Practical Singapore
The small things, sorted.
Singapore is an easy city to travel once someone has told you the handful of systems that run it. These are the ones that matter on a first or second trip.
Money
The Singapore dollar is the currency. Cards and phone payments work almost everywhere, and an EZ-Link or contactless card covers all public transport. Cash still matters at hawker stalls, market stalls and small kopitiams, though most now take QR payment too, so carry some small notes. ATMs are everywhere; your home bank's fees, not local charges, are usually the cost to watch.
Staying connected
A data eSIM is the painless route: buy before you fly, land connected, and use the data for maps, translation and the MRT map. Tourist SIMs are sold at Changi Airport and in convenience stores if you prefer a physical card. Coverage is excellent across the island; the southern islands' far shores are the exception.
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Plugs and power
Singapore uses 230 volts and the British three-pin plug (Type G). Chargers from elsewhere need an adapter; heating appliances from 110 volt countries need a converter, not just an adapter. Most hotels keep adapters at the desk.
At the border
Most visitors enter Singapore visa-free for 30 or 90 days depending on nationality, so check yours before you fly. Every arrival completes the SG Arrival Card online within three days before landing; it is free on the official Immigration and Checkpoints Authority site, and any site charging for it is not official. The drug laws are severe and enforced, with the death penalty for trafficking: do not carry anything across the border, in either direction.
Weather that moves events
Singapore has no typhoons, but it has two seasons of rain: the northeast monsoon from December to March and the southwest monsoon from June to September, with heavy afternoon thunderstorms in between that can pause outdoor events for an hour and then clear. Lightning is the real stopper: outdoor venues hold or cancel on lightning alerts, and a second check against the official source is worth it on a stormy day. Heat is the constant: 31 degrees and humid, all year, so outdoor sights belong in the morning and the evening.
Emergencies
Police are on 999 and ambulance and fire on 995. Public hospitals run accident and emergency departments that treat visitors, and the private hospitals are excellent; travel insurance that covers medical care is the one piece of paperwork worth arranging properly. Tap water is safe to drink, and the city is walkable at almost any hour.