Recreation in Singapore City

Beaches

Contrary to popular perception, Singapore is not all cavernous malls and packed restaurants. There’s lots you can do here on your medical tourism vacation that doesn’t involve dropping loads of cash on electronics or exotic meals.  Although the city’s beaches aren’t as popular as those in say, Malaysia or Thailand, they still provide a welcome breather from all the chaos on land. Besides the 3 beaches at Sentosa Island, there’s one at East Coast Park and another smaller one at Changi Village.  This last one is not as frequented as the ones at Sentosa.  Rent a kayak or a rubber canoe, and later head to the numerous hawker centers nearby for a fresh seafood meal.   

Islands

Many of the smaller islands that surround Singapore are open for day trips.  These have been mercifully untouched by resorts and corporate malls, and as such, you won’t find a lot here to while away your time.  But they provide the medical tourism vacationer plenty of opportunity to explore the rugged landscape.  At the island of Pulao Ubin, rent bicycles and maps to do some island exploration of your own and stop by one of the little food centers that dot the island for a quick bite.  Ferries transit regularly between the island and the mainland, but they may be delayed if they don’t have the required number of passengers.  Check with the ferryman about the time of departure and make sure you don’t miss boarding time - Pulao Ubin is said to be haunted by the souls of prisoners brought here by the Japanese! 

Exploring the City

In a city that doesn’t offer much by way of grand palaces and ancient monuments, the most seasoned advice you could give a medical tourism traveler who wants to get under the skin of the city is to walk. The city resonates so strongly with the influences of the various cultures that inhabit it that a walk through the prominent districts gives you a better sense of how well Singapore’s different cultures juxtapose with one another than any museum can.  In Chinatown, for instance you’ll find a couple of Hindu temples and a mosque tucked away amidst old warehouses, authentic tea houses, and shrines to the Mother of Heavenly Sages.  Experience a riotously colorful slice of subcontinent culture in Little India, which comes alive during major Hindu festivals.  Walk through Arab Street where the city’s small but vibrant Arab community lines up outside traditional Middle Eastern style hookah cafes while hawkers offer everything from textiles, artifacts, and alcohol free perfumes called attar to medicinal herbs that promise a cure for ailments ranging from impotency to acne.