I’ve made 3 trips to Singapore this year. It’s my birthplace – with childhood memories of playing hopscotch on wide footpaths, riding in rickshaws and wafts of fresh hot bread from our regular Indian vendor. But each time I visit, I see a new city. Sample it with me … 

Sydney has been my home now for over 40 years. These days, Singapore is an expensive place – more so after Covid – but I still love going. It’s safe, clean, with nice weather (suffer the high humidity though!), friendly locals who all speak ‘Singlish’ which I find delightful and so unique. Singaporeans are such characters!

This amazing island has grown to become a multicultural metropolis many cities envy. From Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road – our first major shopping centre in 1981 – to the glittering Orchard Central, Ion and Takashimaya, Singapore excites and feeds shoppers 12 hours a day from 10am to 10pm. Night owls needing retail and food therapy can visit the Mustafa Centre (corner of Serangoon and Syed Alwi Roads), which is open until 2am. It has 3 levels of everything! 

The most striking thing about Singapore is its accessibility. Underpasses, the MRT and buses (strictly ‘no durians on board’) allow pedestrians and traffic to get to their destinations as quickly as possible in airconditioned comfort. 

I often walk to Singapore’s Central Fire Station in Hill Street (its oldest and still in use) – very near the site of my parents’ rented 1940s flat. I was delivered in a ground floor clinic of that apartment block. My mother, very much the career woman, soon found a Cantonese nanny (or ‘amah’). Ah Chai was devotion personified, and part of our family for over 20 years in caring for me, my sister and brother. Funan Mall now sits in what once was our nearby GP clinic. It’s a great spot for technophiles and foodies, with a great food court.

Tekka Centre

This is Singapore’s famous and largest wet-market, and still my favourite. It was built in 1915, demolished in 1982 and refurbished in 2008. You simply must go.

From the ‘Little India’ MRT, it’s a 5-minute walk along Buffalo Road to Little India. Sights, sounds and smells include Indian pop music, spices, flowers, luscious fruit, garden fresh vegetables and high ENERGY!! There are aisles of crockery, cutlery, pots and pans in all shapes and sizes. I head directly towards the grocery section for a jar of hot mango pickle and a large box of heavenly Brooke Bond Red Label Tea and Taj Mahal looseleaf black tea. 

Now head down Serangoon Road to Tekka Centre …

Once inside, you’ll see food stalls. Biryani is the most popular – chicken, mutton or lamb, for only SGD8.50. Then there’s Malaysian Nasi Padang and Nasi Lemak served with fried fish, chicken curry and vegetables. If you’ve never had this before, you’re missing the best of Singaporean food. Share a table with the regulars – they’ll always make a space for you to sit and join them. (Washbasins are there to clean your hands, but BYO wet wipes and paper napkins or tissues.) 

For a zippy beverage, try the Indian-style kopi or teh tarik (‘pulled’ coffee or tea) for only SGD2.50. It’s super strong and oh so delicious with condensed milk.

Now go past the food, where the fruit stalls are. That’s where I had my first lesson in business at barely 6 years old. Dad would take me to Tekka in the evenings to see his ‘clients’: fruit-sellers who bought apples, pears and plums he imported from Western Australia. I would sit on a stool, crunching on an apple and watching Dad exchange ‘chits’ (receipts or notes of money owed) and collect money. I asked: “Dad, are we rich?” 

In the car, Dad explained profit and loss. He told me that his Australian suppliers had to be paid first. When the fruit arrived in Singapore and was delivered to stallholders, they would pay Dad more than what the fruit cost him. The difference was his profit. “How clever”, I thought.

Years later, when I was at a Sydney university, a friend asked if I wanted to make some money selling umbrellas. I thought of Dad and bought 3 dozen at $2.50 each. I put a few in my bag and sold them for $4 each on rainy days. I never stopped smiling all day that day! 

Tips for a stopover or short stay

• The AUD is currently worth only SGD0.88 as at 8 Aug 2023. Moneychangers are everywhere, but first check online for the best rate. Get a map of Singapore from the hotel or airport – it’ll give you a much better perspective of the island than your mobile phone screen.
• Singapore’s gift is its MRT and there will be one near you. Buy a card and ask for a handy pocket map of the stations. There are terminals for top-ups; some accept cash, and station staff will tell you where they are. 
• If you’d rather be driven, install a ‘Grab’ app. Grab accepts cash as well as credit cards. Reliable and quick if you can’t get a taxi. 
• Choose local food. Anything ‘Western’ is double or triple the price, alcohol especially. A beer at a hotel can cost up to SGD25, but is only SGD8–10 at a hawker stall.
• Have your kopi or teh from franchised local coffee shops; they’re in every shopping centre at SGD2–2.50, as against SGD6–7 for a cappuccino at famous coffee chains (they’re not half as good as the Aussie ones!). 
• My cherished Singaporean musos introduced me to the NEX: a HUGE shopping centre accessed from Serangoon MRT. The food court is on L4, and I loved it! Try the Hainanese Chicken Rice with freshly cut chillies if you can handle it, served with a little vinegar and light soya sauce (pic above left).
• For groceries, personal care, fresh fruit and vegetables, go to ‘Fair Price’ supermarkets. There’s one in Orchard Road on the LG floor of Centrepoint (via the Somerset MRT). The small food court here is cheap and very good, with the best fried kway teow. (Hint: personal care and all pharmacy items are much cheaper in Australia).
• For those strictly Halal, food courts in Singapore collect both ‘halal’ and ‘non-halal’ trays too.

Lucky Plaza (‘Little Manila’)

You’ll get to Lucky Plaza via the Orchard MRT. Food outlets are on LG, B1 and B2 levels. You’ll get rice or noodles with a choice of 3 dishes for less than SGD8. Try the famous ‘Yong Tau Foo’ on L6. Pick your fish or meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, fried and steamed tofu good fresh local vegetables, and hand them to the cooks – all ingredients go into a basket and then into a steaming hot clear broth. Cost is between SGD9–12.

After having a jolly good time eating and walking for hours window-shopping, I book in to see Penny (pictured at right) at Li Kin Beauty Flow (#06-43 Lucky Plaza) on L6. Her scalp massage, facial and reflexology treatments are sheer bliss! It’s not expensive, and she will never ask you to buy her products. Give Penny a call on +65 90101813 if you need some Singaporean pampering; say I sent you!! 

Warning: NEVER go to Lucky Plaza on Sundays unless you truly miss Manila: it’s day-off for Filipino maids. (They meet, eat, shop and bring their care packages to transport companies to send back home, and the place is packed.) 

Durians, durians

Yes, you must savour them! Geylang is where they all are, but you can also buy them in small neatly packed trays at level B2 Cold Storage in Plaza Singapura (via the Dhoby Ghaut MRT), or at other supermarkets. 

Until my next trip …