Singapore's TidbiTs

Anyone who has visited Coney Island before, will certainly have been awestruck by the tall and lush casuarina trees, probably the largest clusters of casuarina trees in one place one has seen in Singapore. There are casuarina trees almost everywhere on the island. Also known as the Common Rhu, there are casuarina trees elsewhere in Singapore too like at the Big Sisters Island , but not in the same scale as at Coney Island Park. Located off the northeastern coast of Singapore, between Pulau Ubin to its northeast and the mainland to its southwest, Coney Island is the starting or the ending point of the 36km (22 miles) coast to coast trail, depending on if you start from there or from Jurong Lake Gardens . Connected to Punggol Point and Punggol Promenade by a bridge on the west entrance, the 87-hectare Coney Island fronts the new Punggol Town and provides respite to the residents there. Actually, there are several parks around Punggol area including the Punggol Waterway Park and Sengkang...

Singapore is not all concrete blocks and skyscrapers. You will be surprised there are nature reserves and parks all over the island, and one of the preserved nature areas is an island called Pulau Ubin or granite island. Singapore is actually made up of a total of 64 islands, though some islands have been combined so the number is lesser now. Do you know that the word pulau means island in Malay? And the word ubin means stones or specifically the Jubin tiles that used to come from the many stone quarries on the island. Pulau Ubin is a laid-back diamond shaped rustic looking island located at the eastern corner of Singapore. The island, about 1,000 hectares or ten times the size of Gardens by the Bay, is the only preserved kampung island left intact in urbanised Singapore. Previously Pulau Ubin supplied granite for major construction works in Singapore including the Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branch and the Raffles Lighthouse. The last active granite quarry on the island, Aik Hwa...

Other than Sentosa Island , do you know there are many islands that you can visit off the Southern shores of Singapore for a fun day out under the sun? While there some islands that are not accessible to the public such as Pulau Semakau (the landfill island) and the Raffles Lighthouse that require special permit, there are still many islands that you can easily access with the regular ferry services. These islands include St. John's Island, Lazarus Island (Pulau Sakijang Pelepah), Pulau Seringat, Kusu Island, Sisters' Island (Pulau Subar Laut) and Pulau Hantu. That's quite a lot, right? And many of these islands have colourful histories. Lagoon at Lazarus Island On all these islands you have wide open spaces for a day out of island-hopping, or you may want to just laze around at only specific islands. Ferry companies based at Marina South Pier (MSP) run inter island shuttle between Sisters, St. John's and Kusu Island. The ferries from Marina South Pier run at specific t...

This is year 2020. A very challenging year for tourism worldwide battered by Covid-19 pandemic. In Singapore to encourage locals to patronise and support tourism industry, the government will be giving out each Singaporean adult aged 18 and above $100 voucher consisting of 10 x $10 in which can be used specifically for staycations , attraction tickets and tours as part of SingapoRediscovers (Singapore Rediscovers) initiative. Yotelair staycation at Jewel Dubbed by some as Singapoliday, the vouchers will be valid for seven months starting early December 2020 till end June 2021. For under 18, adult Singaporeans will be able to purchase up to six subsidised tickets for attractions and tours, each at $10 off. So even if you cannot go to Singaporeans perennial favourites such as Japan or South Korea to enjoy snow, you can still have winter experience at Snow City right here in Singapore. It will never be the same as the real thing but it is in Jurong and perhaps you can combine the visit to...

Sentosa means peaceful in Malay. The calm, peaceful and tranquil island on the southern part of mainland Singapore. Mainland Singapore is an island too. The original name of Sentosa Island, Pulau Blakang Mati, is definitely far from peaceful. 'Mati' means 'to die or dead'. 'Blakang' or 'belakang' means to be behind or at the back. So literally, Sentosa Island was formerly the island of death at the back or to die from behind. It is thought the original spooky name of Sentosa Island was due to the malaria outbreak that happened on the island in the mid-1800s that almost wiped out the inhabitants of the island. The earlier inhabitants were mostly Bugis community and the survivors moved to Singapore, and these settlers gave the island Balking Mati its name. Certainly not a name you want to attract hordes of visitors into. Some visitors called it expensive island thinking it is a man-made island with theme parks, hotels and casinos packed in. They even char...