Singapore is a small, but incredibly diverse, island nation in SE Asia. When most people think of Singapore, they think of an impressive airport, the surfboard hotel, delicious street food hawker centers, and a famous gin cocktail. We spent a week at the beginning of the Lunar New Year festivities in Singapore and found a lot more.

Singapore has some of the largest Lunar New Year celebrations outside of China. The Lunar New Year is as big of a holiday in Singapore as Christmas is in the States. People get time off work, kids are out of school, parties are abundant, and decorations are everywhere.

2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon. It is believed people born this year will inherit characteristics associated with the Dragon sign and the Wood element. They will be ambitious, energetic, and charismatic (Dragon) as well as flexible and adaptable (Wood). Dragons are common decorations related to the Lunar New Year, but since we’re entering the Year of the Dragon, they were EVERYWHERE and it was quite the site. We loved seeing all the celebrations and decorations!

A few of our favorite things and places from our time in Singapore –

The Drone Dragon Light Show in Marina Bay is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. They used 1500 drones to create a 10-minute-long show depicting the story of the Dragon and the Hare.

The bay has a light show every evening as well.

While waiting for the drone show to start, we met an incredibly kind family and spent some time talking to them. They ended up inviting us to dinner. We got to learn more about Singapore, get to know some wonderful people, wander a less touristy part of town, and eat some of the best Indian food we’ve ever had in our lives.

The surfboard hotel’s actual name is Marina Bay Sands. It is incredibly touristy and busy, but the bar offers a great view of Singapore. I enjoyed a Singapore Sling and we took in the lovely views.

  • The first couple of floors of the hotel are a mall.

Chinatown is one of my favorite parts of town. It is a great place to wander, especially during the Lunar New Year. Everywhere we turned we saw something else celebrating the Year of the Dragon. Lovely street art is around every corner, there are famous Buddhist and Hindu temples to see, and Michelin is a big fan of this area. Quite a few street food vendors and a gelato shop have various accolades in the Michelin guide.

  • I was born in the Year of the Rooster. Carey was born in the Year of the Dog, but we couldn’t find the dog statue.
  • Michelin rec gelato at Birds of Paradise – lychee raspberry and white chrysanthemum. Cone is has thyme baked into it and is delicious!
  • Shake Shack has a Singapore-specific shake (coconut pandan). It is delicious!
  • We found a fun boba and ice cream shop – Carey’s favorite!

Singapore’s Botanic Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are massive (over 80 acres) and over 150 years old. We loved wandering the gardens, especially the famous Orchid Gardens. Part of the Orchid Gardens are indoors and air conditioned to provide better conditions for the lovely flowers (added bonus that the conditions are better for the garden visitors).

The Gardens by the Bay are home to the famous Supertrees and two massive indoor gardens. Each year for the Lunar New Year, the Flower Dome (one of the indoor gardens) is decorated. This year’s theme was “Dahlia’s Dream” and was gorgeous. They featured dragons from the five elements, 40 varieties of dahlias, and a beautiful wooden dragon sculpture that took 9000 hours to make.

The other indoor garden is the Cloud Forest. It features the largest indoor waterfall in the world.

The Supertrees are home to the River Hongbao Festival during the Lunar New Year. We got to see lots of fun sculptures, paintings, and a cool light show.

  • A local group was giving out paintings. Goldfish are meant to bestow prosperity and happiness. Carey received a beautiful iris painting (symbol of spring).

Little India is my other favorite neighborhood in Singapore. It is incredibly colorful, full of delicious vegetarian food options, and the sites are fascinating.

There is a reason Singapore’s airport is so famous – it truly is a great airport. As much as we fly, I honestly cannot stand the majority of airports. If I can get a flight that goes through Singapore or Doha, I will look forward to my flight. If I’m stuck going through JFK, I’ll be grateful for the opportunity for wherever I’m going, but hoping to get out of JFK ASAP.

The architecture of Singapore is fun to see. It is colorful, playful, and classy.

A lot of hawker center stalls were closed for the holiday while we visited, but we found a few Michelin-recommended stalls that were open. Hawker centers are basically street food stalls that have been moved into one area with covered seating. They are convenient, cheap, absolutely delicious, and a staple of Singapore.

I love theme parks and managed to drag Carey to Universal Studios Singapore. It is much smaller than the Universals in the States, but we had a great time! They had extra things going on for the Lunar New Year, a whole land dedicated to Shrek, and a couple of cute rides we don’t have in the States.

Some random observations about Singapore –

  • People are incredibly kind and welcoming (unless you look like you want to take the spot they’re saving at the hawker center – then you’ll receive the death glare to end all death glares).
  • So many elements feel like a sci-fi film – a robot escorted us to our seat at a restaurant, we didn’t talk to any humans to get through border control, drones were used instead of fireworks to celebrate a major holiday.
  • Their public transportation system is fantastic. We could get all the way across the country in less than an hour and could pay using Google wallet.
  • I had heard “Singapore is SO EXPENSIVE” from a lot of people. It isn’t actually that bad – prices for the majority of things are the same or cheaper than Denver. The only truly expensive things are items generally considered vices by government standards (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, gambling, sweets). A standard beer will cost at least USD 10, but a good meal from a hawker stall will start at USD 2.50.
  • A lot of people we’ve met traveling told us they got bored in Singapore. We had a great time and could have easily spent another week in the country. Some of the sites require more digging to find, but it is a place worth visiting (not just flying through).
  • It is incredibly well-planned. Singapore gets an insane amount of rain. We visited during the “dry” season and it still rained every day we were there. And by “rain”, I mean the entire sky opens up and dumps buckets of water – not the small amounts of rain we get in Colorado. But, with how they have set up the streets and the public transportation, it is relatively easy to walk around without getting soaking wet.