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Tips for: backpackersbusiness travelersluxury/exotic travelhitchhikersfamiliesseniorsLBG travelerspet owners

Events[]

  • Singapore Formula 1 Night Race

Hotels and lodging[]

  • The signature hotel in Singapore is the Raffles Hotel- It's been declared a national monument.
  • Shangri-La Hotel
  • Four Seasons Hotel
  • The Oriental
  • Clarion Collection Rendezvous
  • The Sentosa Resort & Spa, Sentosa Island
  • Pan Pacific Singapore, Singapore
  • The Regent
  • The InterContinental Hotel
  • Marina Bay Sands

Attractions[]

The new Sentosa Resorts World opened its door in 2010 March 18 with a spanking new Universal Studios Singapore Theme Park. According to theme park spokesperson, as much as 70% of the merchandise sold in there are exclusive to the Singapore theme park. There is a casino for gambling buffs as well.


  • Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is a rain forest area within the city of Singapore
  • Night Safari
  • Changi Prison Museum shows the path the Japanese took through Asia during world war II and some of the damage caused. It's not nearly as depressing as the War museum in Vietnam - much more civilized as you would expect of Singapore. It is out of town, and a bit remote feeling.
  • City Hall is worth a walk by at night. Beautiful when lit up
  • Marina Bay Sands is a 55-storey integrated resort fronting Marina Bay.
  • Mount Faber Cable Car Station The top has great views of the Harbour. The cable car can also take you to Sentosa Island which has a great butterfly park.
  • Performing Arts Center The new concert hall resembles a pair of Singaporean fruit - the Durian. It has a unique design so that it does not look the same if you view it from two different angles it will never look the same
  • Thian Hock Keng Temple
  • Orchard Road
  • Little India
  • Asian Civilisations Museum
  • Singapore Art Museum
  • Mount Faber Cable Car
  • Singapore Botanic Gardens
  • Haw Pah gardens. Gardens with statues and tableu depicting Chinese mythology and classic stories such as "The journey to the West"

Shopping[]

The Great Singapore Sale[]

The Great Singapore Sale is well worth the trip - bringing together thousands of merchants who offer special discounts to encourage tourists to fly in. Typically held in June and July every year, there are many promotions, including credit promotions, tourist promotions, and even individual shopping malls have their events. Check out year 2009's happenings here.


Visitors Card offers many discounts and is worth picking up!

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IT goods fairs[]

Singapore is known for electronics, as a port city.

4 main IT goods fairs are held every year at quarterly intervals, and typically during the local school vacations. Generally, the IT fair will start on a Thursday and end on Sunday with massive last-minute bargains, but visitors must be prepared to brave the even-more massive crowds.


Items on sale relate mainly to IT / computer products, though in recent years the shows have expanded to include large-screen LCD TV sets, video game consoles, mobile phones, computer tables etc. But do not expect to find household appliances like washing machines, microwave ovens, etc. as these are not household goods fairs.


  • IT Show - Coincides with the 1-week March school vacation, the week following the end of the show is usually the vacation week. Check out their website www.itshow.com.sg.
  • PC Show - coincides with the 1-month June school vacation, check out their website www.itshow.com.sg.
  • COMEX - coincides with the 1-week pre-exam September school vacation, check out their website www.comexshow.com.sg.
  • SITEX - coincides with the 1-month December school vacation, check out their website www.sitex.com.sg.

Others[]

Mustafa Centre is Little India sells just about everything. 145 Syed Alwi Rd
There is a shopping mall EVERY block in Singapore, but Orchard Road, China Town, Bugis Street and Little India are the best areas.
Hello

Maps and transportation[]

Getting to Singapore[]

Singapore airlines has consistently been ranked as THE best airline in the world. Their business class seats tilt to 180 degrees, and the stewardesses are incredibly friendly and attired in beautiful local garb. The food on-board is good and the service is excellent. The flights leave and arrive on-time like clockwork

Exploring Singapore[]

Local Trains are excellent, clean and on time
Cabs can be called via sms from cab stations all over the city. Look for the cab station number and dial away!
Downtown is very walkable - especially along the riverfront.

Practical information and resources[]

Eateries[]

Restaurants[]

River-Boat Quay has 30+ small restaurants
Clarke Quay - has beautiful water views, and the best chili-crab and black-pepper crab you can imagine. It's a Singapore specialty and all visitors are taken here by locals.
Stop by Raffles hotel, for a Singapore sling, THE drink of Singapore and a snack


Traditional dishes you should definitely try include: Bak kut teh, Char kway teow, Hokkien mee, Laksa, Nasi lemak, Rojak, Satay and Ketupat

Hawkers Centres[]

Some of the best (and cheapest) food in Singapore are found in the ubiquitous Hawker Centres dotted around the island. These are typically naturally-ventilated low-rise buildings housing many cooked-food stalls, commonly combined with wet markets built by the government, and as such, are typically situated near high-rise housing estates or low-rise residential districts. Generally, these hawker centres form the nucleus around which many small shops tend to cluster around, some of which may be the so-called coffe-shops where again a smaller number of food stalls may be located, but these tend to be located on the ground floor of high-rise public housing blocks.

Some notable hawker centres/coffee-shops are:

Name of hawker centre Must-try! Nearest train station
Maxwell Road Hawker Centre Chicken Rice, Fried Flour Balls with red bean or peanut filling, Porridge/Dim Sum Tanjong Pagar MRT Station
Taman Serasi Food Centre Roti John, Satay Has been gone for some years now!!!
Geylang Serai Market Indian Rojak, Nasi Padang
Zion Road Food Centre (aka Zion Riverside Food Centre) Cha-kway-teow, fried carrot-cake
Amoy Street Food Centre / Telok Ayer Food Centre Lor Mee, Bak Chor Mee, Fish Soup Noodles, Porridge with Raw Fish-slices
Chomp Chomp Food Centre Wanton Noodles, Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Pasir Panjang Food Centre Chili Crab / Black Pepper Crab
Golden Mile Food Centre 'Healthy' Cha-kway-teow (so-called because of the leafy Caixin heaped on top), Ayam Penyet (fried mashed chicken with rice), Soup Tulang (mutton bone & marrow soup) Lavender MRT
People's Park Food Centre Yong Tau Foo, Prawn Noodle Soup Outram MRT

Stalls selling good Bak Kut Teh tend to be located in coffee-shops, typically along road sides, which make them more difficult to hunt down. There are 2 distinct styles of cooking: Type 1 is the clear peppery type broth, and Type 2 is the darker coloured broth with more herbs and spices and other vegetables/ingredients such as tau-kee and mushrooms thrown in.

Some famous ones are:

  • Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Soup Eating House at 208 Rangoon Road (Type 1) - (made headlines in year 2006 for refusing to extend its opening hours to serve the then visiting Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang)
  • Quite a few along Balestier Road, one of which is Founder Rou Gu Cha Cafeteria (Type 1), 347 Balestier Road (New Orchid Hotel)
  • A few along Beach Road, one of which is Leong Kee (Klang) Bak Kut Teh (Type 2), 321 Beach Road

Text with links to user-reviews on other pages[]

User Review Site Singapore Review

Nightlife[]

  • St James Power Station (3 Sentosa Gateway, Singapore 098544) is the largest one-stop entertainment hub in Singapore. Housed in the country's first coal-fired power station, this 60,000 square feet complex offers customers the choice of 11 distinctive outlets under a single roof. Each outlet features exclusive live music themes that span from world music and R&B, to contemporary dance, and Mando-pop. For an enhanced and dynamic experience, there is now NO DOOR CHARGE at all* St James Power Station outlets from Sundays to Thursdays! (*except Powerhouse) For reservations, phone 6270 7676.
  • Loof is an open air bar near North Bridge Road
  • Divine Wine Extraordinaire is a great lounge with live music every Mondays to Fridays from 9p.m to midnight. The band plays a variety of music, from pop to jazz standards. Check out the mesmerising singer Umi Yushida. She sings only on Tuesday and Wednesday nights there.
  • There are many ethnic festivals during the year
  • Zouk (17, Jiak Kim Street, 6-738-2988), a hugely popular club, which has been compared with some of the best in Europe, plays mainly techno, house and hip hop to a mostly young crowd. Zouk's music is spun by its seven resident DJs, while regular live acts from visiting artists such as Galliano, Chemical Brothers, Heart and Kylie Minogue are an added draw. Wednesday is Mambo Jambo night, when the club shakes off its techno garb and plays a mix of 70s to 90s pop. For those with an aversion to heavy techno, the Zouk establishment also houses Velvet Underground, where the crowd is slightly older and the music is mainly Soul and Garage. The mood here is sophisticated and futuristic - the walls are adorned in velvet and hung with original modern art works, and the furniture has a Bauhaus feel.
  • Adjoining Zouk's main building is Phuture, where the music is a more eclectic mixture of trip hop, drum 'n' bass and down tempo. The decor is a futuristic, space-agey blend of steel, liquids-in-glass-vials and state-of-the-art lighting. As the real action at Zouk and its sister discos don't begin until midnight, the popular place to hang out in the meantime between dinner and dance is the Zouk Wine Bar. This stylish bar is a great place for people-watching.

Boat Quay and Clarke Quay are dotted with restaurants as well as pubs, so the mood here is slightly laid-back and the crowd mixed. The pubs are old Chinese godowns and shophouses given a heartening facelift.

  • Shanghai Dolly

(The Foundry, 3B River Valley Road, #01-01, Singapore 179021) is the hottest mando-pop live music venue and the only cabaret-style club in town. The 2-storey outlet features a 400 capacity theatre-style main hall, a Lobby Bar with a pool table, a cosy Piano Bar on the 2nd level, and a restaurant ( Dolly Kitchen ) serving up local and international favourites until 4am nightly. Its stable of artists comprise local legend William Scorpion, Project Superstar finalist Jon Toh, Superband’s Choon Yang, as well as artists, musicians and dancers from Singapore, Hong Kong and China.*Harry's Bar (No 28, 6-538-3029), Singapore's best-known jazz joint. The live jazz here is of the more classic variety, although sometimes the music branches out to acid jazz. Harry's is a popular haunt of expatriates, especially those working in the towering skyscrapers nearby. Nick Leeson, the infamous trader who brought down England's Barings Bank, frequented Harry's. They've concocted a drink there in his honor - it's called the Bankbreaker.

  • Molly Malone's (42, Circular Road, 6-534-5100) an Irish pub and grill that won the Newsweek International World's Best Bar accolade in 1996. The decor is so authentically Irish that you'd be forgiven for thinking yourself in Ireland, while the mood is friendly and mellow.
  • Take a bumboat to nearby Clarke Quay and go to Brewerkz Restaurant & Microbrewery (30 Merchant Road, #01-05 Riverside Point, 6-438-7438). The crowd here is mostly yuppie and expatriate, and the menu consists of pizzas, salads and burgers.
  • Crazy Elephant (3E River Valley Road, #01-07 Traders Market Clarke Quay, 6-337-1990) has live blues and rock n' roll bands playing every night. The decor is warm wood, and graffiti.

Orchard Road:

  • Firefly (Singapore Marriott Hotel (Basement), 320 Orchard Road, Singapore 238865) brings back the C-A-N-T-O in St James’ latest re-introduction, with resident band Starway from Hong Kong. Firefly is a 250 capacity live music venue that specializes in everybody’s best-loved Canto tunes. Located in the heart of Orchard road in the basement of the Marriott Hotel, Firefly is primed for friends to gather together and unwind all night, every night. Open nightly from 6pm until 6am nightly, Happy Hour is until 9pm where half-priced drinks are accompanied by live pianist sets. Every Tuesday is Ladies Night – girls get 5 complimentary drinks. Minimum age of entry is 23 years old for guys and 18 years old for ladies. For reservations, phone 6270 7676 (before 5pm) or 8112 3621 (after 5pm).
  • Venom (Pacific Plaza Penthouse, 9 Scotts Road, 6-734-7677) boasts a state-of-the-art dance floor and a sweeping view of Orchard Road. The theme changes every night, and the music ranges from pop to retro to house.
  • Brix (Basement Level, 10-12 Scotts Road 6-730-7107), which is situated in the luxurious Grand Hyatt Hotel. The underground place is lit up with candles, and the decor is warm and woody. The pub's resident band plays every day, and the place also has a great wine bar.
  • Sparks (391, Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City Shopping Centre, 6-735-6133). This huge entertainment complex houses a dance floor where retro music booms loud and clear, as well as many karaoke rooms.
  • Emerald Hill part of Orchard Road. Peranakan-style shophouses allow you to cradle a glass of Beaujolais at the Que Pasa wine bar (7 Emerald Hill, 6-235-6626), or a mug of frothy Tiger at No. 5 (5, Emerald Hill, 6-732-0818) or Ice Cold Beer (Emerald Hill, 6-735-9929). The latter's specialty is beer - it has over 35 varieties—chilled in ice tanks. There's also the carnival-like atmosphere of Papa Joe's (180, Orchard Road, Peranakan Place) with its colorful decor and catchy dance music.

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