Singapore

The soul of the place

The international version of Singapore is Changi Airport, Marina Bay Sands, the infinity pool, and chicken rice. All of these things exist. None of them explain why 5.6 million people live here and most of them don't want to leave. What Singapore actually is: a small island where four communities have been building something together since independence, under pressure from every direction, and have produced a city that works in ways almost no other city does. The food is the most visible evidence of this: Malay, Chinese, Tamil, and Peranakan cooking within 200 metres of each other in every hawker centre, and decades of cross-influence producing dishes that exist nowhere else. But the food is only the surface. The harder thing to explain is how a city planned this relentlessly still manages to feel like a city and not a theme park. It mostly does. That's the extraordinary part.

When to go

Singapore runs at 25 to 33 degrees year-round. The Northeast Monsoon brings heavier rain from November through January but the rain is usually afternoon showers, not all-day events. There's no month where the weather is significantly better than any other. What changes is what's happening: Chinese New Year (January or February) is the best version of the city I see every year. The preparations in Chinatown, the reunion dinners, the lion dance troupes going until 2am. If you want to see the city at its most alive and most itself, time it for Chinese New Year. Avoid the Formula 1 Grand Prix in September if you don't want to pay double for accommodation and share the street food queues with a crowd that's there for the race, not the roti prata.

Getting there & around

Changi Airport is the most efficient airport I've experienced anywhere, and I've travelled for work for 15 years. You'll be through immigration and in a taxi before your body has decided where it is. Take the MRT instead of a taxi: it's cold, clean, on time, and costs a fraction. The EZ-Link card from any 7-Eleven is what you need: tap in, tap out, covers the train and most buses. The MRT covers about 90% of what a visitor wants to do. The gaps are in some of the outer residential areas and parts of the west coast. Grab fills the rest. Don't rent a car: the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) system means private car ownership is taxed at multiples of the vehicle's value, which tells you how seriously Singapore discourages private cars on its roads.

Where to stay

Tourists base themselves in the CBD, Marina Bay, or Orchard Road. These are not wrong choices but they're the most expensive and the least interesting. Kampong Glam is where I'd put a visitor who wanted to feel like they were somewhere. Arab Street, Haji Lane, the Sultan Mosque, spice wholesalers who have been operating in the same location since before independence. It's a neighbourhood with a history that isn't curated and simplified for visitors. Tiong Bahru, slightly southwest of the center, has the best Art Deco shophouse architecture on the island and the coffee shop culture that Singapore does better than it gets credit for. Mid-range hotels and guesthouses in both areas. The big luxury properties (Marina Bay Sands, Raffles) deliver exactly what they promise. They're just a version of the city that most Singaporeans don't inhabit.

What to eat

The hawker centre is the institution that makes Singapore different from every other city in Southeast Asia. Maxwell Food Centre, Lau Pa Sat, Old Airport Road Food Centre: these are where the food of this city actually lives. Hainanese chicken rice: Tian Tian at Maxwell is the famous stall. The queue is real, the reputation is earned. Laksa from any stall where the soup fills the bowl to the rim. Char kway teow from a wok that's been seasoned for 40 years: you'll know it by the char, the slightly caramelised smokiness that doesn't come from a new pan. Chilli crab is real and genuinely good and expensive: Long Beach or Jumbo, expect to spend. Kaya toast with half-boiled eggs and teh tarik in the morning at Ya Kun or Toast Box, this is the breakfast every Singaporean eats. Do it before anything else. The teh tarik (pulled tea, frothy, pulled between two cups from height) should not be from a café trying to elevate it. Get it from a hawker centre.

What to see & do

Gardens by the Bay is extraordinary and I say this as someone who is sceptical of tourist attractions. The Supertrees at night during the sound and light show are genuinely impressive in a way I didn't expect when they were being built. The National Museum is the best place to understand how Singapore became what it is: the history is presented without significant airbrushing, which surprised me when I first went. The Singapore Botanic Gardens are free, UNESCO-listed, and where Singaporeans actually spend their weekends: families across three generations, runners, retirees, school groups. It's the best public park I've seen in this part of the world. Geylang, 15 minutes east by MRT, is the city's messy neighbourhood: durian stalls, zichar restaurants that have been open since the 1980s, a Buddhist temple two doors from a mosque. Go for dinner. The food is the best in the city at that price point and the neighbourhood will tell you things about Singapore that the tourist circuit is not set up to show you.

Know before you go

The fines are real but the list of things that are actually enforced is shorter than the jokes suggest. No smoking where there's a no-smoking sign. No eating or drinking on the MRT. Don't litter. Chewing gum is not sold here; you can bring your own. None of this will affect your trip. The heat is the thing nobody prepares for properly. Singapore at midday in full sun is 33 degrees with 90% humidity. Any outdoor activity planned between 11am and 4pm will leave you in a state where the only sensible response is a mall. The malls are excellent; this is not a criticism, it's practical information. Plan outdoor activities for the morning or late afternoon and accept the afternoon for what it is: air conditioning and food courts and the inside of things.