Singapore is one of the popular cities in the world with a cosmopolitan culture and an example of peaceful co-existence of people from highly divergent ethnic origins. It is a multi-racial, multi-religious country. Singapore is the only country in entire Asia to have English as the first language, along with Chinese, Malay and Tamil languages predominant among the population. Singapore is among the richest countries in Asia, the others being Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Brunei, Hong Kong and Macau.
Singapore has been rated as the tenth most expensive in the world for living and is in the third place in terms of living costs in Asia after Tokyo and Osaka. As such, a weekend break in Singapore must be planned properly to suit your particular budget. In spite of its high cost of living, Singapore possesses accommodations of various types that allow all categories of tourists to visit Singapore without putting a big strain on their purses.
Singapore contains 63 islands, apart from the mainland of Singapore. The climate of Singapore is classified as tropical rainforest. Singapore possesses an even, pleasant climate throughout the year, with the maximum and minimum temperatures recorded being 35.8oC and 19.4oC. Nearly one-fourth of the land area of Singapore consists of natural reserves and forests. The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Singapore Botanic Gardens are the most favourite tourist spots. Estimates show that more than 10 million tourists visited Singapore during 2007.
When you plan for a weekend break in Singapore, you should include the Orchard Road district in this small country. This district is famous for its shopping facilities and is a popular tourist draw. The government had legalised gambling and two casino resorts had come up at Sentosa and Marina South. Hence, you can enjoy various gambling games in Singapore without any hassle. Sentosa has been exclusively developed as a holiday resort island. Themed attractions like Waterworks, iSPACE, Underwater World, New Ming Village, Wild Wild Wet and Science Centre Singapore are places that must be visited by every tourist.
The major attractions of Singapore are the Merlion Park, Singapore Flyer, Cable Car, Tiger Sky Tower, eXploreKid Family Park, Haw Par Villa, Singapore City Gallery, Sentosa CineBlast and Sentosa 4D Magix. The other important tourism spots that can be visited during a weekend break in Singapore are the Asian Civilisation Museum, Escape Theme Park, Jurong Bird Park, Kent Ridge Park, Singapore Zoo and Pulau Ubin. If you have a free night, you can go to the Night Safari, a wildlife park which is viewed at night.
If you are a food lover, then the July Singapore Food Festival that displays the variety in Singapore cuisine should never be missed. The Singapore cuisine is a blend of various ethnic origins that include Chinese, Malay, Indian, Tamilian, Thai and continental food varieties. The varied food items can be enjoyed not only in hotels and restaurants but also in pavement stalls that are quite delicious and cheap. The local hawker centres of Singapore present seafood items like crabs, oysters, squid, crab and clams, apart from halal food items like Hainanese chicken. The popular local dishes available in the hawker centres are mee pok, satay, sambal stingray, bak chor mee and laksa.
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Sat, Jul 31, 2010
Weekend Breaks