Difference between revisions of "Singapore"

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== Sleeping ==
 
== Sleeping ==
The ''Gardens by the bay'' is a huge park close to the ''Marina Bay Sands'' hotel at night there are not many people and you can find a somewhat hidden place to sleep. You'll usually see some local crashing somewhere in the grass as well.
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The ''Gardens by the Bay'' is a huge park close to the ''Marina Bay Sands'' hotel. At night there are not many people and you can find a somewhat hidden place to sleep. You'll usually see some local crashing somewhere in the grass as well.
 
At the south end, there is a building with a meadow on the roof. Downstairs, there are very clean public toilets with showers and drinking water fountains, open 24 hours.
 
At the south end, there is a building with a meadow on the roof. Downstairs, there are very clean public toilets with showers and drinking water fountains, open 24 hours.
  

Revision as of 07:24, 31 July 2012

Flag of Singapore Singapore
Information
Language: English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil
Capital: Singapore
Population: 5,000,000
Currency: Singapore dollar (SGD)
Hitchability: <rating country='sg' />
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots

Singapore is a country and city in South-Eastern Asia. It has a road border with Malaysia to the north and a sea border Indonesia to the south and west. Currency is the Singapore Dollar : 1 SGD = 0,57€ = US$ 0,78 (october 2011) Singaporean all speak an almost perfect English, and most of them prefer to use it rather than their cultural one (either Malay, Mandarin, Tamil Hitchhiking is very rare within Singapore, mainly because it is a city and public transport is very common.

For those who are crossing borders to Malaysia, there is a checkpoint in the North called "Woodlands checkpoint" and another checkpoint in the West called "Tuas checkpoint".

If you arrive by flight to SIN, and plan to cross the border overland, check the "Airport" section!

Hitchhiking out

You can either take public transportation to Malaysia, hitch from the border or hitch a boat to leave the city / country.

Bus or Metro

From the Airport, take the "JB Shuttle Bus" who takes you to JB = Johor Bahru in Malaysia, just after the border. Cost : 7$ SGD (sept 2011)

Or take the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport = Metro) : Red Line to "Marsiling station" (Attention : if the border checkpoint is called Woodlands, don't get out in Woodlands station but in Marsiling which is closer). From there take the bus 909 that takes you towards JB. Then you can hitch out of customs, just walk up on the road. It is definitely illegal, but it is rare to be harrassed by police for standing directly on the freeway in Malaysia.

Hitchhiking from Singapore

From any point in the city, take the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport = Metro) : Red Line to "Marsiling station" (Attention : if the border checkpoint is called Woodlands, don't get out in Woodlands station but in Marsiling which is closer). Cost : around 3$ SGD, don't forget to take the 1$ refund when getting out of the station.

You can try to hitch from the station on the road towards north (direction Johor / checkpoint), with a sign it would help.

Or you can walk to the customs, around 15 minutes, head towards the "checkpoint". Once passed the customs and your passport stamped, you get out in a bus station, you will need a ticket to get on one of them, but you can also follow the "walking man" sign. It leads towards the bridge that makes the border. You will be stopped by several police officers stating that you can't walk to Malaysia. To all of them say that you know what you do, that someone will pick you up there. Don't mention you are hitchhiking, they will retain you longer stating it's forbidden, and there's nowhere to pull over. Just stick to the pick-up story. Walk along the narrow side of the road, 1 minute, to the center of the bridge where there's will be a largely enough space for cars to stop. Hitch from there. There's a lot of traffic and you won't wait much.

By boat

There is one ferry to an Indonesian island. Forget about entering the Singaporean port, I think the only way are the marinas. Get a yacht. There is one marina that lets you also enter without being member right next to Tuas checkpoint.

Public Transport

Singapore has a very good public transport system, with a metro (MRT) doing the very long distances as well as many buses. Prices are usually increasing according to the distance for the buses, but the MRT seem to be around 3$ even for very long distances. I would not try to jump the gates of the MRT as there are cameras EVERYWHERE in Singapore. I don't know what can be the fine, but considering that you can be in prison for 7 years if you steal an apple in a shop or sentenced to death if you smoke a joint, I would not try... (toortoth)

Airport

If you arrive by flight to SIN, and plan to cross the border overland, make sure you made a fake return e-ticket from SIN (to anywhere). There is a high chance that they ask you for your return itinerary at the check-in counter of the departure airport. It's a new regulation in Singapore Customs. While in some cases if you explain you go overland they may let you in, they also can be annoying. While leaving CDG to SIN with Singapore Airlines they accepted my explainations, but when I left MEL to SIN with Jetstar they just didn't accept any explanation and I had to buy a ticket I would never use departing from SIN, at last minute leaving me no choice (toortoth). So make a fake, with a frame from another airline (in case they want to check in their own system, but they never do, it would be too long to check itineraries from all passengers, especially calling other companies).

Sleeping

The Gardens by the Bay is a huge park close to the Marina Bay Sands hotel. At night there are not many people and you can find a somewhat hidden place to sleep. You'll usually see some local crashing somewhere in the grass as well. At the south end, there is a building with a meadow on the roof. Downstairs, there are very clean public toilets with showers and drinking water fountains, open 24 hours.

<map lat='1.3599556' lng='103.8558333' zoom='11' view='0' width='800' height='350'/>

trash:Singapore wikipedia:Singapore