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A Beginner's Guide To Singapore, The So-Called 'Gateway To Asia'

A Beginner's Guide To Singapore, The So-Called 'Gateway To Asia'

Forbes08-04-2025
Thanks to its central location and excellent transport connections, the 60-year-old City State of Singapore is the perfect first stop for first-time travelers to Asia: It's safe and practically spotless and the de facto main language is English. Whether you're interested in exploring historic enclaves, marveling at futuristic Avatar-like gardens, or slurping down Michelin-starred street food, there's plenty to enjoy. Here's where to start.
Orchid Garden in Singapore Botanical gardens. Singapore Botanical gardens is a world heritage site.
Singapore is known as the Green City for its landscaped streets and open parks, but for something special, check out the National Orchid Garden. Nestled within the UNESCO-listed Singapore Botanic Gardens, this is an Edenic paradise dedicated to Singapore's national flower. The orchid has been meticulously cultivated here, with over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids on display. Don't miss the VIP Orchid Garden, where specially cultivated orchids are named in honor of visiting dignitaries, political leaders and royals like Queen Elizabeth II, Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela. Adjacent to this section is the Celebrity Orchid Garden, where orchids named after entertainment icons are displayed. For example, the Taylor Swift orchid, a delicate pink-and-white hybrid, was introduced during her recent world tour stop in Singapore.
Locals enjoying food from a Hawker Center in Singapore
Anthony Bourdain called Singapore 'a foodie theme park', and Singapore's main attraction might be found on a plate—or more specifically, in a hawker market.
'We have more than 100 Michelin stars which include hawkers,' says local Singaporean tour consultant Natalie Chai. These hawker markets not only show off how the city-state has embraced and riffed off its multi-cultural ties but also offer some of the most delicious and affordable food experiences anywhere in the world.
Tiong Bahru Market is a good place to start, with a traditional wet market on the ground floor and hawker stalls upstairs. One of the favorites here is Hainanese chicken rice from the hawker stand just at the top of the escalator (look out for the long line and the stand numbered 02-82). 'This is our version of Hainanese chicken rice,' says Chai. 'It doesn't taste like this on the Chinese island of Hainan.'
Other hawkers Chai recommends here: peanut butter pancakes from Tiong Bahru Mian Jian Kueh (02-34); Cheung fun rice noodles with rice with char siu pork from the stand next door (02-32); and carrot cake (an omelette style dish with radish and dark soy sauce from Popiah (02-83).
Palawan on Sentosa Island
A short monorail ride, cable car journey, or even a leisurely walk across the Sentosa Boardwalk from HarbourFront MRT Station brings you to Sentosa Island, Singapore's tropical playground and beach destination.
The 1,236-acre island might be easy to reach but it feels far from the city's buzz with sandy beaches, theme parks and attractions. One of the most exciting additions to Sentosa is The Palawan @ Sentosa, a new entertainment complex on Palawan Beach. Opening in late 2023, The Palawan is home to Singapore's first floating aqua park; ten food truck vendors; and two beach clubs, one designed specifically for families and the other for adults only. However, the highlight of The Palawan is the indoor electric go-kart circuit, which essentially serves as a real-life Super Mario Kart game.
Another new attraction on Sentosa Island is the Sentosa Sensoryscape, an approximately 10-minute-long experiential walk made up of digital light projections and glowing art, which opened in March 2024.
There might be more luxe resorts on Sentosa (see: the brand new, all-suit Raffles Sentosa), but Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa—one of the island's very first hotels, dating back to 1993—is without a doubt the best family resort in Sentosa and maybe even Singapore. It's also Singapore's only hotel with a private beach.
Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa
Nestled along the sandy shores of Siloso Beach, the resort is adorned in tropical greenery, while peacocks wander freely across the gardens, hornbills perch in the frangipani trees and dinosaur-like monitor lizards sunbathe by the breakfast tables. Families are very much the focus here, and the resort offers a wealth of activities to keep younger guests entertained (see: the indoor kids' club and playground with multi-story slides and climbing structures, and the dedicated kids' pool with water slides. It's worth noting that there is an adults-only pool, but it's just a roped off area of the main pool, so don't expect any quiet or privacy. (For that, you'll need to head to the spa.)
Joo Chiat, Singapore- February 2, 2017: Colorful "Peranakan" House. The word 'Peranakan' used by the local people of the Malay Archipelagos to address foreign immigrants whom established families in the Straits of Southeast Asia.
No visit to Singapore is complete without a stroll through Chinatown. Two-story shophouses, with facades painted in ice-cream hues, line the streets and house everything from herbal medicine stores to hidden speakeasies. The photo-ready tiered pagoda-style Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is a museum and active holy site, said to house a sacred relic of Buddha himself.
By evening, Chinatown's bars come alive. Try Native, a speakeasy-style spot known for its experimental cocktails made from local-focused flavors, or to Chinatown-adjacent The Elephant Room, which pays tribute to Singapore's Indian heritage through spice-infused tipples.
Just off the chic shopping belt of Orchard Road lies Emerald Hill, a beautifully preserved stretch of 19th-century Peranakan Chinese shophouses. The street gained newfound attention thanks to Netflix's Chinese-language period drama series, Emerald Hill, a spin-off of the 2008 series The Little Nyonya, which explores the opulent lives of wealthy Peranakan families. For a deeper dive into this unique culture, visit to the Peranakan Museum or try Peranakan cuisine at Indocafé.
Singapore, Republic of Singapore - May 4, 2016: Supertree grove, Cloud garden greenhouse and Marina Bay Sands hotel reflecting in water at dusk with glowing lights
For the most iconic glittering skyline views, head to the Marina Bay district. Here you'll see the skyline-defining Marina Bay Sands; the new tulip-shaped ArtScience Museum; and the Merlion Statue, a symbol of Singapore. This is also where you can find the futuristic urban park Gardens by the Bay, with the Supertree Grove of towering artificial trees, which come alive with thousands of twinkling lights in a nightly show.
Shangri-La
While Raffles Singapore might be Singapore's oldest and most famous hotel, its not the only grand dame in town and Shangri-La Singapore is another icon of the city-state, as well as the go-to choice for visiting dignitaries. Opened in 1971, this is first-ever Shangri-La hotel, and over the decades, it has played host to world leaders like Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, and even served as the venue for the historic 2018 Trump-Kim Summit.
The Valley Wing, the most exclusive section of the hotel, is the place to stay. Guests here enjoy a private entrance and access to the Champagne Lounge, where free-flowing Perrier-Jouët is served throughout the day. The suites are dressed in marble bathrooms and plush furnishings, very much befitting of a head of state.
Beyond its opulence (de rigueur in these parts), what sets Shangri-La apart is its garden setting. Unlike most city hotels, this three-tower property is wrapped is 15 acres of tropical landscaping, complete with koi- and terrapin-filled ponds, waterfalls and a 70s-chic swimming pool—one of the biggest in town—framed by towering palm trees and yellow-and-white striped sun umbrellas. The head gardener has been with the property for 40 years.
Shang Palace
There are nine food and beverage spots, but the highlights are the Michelin-starred Cantonese spot Shang Palace; the avant-garde cocktail club, Origin Bar, which landed the 32 spot on the 2024 list of Asia's 50 Best Bars; and the Friday barbeque at The Line.
Singapore National Museum
Standing as the oldest museum in Singapore, the National Museum of Singapore is housed in a 1887 neo-Palladian building with platinum-painted louvred shutters. The Singapore History Gallery is the museum's permanent exhibit and takes visitors on a 700-year chronological journey, starting from the island's early days as a fishing village and then highlighting pivotal moments in Singapore's history like the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819; the Japanese occupation during World War II; and the island's turbulent road to independence in 1965.
'It's an interactive and immersive experience,' says Principal Curator Priscilla Chua, who counts the fragment of the Singapore stone (an inscribed stone, possibly dating back to the 10th-century, which has yet to be deciphered) as one of the museum's 'star artifacts.'
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