I normally do not use the laptop on a Sunday, but decided to start a new thread re Singapore Add-on.  I spoke with my Singaporean friend at length today as I wanted to find out what she thought of Singapore After Night excursion.  I will be pre-paying for the Gardens by the Bay optional excursion but I think I am going to give the Singapore After Dark a miss after discussions with my friend.  $233 for 3-4 hours sound a bit steep, plus I do not think dinner is included in the price though I may be proved wrong.  She told me that Bugis Village is touristy and is always very crowded.  Obviously I am not trying to put anyone off and I may change my mind once we find out more after arrival in Singapore .  If so, I will pay locally for this excursion. 

She suggested that on Wednesday, instead of going back to the Zoo we go to Sentosa Island.  It will be very hot and humid whilst we are in Singapore and I think we will be quite uncomfortable walking around the Zoo, especially if there aren't many shady places.  The Aquarium on Sentosa comes highly recommended and it will be a lot cooler since we will be inside.  There are lots of other attractions too on the island.  As already mentioned in the other thread, we can do the night Zoo on Monday evening.   Hopefully the humidity will be a bit lower in the evenings.

 Of course, we can discuss all this and make final decisions when we all meet, but just wanted to share my thoughts with you all.  One more weekend to go!

Best wishes

Jaya

Many thanks for this info - as you know I've already booked the After Dark tour!  Monty, could you please let us know if dinner will be included?

I like the suggestion to go to Sentosa Island on the Wednesday before we leave for the airport.  We will have to find out at the hotel if we can do a late check out - perhaps they will let us use one of the rooms - or else at least provide us with somewhere to leave our cases securely.  Somewhere out of the heat sounds like a very good idea, although I am hoping I will have acclimatized by then?!

What does everyone else think?

Best wishes,

Bob

thanks for your input on this one - £119 for a 3-4 hour tour does seem a bit excessive especially if no dinner is included.  I have booked the Gardens by the Bay and will wait until we're in Singapore to decide on the night tour.

Looking forward to meeting you on the 19th!

Jacqueline

Thank you for your post

getting jolly excited now, silly me already gone and booked both excursions, Singapore is certainly over priced and i'm not sure how JY justify this as the only additional expense would be the Rickshaw ride and i'm assuming a Singapore sling in the Raffles,  the water and laser show at Marina Bay sands is free and we may even catch that on the first evening

personally having booked and paid for these tours I will go along with them now so my other plans would be to catch the Night Safari possibly after the included tour and I wouldn't mind the river safari,  as you say Jaya I think we should forget the main zoo itself as you need hours and hours walking round in the heat, Sentosa is a good idea for the Wednesday and I remember doing this 20 years ago when I was last in Singapore though i'd go along with the flow, I recall it being a half day which the hotel can book so could be back for one or two, then depending on what time our airport transfer is would like to do the bumboat and if the river safari can't be slipped in then so be it as two trips out to the zoo may be a bit too much,  I stayed in the Furama then and Clarke Quay is only a few mins walk away and the MRT is close by

yes one more weekend

best wishes

Dave

For anyone who is interested in visiting the Zoo, I have discovered a tour company (www.viator.com) who do a tour which picks you up and returns you to your hotel. You can have breakfast with the orangutans as an extra. Pick-up time is approx 0800. It would certainly be cooler early morning to visit the zoo. I personally have not booked either of the optional excursions as, apart from Raffles, they don't include places I am interested in, and the Night excursion looks very expensive, especially if dinner is not included - not to mention the Singapore Sling obviously not being included!!

See you next week!

Cheers,

Hils

Hi All,

For anyone who is interested in visiting the Zoo, I have discovered a tour company (www.viator.com) who do a tour which picks you up and returns you to your hotel. You can have breakfast with the orangutans as an extra. Pick-up time is approx 0800. It would certainly be cooler early morning to visit the zoo. I personally have not booked either of the optional excursions as, apart from Raffles, they don't include places I am interested in, and the Night excursion looks very expensive, especially if dinner is not included - not to mention the Singapore Sling obviously not being included!!

See you next week!

Cheers,

Hils

And there is the SAEx service - see http://www.zoo.com.sg/visitor-info/singapore-attractions-express.html - although it doesn't appear to pick up from our hotel.

There is a 'tram' which circles round most of the zoo to reduce the amount of walking required - the route can be seen on the zoo map: http://www.zoo.com.sg/assets/pdf/parkmap.pdf

The jungle breakfast would have been a good place for a JY group photo if we had all been going: http://www.zoo.com.sg/dining/jungle-breakfast-with-wildlife.html - especially with a few orang-utans in the picture :-)

Also, be aware that entrance to the night safari is staggered in view of the large number of visitors, so a late arrival will mean a correspondingly late admission (I didn't get in until nearly 20:30 last October) - although, as I recall, the prices in the restaurant near the night safari entrance are significantly lower after the first wave of visitors has been admitted, so it's not all bad news. If you plan to do the river safari as well, you will need to be there mid-afternoon, when you can purchase a combi-ticket and secure the entrance time for the night safari then.

Jim

Thanks for the info, yes I've heard of Viator have been on their website many times heard they're very good used them once on a New York City tour, hotel pick up is very handy too and so reasonably priced, the night safari picks up at our hotel if anybody fancies it and no queuing also, I do hope the Singapore after dark includes a SS as otherwise I cannot see how they can justify this cost

Hi Jim

many thanks for your info I hope you don't mind a few of us tagging on to you the first evening, don't think the night/river safari can be done as a combi unless not doing the sing night excursion which I wish I hadn't booked now, however I shall most likely have to give prob the river safari a miss unless I can slip it in on the last day

what time you arriving at PI

all the best almost there now

Dave

There will be no dinner included on this excursion, but I have posted on Dave's thread from yesterday with a little bit of information about the trip. You can find the thread here:

http://forum.justyou.co.uk/thread-83331.html 

Kindest regards,

Monty

I think we will be able to fit the Sentosa Island and the river cruise (bum boat) on Wednesday. I was informed by my Singaporean friend that the hotel reception will be able to arrange this for us. We can find out if they would let us have a room or we can find out how much they would charge to extend our rooms by a few hours - I am presuming the check out would be 12:00. Most hotels have secure areas to store luggage anyway so we should not face any problems and will be able to use our time on Wednesday wisely. My colleague who has just returned from Borneo and Singapore trip (they did it independently) said that they walked everywhere in Singapore though I do not fancy doing a lot of walking in the humidity! Singapore has changed a lot since I visited in 1995 (I think) and he showed me some lovely shots. We are not going to be disappointed by Gardens by the Bay - the photos were amazing. He also said that there were no leeches when they did the night Jungle trek, but Bob says that there will be according to his research so we will just have to wait and see. Also, there were no mosquitos, but again who knows what we will find when we are there. One good suggestion he made was to make sure we walk along the trail when we visit Sepilok Orangutan Rehab centre after they have been fed as we will then see them in natural surroundings. There are quite a few people at the feeding time, but he said that there were hardly any along the trail, which meant one is able to take great shots of just the Organgutans. He showed me the photos he had taken and they were wonderful. I wonder if the included walk in the Tropical Lowland Forest of Borneo is the same as the trail and, if not, whether or not we will have time to walk along the trail. I hope we do. The Borneon Sun Bear Conservation Centre is opposite the Orangutan Rehab Centre. We are going to have lots of fun!

Jaya

. . .

Hi Jim

many thanks for your info I hope you don't mind a few of us tagging on to you the first evening, don't think the night/river safari can be done as a combi unless not doing the sing night excursion which I wish I hadn't booked now, however I shall most likely have to give prob the river safari a miss unless I can slip it in on the last day

what time you arriving at PI

all the best almost there now

Dave

Hi Dave

> I hope you don't mind a few of us tagging on to you the first evening

http://www.sataybythebay.com.sg ) for a bite to eat. But this all depends on the weather, and how soon we can check in at the hotel and get ourselves sorted.

> don't think the night/river safari can be done as a combi unless not doing the sing night excursion

No, it would be too much of a rush, if you want to see everything properly. I had no real problems with heat/humidity last October when I spent the day at the Zoo & River Safari (I did the Night Safari on a later day) so, assuming conditions this time are no worse than then, I plan to spend the whole day again in the Zoo/River Safari, eat there, then stay on for the Night Safari: if you are also doing the Night Safari then we can  probably meet beforehand in time to watch the Thumbuaker fire eaters at 18:45 - although, if you are pushed for time, you may want to consider joining one of the private tours (eg with viator) which include hotel pickups.

> what time are you arriving at PI

I hope to be there in time to join you for the Three Magpies: if I don't make it in time, I'll dine in the PI and look out for Bob &Co

Anyway, see you somewhere/when next Wednesday!

Jim

yes thats great, i don't mind duplicating a little one bit, i emailed the hotel and got this reply:

Dear David

Thank you for your enquires regarding the above-mentioned & making your reservation with Furama City Centre. Upon arrival at our hotel, kindly proceed to the concierge counter to book your tours. Most of the tour offices closed at around 1900 hrs & we will try our very best to book for you. We look forward for your arrival at our hotel & have a nice day

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have further enquiries or clarifications.

Thank you & Best Regards,

Bernard

Concierge

Furama City Centre, Singapore

60, Eu Tong Sen Street

Singapore 059804

i plan to do the Night Safari following on from our included tour, Viator do it for just under £32 with hotel pick up around 6.30pm

Diane, Myself and hopefully Daphne plan to make our way to the 3 magpies around 6- 6.15 depending what time Daphne can make it then return to PI for around 8.00 - 8.30 to catch the others

on the last day i will do either Sentosa in the morning then bumboat - or the zoo/river safari

Hi Jaya

very much enjoyed reading your post so much exciting information, i cannot believe this time next week we'll be up in the air somewhere and just three more shifts for me to do, one long one and two short, yipppeeee

see you soon

Dave

yes thats great, i don't mind duplicating a little one bit, i emailed the hotel and got this reply:

Dear David

Thank you for your enquires regarding the above-mentioned & making your reservation with Furama City Centre. Upon arrival at our hotel, kindly proceed to the concierge counter to book your tours. Most of the tour offices closed at around 1900 hrs & we will try our very best to book for you. We look forward for your arrival at our hotel & have a nice day

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have further enquiries or clarifications.

Thank you & Best Regards,

Bernard

Concierge

Furama City Centre, Singapore

60, Eu Tong Sen Street

Singapore 059804

i plan to do the Night Safari following on from our included tour, Viator do it for just under £32 with hotel pick up around 6.30pm

Diane, Myself and hopefully Daphne plan to make our way to the 3 magpies around 6- 6.15 depending what time Daphne can make it then return to PI for around 8.00 - 8.30 to catch the others

on the last day i will do either Sentosa in the morning then bumboat - or the zoo/river safari

Hi Jaya

very much enjoyed reading your post so much exciting information, i cannot believe this time next week we'll be up in the air somewhere and just three more shifts for me to do, one long one and two short, yipppeeee

see you soon

Dave

Have just put up a post about the 3 Magpies on the 18th.

I thought you were planning on eating at the PI, but after just reading your post Dave and I will look for you in the foyer of the PI, hoping that you make it in time to join us going to the 3 Magpies. I have suggested 6pm to Daphne as I read she wanted to come with us and she had written previously anytime after 6pm. Am hoping for a response from Daphne saying yes or no.

We want to be back at the PI early enough to meet Bob, Hils and Jacqueline.

All the best Di.

Hi Jim

yes thats great, i don't mind duplicating a little one bit, i emailed the hotel and got this reply:

Dear David

Thank you for your enquires regarding the above-mentioned & making your reservation with Furama City Centre. Upon arrival at our hotel, kindly proceed to the concierge counter to book your tours. Most of the tour offices closed at around 1900 hrs & we will try our very best to book for you. We look forward for your arrival at our hotel & have a nice day

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have further enquiries or clarifications.

Thank you & Best Regards,

Bernard

Concierge

Furama City Centre, Singapore

60, Eu Tong Sen Street

Singapore 059804

i plan to do the Night Safari following on from our included tour, Viator do it for just under £32 with hotel pick up around 6.30pm

Diane, Myself and hopefully Daphne plan to make our way to the 3 magpies around 6- 6.15 depending what time Daphne can make it then return to PI for around 8.00 - 8.30 to catch the others

on the last day i will do either Sentosa in the morning then bumboat - or the zoo/river safari

Hi Jaya

very much enjoyed reading your post so much exciting information, i cannot believe this time next week we'll be up in the air somewhere and just three more shifts for me to do, one long one and two short, yipppeeee

see you soon

Dave

can't believe my post went up twice i had staff wittering behind me

 in work getting me all flustered lol

Dave

Perhaps you are trying to increase your postings by doing it twice and putting the blame on the staff!! I think we will be able to do the night safari on Monday after our included tour. We should be back in plenty of time to freshen up. Count me in. I have two more working days - Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday to prepare for the holiday.

Jaya

yes thats great after the included tour is our best chance, same here just the Monday and the Tuesday mornings then i'm off to Coventry then travelling to Heathrow wednesday afternoon

i cannot believe it has at last come

Dave

Hi Jim

Have just put up a post about the 3 Magpies on the 18th.

I thought you were planning on eating at the PI, but after just reading your post Dave and I will look for you in the foyer of the PI, hoping that you make it in time to join us going to the 3 Magpies. I have suggested 6pm to Daphne as I read she wanted to come with us and she had written previously anytime after 6pm. Am hoping for a response from Daphne saying yes or no.

We want to be back at the PI early enough to meet Bob, Hils and Jacqueline.

All the best Di.

Hello Di

Thanks for the update, I'll be there if I can - and it would be good to meet the others afterwards.

An evening stroll to the 3M would be nice, but this may also depend on the weather, as the forecast is for rain on Wednesday: we'll probably get enough of this in Borneo and, living where I do, I don't need any practice!

See you somewhere on Wednesday!

Jim

Hils and I are meeting Jacqueline for dinner at 8.00pm in the PI, so if you don't fancy going to the Three Magpies, I'm sure there won't be a problem turning our table for three (which Hils has booked) into a table for four!

Best wishes,

Bob

Hi Jim,

Hils and I are meeting Jacqueline for dinner at 8.00pm in the PI, so if you don't fancy going to the Three Magpies, I'm sure there won't be a problem turning our table for three (which Hils has booked) into a table for four!

Best wishes,

Bob

Hello Bob.

Many thanks. I look forward to meeting you either during dinner or immediately afterwards.

I hope your flight from Dublin(?) is on time!

Jim