Orchard

Orchard Road once ran between nutmeg plantations. Today it's malls end to end, and on a wet afternoon that's no bad thing: it's the easiest rainy-day stretch in the middle of the city. The parts worth crossing town for sit at its edges. We'd start at the Botanic Gardens at the top of the hill while it's still cool, come down to ION Orchard for lunch and the sky deck, save Emerald Hill for around 5pm and finish with supper at Newton.

ION Orchard sits right on top of Orchard MRT, and the Singapore Tourism Board's Singapore Visitor Centre is at its B1 concierge if you want a second opinion. ION Sky is up on Levels 55 and 56, reached by its own lifts from ION Art on Level 4, and it's only open in the early afternoon. Spend S$50 in the mall that day and your receipt buys you a welcome drink at 1-Atico Lounge while you're up there. Private events and blackout dates close the deck now and then, so check before you head up.

Emerald Hill is a conserved Peranakan terrace behind Centrepoint, a short walk from Somerset MRT. Walk it around 5pm, before the after-work bars get busy. Further down, opposite the Istana's Main Gate near Dhoby Ghaut, Istana Park is a 1.3-hectare lawn with the Festival Arch and a reflecting pool, open 24 hours. The Istana itself opens its grounds only on Open House days, a few times a year. From Dhoby Ghaut, Fort Canning is a 10-minute walk.

Newton Food Centre, a hawker centre of small food stalls at 500 Clemenceau Avenue North, is where we'd go for supper, the late meal after dinner. It's a short walk from Newton MRT. The satay and barbecued seafood stalls get going after 7pm, and it's worth agreeing the price before anything goes on the grill. Balestier Road, near Novena, is its own outing. The Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall there is closed for restoration until 2027, but bak kut teh, the peppery pork-rib soup, and a hawker lunch at Whampoa Makan Place are reason enough to go.

Where to eat

• Newton Food Centre, 500 Clemenceau Avenue North: many stalls rest by day, and the satay and barbecued seafood start after 7pm. Agree the satay price first
• ION Food Opera, ION Orchard: the food hall to use if you're already in the mall and the rain has settled in
• Tiong Bahru Market, near Tiong Bahru MRT Exit A: where we'd go for a hawker breakfast before the malls open
• Founder Bak Kut Teh, 347 Balestier Road: peppery bak kut teh from 11.45am to midnight, closed Tuesdays. Balestier Bak Kut Teh is along at 365–369
• Whampoa Makan Place, Blocks 90–92 Whampoa Drive: the Balestier hawker lunch, near Boon Keng. Hoover Rojak at Block 90 #01-06 usually opens Wednesday to Sunday