How not to be a tourist
in Singapore
From satisfying $5 meals in local hawker centres to $500 gourmet menus in world-renowned restaurants, Singapore has it covered. You might imagine Singapore to be a hodge-podge of disparate identities but what you’ll find is a melting pot seething with various cultures abutting each other so intimately that new cultural identities spring from those marriages. Perhaps the government’s attempts to erase Singapore’s straight-laced identity for years is the wrong way of doing things. Singapore doesn’t need to appear racier (Formula One night race notwithstanding); what really defines Singapore is the kampung spirit inherent in even the most cosmopolitan of citizens. It’s this spirit that makes people drop hundreds in the latest club and then seek out the comfort of road-side chicken rice. It’s this strange yet familiar juxtaposition of urban and traditional that makes this island uniquely Singapore.
Do put one leg up or squat on a seat wherever you sit (except for eateries with air-conditioning or that have table cloths).
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Act Section, Don'ts (New York)
Don’t visit the Singapore flyer. We really don’t care. Unless we’re a girl. With a camera phone linked to Facebook. On a date with a guy whose notions of romance are hopelessly outdated.
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