The Weather

Quite simply, it never gets cold in Singapore (with the exception of ridiculously over enthusiastic air-conditioning systems in cinemas) with year-round daytime temperatures hovering around the 32C mark and night times rarely dipping below 23C. And every so often, just to break the routine, rain like you have never seen before. Tropical downpours of near biblical proportions are invariably followed, half an hour or so later, by a seamless return to muggy sunshine.

Singlish

Many Singaporeans speak a strange variation of English, which is known, for obvious reasons, as Singlish: a mixture of English, Bahasa Melayu, Tamil, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Bengali and Punjabi. While many of the city’s elders tut and shake their heads in earshot of what they consider a slap in the face for the sanctity of the Queen’s English (which, incidentally, was deliberately adopted as the island nation’s official first language when it gained independence from the British in 1965) it’s actually refreshingly economical.

For example the unique use of the simple word ‘can’, which has the effect of transforming a rambling sentence such as: “I don’t suppose you’d be so kind as to take the next left at the traffic lights would you kind sir?” into a far more succinct: “Next left, can?”

Another example is the word ‘lah’ which can be added to the end of almost any sentence to either emphasise a point or soften a command. As in: “Too much food lah” or “Price too high lah”. Geddit lah?

Easy To Get To Everywhere Else

It’s a little trite perhaps to list one of somewhere’s main qualities as being it’s proximity to other places, but there’s no getting away from the fact that Singapore is an ideal place to live and work if you enjoy easily visiting a plethora of other (forgive me) more ‘exotic’ south east Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, But, as they say on the island, it’s nice to get home quickly too.

The Food

Where to start lah? Singapore is without a shadow of a doubt the food capital of the world. Better than Paris, New York and London all put together, Mainly because its extremely high epicurean standards apply right across the range, from the simplest street-side stalls to the Michelin-starred gourmet restaurants. It is perhaps most. famous for its signature ‘chili crab’ dish which was created in 1950 by Singaporean chef Cher Yaw Tian and her husband Lim Choon Ngee. It’s since become the unofficial national dish of a food-loving nation, which at the last count boasted an incredible 6,750 eating establishments.

Some of the world’s most renowned chefs are familiar faces in Singapore and include in their number the likes of Joel Robuchon, Daniel Boulud, Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Wolfgang Puck.

That said, even simple street food is exceptional in Singapore, with food stalls concentrated into what are known locally as ‘hawker’ centres, all of which are carefully monitored by government hygiene inspectors. Lau Pa Sat in the central business district is set among some beautiful Victorian buildings; the Maxwell centre in Chinatown is perennially popular; and the enormous Newton Circus complex is a great place to head to in the early hours of the morning for a reviving portion of chili stingray.

The Ridiculously Outrageous Buildings

Singapore is home to three of the world’s most expensive and architecturally flamboyant. buildings in the form of the Marina Bay Sands (known to locals as the ‘stranded surfboard’), the durian fruit-shaped Esplanade Theatre Concert Hall and the ArtScience Museum on the waterfront, which, depending on your point of view, resembles either an outstretched hand or a bunch of bananas.

The Singlish Sense Of Humour

An ironic hangover of its colonial past perhaps, but there’s no denying that Singaporeans are one of the few peoples in the world who routinely indulge in that most puzzling of things, the English sense of humour. (Or ‘advanced sarcasm’ as it is more commonly known to psychiatrists.)

For example, a straight-faced conversation recently overheard in a downtown hawker centre between two Singaporean businessmen;

Man 1: Fantastic flight from Hong Kong.

Man 2: Really? Who did you fly with?

Man 1: The man in the seat next to me was called Derek, but | didn’t get to meet the rest.

World’s Largest And Highest Rooftop Pool

The view from Marina Bay Sands’ world’s highest 495-foot rooftop pool is simply spectacular and is thought by many to be the world’s most photographed pool ‘view’.

Raffles Hotel

Singapore is home to some of the world’s best hotels but none is more evocative of the term excellence than the world-famous Raffles Hotel. While many people assume the British built it, it was actually conceived by three Armenian brothers who wanted to imitate the ‘empire’ style in order to attract wealthy 19th-century travelers. Declared a National Monument by the Singapore Government in 1987, it has played host to a glittering array of celebrities over the years including Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Michael Jackson, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, George Bush, Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Louboutin.

The Celebrations

Aside from the wild 50th anniversary party last year, Singapore loves a celebration.

As a consequence of its diverse population, the nation’s religions include Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity. All of which adds up to a lot of cultural and religious festivals and public holidays. Chinese New Year is celebrated island-wide with dragon dancing and fire-crackers; Vesak Day marks Buddha’s birthday with flower and candle offerings at ternples; a few weeks later Hari Raya Puasa celebrates the end of Ramadan with sumptuous feasts; in October or November, Little India is lit up with colourful displays and bazaars during Deepavali; Christmas and Easter are marked by Christians with traditional dinners, presents and decorations, and finally, in late January, Thaipusam is colourfully and painfully marked by Hindus.

F1 Singapore

When Formula 1 racing first came to Singapore a decade ago and it was announced that the race would be held in the central business district at night, the joke ‘doing the circuit’ was that the timing was chosen in order to avoid the daytime congestion charges that normally apply in downtown Singapore, But, joking apart, the whole population seems consumed by the event, which stretches over three days including practice. And no, before you ask, the cars aren’t fitted with headlights for the event, or, in accordance with the extremely high courtesy levels of Singaporean drivers, indicators.