What To Fly
Singapore Airlines has non-stop business flights (which comes with noise-cancelling headphones) from New York, Seattle and San Francisco. Also, the trick if you're taking United is to book a seat on the upper deck of the plane where it's less busy - during off-meal hours, ask for their burgers and get extra hot-fudge for your ice-cream sundae for dessert.
Other airlines usually transit via Hong Kong (the Cathay lounge has an awesome noodle bar), Tokyo (drink from the robot beer-serving machine in the lounge that gives a perfect head of foam in an ice-cold beer glass) or Seoul (sample Korean skincare and get a face-mask to hydrate your skin (the snail extract ones are really the best) during your flight. These are also all great, great cities I recommend for a layover trip.
Where To Stay
In the central business district:
- For Marriott rewards: The Westin is closest to the Marina One area and has an infinity pool that has a view of the bay.
- Marina Bay Sands - the rooms are mediocre but it has that quintessential infinity pool/view of Singapore
- Parkroyal on Pickering - state-of-the-art “green” hotel close to Chinatown. Fun fact: After I recommended it to some Apple execs in my last gig, they now hold their private product unveilings for Asia in the suites here.
If you can splurge ...
- Fullerton Hotel - Singapore’s only 6-star hotel Fullerton Bay Hotel - close to the bay and all the eateries and bars there. Their rooftop pool and bar has an amazing view.
- Capella in Sentosa - this is by far the best hotel in Singapore I've stayed at. Period. The service is impeccable and the experience sublime. Also the same hotel where the Trump-Kim meeting was held.
Boutique hotels
- Warehouse hotel - a restored historical building with a minimalistic and industrial feel for its interiors, it’s also near touristy hot spots like Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. Also owned by my friends at the Lo & Behold group who curate and design a slate of excellent F&B experiences - see Loof under the bar section
- Vagabond Club
- Lloyd’s Inn
- Studio M - fun loft hotel that’s very central and near Robertson Quay
How To Get Around
- Download the Grab app (There’s no Uber or Lyft in Singapore) - it's the peer-to-peer ride-sharing app du jour for Singapore. Price surges during rush hour (8-10am, 5-7pm) and wet weather can get pretty crazy.
- When the price surges get too high for Grab, I use the Gojek or Tada app.
- Walking: Newbies to Singapore tend to attempt to walk - but the 70-90% humidity or rain might get the better of them and their sweat glands. It does get slightly chilly during the rainy seasons.
- Google Maps works pretty well for figuring out which buses or trains you can take and has live timings and locations of buses
Public transport:
- You can pay for public transport using Apple Pay! I haven’t used an Android phone for years but regular wireless payment should work
- Trains: The MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is great if you're just going for a few stops. It gets super-crowded during rush hour.
- Taxi: Blue or yellow cabs Comfort-branded taxis take credit cards and have more experienced drivers (drivers need to have 10 years of actual driving experience to drive one of their cabs but there’s a 5% chance that your mileage might vary).
Where To Eat
- Hawker centres: If you truly want to go local, hawker centres are the way to go for great local and street food. They’re rated for sanitation (and also why the government got street hawkers/vendors off the streets and centralised them in hubs, hence its namesake), so it’s pretty safe to eat. Office workers often opt for a healthy fish soup or yong tau foo (where you get to pick your ingredients and get to choose a soupy or dry - my favourite - version drenched in sweet sauce and chilli paste). The golden rule of thumb is to just queue where the longest queues are. Malls often have food courts but the food somehow could never quite match up but they’re a great alternative if it’s a rainy day or if you need a break from the heat and humidity.
- Michelin's Bib Gourmand guide has a pretty awesome list of affordable eats: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/full-list-of-michelin-singapores-50-bib-gourmand-eateries-for-2018
Local food
- Recommended by Anthony Bourdain (RIP. It’s quite a legit list):
- Hainanese Chicken Rice @ Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice - sometimes overrated but it’s still pretty decent. The chicken meat is boiled in broth and then given an ice bath immediately after to stop the cooking, sometimes making the fat almost gelatinous. Try to try to request for chicken parts with less bones for a much more enjoyable experience. Also watch this Chicken rice feud video and try out the stall from the original chef: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8nqYq_rpZ4
- Char Kway Teow @ Hill Street Fried Kway Teow, Singapore
- Geylang Claypot Rice @ 639 Geylang Claypot Rice Lor 33, Singapore
- White Pepper Crab @ JB Ah Meng, Singapore
- Chilli crab is a must-try: I usually bring people to the Long Beach in East Coast (everyone has their go-to place but I like this seaside location - just remember to book ahead of time), they also have the lesser-known but equally delicious black pepper crab dish. I would order those two dishes with a side of cereal prawns and a jug of Tiger beer to share. It will be pricey - close to SGD$$300 for all the things I’ve mentioned.
- Swee Choon for dim sum (authentic backlane dim sum experience) - it's badge of legitness: a supper favorite for local chefs: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/the-best-late-night-food-haunts-according-to-singapore-s-chefs-9229638
- Tekka market (in Little India) for what is possibly the best chicken briyani in Singapore at Allaudin's Briyani (stall number 786) where the chicken just falls of the bone. And while you're at it, there's a stall called Sky Lab Cooked Food - get one of their freshly fried prawn vadais (it's kinda like a fried prawn donut). Their samosas are yummy too.
- Super Peking Duck at Paragon Shopping Centre: You'll need to call and order a duck (S$88 per duck) in advance - the duck is jaw droppingly-good, with meat that melts in your mouth and crackling skin that's light but a flavor bomb with each nibble. They also do great dim sum.
- Search Google Maps for the nearest “Toast Box” cafe. It's a chain but they serve a Singaporean breakfast classic pretty well (I'm a fan): kaya (coconut jam) toast - A.K.A. “crack of the toast world” - and half-boiled eggs for breakfast. Complete your order with a hot “kopi” (a local earthy coffee) or “teh” (concentrated tea with sweet condensed milk) - I love dipping part of the toast in the hot drink before devouring it. Some dip the sweet toast in runny eggs. Whatever rocks your boat. Killiney’s also great for kaya toast if you can wake up early and beat the crowds.
- Any Din Tai Fung that's closest to you. My favourites: The cold salad, soupy dumplings, fried rice with prawns or pork chop and the Dou Miao with shrimp. They have a surprisingly decent selection for vegetarians.
- Bah kut teh - a peppery pork bone broth soup that’s often great for a hangover when you pair it with white rice, you tiao (fried dough sticks) and salted veggies. I usually point people to the Song Fa near Clarke Quay.
- National Kitchen by Violet Oon at National Gallery - if you don’t feel like hanging out in a hawker center, this is a fancy place for great local Peranakan food that's kind of affordable (S$100 for about four people with no drinks), you'll need to book in advance and pre-order the satay (vegetarians can opt for the Impossible meat version)! You can then head to Aura or Smoke & Mirrors for drinks before/after dinner for a very, very glorious view of the entire city.
- Candlenut in Dempsey - One-Michelin star Peranakan food. We took a bunch of execs here and the food surprised even the locals. Go for their “ah-ma-kase” menu.
Coffee and cafes: There's been quite the coffee wave in Singapore so you can get a very decent flat white from good cafes across the city
- Super-hipster Chye Seng Huat Hardware for the coffee
- Nylon Coffee Roasters for the coffee - I like that this is at a regular government housing “block” (a set of high-rise govenrment housing apartments).
- Tiong Bahru Bakery for their kouign amann pastry - which I suspect has been sprinkled with something a little extra special because it's so good.
- Windowsill Pies - they do amazing pies, putting together things you wouldn't think of putting together (coconut lime + vodka, anyone?). One of my birthday cakes was their Banana Cognac pie - 'nuff said.
Great vegan/vegetarian food (even for carnivores):
Restaurants:
- Pollen at Gardens by the Bay - the luxe vegetarian and vegan menu is far better than their meat-based menu. And you can get picked up by their buggy when you book. It’s connected to one of the domes so if you finish dinner early, go on a free evening walk.
- Whole Earth is the only plant-based restaurant in Singapore that has a Michelin star. Although on the pricey side (4-5 dishes cost me slightly over S$100 - see Greendot below) The food is really good and it’s a great interpretation of local and asian food. The olive fried rice, rendang and cereal tofu are must-haves.
- Open Farm Community is set in the greenery of Dempsey and is a good break from Singapore’s steel and glass skyscraper dystopia
- Greendot lets you savour local favorites like laksa and rendang for cheap. It’s my usual haunt for tasty sesame rice and rendang.
- Real Food has a branch in Orchard but the food is a bit bland for Asian palettes and service is slow
- Din Tai Fung has a surprisingly good selection for vegetarians
- Bakalaki for mediterranean and vegetarian options
Warning, non-Singaporean cuisine:
- 2023 update: Revolver is probably the hottest restaurant in town. Great Indian-inspired dishes facing a lively and friendly open kitchen. Every dish was memorable. Great for vegetarians too.
- Miznon for great casual Israeli food and then North Miznon for what an Israeli chef would do to have fun with ingredients.
- Slurp down the angel-hair truffle pasta at Gunthers on Purvis Street. It’s pricey, but oh-so-worth-it.
- Banh Mi at Sandwich Saigon - order the pork meatball bahn mi with omelette and pate
- Mrs Pho, for the best pho in Singapore
- So many good Korean eats in Tanjong Pagar (and it's also near Junior, the pocket bar):
- O Chicken & Beer is the only place I would get my Korean fried chicken fix now. The establishments below are no longer run by Koreans and standards have dropped.
Japanese:
- Kazu Sumiyaki for yakitori (book early) - they serve the sweetest Japanese cabbages for starters and you dip them in a miso paste. The melt-in-your-mouth beef sticks are pretty good, also chicken-skin yakitori.
- Nanjya Monjya (Okonomiyaki) for japanese pancakes - you can choose to cook your own food, good and fun for groups.
- Fat Cow - Head over during lunch for their foie gras beef don set.
- Sushi Bar in Takashimaya for sushi rolls.
- Trendy Western/Fusion Spots
- Bakalaki (Great Greek restaurant with mediterranean vibes in hipster neighborhood Tiong Bahru)
- Amo on Hong Kong street for https://www.instagram.com/p/BYe0RqrHL3v/
- PS cafe in Dempsey (nice for weekend brunch) or Palais Renaissance (it’s such a quiet refuge surrounded by greenery, you’ll forget you’re in Orchard Road). Everyone orders the truffle-laced julienne fries here. I sometimes travel from lunch/dinner somewhere else to the one in Palais Renaissance just to have the sticky date pudding for dessert. They’re known for ordering the largest bouquets of fragrant flowers to scent their space.
- Esquina for a pretty exquisite tapas experience, then head to Potato Head for some rooftop bar cocktails
- Potato Head (great burgers) and has some interestingly decked rooms posing as bars but it's the rooftop bar at dusk that will give you a grand view of an old neighbourhood.
- Fat Prince (Mediterranean, good for brunch)
Where to Workout
- Classpass! If you’re staying for a month, you can sign up for Virgin Active at the Marina One building - they’re priced at a premium but they take care of every little detail. The branch in Marina One has been so well thought-out, I appreciate all the small touches: once you get out of the pool, there’s a plastic bag dispenser so you can store your wet clothes and the changing rooms have a machine to spin it dry. There’s an ironing board, toiletries, free water, fruits and tea - all you need to recover from a mid/after work session. You only need to bring your kicks - they’ll provide your workout attire. Did I mention the salt room for meditation and relaxation and the indoor climbing wall?
- Westin: If you're staying here, they have a service where they loan out New Balance workout gear for USD$5 and also arrange runs around Marina Bay - no excuses!
Where To Drink
- Speakeasy bars
2023 update:
- Sago House: Great drinks, rowdy fun staff, cosy space and not uptight - my current fav bar. I’ve been lucky to just turn up and get seats or just wait in the dingy staircase and chat up friendly strangers while waiting. Book ahead if you can.
- Mobomoga: Cute izakaya.
- RPM: Proper Japanese cocktail bar. I love hanging out here during lazy afternoons to hear the latest gossip from Japanese expat housewives.
- 28HK St. - The original cool kid that kick-started the speakeasy bar movement in Singapore. Pre-order one of their punch bowls if you’re coming in a group, or order one of my favourite cocktails that's not on the menu: a Painkiller
- The Other Room is right in the center of Orchard Road, hidden in the Marriot hotel. The waiters are pretty amazing and they’ll be able to recommend or customize a drink to your liking
- Atlas Bar - the building it's in is worth visiting just to have a look at its out-of-place gothic design, perhaps inspired by the building that housed the temple to Gozer in the original Ghostbusters movie. The Great Gatsby-like interiors of the bare are quite a wonder to see too. Also, it has an amazing the world's biggest selection of gin.
- Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling (currently closed for renovation)
- Rooftop bars:
- Loof (the bar snacks here are great spin-offs of local food)
- Aura sky lounge and Smoke & Mirrors (great, great view at both these bars, Aura is a bit more relaxed with their dress code)
- Level 33 - great view of the Marina Bay Sands from its open-air terrace. It's also a brewery.
- Kinki (great view of MBS and chill vibes. Happy hour from 5-8 pm with 1 for 1 drinks)
- Ce La Vi Singapore at Marina Bay Sands (for the view. Free entry for women on Ladies nights, cover charge comes with drink)
- Keong Saik Road - a bunch of trendy restaurants and bars here (eg. Neon Pigeon, Cufflink Club, Potato Head)
- Club Street - a street where you can bar-hop (a la Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong) and outdoor drinking on Fri and Sat nights
- Lucha Loco (Mexican Tequila Bar)
Interesting Activities & Places To See
If I had to pick 5 top places/activities:
- Hipster-cool Tiong Bahru is a local neighbourhood with conserved residential art-deco styled buildings (architecture nerds: walk behind them to see the spiral staircases) and quaint cafes.
- The hawker centre in the neighbourhood is great for a spread of local food for lunch (just queue for the food stalls with the longest lines).
- Then head to Tiong Bahru Bakery for their crazy-good kouign amann pastry and a coffee/tea to lounge the rest of the afternoon away.
- I really don’t want to see the charming independent bookstore BooksActually to die a slow death , so you really have to go and peruse its selection of local literature and is the place to go if you want to get a thoughtful gift, like a coffee table book on brutalist architecture in Singapore (that book does not exist but I totally think it should). Head over to Forty Hands just across the road with your newfound book for some robust third-wave coffee.
- Any early evening: Haji Lane - it's quite a hipster lane, with cute shops selling knick-knacks and some low-key bars. See the entry on Windowsill Pies in this guide too, it's located at the end of the lane.
- Art Science Museum - The Crystal Universe installation that's part of the permanent exhibits is amaze-balls: https://www.instagram.com/p/BLdpDU1gSiC/. It's done by TeamLab from Japan, one of my favourite art collectives. Don’t miss the immersive augmented-reality exhibit where an animation of a bird’s flight are projected in a room - it’s like being in a Star Trek holo-deck. Mind-blowing.
- National Gallery Singapore - cool architecture and interiors, mostly Asian art. End off with drinks and the amazing view at the rooftop at Aura or Smoke & Mirrors.
- The Bubble Tea Factory is Singapore’s version of the Color/Ice Cream Factory
These are in close proximity to each other:
- Supertrees near Gardens by the bay (free, check it out at night), also check out the skyway: http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/attractions/ocbc-skyway.html
- Gardens by the Bay - A nature park covered by ginormous weather-controlling domes that make it feel like spring all-year-round, make sure you take the aerial walk around dome that has the crazy man-made indoor waterfall.
- Marina Barrage: You can walk down to Marina barrage from Gardens by the Bay and watch the sunset from here. Grab a beer/drink or local food from the Satay by the Bay hawker centre that’s between the barrage and Gardens by the Bay
- The City view from Marina Bay Sands hotel: I would suggest the infinity pool if you're staying there or Ce La Vi (cover includes drink, free entry and drink for ladies on Ladies' Night on Wednesdays), instead of paying for the entrance to its Observation Deck.
- Helix bridge: The views on the bridge’s platforms are pretty amazing. Don’t miss the world's biggest floating platform that you can spot from the bridge.
- Tanjong Beach Club in Sentosa - great if you have a weekend and want to get some sun. Chill out by the beach, get a tan and have a pitched of sangria handy.
- Night Safari - if you’ve ever wanted to feel the breeze generated by the 1.5-metre wingspan of the largest bat in the world up close as they flap right by you. The enclosures have been designed to have an open-safari like feel and there are no cages. It’s quite the experience.
- The Projector http://theprojector.sg - a very hipster restored movie theatre with beanbags and interesting interiors
- Free-roaming virtual-reality gaming: I've tried this out with some colleagues and it's pretty awesome. You don some VR gear and walk around in a huge space as you battle aliens or zombies - not for the faint-hearted: https://zerolatencyvr.com.sg/ . Stick to the shotgun and headshots if you want to top the charts for the zombie level!
- Break things with reckless abandon in a Rage Room: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/having-smashing-time-singapores-first-rage-room
- De-stress by floating naked in a sensory deprivation tank. This is the most legal trippy experience you can get in Singapore: http://palmavefloatclub.com
- Rent a boat/catamaran with a crew and sail to St. Johns Island (takes a very leisurely 6 hours)
- Explore Geylang, Singapore's red light district and eat a durian (don't knock it till you've tried it, Jessica Chastain's a fan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIYeWH7cjWg) while you're there and beef kway teow or frog porridge
- Brutalist architecture in Singapore: If you’re an architecture nerd, Singapore has its fair share of buildings designed raw and very bold in this particular style. They might not be around for long. Here’s a list if you’d like to go around and see them for yourselves.
Annual festivities:
- National Day on August 9
- Singapore F1 Grand Prix - F1's only night race and city circuit sometime in September
Thank you Hedirman for these valuable sharing.
If you require further support do drop me a ping on twitter @0xMojojo.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/u/2/d/1A_5RtELkI0oBicS3IX6eHxtKGi7JtoVNUa5ylyJOeqE/mobilebasic by Hedirman.