Insider's Singapore

Singapore Art Museum
Known as SAM, this contemporary art museum focuses on art-making and art thinking in Singapore, Southeast Asia and Asia, encompassing a worldwide perspective on contemporary art practice. It seeks to seed and nourish a stimulating and creative space in Singapore through exhibitions and public programmes, and to deepen every visitor's experience through outreach, education, research and publications, as well as cross-disciplinary residencies and exchanges.

Chinatown
The ethnic district of Chinatown is a lively hub frequented by the Chinese community. Religious monuments, such as the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Sri Mariamman Temple, sit alongside quaint shophouses marked by cramped five-foot passageways harbouring shops that sell traditional herbs, textiles, decorative items and antiques. Visit Tanjong Pagar for traditional tea shops, painted masks, waxed paper umbrellas and lacquerware.

Gardens by the Bay
Singapore's version of New York's Central Park is a 101-hectare green lung planted upon entirely reclaimed land. It is made up of Bay South and Bay East Gardens, and is a dream for horticulturalists. Most striking are the 12 Supertrees, vertical gardens that stretch up to 16 storeys high. Also distinctive are the pair of domes along the waterfront that house flora and fauna from different climes.

Little India
A racecourse, cattle herders, brick kilns and many more once jostled each other in the Little India of yesterday. Today, the ethnic enclave is a world apart from its previous incarnation. Charming shophouses line the streets, crammed with shops selling spices, sarees, trinkets, Indian jewellery and daily products used by the average Indian household.

Sentosa Island
The leisure and recreation destination in Singapore is an island south of the mainland, formerly used by the military and transformed in 1972 to become the attraction it is today. Some 3.2 km of sandy beaches are interspersed with a marina, golf course and luxury residences. In addition visitors will also enjoy Universal Studios, Madame Tussauds and one of the world's largest indoor skydiving wind tunnels.