Asia holidays: Top things to see and do in Singapore

The best things to see and do in Singapore. Photo / Bna Ignacio, Unsplash

Destination of the week: Singapore

Why you should go

We’ve long known Singapore is a lean, green metropolis; a no-go zone for chewers of gum and a mecca of hawker food-meets-hipster neighbourhoods. It’s emerged out of the pandemic with more kapow than ever. Orchard Rd is still your go-to for shopping and emerging ‘burbs such as Tiong Bahru offer a cool mix of old and new. The youngsters head here for the food, shops and gentrified aesthetics – and you should do the same.

Youngsters head to Tiong Bahru neighbourhood for its hipster food and shops. Photo / Gracia Dharma, Unsplash

Top spots

Gardens by the Bay is by far the most recognisable landmark in Singapore; a futuristic nature park covering more than 100 hectares and home to over 1.5 million plants. You’ll know it for its enormous sprouting towers, known as Supertree Grove.

Gardens by the Bay covers 100ha and is home to over 1.5 million plants. Photo / Coleen Rivas; Unsplash

Jump in a cab 30 minutes north and you’ll reach Bird Paradise, a newly opened bird park and one of the world’s largest. From penguin coves to an Amazon-style rainforest, wetlands and the Australian Outback, prepare to meet more than 400 feathered species.

Singapore is regarded as expensive, but you’ll get a decent pampering at OD wellness, especially if you go off-peak (a hot stone massage starts from NZ$85).

Then there’s Pan Pacific Orchard, the city’s latest architectural wonder. Comprising four differently themed interiors – Forest, Beach, Garden and Cloud, the hotel is also a pioneer of sustainable tourism, with renewable solar panel technology and an inbuilt system that transforms food waste into cleaning water.

The Pan Pacific Orchard hotel is Singapore's latest architectural wonder. Photo / Supplied

Best eats

Singapore cuisine is eclectic. Head to a hawker centre such Tiong Bahru Food Centre for cheap street food or go a little kooky and try Synthesis - Asian-fusion food in a speakeasy-style cubby hole, hidden behind a traditional Chinese medicine shopfront. There’s also Coach Play Singapore Shophouse, where the global fashion house shares premises with its very own Coach cafe. Enjoy artisanal coffee, NYC-style bites and a dessert bar from 6pm.

Synthesis is a Singapore speakeasy hidden behind a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop front. Photo / Supplied

For more things to do, visit visitsingapore.com/en