| | | | | Singapore Zoo If you have written all zoos off as sad, |
| 1 Riverside | | | | inhumane places then maybe consider having your |
| The bulk of Singapore's historical attractions are by the | | | | mind changed by Singapore Zoo, which was endorsed |
| river, so a great place to start a daytrip is at the mouth | | | | by the late Steve Irwin and is used by Animal Planet |
| of the Singapore River. This area is a lovely for a walk, | | | | for some of its documentaries. The animals are kept in |
| with small green gardens dotted amongst old-style | | | | spacious, landscaped enclosures, separated from the |
| bridges and historical buildings. Maybe take a late | | | | visitors by dry or wet moats. Most, except the poor |
| afternoon stroll and soak up the peaceful atmosphere | | | | old panting polar bear confined to his air-con den by |
| before hitting the nightlife hot-spots of Clarke Quay | | | | the blazing heat outside, seem happy with their lot and |
| and Boat Quay. Before you have a drink, Riverside is | | | | no more psychologically damaged than some of the |
| also a good area to get fed. The western end of the | | | | creatures on the other sides of the moats. For a |
| river, around Robertson Quay, houses a Japanese | | | | cooler experience, board the little train that trundles |
| expat community, and consequently the Japanese | | | | through the park. Kids will love the Jungle Breakfast, |
| restaurants nearby serve some of the best fare this | | | | where visitors are joined at a 9am buffet by a host of |
| side of Tokyo. The best places for a splurge with a | | | | exotic animals such as orangutans, otters and |
| view are Boat Quay and Clarke Quay, which have | | | | elephants. |
| many superb and atmospheric riverside restaurants | | | | Night Safari A part of the Zoo but located on |
| offering cuisine from most corners of the globe. | | | | completely separate grounds that are closed during |
| Another good choice is Chijmes, the former Convent | | | | the day, this is the world's first wildlife park built to be |
| of the Holy Infant Jesus and now, since most | | | | viewed at night. The grounds are in fact larger than the |
| Singaporeans have lost interest in Christianity, an | | | | main zoo and only parts are accessible to visitors on |
| alluring assemblage of high-end food and drink outlets | | | | foot, so most people opt for the guided tram tour |
| near the Raffles Hotel. Travellers with refined cultural | | | | instead. There is a 30-minute animal show at an |
| tastes will enjoy the nightly opera, dance and classical | | | | amphitheatre three times per night: sit in the center |
| music on offer at the Esplanade Theatre. | | | | section three rows from the front for a big surprise. |
| There are two options for seeing the area from the | | | | Stopping at the second tram station is a must as there |
| air: | | | | is a walking path for viewing giraffes, flying squirrels, |
| G-Max Reverse Bungy. Get strapped in and flung | | | | leopards and lions. Other animals you can expect to |
| upwards by a giant rubber band at 200 km/h. Do this | | | | see include various types of tigers, elephants, bats, |
| before, rather than immediately after, dinner. | | | | flamingos, porcupines, leopards, otters, badgers, and |
| Singapore Flyer. Singapore's newest tourist attraction, | | | | storks. Child heaven and pretty good for adults too. |
| this 150-metre-tall observation wheel, modelled on the | | | | Jurong Bird Park The Park specialises in the more |
| London Eye, is the world's tallest. If you can afford it | | | | exotic and colorful birds from southeast Asia and has |
| then avoid having to share your capsule with dozens | | | | a collection of more than 8,000 birds from 600 species. |
| of other people by stumping up the $1,000 (GBP 370) | | | | To avoid becoming a soggy mess in the tropical heat, |
| for a private ride. Or maybe justify it as a valid | | | | you can circle the park on the Panorail monorail. |
| business expense by taking along a business | | | | The Botanic Gardens This has walking and jogging |
| associate – just hope he or she doesn’t return | | | | trails throughout. Outdoor sculptures dot the gardens. |
| the favour and take you for a ride, too. | | | | Look for the girl on the swing who appears to hang |
| | | | | from an invisible chain in the air. |
| 2 Orchard Road | | | | Here are a few things to do that don't involve |
| Orchard Road and neighboring Scotts Road form | | | | stomping about in the jungle: |
| Singapore's top shopping district, with several | | | | Singapore Turf Club Betting is allowed. |
| kilometres of busy but fairly quiet roads lined on both | | | | Snow City Interesting enough for residents of the |
| sides by practically nothing but shopping malls. | | | | tropics but probably not on the top of the agenda for |
| Shopping heaven, husband hell. | | | | pallid Europeans escaping their own winter. Sledding, |
| 3 Merlion. | | | | snowboarding and other wintry pursuits, including the |
| Singapore's official symbol, 8.6 metres tall and weighing | | | | inevitable subzero bar. |
| 70 tons, spouts water on the south bank of the mouth | | | | 9 East Coast |
| of the Singapore river. The monument was | | | | Whilst the main attraction is the beaches, the East |
| commissioned by the Singapore Tourist Promotion | | | | Coast also offers Singapore's solitary flashback to the |
| Board in 1964 to give tourists something to take | | | | past, the rustic little island of Pulau Ubin. |
| photos of, as the city is somewhat lacking in | | | | East Coast Park 20 kilometres of free beach on |
| spectacular sights. Many Singaporeans regard the | | | | Singapore's southeastern coast: very popular on sunny |
| monument as a bit of a joke: in Singaporean slang the | | | | weekends, despite the rather murky water. The main |
| verb to ‘merlion’ means ‘to vomit’. | | | | attractions are the imported white sand and palm |
| Popular mainly with Japanese photo-holics. | | | | trees, plus the locally-grown roller-bladers zooming |
| | | | | scantily-clad around. A good choice for families with |
| 4 Bugis | | | | skate-boarder sons, as skates are available for hire. |
| Bugis has a colourful, even lurid, past, as the den of | | | | Pulau Ubin Singapore's flashback to yesteryear, a little |
| iniquity at the centre of the sin city that Singapore once | | | | island off the northern coast where people still live in |
| was. Whilst the government’s imprisonment and | | | | fishing villages on stilts. The island is covered in biking |
| execution of all the pimps and lowlifes has completely | | | | trails and is an excellent spot for a little steamy jungle |
| cleaned the place up, one can’t help but mourn the | | | | off-roading. |
| loss of the colour of Singapore’s history a little: the | | | | 10 Sentosa |
| only lurid thing about Bugis these days is the neon | | | | Long a bit of a joke — Singaporean wags like to |
| signs. Originally named after the bloodthirsty race of | | | | quip that ‘Sentosa’ actually stands for "So |
| pirates who prowled the Straits before their | | | | Expensive and Nothing TO See Actually" — |
| extermination by the British, for a long time the area | | | | Sentosa's attractions have received some |
| was Singapore's equivalent of Bangkok’s infamous | | | | much-needed upgrades in recent years, with the worst |
| Patpong. After its sanitisation and conversion into a | | | | of the kitsch unceremoniously demolished. Offerings of |
| shopping experience for the whole family, it is now a | | | | interest to adults are still quite limited, but there's |
| place where pillaging and looting still occur, but only of | | | | enough to keep children amused for a day or two. |
| the most gullible tourists. | | | | The best way to get there is by the cable car. |
| | | | | Dolphin Lagoon Cute pink dolphins up to their usual |
| 5 China town | | | | tricks. |
| Chinatown's main attraction is the jumble of restored | | | | Fort Siloso Formerly the largest WW2 British naval |
| shop-houses full of strange boutiques stocking | | | | base in Fortress Singapore, its guns stare balefully out |
| everything from plastic Buddhas to dried seahorses. | | | | towards the sea in preparation for an enemy attack. |
| It’s a great place to wander around at random and | | | | Unfortunately, however, the Japanese didn’t oblige |
| see what you can find. Temple aficionados may enjoy | | | | by staging a kamikaze assault from the sea. Instead, |
| checking out the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which | | | | they rode bikes down the Malayan peninsula. Despite |
| towers above the area, although whether the Lord | | | | hastily turning the guns around, this was something the |
| Buddha would approve of purported bits of his | | | | British had not prepared for and, after less than a |
| remains being worshipped is open to debate. | | | | week of fighting, Singapore ignominiously surrendered |
| Chai-curious tourists will enjoy a visit to the Tea | | | | and the colony's erstwhile rulers were packed off to |
| Chapter, at 9 Neil Rd, for a spot of tea drinking, | | | | Changi Prison. The return of the British in 1945 was |
| Chinese style. Why not spend an afternoon reading | | | | less than triumphal and it was clear that their time as |
| the papers and tea-tasting some of the fancier brands | | | | Singapore’s rulers was up. Granted self-rule in 1955, |
| (“would sir care for some ‘Phoenix's | | | | Singapore briefly joined Malaysia in 1963, but was |
| Shrubbery’, perchance?”). | | | | expelled because the Chinese-majority city objected |
| | | | | to the pro-Malay racial biases built into Malaysian |
| 6 Little India | | | | legislature. The island became independent in 1965 and |
| Little India remains one of the most colorful and | | | | the Malaysians haven’t stopped kicking themselves |
| attractive places to visit in Singapore. Ladies in saris | | | | ever since. |
| and gold bangles sashay by while spices and incense | | | | Images of Singapore A kitsch and corny child-friendly |
| waft in from the doorways and Bollywood's latest | | | | rendition of the Singapore story, where people of |
| soundtracks blare from every other alleyway. | | | | many races have come together to live in harmony. |
| Have your fortune read by Pepe the parrot, but | | | | Renovated in 2006, the show now uses the latest |
| don’t get too jubilant when he tells you that you are | | | | technology, but there is not all that much substance |
| about to become massively rich, meet a lovely other | | | | under the glitz. |
| half, slim down and become younger – he tells | | | | Sentosa Merlion A 37-metre-tall version of the statue |
| everybody much the same story. | | | | by the Singapore River, this one lights up at night and |
| If searching for enlightenment then join the yearly | | | | shoots lasers from its eyes. Admission enables you to |
| festival of Thaipusam and attach shrines to your flesh | | | | take the elevator up into its mouth and gaze out over |
| with piercing hooks, then walk across town in a | | | | the nearby Port of Singapore, as well as take in some |
| day-long procession, dribbling blood on the pavements. | | | | seriously cheesy exhibits downstairs. |
| Female devotees usually just carry a pot of milk on | | | | Sentosa Luge Up the hill in a ski lift and down again in |
| their head, which is impressive, both because it looks | | | | a steerable bobsled. A good attraction for younger |
| impossible to achieve and because it demonstrates | | | | kids, but not very exciting for those over 15. |
| how the gentler half of the species don’t need to | | | | Songs of the Sea. Multimedia extravaganza with live |
| bother hang heavy objects off their flesh in their quest | | | | cast, pyrotechnics, water jets and lasers. Very popular, |
| for enlightenment. After the festival you will have | | | | so book ahead, especially on weekends. Kitsch, but |
| enough time to recover from your wounds before the | | | | fun. |
| festival of Thimithi, in which you can walk on red-hot | | | | Underwater World. Features a walk-through aquarium |
| coals – or alternatively, just marvel at how the | | | | with lots of sharks. Impressive. |
| David Blaine-style yogis and gurus can possibly do this | | | | Beaches By the standards of the region, these are |
| without sustaining serious injury. | | | | mediocre, but if all you need is some sand for the |
| 7 Balestier | | | | children to play in, they will suffice - just make sure you |
| Singapore Polo Club Dating back to 1886, the | | | | don’t swallow any of the murky water. |
| colonial-style clubhouse is a good spot to quaff a gin | | | | Fish Reflexology For a spa treatment with a |
| and tonic below lazy ceiling fans while watching the idle | | | | difference, have fish nibble the dead skin off your feet. |
| rich pootle about on the polo field. Riding lessons are | | | | You have a choice between ‘gentle’ Turkish |
| available and, even if the horses leave you cold, the | | | | fish and ‘aggressive’ African ones: neither will |
| spicy tiffin lunches certainly won’t. | | | | cause damage, but the African ones are really ticklish. |
| 8 North and West | | | | The treatment concludes with foot reflexology or head |
| To find out what a sauna full of bugs feel like, go for a | | | | and shoulder massage, performed by masseuses of |
| steamy jungle hike. These are five of | | | | the more customary species. |
| Singapore’s best: | | | | Sentosa Golf Club The only golf club in Singapore |
| Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is one of the last places | | | | open to the public, it features two famously challenging |
| in Singapore that is still covered by primary rainforest. | | | | 18-hole courses and hosts the yearly Barclays |
| Watch out for monkeys, who look cute but aren’t. | | | | Singapore Open. |
| Whatever you do don’t smile at them, as baring | | | | Spa Botanica. Singapore first self-proclaimed |
| your fangs is an aggressive gesture and may result in | | | | ‘tropical garden spa’. Out of this world. |
| them throwing something unpleasant and smelly at you. | | | | |