Tanjong Pagar, Duxton and Everton Park

Start at Pinnacle@Duxton, the housing estate whose 50th-storey skybridge is open to the public from 9am, with last admission at 9pm. You register and pay S$6 at the kiosk in Block 1G on Cantonment Road, then ride the lift up. Only 150 visitors a day are let up, so we'd go on a weekday morning, and since people live in the blocks, keep your voice down on the way. Duxton Plain Park runs below on an old railway trace, open 24 hours, and makes an easy walk down to Neil Road.

Tanjong Pagar Road is where you spend the afternoon on something hands-on. Yixing Xuan, at number 78, teaches Chinese tea in a basic workshop of 1.5 hours and four teas, and it takes two people at minimum. On Tras Street, Capybara Bathing runs 90-minute sessions that you book online, with a mineral bath, a cold plunge and a hot stone sauna. Both are indoors, which helps when the afternoon storm arrives. Tanjong Pagar Distripark, off Keppel Road, holds Gajah Gallery on the third floor and Whitestone Gallery Singapore on the fifth, both showing contemporary art.

Evenings belong to the conserved shophouses. Duxton Hill is a small rise with bars tucked into the terraces, and Keong Saik Road, three blocks of restored shophouses, is where you go to eat or sleep. Jigger & Pony at 165 Tanjong Pagar Road takes bookings, while The Elephant Room at number 33 welcomes walk-ins. For a quieter hour, the 1903 Haji Salleh Mosque and the shrines of Maqam Habib Noh stand at the foot of Mount Palmer on Palmer Road.

Where to eat

• Yixing Xuan Teahouse, 78 Tanjong Pagar Road: pots of tea, and dim sum if you add it to the workshop
• Jigger & Pony, Amara Singapore, 165 Tanjong Pagar Road: cocktails in the hotel lobby, booked ahead
• The Elephant Room, 33 Tanjong Pagar Road #01-02: cocktails built on Little India's spices, walk-ins welcome
• Blk 6 Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market and Food Centre, Tanjong Pagar Plaza: the neighbourhood's own hawker centre