Seriously, is it just me or has the cost of a proper night out in Singapore become an absolute joke? Last weekend I went out with some friends, and looking at my bank statement today is giving me physical chest pain.
If you stay far away like me in Jurong, you are already disadvantaged from the start. Just getting to town and back safely is a financial hazard.
- The Grab Tax is Real: A normal two-way Grab ride from Jurong to town easily sets you back $80.
- The Midnight Robbery: I ever kena before on a rainy weekend night trying to get home from Boat Quay—the surge pricing hit so hard it was $90 for a single one-way trip back west. Literally paying the price of a cheap hotel stay just to sit in a Toyota Prius for 25 minutes.
Secondly, our ridiculous alcohol sin tax. By the time you buy enough rounds to even feel a slight buzz, your wallet is already completely empty. A pint of beer at a pub is easily $18 to $22 before GST and service charge. If you want spirits or cocktails? Prepare to sell a kidney.
By the time you add up the cover charge, the overpriced drinks, tips, and the mandatory 3 AM supper (because you need to soak up the alcohol with some overpriced Prata or Hai Di Lao), you easily drop $500 in a single night. $500! For what? To squeeze with a million people in a dark room and listen to the same repetitive EDM drops?
Honestly, makes no sense. With that kind of money, I might as well just book a budget flight ticket to Bangkok, Taiwan, or Vietnam. The airfare plus a few nights of hotel there is probably cheaper than one single chaotic weekend in Clarke Quay. And the best part? The nightlife there is easily 10 times more fun, less rigid, and your money actually makes you feel like a king, not a victim of robbery.
Any other Westies gave up on town drinking already? Better just buy duty-free or NTUC beer and drink at the void deck (before 10:30 PM, of course).