Cool Things To Do In Singapore For A First-Time Visitor

What do you do if you are in Singapore for three days and the last thing on your agenda is shopping? Well, for a country its size, there are plenty of fascinating things to do to make the most of your time. When I was in the island country recently, as a guest of the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, they curated a memorable itinerary representative of the Singapore experience for me.  

While I was in the capable hands of the superb Four Seasons team as I discovered the beautiful island country, you can try out all these experiences independently.

Singapore on a Sidecar

For an overweight person, the thought of fitting into the tiny sidecar of an ancient Vespa is terrifying. "What if I don't manage to squeeze in?" and worse still, "What if I do not manage to extricate myself from its confines?" are the panicky thoughts that ran through my mind when I find a brightly coloured fleet of restored Vespas at the front door of the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore.

We have a date with tour company Singapore Sidecars to take in the city's sights. While I am excited at the prospect of zooming around on a Vespa, it doesn't help when Simon Wong, the suave co-founder, tells me that the lissom Ananya Panday was the last one to grace the turquoise green Vespa I was allotted!

Thankfully, Wong seems to know what to do with riders of the obese kind and with his instructions, I am nice and snug inside the tiny sidecar—I don't know how—with my matching helmet in place.  

"I founded Singapore Sidecars, a social enterprise supporting several charities, with five bikes over a decade ago. Today, it is one of Singapore's most popular and unique experiences," said Wong, my designated driver for the journey.

Singapore Sidecars organises architecture, arts and design, culture and heritage, food, drinks and entertainment tours and more. The Four Seasons has signed us up for a spin around key heritage areas like Kampung Glam, Telok Ayer, Little India, and Chinatown. As we drive down places like Chinatown and Haji Lane, enjoying the vibe of their quaint alleys, Wong fills me in on the history of the places we are passing. Our colourful convoy is the subject of much curiosity as we pass. While the tourists are openly intrigued, clicking photographs, the locals, who must be familiar with Wong's Vespa entourage, still offer a wave and a smile. We end the tour with a drive down classical colonial Victorian buildings of the Civic District and Bras Basah areas. We passed the Singapore skyline, with its Marina Bay Sands building and ended the iconic tour at Merlion Park, where we took mandatory selfies with Singapore's most iconic landmark.

Book a tour at book.sideways.sg/

A Slice of Peranakan History at The Intan

When I reminisce about a place I have visited, what I remember most vividly are not so much the attractions and experiences but the people I met there. For instance, I will always associate Singapore with Alvin Yapp, the colourful owner of The Intan, a private museum of Peranakan heritage.

We were late for the tour of the Intan organised by the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, and there was Yapp in a colourful printed shirt, red trousers, and a jaunty hat at the doorway of his Joo Chiat Terrace home. With a joke and anecdote a minute from the moment we met, I knew that the evening would be an interesting one.

Yapp, a former Singapore Airlines employee, has transformed his home into a temple for all things Peranakan. The Peranakans, also known as Straits Chinese or Baba-Nyonya, are descendants of Chinese immigrants who came to Singapore and adopted local Malay customs while retaining their Chinese heritage. This unique amalgamation of cultures is evident in traditions, cuisine, clothing and craft.

The two-storey shophouse has over 1,500 artefacts, including porcelain ware, intricately beaded slippers, costumes, jewellery, utensils, and enamelled chamber pots!

"I started collecting little things that represented the spirit of the Peranakan culture. Over time, my collection grew as I acquired pieces from Singapore, Malacca, Penang, and even places like India, China, and England," said Yapp.  

The best part of our visit to The Intan was the special seven-course Peranakan meal that Yapp's father had cooked for us as guests of the Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore. A unique cuisine that carries the flavours of Singapore's Chinese, Malay, Indonesian and South Indian immigrants, the wonderful meal was at once familiar and exotic.   

Bookings can be made from The Intan website, but visits are strictly by appointment.

Address: 69 Joo Chiat Terrace,

Singapore 427231

https://the-intan.com//

Breakfast at Chinatown Complex Food Centre

As a traveller, one of the best ways to know a place intimately is through its food. I try to sample the local cuisine wherever I go. I was delighted that the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore had organised an early-morning breakfast trip to the Chinatown Complex Food Centre. It is one of the largest hawker centres in Singapore, offering affordable traditional breakfast options for as low as USD 2 to USD 5.

Our guide for the experience was Shingo Kido, the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore's affable Director of PR and Communications, APAC. A Vancouver native, Kido told us how he had familiarised himself with Singapore's geography by utilising the MRT (Singapore's efficient Mass Rapid Transit system). Following in his footsteps, quite literally, we headed to the Orchard MRT Station, from which we took a train to Maxwell MRT station, from where the Chinatown Complex Food Centre is a short distance away.

Breakfast is the busiest time here, and the food stalls on the second floor are buzzing with activity. There were more locals and tourists, which was a good sign. We checked out the stalls before deciding on what to eat. I chose silky rice rolls served with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, an assortment of Dim Sum, some mandatory Laksa, the Malay noodle soup cooked with coconut milk and prawns or chicken. I spotted many stalls selling conjee and many local families tucking into the hearty porridge, and I was tempted to get a bowl for myself. Does that sound like too much food for breakfast? Well, what's the point of coming to a Singapore hawker centre if you aren't going to indulge in some gluttony?

Address: 335 Smith St, Singapore 050335

Crabs and More at Keng Eng Kee Seafood

If a Singapore breakfast is a must-do in The Island Country, so is donning an apron and gloves and digging into a humongous Black Pepper Crab at Keng Eng Kee Seafood, an iconic family-run seafood restaurant.

Run by third-generation owners and recommended by British celebrity chef James Martin and the late Anthony Bourdain, Keng Eng Kee is a Zichar (stir-fry) joint.

What started as a hawker stall in the 1970s at Old Havelock Road is currently at Alexandra Village. On this gastronomical journey, we were accompanied by Shengwen, who ordered for us. As a regular, he knew the menu well, and his familiarity with the owners was comforting.  

Keng Eng Kee Seafood is like a vast dining hall with many circular plastic tables kept close to each other. Eating crabs is a messy business, so the tables are covered with plastic wrap every time a new group of diners sits at one. KEK, as the joint is known locally, is noisy and full of boisterous diners. There's a constant din of fans whirring, utensils being washed, cutlery being cleared and the hustle and bustle of a stream of visitors. But the service is super quick, and before we know it, we have been served the signature Black Pepper Crab and the iconic sweet and sour Chili Crab in addition to delights like Wok-tossed Moonlight Horfun and Coffee Pork Ribs. The giant, juicy, fresh crabs were delicious, and I had no shame ripping them apart with my gloved hands, savouring the sweet flesh and mopping up the fried mantou (buns) in their sauces!

Address:  124 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-136, Singapore 150124

www.kek.com.sg/

Explorations By The Bay

Gardens By The Bay

Gardens by the Bay, our second Four Seasons Hotel excursion, is Singapore's iconic nature park near Marina Bay. Led by Shingo, we used the trusty MRT again to reach our destination. Spread over 101 hectares, the futuristic space that integrates nature with technology is famous, among other things, for the grove of Supertrees— the towering vertical gardens (82 to 164 feet) that house over 200 kinds of plants. Connected by a 128-meter-long walkway, the tower's photovoltaic cells harness solar energy and help power the park's lights.

Our half-day itinerary, however, did not involve a detailed exploration of the supertrees.

We only had time to visit the Cloudforest Conservatory, which replicates the moist conditions of tropical mountain regions. As we entered, a spray of cool water from Cloud Mountain, a 35-meter-tall indoor waterfall, covered us in a fine mist. After the sharp Singapore heat, the coolness was welcome. The mist followed us into the conservatory as we walked down the pathways that led us up to the top of the mountain.

The lush vegetation inside was impressive, and I was particularly enamoured by the large variety of orchids, such as the Paphiopedilum (Lady's Slipper Orchid) and Cattleya, on display. They reminded me of my childhood home in the Darjeeling hills, where my mother's TLC would result in lush orchid blooms. The abundant ferns, moss, flowering plants and epiphytic bromeliads were all familiar, conjuring images of a lived reality that this paradise garden was trying to replicate.

Address: 18 Marina Gardens Drive

Singapore 018953

www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/

Marina Bay Sands observation deck

The Marina Bay Sands observation deck is only about 500 metres from Gardens by the Bay. We took the Dragonfly Bridge to reach our destination, and although it was a short walk, Singapore's heat and humidity made it quite a task.

Located on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, at a height of about 200 metres, the deck is known for offering fantastic 360-degree views of the Singapore skyline and its key landmarks. Shingo had already booked our tickets, and after an ear-popping ride up the elevator, I squinted my eyes to take in the views of the Central Business District, the Supertree Grove and conservatories, the F1 track, the durian-shaped domes of the Esplanade and all the other iconic Singapore landmarks.  

Book tickets at: www.marinabaysands.com/attractions/search.html

Spectra

If you are looking for free attractions in a prohibitively expensive city like Singapore, you should catch the Spectra Light and Sound on the Marina Bay waterfront. The 15-minute spectacle of dancing fountains, laser lights, and visual projections on the Merlion statue set to an original rousing score is quite mesmerising. We were enthralled by the projections on the water screens that show the history of Singapore, from its origins as a fishing village to the modern metropolis it is today. The show is extremely popular among locals and tourists alike and the waterfront can get pretty crowded, but the festive, buzzing atmosphere is half the fun!

Show timings: Sunday to Thursday: 8pm and 9pm Saturdays: 8pm, 9pm and 10pm