Touristy Stuff Doesn’t Suck

For a long time, Singapore has been one of our favorite places. But, as is often the case with someplace you know well, there are a lot of things we never get around to doing. This time, however, we’re traveling with some friends who have never been to the Lion City before. And thus, we’ve actually included a lot of the stuff that we might normally dismiss. And guess what - in Singapore, the touristy things don’t suck! Among our favorites:

Singapore Flyer:

Singapore’s answer to the London Eye, this 165 meter ferris wheel offers a grand view of the lower half of the island – the financial district, port, east coast parks, and the hodgepodge of ships laying at anchor. The tickets are pretty reasonably priced and it makes for a lovely start to an evening. We reserved our seats for sunset before heading off to dinner on our last night.
Singapore Flyer
30 Raffles Avenue, #01-07
Singapore 039803
+65 6854 5200
http://www.singaporeflyer.com/en


Singapore Visitors Centre:
The Singapore Tourism Board maintains several visitors’ centers around town, but we have the most experience with the one on Orchard Road. Set up right in the middle of everything where Cairnhill Road intersects Orchard, this place is much more than an information counter. While browsing the gazillion informative brochures, you can soak up the air conditioning, get cold drink of water, give your feet and calves an automated massage, use a high speed internet connection – all for free. The staff can answer questions in multiple languages and make reservations for you directly (we bought our tickets for the Singapore Flyer there). There’s even a cute café adjacent. This is an awesome resource.

Singapore Visitors Centre @ Orchard
junction of Cairnhill Road and Orchard Road
http://visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/about_singapore/singapore_visitors0/singapore_visitors.html


Singapore Art Museum:
We wandered into the SAM to kill a bit of time on a rainy morning and ended up having to tear ourselves away. Situated in a lovely old colonial building, the visiting exhibit of contemporary Korean art was a welcome surprise – innovative and arresting work. Someone at SAM is doing a great job of finding compelling stuff. The staff were also awesome. When we asked where we could find a cab given the rain, the response was “If you’ll just wait over there, I’d be happy to call one for you”.

Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
+65 6332 3222
http://www.singart.com/