Top things to do in Singapore

Here are 3 things to do in Singapore!

Day 1: Chinatown & Around

Spend the first morning wandering around Chinatown and sampling its culinary wonders, then head to the World Trade Centre (WTC) and cable car your way up Mt Faber for a beer and a view of the city. While away the evening with a leisurely stroll along the quays and dinner at Empress Place.

Day 2: Museums, Shopping, Nightlife

On Day 2, wander around the Padang and visit the Asian Civilisations Museum, then take in a typical lunch at a hawker centre before bracing yourself for some Orchard Rd shopping action and dinner on trendy Club St. Or See a performance at the Esplanade theaters. The Esplanade is an amazing theater and arts complex (and yes, it's near a mall) featuring multiple world class performances in music, theater and dance at any given time.

Day 3: Little India & Singapore Zoo

Spend the next morning exploring Little India, then chill out at the Botanic Gardens. Next, it's a toss-up between a vegetarian snack (or three) in the exuberant side streets of Little India or an early dinner in one of the fine French restaurants on Ann Siang Hill in Chinatown, but I'm liable to just make a beeline for the Newton Food Centre to the north of Orchard Rd and sit down at the stall selling delicious stingray dishes. From here jump in a taxi and take the night-safari tram ride through the superb Singapore Zoological Gardens (Singapore Zoo). Finish up with a cocktail or beer in one of the dramatic shop-house bars on Emerald Hill Rd, just off Orchard Rd, and end with an early morning shisha (hooka-style pipe) on Arab St in Kampong Glam.

Beijing: Made in China Part 14

Arts Coffee Haven
25 Chengxian Jie St., Dongcheng; 86-10/6405-2047; dessert for two $10.

Where to shop

Guang Han Tang Chinese Antique Furniture & Art
Treasures spotted here recently: a Ming dynasty bed; pharmacy cabinets smelling of medicinal herbs. Ships internationally.
Jichuang Fulu, near Nangao Rd., East Dashanzi, Chaoyang; 86-10/8456-7945; www.guanghantang.com.

What to read

Exhibiting Experimental Art in China
By Wu Hung. Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, 2000.

Rong Rong's East Village
By Wu Hung. Chambers Fine Art, 2003.

Tui-Transfiguration By Rong Rong and Inri. Timezone 8, 2004.

Beijing 798 Edited by Huang Rui. Timezone 8, 2004. A 50-year history of the Factory.

Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China
By Karen Smith. Scalo Verlag, 2005.

Most titles are available through Timezone 8 bookstore, Factory 798. 86-10/8456-0336; www.timezone8.com.

Web only: Where to go out

Pause Cafe
4 Jiuxianqiao Rd. (one block down from the CIMG building)
Dashanzi Art District
86-10/6431/6214

Yan Club
4 Jiuxianqiao Rd.
Dashanzi Art District
86-10/8457-3506
www.yanclub.com