48 HOURS IN SINGAPORE Many are quick to write Singapore off as one of Asia’s more boring metropolises, but we think that the city is actually more grand than bland. There’s admittedly a huge focus on planning days around meals and modern shopping malls instead of historic sites, but it’s worth a look past all of the contemporary flash to find bliss in the city’s green spaces and ethnic neighborhoods. The sprawling city isn’t particularly suited to walk around, but Singapore’s underground MRT and bus lines are easy to navigate and unbelievably cheap to use. We’ve come up with a two-day itinerary that could turn your annoying layover into a purposeful stay-over. Come armed with your credit card and an empty stomach!
DAY 1: 9:00AM Start your day with a stroll through Little India, an ethnic area that will make you feel like you’ve left Singapore. Serangoon Road and all of the narrow streets jutting off of it are full of colourful bangle and saree shops, garland makers and gold jewelers, and Indian music blares on almost every street. Sit down for breakfast at one of the many restaurants in the area and go for a thali, a set plate of mini portions of several different curries served with yogurt, rice and bread. Eat with your fingers like the locals, if you think you can master the skill! Grab a bus or cab over to nearby Muslim and Malay neighborhood Kampong Glam, where the Sultan Mosque stands out amongst the area’s colourful shophouse streets. Bussorah Pedestrian Mall and the surrounding lanes are lined with little shops and Arab restaurants.
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11:00AM Grab a bus on North Bridge street or, if you have your walking shoes on, head over to Singapore’s Colonial District on foot. Here, stately buildings serve as reminders of Britain’s past influence in Singapore and many are now home to museums or hotels. The Singapore Art Museum is worth a visit, as are the National Museum and the Peranakan (the result of the mixture of Chinese and Malay cultures) Museum. Nearby CHIJMES, built in the 1840s, was once a Catholic convent but is now home to many shopping, entertainment and dining outlets. For a dose of green space, head east past St. Andrew’s Cathedral to the Padang and the Esplanade Park, popular gathering places for locals and tourists alike.
1:30PM Continue your walk towards the river and enjoy a waterside lunch at Clarke Quay, on the right before crossing the bridge, or Boat Quay on your left after crossing. Both provide a huge selection of restaurants ranging from Japanese pasta places to Mexican taco joints, and, of course, Chinese cuisine is always available. Look east for a view of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, a commanding, iconic building that houses a hotel, casino, mall and possibly Singapore’s most famous infinity swimming pool that spans across the top of the hotel’s three towers.
3:00PM Non-guests can’t use the pool, but you can still head to the Marina Bay Sands’ roof to take in the great view from the Skypark Observation Deck. There are two restaurants up there where you can have a refreshing drink after a long day of walking and exploring. Of course, the mall that’s connected to the hotel is nothing to scoff at – if there’s one thing Singaporeans know how to do well, it’s a mall.
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5:00PM Exit the Marina Bay Sands (we know that’s harder than it sounds,) and head next door to the impressive Gardens by the Bay. Your eyes will easily guide you to the Supertree Grove, where you can ascend the life-sustaining tree-like structures to get a loose feel for what it’s like to visit the canopy of a rainforest on the OCBC Skyway. Descend and head over to the hard-to-miss Cloud Forest Dome and Flower Dome – both more than worth the heftily-priced entry ticket.
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DAY TWO: 10:00AM Start the day off right with a dim dum breakfast at Tim Ho Wan, a Hong Kong export that’s wildly popular with food enthusiasts. Tim Ho Wan’s original location in Hong Kong has a Michelin star and is said to be the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. The Plaza Singapura location on Orchard Road always has a quick moving line – you’ll wait for just long enough to make up your mind on exactly which dishes to order. The restaurant’s baked pork buns are famous for their unique twist on a snack that’s usually steamed.
Finish off a long day with dinner in Chinatown and a visit to the Sri Mariamman Temple on South Bridge Road. Captivating Hindu ceremonies take place nightly at the temple and it’s free to enter aside from a small camera fee. Leave your shoes at the door. After, walk two blocks over to Smith Street, a recently renovated open-air cafeteria serving up all kinds of Asian (and Indian!) delicacies. Eating on Smith Street may not come recommended by serious foodies, but with only 48 hours in Singapore, the convenience and atmosphere are certainly worth the visit. For those preferring sit down service, the street is also lined with full-service restaurants, many with aircon. After your meal, continue down Smith St. to hit the Chinatown night market, where trinkets, dessert and plenty of smelly durian are all at your disposal.
11:30AM Hop on a bus or into a cab and make your way further down Orchard Road for Singapore’s signature shopping experience. The road is lined by 22 shopping malls, many modern and sprawling including our favourite, Ion Orchard. These malls have almost any store you could think of and are well worth an hour or two of exploration. This is where Singaporeans hang out and you’ll fit right in. For a less luxurious shopping experience with a bit more local flavour, head over to the Bugis MRT stop where things are more flea-market-style.
1:30PM Resist the urge to eat in one of the malls on Orchard Street because it’s time to have lunch in an authentic Singaporean hawker center. These public cafeterias are lined with stalls selling different foods and are self service. Like you may have done on Smith Street last night, grab your own dish and then grab a table. To clean up, follow what others around you are doing. Many hawker centers have attendants that clear tables once you’ve walked away. Almost every big hawker center in Singapore has one famous stand with queue times that stretch longer than an hour. Some famous stalls include: No. 18 Fried Kway Teow at Zion Riverside Food Center, Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Hawker Center and both Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long Bao and Hongkong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle stall in the Chinatown Complex.
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3:30PM Relax for the rest of the afternoon at the idyllic Singapore Botanic Gardens. The 57-hectare garden has free entry and is open every day of the year. You’ll need a ticket to enter the National Orchid Garden though, the impressive home to over 60,000 orchid plants of thousands of different species and hybrids. A bandshell surrounded by lily pads sometimes hosts free live music in the evenings, making the surrounding slopes a great place for a picnic and a people-watching session.
7:00PM Before dinner, head back into the Colonial District to have a Singapore Sling at the famous Raffles Hotel. The luxurious hotel opened its doors in 1887 and has since become one of the grandest and most iconic lodgings in Singapore. The famous gin drink is served up at the Long Bar and the hotel’s shopping arcade is worth a stroll, too.
8:00PM Tonight’s the night to try chili crab, arguably Singapore’s most popular dish. Huge mud crabs are doused in a thick chili and egg sauce that’s both sweet and spicy and is perfectly mopped up with an order of fried or steamed mantou (buns). Many Chinese seafood restaurants around Singapore offer this dish, but we prefer the tiny Mamma Kong’s Crab Shack, a local restaurant on Chinatown’s Mosque Street that specializes in all things crab. One crab at SGD$38 is more than enough for one person and when you consider buns and other sides offered at Mamma’s, sharing seems like a good option. Order the chili crab, of course, but if you do go for crab number two, we recommend Mamma’s gingery crab bee hoon soup.
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