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Key Attractions Raffles Hotel Built in 1887 and declared a National Monument exactly 100 years later, Raffles Hotel is one of the world’s last remaining Victorian grand hotels of the East. Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad and Charlie Chaplin made it a favourite retreat, and its 160-million-Singapore-Dollar facelift in 1991, based on its heyday in 1915, has ensured the hotel retains the unique charm of an age and sensibility now just a memory. Tourists flock for afternoon tea in the Tiffin Room and a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. But a visit to Raffles does not have to be a cliché: the Tiffin Room’s Saturday night buffet is one of the best meals in town, while the cool high ceilings of Bar & Billiard, with its snooker tables at the far end, offer a very pleasant spot for a gin and tonic. The new arcade houses 70 regional and speciality shops, as well as restaurants and the Victorian-style playhouse, Jubilee Hall. One must-see is the museum on the upper floor, which provides a fascinating insight into more than 100 years of history. Vignettes and pictures of Charlie Chaplin and his brother, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and Noel Coward’s diary, which recounts the death of his travelling companion (glossed over elsewhere in the display), are utterly compelling. Beach Road Tel: (65) 337 1886. Fax: (65) 339 7650. E-mail: raffles@raffles.com Website: www.raffles.com Transport: MRT City Hall Station (C2), then short walk to Beach Road. Chinatown Singapore’s Chinatown evolved in about 1821 when the first Chinese junk arrived from Xiamen, Fujian province. Its four main districts – Kreta Ayer, Telok Ayer, Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Pasoh – each have a distinctive flavour of their own. The Chinese heart, in the Trengganu/Smith Street area, is marked by the Fuk Tak Chi and Thian Hock Keng temples. Smith Street is undergoing a transformation into a fully fledged food street due for completion in August 2001. Housewives haggle for the best produce making this a lively and noisy ethnic quarter at times. But peace and quiet is available in the temples and at Yixing Xuan’s Teahouse where the ancient, ritualistic art of making tea as a metaphor for life goes on. A complex array of Chinese medicines are on hand with expert advice for those who find the various foodstuffs on offer overly tempting. A number of Chinatown’s landmarks, however, are not Chinese, most notably the Nagore Durga Shrine and the Al Abrar Mosque on Telok Ayer Street, and the Jamae Mosque and Sri Mariamman Temple on South Bridge Road. Transport: MRT Outram (W2). Night Safari Located next to the Singapore Zoological Gardens, the Night Safari is billed as the world’s first and only night zoo. There are more than 1200 animals, covering 110 exotic species in eight zones that recreate geographic regions, including the South East Asian rainforest, African savannah, Nepalese river valley, South American pampas and Burmese jungle. A 45-minute tram ride offers a leisurely alternative to the three Walking Trails. The twice-nightly Creatures of the Night show sees employees grappling with some of the less dangerous species. Mandai Lake Road Tel: (65) 269 3411. Fax: (65) 367 2974. E-mail: singzoo@pacific.net.sg Website: www.zoo.com.sg/safari/index.htm Transport: SBS bus 138 from Ang Mo Kio MRT (N9) or TIBS bus 927 from Choa Chu Kang MRT (N21). Opening hours: Daily 1930-2400. Admission: S$15.45; tram rides S$3; concessions available. Sentosa Island Said to be in direct contrast to the freneticism of Singapore, Sentosa Island is a purpose-built island theme park and offers beaches, history, golf, gastronomy and a host of themed attractions, including VolcanoLand, the Asian Village, the water rides of Fantasy Island, and Underwater World, one of Asia’s largest tropical fish oceanariums. The more earnest visitor can visit Images of Singapore, which depicts the island’s early life, local festivals and customs and the World War II surrender to the Japanese at Fort Silosa, which shows the bunkers and underground passages used in the island’s defence. Sentosa Island Tel: (65) 275 0388. Fax: (65) 275 0161. E-mail: sales@sentosa.com.sg Website: www.sentosa.com.sg Transport: Orchard bus E from Orchard Road; Sentosa bus A and C from World Trade Centre and Tiong Bahru MRT (W3); cable car from Mount Faber. Opening hours: Most attractions open at 0900 and close between 1900 and 2200. Admission: S$5 before 1830 and S$3 after 1830; additional charges apply for individual attractions (concessions available). Asian Civilisations Museum Housed in a restored neo-classical building dating back to 1910, the museum focuses on the world of Chinese beliefs, symbolism, connoisseurship and the Chinese scholar tradition, with a collection of Buddhist artefacts, imperial porcelain and seventeenth-century Ming-style furniture. It is seen as an important showcase for the culture’s development. There are free guided tours. 39 Armenian Street Tel: (65) 332 3015. Fax: (65) 332 7993. E-mail: nhb_acm@nhb.gov.sg Website: www.museum.org.sg Transport: MRT City Hall (C2), then short walk to Armenian Street. Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0900-1800 (until 2100 Fri). Admission: S$3 (concessions available). Supreme Court and City Hall Dating from 1939, the Supreme Court is one of the last colonial constructions. Its Corinthian columns surround stately interiors featuring murals by Italian artist Cavaliere Rodolfo Nolli. Next door is City Hall, another giant structure, built in 1929, and the site of the Japanese surrender to Lord Mountbatten in 1945. Visitors may tour the premises with the useful Guide to the Supreme Court and attend most open court hearings. Visitors who want to learn more about the local judiciary can visit the Multimedia Gallery, as well as the Supreme Court Open House-cum-Exhibition. St Andrew’s Road Tel: (65) 332 4270. Fax: (65) 337 9450. E-mail: supcourt_qsm@supcourt.gov.sg Website: www.supcourt.gov.sg Transport: MRT City Hall (C2); then short walk along St Andrew’s Road towards the Padang. Opening hours: 0830-1700 Mon-Fri, 0830-1300 Sat. Admission: Free. Jurong BirdPark The largest bird park in all of South East Asia, Jurong BirdPark is a refuge for more than 8000 birds of 600 different species from all over the world. Highlights include Waterfall Aviary, at 30m (98ft) the world’s highest manmade waterfall, and the South East Asian Bird Aviary, where a thunderstorm is simulated every day at noon. The new Lodge on Flamingo Lake promises food not just fit for birds. Bird shows feature flamingos, macaws, hornbills and cockatoos and one of the biggest attractions is the Penguin Parade, housing more than 200 penguins of five species. An air-conditioned monorail covers the entire park. 2 Jurong Hill Tel: (65) 265 0022. Fax: (65) 261 1869. E-mail: birdpark@singnet.com.sg Website: www.birdpark.com.sg Transport: MRT Boon Lay Station (W12), then SBS bus 194 or 251. Opening hours: Daily 0800-1800. Admission: S$12; monorail S$3; concessions available. Haw Par Villa Tiger Balm Gardens This perennial favourite with Singapore’s Chinese community has become somewhat delapidated in recent years and is in process of a facelift. Although off the beaten track, it holds a special place in Singapore’s heart as it describes the culture’s history and mythology – often in graphic and grisly form – and links the community directly to its Confucianist origins. Opened in 1937, by brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, who made a mint from the success of Tiger Balm, the pungent ointment, this is essentially an ‘olde worlde’ theme park. It is also an eye-opening insight into what makes this incredible island tick. The Ten Courts of Hell with its nightmarish depictions of sinners suffering in the afterworld shows what the Chinese believe happens when they don’t toe the line. 262 Pasir Panjang Road Tel: (65) 774 0300. Fax: (65) 779 7601. E-mail: orientmgt@pacific.net.sg Transport: MRT Buona Vista (W7); SBS bus 10, 30, 188 from World Trade Centre, 143 from Orchard Road or 51 from Chinatown. Opening hours: Daily 0900-1800. Admission: S$5. Singapore Art Museum This was once the St Joseph’s Institution, the island’s first all boys school, built by French Catholic monks. Now home to the Singapore Art Museum, the building is one of the city’s most striking structures. Exhibits reflect both modern and traditional Asian thought and the E-mage Gallery pioneers the confluence of art and technology. The museum has 13 galleries showcasing an impressive collection of contemporary local and South East Asian art. 71 Bras Basah Road Tel: (65) 332 3222. Fax: (65) 334 7919. Website: www.museum.org.sg Transport: MRT Dhoby Ghaut (N1) or City Hall Station (C2), then short walk towards Bras Basah Road. Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0900-1800 (until 2100 on Fri). Admission: S$3 (concessions available); free after 1800 on Fri. Changi Prison Chapel & Museum Singapore has not always been smiling faces and success. During World War II, three years of conflict with the Japanese before capitulation saw 50,000 civilians and soldiers imprisoned in Changi. The new home of the Changi Prison Chapel and Museum was recently completed and is four times larger than the original. The chapel is a replica of many chapels built during the conflict. The museum records the daily life of prisoners in photographs, paintings and sketches. A new addition is a series of wall paintings by British POW Stanley Warren. It also features a pair of rail spikes from the infamous Burma railroad. Currently, services are conducted by the Changi Christian Fellowship every Sunday at 1730. Visitors are welcome. Upper Changi Road North Tel: (65) 214 2451. Fax: (65) 214 1179. E-mail: changi_museum@pacific.net.sg Transport: MRT (E9) Tanah Merah, then SBS bus 2. Opening hours: 1000-1700 Mon-Sat. Admission: Free. Singapore Botanic Gardens Singapore Botanic Gardens offer a reminder of a real land that time forgot: the gardens epitomise the tropical island’s luxuriant parks with a combination of primary jungle and elegantly laid out flowerbeds and shrubs. Spread over 52 hectares (128 acres), the gardens hold more than half a million species of plant life. The National Orchid Garden has the world’s largest orchid display featuring over 20,000 orchids. Cluny Road Tel: (65) 471 9943. Fax: (65) 475 4295. Website: www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg Transport: MRT to Orchard (N3) and then SBS bus 7, 105, 106, 123 or 174 from Orchard Boulevard. Opening hours: Daily 0500-2400. Admission: Free; S$2 (National Orchid Garden). |
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