More to explore in Singapore

Explore Singapore

When you visit most airports, the first thing you look for is the exit sign.

However, at Changi Airport in Singapore, they’ve come up with some ingenious ways to keep you there. The Jewel, a 5-minute undercover walk from Terminal 1, is home to an enormous collection of gardens, canopies, shops – and the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.

As airport attractions go, it’s world-class. The 40-metre waterfall cascades from a circular roof down seven storeys into an open chasm. Those seven storeys are filled with restaurants and shops, while at the top there’s the Canopy Park.

If you’ve ever been sat with your children with nothing but an iPad to entertain them, you’ll appreciate this. The Canopy Park is a 14,000 sq metre playground of green. As well as being able to admire the 2,000 trees and palms that span 120 species, it has multiple attractions. There’s the canopy bridge, offering close-up views of the waterfall, a hedge maze, mirror maze, and giant bouncing nets that look down upon the whole site.

Once you get round to leaving the airport, Singapore carries on in a similar vein. Gardens By the Bay is a futuristic collection of ‘supertrees’ that light up at night, plus the Flower Dome (the world’s largest glass greenhouse), and the Cloud Forest (home to one of the world’s tallest indoor waterfalls and a bunch of Jurassic Park dinosaurs). Just down the road is Universal Studios (with mercifully short waiting times when we visited – no more than 30 minutes) and Oceanarium, an enormous and interactive place to explore sea life.

You may be getting the impression that Singapore is all attractions and no culture. But wander along the streets of Little India, explore the cafes of Kampong Glam (the Arab Quarter) or walk through Chinatown and you soon realise how multi-cultural this island nation is.

It’s also very well organised. Everyone knows their place and generally sticks to it. Even in the hawker centres (cheap food courts) signs warn you that you may be carted off to court if you don’t return their trays.

In Chinatown, a child’s hopscotch is painted on the cobbled streets. Alongside is a dire warning to anyone foolhardy enough to try it that includes the line ‘by using it you agree to fully indemnify against any claims. Ensure your child plays safely, avoids rough behaviour and does not use the installation during or after rain’. A quick search revealed a list of other things that are not just frowned-upon, they’re illegal. They include not flushing the toilet, smoking in public, selling chewing gum, and jaywalking.

As a result, Singapore is the cleanest country in South East Asia. You may need to look a little for the real Singapore, as it’s covered by a veneer of slick glass walls and smooth tiled streets, but down the side avenues there is plenty to discover. Among its 6 million residents, there are numerous shrines and temples to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and Hinduism. Its four main languages – English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil – reflect its multi-cultural make-up. So while it’s tempting to spend hours checking out the airport’s fancy gardens, it’s only once you leave that you get to experience a more authentic side to Singapore.