in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore is an island-state in Southeast Asia, connected by bridges to Malaysia. Founded as a British trading colony in 1819, since independence it has become one of the world's most prosperous countries, sporting the world's busiest port. Combining the skyscrapers and subways of a modern, affluent city with a medley of Chinese, Indian and Malay influences and a lush tropical climate, with tasty food, good shopping and a vibrant nightlife scene, this Garden City makes a great stopover or springboard into the region.

Districts

Singapore is a small country on a small island, but with over four million people it's a fairly crowded city. The center of the city — consisting roughly of Orchard, the Riverside and a chunk of Chinatown — is known in acronym-loving Singapore as the CBD (Central Business District).

Balestier, Newton, Novena and Toa Payoh — Budget accommodations and Burmese temples within striking distance of the center.
Riverside — Museums, statues and theaters, not to mention restaurants, bars and clubs.
Orchard Road — Miles and miles of shopping malls.
Bugis and Kampong Glam — Bugis and Kampong Glam are Singapore's old Malay district, now largely taken over by mall-shopping, although Arab Street in the Kampong Glam area is well worth a visit for its eclectic mix of unique shops and restaurants.
Chinatown — The area originally designated for Chinese settlement by Stamford Raffles.
Little India — A piece of India to the north of the city core.
North and West — The northern and western parts of the island, also known as Woodlands and Jurong respectively, form Singapore's residential and industrial hinterlands.
East Coast — The largely residential eastern part of the island contains Changi Airport and many famous eateries. Katong is located in the East Coast and is famous for its Peranakan food, such as laksa. Joo Chiat has some well-restored Peranakan houses with characteristic intricate architecture.
Sentosa — A separate island developed into a resort, Sentosa is the closest that Singapore gets to Disneyland.

Addresses
In the centre Singapore's addressing system is fairly normal ("17 Orchard Rd" etc), but the new housing developments on the outskirts may appear more intimidating: a typical address might be "Blk 505 Jurong West St 51 #01-186". Here "Blk 505" is the housing block number, "Jurong West St 51" is the street name, and "#01-186" means floor 1, unit, stall or shop 186. Note that the first digit of both housing block and street number is the neighborhood's number (in this case 5), making it easier to narrow down the right location. There are also 6-digit postal codes, which - considering the small size of the island - generally correspond to exactly one building. For example, "Blk 9 Bedok South Ave 2" is "Singapore 460009".

A very useful tool for hunting down addresses is the free online Singapore Street Directory [1]. Most taxis carry a street directory, which can come in handy in the unlikely event that they don't know your destination. Many are now equipped with GPS navigation systems.

Understand

Bored proboscis monkey, Singapore ZooSingapore is a microcosm of Asia, populated by Chinese, Malays, Indians and a large group of workers and expatriates from all across the globe. Singapore has a partly deserved reputation for sterile predictability that has earned it snickering descriptions like William Gibson's "Disneyland with the death penalty" or the "world's only shopping mall with a seat in the United Nations". Nevertheless, the Switzerland of Asia is for many a welcome respite from the poverty, chaos, and crime of much of the Asian mainland, and if you scratch below the squeaky clean surface you'll find more than meets the eye.

Singaporean food is legendary, with bustling hawker centres and 24-hour coffee shops offering cheap food from all parts of Asia, and shoppers can bust their baggage allowances in shopping meccas like Orchard Road and Suntec City. In recent years some societal restrictions have also loosened up, and now you can bungee jump and dance on bartops all night long, although alcohol is very pricey and chewing gum can only be bought from a pharmacy. Gambling casinos will be opening up in about 2009 as part of Singapore's new Fun and Entertainment drive, the aim being to double the number of tourists visiting and increasing the length of time they stay. Watch out for more loosening up in the future.