Singapore (the Lion City — Singapura, from Sanskrit: Singa (lion) + Pura (city), though no lions ever lived here) is the most efficiently run city-state on earth: a 733 km² island of 5.6 million people that went from a British colonial backwater (population 150,000 in 1960) to the wealthiest country in Asia (GDP per capita higher than the US) in one generation under Lee Kuan Yew's economic philosophy of "meritocracy, multi-racialism and pragmatism." The result is a city of extraordinary contrasts: the gleaming supertrees of Gardens by the Bay beside Chinatown shophouses; the hawker centres where Michelin-starred hawker food costs SGD$3; the world's most expensive hotel suite (Sentosa's) in the same island as public housing for 80% of the population. Singapore is also the food capital of Southeast Asia — the meeting point of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan (Straits Chinese) cuisines in a uniquely Singaporean synthesis that has produced hainanese chicken rice, chilli crab, laksa and char kway teow.
The Marina Bay Sands SkyPark (57th floor, 200m above sea level — the 150m infinity pool (guests only) and the SkyPark Observation Deck (SGD$32, open to non-guests, the finest 360° view of Singapore: the financial district skyline, the Straits of Singapore, Sentosa Island, and on clear days peninsular Malaysia across the water) is the defining image of 21st-century Singapore. The pool photograph (the infinity edge appearing to drop into the bay) is the most reproduced hotel image in the world.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGardens by the Bay (the 101-hectare reclaimed land garden on the Marina Bay waterfront — the Supertrees (18 concrete and steel tree structures, 25–50m tall, some solar-powered, the OCBC Skyway connecting two of the tallest) and the two conservatories: the Flower Dome (the world's largest glass greenhouse by column-free area, Mediterranean and semi-arid plants) and the Cloud Forest (35m indoor mountain covered in tropical mountain plants, mist and waterfalls — the most extraordinary interior garden space in the world)) are the finest example of landscape architecture in Asia.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHainanese chicken rice (poached or roasted chicken served on rice cooked in chicken stock and fat, with dark soy sauce, ginger paste, chilli sauce and a bowl of chicken broth — the national dish of Singapore, included in CNN's "50 best foods in the world") from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (Maxwell Food Centre stall #01-10 — the most famous chicken rice stall in Singapore, a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand, SGD$5.50 per plate). Queue for 20–40 minutes on weekdays. Anthony Bourdain called it "perfect, absolute." The stall has been at the same location since 1987.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Merlion (the 8.6m white lion with a fish body — the national symbol of Singapore, designed by Fraser Brunner in 1964, the most photographed tourist symbol in Southeast Asia, located at Merlion Park on the Marina Bay waterfront with the MBS towers directly behind) is best photographed at golden hour when the skyline turns gold. The adjacent Fullerton Hotel (1928 — the finest neoclassical building in Singapore, the former General Post Office) is the most beautiful building in the colonial heritage area.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Garden Rhapsody light and sound show (nightly at 7:45pm and 8:45pm — the Supertrees are lit in synchronized changing colours to music for 10 minutes, completely free, best viewed from the OCBC Skyway or from the ground at the Supertree Grove) is one of the finest free spectacles in Asia. Combine with a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar (SGD$37 — touristy but historically essential as the birthplace of the cocktail in 1915).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSingapore Chinatown (the ethnic Chinese neighbourhood of shophouses built by Hokkien and Teochew immigrants from the 19th century — Telok Ayer Street, Club Street, Ann Siang Hill) is the most authentic Chinese neighbourhood in Southeast Asia outside China itself: the Sri Mariamman Temple (1827, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, the most elaborately decorated temple facade in Southeast Asia), the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (2007, a Tang dynasty-style temple housing a tooth relic of the Buddha) and the Chinatown Complex hawker centre (the largest hawker centre in Singapore — the char kway teow (stir-fried flat rice noodles with cockles, bean sprouts and Chinese sausage) and wonton mee (thin egg noodles with wontons and BBQ pork) are best before 9am).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLittle India (Serangoon Road — the neighbourhood of Tamil and Malayali Indians who came as labourers during the British colonial period, the most vibrantly colourful area in Singapore: flower garland shops (marigold and jasmine), spice merchants, gold jewellery shops, the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple (1855, the most important Hindu temple for Tamil Singaporeans — the goddess Kali with her garland of human heads on the facade) and the Tekka Centre hawker centre (the finest roti prata (the flaky fried Indian flatbread with curry for dipping, SGD$1.20) and mutton biryani in Singapore).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG — 74 hectares, UNESCO World Heritage 2015 — the finest tropical botanic garden in the world: the National Orchid Garden (SGD$10 — 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids, the most comprehensive orchid collection in the world, including the Vanda Miss Joaquim (the national flower of Singapore), the orchid hybrids named for visiting dignitaries (Margaret Thatcher Orchid, Princess Diana Orchid, Nelson Mandela Orchid)), the Heritage Trees (giant rain trees over 100 years old) and the Symphony Lake with free outdoor concerts on weekends.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSatay (the Malaysian/Indonesian grilled skewer — marinated chicken, lamb, beef or pork on bamboo skewers, grilled over charcoal and served with peanut sauce, cucumber and compressed rice (ketupat)) at the Lau Pa Sat Festival Market (18 Robinson Road — an 1894 Victorian cast-iron market pavilion, the finest heritage building of a hawker centre in Singapore, with the outdoor Satay Street extending along Boon Tat Street) after the financial district empties at 7pm — the satay smoke fills the street and the grilling is hypnotically theatrical.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSentosa Island (the southern island connected to Singapore by cable car, monorail and causeway — Universal Studios Singapore (SGD$83 — the finest theme park in Southeast Asia: Jurassic World, Minion Land, Transformers), the S.E.A. Aquarium (one of the world's largest, 40,000 marine animals), Palawan Beach and Siloso Beach (the only public swimming beaches close to Singapore's CBD)) is the entertainment resort island of Singapore. Worth a half-day minimum, or a full day for Universal Studios.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKampong Glam (the Malay-Arab Quarter — the historic Malay village around the Sultan Mosque (1928, the most important mosque in Singapore, the gold dome visible from across the city, free to visit outside prayer hours) and Arab Street (the textile and carpet street) and Haji Lane (the narrow lane of indie boutiques, cafés, street art and the most Instagram-friendly street in Singapore — 50m long, every wall painted by a different artist)) is the most atmospheric neighbourhood in Singapore.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Chinatown Heritage Centre (48 Pagoda Street — the most evocative museum in Singapore: reconstructed 1950s shophouse cubicles showing the conditions in which 30+ people lived in a single shophouse unit (the "coolie" system of bed-renting by shift), the re-creation of the red-light district, opium den and rickshaw puller's life in colonial Singapore before independence in 1965) is the most honest museum in a city that prefers to present its success story.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideChilli crab (the national dish of Singapore — mud crab (usually Sri Lankan mud crab) stir-fried in a tomato-based, slightly sweet, slightly spicy chilli and egg sauce, eaten with fried mantou (Chinese steamed buns for dipping into the sauce) — on CNN's list of the world's best foods, at Newton Food Centre (Scotts Road) or Chomp Chomp Food Centre (Serangoon Gardens), two of the finest hawker centres in Singapore, with Tiger Beer (the Singaporean lager brewed since 1932)) at SGD$40–70 for two people sharing a whole crab.
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