Spectacular Singapore has sport, shopping, bars and beaches

SQUEEZED into a Vespa sidecar and admiring the sights of Singa-pore, I’m suddenly besieged by excited locals.

“Just keep smiling,” shouts driver Simon Wong as he takes pictures of them taking pictures of us.

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The blue vintage scooter is a great backdrop for their selfies but thankfully, after ten minutes of posing and clicking, we’re off once more.

Simon is co-owner of Singapore Sidecars — offering the world’s first sidecar tours and channelling profits to good causes.

He loves the attention from locals and is delighted people are back on the streets after two years of Covid restrictions.

He says: “It’s been tough, so residents are making the most of their freedom, and tourists are returning too.”

They include many Brits, if my busy Singapore Air-lines flight from Heathrow is anything to go by.

This fascinating, beautiful Asian city has everything — history, culture, world-class restaurants and bars, shop-ping, entertainment, theme parks and sandy beaches.

Sport too. Liverpool and Crystal Palace supporters fly out next month to see their teams play for a local cup, and Grand Prix fans for an F1 night race on October 2.

In just two hours of whizzing around in a sidecar, including on part of the F1 circuit, I understood why this is known as “a city within a garden”.

Trees and shrubs line the streets, and gardens are tucked around every corner, on rooftops, balconies and even up the sides of skyscrapers.

My fabulous hotel, the 314-room Oasia Downtown, stands out from the crowd, because its red-aluminium mesh 27-storey façade is covered in creepers.

Tours by scooter, open-top bus, river boat or bicycle are on tap.

But it’s easy to travel on the cheap MTR underground from area to area and explore by foot.

The melting pot of nationalities includes Chinese, Malay and Indian but the British influence on our one-time colony is every-where and English, or Singlish, is the common language.

Six million people live here harmoniously, celebrating their different heritages in bustling Little India, Chinatown, Haji Lane and Arab Street — which all come alive at night.

The republican government is working hard to make Singapore even more green and sustainable by 2030, a city proud of its environment.

They’ve done pretty well so far — examples being the stunning Botanic Gardens and Gardens By The Bay.

The 163-year-old Botanic Gard-ens, a Unesco World Heritage Site showcasing tropical flora around a lake and waterfalls, has the planet’s largest orchid display, with 60,000 varieties.

Gardens By The Bay is the jewel in the city’s horticultural crown. Trees and plants from around the world, and sculptures and other artworks, are housed in climate-controlled domes — and a walking trail towers over canopies and a 115ft waterfall.

Stick around, too, for the nightly music-and-lights show.

After wandering through parks, museums, galleries and shops, from high-end stores to quaint boutiques, my step count was off the scale — hopefully burning some calories after all the cocktails and food.

Let’s start with the delightful tea at the legendary Raffles hotel and drinking a Singapore Sling in its Long Bar — birthplace of the national tipple in 1915.

Gin-based, with pineapple and lime juice, Curacao and Bene-dictine, and served in a long glass with a slice of pineapple and a cherry, it costs — prepare to sit down — around £18. Worth every penny.

You get free monkey nuts too, and it’s traditional to throw the shells on the floor.

But Singapore is a tale of two cities when it comes to the cost of dining and drinking. Alcohol is expensive, even in supermarkets, because of tax.

But many of the bars are a swish experience and a recent poll of the top 50 in Asia gave Singapore 11 mentions — with Amara Hotel’s Jigger And Pony ranking in second place.

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Elaborate temples

For me, the place to be is Ce La Vi on the 57th floor of the majestic three-tower Marina Bay Sands hotel. It offers fabulous views, especially at sunset.

I also loved Atlas Bar, in Parkview Square, for its art deco architecture.

I didn’t have one dodgy meal in the city and I ate all kinds of cuisine, from £30 dishes in smart restaurants to spending less than a tenner in a hawker centre — or food market.

Seafood is plentiful, one of the few home-supplied products. My husband and I tackled chilli crab. I say tackled, as we were decked out in gloves and apron for our feast.

We ate cheaply like Crazy Rich Asians at the Newton hawker centre, which featured in the 2018 comedy movie.

Locals chope (reserve) a table outdoors by putting a packet of tissues on it, before choosing from 85 stalls cooking everything from chicken fried rice to fish porridge.

If you’re with kids and they only eat pizza, burgers and fries, don’t worry. This is Singapore and you want for nothing — and there are lots of fun family attractions.

Take the cable car from Mount Faber for wonderful views of the city and nearby beaches as you approach the tiny island of Sentosa — celebrating 50 years of being the place to go for downtime, thrills and spills.

Days can be spent at Universal Studios, Madame Tussauds, Dolphin Island, water and adventure parks and an aquarium, or cycling, bungee-jumping and paddle-boarding.

Or visit Fort Siloso, one of the 12 batteries of “Fortress Singapore” at the start of World War Two.

There are fine examples of old Singapore — colourful shophouses and elaborate temples — blending in with the shiny skyscrapers forming one of the world’s major financial centres.

Those Crazy Rich Asians know what they are doing.

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