City Hall St. Andrew's Road near the Padang This is where Lord Louis Mountbatten accepted the Japanese surrender in 1945, and where Lee Kuan Yew declared Singapore's independence from Britain in 1959.

CN West Leisure Park 9 Japanese Garden Road Tel 261-4771 Water slides, bumper boats and other amusement attractions.

Guiness World of Records World Trade Center Facts and feats displayed in exhibits.

Haw Par Villa Dragon World 262 Pasir Panjang Road Tel 774-0300 9am-6pm daily MRT to Buina Vista station and bus 200 to Haw Par Villa A Chinese mythological theme park featuring age-old silent statues, exhilarating rides, live performances and theatre shows. A roller coaster ride is very popular, but the main attractions are the telling and reenacting of the myths and the famous statues.

Jurong Bird Park Jurong Hill Jurong Town Tel 265-0022 9am-6pm Mon-Fri. 8am-6pm weekends. MRT to Boon Lay station and special loop bus 194 to No.251

This park features more than 5,000 birds from all over the world in a lush parkland setting. Jurong Crocodile Paradise Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim Jurong Town 9am-6pm daily Same transport as to Jurong Bird Park A crocodile farm featuring underwater viewing areas and crocodile wrestling shows daily.

Tang Dynasty City Yuan Ching Road and Jalan Ahmad Ibrihim MRT to the Lakeside station and then bus 154 or 240 9:30am-6:30pm Admission charged This multimillion dollar theme park is a recreation of the Tang Dynasty capital which was the center of China's golden age from the 6th to 8th centuries. Behind the high walls the main street features a courthouse, geisha house, shops, temples, restaurants and theaters. Camel rides, craft demonstrations, antique displays are all part of the experience. The park has shops selling refreshments, antiques, a wax museum of Chinese notables, kung fu demonstrations and other street performances.

Kusu Island Kusu is located 7 km (4.5 miles) south of Singapore Take the ferry from the World Trade Center. A small island that, according to legend, was a turtle and transformed itself into land to save drowning sailors.

Little India Serangoon Road An area full of stores, restaurants and antique dealers specializing in Indian goods

Sentosa Island Ferries running from World Trade Center in daily 7:30am - 10pm A former military base, this island is now devoted to entertaining its guests. Within the island are museums, gardens, a butterfly park, swimming lagoons, golf courses, a large roller skating rink and various rides.

Underwater World at Sentosa Island Tel 275-0030 Asia's largest tropical oceanarium.

Botanic Gardens Intersection of Holland Road and Napier Street World-famous tropical gardens where you can enjoy lush greenery and a beautiful orchid garden..

Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden Yuan Ching Road MRT to Chinese Garden station Jurong Mon-Sat. 9am-7pm Sunday 8:30am-7pm Over 35 acres (14 hectares) of beautiful scenery. Stone gardens, bonsai display, goldfish ponds, stone lanterns and small pagodas. Very colorful, pavilions, bridge, beautiful setting.

Mandai Orchid Gardens Mandai Lake Road A lush tropical orchid garden created in an area usually not particularly suited to orchid plants.

Chinaman Scholars Gallery 14B Trengannu St. Chinatown Tel 222-9554 Daily 9am-4pm Admission charged this living museum is designed to look like a Cantonese home of the 1930's. It includes authentic clothing, furnishings, artifacts, photographs and musical instruments.

National Museum Stamford Road Tel 337-7355 This museum has extensive collections focusing on regional history, cultures and crafts. Exhibits include archaeological finds from the Asian region, articles relating to Chinese settlement and trade, Malaysian and Indonesian arts and crafts. It also has superb examples of jade including the 380 piece Haw Par jade collection.

New Ming Village and Pewter Museum 49A Duxton Road Tel 221-4436 MRT to Clementi Road and then bus 78 to Pandan Road Free admission. 8:30am-5:30pm Examples of both old and modern works are on display here. Reproductions of porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties are crafted here. Watch craftsmen at work. there is also a small pewter museum.

Chettiar Hindu Temple Tank and River Valley Roads. Open daily 8-noon and 5:30-8:30. This structure housing the image of Lord Subramaniam is a recent (1984) replacement of the original, built in the 19th century. The 21-meter-high gopuram (pyramidal gateway tower), with its colorful sculptures of godly manifestations, is astounding. The chandelier-lit interior is lavishly decorated; 48 painted-glass panels are inset in the ceiling and angled to reflect the sunrise and sunset.

Raffles Hotel 1 Beach Rd., Colonial Singapore (dress standards apply) Admission charged. In 1896, the Armenian Sarkies brothers took over a "tiffin house," or tearoom, and greatly expanded it, transforming it into one of the grandest hotels in Asia. Though rarely under British management, the hotel was long viewed as a bastion of colonialism. The hotel is no longer open for tours, but visitors can stroll around the lobby, and can visit the museum of Raffles memorabilia on the third floor; attend the multimedia show on the hotel's history at the Jubilee Hall playhouse (show times are at 10,11,12:30 and 1. ) It is also possible to take refreshment in a reproduction of the Long Bar, where the famous Singapore sling was created in 1903 by the bartender Ngiam Tong Boon High tea is served daily in the Tiffin Room.

St. Andrew's Cathedral Coleman St. and St. Andrew's St., Colonial Singapore. The first church on this site was built in 1834; struck twice by lightning, it was demolished in 1855. Indian convicts were brought in to construct a new cathedral in 12th-century English Gothic style. Completed in 1862, the structure includes bells cast by the same firm that made Big Ben.

Cathedral Of the Good Shepherd Queen Street A solid neoclassical building constructed from 1843-1846, this is the Catholic Cathedral.

Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple Race Course Rd., Little India. This is popularly known as the Temple of 1,000 Lights because, for a small donation, you can pull a switch that lights countless bulbs around a 15-meter (50-ft) Buddha. The entire temple, as well as the Buddha statue, was built by the Thai monk Vutthisasala, who also procured relics for the temple: a mother-of-pearl-inlaid cast of the Buddha's footprint and a piece of bark from the bodhi tree under which he received Enlightenment.

Sri Mariamman Temple South Bridge Rd. and Temple St., Chinatown In the center of Chinatown, this is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore. Its pagoda-like entrance is topped by one of the most ornate gopurams (pyramidal gateway towers) you are ever likely to see. Hundreds of brightly colored statues of deities and mythical animals line the tiers of this towering porch; glazed cement cows sit, seemingly in great contentment, atop the surrounding walls.

Sultan Mosque North Bridge Rd., Arab District. 5am-8:30pm Built in 1928 by the same architects who designed the Victoria Memorial Hall, the Sultan Mosque is a dramatic building with golden domes and minarets that glisten in the sunlight. The walls of the vast prayer hall are adorned with green and gold mosaic tiles on which passages from the Qur'an are written in decorative Arab script. It is the largest mosque in Singapore.

Thian Hock Keng Temple (Temple of Heavenly Happiness) Telok Ayer St., Chinatown Completed in 1841, this Chinese temple is one of Singapore's oldest and largest. Thian Hock Keng is richly decorated with gilded carvings, sculptures, tiled roofs, and fine carved stone pillars. Outside, on either side of the entrance, are two stone lions: the female holding a cup, symbolizing fertility, and the male holding a ball, a symbol of wealth. Inside, a statue of a maternal Ma Chu P'oh, surrounded by masses of burning incense and candles, dominates the room. While the main temple is Taoist, the temple at the back is Buddhist and dedicated to Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy.

Armenian Church Armenian St., Colonial Singapore. Officially the Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator and the oldest surviving church in the republic, this church was built in 1835 but is no longer used for services. The Armenians are another minority group who came to Singapore in search of fortune; a dozen wealthy families supplied the funds for George Coleman, Irish architect of many early Singapore buildings, to design this church.

Botanic Gardens Corner of Napier and Cluny Rds. tel. 471-9955 or 471-9937 (Ranger's office) Admission free Open weekdays 5 am-12 midnight. These beautifully maintained 127 year old gardens cover some 74 acres, with a large lake, masses of shrubs and flowers, and examples of many species of trees, including 30-meter-high fan palms. An extensive orchid bed boasts 250 varieties, some of them very rare.

Sunday Bird Singing Tiong and Seng Poh Roads, next to the Havelock Road Hotel MRT to Tiong Bahru station and walk east 500 meters or bus 123 from Orchard Road Sunday mornings 8-11 Songbird owners bring their caged birds to the gathering and hang the cages on wires strung between the trees. Birds are grouped according to the timbre of their voices. Owners and visitors then gather at tables, sip coffee, and listen to the concert!

Changi Prison Upper Changi Rd., East Coast, 543-0893 Chapel and museum open Mon.-Sat. 10 am-5 pm (Closed Sunday). Built in 1927 by the British, and used by the Japanese in World War II to inter some 70,000 prisoners of war; today it is still a prison. A few organized tours can take you into a part of the prison on weekdays and possibly through the old British barracks areas to the former RAF camp at Changi. The walls of the Changi Prison Chapel hold poignant memorial plaques to the regiments and individuals imprisoned here during the war. Next door is the Chapel Prison Museum, with drawings, sketches, and photographs by the POWs depicting their wartime experiences. One of their murals is especially poignant, conveying a spirit of hope in the midst of despair.

Empress Place 1 Empress Pl., Colonial Singapore Tel. 336-7633 Admission charged. Open daily 9:30-9:30. Constructed in the 1860s as the new courthouse, this huge Victorian building has had four major additions and housed nearly every government body. Now, after a S$22 million renovation, Empress Place is a cultural exhibition center. Most of the major exhibits are art collections from China.

Kuan Yin Temple Waterloo St., Arab District This is one of the most popular Chinese temples in Singapore, as evidenced by the incense-filled interior, its altars heaped with hundreds of small icons. According to legend, Kuan Yin was about to enter nirvana when she heard a plaintive cry from Earth. Touched with compassion, she gave up her place in Paradise to devote herself to alleviating the pain of those on Earth.

Arab Street This is the Muslim center of Singapore. Attractions include the gold-domed Sultan Mosque and a variety of shops.

Chinatown South Bridge and New Bridge area A maze of streets with shops that sell almost everything.

Little India The area most representative of Singapore's past. It remains largely untouched by renovation and modernization.

Singapore River The heart of the city lined with one of Singapore's most successful redevelopment projects. Boat Quay and Clark Quay. Boat Quay is Singapore's premier nightspot. Clarke Quay is a family oriented area of restaurants and shops.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve An expanse of rainforest outside the city.

Orchard Road A dazzling strip of luxury hotels, shopping centers, restaurants and nightspots, this is Singapore's main tourist area.