Book your Singapore city tour from airport with Gee Soo

It's always fun on a Singapore Day Tour with Gee Soo!

Previously we talked about Singapore Tours from the airport and walking tours of Singapore but what about the tour guide that takes you on your Singapore excursions?

Welcome to our first episode of "Meet your Personal Tour Guide Singapore"! This is the first blog in a series to introduce you to your private Singapore tour guide.

Please meet Gee Soo. Born in Malaysia, he calls Singapore his home for the past 20 years. If you are on a tour with Gee Soo, you will immediately feel his love for all things Singapore. His energetic, friendly and sincere personality will make you feel like you are on a tour with a friend rather than a tour guide that you have never met before! Whether you book a public or private food tour with us at "Hello Singapore" or a private customised tour, if you are with Gee Soo, you are definitely in for an informative and jolly tour in Singapore!Check out what Gee Soo had to say in a short interview:

What is your favourite Singlish word?

‘Chiong’ - a Hokkien for ‘to rush forward’, is used to denote creating havoc and/or having fun. ‘Eh, it’s Friday, where shall we go and Chiong?’ - I am yet to find an English word to replace it, isn’t that cool?

What is your favourite Makan (food) place?

Blk 19 Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre where I can have one of the best Lontongs in town with my favourite Kopi C Siew-Dai (Coffee with evaporated milk less sweet) in my sleep/casual wear!

Do you have a favourite place in Singapore?

The 2-minute away - Woodlands Waterfront - where I can have my a run or a walk regularly. It’s well shaded by trees and lit’ed at night. Imagine a good workout in the Sea Breeze while you enjoy the city lights of JB on the other side of Johor Straits!

Tell us the funniest thing that happened to you during a tour.

As a new tourist guide, I was so hungry for opportunities. There was once I was being tasked to lead a group from Iran, the guest didn’t understand English and I don’t speak Persian. We communicated via sign language & hand-drawn pictures. It was the longest day in my life and I got tips!

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"What's the point in paying more money for a private guide in Singapore?" I hear you say. That is a very good and legit question! Of course, you could also take a Singapore Tour with dozens of other strangers hopping on and off a bus. This tour might be effective because you will see many places within the shortest time and it will give you a little snippet of Singapore and you might not know what you actually have missed. Being on a big tour will give you almost no possibility of asking questions and get to know the real Singapore.This amazing place has so much to offer...

• The everlasting history of East meets West

• The multinational cuisine that will take you on a culinary tour throughout Sout East Asia

• Being one of the most important financial capitals in Asia

• The multicultural heritage and many many more!

Add a Singapore China Town tour to your plans for Singapore and you wont be disappointed.

Eat your way around Singapore on a Singapore food tour

visit garden by the bay as part of your singapore tours with Hello Singapore.

This is only a small addition to the many things that you can expect on a Singapore City Tour besides the obvious things like the Gardens By The Bay, Marina Bay Sands, or Orchard Road. Your Personal Tour Guide in Singapore will make sure that you have a memorable day, discovering things and places that you otherwise would not have visited. Whether day tour package or after sunset, your walking tours in Singapore will always be unique - just like YOU! Get in touch with us now and check out the best tours in Singapore for you.

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Have you been through Chinatown lately? Maybe on your Singapore Food Trip or your Singapore Layover Tour...?Whichever Singapore walking tours you chose, you surely will have seen the beautiful decorations all over Singapore!

Red and Gold on your Singapore City Tour

Ornaments of Red and Gold are typical for Chinese New Year. According to the Lunar Year Calendar, we are entering now "The Year of the Dog". It is believed that the dog will be watching over humanity for the whole year. People who are born in the year of the dog have to be more careful this year as their patron is busy watching over all the others so that he can't watch his own zodiac-born tribe. Whether you are on your Food Tour in Singapore or on any other Guided Tour in Singapore with us - rest assured that your Hello Singapore Team will be looking after you!

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If you were on a Singapore City Tour in the last 2 weeks, you might have been lucky to experience the Hindu Thaipusam Procession. This festival is in honour of Lord Subramaniam (aka Lord Murugan) who represents virtue, youth and power. Also seen as the destroyer of evil, devotees celebrate Thaipusam for 2 days.The festivities start in the early morning with Lord Murugan's chariot procession from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, Serangoon Road to the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple, Tank Road. 

Picture of Lord Murugan

On your Singapore Excursion, your Private Tour Guide will able to show you devotees carrying milk pots which are a symbol of abundance and fertility. Some followers carry "kavadis" which symbolise the burden. They are meant to be the sacrifice through which the believer implores help and blessings from Lord Subramaniam. Many tributes are expressed by piercings of the flesh such as skewers put through the tongue or hooks on the back.

Sacrifice on Thaipusam

Thaipusam Sacrifice

Spectacular views at Thaipusam

The kavadi is a semi-circular wooden or steel frame decorated with peacock feathers and flowers. It gets hoisted onto the shoulders and is supported by bars. Some kavadis can be as heavy as 40 kg and as high as 4 m! Many frames have spikes that stick into the body are carried 4,5 km from one temple to another.

The Thaipusam Festival is celebrated on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). So, if you have missed out this year, just book your day tour in Singapore with your Personal Tour Guide for next year! They will certainly be able to find the best spot to witness this amazing spectacle!

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Lanterns in Chinatown Singapore

Walking through China Town with your personal tour guide for Singapore, seeing the beautiful lanterns lined up - No doubt! Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is close! Colourful processions, markets and the vibrant lions dancing to bring good luck and fortune are a fascinating sight on Singapore excursions.

"Ang Pow" (red packets) with money is exchanged and you will see that the dominating colours are red to scare away the evil spirits and gold for prosperity! Traditionally, on the eve of the new year families celebrate at home with a Reunion Dinner to share one of the most important meals of the year with their loved ones. Culinary delights like pineapple tarts, 'lapis' or layered cake, crisp love letters, 'kueh bangkit'  or coconut cookies and 'bak kwa' barbequed meat (mostly pork) are a one of the best food to try in Singapore for this time of the year.The following days are spent visiting relatives, friends and temples to pray for blessings.

As this Chinese New Year falls on a weekend, it would be also a great time to travel and see how other places around the region are celebrating. For example, you could hop on an aeroplane and fly over to Hong Kong! Our Hong Kong Team is having a special "Chinese New Year Firework Cruise" to watch the incredible 23 minutes firework display over Victoria Harbour with the amazing Hong Kong Skyline in the background! Limited spots are available! Book HERE.

 #singapore #sg #hellosingaporetours #ilovesg #hellosg #sgfestivals #culture #chinesenewyear #lunarnewyear #yearofthedog  #temple #gods #ancestors #visitsingapore

after a private tours in Singapore visit the Red Dot Design Museum and enjoy a craft beer

The Red Dot Museum in Singapore is the perfect place to finish your tours in Singapore

try a selection of local foods after your private tours in Singapore

The Red Dot Design Museum is the sister museum of the Red Dot Design Museum in Germany. Together they showcase the best new design ideas across the categories Product Design, Communication Design and Design Concept. The Singapore museum contains the award winners of the best Design Concepts.This is a fascinating museum showcasing 300 new and unique design concepts from all of the world. Every year the competition attracts over 4000 entries from a wide range of amateur designers through to world famous and household names. A panel of international design experts select the winners which will be displayed in the museums. Many of these ideas and products go into production, some are even available in the museum shop!A show case of the best new and unique design concepts from around the world.  The museum is located on the Marina front, not too far from Marina Bay Sands. It is open until 2am making it the only Night Museum in Singapore and it has an excellent bar with a good selection of craft beers! You can even enjoy some food, which is has been 'designed' into cubes!Even the food has been 'designed'! Top centre is a cube shaped Chicken Rice! We think that the Red Dot Design Museum is one of the Best Museums in Singapore because: 

• The exhibition itself is super interesting covering design concepts in furniture, clothing, automobiles, pets, construction, the environment...

• It's location on the Marina is brilliant.

• It's open right through until 2am making it the perfect place to go if you have jet lag!

• The bar has a very good selection of beers and runs a happy hour from 5pm to 8pm every day!

• The food menu has been well crafted covering all of the Singapore favourites from Chilli Crab to Laksa and Beef Rendang. Click here for the full menu.

• The shop is fantastic - it would be impossible to go home without a souvenir!

the shop at the red dot design museum - perfect for picking up gifts after your tours in singapore

The museum shop. If you would like to visit the Red Dot Design Museum after your Singapore tours, just ask your private tour guide to drop you off here at the end of your tour. 

Address: 11 Marina Boulevard. Singapore 018940.

Website:https://www.museum.red-dot.sg/

Opening Hours:Monday to Thursday : 10am to 8pmFriday to Sunday : 10am to 11pm

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/RedDotDesignMuseumSG/

If you ever thought of a tour for Singapore, you will definitely have seen some pictures of Gardens by the Bay! This 101-hectare nature park is an initiative of the Singapore government to transform the "Garden City" into a "City in a Garden".The Gardens opened its doors to the public in 2011 after breaking ground in November 2007. Being high on the popularity list, Gardens by the Bay had its 20,000,000th  (YES, twenty millionths!!! 😳) visitor in November 2015!It consists of three waterfront gardens, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forrest. Whereas the Cloud Forrest replicates the tropical mountain regions of South-East Asia, Middle- and Sout America featuring a 35-metre waterfall to providing crisp and refreshing air, the Flower Dome replicates the mild and dry climate found in the Mediterranean, Australia, some South American and South African regions.If you need a break on your Singapore city tour, the changing floral displays in the Flower Dome are always worth a visit, especially, for Christmas and Chinese New Year.Did you know that the orchid display won gold at the 22nd World Orchid Conference (WOC 22) held in Ecuador in 2017?Ask your private tour guide in Singapore to tell you more about it, or how about finishing your Singapore tour at the Gardens by the Bay? 

Undoubtedly, one of the most iconic buildings in Singapore is Marina Bay Sands.Its unusual shape triggers your curiosity. The three towers are, according to their architect, Moshe Safdie, inspired by a card deck. Indeed, if you look closer on your Singapore Walking Tour with your personal guide, you will see that both legs in all three towers are asymmetric and lean against each other, going wider in the bottom and narrowing, going up. The number 29 out of 75 tallest buildings in Singapore, is crowned by the almost 1.5 hectare Skypark (that is as long as 4.5 Airbus 380 Jumbo Jets! 😳). The Skypark is home to the world's longest elevated swimming pool (a 150m infinity pool) which is an attraction in itself and can be accessed by hotel guests.The base of Marina Bay Sands is home to a very large luxury mall, many cafés and restaurants as well as local eateries. To make the experience even better, during winter, there is an ice skating rink in the mall and all year long you can book a sampan ride in the canal that runs through the lengths of the mall, similar to the Venetian in Las Vegas.So, next time you visit Singapore ask your private tour guide of Hello Singapore Tours to tell you about the Marina Bay Sands! 

Six brilliant bars in Singapore; two for Friday, two for Saturday and two for Sunday night! Now that's a good weekend!If you are taking a Singapore Walking Tour with us and would like us to point these ones out to you just let us know.

Visit Raffles with a private tour guide as part of your tours in Singapore

The Hello Singapore team of Singapore walking tours guides

We LOVE going to Raffles!Opened in 1887 by the Sarkese Brothers and named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (the founder of Singapore) this is an absolute must see in Singapore. But get there quick as its closing for renovation from Dec 2017 to the middle of 2018!This fabulous artwork of the Raffles hotel can be found on display in the Raffles gift shop. Long gone are the days when tigers roamed the district but the doorman is ever present in his iconic uniform! Here's a fun fact for you - in 1902 the last tiger to be killed in Singapore was finally shot while cowering under the hotel's Bar & Billiard Room, then an elevated building.Left to Right: Daryl, Su Ling, Narjan, Laura and Gee Soo. This is us, your Hello Singapore tours team, at Raffles with Narjan, the most photographed man in Singapore! He has been the doorman at Raffles for 25 years! Ask us to include a visit to Raffles as part of your Singapore walking tour and we'll tell you the story behind the infamous cocktail - the Singapore Sling.... yes there will be time to try one as well!