To many, Singapore is just a transit stop on their way to more far-flung places. Lifestyle editor Rebecca Fox finds out there is more to the city than its airport.
Coconut jam, sticky rice, pork dumplings, cocktails, steamed greens and chocolate cake: Singapore's food is as diverse as the city itself.
In fact my first introduction to the diversity of the country's food was slurping a half-cooked, soft-boiled egg off a saucer in a traditional Peranakan cafe.
The egg, mixed with soy sauce and some pepper, was not as bad as first anticipated, especially when followed by a bread bun slathered in butter and kaya jam (a coconut jam).
Our guide was pleasantly surprised that we would give it a go but given the queue to get a table in the tiny cafe we were not going to miss the opportunity.
Peranakan nonya food was developed from the blend of cultures following early Chinese or Indian settlers marrying Malayasian women.
From that cafe visit came the realisation there was a lot more to Singapore than good shopping.
Wandering down the road marvelling at the colourful pastel buildings with their ornate ironwork, we discovered Kim Choo, where we sampled more traditional dishes such as bakchang, a mini pork dumpling; dada, a Malaysian snack of desicated coconut and brown sugar (reminiscent of coconut ice); and rempeh udang, a savory sticky rice and shrimp parcel wrapped in a bamboo leaf.
Watching a parcel being made had us marvelling at the dexterity and patience of the people making them.
Finding traditional cafes is a lot harder these days as more Western-styled cafes are popping up all around the city, especially in Tiong Bahru, one of Singapore's first housing estates built in the 1930s.
With the art deco style of many of its buildings and interesting book stores and cafes, it is a fascinating area to walk around.
You can also visit its wet market, where everything a person could need for their night's dinner can be found - including New Zealand and Australian beef and lamb.
You can pop upstairs for a quick and cheap bite to eat at the hawker market, one of many around the city.
The size of the queues at each stall gives you a good indication of the most popular dishes.
A favourite breakfast dish is their oyster omelettes - they are much cheaper and more generous with their oysters there.
It is also a great opportunity to try out some local delicacies, such as chwee kueh, a savory rice cake with fried reddish or poom kueh, a yam cake with rice noodles and spicy sauce.
For those with a sweet tooth, tao suang, a sweet mung bean ''soup'' with fried dough croutons is a favourite - our guide had to have a bowl to herself.
In contrast, just a five-minute walk away are what have been described as more ''gentrified cafes'' serving Western-styled pastries, breads and sandwiches.
A ''trailblazer'' was the Tiong Bahru Cafe, very popular for its baked goods including sandwiches and bagels.
We visited The Dispensary for our coffee fix.
Formerly a pharmacy, it still retains its dispensing draws behind the counter.
In a pretty courtyard out back we had our coffee.
My macchiato had more fluffy milk than you would get in New Zealand but the pastries were amazing.
The pineapple tarts, small, filled pastries flavoured with cinnamon and whisky, were very flaky and the layer cake, with its thin pancakes layered on top of each other, were just right with the coffee.
Then at Ann Siang Hill, alongside China Town, many of the old shop houses have been restored and now house trendy restaurants and bars serving a variety of cuisines including Italian and French fare.
Yet another regional delight was discovered in Little India where lunch at the Banana Leaf Apollo restaurant provided us with a taste of Indian cuisine at its best.
Under colonial rule the area east of the Singapore River was designated for Indian immigrants and is still a cultural centre for Indians and Hindus.
For a taste of the colonial life, Dempsey Hill, a former British Army Barracks and local military headquarters, turned restaurant and gallery enclave, provides the ambience.
Lunch at Chop Suey, a light and airy restaurant, provided a taste of anglicised Asian dishes with perfect dumplings, spring rolls and green vegetables, some ingeniously served on cake stands so all the dishes could fit on the table.
It was finished off with the most decadent chocolate cake and accompanied by refreshing cocktails; we wished we were in perfect summer dresses rather than our walking gear.
Of course, no visit to Singapore is complete without a visit to Raffles, the home of the cocktail Singapore Sling.
It was disappointing to hear the original Raffles hotel had been left to rack and ruin and had to be rebuilt, albeit to its original glory, but shelling peanuts on to the floor of the bar while sipping a sling is just one of those things visitors to the island have to experience.
One thing you cannot miss when you visit Singapore is Marina Bay Sands - three 56-storey towers topped by a skypark which looks like a ship.
It sounds bizarre and looks that way but the view from the bar at the top is amazing.
Having a cocktail on what feels like the top of the world as dusk falls is quite an experience.
A boat ride across Singapore's harbour and down the river at night is a great way to see the city's lights and use up a good portion of your camera's memory card.
Another lighting treat is a visit to Gardens by the Bay and the futuristic grove of ''super trees'' whose lighting is choreographed to music for a show each evening.
The man-made ''trees'' harness solar energy and collect rainwater for irrigation of the nearby gardens, including two large armadillo-shaped conservatories, one of which houses a rainforest complete with the world's largest indoor waterfall.
For a more relaxed evening, a visit to the satay market where a variety of stalls cook satay kebabs over charcoal barbecues to serve the crowds packed into large tables on the street is a must.
Nothing like tasty finger food and beer to soothe after a long day sightseeing.
The beer is served by women dressed in yellow Tiger beer uniforms, German beerfest-style.
After trying out so many of the local cuisines some exercise is called for and easily provided for by a stroll through Haji Lane in the Arab quarter, window-shopping and browsing through the homeware and clothing shops.
For more strenuous exercise, a visit to Pulau Unbin, an island nature reserve about a 30-minute drive and five-minute boat ride away from central Singapore, provided the opportunity.
The best way to investigate the island is to hire a bike and head up the tracks to the top of the island.
Then on foot a boardwalk provides an opportunity to see some of the island's mangroves, although it was under repair when we were there.
Then to wind down there are always the infamous Orchard Rd shops to browse and wonder at the designer brands or treat yourself at one of the chains yet to grace New Zealand with their presence.
Rebecca travelled to Singapore courtesy of Air New Zealand and the Singapore Tourism Board.
Singapore
• In Southeast Asia
• Is an island nation
• Has land area of about 710sq km
• Has population of about 5 million
• Is hot and humid all year round with temperatures 30degC and above
• English as the main language but Singaporeans also speak Malay or Tamil or Mandarin Chinese.
• Has four major races - Chinese (majority), Malay, Indian and Eurasian.
• Its cuisine is influenced by all those races
• Was established as trading station by the British in 1819 by Sir Thomas Sanford Raffles
Getting there
Under the alliance between Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines, both carriers offer a daily direct flight to Singapore from Auckland while Singapore Airlines also offers a daily Christchurch to Singapore service. One-way fares start from $879 (inclusive of taxes) with convenient connections available from Dunedin to both Auckland and Christchurch.www.airnewzealand.co.nz
