A Bras Basah Morning on Waterloo Street

The Civic District tells Singapore's story in its old courtrooms. Waterloo Street tells it on the pavement. A Chinese temple and a Hindu temple stand side by side, and the oldest surviving synagogue in Southeast Asia is a short walk down. We'd start at Kwan Im around 8.30am on a weekday, while it's still calm, and reach the National Library as the heat builds. Take Exit A at Bras Basah MRT on the Circle Line and you're there in about five minutes. Bencoolen, on the Downtown Line, is close too, and Bugis is a 10-minute walk if you're coming from the east.

It's a good walk for a Monday, when several of the city's museums close. Kwan Im and the library keep their usual hours, and the National Gallery opens daily too, though the toy museum on Seah Street is shut. The Gallery deserves a morning of its own, starting from Exit B at City Hall MRT, so we'd save it for another day and give this one to the street.

Kwan Im and Sri Krishnan

Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho, at 178 Waterloo Street, is the temple people all over the island still name when they're after luck. It's free and open daily from 7am to 6.30pm with no midday break, so it fits wherever your day has room. Fortune sticks are there if you'd like to try them, and English translations have been on offer since 1990. Photography isn't allowed inside. The first and fifteenth days of the lunar month bring much bigger crowds, so an ordinary weekday morning is the gentler visit.

Twenty steps along, at 152 Waterloo Street, is Sri Krishnan Temple. It was founded in 1870 under a banyan tree, back when this was still Church Street, and it's the only Tamil temple in Singapore dedicated to Krishna and Rukmini. It's been a National Monument since 2014. Hours usually run in two windows, around 8am to noon and 6pm to 8.45pm, so it's worth checking on the day. Linger by the entrance and you'll often see someone light joss sticks at Kwan Im, then walk over to pray here as well. That short walk between two altars says more about the city than most wall texts. For both temples, cover your shoulders and wear shoes you can slip off.

Also on Waterloo Street, at Block 261, Singapore Century Calligraphy gives a 90-minute trial lesson in brush and ink, a gentle way in that goes well with a pot of tea afterwards.

The synagogue and two churches

Two minutes down Waterloo Street, at 24/26, Maghain Aboth is the oldest surviving synagogue in Southeast Asia. It was consecrated on 4 April 1878 and gazetted as a National Monument in 1998. It's still a working congregation, so unlike Kwan Im, it's a visit you arrange ahead: tours are by appointment through enquiry@jwb.org.sg, and modest dress is expected if a visit is offered. Next door, the Jews of Singapore Museum in the Jacob Ballas Centre is also by appointment. It typically opens 10am to 6pm, until noon on Fridays, and closes on Saturdays and Jewish festivals. If you pass during a service, keep your camera down.

Over on Victoria Street, the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is Singapore's oldest Catholic cathedral, recently restored and quieter than St Andrew's, which suits it. Ten minutes inside is plenty. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul at 225A Queen Street is another Catholic church close by, and a National Monument, and most walking tours skip it because they're already late for the Gallery. Both are free to walk into, with no ticket needed.

The National Library

The National Library at 100 Victoria Street is 8 to 10 minutes on foot from Waterloo Street, and it's the free indoor hour this part of town does best. It's open daily from 10am to 9pm, closed on public holidays, and it closes at 5pm on the eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. There's a roof garden up top and pods for sitting out the heat. If you like paper, the Lee Kong Chian reference floors are the place to linger. The performing-arts collection moved here from library@esplanade after June 2023, so this is where the scores are now. Bugis, Bras Basah, City Hall and Bencoolen stations are all within walking distance. On Basement One, the free Children's Biodiversity Library is a marine-themed room for children.

Five minutes on, the National Design Centre at 111 Middle Road fills an old convent school with rotating shows, along with a shop and a cafe. It's typically open 9am to 9pm and usually free. Coming straight from Bugis, take Exit C, walk five minutes down Victoria Street and turn right onto Middle Road. We'd pair it with the library and leave the second museum for the afternoon, since a morning of temples and books is already a full one.

Stamford Road and Armenian Street

On the way to lunch, stop at Capitol at 13 Stamford Road, a minute's walk from City Hall MRT Exit D. The restored 1930s theatre stages concerts and live shows as well as a classic-film series, and each one is ticketed. Its sunlit arcade has restaurants too. Opposite Raffles, MINT Museum of Toys at 26 Seah Street fills five floors with tin robots and other toys. It's open Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30am to 6.30pm, with last admission at 5.30pm, and closed on Mondays.

For the afternoon, choose one museum. Ours is the Peranakan Museum at 39 Armenian Street, five minutes from Exit B at Bras Basah. Its beadwork and its chamber devoted to the 12-day wedding carry on the morning's theme of communities making traditions their own. It's open daily from 10am to 7pm, until 9pm on Fridays, with last admission half an hour before closing. If you'd rather go underground, the Battlebox bunker under Fort Canning is free, but you'll need to book a slot.

The National Museum at 93 Stamford Road makes a strong second choice once its Singapore History Gallery reopens on 10 October. Stories of Everyday, the reopening programme, runs from 10 to 18 October, and entry is free for everyone from 10 to 12 October. From 13 October, adult tourists pay S$18. It's open daily from 10am to 7pm, with last tickets at 6pm and last entry to the galleries and Odyssea at 6.30pm. Quiet Mornings open the doors at 9am on the first Saturday and the first and third Thursday of each month.

The National Archives at 1 Canning Rise, with Fort Canning right outside, is the reading room for the nation's paper. Its exhibitions are free and open from 10am to 9pm, and it's staffed on weekdays from 10am to 6.30pm. If you like old files, give it a morning of its own instead of squeezing it in between two museums and a temple.

If you'd rather swap museums for another neighbourhood, Kampong Gelam (Kampong Glam) is 10 minutes east, with the gold dome of Sultan Mosque at its centre. Little India is 15 minutes north, and it's where we'd go for lunch on a banana leaf.

An evening at Raffles

When you've had your fill of incense, the Raffles Arcade is five minutes from Waterloo Street and free to walk through, verandahs and all. Long Bar is by the North Bridge Road entrance, where a Singapore Sling costs S$44++, meaning plus service charge and GST. From Sunday to Wednesday, last seating is at 10.30pm. SMU spreads its city campus through the precinct, and it makes a pleasant shortcut on foot.

Each year, usually from late August into early September, the Singapore Night Festival fills these streets with light and performance after dark. The rest of the year the evenings are quieter, and the temples and the library keep their ordinary hours whatever the calendar says. A Sling at the Long Bar is a fine way to end a day that started with fortune sticks.