Singapore's Chinatown; tourist trap or cheap refuge?

Hola! Some tourist hacks I'd like to share if you're planning on visiting Singapore very soon, this might just be the first of a series of hacks i'd share on my visit there wherein i'd be discussing one per district.

Singapore is one of the world's most expensive place to live in. High taxes and high cost of real estate (it is a tiny island country after all) makes one bottle of water into 4 Singaporean dollars!(.73USD) Good for the residents there but what about the tourists?

Which brings us to one lovely part of Singapore(there are a lot of others i know) but we'll focus this time on this Chinese heritage site which is commonplace worldwide for cheap bargains and great finds but does that still hold true for Singapore's?

Singapore's busy Chinatown district.

The bad news is it's still fairly expensive. The good news is, you can be smart about it ;)

So first off!

Hack #1 DON'T RIDE TAXIS on your way there.

Depending on where you're staying, it could range from about 15-30 SGD

Alternative : Chinatown has access to Singapore's MRT subway, which will cost you at around 1-4SGD. Even cheaper if you got the Singapore Tourist Pass from Changi Airport's station. Going up the right exit will lead you to the topmost photo that i took. poof! Another alternative would be buses but they're a lot more complicated than Singapore's MRT(Google directions is your friend)

Hack #2 Don't EAT what you see right away! (chances are, it might be on a prime location)
Beautiful streets of Singapore's Chinatown

Alternative: Look for Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle! It even has a Michelin star!

It serves probably one of the most best tasting soya sauce chicken in Singapore, tender and juicy and so flavorful with the spicy sauce that they provide for free. Be sure to try the noodle variety as well. A meal will cost you around 4-5 SGD. Avoid rush hour however, people flock to this restaurant and you might end up lining for a LONG time, either go in early at 10am, or eat late at around 3pm.

Other cheap notable restaurants you can try (you can google map these) Song fa bak kut teh, A noodle story and Tian Tian chicken rice!

You can even visit Singapore's famous hawker Centers, the one nearest Chinatown is the Amoy Food centre Just another day at a busy Hawker center

Hack #3 Don't buy Carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, or even bottled water! (yikes!)

Yes! i'm guilty of buying one of these on one super hot summer day in Singapore.

Even on convenient 7/11 Stores, those bottles of water could've been one meal on a cheap resto!

Alternative: Bring one big ass water bottle, one each person or even two if you're bringing a backpack. Refill it every time you can(once before you leave your hotel or hostel; do look for one that provides clean potable cold water, it's a big +) Some restaurants even serve water, you can refill from there, make sure to ask for "ice water" so they won't mistake it for mineral water in a bottle.

Hack #4 Don't go to Chinatown just for the trinkets, souvenirs and food
Buddha Tooth Relic temple

Alternative: Do visit the different sites and temples around Chinatown. They're mostly free if you avoid the souvenir shops nearby. Notable places to visit are the Buddha Tooth relic temple, Keong saik Road, Thian Hock keng Temple and Siang Cho Keong Temple. These places are perfect for instagrammers or just plain old school sightseeing

Inside one of the Buddhist temples

Hack #5 don't wear those beautiful shoes/clothes for that instagram or facebook photo OOTD you want to accomplish

Alternative: Wear comfy shoes (not just size wise but one with padding inside; rubber shoes would be best) Wear comfy clothes and pack light. Singapore is a concrete jungle, very humid and if you're lucky(i mean when it's not raining) it will be very hot. IF however your hotel is nearby, you can always restock, freshen up if you really want those OOTD wear.
Right shirt, right pack, wrong shoes. As you can see, on this lovely day, i'm sweating a lot even with just a shirt on.

Hack #6 Have fun!

Alternative: There's no other way around it! ;)