All The Cool Kids In Singapore Hang Out On The Henderson Waves Bridge | HuffPost Life

Where The Cool Kids Go In Singapore

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Lifestyle Editor, HuffPost

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More than 100 feet above busy Henderson Road in Singapore, there spans an unexpected forest oasis: the Henderson Waves Bridge. This architectural mind-boggler connects two nature parks with a curvy, twisty formation seamlessly woven from yellow balau wood and massive steel ribs.

The bridge gives you killer views of Singapore City and its islands both day and night. And the bridge's smooth, scooped-out, wood-paneled hollows are perfect little caverns for taking a seat and watching the world float by from above. From the looks of the Instagrams, all of Singapore's cool kids are doing just that.

Like we said, the views from the bridge are fantastic.

Even dogs love the Henderson Waves! Woof!

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Before You Go

10 Cheap Things to Do and See in Singapore

Cool off at a $1 Water Park(01 of10)

Singapore is hot, with an average daily high in the upper 80s and killer humidity. All. Year. Round. People living here like to boast or complain, depending on whom you consult, “There are two seasons in Singapore. Hot and Hotter.” Just thinking about it is making me sweat. Luckily, the Singapore Sports Council, the sports arm of the government, created a network of swimming facilities across the island to help the public to cool off, literally. The 25 complexes range from those with a couple of pools to the elaborate, where frolickers will find features more commonplace in water parks. (All complexes are government-subsidized, hence the low price of $0.65 for kids and $1.20 for adults on weekdays, rising to a bank-breaking $0.80 for kids and $1.60 for adults on weekends). My favorite is the one at Jurong East, with its three twisty, speedy water slides (the yellow one, the only one you can enter without an inner tube, is the shortest, quickest, and most bare-bones thrilling), a lazy river with a pull strong enough to surprise any unsuspecting grown-up, and a giant wave pool where huge spray jets raining down from above create little pellets of hail-like rain (trust me, that’s a good thing in a country where 75 degrees Fahrenheit is considered cold).Photo: Sengkang Swimming Complex, courtesy of Singapore Sports Council

Eat Lunch for Less Than $3(02 of10)

While imported foods are expensive ($20 for a pound of parmesan, $8 for a pound of Australian cherries, $5 for half a gallon of regular, non-organic milk at my neighborhood, mid-range grocery store), lunch or dinner at the local hawker centers -- basically glorified street food -- is dirt cheap, which explains why the centers are always full (and why many families never cook at home). These no-frills, open-air food courts comprise banks of food stalls arranged around rows of tables and chairs, and they cook up plates of lip-smacking, gut-busting Asian chow for under $3. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but no need to fret, in typical Singaporean style, these government-owned centers are spotlessly clean. The guidebooks harp on about the famous centers in Chinatown’s Maxwell Road, or the slightly hokey Lau Pa Sat in the financial district, but in my book the real gem is in Tekka Centre at the edge of Little India. It perfectly encapsulates Singapore’s multiculturalism: After fortifying yourself with a serving of Hainanese chicken rice, a crispy dosa with steaming sambar, a plate of mee siam, or a glass of cendol (a Southeast Asian dessert made with coconut milk, palm sugar, rice flour jelly, and shaved ice) you can drop by the neighboring market to buy fresh Thai mangosteens, Malaysian duku, and Vietnamese dragon fruit.

Go to Another Country for $2(03 of10)

Singapore used to be part of Malaysia and Malay remains the national language here. No surprise there, since Western, or peninsular, Malaysia is less than a mile across the Johor Strait from Singapore. That proximity is a boon for budget-minded, passport-stamp hungry globetrotters who can check another country off their wish list without having to spend a fortune. In fact crossing the border to the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru will set you back less than the price of a cup of Joe. The Singapore-Johore Express bus leaves from the Queen Street bus terminal every 15 minutes; the one-way ride takes about an hour and costs a hair under $2. The bus drops you off at Singapore immigration, which you must clear, before driving across the causeway to Malaysian immigration and customs. After that, you’ll be the proud owner of a Malaysian entry stamp, and you’ll find yourself right by JB Sentral railway station and close to the City Square shopping center (do not get back on the bus after Malaysian customs, it continues on to the Larkin Bus Terminal, the final stop a few miles further on). Singaporeans flock to this mall to purchase items that are half the price back home. Remember to take your passport and check that you get it stamped entering and exiting Malaysia. Otherwise you’ll need to do some smart talking to get back into Singapore.

Watch a Free Light Show(04 of10)

2010 was a watershed time for Singapore, a year when the country opened one of the world’s most expensive casino resorts, Marina Bay Sands (the country’s only other casino, at Resorts World Sentosa, also opened in 2010). The casino is among the most profitable in the world, and while Singaporeans and permanent residents must pay a government-collected $80 admission fee (foreigners enter for free), the three-columned landmark with a giant boat-like cantilevered roof is not all about making money, as evidenced by Wonder Full, its free light show. Put on two times every evening (three times on weekends), the 13-minute spectacle combines lights, graphic projections, and water jets, all set to a rousing score by local composer Iskandar Ismail. I could dwell upon the soundtrack recorded by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, or the 30 high-powered searchlights, or the 250,000 LEDs used, or the 22,000 square-feet of water screens, but in the end, my lasting memories are the multicolored beams in the night sky, the glowing waters of Marina Bay, and the glinting skyscrapers of the business district across the way. A popular viewing point is the pedestrian-only Helix Bridge that connects Marina Centre to Marina South, but for a more up-close experience, head to Marina Bay Sands’ Event Plaza.Photo: Singapore Tourism Board

Pay $4 for a Movie(05 of10)

When it comes to the silver screen, three companies rule in Singapore -- Cathay, Shaw, and Golden Village -- but only the last offers $4 movie tickets. During its Catch Up promotion, held every couple of months, Golden Village’s Tiong Bahru cinema screens blockbuster movies that are a few months old -- recent flicks have included Thor and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter -- at the bargain price of $4. If you aren’t in town for the current Catch Up promotion, movies are cheap the rest of the year: Tickets for new releases start at $7. For visual stimulation of a different genre, post-flick, take a five-minute walk down Tiong Bahru Road to the area around Tiong Bahru Market. Here you will find gorgeously intact Art Deco apartment buildings, especially on Guan Chuan Street and Moh Guan Terrace, that would do South Beach proud.

Get a $32 Massage(06 of10)

Mention 'massage' and ‘Asia’ in the same sentence and you’re likely to be met with rolling eyes and disapproving expressions, for all the wrong reasons. However, the four floors of reflexology and Chinese massage joints peppered among Buddhist supply emporiums, jewellery stores, and herbal medicines shops at the Fu Lou Shou Complex, on Rochor Road, are legit. For $18, you’ll get one hour of tension-releasing foot reflexology and a leg and calf massage, and for $32, a strong mainlander will spend 60 minutes kneading your body and breaking down even the most stubborn knots. After my visit to Wan Lin Healthcare Centre on the second floor of the building (ask for Ivan, pictured), my neck and shoulders felt looser than they had in months, in fact ever since I screwed them up, hunched for hours in front of a flickering screen on U.S. election night.

Wander Round a Fantastic Contemporary Art Museum for Free(07 of10)

For a country that flexes quite an economic muscle, Singapore works hard to provide access to the arts, with 21 museums sprinkled across the island. My favorite is the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), a classical Renaissance building dating to 1867 that housed a local Catholic boy’s school; the museum took over the site in 1995 and today has a fabulous roster of contemporary Asian art. It’s the only museum to offer free entry on a regular basis -- every Friday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (closing time). Though SAM, which has partnerships with New York’s Guggenheim and the Pompidou Centre in Paris, doesn’t have a permanent collection on display, it pulls from its 7,000-piece trove amassed in a nearby heritage conservation facility, and rotates exhibits every few weeks. It also employs seven curators, each specializing in a different part of Asia, steeping shows with amazing depth and contrast. SAM is pretty unique, with arresting and whimsical contemporary art pieces in a wonderfully atmospheric historic building (the chapel and creaky wooden floors are great). On my most recent visit, I pored over works from Australia, India, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Tibet. Pictured here, Jembar Negarane, Cupet Pikirane (Big Country, Narrow Mindset), by Indonesian artist Eko Nugroho.

Decompress at the Botanic Gardens(08 of10)

Sometimes, even the most type-A Singaporeans need a break. Sure Bali, Cebu, and Phuket are less than three hours by plane, but closer to home, nothing beats the Singapore Botanic Gardens. First opened in 1859, it became an important seed propagation center for Malaysian rubber trees in the early twentieth century. Today, sandwiched between the busy conduits of Bukit Timah Road to the north and Holland Road to the south, and open from 5 A.M. to midnight year round, the free garden is a true refuge, where the most enduring sound is that of crickets and birds chattering. The 183-acre site is split into themed areas, including a separate children’s garden where adults are prohibited unless accompanied by children (the kids just love that). On a typical trip, you’ll encounter expats jogging or walking their dogs, old Chinese ladies doing tai chi, and school groups wandering the grounds, clipboards in hands. I do like to sit in the Healing Garden, with its therapeutic plants, trees, and bushes (who knew that the bark of the Brazilian cashew nut tree is used to treat mouth ulcers?) or give my soles an acupressure workout by walking barefoot round the stone reflexology path at the Bamboo Garden. I don’t like to leave.

Take a Free Tour of the City(09 of10)

You don’t have to spend a night in Singapore to see the sights of the city. Thanks to a partnership between Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines, any passenger in transit for more than five hours, and with the appropriate documentation to enter Singapore, can take the two-hour Free Singapore Tour that runs five times a day. Travelers register for the tour in the transit areas of Terminals 2 and 3 (passengers in the transit area of Terminal 1 can walk or take the Skytrain to either of these transit areas). From there, tour guides assemble all the participants, take them through immigration, and put them on a bus that drives past sights like the Singapore Flyer (pictured), Chinatown, Little India, and the Business District for the daytime Heritage Tour. Guests get a 15-minute stop at Merlion Park, so they can say they have stepped foot on Singaporean soil (or concrete, more accurately). The evening City Lights Tour, with a different route, makes a stop in Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade. Passengers in transit for less than five hours aren’t overlooked: The airport has multiple free gardens, including a sunflower garden, an orchid garden, and a 3,500 square foot butterfly garden, with 1,000 free flying butterflies, all open 24 hours. Sure beats sitting on a hard plastic chair playing Angry Birds, or trying to find a WiFi signal so you can update your Twitter feed, counting down the minutes to your connecting flight.

Step Back in Time for $2(10 of10)

Singapore is a vertical country, with the second-highest population density in the world after Monaco. But it wasn’t always this way. When the country gained independence from Malaysia in 1965, it was little more than a series of mid-rise apartment buildings and low-rise kampongs (the Malay word for villages) dotted around the island. That romantic image, while a vivid memory for the country’s older generation, is a nostalgia-tinted oddity for the majority of the population. But kampong life is still very much alive on a 3.9-square-mile speck off Singapore’s northeast coast. Pulau Ubin, the Malay for Granite Island (much of the island was quarried in the 1960s; today it remains part of Singapore) appears frozen in time, a remnant of kampong life from 50 years ago, where electricity comes courtesy of a diesel generator. To get to the island, board a small wooden boat for the 10-minute, $2 ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal. Once on Pulau Ubin, the most striking aspect is the lack of development. Sure there are a handful of places to rent bikes, buy a fresh coconut, or get a meal by the ferry jetty, but the rest of the island, especially after coming from the Singaporean mainland, feels like the land that time forgot, with a few stilted houses, a basic resort, huge swathes of green space and woods, bicycle trails, former granite quarries that have become lakes (pictured), and less than 100 full-time inhabitants (in Singapore the same area would house 74,000 people).Photo: Singapore Tourism Board

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