On the fifth day of our tour, we decided to take it a little easier and have a rest from our bikes. So for this post, I’ll share some pictures from that day in Singapore and do Q&A about travelling with my Brompton.

I woke up and decided to have breakfast at my new local coffee roaster, Glass Roasters.

Question: How did you travel to Singapore?

Answer: I travelled direct from Adelaide to Singapore on Singapore Airlines. I purchased a standard Economy ticket. Flight time was pretty fast at around 6 and half hours, we arrived about one hour earlier than scheduled.

We visited the National University of Singapore Baba House in the morning. We got there by walking through the very large Hospital District! NUS Baba House is a three-storey townhouse located in Singapore’s historic district of Blair Plain. Managed by NUS Museum, Baba House facilitates research into architectural conservation, urban and social history, and cultural hybridity.

I would highly recommend visiting – we have no photos to show as they want you to experience this house in real life and to share in its stories. So I’ll show you some photos from the adjacent area.

Question: How much luggage did you take?

Answer: I checked-in an XXF Brompton Bag for the bike and carried-on my essential clothes and other items in my Brompton Bag (the large one that fits on the front of the bike).

After NUS Baba House we visited an air conditioned museum – the Asian Civilisations Museum. That is also well worth a visit. We walked to lunch past the namesake pub of a friend of mine. But, we didn’t eat there as we were in search of Japanese inspired dumplings near the Singapore river. Surprise! The place was called Dumpling Darlings.

Question: Did you have to pay extra to transport your bike?

Answer: No. I didn’t pay any extra. In fact the bike and bag weighed about 18kg and its size was well within limits set by Singapore Airlines. I just checked it through the usual self service luggage drop gates as if it were like any other bag. Flying from Australia to Singapore meant that the weight concept was applied – my ticket allowed me 25kgs of weight. There are no specific size restrictions other than it must not exceed 200cm (length) x 75cm (width) x 80cm (height). Also, the Singapore Airlines website has some further information. Key points are (1) The bicycle is packed in a hardside bicycle case, a cardboard, or a padded protective case that is designed for transportation and (2) The tyres must be deflated.

After lunch, I did a bit of shopping at the Funan Shopping Centre. I wasn’t planning it but this rather hip shopping centre (we were later told that it wasn’t always that cool) was home to Brompton Junction and some urban bouldering. I followed up this shopping with some uber cool (both in a style and temperature sense) coffee from Kurasu Coffee (originally from Kyoto).

Question: Do you have any tips about what to pack?

Answer: Singapore is quite warm. While I prepared for it with a wardrobe similar to what I took to Jakarta the year before (lightweight long sleeve shirts and pants), I quickly decided that riding demand less modest clothes so I opted for a new pair of shorts and t-shirts. In relation to the bikes, you need to make sure you at least take spare tubes, a toolkit (checked baggage – you don’t want that confiscated at security) and battery driven mini pump (the Brompton pump is ok for emergencies but a mini compressor that functions as a spare battery is much better).

In the evening Mary and I caught up with some of Mary’s friends at Great World City for dinner. The night was pleasant and the conversation witty, which might explain why I didn’t take many photos. You will notice that I had two desserts. The first at Great World City a traditional ricey dessert and then some yummy gelato at Tiong Bahru.