DESTINATIONS SINGAPORE | ASIA


CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Vespa tours with Singapore Sidecars; street art in Little India; community farm Bollywood Veggies PICTURES: Singapore Tourism Board


residents were issued a voucher to spend on domestic travel to support the industry. This prompted many companies to come up with creative ways for locals to see their own city – and led to a host of new tours that are now available to international visitors. For Tribe, that meant designing a series of ‘Instawalks’, exploring an area with both a guide to give a commentary and a photographer to offer tips on the best selfie spots. Guide YS takes us through Chinatown to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who came from Guangdong province, as we explore the lives of ‘coolies’, low-wage labourers who migrated to Singapore in search of work. Along the way we learn the origin of famous local dish Hainanese chicken rice – a meal developed by immigrants from Hainan, but never served in China itself – and the background behind Singaporean kopi, coffee made from robusta rather than arabica beans, to which condensed milk is added to soften the bitter taste. We pass by red-roofed shophouses and bustling market stalls, but this tour isn’t just about the obviously Instagrammable spots. We also delve into the concrete stairwells of high-rise HDBs – government-built housing blocks, where YS tells us he grew up – and where lines of brightly coloured washing are strung window to window and flat-topped roofs tower over the heritage buildings nearby. The photo focus isn’t just a gimmick, either. Tips on taking the best images for social media force us to see these run-down urban spaces in a new way. The curve of a concrete arch or the hard diagonal line of a busy road disappearing into the distance


travelweekly.co.uk We pass


brightly coloured shopfronts, their rainbow facades a contrast to the modern skyscrapers that tower behind


offer a fresh perspective, especially when allied with stories of the migrant labourers who toiled away in years gone by right here in Chinatown.


SIDECAR SIGHTS If clients are looking to change their perspective once again, Vespa tours from Singapore Sidecars are just the ticket. Travellers enjoy a unique tour of the city in a sidecar affixed to the famous scooters. We don our helmets on cherry red, neon yellow and


BOOK IT


If Only offers five nights in an Ocean View Room at the five- star Mandarin Oriental, including breakfast, British Airways flights and private transfers, from £1,749 departing from Heathrow, based on travel on June 1, 2022. Departures from Manchester and Glasgow are available at £1,859 per person. ifonly.net


70s-style cream and tan motorbikes, thrum the engines and rev our way through Joo Chiat. We pass brightly coloured shopfronts, their rainbow facades a contrast to the modern skyscrapers that tower behind. Passers-by wave at us from bus stops and bridges – whether at the curious sight of a chain of Vespa sidecars or because they are overjoyed to see tourists back in Singapore, I’m not sure – and we skim past the pedestrian-only entrance to Haji Street on our way to Kampong Glam. It’s a fun way to explore the city with commentary


from local guides, in my case a Brazilian-turned- Singaporean called Guillermo, who pointed out key sights over the tut-tut-tut of the engines. Company owner Simon Wong, who hails from north London but has ties in Singapore, is working on a number of new tours, from ‘sidecar cinema’ to explore the city and enjoy an open-air film to a design-focused drive and a Grand Prix-inspired trip around the city’s streets. It’s yet another example of Singapore’s ability to


reinvent itself, showing first-time and returning visitors alike a new side of the city-state.


TW 16 DECEMBER 2021 39


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