Trip to Singapore

Singaporehas traded in its rough-and-ready opium dens and pearl luggers for towers of concrete and glass, and its steamy rickshaw image for hi-tech wizardry, but you can still recapture the colonial era with a SingaporeSling under the languorous ceiling fans at Raffles Hotel.

At first glance, Singaporeappears shockingly modern and anonymous, but this is an undeniably Asian city with Chinese, Malay and Indian traditions from feng shui to ancestor worship creating part of the everyday landscape. It's these contrasts that bring the city to life.

Go anytime. Climate is not a major consideration, as Singaporegets fairly steady annual rainfall. Co-ordinate your visit with one of the various festivals and events: Thaipusam is a spectacular festival, occurring around February. If shopping and eating are major concerns, April brings the SingaporeFood Festival and the Great SingaporeSale is held in June.

Singaporeis a surprising and eye-catching melange of cultures, eras and environments. A centre filled with one-time colonial hot-spots like the Padang, Fort Canning and Raffles Hotel separates the spicy Little India enclave and aromatic Arab St from the commerce-frenzied atmosphere of Chinatown.

If shopping is not providing enough physical exertion there are plenty of other options for shaking it about. Given the polluted waters, none of Singapore's beaches are particularly great for swimming. A better option, if you're not staying at a hotel with its own pool, are the excellent public swimming complexes.

Avoid swilling over-priced SingaporeSlings in hotel lobbies and drink in one of Chinatown's groovy bars, or head to a Mohamed Sultan Rd club to bust some moves. The live music scene is dismal, unless cover bands, muzak-flavoured jazz or Richard Clayderman-style piano classics are your thing. It's slowly improving though and, while rare, blues, jazz and indie bands play in various pubs and clubs around the city

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