Singapore tries harder

If frequent visitors start feeling a little fatigued by the Lion City's shop-eat-shop rigours, maybe they can turn the guide map upside down and start over

The Singapore Tourist Board may have had Thais suffering from "Singapore fatigue" in mind when it recently treated journalists from across Asia to a weekend on the town.
The glamour of a couple of nights in the Lion City has worn off for many of the Thais who had become frequent visitors thanks to cheap airfares. Now they look forward to getting back to crazy, chaotic Bangkok on Sunday evening as much as they used to

crave their shopping safaris in sedate, orderly Singapore.
The latest push is "Uniquely Singapore", melding lifestyle and tourism. The message is that if you normally spend your weekends shopping, dining out and clubbing, it's more fun there.
Here's a run-down on what the tourist board has in mind.
Come and be truly fed
If you arrive in Singapore in time for lunch, head straight to My Secret Garden, a wine bar and restaurant on Middle Street, for some crayfish spaghetti, a real palate-pleaser with its aromatic tomato sauce, and follow that with tiramisu for an energy boost.
Alternatively, Red White & Pure's East-meets-West cuisine at Vivo City stands out as the creation of Eu Yan Sang, the city's venerable traditional-Chinese-medicine chain. The fully integrated "lifestyle concept store" occupies more than 10,000 square feet on two floors and includes a restaurant, bar and wellness studio as well as the retail link. The restaurant's menu was concocted by chefs from Australia and Thailand.
Then there is Global Kitchen, which takes Sunday brunch to new heights with caviar, oysters, truffles, foie gras and free-flowing Veuve Clicquot.
And the Halia Restaurant at the Singapore Botanic Gardens is another great spot for the first meal of the day. The palm trees shimmy and the ginger is in bloom while you enjoy your meal watching a wedding party have its photos taken in the park.
A favourite standby is Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, which has branches all over the city. Book early if you're heading to the outlet on Clarke Quay, but the one at Boat Quay is a little less busy. The crowds come for the chilli and pepper crab and fried prawns with cereal.
Hey, big spender
The shoppers of Orchard Street continue trawling the malls into the wee hours on the last Friday of each month. Officially promoted, Friday Late Night Shopping can have you haggling at 1am with any of the 300 bleary-eyed merchants who participate. Set a course for Wheelock Place, Paragon, Ngee Ann City, Centre Point, Wisma Atria, Tang's and Cathay Cineleisure.
The taxis will get you nowhere in this mayhem, but there will still be mass-transit trains and buses on Orchard until 12.40am, and at Dhoby Ghaut Station until 12.55, Sengkang Town Centre till 1.26 and Punggol Town Centre till 1.28.
Shop elsewhere - choose among Bugis, Geylang Serai, Kampong Glam and Arab Street or Little India, Marina Bay, Northbridge Road, China Town and Vivo City.
Vivo City opened late last year on the Harbour Front, opposite Sentosa, with more than 300 retail, dining and entertainment outlets sprawled over a million square feet, out-sprawling previous record holder Suntec City.
During its first week, Vivo City almost managed to squeeze in one shopper per square foot, but it's no longer that crowded. You can now leisurely enjoy the harbour promenade and the rooftop play-pools inspired by the waves of the sea.
Movie buffs can check out what's playing at Singapore's largest Golden Village multiplex - 15 screens. Afterwards, hit the Dairy Farm hypermart for your groceries, discover that you're late while passing the luxury-watch shop Sincere Haute Horlogerie and invest in some running shoes at the Adidas Original Store.
Try not to get distracted as you dash for home by the big brand-name stores, like Aldo, Bossini, Brooks Brothers, Lee Hwa Jewellery, Zara, Mango and Thirtysevendegrees.
Let the dogs out
Opposite Vivo City is St James Power, the city's top power-dancing magnet, with 10 different entertainment venues, rivalling the massive Ministry of Sound at Clarke Quay and the 70,000-square-foot Zouk.
On narrow, crooked Club Street at the edge of Chinatown (where there is, yes, more shopping), the trendy gather to see and be seen. Pre-war shophouses give their retail activities a modern, quirky look and sidle up to hip bars and restaurants.
Vanilla Home at 48 Club Street is an art gallery where you can also buy home decor made by Mariano Fortuny and Porta Romana. Venue, at 44-46 Club, stocks big-label fashions like Alexander McQueen.
The Yoga Shala is a small stretching studio at No 99, and there's the Oriental Traditional Therapy Centre at No 25.
Dine at Indochine and drink in its Bar S'Vanh, and there's more quaffing and smacking of lips underway at Jerry's Bar and Grill at No 92, famous for its buffalo wings, and at Senso Ristorante & Bar at No 21.
Nearby Ann Siang Hill has more great shopping and dining, plus a new experience for anyone who loves to eat while watching movies: the Screening Room. Forget popcorn; here you get fine cuisine to match the fine films, all matched up by theme.
It also has a rooftop bar for casual cocktails under the starry sky and a basement bar for whisky lovers.
The Singapore Tourist Board knows its stuff, and it's blessed with plenty of terrific places and activities to promote. "Uniquely Singapore" isn't packed with precedents, but there's so much going on there that boredom certainly seems a long shot.