [Music] [Music] [Music] It’s so pretty. I’m obsessed. Walking through the park, we learned a lot about prehistoric times and enjoyed every second of Jurassic World. If you have kids, this is a great place to bring them. Now, we weren’t willing to wait the long line to walk the sky bridge, but I could only imagine the views from up there. I’d suggest getting in line as soon as you arrive and then walking the rest of the park after. Off to the Flower Dome we go. We survived. We made it out Jurassic World. It was beautiful. The whole experience, seeing the actual size of the dinosaurs, insane. But we’re off to our next stop. The Flower Dome is considered a top 10 garden in the world with landscapes and sculptures from all over, perfectly designed to depict its original environment. All of the sculptures in the Flower Dome have been gifted by other countries, telling a story about their origins. We’ve been exploring the garden for the past 20 minutes, and I could tell you, you could get lost in here. We’ve probably covered a quarter of the dome. Beautiful. Lots to see. Just make sure that when you come, you have a game plan. The bright colors and the scent of flowers does something to the soul. After seeing all those scary dinosaurs, it brought us a sense of joy. I don’t like dinosaurs. I’m scared of dinosaurs. This is so pretty. Look, there’s like a random door up there. [Music] Delicious. Um, like a candied apple. I want one now. This is really pretty though. I can’t wait till we’re in Bali and I can get that every single day cuz it’s fruits. Yeah. And the Philippines. It’s mainly the Philippines. The beauty of Asian culture is something I will never be able to get over. Which one do you want me to buy you? Um, I like the blue one. Yeah. Yeah. Red. You can record me all you want, buddy. I actually pay you for this. Guys, we are really getting our steps in today. We’re walking. We’re talking. No, don’t worry. Stop it. Stop the camera. We made it to the light show right on time. And the show is about to start. We’re surrounded by tons of people. We got our seat. We got some drinks. And we’re ready for the show. Singapore’s birthday. We present Sounds of Singapore. So, pick a spot. Grab your cameras and enjoy the show. [Music] Feel [Applause] [Music] like I’m in a Disney movie. Super lame. Now, when we first sat, it was still daytime and I didn’t see any lights. I had seen videos about the show, but I wasn’t sure if it would be worth staying. mainly because I was extremely exhausted at this point. After going back and forth for a few minutes, I said, “Let’s just stay because who knows when’s the next time we’ll be back.” And it was the best decision ever. [Music] So pretty. The music like The Lion King. Excuse me. [Music] Oh my goodness. That was crazy or what? The sea of people. We watched some of the light show, but I’m not going to lie, I realized how early we got there and we were like stuck in the middle. So, if we all try to leave at the same time, I know half of these people are thinking the same thing as us as they’re walking away. It’s going to be a hot mess. So, we are heading out, but it was so beautiful and we highly recommend. It started getting hectic. There was a lot of people trying to leave. We are getting ready to go. So, Oh the shuttle’s going. It’s leaving. It’s getting ready to leave us. All right, we made it. Barely. Hold on. Barely. Barely. All right, we made the shuttle. We made the shuttle, but technically we didn’t make the shuttle, but they had a second one pull up. We made the shuttle, but they didn’t want to let us on later because we skipped. Yeah, we had to make the line. One of the employees actually recognized us, so he was going to let us on, but I guess his boss or something was like, “No, no, you must do the line.” So, yeah, anything the boss says. We beat everyone to the exit, and we were on our way to the final level of influencing. We made it to the final bosses of Tik Tok. It’s a thing. They’re doing their hair and makeup, I think, too. Huh? What is happening? Oh my god. They don’t feel embarrassed. No, no, no. Which is amazing. They shouldn’t. They should. There we go. Tik Tok. Tik Tok stars. Legitimate like dance crews. They got their phone on the mirror. Balance. Oh, look. You Yeah, I know. I’m just coming. By 9:30, we were totally out of it, but we still had to find dinner. We actually got out in the exact same place that we got on the MRT cuz we’re saving money where budgeting really does. But it’s so beautiful at night. And honestly, if I only had 24 hours, I would say come at night cuz at night really hits. We were starving. We stopped at the first restaurant we saw with fried rice, our go-to. So, we’re going to look through the menu and place our order. I think we deserve to eat after walking 16,000 steps in an age. We’re Jaden Felipe, a newlywed couple on a journey of a lifetime. Traveling to all the places we’ve always dreamed about visiting, learning about cultures, and checking things off of our bucket list along the way.
Spend 1 day in Singapore with us as we explore the city’s highlights using the MRT! From wandering the colorful streets of Chinatown Singapore to experiencing the jaw-dropping Cloud Forest and Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay, this vlog is the perfect guide for anyone planning a short trip. We even try the legendary Singapore chicken rice—a dish Anthony Bourdain once called the “world’s best.” 🍗✨ The day ends with the famous Gardens by the Bay Light Show (Supertree Grove)—one of Singapore’s most magical experiences. 🌏🌃
In this Singapore travel vlog, we’ll show you:
How to get around using the MRT Singapore 🚇
Eating Anthony Bourdain’s recommended chicken rice in Singapore 🍴
Exploring Chinatown Singapore for food & culture 🏮
Visiting the Cloud Forest Singapore & the iconic indoor waterfall 🌿💦
Strolling through the Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay 🌸
Ending with the Supertree Light Show at night 🌟
If you only have 24 hours in Singapore, this itinerary covers the best things to do in Singapore in one day. Perfect for layovers, day trips, or short visits!
Chapters:
0:15 – 24 Hours in Singapore Itinerary + Light Show Plan
1:07 – Trying Famous Hawker Food at Maxwell Food Centre 🍜
4:00 – Exploring Chinatown & Street Market Finds 🏮
6:22 – MRT Tips & Getting Around Singapore 🚇
6:40 – Gardens by the Bay & Supertree Grove 🌳
8:10 – Marina Bay Sands & Spectra Light Show 🌆
10:30 – Visiting the Merlion & Bayfront Views 🦁
12:45 – Orchard Road & Singapore Nightlife
14:30 – Reflections on Our 24-Hour Singapore Adventure
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🔗 Related Videos & Resources:
🌏 Our Southeast Asia Travel Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnSx3dELLQg&list=PLxfA5Zs9kh_qW1H7HqHjhinXCJRGSmg-m
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