Secret Singapore...by day

Think there's no stone left unturned in our little city-state? Nowhere left to hide? Just ask TOS (or Mas Selamat) - there are still plenty of nooks and crannies to explore

ANGELS SERVING WINE
Divine Wine Extraordinaire
Pssst! Divine, an opulent wine bar in Singapore's Gotham City (aka art-deco business complex Parkview Square), boasts an angel who flies' up to retrieve your bottle from a 12m-high rack. All silver tutu and fairy wings, the angel/waitress hooks herself into a pulley system, pushes a button and is effectively cranked up and away, floating back and forth in a somewhat whimsical search for your pinot noir. Live jazz music sets the mood. Tips: come dressed to impress, avoid looking up the angel's skirt, and for once, please tip the poor girl.
Find it! Parkview Square lobby, 600 North Bridge Rd. MRT: Bugis. Live music Mon-Fri 9pm-midnight. Bottles from $80.

AN ENCLAVE FOR BUDDING ARTISTS
Creative Escape
Pssst! Tucked away on the second floor of a River Valley Road building is Creative Escape, an admittedly adorable arts and crafts space that has the resources and workshops to make anyone with a creative impulse feel sated. Learn how to work with glass to make your own jewellery, sketch with charcoal, paint with oil, sew, scrapbook the list is endless.
Find it! 2nd floor, 306 River Valley Rd (6732 4263, www.creative-escape.com.sg). MRT: Somerset. Mon-Sat 10am-6pm. Thu till 9pm (call to make an appointment).

THAI FOOD FOR THOSE IN THE KNOW'
Chiang Mai Palace's secret noodles
Khao Soi noodles, the tasty concoction of egg noodles and chicken in a thick coconut curry, is one of northern Thailand's most popular attractions. Don't bother looking for it on the menus of Thai restaurants in Singapore, though, because you won't find it here - unless you ask for it specifically at Chiang Mai Palace's Far East Square branch. They don't list it (even the receipts refer to it as something else), which is why we're telling you now. A dish this good shouldn't be kept a secret for long.
Find it! #01-01 Far East Square, 133 Amoy St. MRT: Chinatown.

OUR OWN SUNSET BOULEVARD
Sunset Way, Clementi (pictured below)
Pssst! If you think dining in the heartlands is not chic enough, you may have overlooked the recently revamped Sunset Way, which is touted as the new Holland Village'. Under the HDB's Restructuring Programme for Shops (RPS), the once-dormant neighbourhood centre has been given a new lease of life - it now boasts a string of swanky cafes, bars and restaurants with alfresco dining, such as Sunset Tavern, Rocky's Pizza and Grill-Out. You can even cap off that hearty meal with a stroll along Sungei Ulu Pandan.
Find it! Sunset Way, Blk 106, Clementi St 12. MRT: Clementi.



LEARN HOW TO MEDITATE FROM A MONK
Odiyana Buddhist Meditation Society
Pssst! Did you know that for only $10, you can take a three-week course on meditation? At the Odiyana Centre, resident teacher and Buddhist Gen Kelsang Tonglam teaches the basics of meditation and finding peace of mind (which every stressed-out, cranky worker could use nowadays).
Find it! 14, 21, 28 Nov; 7.30- 9pm. $10. Classes will be held at the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) centre through December as the Odiyana Centre undergoes renovations. 96 Waterloo St (6438 1127, www.meditateinsingapore.org). MRT: Bugis.

A VIEW OF YOUR OWN
The lift in the Pan Pacific hotel
Pssst! Who needs the Singapore Flyer when you've got a better view from inside one of Pan Pacific's bubble lifts? Built more than 21 years ago as part of architect John Portman's famed atrium-style design, the three exterior bubble lifts face west and overlook the CBD with Suntec City, the Fairmont Singapore and the National Library clearly in sight. While you could joyride' up and down all night long, a more leisurely way to drink in the view is from Hai Tien Lo, the hotel's top-notch Cantonese restaurant on the 37th floor.
Find it! 7 Raffles Blvd (6336 8111). MRT: City Hall.

NECTAR NEVER TASTED SWEETER
Milk & Honey
Pssst! Tucked away in the confines of Binjai Park is Milk & Honey, a cosy cafe with a range of comfort food that will satisfy any palate. Sit down at one of the marble-top tables to authentic Vietnamese pho, pizza, a cup of tea and a slice of chocolate fudge cake. Live jazz nights, plus posters and teapots that date back to the 1930s, complement Milk & Honey's nostalgic, tranquil charm.
Find it! 3 Binjai Park (6463 4710). Take a taxi. Daily 10.30am-8pm.

GET A FOOT MASSAGE - FOR FREE!
Bishan Park foot reflexology path
Pssst! If you're a sucker for sensual pleasures, but too tight-belted to shell out the big bucks, then you may want to visit Bishan Park's foot reflexology footpath. Just a three-minute walk from the Aramsa Garden Spa, the specially designed path recreates the old Chinese tradition of tapping into one's reflex network by walking on a cobblestone mat. One caveat: if you're used to Swedish massages, think of this as shiatsu - it's not for the faint of foot.
Find it! Bishan Park, 1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 (three minute walk from Aramsa Spa near the rollerblading ring). MRT: Bishan. Secret Singapore...by night
There's many a dark alley to peer down after dusk in the Lion City. TOS reports on the Designated Red-light Areas (DRAs) and the less-than-legal prostitution zones that have sprung up around the island



Geylang (DRA)
Come sunset, the buzz around Geylang's durian stalls is nothing compared to the bustle of streetwalkers flooding the pavement, announcing Singapore's most infamous red-light district is open for business. What's surprising is how this all happens out in the open - prostitutes in dresses with high hemlines and low necklines line the lorongs (lanes) between Sims Avenue and Geylang Road, watching potential customers and rush-hour traffic pass by. Though public solicitation is not legal in Singapore outside of a brothel or a fishbowl' (where prostitutes stand behind clear glass), we heard women proposition men about a half-dozen times during the course of one evening. I sell second-hand goods here, pieces of junk,' one man told a group of students walking by. We cannot confirm what he was referencing.
Near Aljunied MRT

Desker Road (DRA)
No, you won't see Desker Road's brand of nightlife just by walking up and down this colourful street. You'll have to explore the back alleys around it - just enter a streetside cafe, come out of the back door and see the red lights flicker. The little doorless entrances lining these narrow lanes are most often guarded by men. Peer inside and see the rows of women looking bored, waiting to be picked at prices ranging from $12 (foreign worker rates) to $40 (tourist prices). The business is done in the backrooms, deep inside, while dimly lit corners hold stalls selling all sorts of sexual aids. There are also transvestites waiting; look their way and they'll greet you with puckered lips and loud kissing noises. That's about the only thing you'll hear here, actually.
Near Little India MRT

Forest brothels
A recent report in the Bangkok Post reveals a seedier side to Singapore's tango with prostitution: impromptu forest brothels' set up in the woods outside migrant workers' dorms. In daylight, you see their remnants: flattened cardboard boxes on the ground, futon mattresses shoved off to the side, strewn beer cans and condom wrappers. At night, the mattresses are pulled onto the cardboard boxes and business takes place under tarps for $10 or $20 a session, mostly between Thai women and foreign workers. Concerns have been raised about the conditions the women have to endure in this unregulated zone, and whether they are being held there against their will. No one wants to be there [but] they don't know where to run,' Bridget Lew, founder and president of the nonprofit Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), told the Post. They are in the middle of the forest in a country they don't know. They are scared of the authorities because they are foreigners.'
Image: Asia Paranormal Investigators

One is infamous, the other less so - but what really goes on behind the tinted doors? TOS peeks inside the twin towers of sex workers

ORCHARD TOWERS (DRA)
Location 400 Orchard Road/corner of Claymore Road. It's just your average mall with electronics stores and restaurants - until 10pm, when it becomes Four Floors of Whores'. Tip: if you're on Orchard Road and can't find a taxi to save your life, walk over to OT; chances are you'll get one in less than ten minutes. Drink prices Drinks range from just over $10 for a beer to a smidgen more, though Crazy Horse (fourth floor) drowns you with $40 jugs of Tiger. Savvy patrons know to ask for beer in a bottle. Occasionally, scantily clad women will come round to try to palm off shots of tequila or Sambuca.
Entertainment Though the statement might sound laughable, Orchard Towers really does have some of the best live music in Singapore. In the past, Top Ten (now called Top Five, fourth floor) used to host big-name 13-piece bands. These days, the band at Ipanema (third floor) keeps the crowds going. Don't be too surprised to see the odd headbanger or air-guitar player, while poles in most bars induce twirling and slithering (of the clothed variety).
The girls A mix of Thai, Vietnamese, Filipinas, Indonesians and mainland Chinese girls inhabit OT, while some bars like Romeo's tend to be more popular with the Thai girls and women who look too good to be true. All the way upstairs in Crazy Horse, rates have been known to reach between $250 and $350 per night - one of the most expensive zones' in town.
Patrons What used to be a haunt of oil-industry folks and US Navy personnel has expanded to include expats - often on a stag night - and some curious locals with the odd female in tow. Right up until the wee small hours, groups of inebriated men on a lads' night out have been known to descend on the Towers for one last beer.
Security Since the murder that took place in November 2007, each outlet takes its security fairly seriously. Most bars have personnel stationed at the front by the door. Once inside, if personal space is of utmost importance to you, be warned that some women there don't feel it's an invasion of your privacy to brush up against you - even if there is three feet of space to spare.
Busted Police cars have been known to pull up outside OT, mostly around closing time - approximately 3am. The odd patrol is carried out, but normally nothing too rowdy happens.


PARAMOUNT HOTEL
Location 25 Marine Parade Road. The hotel has been around for about 20 years, with the pub scene emerging in the last decade. The front of the building, facing Marine Parade Road, is the hotel/business end, while the mall' and shops are around the back facing East Coast Road. The pubs occupy the ground floor of the mall'; there are about 20 pubs or more on that level.
Drink prices Slightly cheaper than usual pub rates because it's farther from the city centre. Daily specials apply, but typically it's 1-for-1 jugs of beer ($18 to $20) and standard liquor prices.
Entertainment There's football on TV, karaoke, and dancing if the space permits. Pole dancing? Sure - some pubs have poles affixed to the bar top and attached to the ceilings. Beyond? Oh yeah. Most of the pubs have at least one dark, dingy corner where one can engage in nocturnal, ahem, extracurricular activity. You'd be amazed how much can happen in a small, enclosed space.
The girls A mix of Indonesians, Filipinas and the odd Chinese girl, between the ages of 18 and 30-plus. The girls don't usually quote rates. They have the simple job of helping you part with your money via booze. The girls don't go back with just anyone - only special', regular customers.
Patrons Mostly locals with a few foreigners visiting (some are guests from the hotel itself).
Security A handful of guards looks after the building and usually calls the police when things get out of hand at the pubs. No bouncers or pimps, and the pub windows are all tinted.
Busted The place has been raided several times over the years, typically to bust girls who are in breach of their visas, or to shut pubs that have violated operating hours. Girls caught in the act of working' - be it serving the customer alcohol to serving' the customers - will have violated a Social Visit Pass/ Tourist Visa or the Women's Charter: Soliciting, respectively.

SEE ALSO 'UNDER THE RADAR'