【Facility Tour】Singapore Navy Museum & Changi Village Bus Tour via Japanese School Bus

You can go without a bus tour. It’s usually not crowded, so same-day booking after arriving at Changi Airport should be fine.

There’s a nearby bus stop. It’s the yellow-green bus.

I said I was with a Singaporean family, so I used the bus tour. It was comfortable with seats both ways.

There were about 30 participants this time.

Every bus tour I’ve joined so far has only had Singaporeans besides me. No other foreigners.

Participation Fee (Includes Bus Fare)

Foreign nationals: $6 per person
Singaporeans & Permanent Residents: $2 per person

I visited the Japanese Naval Academy (Officer Candidate School Building, formerly the Naval Academy Cadet Hall) in 2023 (located on Etajima Island in Hiroshima. Overnight stay recommended. See the article below).

My family, who served in the Singapore Army, and I visited the Singapore Naval Museum this time.

【Bus Tour Schedule】
8:45 AM Assemble (Check-in & guide arrived at 8:44)
8:50 AM Bus departs. Guide speaks English & Chinese conversationally
9:30 AM Arrive at Singapore Naval Museum
9:45 AM Group photo, then free time begins…
Supposed to be free time, but several times staff in their 60s called us to “gather for an explanation”
11:00 AM: Supposed to meet outside, but the bus hasn’t arrived
11:30 AM: Bus arrives. Guide calls out to everyone
12:00 PM: Free time at Changi Village
1:00 PM: Supposed to meet at the bus, but it’s not there. Guide gestures that the meeting spot has changed suddenly. Followed other participants walking in a different direction. Best to remember what the other participants look like.
1:10 PM: Bus departs. Return journey

This isn’t a monthly bus tour. It’s irregular. I happened to sign up because there was an opening this week.

Participants included kindergarteners, parents with babies, and groups of seniors.

The bus is one used by the Japanese school.

The bus had weak air conditioning, and throughout the hour-long round trip, a mysterious “beep-beep” alert sound kept going off.

Unlike Japanese buses, the curtains were thin and didn’t block much sunlight.

Do Japanese elementary school kids really ride buses like this every day…?

シンガポール共和国海軍博物館　Singapore Navy Museum

Foreign nationals are usually charged $10. Credit card payment is required when booking online.

It seems it used to be free.

No Photography Zone

Indoor photography is permitted.

Outdoor photography is prohibited due to the naval facility next door, as indicated by the usual sign.

Observing the Singaporeans around me taking photos, I understood that “it’s okay if you just appear slightly in the background,” so I took photos that way. The composition below is acceptable.

Outside the museum (First, take a group photo here. Hiding faces is okay)

Some members were missing, but it was a laid-back tour without roll call.

Singapore Naval Museum 1F

Recent CG technology is being used. It has that Universal Studios feel.

Singapore Naval Museum 2F

Larger than the 1st floor. The floor with the most information.

Singapore Naval Museum, 3rd Floor

Kids’ activity area. Singaporean grandmothers on tours were snatching up the remaining paper crafts for their grandchildren and to hand out. They’re free to take.

If you spot any seniors, you might want to grab them before they do.

Items from cooperating countries and the terrace on the 3rd floor with the door closed (not even an emergency exit)）

The items from Indonesia were luxurious. Respect to the makers.

Japanese items…!! Compared to other countries, they’re incredibly hard to identify. Could it be that “Japan” is written on the back of the helmet’s straps? Other countries have their names displayed openly, not hidden as decoration, so they’re easy to spot. But this helmet is from Japan, right…?

Other countries display their national name plates alongside the items, but the Japan booth has absolutely no textual information whatsoever!!!

Honestly, it feels like the Singapore Naval Museum staff treated Japanese characters like symbols, just grouping things together thinking “This is probably Japan.” Sorry it’s so confusing. The items thought to be Korean were similar.

Without English labels, they can’t be identified.

A Creative Movie About the Navy and Family

Instead of a proper meal, a scene of eating cup ramen in the cafeteria. After this, a colleague suddenly brings in a birthday cake. I doubt the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force would ever bring in a birthday cake (especially a whole one). It’s unclear if this is a made-up story. If it’s an annual tradition, that’s actually kind of heavy.

Gift Shop 15 Photos

A male museum employee in his 60s was handing out small gifts to visitors.

Some participants didn’t receive theirs because the distribution was delayed (including us).

I don’t know what they were handing out, but my Singaporean family went to get some anyway.

My family handing out small gifts to the other participants on the bus.

Head to the hawker stalls at Changi Village

If I had sat on the right side of the bus, I think I could have taken some photos of Taekwon Island.

The restaurant we went to this time had a line, but the food was just average.

The last place I went to was delicious, but I forgot where it was. This place I ate at today had noodles that were all clumped together, and the soup splashed everywhere, leaving sauce on my white shirt for the first time.

For details on the delicious Singaporean restaurant and the sugarcane juice shop, please refer to a separate article. My Japanese companion was also thoroughly satisfied.

After the walk, I went to the bus meeting point, but the bus wasn’t there.

Following others, I moved to a different location. If you don’t remember the guide’s appearance or the other tour participants, I think you’ll get lost.

The return bus took attendance after departure. I wonder what they planned to do if there weren’t enough participants.

Singapore’s field trip-style social studies program