A weekend in the city
A troop of long-tailed macaques eyes you from the canopy, a lizard slips silently into the lake – and sounds from the primary rainforest press into your skull. Welcome to the perfect Saturday morning antidote for the stressed and office-weary – the hiking trails around MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore. Yes, Singapore might be a city of high-rises – but it's also the tip of the Malay peninsula, and the reservoir gives even business people a chance to experience a piece of nature at first-hand. Choose from 3km easy boardwalks at the lake's edge, or challenging four to five-hour hikes. (Upper Thomson Road,
wildsingapore.com/places/macr/htm).
After a wash and a brush-up, spend Saturday afternoon getting a taste of Singapore's famous colonial past. Wessex Estate is an enclave of arty restaurants and galleries, based in much sought-after black and white houses that were once British army quarters. For a lunchtime bite at as you wander around, go for Colbar, which serves basic colonial and local fare (Tues-Sun 11am-8.30pm, 9A Whitchurch Road, 138839, +65 6779 4859). Then try Geeleinan, an Asian-inspired studio and gallery (1 Westbourne Road, 02-03, 138941, +65 6479 1974,
geeleinan.com.sg) and Sawah Art for Indonesian artists (26 Woking Road, #02-03, 138892. +65 9761 0664,
sawahart.com). If you prefer antiques, head to Dempsey Road (249675) for a similar setting and cavernous warehouses to explore.
For an evening meal, eat chilli crab alfresco at Boat Quay (049819) - or if you don't want to get your hands quite so dirty, try the Indochine Waterfront for Vietnamese food in a romantic riverside setting, where the outdoor dining area offers a view of the quay (12-2.30pm and 6-11pm daily. 1 Empress Place, Asian Civilisations Museum II, 179555 +65 6339 1720).
Nothing beats pottering around Mustafa’s bustling Indian department store on Syed Alwi Road on a Sunday morning. This piece of Little India is a treasure trove of saris, child-sized suits, cashew nuts, 50s kitsch – and a vast stock of Enid Blyton books. As you emerge blinking into the sunlight, head to Muthu’s for a south Indian fish-head curry and good fast service. (10am-10pm, 138 Race Course Road, 218591, +65 6392 1722).
In the heat of the day, the 600,000 plant specimens of the Botanic Gardens offer welcome shade. The first rubber trees of Malaya were planted here in 1877. Pop into the orchid garden, or doze under a tree (5am-12 midnight daily, 1 Cluny Road, 259569, +65 6471 7361,
nparks.gov.sg).
It might be a cliché – but it has to be done. The Raffles Hotel, symbol of colonial splendour, has had a facelift – and after you wander in through a cool palm-shaded courtyard, you can savour your Singapore Sling (invented here at the Long Bar), take out your copy of Far Eastern Tales by Somerset Maugham – and muse on an existence punctuated only by gin pahits at the club (Raffles Hotel, 1 Beach Road, 189673, +65 6337 1886,
raffles.com).
From there, rub shoulders with Singapore’s beautiful people at Breeze, the acclaimed Scarlet Hotel’s rooftop terrace (33 Erskine Road, 069333, +65 6511 3326,
thescarlethotel.com) and finish off your weekend with dinner around the corner at The Screening Room, where Chinese-baroque shophouses stand on what was once a clove and nutmeg orchard. After your meal, watch a film from a comfy armchair, enjoying a digestif and post-prandial titbits. (12 Ann Siang Road, 069692, +65 6221 1694,
screeningroom.com.sg).
24 hours in the city
If you've only a day in Singapore, start it with a visit to the Chinatown Heritage Centre - for first-hand accounts of the way the original settlers arrived, fleeing hunger in mainland China. On the restored shop house walls, you can read refugees’ retellings of the terrifying journey in a junk across the South China Sea. Learn how they carved out a living for themselves as street peddlers, prostitutes, coolies or succumbed to a life of addiction to opium, often living in appalling conditions of 40 to a floor and then dying alone in the Sago Street death houses. If you only visit one museum, this is it (daily 9am-8pm, adult $9.80, 48 Pagoda Street, 059207, +65 6325 2878,
chinatownheritage.com).
At Telok Ayer Street, Water Bay, these first immigrants gave thanks at waterside shrines for a safe sea crossing, if they were lucky enough to have had one. The sea has long gone - a victim of land reclamation projects - but the street retains a 19th-century feel. The Temple of Heavenly Happiness, Thian Hock Keng, is the oldest Chinese temple in Singapore, built in 1839, with spectacular twin dragons representing yin and yang on the roof ridge, lions, door gods and vast braziers to accept offerings to Ma Zhu Po, the goddess of the sea. Don't forget to look up at the restored red and gold ceilings (8.30am-5.30pm, 158 Telok Ayer Street, 048613, +65 6222 8212).
If you can, make time before lunch to see the Yue Hwa Chinese department store, where products from mainland China include medicines, silks and even blackwood opium beds (70 Eu Tong Sen Street, 059805, +65 6538 4222,
yuehwa.com.sg).
A lunch spot for your address book is Le Papillon in the Red Dot Traffic building – with creative modern food in a chic setting, it's a great venue to impress a client on a working day (28 Maxwell Road, #01-02, +65 6327 4177). The Red Dot Traffic building itself is the former Singapore traffic police headquarters; painted bright red, it is the venue for MAAD (Market for Artists and Designers), where outstanding international and local artists and designers gather to showcase their latest work on the first weekend of every month. Each stall is curated to ensure originality and a fresh approach. Also look out for performances, installations and live street art (26 Maxwell Road, 069120, +65 6534 7194,
reddottraffic.com,
maad.sg).
In the afternoon, take a bumboat ride along the Singapore River, embarking from Parliament House Landing Steps, near Raffles’ original landing site. Passing restored warehouses, skyscrapers and colonial buildings along the shoreline, the Merlion marks the entrance to Marina Bay where, sitting low in the water, you will see the extraordinary two prickly hedgehog outlines of the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay complex, called the durians by local residents (1 Esplanade Drive, 038981, +65 6828 8222, box office +65 6348 5555,
esplanade.com,
rivercruise.com.sg).
For a night to remember, head to Singapore's award-winning cageless zoo. By visiting in the evening on a night safari, you can see leopards, flying foxes, hyenas and nocturnal tapirs, among the 120 species on the prowl - though monkeys and orang-utans will already be sleeping. Choose from one of three walking tours, or take the 40-minute tram ride around the 40-hectare site. It's outstanding (7.30pm-12 midnight daily, 80 Mandai Lake Road, 729826,
nightsafari.com.sg).
An hour in the city
If you don't have much spare time but want to discover the hidden pulse of Singapore, the Original Singapore Walks will fit the bill. You don't need to pre-book; just turn up at the meeting point to meet your guide, and start walking. You’ll discover restaurant kitchens, wet markets, graveyards, gun batteries, funeral shops, archaeological sites, haunted houses, and places you would simply never get to on your own. Walks go ahead whatever the weather, and however many people turn up.
Singapore is usually hot, wet or sometimes both, so wear comfortable clothes and shoes, take an umbrella and a bottle of water and be prepared to have a very good time indeed. Most walks begin at 9.30am and finish at midday, but afternoon and evening walks are available.
Depending on which day you are free, you could choose from a tour of Chinatown, the spices, flowers and silks of Little India or the Arab Quarter and Kampong Glam for straits-born Chinese Peranakan culture. The Changi second world war museums will give you insider knowledge on the Japanese occupation and British surrender, or take the Colonial District walk for a visit to St Andrew’s Cathedral, CHIJMES with its restaurants, bars and shops, and the Raffles Hotel. Private walks are catered for on request.
The evening walk in Chinatown takes you to brothels and back alleys, as you listen to stories of opium addiction, secret societies and gambling dens. On Tuesday evenings there is the Tipple Exchange, where, over a drink, you can hear about scandalous historic events that took place on or near the Singapore river. See which walk is up your street and find out days, times and meeting points at
singaporewalks.com.
