Singapore Walks

It is interesting to note that there is a company set up to perform walking tours in Singapore in not so touristy places. It appears to me that the places mentioned in their tour itineraries seem to be good places to consider. Personally, I do not really recommend paying the fee to join their tours, [...]

Singapore Food Festival around Sigir 08

Singapore Food Festival during this July would definitely be a unique opportunity for you to easily know more about Singapore diverse cuisines with famous dishes such as Satay, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Chilli Crab.
The Opening Celebration, from 4-6 July, is a review of
Singapore’s hawkers of the 50s and 60s with over 40 stalls for you [...]

International Chess, Chinese Chess, Go, and Contract Bridge

For visitors who like intellectual games and would like to interact with the locals, you may consider stopping by at the Singapore Intellectual Games Center located at the Bishan Community Club. Four intellectual games organizations are housed under one roof:

International chess: Singapore Chess Federation (http://www.singaporechess.org.sg/)
Chinese chess: Singapore Xiangqi General Association (http://www.sixga.org/)
Go: Singapore Weiqi Association (http://www.weiqi.org.sg/)
Contract [...]

SG Weather

It will be the South-West Monsoon Season between June and September in Singapore, when you are visiting for SIGIR 2008. You might experience late morning or early afternoon showers — however, they won’t affect most of the plans you might have. Just in case, you can check out the weather forecast or even the [...]

Traveling on Buses and Trains

In an earlier post by Min, it was mentioned that taxi fares in Singapore are relatively inexpensive when compared to those of European and American countries. However, taxi fares are much more expensive than bus or train fares, especially if you are traveling alone. For example, a taxi trip may cost about S$15, or even [...]

Places for Nature Lovers

Singapore is a city-state with more than 4.5 million people in just 700 km² of land. So you would expect that much of Singapore is urbanized and built up with commercial buildings as well as housing flats. But who says that Singapore is totally devoid of greenery and nature? While we don’t have the grandeur [...]

(what) Traffic?

As many guide books will tell you, visitors to Singapore can get around very well by cab. Taxis are largely convenient and cheap for most out of town visitors. Taxi drivers often speak most of the local languages and dialects of Chinese, making it easy to be understood. Many will often give you a lowdown [...]

Price of Living

Given the price of something, in most countries you have to either a) bargain to engage the shopkeeper or b) whip out your calcuator to figure out the sales tax and tip, in SG pricing is simple. The price listed is almost always the price you pay. Tax and gratuity are built into the final [...]

Coffee, Tea, Me?

While in SG you should take yourself to a local coffee shop. A drink stall in a hawker stand will also do.
While the rest of the visitors may be having their cafe latte at Starbucks, you can be local and enjoy a fine cup of coffee “kopi” or tea “teh”, along with a local [...]

The Hawker Center

While Singaporeans are well renowned for their attention to detail, this carries on most distinctly in food. Yes, Singaporeans are especially proud (read: finicky) of their local food sources. No trip to Singapore is complete without a trip to a local culinary institution, the hawker stand.
There are many food stands here, gathered into [...]