Gardens by the Bay is a complex of theme gardens and steel and glass domed conservatories located in the Marina Bay area of Singapore. Undoubtedly, the stars of the complex are the Super Trees which are man made, tree-like structures that serve several purposes including being vertical gardens housing a myriad of tropical plants. Collectively known as the Super Grove, the eighteen trees range in size from 25 to 50 meters in height and as in nature, no two trees are the same. Held up by dozens of very thin cables, just below the "canopy" of several of the trees, is an elevated walkway called the OCBC Skyway that takes you through one part of the Super Grove. Walking among and looking up at the Super Trees is like being in a futuristic forest with trees from another planet. Simply put, they are incredibly cool to look at! As dusk falls, the trees light up and cast a warm glow over the Super Grove, enough to light the way for a relaxing stroll. The trees come to life with nightly sound and light shows that take place at 7:45pm and 8:45pm.  If you make up to the OCBC Skyway before it closes at 8:30pm, you can watch the 10 minute show from there. At night, the Super Grove is also a great spot to catch a view of Singapore's amazing skyline and the shimmering lights of the neighboring Marina Bay Sands Hotel. After your stroll, take the pedestrian flyover to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel for dinner or a snack! Entry to the Super Grove is free and is open until 2 am.

When I asked some locals where to eat late night I was directed to the Lavender Street Food Court. I passed on the turtle soup and instead feasted on dim sum and the famous Singapore chilli crab.

Fountain of wealth, located in Singapore CBD is the largest fountain in the world. It is lovely to enjoy this fountain both in the afternoon, with a lunch on the fountain terrace or in the evenings when the lights come on.

Chef André Chiang of Singapore's haute dining spot, Restaurant André, has an obsession with the Snickers bar. The young chef reinvents the classic American candy each year for his menu. He wanted to offer his guests a timeless chocolate dessert and realized that the components of a Snickers bar—chocolate, caramel, nougat, nuts—work perfectly no matter how you mix and match them. In past years he's made a white-chocolate Snickers, deep-fried Snickers, and a Snickers-flavored ice cream. When I ate there in December, he served me this fancy version which consisted of chocolate and peanut crumble, nougat cream and a dollop of chocolate-dusted Snickers ice cream.

I’m used to chefs telling me they’ve made everything I’m eating: the butter, the bread, sometimes even the wine. But Singapore’s André Chiang takes the handmade ethos to the extreme at his Restaurant André. He proudly claims responsibility for the slightly uneven edges of my unglazed clay plate, bowl, and saucer. He molded and fired half the dishware in his restaurant. “I used to take pottery classes. I kind of like the imperfection,” he says. Menus are decorated with Chiang’s rough line sketch of the three-floor townhouse the restaurant occupies. For items the chef doesn’t make with his own hands, he collaborates with other experts. He worked with a Danish carpenter to design the dining room chairs and with a Japanese artist to create the porcelain bread baskets. His French nouvelle dishes, like artichoke barigoule with grilled needlefish shine the spotlight on a different sort of craft. “My goal is to highlight the produce that the farmers labor over,” he says. “The ingredients have been grown and harvested with care. That’s an art worthy of recognition.” Restaurant André. 41 Bukit Pasoh Rd., 65/6534-8880. This appeared in the May/June 2012 issue. Photo courtesy of Restaurant André.

Serangoon Road, the main thoroughfare that cuts through Little India, is crowded with vendors selling saris, chai, and marigold and jasmine garlands, which residents deposit at the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. The Mustafa shopping center, home to the Gold Mart, is open 24 hours a day, should the need for a bangle or a necklace strike at an odd hour. —Jessica Battilana 320 Serangoon Rd., 65/6295-5855. Photo courtesy of AmAn Khan, Istock. This appeared in the March/April 2011 issue. 

Food is an obsession in Singapore, and eating here is like a sport. When Singapore's king of hawker food, K.F. Seetoh, takes you on a food crawl, you know you're in for a serious challenge. Our first of 5 food center stops was Old Airport Road hawker center for the prawn noodle soup (studded with cuts of pig's tails that are eaten like corn on the cob) at stand #01-98, Whitley Rd Brig Prawn Noodle.

The towering Marina Bay Sands development looks like an enormous space ship dropped down on the waterfront in Singapore. An outpost of the hip Bali beach club Ku De Ta sits on the 57th floor along with an enormous infinity pool. Down below are a floating night club and a floating Louis Vuitton story. The balls in the bay are wishing balls that are used for the New Year's Eve celebration.

Despite the “Speak Good English” initiative introduced by the Singaporean government, the use of Singlish—a slang-heavy spoken language that mixes English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese words—persists throughout the country. Lah is the quintessential Singlish word, usually used as a full stop at the end of a sentence to convey a willingness or ability to do something. One of the most frequently heard phrases from locals, “can lah ” is best translated as “Sure, I can!” —Jessica Battilana  Illustration by Ward Schumaker. This appeared in the March/April 2011 issue. 

In a city obsessed with food, you’ll find some of the best, most authentic, and most inexpensive dishes at the hawker centers. Singapore resident K.F. Seetoh’s Makansutra guidebook shepherds you through thousands of stalls, pointing out “die die must try” dishes, including fish-head curry and roti prata flatbread. —Jessica Battilana Photo by France Ellen Pe-Aguirre. This appeared in the March/April 2011 issue.

I was fortunate enough to live in Singapore for a 4-month internship, and I never ceased to be amazed at the fantastic hawker food there. One of the best hawker centres that I visited was the Old Airport Road Food Centre. I couldn’t get enough of their dragon fruit juices or chocolate avocado smoothies!

When in Singapore's central business district (Raffles Place MRT stop), the best "fast food" can be found at Lau Pa Sat. This 150-year old former fish, fruit and veg market was converted into a collection of hawker food stalls in the 1970s. There are about 75 different stalls to choose from selling everything from curries and dosas to dumplings and pig organ soup. The market is shaped like an octagon with 8 alleys emanating from the centre. Here are my top picks: - Shanghai deep fried pork and spring onion buns (pictured) from the stall in the center at the top of Street 6. These are to die for. Help yourself to a little plastic saucer of chili paste for dipping. Five buns for $4. - Thunder Tea Rice at Stall 12 on Street 2. A healthier choice - the brown rice and basil chicken is delicious and costs about $6. - Mohamed Restaurant at Stall 61 on Street 5. Get a plate of murtabak (stuffed roti prata) for sharing for about $4. - Fresh lime juice or iced kopi (coffee) from the beverage stand in the center. A bargain at between $1 and $2 each. There are tons of other stalls to choose from depending on what you're craving: Hainanese chicken rice, satay, Vietnamese pho. When in doubt, do what the Singaporeans do and join the longest queue.

Bam - slap - thwack - woosh - woosh - woosh - sss - i - zzz - zzz - l - e - clang - clang - plop - thank you, auntie! - szrkst - szkst - aaaahh. That is the audible life cycle of Mr. Mohgan's Super Crispy Roti Prata, if Alan Lomax was recording the spirituals of Singapore's victuals. (Here is the libretto of that prata operetta: Mr. Mohgan throws a round lump of dough he's made last night before slamming it flat with his palm. First flip hits the aluminum countertop, then three consecutive flips in the air before dropping it onto the hot griddle gleaming with ghee. Iron spatula fries the prata with loud scrapes, the only sign of authority from a mild-mannered man. Finally, it lands on top of a mountain of its brethren and Mrs. Mohgan delivers it with dahl, mutton curry or assam fish - the latter is the best. She is so lovely you want to hug her, then you bulldoze the round bastard love child of Indian sub-contentinal paratha into your mouth. Here in prata spa, you sigh in contentment.) If commercial prata, defrosted from factory dough at most food courts and coffee shops in Singapore, is as substantial as Justin Bieber, then Mr. Mohgan's is the sound of soul and the gospel of ghee. He must have sold his soul to the devil, at the crossroads of Crane and Onan in Joo Chiat, to ply prata with fingers light enough to inject strata of fluff encased between lightly seared, flaky surfaces. A flatbread normally regarded as a gut bomb that tastes like cloud nine? Right flippin' on.

By day, Clarke Quay is a colorful, quiet stretch of shopfronts by the river. At night it comes alive as a wonderfully tacky adult playground. What you will find here: hen parties, jetlagged tourists, "sarong party girls", overpriced drinks, white dudes, cheesy dance music. What you will NOT find here: local food, quaint river-side ambiance, a decent glass of wine, authentic anything. Sometimes tacky can be good fun.

The Arab Street area of Singapore is one of my favorite places to browse on a weekend. There are street stalls along the pedestrian-only street north of Bussorah Street leading up to the Mosque, tons of clothing boutiques along atmospheric Haji Lane (my personal fave) and fabric shops on Arab Street if you have a sewing machine. You have your pick of sidewalk cafés serving refreshing mint tea, iced coffee or even a hookah if you need a break. The area is also lively in the evening - it's a great place to come after the shops have closed for dinner and drinks.

by Cheryl Lu Lien Tan In a warren of narrow streets near Singapore’s Chinatown, a tiny row house’s pink facade signals that offbeat offerings lie within. Stevie General Store is packed with old books, antique watches, eyeglasses, jewelry, and overflowing racks of vintage day dresses and cocktail frocks harvested from closets in Japan and France. It is, in essence, a museum for the outré. Named for Stevie Nicks and the British poet Stevie Smith, the store also sells a line of quirky outfits for women, Philomel Clothing, designed by its owners. Each time I’ve visited Stevie, I’ve managed to leave with something completely unexpected—and unforgettable. 93 Club Street, Level 1, Singapore, 65/6536- 8590, steviegeneralstore.com Photo courtesy of Stevie General Store. This story appeared in the September/October 2011 issue. 

It might seem blasphemous that Hans Tan, the 32-year-old designer behind Singapore’s Hans Tan Studio, takes a sandblaster to highly collectible Nonyaware pottery. But Tan’s limited edition Spotted Nyonya collection is his reinterpretation of the traditional tableware. “It’s my way of keeping the past relevant,” he says. Here’s how he connects the dots. STEP 1 Peranakans—the descendants of Chinese nobles who migrated to the straits of Malacca in the late 16th century— had specific sets of crockery for special occasions. Hans Tan buys antique pieces from Singapore’s Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln Village. STEP 2 Tan washes and dries each vessel to prep the surface before overlaying it with synthetic dot stickers. He applies each sticker by hand to ensure the dots are perfectly spaced. A large vessel may be covered in more than 300 dots. STEP 3 Tan sandblasts each vessel with aluminum oxide, which removes the glaze from areas not covered by the dots, and exposes the white bisque porcelain underneath. STEP 4 For the final step, Tan removes each dot using tweezers. It can take up to eight hours to take off the dots on such vessels as katamaus, pictured. In the end, Tan reveals a colorful polka-dot motif against the white background. From $770. farm.sg. This appeared in the May/June 2012 issue. Photo courtesy of Hans Tan Studio.

One of the best parts of Singapore is little India. The smells, people and culture bring a little reality to this very manicured country. When I lived in Singapore 5 years ago, I used to love to visit this North Indian restaurant called Suriya Restaurant. The food is great, the price is right and since other Indians mostly visit it, the food is very authentic. If you have a craving, just stumble in and grab a banana leaf full of goodness!

Regarded as one of the best zoos on the planet, a unique feature of the Singapore Zoo is the lack of fences to be found anywhere on the property. Exotic wildlife from all corners of the globe are allowed to roam freely throughout the facility, with strategically placed moats and land barriers serving as natural boundaries. Here, a curious, yellow-eyed inhabitant poses comically for the camera.

I wish I had written down the artist and title...sorry. Anyway, I highly recommend this museum- particularly the modern art/contemporary art building across the street!

In the center of bustling Chinatown, the New Majestic Hotel offers 30 rooms outfitted by Singaporean artists with such features as full-wall mirrors, four-poster beds suspended from the ceiling, and garden terraces. Windows along the bottom of the lap pool let swimmers peek at the Majestic Restaurant, which serves grilled rack of lamb in Chinese honey with pan-fried carrot cake. From $306. 31-37 Bukit Pasoh Rd., 65/6511-4700, newmajestichotel.com. Photo courtesy of The New Majestic Hotel. This appeared in the March/April 2011 issue.