Predictable superlatives flow thick and fast when speaking of the city-state that is constantly re-inventing itself.

Singapore is a diminutive island with a superiority complex. Who can blame it? The country runs the busiest port in the world, is home to the best international airport, operates one of the finest airlines on the planet and has one of the most advanced road systems of any country.

Ready for the gag bag? There’s more. It has been voted the number one business city in Asia for several consecutive times and is well on the way to becoming the world’s freest economy. It has one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world and has been listed by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy as the most stable country in Asia.

Like it or not, this is a nation of superlatives and it is on the fast track for more. Since independence in 1965, the world has watched its unbridled quest for the best, and 30 years later, reading about their own excellence has become almost as routine for Singaporeans as hearing about their own humble past. The nation’s favorite tale – it was colonized by the British, invaded by the Japanese, unceremoniously booted out of Malaysia and then confounded the skeptics with its astounding progress – has been fortified in the minds of virtually every citizen. Singapore is a digital-metropolis determined to make its name as a world capital.

Like the pink bougainvilleas that sprout from every highway planter and the stately Acacia-like trees lining the roads, nothing here is serendipitous, least of all the approach to tourism. As part of what the government calls Tourism 21, Singapore is trying to become a must-see destination, as well as a hub for travelers bound elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Singapore is a welcome refuge from its more exotic, bewildering neighbors and an impressive tribute to urban planning and immigrant pluck. The city is undergoing a renaissance, from confident new architecture like Kenzo Tange’s UE Square near Fort Canning Park, to meticulously restored historic districts, with avant-garde clubs, quaint cafes and hip restaurants. Shopping is a perennial Singapore pastime.

The way to appreciate Singapore is to go behind its squeaky clean façade to find its cultural and historical kaleidoscope. Singapore is a melting pot of Malays, Indians and an array of Chinese groups with their own languages, among them Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese.

Singapore is dotted with historic temples and monuments as other Asian cities are. But it does have several interesting neighborhoods worth exploring on foot. Go early or late enough to avoid the oppressive midday heat.

A good place to start is the Merlion along Singapore’s newest attraction, the Esplanade by the Bay. This water-spouting statue of a mythical lion-headed fish offers picturesque views near where legend says Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles landed in 1819 to establish Singapore as a British trading port and lent his name to a hotel, a school and a shopping mall, among other places.

South of the river, away from the high-rise hotels, lies Raffles Place and the heart of the financial district. On Cecil Street, the Stock Exchange sits where there once was a thriving spice market. Just off Telok Ayer Street, Pekin Street has been turned into a pleasant pedestrian promenade leading to Far East Square with a row of newly restored two-and three-story shophouses, built by Chinese immigrants to house their families above their businesses.

Farther up Telok Ayer is the intricately decorated Thian Hock Keng temple, built in 1840 along what until roughly 1930 was shoreline meant to honor the queen of heaven and protector of sailors. West of Telok Ayer, on Amoy and Club Streets, are some of the best examples of restored shophouses. This gentrified area’s older establishments, like the Dried Goods Guild, now rub elbows with a friendly assortment of bars, restaurants and dot com companies.

Also worth wandering through is Little India, a cluster of shops around Serangoon Road, north of the Colonial district, selling saris, bindis for women’s foreheads and booming bhangra CD’s. On Sunday evenings, this boisterous area is inundated with laborers from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Visitors may join them at the Veerama Kaliamman Temple and pay their respects to Kali.

East of Rochor Canal, the perfume shops and textile merchants around Arab Street remain picturesque, although business is waning, and Sultan Mosque endures a serene refuge for the faithful. Stop along North Bridge Road, for a martabak pancake filled with egg, chicken or mutton. Wander down Kandahar Street to find the dilapidated 160-year-old palace of Singapore’s former Malay Sultanate.

Check out Sentosa island – Singapore’s answer to Disneyland. The fun park activities are mostly for families, but it has enough to keep adults amused. The Singapore Zoological Gardens are among Singapore’s most popular attractions, and nothing like the animal jails you normally find in the region. Highly recommended is the Night Safari next to the zoo, which allows you to view animals along jungle paths at night. The Jurong Bird Park has a huge variety of bird life in similarly well-tended enclosures.

End your visit through the historic Singapore River, which features a lively stretch of restoration and redevelopment projects, especially in the evening when the restaurants and bars of Boat Quay and Clarke Quay are packed with locals and tourists. Or you can just walk through Orchard Road, and bond with local kababayans especially during Saturdays and Sundays at the famous Lucky Plaza Shopping complex.

Singapore’s highly regulated system of government has produced the ultimate consumer paradise, a city that might, at first, seem lacking in passion and individuality. But when it comes to the subject of food, Singaporeans reveal their true identity - for food is, quite simply, the national obsession.

This is a country where food is a constant topic of conversation and no meal is complete without an extended discussion about the food being eaten or a recently enjoyed meal. Eating out is, for many, a daily routine and this habit has virtually created a national identity defined by the cuisine – especially the multi-ethnic fare served in unpretentious restaurants and hawker centers throughout the island.

Few Singaporeans give much thought to the origins of what they are eating in this multi – racial society – what matters is the taste. Typical Singapore food is actually a blend of many elements brought by the different immigrant groups who have settled in the country. Dinner could be Chinese-style soup and vegetables combined with a Malay Chicken curry. Breakfast could be cereal and milk or Indian dosai with dhal. Even the methods of eating food are multi-cultural. One person sitting at a table may eat his plate of rice with fork and spoon, while another eats with chopsticks and a third uses his fingers.

Singapore food is always accompanied by powerful sensations: garlic and lard sizzling in a hot pan, sticks of satay grilling over an open flame, dried shrimp paste roasted before grinding, drops of ghee dancing on a hot griddle. These are some of the smells that trigger memories of home for Singaporeans, descendants of migrants who brought with them rich food traditions from all over Asia.

How to Get to Singapore

One can catch three daily flights from Manila to Singapore with Singapore Airlines or Philippine Airlines. Check out your travel agents for special promotional fares (Hip Hop Pass). Silk Air takes off daily from Cebu and three times a week from Davao and directly flies to Singapore.

Where to Stay

For budget travelers, there are a lot decent hotels to stay in within the city like the Grand Central Hotel at the back of Le Meridien along Orchard Road. Rates are from less than a US $100 a day. For luxury travelers, The Raffles Hotel, Goodwood Park, Ritz Carlton Millenia, Conrad and The Fullerton Hotel offers reasonable rates and discounts including airport transfers and pickups, complimentary breakfast and dry cleaning.

Where to Eat

The best food in Singapore is also the cheapest. You can eat your fill of something tasty for less than US$10 at almost any hawker center or food court. For a good selection of local delights, like Hainanese Chicken Rice, fish head soup or Nasi Padang, drop by the side of Raffles Hotel where you can find a row of restaurants claiming to have the best Hainanese Chicken rice in Singapore, or head off to Swee Kee Fishhead Noodle House at 96 Amoy Street where you can find local celebrities enjoying several versions of their fish head specialties or at the old train station at Robinson Road and Cross Street near the financial district that is now an open-air food court. You can pick and choose from the many stalls there.

For something more elaborate, people watching is a way of life at the Crossroads Café of The Marriott Hotel along Orchard and Scotts Road or head out to the East Coast and savor the famous black pepper crab – a giant Sri Lankan crustacean suffused with pepper sauce. Equally delicious is Long Beach’s chili crab, with its meat-laden piquant sauce.