Singapore was my home for two years during my childhood. It was a time of exploration and discovery, made possible by the country's strict laws and well-developed public transport system, which created a safe environment for children like myself to venture into the heart of the city in a way that nowhere else I've been could match.
From the bustling, noisy hawker centres serving up a medley of flavours like the unforgettable nasi goreng, to the sprawling shopping centres where my brother and I, having donned our school uniforms to qualify for local discounts, would spend hours hunting down the one store selling Warhammer models and D&D books.
I attended the United World College of South East Asia, a unique school that fostered creativity and curiosity. I remember the hilarity of publishing our quick-to-market newspaper, 'Chernobyl', making sales records simply by being the first of our class's papers to be available, and the competition of playing handball in the outdoor walkways. Beyond the school gates, we'd venture out to Bukit Timah, the highest hill in Singapore, where we'd encounter monkeys and end our hikes with a drink at McDonald's. Sentosa, with its beaches and amusement park, was another favourite spot for a day out, though it was a new tourist location when we lived there rather than the established centre it is today.
The city's blend of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian cultures was a fascinating backdrop to my everyday life, shaping my understanding of the world. Singapore, with its orderly streets and harshly lawful society, was a far cry from the chaos of Lagos that I'd later call home. But it was here, amidst the towering skyscrapers and bustling markets, that I found a sense of myself and a sense of how much you must give up when order and law are paramount over individuality.
It was perhaps 34 years later when I next returned, on a cross-Asia holiday. Singapore had matured, become wealthier, cleaner and more upmarket than when I lived there. Much had changed, even the Merlion had moved to a new spot on the improved marina.
Sights & Culture
Marina Bay Sands
The now iconic skyline shot of the "surfboard" connecting three huge skyscrapers is Marina Bay Sands. Apartments, offices and a huge mall sit on the water and face back into the city. Walk the waterfront promenade, visit the ArtScience Museum if you're feeling wealthy, or splash out on the SkyPark observation deck (non-hotel guests can access the deck separately). Inside The Shoppes, an indoor canal runs the length of the mall with sampan boat rides, a strange, air-conditioned echo of Clarke Quay a few floors below street level.
At night there's Spectra: A Light & Water Show on the water facing the Merlion, and it's timed so you can see it and then walk to Garden Rhapsody at Gardens by the Bay and catch that too.
Sultan Mosque
Singapore's largest mosque, golden-domed and the centrepiece of Kampong Glam. It has free entry and is open to non-Muslim visitors through a specific entrance daily, except during Friday afternoon prayers. At certain points volunteers do a walking guide around the space to give more information.
If you're not dressed appropriately, some rather nice robes/head coverings are provided free at the door. Shoes off before entering.
Arab St
The main street of Kampong Glam, the historic Malay/Arab quarter of Singapore. The main draw is the street art on Arab Street (Didier "Jaba" Mathieu murals) and Victoria Street (Ernest Zacharevic).
Muscat Street
A narrow lane just off Arab Street, its shophouse walls given over to a mural of old Kampong Glam street life, traders, boats and the kampong houses that stood here before land reclamation and redevelopment reshaped the area.
Masjid Malabar
A few minutes further on, Masjid Malabar is covered floor to dome in blue mosaic tiles, its gold dome and minaret making it one of the most photographed mosques in Singapore. It was built in 1963 for the Malabar Muslim Jama-Ath, a community with roots in Kerala, South India.
Next door, the Old Malay Cemetery on Jalan Kubor is one of Singapore's oldest Muslim burial grounds, with graves believed to date to the early 19th century, some said to belong to Malay royalty. It's a quiet, overgrown plot, easy to miss between the surrounding towers.
Chinatown
Easily walkable neighbourhood with temples, hawker centres, and history. Small but famous, ringed by temples along Temple Street and Mosque Street. It's well worth visiting for a few hours to see everything.
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
Right by the metro station exit for Chinatown is the "Buddha Tooth" temple, a fairly new temple, but open to the public, with something of a gift shop. You can even use it as a passageway to get to Chinatown's main streets by walking out the rear.
Sri Mariamman Temple
Singapore's oldest Hindu temple, founded 1827 by Naraina Pillai (who arrived with Raffles in 1819) and then rebuilt in brick in 1843. The current six-tiered gopuram dates to 1925. It is dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, associated with rain and curing disease.
Thian Hock Keng Temple
Also known as the "Temple of Heavenly Bliss", it's the oldest Hokkien/Chinese temple in Singapore, with the current structure built in 1841, funded by the Hokkien community (Tan Tock Seng, Tan Kim Seng among the backers). Built entirely of wood, without nails, using ironwood columns. It is the site of the original shrine sailors built on landing, before land reclamation moved the shoreline away. It's staggering to think of how far the shore has been moved.
It's a longer walk than the other Chinatown temples mentioned, this one's on Telok Ayer St, but it's the most impressive of the three. There's a good canteen next door as part of the complex, called the Leshan Cafe.
Yueh Hai Ching Temple
The oldest Taoist temple in Singapore, founded ~1820 by the Teochew community, and it's been a national monument since 1996.
It is still actively used for worship, with two blocks, one to Ma Zu (Tian Hou), one to Xuan Tian Shang Di, the God of Business, and it also houses Yue Lao, deity of love (nicknamed the "Temple of Love").
Keep an eye out for the roof ornamentation, twin dragons guarding a pearl, it's the standout architectural detail.
Clarke Quay
Walk along the colonial-era shophouses and the Singapore River. It's a better place for evenings, find a nice spot for a drink or dinner, or take one of the bay cruises.
Merlion
Singapore's official mascot, half-lion half-fish, all regal. Standing at 8.6m tall and weighing 70 tonnes, the statue was designed by Fraser Brunner in 1964, sculpted by Lim Nang Seng and unveiled in 1972.
The lion head references the legendary lion sighted by Sang Nila Utama (origin of "Singapura," Lion City), and the fish body nods to the fishing-village origins of Singapore.
It was moved 120m to its current Merlion Park spot in 2002 after the Esplanade Bridge blocked the original view, which explained my confusion seeing it on my return, as it was not where I expected it to be.
There's a smaller 2m "Merlion cub" statue also on site.
Fort Siloso
A former British coastal artillery fort on the western tip of Sentosa, built from the 1880s to guard the harbour approach, the last of Singapore's coastal forts to remain largely intact. Its guns famously couldn't be turned to face the Japanese invasion in 1942, one of the more enduring pieces of Singapore military lore. Today it's a preserved site with gun emplacements and tunnels, plus a Skywalk with wide views back over Sentosa's beaches and out across the shipping lanes toward the Southern Islands.
Museums & Galleries
Battle Box
Singapore's only surviving WWII bunker, built in 1936, ~9m underground, 27 rooms. It was the command centre for Malaya Command under Lt-Gen Percival, who decided the surrender to Japan here, on 15 February 1942. The Battle Box tells the story of the lead-up to the surrender through immersive audio-visual exhibits, recreating the wartime atmosphere with creepily lifelike models. Basic entry is free but on a strict schedule; the paid tier adds an audio guide and special exhibition rooms, and is worth it.
National Museum of Singapore
A really strong museum on Singapore's history, from early settlers, to Raffles, to independence and beyond. It is free for permanent galleries. One section (WW2 history) was closed on our visit, which probably lands hardest with British visitors anyway, who grew up only told of Churchill's greatness and not his racism and failures in South East Asia. It has a moving mural at the entrance.
The Odyssea interactive exhibit (three creatures) is a good, simple way to make the history engaging for kids and childish adults. Look out for the Orang Laut ("sea people") section on the indigenous seafaring communities of the region, and the Circle Room, a striking installation with movable floor items where "rain" washes down the screens to move the scene forward in time. The Singapore Stone, an ancient, undeciphered sandstone relic, originally a 3m boulder at the mouth of the Singapore River, blown up by the British in 1843 to widen the waterway, has its one surviving fragment on display here.
ArtScience Museum
At Marina Bay Sands on the water. Rotating exhibitions; distinctive lotus-shaped building, worth going to see the outside, but we found it extremely expensive. Each of the three exhibits was priced separately. We did the seemingly tech-focused one, and were not told it was more aimed at children.
Asian Civilisations Museum
This covers the cultures that shaped Singapore and Asia. Extremely well curated, split over about four floors. It has a special section on a recovered shipwreck and the pottery that was rescued from the depths. It was brought up by a salvage company, as they could do it fast. Whilst a museum would do it more safely and with better records, it was decided the risk of theft was too high to allow it, and the salvage company was brought in instead. There are galleries tracing artistic expressions of religion in the region, Buddhist and Hindu, then Confucian, then Christian, Islamic, and folk/animist, which are really good. The top floor is jewellery.
National Gallery Singapore
The largest public collection of Singaporean and Southeast Asian modern art in the world. Set in the old Supreme Court and City Hall buildings. In the basement there's children's art (interesting but not amazing), a "Fear No Power" exhibit about female artists focused mainly, but not exclusively, on a Filipino women's art collective, and an "Imagination" gallery including a piece on "fighting the dragon of AI art" plus more work by young artists. The ground floor has art education content for kids. On floor 2, we see "Singapore Stories", local paintings and sculpture, including a fun black-and-white film about three men going to school to learn to read. Floor 3 was closed on our visit. Floor 4 has the paid exhibit "Passion Is Volcanic" (extra cost, R18), and "Listening to Architecture" (a small but interesting look at the old Supreme Court building's plans, plus a nook on the National Gallery's own architecture), and "Ink and Intent" (on He Xiangning, a female cultural-revolutionary figure, strong work, notable use of light). Finally, on floor 5, there's an outdoor temple-themed space with an orange sculpture.
Parks & Gardens
Gardens by the Bay
The Supertree Grove is free to walk around; the illuminated light show (Garden Rhapsody) runs at 7:45pm and 8:45pm and is worth visiting. The indoor Cloud Forest and Flower Dome are ticketed (~SGD 28 combo) and impressive. It's a huge park to explore, and it's something you can do mostly free, as long as you don't mind missing the specific ticketed features.
Fort Canning Park
A large hill park with colonial history, featuring the WWII command centre and a history museum, as well as some very pleasant walks. Connects to the Civic District.
Restaurants & Bars
Hawker centres
These are essential to visit to get a real sense of Singapore, try Maxwell Food Centre (Chinatown), Lau Pa Sat (CBD), Old Airport Road Food Centre, or Newton Food Centre. Payment is cash or PayNow (local transfer) at most stalls; don't assume cards work, but they often do.
Newton Food Centre
I brought us here to relive old days. It was the closest hawker centre to my old apartment, and so we would go regularly. When we visited it was quiet, quite a few stalls were closed, and it was hard to recognise, but the food was still great.
Lau Pa Sat
Victorian cast-iron market in the CBD, one of the most atmospheric hawker settings. Satay stalls set up on Boon Tat Street in the evening. Super busy compared to our visit to Newton Food Centre, but a lot more food options too.
Raffles
If hawker centres are a must-visit, so is a Singapore Sling at Raffles' Long Bar. With the strange but charming tradition of eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor, the building maintains its colonial elegance. Be prepared to spend some serious dollars to get your drink. Raffles is not for the price-conscious.
Leshan Cafe
The canteen serving the community and the Thian Hock Keng Temple, it does good, solid local food.
Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beers
We really wanted milkshakes for some reason, and after walking the length of Marina Bay Sands, this was the only place offering them. At S$25, it's hard to accept that's a bargain, but when the milkshakes arrive, you'll realise you're getting a great deal for your money.
Aladdin Lanzhou Beef Noodle
A simple restaurant near our hotel, whose portion sizes are more than generous and the food was great, just the right amount of spice to be interesting.
Madlygood Japanese Cafe
A few floors up in one of the malls in Clarke Quay, it does a good selection of food with a nice view.
Monochrome Cafe
Central to Chinatown, the viral Monochrome Cafe is done out in white and black with line drawings to appear two-dimensional. It's a cute concept and a nice cafe, though it's small, so depending on the time of day you may be waiting for a table.
Tolido's Espresso Nook
Really nice little coffee shop, doing great coffee and a nice breakfast.
Rustica Singapore
Next door to Tolido's, and similar in vibe, it also does great coffee, and is perhaps more targeted at lunch than breakfast, as the pork sandwich was good, but heavy for a morning meal.
Shopping
Orchard Road
The main retail strip. Ion Orchard, Ngee Ann City, and Paragon anchor it. Standard international brands plus some local options. Noticeably cleaner and more modern than it used to be when I lived there, with rows of underground shops leading down to the MRT. A mall that used to be a go-to for Warhammer/hobby stores is still recognisable by vibe and layout alone, but the actual unit is now a hairdresser. It's quite possible I'm hallucinating the connection, but it feels right.
Sports & Activities
Sentosa Island
Newly made when I was living there, and now deeply established, Sentosa has the beach (manufactured but fine), cable car, and various attractions. Worth a half-day or more, depending on who you're with. Universal Studios is there if you have money to burn.
Cable Car
Divided into two segments: one from the top of Mount Faber down to HarbourFront and on to Sentosa, and the other looping across Sentosa island itself. It's a good-value trip and gives you access to Sentosa.
Harbour Tour
Starting from Clarke Quay, this 45-minute tour gives you plenty of information and takes you around the bay. If you want, you can take the evening tour and see the light show. There's an additional cost for this.
Practical
Transport
The MRT is excellent, cheap, and covers most attractions. Just tap your contactless card on the MRT gates.
Grab works well for taxis.
Money
Singapore dollar (SGD). Cards accepted almost everywhere. ATMs plentiful.