Kampong Glam

Kampong Gelam (Kampong Glam) is the Malay-Muslim heart of the city: the Sultan's precinct from 1819, named for the gelam trees once used in boat-making. Most people arrive through Bugis, but the part worth your afternoon starts where Bussorah Street runs up to the gold dome of Sultan Mosque. We'd come in the afternoon and wait for dusk, when the heat eases and the dome starts to glow, then stay on for dinner. Little India is 15 minutes away and different in every way, so give it a morning of its own.

Start at Sultan Mosque, where non-Muslim visitors come in through Gate 5 on Bussorah Street during two sessions a day, except on Fridays. A short walk away, Istana Kampong Gelam at 85 Sultan Gate, the old royal compound, now holds the Malay Heritage Centre. After a full revamp, its six galleries tell Dari Rantau Ke Rumah, From Region to Home, a story that runs from Johor–Riau kinship to the seniwati, the leading ladies of 1950s Malay film. We'd catch the mosque's afternoon session first, then cool off in the galleries before their 5.30pm last entry.

Arab Street's shophouses, the old terraces with a shop below and a home above, are full of textile sellers, and Haji Lane has the murals and small independent shops. An hour on Haji Lane is plenty. Towards Beach Road, Hajjah Fatimah Mosque, finished in 1846, has a minaret that leans slightly, and the 1975 Golden Mile Food Centre does Thai and hawker lunches. Next to it stands Golden Mile Complex, the conserved brutalist block long known as Little Thailand for its gold shops, som tam and buses to Hat Yai. It closed for restoration in 2023, so look up at it from the pavement and eat at the food centre. For dinner, head back to the grills on Kandahar and Baghdad Streets, one street over from Haji Lane.

Bugis has reasons to linger too. On Waterloo Street, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho is a working temple where people come to pray for luck, with Sri Krishnan Temple next door and Maghain Aboth Synagogue, open by appointment, on the same street. The National Library on Victoria Street makes a free indoor stop between the temples and the mosque, and MINT Museum of Toys on Seah Street, opposite Raffles Hotel, fills a rainy hour. Give the mosque, the galleries and Hajjah Fatimah a whole afternoon rather than a 90-minute dash, and finish with the dome lit up above Bussorah Street.

Where to eat

• Singapore Zam Zam, 697–699 North Bridge Road: murtabak, a stuffed griddled bread, since 1908, opposite the mosque. Open daily 7am–11pm
• Islamic Restaurant, 745 North Bridge Road #01-01: biryani since 1921, a few doors from Zam Zam. Usually open daily, 10am–10pm; Friday lunch can pause for prayer
• Albert Centre Market & Food Centre, 270 Queen Street: the Bugis-side hawker centre, a big hall of small cooked-food stalls on Level 1
• Golden Mile Food Centre, 505 Beach Road: go before 11.30am for Da Po Hainanese Chicken Rice or 91 Fried Kway Teow Mee, which both draw queues
• Kandahar and Baghdad Streets: grills for dinner, then teh tarik, pulled milk tea, on the covered five-foot way. Save Haji Lane for dessert