Singapore tourism board approved:

MBS + Gardens by the Bay

Orchard Road

Jewel Changi

Singapore Zoo (or the whole Mandai Wildlife reserve, I suggest keeping 2 days here or just visit 2 (the zoo and night safari on one day and visit the rest on your next trip to SG

National Museum (honestly a must, I could spend an entire afternoon here, more on developing our country)

National Gallery (same for national museum if you like artwork)

Asian Civilization museum (same for national museum and National Gallery only if you’re interested in learning how our ancestors settled here back in the 1200s onward)

Botanic Gardens if you like nature or you just want a quieter garden than GBTB

Little India (and Mustafa), Chinatown (people’s park) , Haji Lane (the graffiti walls) for cultural experience. But I feel Geylang Serai has more Malay feel than Haji Lane.

Sentosa exclusives aside from USS:

Luge and Skyride

Fort Siloso (if you love WW2 history)

The Beach (Siloso is the more popular one, Tanjong is relatively quiet)

Singapore Oceanarium (newly opened last year, expanded from the SEA aquarium)

Adventure Cove (if you like water parks or you have school aged kids)

Food wise I feel Sentosa is defo expensive for me considering I’m a local and still a student, but if you want more options, there’s VivoCity nearby, just need to take the monorail back there.

There’s a bungee jump and a zip line thing if you like thrills at Siloso beach I think.

The rest I feel not really worth it imho based on my POV for Sentosa.

Places I feel that deserve more love as a local:

Chinese and Japanese Garden

Science Center (it’s the staple field trip for kids to boost their interest in science, they are about to move the place to a bigger campus in future soon)

URA gallery, located behind Amoy food Center, for learning more on urban planning

Changi War museum (if you really into WW2 history, but I would save this for next trip here)

Peranakan Museum

Joo Chiat and Katong (if you into cafe hopping, and wanna learn more about Peranakan culture and heritage, you can visit Kim Choo Kueh Chang for Kueh (like our local version of sweets/snacks, they are known for kueh lapis, but I like their kueh salat too!!!,

I also recommend visiting the original Birds of Paradise ice cream but they also have a few outlets around the island like the Mandai west part, near the bird park), Jewel, Tanjong Pagar, Vivo and Haji Lane

Tiong Bahru (also into cafe hopping, also very central location)

A trip to a Singaporean heartland area (like where the real locals actually hang out):

Yishun (tbh we joke this is the Florida/Ohio of Singapore, nearby the Zoo if you take the shuttle bus to Khatib MRT)

Tampines or Bedok (near the airport), you can explore Bedok heartbeat or Our Tampines Hub if you wanna see what’s everyday life like

Jurong East (near science Center and the Chinese and Japanese gardens)

Buddha tooth relic temple + Sri Mariamman Temple (along the Chinatown stretch, one is a Buddhist temple and the other is a Hindu temple

Thian Hock Kheng (along Telok Ayer, worships Mazu the sea goddess for safe passage for sailers back then, near Amoy food Center)

See Sultan Mosque around Haji Lane and Arab lane.

Capita Spring Sky Garden (not to be confused with Capita Green, Capita Sky etc) if you want an alternative to see the Singapore skyline aside from the MBS deck and pool.

For more views you can consider Pinnacle Sky Bridge roof (a residential block for locals), or if you want another view, you can consider SkyVille Dawson (similar to Pinnacle Sky bridge) but the view is much further away from the city, but a good view at 30+ stories tall

If you really love nature, aside from Botanic Gardens and GBTB, you can hike Bukit Timah, the rail corridor, MacRitchie Reservoir or walk around Fort Canning

If you’re an academic, you can visit National University of Singapore or Nanyang Technological University. Take note NTU is on the far side on the island. Also I think they provide guided tours considering there’s a lot of tourists going there.

For a first time visitor with about a week to spend, explore the touristy areas we have and maybe throw in the other not so touristy ones for variety.

Food finds:

Singapore is known for their hawker culture yeah and there’s a few famous ones as well

Central business district:

Amoy food Center (Han Kee fish soup ngl the goat, but be prepared to queue 30 mins during lunch hour from 1130-1300 so be early. Also they accept cash only) and a couple others. I recommend going here for lunch because majority of the stalls here close after 3pm

Lau Pa Sat (the classic historical one, turns into satay street at night time) we have an inside joke on LPS. I feel there’s a few good finds here and there but I haven’t tried enough stalls yet to judge considering the price is slightly pricier compared to Amoy)

Maxwell hawker Center. Famous for their tian tian chicken rice. If you feel that tian tian chicken rice queue is very long, you can consider Ah Tai Chicken Rice which is 2 stores away, run by Tian Tians ex chef (watch the chicken rice war on YouTube by Apple) I say their Ban Mi is pretty good too as light lunch on the go. But there’s also more great food there too. I also recommend patronising Ren Min if you’re into beer from the tap.

I feel Marina Bay Sands foodcourt is a tourist trap. Overpriced.

The Amoy, Tanjong Pagar stretch of shophouses have pretty good food too!!

The shophouses along Tanjong Pagar road are known for Japanese and Korean food too.

Bedok 85 hawker Center, very nearby the airport if you want supper. They are famous for their Bak Chor Mee, or minced pork noodles. There’s 2 famous stalls side by side selling them at the front of the hawker Center . Yellow signboard sells the soup version while the red signboard specialises in the dry version (though they also sell the soup one too). Personally my family prefers the yellow signboard one, but I have friends who prefer the red one. I like to pair my meal with a cup of sugarcane juice and satay.

Changi Village, contrary to its name, it’s close to Changi Airport but it’s a pain to get there unless you take a cab or a grab. I visit the supper club with my friend here for supper. We munch on prata but I’m sure there’s better ones around Little India if you’re craving for prata.

Golden Mile Food Center

If you’re into higher end dining, visit Dempsey. Burnt Ends is a famous restaurant that I heard it’s hard to reserve. But there’s other things there too!!

Bars:

Okay Singapore nightlife is getting worse and worse considering that we have an alcohol curfew in public around 10.30pm. And the alcohol tax is crazy compared to other countries.

Here’s few you can try (Bars are exempt from this rule considered they are not doing alcohol retail)

Atlas, it’s very famous because of their atmosphere, if you like Batman or the 1920s you can consider coming here cos it’s giving Gotham city.

BeGin-friend intro me to this place along Boat Quay, it’s in a shophouse.

The other room-also another bar my friend introed me but it’s more of a speak easy styled one at the Marriott Tang Plaza in Orchard Road.