The beautiful island of Singapore nestles snugly between Malaysia and Indonesia. Sir Stamford Raffles founded the modern Singapore and the city itself still retains a huge amount of quintessential Britishness. A perfect example of this is the eponymous Raffles Hotel, a favourite haunt of celebrites including Noel Coward, Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maughan (all of whom lend their names to the hotel’s renowned ‘Personality Suites’).

Singapore is exceptionally safe traveller’s destination and has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. It is also one of the cleanest cities on the planet, even chewing gum is banned!

Classy Stay

Photo: Nir Sinay

I would definitley recommend staying at Raffles Hotel during your trip to Singapore. You will be near to all the main sights of Singapore and staying here is like taking a trip back in time; you can indulge in High Tea and pristinely suited waiters cater to your every whim! It’s a classically beautiful and unique hotel and oozes luxury throughout.

Shopping

Orchard Road is the main thoroughfare and a serious shoppers paradise. Go there for high street and luxury fashion emporiums and numerous malls.

Photo: lipjin

Singapore’s latest phenomenon is the 24 hour shopping malls, crammed full of technology, fashion and craft stores. Although if you want to really experience the city’s real culture try the side streets. If you are looking for a new suit or a dress here you will also find many tailoring shops that can whip up a made to measure suit or kimono in 24 hours!

Singapore Cuisine

Photo: Sanctu

I would recommend heading for the restaurants in Pagoda Street or Tanjong Payer as this would be the ideal place to sample the local cuisine. Try Singapore Vermechilli – a noodle based mild vegetable dish, usually served in a pineapple, washed down with a jug of the country’s own Tiger beer! (A jug here only costs $5sing-about €3). Also don’t even think about leaving the island before sampling mooncakes and a cup of ginger tea from Ah Tengs Bakery.

Photo: Sherwin Huang

If you are looking for something more upmarket try the Equinox Restaurant located on the 70th floor of the Stamford Hotel, it has a glass wall circumference and panoramic views of the islands marina and harbour. (Booking highly recommened!)

Sightseeing

As over 25% of the island is covered by forest there are plenty of national parks, gardens and nature reserves to choose from. After a trip to the stunning Botanic gardens, go for a meal at the famous Chijmes which was one of the last cloistered convents in the world. It has now undergone a massive facelift and with its gothic architechture and stunning surroundings it makes for a fantastic dining experience.

Photo: Kenny Teo

Also try Sentosa island (pictured above). The best way to reach the island is via a cable car over the ocean (great for views of both Sentosa and Singapore). On the island you can swim with the dolphins in Dolphin Lagoon, brave the rides in the amusement park or if you’re feeling energetic climb the 37 metre high Merlion monument. The incredible views of the ocean and Singapore’s skyline is well worth the climb! On another day head for the Marina for great seafood restaurants, jazz bars and local stores.

Evenings

After a long day shopping or sightseeing, pick one of the many great restaurants or return to Raffles, relax in the Long bar with a Singapore Sling then head to the Tiffin Rooms for a taste of the traditional tiffin curry (a local delicacy).

Photo: novocainated

I promise if you give Singapore a try you’ll be addicted! It’s a colourful, affluent, enjoyable and charming city and the smell of orchids, taste of tiffin curry and the cacophony of local malay song will linger with you, long after you leave this incredible city.

Singapore: the Lowdown

Singapore is an island city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. At 274.2 square miles Singapore is the smallest nation in Southeast Asia with a population of nearly 5 million. During Colonial rule Singapore became one of the most important commercial and military centres of the British Empire, now it’s a major tourist destination and attracts over 10 million visitors a year. The island experiences a tropical climate with hot, humid weather all year round. November to December is the rainy season, June to August is the best time to travel to Singapore.

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Some call it the highest mountain in South East Asia (although they would be wrong). Some call it the easiest “proper” mountain to climb (in my experience, I’d say they were wrong too). Some call it an unmissable highlight of their trip to Borneo (they however, would be right on the money).

At a whisker below 4100 metres, Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and Papua New Guinea. It’s also the single most popular attraction on Borneo, an island with an amazingly diverse range of natural wonders, from virgin jungle and rare wildlife to world class diving and one of the biggest network of caves in the world.

I began my journey in sleepy Brunei and made the trip via a bus to Kota Kinabalu, (the nearest major town). From there we headed into the Malaysian territory of Sarawak, then back into Brunei, filling in exit and entry forms as we go, and collecting an entry and exit stamp each time we cross a border. After a day of travelling backwards and forwards into different regions of Malaysia I’d collected 8 stamps on my passport! I’d also seen Transporter 3 for the third time in a week, courtesy of the onboard “entertainment” system.

On arrival I immediately realised the mountain was worth the journey. The thermal tops, winter gloves, and hiking poles I’d been lugging around Western Australia for the past few weeks suddenly didn’t seem such a burden after all. I started the climb and then rested and slept at a height of 3600 metres. This was definitley a mistake and one I probably could have avoided.

Upon waking at 1.30am, I had a headache that felt someone had embedded a large axe into my skull, my fingers felt like they had been replaced with icicles and I found it almost impossible to breathe. Luckily, a fellow hiker came to my rescue with some strong painkillers and I began the slow but steady trek to the summit for sunrise.

After four hours of being guided by moonlight, the sun began to rise and I eventually reached the tiny and crowded summit. By this time my hands were almost too numb to take a picture and my head was still throbbing, but I quickly forgot my pain. The awesome views and the sense of achievement was overwhelming. I fully appreciated the grandeur of the mountain as I looked down below at the tiny visions that were the people still pulling themselves up the rope. It was a weird feeling knowing I would soon be joining them, albeit on the easier journey back down…

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