Lorong Halus Wetland
Thirty years as Singapore's landfill, now a reed-bed wetland that cleans its own leachate, with a red steel bridge over the reservoir that is the best sunset in Punggol. Bring water.
- Where: Punggol
- Price: Free
Thoughtful evenings and afternoons for two.

Budgets are a typical total for two people, in Singapore dollars.
Thirty years as Singapore's landfill, now a reed-bed wetland that cleans its own leachate, with a red steel bridge over the reservoir that is the best sunset in Punggol. Bring water.
Gongs, Tibetan singing bowls and crystal bowls on a quiet Telok Ayer side street. Start with the Gong Nidra if you've never meditated; there's nothing to get wrong.
A 90-minute hot–cold circuit in a Tras Street shophouse, named after the rodent that sits in warm water doing nothing. Phones stay in the locker, which is the hard part.
The quietest way to spend serious money at Raffles: a spa in the arcade with steam room, sauna, onsen-style pool and Omorovicza's gold rituals. Save it for a milestone.
Tui na done properly in hotel comfort: an hour of kneading along the meridians on Level 4 of the Pan Pacific, then tea, steam and a pool. For desk-bound shoulders.
A Latin-leaning bar-bistro at Chip Bee Gardens with a ten-seat vinyl booth and an honour-system library. Come in the afternoon and put a record on.
A hand-built Duxton Hill bar that writes six new cocktails on the window every week and wipes them the next. Order off the window; the Sesame Negroni is the one constant.
A sixth-floor rooftop above Clarke Quay with a Marina Bay view, table lamps instead of a DJ and cocktails built on local flavours. The quiet one.
A cocktail room for about 20 behind the tapas tables at Carlitos, all mosaic and curved walls. Eat at Carlitos first, book or come early, and keep it for two.
Walk through a focaccia deli and find the red door: a 60-seat lounge that treats champagne as a weeknight drink. Go late, start with a glass, and check Instagram for hours.
Ngiam Tong Boon's other cocktail, the Million Dollar, in a book-lined corner of the Raffles lobby. The quieter drink at Raffles, and the one with the better story.
A Duxton Road listening bar with floor-to-ceiling vinyl, vintage JBLs and shochu where the whisky would usually be. For people who would rather listen than talk.
The easiest date is one that arrives with its own subject. Choose something to look at or do first, then a table where the conversation can carry on.