Singapore
Suggested Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive in Singapore and meet your private car and driver for a short ride to the Fullerton or Raffles Hotel. The Fullerton is a masterpiece of understated comfort and contemporary elegance set in a landmark 1928 neo-classical building. The Raffles, founded by legendary hoteliers the Sarkies Brothers in 1887, is one of Asia's most iconic colonial-era hotels. It has four grand white wings with column-lined walkways and is surrounded by fragrant gardens. Both hotels are conveniently located right in the heart of Singapore's bustling main district.
After check-in and a rest, stroll through the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which was founded in 1859. Here you can join a tai chi session or just leisurely walk through the lovely, manicured greenery located right in the center of Singapore. The Gardens have world-class displays of tropical flora and fauna, in addition to several sculptures and architectural touches such as the Swan Lake Gazebo, which was built in the 1850s and located on the grounds of Old Admiralty House on Grange Road before it was brought to its present site in 2001.
Return to the hotel for lunch.
Learn about Singapore's unusual confluence of Chinese, Indian, and Malay cultures at the Asian Civilizations Museum, just steps away from the Fullerton. There are 11 exhibit halls filled with more than 1,300 works of art, rare antiques, and cultural artifacts illuminating subjects such as Singapore’s maritime history and the impact of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as temporary exhibits.
Have dinner in The Chijme (pronounced "chimes"), a complex of colonial buildings dating back to 1854 that is now home to some of Singapore’s chicest restaurants and boutiques. The four-acre plot includes five neo-Gothic buildings, among them a formal Gothic-styled chapel with beautiful stained-glass panels, and the restored Caldwell House, the oldest free-standing house in Singapore with a sunken forecourt, waterfall and fountains. You may dine outdoors at most of the restaurants; we suggest having dinner at Lei Garden. The dishes here are unique to Guangdong province, which is known for its quickfire cooking techniques to preserve each ingredient's freshness and unique tastes. Signature dishes at Lei Garden include prawns in black bean sauce and sauteed mixed vegetables and gingko nuts in a rice paper nest.
If you have the energy, visit the Singapore Zoo for their famed Night Safari, which allows you the rare opportunity of seeing nocturnal animals awake. The zoo is a 170-acre park home to 160 species, 50% of which are endangered species from Southeast Asia, including the greater one-horned rhinoceros, the barasingha, or Indian swamp deer, and the red dhole. The Night Safari is open from 19:30-midnight every night, and last admission is at 23:00.
Day 2
Spend the morning relaxing by your hotel's pool. Then, indulge in a treatment at the spa, which offers a variety of massage packages.
Have a private culinary experience at At Sunrice, The Singapore Culinary Academy and Spice Garden, with founder Mrs. Kwan Lui. She will take you around the grounds where you can taste the spices right off the tree and learn about a cuisine unique to Singapore; Peranakan (Nonya) cooking is the result of blending Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques with spices used by the Malay community. The food is tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal. Key ingredients include coconut milk, galangal, tamarind juice, lemongrass, torch ginger bud, jicama, kaffir lime leaf, rice or egg noodles and cincaluk — a powerfully flavored, sour and salty shrimp-based condiment. Kwan will teach you the basics of cooking Nonya cuisine and you will become a veritable expert on all types of tropical ingredients by the end of the morning.
Feast on your creations for lunch where you can continue chatting with Kwan about her adventures in cooking and her experiences having lived in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the United States.
Explore the city's downtown core, where Victorian buildings dating back almost as far as the age of Raffles are scattered amongst glittering skyscrapers. Orchard Road, the main thoroughfare of central Singapore, was named for the nutmeg orchards that used to line it in the 1830s. The orchards have long since been replaced by a welter of high-end boutiques and malls that offer the best shopping in a city that loves conspicuous consumption. Virtually every international luxury brand is represented. It's almost impossible to avoid the million-dollar mile of Orchard Road, whose high-end department stores, broad sidewalks, and stately trees recall New York's Fifth Avenue or London's Regent Street. The outlets of local designers and smaller labels are clustered nearby in the Club Street–Ann Siang Hill district.
For dinner, try Min Jiang at the Goodwood Park Hotel. Locals say that this is the best Chinese restaurant in Singapore, and it is difficult to fault that claim. The elegant restaurant specializes in Sichuan cuisine but serves an excellent Cantonese dim sum and favorites from other provinces as well.
End the day by participating in an ages-old local tradition and have a Singapore Sling at the bar at the Raffles, where the cocktail was invented between 1910 and 1915.
Day 3
Today, explore Singapore's multicultural makeup while visiting several of its ethnic neighborhoods.
Singapore's Chinatown is clustered along South Bridge Road, where restaurants, grocers selling smoked duck, dried vegetables and Chinese products, and specialists in Chinese medicine line the street.
At Tea Chapter, learn about the art of preparing and serving Chinese tea. Sit back and watch carefully as the staff shows you how to pour and appreciate a proper cup. You can also buy a wide variety of teas and elegant utensils here.
Eu Yan Sang Medical Hall is one of Singapore's most respected centers for traditional Chinese medicine, which is a government licensed and supervised practice here. Stop in for a cup of ginseng tea, and browse the shelves of unusual dried ingredients said to remedy almost any ailment known to man. Members of the staff can also do consultations and prescribe something for what ails you.
Just opposite is the incongruous sight of the Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore's main Hindu shrine. Take off your shoes and enter the temple below the multi-tiered gopuram (gate statuary) above the entrance, which is covered with intricate, polychrome sculptures of Hindu deities.
Have lunch at one of the hawker stalls that serve Singapore's justly famed street food, a local obsession.
Explore the smaller Little India neighborhood, centered on Serangoon Road. Here, countless small shops and clusters of market stalls sell all sorts of Indian items: flower garlands, bangles, saris, textiles, Bollywood soundtracks and DVDs.
The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple is Little India's oldest temple and dates back to 1881. It's not as grand as the Sri Mariamman temple but is usually much busier. This is also the starting point of the procession for the yearly Thaipusam festival, in which devotees attach heavy weights and portable shrines to their skin with skewers (kavadi) and carry them across the city to another shrine.
Depending on the calendar, attend a concert of performance at The Esplanade Theatres on the Bay. Set right on the Marina Bay waterfront, The Esplanade is a futuristic performing arts center that opened in 2002. Two giant, spiny metal domes (said to resemble the durian — a famously odoriferous tropical fruit) contain a 1,600-seat concert hall (home to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra), a 2,000-seat theater, and several smaller venues. The calendar includes everything from Chinese opera to jazz festivals, classical Indian dance to pop concerts. There are also many changing contemporary art exhibits within the buildings and the grounds.
Have dinner at the Esplanade at My Humble Home. Not set in a house, and decidedly not humble, this "artistic restaurant" is a high-concept collaboration with Beijing artist Zhang Jin Jie. The shimmering, split-level interior is fitted with fanciful curled, high-back furniture, vividly hued curtains, dramatic lighting and plenty of artwork. The menu condenses the best of classical Chinese cuisine, reinvented and refined to match the surroundings.
Wander through the Bugis Street Night Market, which is situated along a walkway through Bugis Village, opposite Parco Bugis Junction. The three-story indoor market has over 100 stalls, which sell a variety of goods: casual clothes, accessories, bags, CDs and more.
Day 4
Visit the surreal and technicolor Haw Par Villa and gardens. Originally known as the Tiger Balm Gardens, this villa is a gaudy parade of more than 1,000 brightly-painted statues inspired by Chinese legends and myths. It is named after its original owners, the Aw brothers Boon Haw and Boon Par, who made their fortunes selling Tiger Balm, the cure-all lotion created by their father.
For lunch, try Blue Ginger, which specializes in the distinct local cuisine called Peranakan, a fiery mix of Chinese and Malaysian influences. Sample unusual specialties such as prawns sautéed with black pepper, or the signature dessert, chendol, a stew of red beans topped with crushed ice, coconut milk, and palm sugar and laced with durian puree.
Spend the afternoon on Sentosa, a small island resort to the south of Singapore whose name means peace and tranquility in Malay. Sentosa is so popular with locals that there are numerous ways to get there, from the Sentosa Express, which takes just four minutes from Harbour Front station in the city center, to driving yourself or even walking, although the footpath is currently closed for remodeling. All manner of outdoor activities are possible here, including skim boarding, mountain biking, golf and hiking, and the dining scene is just as varied and delectable as it is in the city.
Return to Singapore in the early evening and stroll along the Singapore River to Clarke Quay, home to restored warehouses dating back as far as the 1880s, which have been converted into shops and restaurants.
Celebrate your last night in Singapore with an exquisite dinner at Au Jardin Les Amis. Set in a restored 1920s plantation-style cottage on the grounds of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, this restaurant serves up some of the city's most exceptional haute cuisine. Chef Galvin Lim’s menus, emphasizing classic European cuisine, change frequently; recent dishes have included crab salad in vegetable nage (an aromatic broth in which crustaceans are cooked), langoustine with caviar and grilled pork belly with braised lettuce.
Day 5
Take a Traditional Chinese Bumboat for a cruise down the Singapore River. Learn the pivotal role the river played in Singapore's economic progress. Proceed with a drive-through the Finger Pier, Keppel Dstripark, Tanjong Pagar Terminal, Keppel Terminal and Brani Terminal for a glimpse of the daily port operations.
Have dim sum for lunch at Crystal Jade, which has several outlets around Singapore. The usual suspects are on the menu - flat rice noodles wrapped around shrimp and chive, water chestnut cakes, and egg tarts - but be sure to try their Teochow (or Chiu Chow, as it is spelled in the US) specialties on offer such as o luah, a delicious oyster pancake, and orh nee, a dessert of mashed taro with pumpkin.
Fly home.