Walkthrough: Getting to bus 138 at Ang Mo Kio for the ZOO!

Hi everyone!

Many a times I have had to direct tourists who are trying to find bus 138 in order to get to the zoo from Ang Mo Kio MRT.

Here is a picture walkthrough of how to get to the bus terminal of Ang Mo Kio, and take bus 138!

This is what you will see after exiting the mrt. Head STRAIGHT and DO NOT EXIT the mrt.

You'll then see a lot of people going onto the escalator at this EXIT C

If you look carefully... there is a sign here! :D 

Take the escalator ....

And walk a short distance till you see this!
Use the escalators on the RIGHT. Which say "Bus interchange (Level 1)"

You'll then see this, and you will have to walk straight for a while.
There will be some shops on your left selling cakes, bubble tea, donuts etc. Feel free to buy some but please remember that you're not allowed to eat on the bus!

At the end of this straight road, you'll notice this sign, and 138 is on it!

 So turn right into this smaller corridor

And walk to the end!

TADAH!! Bus 138! There is even a toilet nearby for you to use.

Please note that if you're paying cash, you must pay EXACT as the bus uncle will not give you any change. This is when I strongly recommend getting an ez-link card. If not make sure you have sufficient coins and small notes for both this trip and your return trip!

The journey is said to be 40 minutes long, and the Zoo is the very last stop, so you won't have to worry about missing any stops :D

I hope this walkthrough is useful for you! Hopefully not so many people will mistakenly walk to the wrong bus stop anymore!

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Near the heart of Singapore, lies a beautiful garden that offers free entry to all who wants to enjoy the flora and fauna. I walk through these gardens often, so this post will be updated with new pictures sometimes :D

On the 4th July 2015, our beautiful botanic gardens was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site! I am so proud!! :DD See the article here

Getting here

Click here, for the awesome botanic gardens webpage on telling you how to there!

I personally find that going to the bukit timah gate is the most fuss-free route, because you can never go wrong when the gate is just in front of the MRT entrance! 

Just hop on a train to the Botanic Gardens station along the circle line :) 

This entrance is also closest to the pond, where there are ducks and black swans, and large areas for you to have a picnic or play some games. 

Notes

• There is limited shelter in this area, so if it is raining or it might rain, try not to come :X
• There is not much food options within the Botanic gardens area. There are some small shops outside the Bukit Timah Entrance (walk along the main road in the same direction as where the cars are travelling) but there are really limited choices.
• DO NOT attempt to walk from the Bukit Timah Entrance to the Tanglin Entrance which is near Orchard road with the hope of continuing your shopping after that UNLESS you really want to. It is a long long walk. 
• Wear comfortable shoes. I've seen too many pretty ladies struggling with their heels while walking around the gardens

There are quite a lot of trees and flowers and animals in the gardens as seen in the pictures below, the key is to just be observant and enjoy :D

If you need it, the map of the botanic garden is the image below! :D The garden is quite big actually. So plan out how much time you would like to spend here and then decide where you'd like to walk 

That's all for now! Till the next post :)

Last Edit: 26/4/15

Getting to Bugis Street

Alrighty! You've probably heard of Bugis street as the one place teenagers go to for shopping and accessories buying. This place has improved a lot over the years especially by installing air conditioning!! 

But first, may I please emphasize that Singapore IMPORTS A LOT OF THINGS. Please don't be surprised if you're noticing clothes from your home country selling for a much higher price here in Bugis Street. Itzliddat. :/ So if you don't want to buy items made in China, made in Thailand, I don't recommend coming here, because a large number of shops sell these items!

Then again, I'm not complaining as a singaporean, there are good steals at Bugis Street, although I would avoid spending more than $20 for any single piece of clothing there..

Ok enough rambling, let's go!!!

Tap out of the station and you'll straight away see this sign.

Bugis street is not clearly mentioned, so just head right!

ah... our favourite guardian where everyone waits for everyone

After turning right, walk a little and then you'll see this are with two escalators again on your right. Take those escalators!

If you decide to go straight, you will see this instead, and this heads towards the basement of Bugis Junction the shopping mall. It's characterised by the staircase at the centre. 

You'll see the street after taking the escalators. Walk straight toward the nearest traffic light 

Cross the road, and you'll reach bugis street!

There is a side entrance to Bugis Street as well, on the left side facing Bugis+, another shopping mall

Some of the items sold here~

You'll find a number of nail parlors too

Haha hi luhan!

Do walk around and check out the items before buying them. But unless you're familiar with how the shops are organised, it can be really hard to go back to the shop where you found an item.

Try haggling and barganing a little once you see something you like, BUT do not bargain half price omigosh NO.

Asking for $2 off is quite common especially if you bought more than 1 item, but do it quietly at the counter and very likely the staff would give it to you. 

ALSO sometimes the third floor tends to sell their items more cheaply than the first 2 floors o.o 

Rough Price Guide (the max you should pay): 

Tote Bags $5

I Love SG shirts $10

Dresses $35

Cotton Shirts $10

Dressy Shirts $20

Caps $15

Most items are labelled with their prices, so that it really helpful!

There are some toilets within bugis street itself on the second and third floors.

If you're going back, go in the same direction as from how you came, and look out for this sign!

Enjoy shopping :]

and if you're hungry and looking for food, do head over to the top floors of Bugis+ for restaurants or to the food junction at Bugis Junction for local food!

Getting to HabourFront station/Sentosa via MRT

To be honest, majority of the mrt stations are easy to navigate... Except the monster station known as DHOBY GHAUT. Urgh

I'll update with pictures soon!
But for now if you're coming from orchard, take the red line to dhoby ghaut station.

After alighting, travel one floor up and look out for where everyone is heading towards. You should be able to see a travellator/ flat escalator.

Go to the end, and you would notice 5 escalators, some going up some going down.

Head down, and then head toward the north east line (purple line) on your right.

On your far left would be the circle line (yellow line) that also goes to HabourFront. 
DO NOT TAKE THAT LINE because that goes one whole round. DO NOT TAKE IT.

If all else fails, just ask a friendly looking Singaporean :3

Once you head down the escalator toward the purple line, you can then board the train toward HabourFront, which is just 4 stops away.

And yay! You've arrived.

Now go up one level and head toward exit E if you're going to VivoCity or Sentosa

You'll see many signages telling you where to go to take the sky train or walk through the broadwalk!


Here's a map of the area near the station in case you need it... You'll always find these useful maps at any of the MRT stations, so make use of it!

Now it's time to make your way up to ground level.

Go up these escalators next to candy empire

See? the blue signs are all so obvious

Once you head to the ground floor, look out for another blue sign that says SENTOSA BROADWALK

Sorry picture here isn't so clear.

If not, head up another 2 floors to the top floor and you would find the sentosa express.

Again, lots of signages for you

And here we are!

To get in, use your ez-link card or go and buy a ticket from these ticketing machines.
Cost of entry is $4 per ride, regardless of which station in sentosa you alight at. I'll explain more about this below.

I was given a ticket coz I was staying at one of the hotels, so I had 3 days of free train rides on the sentosa express! 

These are the train stations on the Sentosa Express!

Sentosa Station is the one you would board at Vivocity

Waterfront Station is where Resort World Sentosa, the Casino and Universal Studios are at

Imbiah Station is where the Merlion is

Beach station is where the... beach is yup..

This is how the long broad walk looks like from the sentosa express train (which I forgot to take a picture of ><)

Tip

In my opinion, $4 for a ride is NOT worth it unless you are with a lot of heavy baggage and stuff.

Look at the picture below and you'll notice that walking that 500 metre long bridge may be a much cheaper option than taking the sentosa express.

And did you know, once you enter sentosa, YOU CAN TAKE THE SENTOSA EXPRESS FOR FREE. This $4 is only an entrance fee.

Therefore, I'd much rather walk 10 minutes and enter free (or pay $1 on a weekday) and then go up the waterfront station and take the sentosa express to whatever other station I may want to go to (like beach station).

And when you want to return to mainland Singapore, IT IS FREE TOO.

Hence I would take the sentosa express from beach station all the way to Sentosa Station and I wouldn't have to pay a cent. Yay~

Alright here are some pictures I took at the beach :D

PICTURES ARE MINE DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION Beware of red ants near the grassy patches *ouch* they bite really hard
And please slather on sunscreen REGARDLESS of whether you really want that tan or not. The UV rays are bad for you. I put SPF 50 and still got darker O_O ok can

If you're looking for a cheap and good restaurant option at the end of the day, I recommend Astons, a western food restaurant where prices of a set meal ranges from $6.50 to $44.90 with 2 side dishes and affordable drinks.
Astons is located on the ground level at RWS, at the same level where the big USS globe is. It can be a bit hard to find, so do look at the location maps all around before finding it

That's all for now, hope this is helpful!
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