The Days of Singapore & Malaysia

Harish Komarla
May 17, 2023
8 min read

Updated: Oct 15, 2024

Here is a glimpse into my journey to Singapore & Malaysia.

Image credits: https://pickyourtrail.com/blog/singapore-vs-malaysia/

As my journey unveils I have discovered many interesting and many to-do things which I shall highlight on a day-to-day basis of my tour.

Booking my tickets:

With my stay sorted in Singapore, the priorities for me were Flight tickets to India to Singapore, Singapore to Malaysia, Malaysia to Singapore & Singapore back to India + Boarding at Singapore.

Plethora of options available in the market, it was a tough search to find the right flight or right room for the right dates and right time to book the tickets. It took almost half of January for me to formulate and finalize the dates of my travel.

A family trip that will include a stay at my sis's house, had a few pros and a few cons. Decoding my entire formulation of the booking of my tickets.

Things started back in January i.e. when should I start booking my tickets? My kid has holidays between March and June, so is it the right time to travel in April & May? But I decided to move ahead and started booking my tickets during April & May. With so many options available, should I book from an Indian site or the flight site, or a foreign site... Finally, after so much research, I found a hack i.e. Skyscanner.co.in a website that searches all the websites in the world and shows from the lowest to the upper price tag.

A tip here (for Singapore): With so much research, my analytics lead me to book on Thursday and return on Saturday which was the lowest of all. Also, do note if your booking time is more than 72 days, then you are bound to have found the lowest prices. Thirdly, do a search on tickets from different cities i.e. I was bound to fly from Bangalore, but searched my departures from Chennai and actually found that I saved close to 20% on each of my return tickets. Finally, search from incognito mode so you don't get higher prices or be a target of retargeting ads.

With the tickets flight tickets are booked and my stay is sorted in Singapore at my Sister's house. The only thing left was to find tickets and rooms in Malaysia. As I was traveling from Singapore to Malaysia, the options available are Flight, By Road, and Train. I had to plan it out properly so I could plan my travel inside the city and in between the cities (including the activities).

Applying for a Tourist Visa:

Here are some pointers while applying for a Visa for travel.

Check with an agent who is helping you get the visa on the required documents. Below were some of the documents I submitted for Singapore Travel (this would be a paper-based application and can happen only through an agent)
1. Passport with at least 183 days of validity
2. Fully filled FORM 14A
3. Covering Letter (duly signed by the traveler), mentioning that you are visiting their country for tourism purposes and you shall return back as you have a full-time job in India.
4. 2 Passport Photos (as per Singapore mentioned sizes and format)
5. Flight, Accommodation ticket copies
6. 3 Months Pay Slip / Bank Statement of 6 Months for confirmation of Job
7. Fully fulled Annex C Form i.e. authorizing an agent on behalf of you for applying for your Visa
8. Any authorized Government photocopy (self-attested)
9. If you are working then an approved Leave Form (for all the people traveling) if there is a kid then you need to get an approved leave form from school (if not during holidays).
10. If you own a business, then you need to submit a request on the business LetterHead, and an authorized Government document like GST, Registration License, MOA or Registered Partnership deed
11. If you are staying at a relative's place (which was in my case), you need to get an invitation letter from them (mentioning that you are visiting to see the country and will be staying with them including the address), their passport copy, their IC Card, their 3 months Pay Slip, their Employment ID Card, and their recent utility bills)
For Malaysia below are the documents (this would be an online application, even if it is through an agent)
1. Scanned Copy of the Passport either in JPEG / PDF format with a min of 183 Days of validity
2. Scanned copy of the Colour Photo as per Malaysia Immigration sizes and format
3. Confirmed Flight & Accommodation tickets (As I was traveling from Singapore, I had to submit my Flight tickets from India to Singapore and back to India as well)
4. If staying with relatives/friends, then you need to submit an invitation letter from the invitee along with their visa copy or IC Card of the invitee in PDF format, a utility bill, or a rental agreement of the invitee in PDF format.

Do note that the processing of the Visa shall take anywhere between 5 to 7 working days, and the documents may change from time to time (so it is better to check the website / an agent for better clarity during your travel) and also additional requests might come even after submitting the documents as requested for more clarity.

Preparing my back-pack:

As this was scheduled to be a family visit i.e. two adults and a kid, I had to check the following

Weather - so I could decide what kind of clothes I had to pack.
The kind of activities I selected were the required clothing/accessories.
The amount of travel, basis we could find the right shoes as you have Kilometers to walk in both these cities irrespective of the kind of connectivity i.e. transport available for the commute.
Some pre-packed food (especially for the kid). Do note you need to get accustomed to the palate available in these countries (no spices available whatsoever, especially when you try different cuisines)

Try sorting the bags so that is easier to unpack one after the other in usage, so you save some time as there are penultimate things to see and do.

Travel Day

With my travel plan being from Bengaluru to Chennai to Singapore, I had some layover time in Chennai. It was our first time experiencing the new Terminal i.e. Bengaluru Terminal 2 and wow! wow! what an amazing architectural delight for someone in India. With mostly empty spaces currently as still most of the flights are yet to be scheduled here, we had some time to explore and watch these inspirations.

After a 50Min travel, we landed at Chennai and had a layover time of close to 3+ Hours, which allowed us for relaxed immigration to check-in and some relaxed time at the lounge.

Notes for Immigration (documents that will be handy):

Passport (With min 6 months validity)
Photocopies of the approved Visa, Flight, and Accommodation Tickets
Scan / Soft Copies of the documents that were submitted during the Application for a Visa
If you are carrying more than the prescribed cash, then it would be better to announce, so a note of the same is made and you shall not be questioned later if caught

Some suggestions during travel:

Suggested having a FOREX card / International Credit Card (do check with your bank) as they provide better FOREX rates including service/GST charges
Check your Debit / Credit Card for lounge access so you avoid unnecessary spending on food inside the airport
Travel light after the check-in
Keep electronic-related products inside the cabin baggage, so you do not get strangled after you land at your destination

Day 1 @ Singapore

Landed in Singapore early morning... It was exhaustive and tiring with not much sleep. So I slept for almost the first half of the day. Then we visited MBS (Marina Bay Sands)... Here are the things to do at MBS

MBS Mall (Hi-street and luxury products on display + sale), if you are not here for shopping then just get involved in the marvelous architecture of this place.
Floating Apple & Louis Vuitton Stores on the Lake. You could capture some amazing Instagramable pics
A good walk from MBS to Merlion through the Helix Bridge (a spot for coll pics), the skyline of commercial Singapore i.e. CBD (a marvel to just stand and see, especially when lights are on) F1 Race Track (check out the stands to the podium here) and finally the Merlion (the symbol and pride of Singapore).

View of MBS, Singapore Skyline from the F1 Racetrack

(Left) Apple Floating Store | (Right) Louis Vuitton Floating Store

View of the Helix Bridge, Merilion, and MBS (Marina Bay Sands)

Don't miss out on the Night Light Show in the Lake in front of MBS, a 15-minute extravaganza. There are timings for this show i.e. 8 PM & 9 PM, so pre-plan to not miss it.

A glimpse into what you could expect at the Light Show.

Out of all the chaos, we did indulge in some amazing food.

Bacha Coffee - Originally from Marrakech and has been in business since 1910 in many markets across the world. They have a very interesting concept of selecting the coffee as per your palette i.e. how strong or robust, selected from different parts of the world. You get an espresso with some cream and sugar stick (if you like your coffee to be with milk and sugar). A coffee costs between S$11 to S$133 and there are millions of confectionaries to choose from.
JuBaoXuan Mala Hotpot - It's a Chinese dish, rough meaning "spicy stir-fry hot pot". So at this place, you get to choose the vegetables + meat (as I am a vegetarian, didn't go for it) + either rice or noodles in a bowl. Hand over the bowl to the cashier, who shall bill you for the weight of the bowl you need to choose the spice/chilly level (Suggested Mid Spice, as spice kicks in while eating) and also do not forget if you like the bowl to be soupy or dry. Don't forget to collect your call widget (that vibrates when the food is prepared, so you don't need to wait). With the ingredients and instructions, the food was prepared which was amazing, and something I have never tried before. Pricing would be approx. S$15 per bowl basis.
Venchi - This brand is from Piedmont - Italy, and has been in existence from 1878 in Italy. They have some amazing Gelatos that are silky smooth and is made of selected ingredients such as fresh, high quality milk only. They come in two options i.e. a Cup or a Cone. Irrespective of the option you choose they come in two scoops i.e. you could choose the same flavour or a different flavour. We tried the Berry Sorbet with Caramello (basically Salted Butter Caramel), Vanilla and Hazelnut. The price per cup is approx. S$10.