Commentary: Boring, expensive Singapore? Here’s how tourists can step off the social media algorithm

SINGAPORE: When Adam and Charlotte Erace had 48 hours in Singapore in June, flying in from Philadelphia, United States, they concentrated on eating and drinking.
“Because Singapore’s reputation demanded it,” recounts Adam, 40, a food and travel writer. “We didn’t want to just follow Michelin stars or (Netflix series) Chef’s Table or (chef Anthony) Bourdain; connecting with a local person who could show their personal favourites in their neighbourhood gave us a deeper experience instead of following all the other food tourists.”
That local person was me. In four hours, we sliced across Joo Chiat, from Katong to Geylang Serai, mimicking a Singaporean’s daily culinary cycle: Kaya toast breakfast set at Chin Mee Chin, popiah lunch at Kway Guan Huat, curry puff tea time at Soon Soon Huat, nasi padang dinner at Hjh Maimunah and Haig Road Putu Piring for dessert.
Along the way, we breathed in the pastel kaleidoscope and ethnic embroidery of the country’s first designated Heritage Town. The Eraces were curious about life here: Sharing a hawker centre table with uncles and aunties, we talked about HDB void deck culture and the gifts and challenges of our uniquely cosmopolitan society.
This was a sensorial deep dive into our heart(lands) and soul – not content for the next Instagram Reel, TikTok and YouTube video.
But how many visitors go for such intimate encounters with gusto? This genuine, sweaty Singapore isn’t the social media fodder with the Merlion, Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens By The Bay – named eighth best attraction in the world by Tripadvisor – and Chinatown’s more sanitised streets.
And this is why some tourists regularly criticise Singapore for being artificial and expensive. Every now and then, such criticisms go viral – like one calling it “the most boring country” she had ever been to, or another who complained that it was “super expensive” but later wrote that she did not want to “eat at stalls or ride in the train”.
Each time, locals are quick to defend that these scenes aren’t the “real” Singapore.
Just as we’re a diverse mosaic of nationalities, ethnicities, neighbourhoods and palates – so are these travellers. Most tourists with just a few days in town understandably focus on the marquee sights downtown and food celebrity-backed dining – after all, if you didn’t tell a Story of your Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel’s Writers Bar, were you ever on our shores?
Yet, the beauty of visiting Singapore is that if you have a particular taste, we have an off-menu experience for you.
History buffs can step through time at Fort Canning right in the heart of the Civic District, with World War II museum Reflections at Bukit Chandu a short MRT ride away and Changi Prison Chapel a quick adventure afield. Nature lovers can traverse the Rail Corridor, delve into MacRitchie Nature Trail and tugboat over to Pulau Ubin.
New Bahru’s catalog of Singapore’s most exhilarating designers, lifestyle purveyors and chefs is a dreamy draw for style connoisseurs, who will also love browsing independent labels nestled in Kampong Glam, Tiong Bahru and Club Street. The art colonies of Wessex Estate, Gillman Barracks and Telok Kurau Studios are an arcadia of local works for appreciators and collectors.
The best part of such niche explorations? Once you’re off the tourist algorithm, one intrepid discovery leads to another five-foot-way to another hidden park to another vanishing trade being plied, accompanied by fantastic eating – street food or contemporary dining – along the way.
It’s not impossible to relish a succinct degustation of Singapore, even with limited time. Tours and classes both conventional and quirky are efficient for ticking off the checklist of must-sees, real and surreal in one fell swoop.
Chinatown Business Association regularly hosts crafty workshops like Chinese opera make-up and traditional hand puppetry, or sign up for a Cookery Magic class with your choice of local cuisine in a bucolic Opera Estate backyard.
Still, let’s not forget that the modern sheen of Marina Bay is actually authentically Singapore, one of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s visions for the urban reinvention of the country.
And we’re so fortunate to have heritage next door to these man-made marvels (and/or monstrosities) – just a Jubilee Walk spanning 8km of historical milestones and a loop around Marina Bay glows a real sense of who we are, where we came from, and where we’re headed.
Because at one end of the futuristic-looking Helix Bridge, there’s an uncle selling ice cream sandwiches with rainbow bread – a local snack beloved by generations. In the shadow of the glitzy Mondrian on Duxton, there’s Tong Mern Sern, a shophouse crammed with curios that’s a history trawl through vintage Singapore.
This Central Business District of skyscraper glitz dappled with public art spaces – that’s us. These runners and cyclists along the bayfront – that’s us, too. Those long lines at the Chinatown Complex hawker centre – that’s most definitely us.
In fact, real Singapore is everywhere, if travellers want to really give us a good and proper look – and not just through a smartphone lens.
Desiree Koh is a freelance writer based in Singapore.