Woes of A Ultimate Frisbee Player travelling to Singapore (Transport & Accom)

Hello Ultimate Frisbee Players from around the world!

As the Under Armour Singapore Ultimate Open is around the corner, foreign teams would be making plans to head down to Singapore, which could include things like accommodations, transport etc.. but first let me say this:

Always wanted to do that haha... Anyway here are some of my tips and recommendations on these two main areas - Transport and Accommodation.

Transport

I would recommend using the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) for most of your travels as the MRT is very convenient and usually brings you to your destination, whereas for buses, there are stops you have to memorise and take note. You might just end up losing your way, like this guy over here:

With so many mrt lines and bus lines, one might get confused on how to go to the competition venues. To help you with that, I would list down the station and colour of the MRT line where the competition venues is closest to. This would help you plan your accommodations.

Common Venues for grass/turf ultimate frisbee

Farrer Park Fields

MRT Station: Little India (Northeast Line "Purple")

West Coast Park

MRT Station: Haw Par Villa (Circle Line "Yellow")

Note: that area consist mainly of a park (Har Par Villa) and an industrial area, so I would suggest not staying there during your trip here. From Har Par Villa, Proceed opposite via the overhead bridge to the bus stop and take 176, alighting once you see a McDonalds on your left.

Sengkang Fields

MRT Station: Sengkang (Northeast Line "Purple")

Common Venues for Beach Ultimate Frisbee

Sentosa

MRT Station: Harbourfront (Northeast Lone "Purple")

To use the MRT lines, you would have to purchase a one-way ticket/card from the ticketing machines readily available. Choose your destination and pay the fare accordingly.

Here's a map of the MRT for your reference as well!

There are interchange stations which you can take to to change to other lines, such as these stations:

Dhoby Ghaut (Purple/Orange/Red)

City Hall/Raffles Place (Red/Green)

Promeade/Bayfront (Blue/Orange)

Bugis/Chinatown (Blue/Green)

Accommodation

There are many homesharing websites such as couchsurfing.org that allow you access to free accomodations with your hosts. On the other hand, you could phone a friend you made in an overseas tournament:)

For those who are not so lucky, there are still many forms of accommodation in Singapore with a diverse price range, from the low twenties to the hundreds a night. Hence it would depend on what you are willing to pay/take.

Hotels

If you are willing to go the extra dollar (I mean really extra), Marina Bay Sands is one of the hotels that you might want to stay in as it is one of the hotel that boasts a swimming pool on top of the hotel! The skyline of Singapore is gorgeous, and the pool/jacuzzi over there would make a good post-competition activity! It costs high 200 - 400 SGD per night to stay there so do take note!

For hotels, I would suggest these websites as time to time they might offer special rates or discounts to the hotels:

1) booking.com

2) trivago.sg

3) agoda.sg

The guys at local website The Smart Local, also did a featurette on unique boutique hotels to stay in Singapore. Check them out here!

Places to avoid: Geylang, Joo Chiat

*These places are Singapore's red light district areas so some people over there might rub you the wrong way.. if you get what I mean:) These places do have their charms as well, such as food etc so do take a look if you're interested.

Hostels

For those with budget constraints, there are hostels that are really cheap, but you might have to share with people, which might make travelling here more memorable as you would interact with people from around the world! Do find those that located around Chinatown, Little India or Farrer Park as it would allow you to be within distance of popular tourist spots in Singapore yet be able to go for competitions conveniently with the close proximity of MRT stations near these areas!

And again, the people over at The Smart Local did a pretty good job lisiting down some good and affordable hostels, check them out here!

In addition, here are some other hostels you might want to check out as well (in no order of mert):

1) The Sojourn

2) Drop Inn

3) Betel Box

4) Wink Hostel

5) Pillows and Toasts

6) Tree In Lodge

7) Matchbox the Concept

8) Blanc Inn

9) Hangout Hotel

As for booking of the hostels, I like to use this website: http://www.hostelworld.com/

This is because this website is very flexible. It allows you to put a partial payment on your booking and also an option to cancel your booking as well.

As for people who want to play some pickup while you're in Singapore, check out my post on places to play Ultimate Frisbee. which was updated thanks to people from the Ultimate Players Association of Singapore!

For the local readers, here's something to keep you interested! And a big shout out to The Smart Local for all the really helpful contents about Singapore. Do check the out at www.thesmartlocal.com!