Travel TIPS Your A-Z guide to Singapore
| Your A-Z guide to Singapore |
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Singapore’s biggest claim to fame used to be shopping, but that has all changed as the city builds up its reputation as a well-rounded, something-for-everyone destination.
A is for Art Museum The Singapore Art Museum’s mission is to preserve art from the region, which means you’ll find more than 7,000 modern and contemporary art works from Singaporean and Southeast Asian artists in its collection. The museum is housed in a converted 19th Century mission school – with its green courtyards, tiled floors, pretty pillars and stained-glass windows providing the perfect setting to show off both the permanent collections and the roving exhibits. Visit www.singart.com. This collection of market stalls selling cheap knock-offs and quirky fashion gear has been given a facelift over the years, much to the disappointment of old Singapore hands. But that doesn’t mean you won’t still find a range of cheap and cheerful buys to take back home. Head here at night for maximum atmosphere… and don’t forget to bargain! Nobody, anywhere can cook up chili crab quite like the Singaporeans. Messy, fresh and lipsmackingly spicy, you’ll find this dish on most seafood restaurant menus. Palm Beach Restaurant down at One Fullerton on the waterfront serves up a whole range of fresh crab dishes – plus they’ll cut it up so that you don’t have to get too carried away with the shell crunching. Once you’ve finished your meal, take a short stroll down to the city’s Merlion statue — the famed Singapore icon that decorates a whole range of tourist tat, from hats and bags through to T-shirts and coffee mugs. D is for Diversity Singapore’s population of close to five million has a great ethnic mix. The majority are Chinese, with Indians, Malays, Eurasians and expatriates making up the remaining 25 per cent of the population. You’ll find each culture brought to life in specific areas of the city, like Chinatown, Little India and Arab Street – where you can hunt down foods, fabric and trinkets unique to each region. The Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is an impressive art centre, that locals fondly refer to as the Durian thanks to its spiky looking façade that makes it resemble the popular Asian fruit. The centre houses a whole range of venues — from an intimate recital studio through to a vast theatre – and plays host to a broad variety of local and visiting performers. It is also home to shops, restaurants and bars – which means you can hang around and soak up the cultural atmosphere. Visit www.esplanade.com for listings of events when you’re in town. F is for Fish Spa Here’s a seafood meal with a difference – the fish nibble on you! There are a couple of spas spread through the city that offer ‘fish reflexology’ – basically a 40-minute treatment where you dangle your feet into a pond of water filled with Turkish spa fish who gently nibble all the dead skin off your feet. Weird, but surprisingly effective. If you visit Sentosa Island, you can book a session at Fish Reflexology, Underwater World. Visit www.sentosa.com. A 40-minute session will cost just over Dhs100. G is for Garibaldi Restaurant It is no surprise this trendy Purvis Street restaurant has earned its green, white and red stripes as the top Italian in town. Chef Roberto Galetti shows off his home country’s passion for good taste in the kitchen here, creating dishes that celebrate the flavours of the season, including decadent truffles. The interior is stark and chic, but inviting enough to see you lingering over an after-dinner chocolate liquer, amongst Singapore’s hip social set. Visit www.garibaldi.com.sg If your time is limited and you’d like to fit in as much as possible, buy yourself a Hippo hop-on, hop-off bus pass. The route includes most of the city’s hotels and shopping malls and also stops off at the major attractions, including the Botanic Garden, The Esplanade and Merlion Park. The bus runs from 9am through to 6pm, with departures every 25 minutes, which means you can browse and sight-see at your own pace. A one-day adult pass costs around Dhs70. Visit www.ducktours.com. I is for Insomnia If you want a taste of Singapore’s nightlife, head to Insomnia at Chijmes. Chijmes is a former convent — complete with spectacular gothic architecture — that has been converted into one of the city’s top collections of restaurants and clubs. At Insomnia, the music is loud and the atmosphere is sticky, as local bands belt out cover versions of hits from Pearl Jam through to Mariah Carey. Located on Victoria Street. J is for Jurong Bird Park This massive park is home to over 8,000 species of birds, many of whom have been trained to interact with visitors. At the Lory Lookout, tropical birds will eat right out of your hand. If you’re travelling with little ones, give yourselves plenty of time to meander through the park, taking in some of the special daily shows and displays. Children will particularly love the Birds ‘n Buddies show, as well as the underwater viewing gallery at the Pelican Cove that lets you watch the pelicans dive into the water and scoop up fish. Visit www.birdpark.com.sg. K is for Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy New Year! Chinese New Year means a range of festivities that sees the city decked out in red lanterns and dazzling fireworks displays. This year, Chinese New Year falls on January 26. Chinatown comes alive during this period, with street stalls, parades and dragon dances. You’ll also want to make sure you catch the spectacular Chingay Parade in front of City Hall featuring international performers. The Singapore River Hongboa carnival has rides, games and performances, plus a string of fortune tellers who can let you know what the Year of the Ox has in store for you. L is for La Singapore has four official languages – English, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay – reflecting the country’s cultural diversity. English – with a twist – is widely spoken, which makes it easy to get around once you’ve tuned into what the locals call, Singlish. This uniquely Singaporean version of English is spiced up with Mandarin, Tamil and Malay words — all neatly rounded off with a ‘la’. Understand-la? M is for Maxwell’s Food Centre Food courts, or hawkers’ centres, rule in Singapore, serving hot, fresh food at all hours of the day and night. Maxwell’s Food Court — bang in the middle of town — makes a perfect stop-off after a late night out. Take a chair at one of the plastic tables, choose your dishes from one or more of the tiny stalls, then get ready to get your chopsticks stuck into some seriously good food. You’ll find hawkers’ centres spread throughout the city and suburbs, just ask your taxi driver for the nearest one. N is for Night Safari Head off on safari, Singapore style, in a zebra-striped painted tram or on foot. This award-winning attraction lets you get up close to wild animals and sneak a peak into their nocturnal habits. The safari takes place in40 hectares of lush jungle that is home to more than 1,000 nocturnal animals. You can combine your wildlife experience with a gourmet one, on board the Gourmet Safari Express. Visit www.nightsafari.com.sg. Pretend one of the yachts bobbing in the bay is yours, and settle in for a slow sundowner on the waterfront terrace at Privé. This Keppel Bay bar/restaurant/bakery has quickly earned itself a reputation as one of the city’s hottest spots, and works hard to maintain its achingly cool image. Once you’ve finished your cocktail, head inside to the stark restaurant and feast on one of Chef Tony Bilson’s charcoal grilled steaks. Visit www.prive.com.sg. Q is for Quality Service Singaporeans don’t do anything in half measures – and it shows. From efficient immigration officials (with little bowls of mints on their counters) and sharp taxi drivers, through to helpful waitresses and sussed sales assistants, you’ll find it hard to complain about the service in this sleek city state. Lap it up. R is for Rules The city frequently finds itself as the brunt of jokes thanks to its vast list of rules and regulations. Singapore is filled with bold red signs highlighting everything you can and can’t do. Chewing gum is contraband and litter bugs face massive fines (close to Dhs3,000) plus community service. Failure to flush the loo in a public toilet could earn you a Dhs500 fine, while some lifts in the city are fitted with sensors so that if you urinate in the elevator the doors remained sealed until the police arrive. The laws here are strictly enforced – as the jokers say, “Singapore is one fine city!”. T is for Transport The city is fairly compact, with an efficient public transport system which makes getting around easy and relatively inexpensive. Taxis are metred, but if you’re going to be in the city for a couple of days it is worth buying the Singapore Tourist Pass which allows you unlimited travel on both the clean and easy-to-figure-out underground trains (MRT) and buses. Visit www.singaporetouristpass.com to find out more. U is for Underwater World Sentosa Island is Singapore’s all-action leisure escape that can be accessed by taxi, bus, MRT, or cable car. Here you’ll find the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom, chairlifts and luge rides, a sky tower, cinema ride and 4D theatre. Kids will love the Underwater World, where they can pet baby sharks and sting-rays, and get up close with the dolphins in Dolphin Lagoon. Visit www.sentosa.com.sg. V is for Vivocity If you’re serious about retail, this over-sized shopping and leisure destination has to make it on to your to-do list. Built on the waterfront, this monument to the shopping gods was designed by famed Japanese architect Toyo Ito. Boutiques, department stores, cinemas, theatres, play areas, restaurants, art exhibitions… Singapore’s largest mall will either be your dream destination or your worst nightmare! W is for Waterside Fun Singapore’s island status and waterways mean there are plenty of options for lazy waterside meals and acitivites. Laze on one of the sandy East Coast beaches before wandering off for a seafood snack at one of the many restaurants that line the beach; have a sundowner and dinner at Clarke Quay in one of the old converted shop-houses that front the Singapore River; or head off on a traditional bumboat ride up the river to get a different perspective on the city’s sites. X is for Xtras ‘Buy one, get one free!’ — Singapore shopping is a great bargain experience. From market stalls through to designer boutiques, everything seems to involve a ‘special offer’. You’ll find this philosophy touted to the max at the Great Singapore Sale which runs for eight weeks during May, June and July. Visit www.greatsingaporesale.com.sg. Z is for Zoukout Singapore lets down its hair and parties during this annual dance music festival that sees some of the world’s top DJs keeping the crowds going from dusk until dawn. Last year’s event happened on Sentosa’s Siloso Beach during December. This year’s timing hasn’t been announced yet, but keep an eye on developments at www.zoukout.com. SOURCE AQUARIUS
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