Singapore is a Southeast
Asian island city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is an
island country and is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its
north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south.
The country is highly urbanised with very little primary rainforest remaining. Singapore
has a tropical rainforest climate with no distinctive seasons, uniform
temperature and pressure, high humidity, and abundant rainfall. Temperatures
usually range from 23 to 32 °C.
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| Singapore's night view |
Singapore is the world's
fourth leading financial centre, and its port is one of the five busiest ports
in the world. The economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported
goods, especially in manufacturing. In terms of purchasing power parity,
Singapore has the third highest per capita income in the world. Singapore has a
generally efficient healthcare system, even with health expenditure relatively
low for developed countries. The World Health Organization ranks Singapore's
healthcare system as 6th overall in the world in its World Health Report.
The most widely
practised religion in Singapore is Buddhism, with 33% of the resident
population declaring themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next
most practised religion is Christianity, followed by Islam, Taoism and
Hinduism.
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| Marina Bay Sands, Singapore |
Singapore holds numerous
events each year. Some of its famous festivals and events include the Singapore
Food Festival, the Singapore Grand Prix, the Singapore Arts Festival, the
Chingay Parade, the World Gourmet Summit, ZoukOut, Singapore Sun Festival and
Singapore Jewel Festival.
Few
must-see list for the one-day visitor to Singapore (especially for the
first-timer ^^)..
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| Ritz-Carlton Hotel |
Artwork at the
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton is no
ordinary hotel. The massive three-ton Frank Stella installation at the entrance
and the pair of Dale Chihuly crystal glass sculptures that anchor both wings of
the building kick off one of Southeast Asia's finest (and under the radar)
collections of modern and contemporary art. The treasures on view include Andy
Warhol and David Hockney's exuberant colours, Rainer Gross's geometric
compositions, Henry Moore's restrained monochromatic and the lush botanicals of
Robert Zakanitch. It's all free to view, and you even get an iPod-guided tour.
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| Singapore's Chinatown |
Chinatown Heritage
Centre
If you do only one
cultural thing during your 24-hour Singapore layover, it must be a tour of the
unheralded Chinatown Heritage Centre, where entire sets of bedrooms, kitchens
and street scenes from the late-19th century and early-20th century have been
faithfully recreated. It's an authentic slice of Singapore's history that's
made all the more fascinating by the gleaming skyscrapers just a few blocks
away.
Electronics Cheap!
Singapore has the widest
range, and luckily for the time-pressed shopper, they're all clustered in two
massive multistory emporia. Handicams, portable DVD players, mobile phones,
hi-tech cameras, MP3 players and laptops in just about every imaginable configuration
are up for grabs at Funan Digitalife Mall and Sim Lim Square. At Sim Lim Square
especially, good deals can be had with some serious haggling, and many
retailers will knock off a few extra dollars if you pay in cash!
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| Haji Lane view |
Haji Lane
A tiny lane, hidden away
in the heart of the Muslim quarter, is a fashionista's paradise. With very
little fanfare, the collection of narrow shop-houses has, in less than a year,
been transformed into an aggressively hip retail stretch recalling Le Marais in
Paris or New York's Meatpacking District. Know It Nothing is a stylish
industrial space that stocks beautifully tailored dress shirts stitched with
silver skull buttons by Japanese label Garni. Next, pop into Pluck for its
shabby chic collection of Austin Powers–inspired cushion covers and a cute
ice-cream parlour. If you're feeling peckish, have an authentic Middle Eastern
lunch around the corner at Cafe le Caire.
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