When Should I Take My Family To Singapore?

Problem
My friend, Haresh, in London wants to take his parents to Singapore. Another family living in Singapore want their son and prospective daughter-in-law to visit from the UK. Which are the best months?

Answers
It's hot and humid all year and the sun will set predictably around 6-7 pm. So no dark early nights when it's dark early in winter in London, good to get away to Singapore in the British winter.

No long evenings in summer, so you might as well stay in the UK in summer - except that Singapore hotels and private condominiums have outdoor swimming pools.

Swim Early All Year
Go swimming in the morning to avoid mid-day sun, and because you often get showers int he afternoon. Even if you wanted to brave it out and swim massive thunder will frighten you and the swimming pool attendants will blow whistles and beckon you out.

What to watch for:
Hotel prices (unless you are staying with family).
Xmas and Chinese New Year - best time for decorations. Xmas is fixed.

But Chinese New Year varies. Chance to try Singapore's Lo Hei.

I like the autumn festival. You can buy sweet Chinese moon cakes in China, Taiwan and Singapore.

Rainy Season.
Carry an umbrella at all times. Also a large scarf or light wrap in case you are wet from out door rain then caught out by chilly air conditioning in a hotel or office.

Haze
Haze is in the hot months when forests are burned in other countries such as Indonesia. Determined efforts have reduced this problem in the past three years but keep up to date with reports.

Buy an air ticket with stopovers and flexibility, so if the weather doesn't suit you, you can take a side trip or stay a shorter time on your way to Australia and longer on the way home a week or two later.

Useful Websites
http://www.weather.gov.sg/climate-climate-of-singapore/
https://santorinidave.com/best-time-to-visit-singapore

Author
Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Haze in Asia - how it affects daily life, business, tourism

Weather and circumstances can change overnight. It's good to have flexible plans. Last week, brilliant weather in Singapore. Now there's a haze. I'm glad I gook lots of photographs when the sun was out. A friend of mine who has a business in Singapore says she needs to stay in Singapore to look after her business. However, if the haze gets any worse, she will fly off to Australia.

Here's sunlight and blue sky and a colourful skyscraper, taken in Singapore, the way I would like to remember it.


From the tourist's point of view, it's not just a question of not getting the best photos in the haze. Even sitting indoors, you wake in the morning to the smell of smoke. Your eyes prickle. Your nose and throat fill with mucus to try to combat the incoming bad air. You keep clearing your throat.

You run around checking all the windows are shut: check the bathroom or shower room windows; the bedroom windows and sliding doors, the living room sliding doors, the kitchen windows.

What a disappointment. This window and door shutting exercise came the day after I thought one should open windows to allow in a refreshing cool breeze to combat the stickiness of a humid day.

A white grey sky is depressing. Instead of blue clouds, just white. Instead of green trees, ash grey. Distant skyscrapers seen through a mist, out of focus. Everything looks slightly dirty instead of bright. White buildings are ash grey. Only one person in the swimming pool.

Wait for what happened in previous years, reading haze reports, schools closed, sporting events closed. Outdoor events cancelled.

If you have a kitchen with grilles instead of windows, each time you go out to your washing machine or hanging rack in the scullery area you are breathing in smoke and have to keep the door shut.

Clothes hanging on washing lines smell smoky.

Businesses
Businesses are suffering. Nobody is going out shopping. Parents stay home to look after children who stay home instead of going out to play or to sports activities.

Restaurants
Fewer people are out and about. Restaurants with outdoor seating are not thriving.

Travel
Take the underground railway rather than sitting at bus stops breathing the smoky air.

Time to check flights out of Asia.

Planning Future Trips
In theory you could check each year's haze and plan to travel outside both the spring monsoon rains and floods and the hot summer heatwave and haze. However, this year late rains prevented fires in Indonesia from starting spontaneously or being started deliberately to clear the land for palm oil trees. So the haze season started later.

I am now editing photos I took in early August in good weather and brilliant sun which I took for granted.

For keen photographers, the moral is, take your photos while the sun is out. Never put off until tomorrow, a photograph you can take today.

For daily updates see:
http://www.haze.gov.sg
I have posts from previous years on the causes of the haze and its effects and prevention.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

When to visit Singapore and Asia: bargains, decorations, no haze and no rain

Good Time
Time to visit: any major event or festival (unless you hate crowds). My favourite time in Singapore is Christmas because every shopping mall is dramatically decorated with giant plays, sometimes animated. So are the major shopping streets such as Orchard Road. Sale time - Singapore sale. If you can't make the sale, go to Mohammed Mustafa department store. Part of it is open 24 hours.

Bad Time
Monsoon or rainy season. Roads are awash. Floods in major areas and highways. Rain not just an hour in the afternoon but for three days solid. Sandals shipping water. Photographs a waste of time. Boat trips cancelled. On the other hand, two major Singapore activities are still available. Food and shopping.

Tips For Shopping In The Rain
Any advantages to rainy season? This is when your hotels offer bargains. Great time if you are visiting family, indoor museums, restaurants and indoor shopping malls.  Think of what you have saved on hotels. More money to spend on shopping.

Trick to shopping indoors? Find basement malls which link one area to another. For example, half of Orchard Road is linked between Orchard MRT and ION along the south side of Orchard Road to Ngee Ann City towers. Two levels of shopping streets at Basement one and Basement two.

Hot or Not
If you are too hot, stay indoors. Indoor shopping malls. Indoor restaurants. Drink lots of iced water.

The locals drink warm water. Women are told that cold water gives you stomach cramps when you have your period and warm water helps relax your tummy. So Singaporean girls and women often ask for warm water. Your waiter will ask if you want warm water or iced water.

In India I was told that Indians like hot drinks such as tea because hot food and drink makes you perspire which cools you down.

Hay Fever, Pollution and Haze
If you suffer from hay fever, allergic reaction to pollen, in England or elsewhere, in spring, get away from it all in Singapore.

Singapore's haze is worst June to September. Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong suffer from polluted skies. Check weather reports. If the locals are wearing masks, either it's a flu or medical epidemic, or haze.

Haze - cause and effect
What causes the haze? Read the local papers and see what they say. Indonesia is blamed for forest fires started deliberately to clear forests to plant crops, eg for oil. At one point the Indonesians were claiming the cause was Singapore. At first it sounded a bizarre case of the pot calling the kettle black.

But I kept reading. One of the companies involved had its HQ in Singapore within sight of where I was then on holiday.

I wish the problem could be solved. Regardless of who is to blame, what can you do as a tourist?

Where can you buy a mask? At a pharmacy. But masks come in two qualities. The cheaper masks are only good for a few hours. You can buy a pack of three.

Will the haze affect you if you are only on holiday a short time? From a photographer's point of view, the sky is white instead of blue. Distant views of mountains are faded and blurred.

When the haze is at its worst, the schools and colleges shut. The staff at outdoor events have to be sent home. The elderly are told not to do strenuous exercise outdoors. Even indoor events are cancelled because the building cannot operate without staff working outside (cleaners, parking attendants, gate security etc).

Children cannot use outdoor playgrounds at school and outdoor walkways linking buildings nor outdoor food courts. Staff who don't have a maid, nanny or granny to take care of children have to go home to mind the children.

Hospitals are extra busy because of those who are ill. Also those who are old or sick must be checked as a precaution if they suddenly have breathing or other problems.

You might come down with a sore throat. No fun if you are speaking at an event.

When your Singaporean friends who are affluent or have family in Australia decide to leave Singapore for Australia, maybe it's time to shorten you outbound stopover at Singapore and plan to stay longer on the way back instead. Or maybe time to plan that Xmas trip. Flights are busy and often fully booked for major holidays such as Xmas and Chinese New Year. So check your calendar and plan the best time for your trip, taking into account budget, seasonal weather and festivities.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker.