National tourist promotion sites are a treasure trove of information but I often wonder which sites the locals themselves use to get current information on their own country. Prompted by this thought, I compiled the following, which may be useful to Koreans visiting Singapore, as well as, Singaporeans who haven't been web-surfing much.

Search Engines
http://www.insing.com
http://www.rednano.sg

TOURISM PROMOTION
http://www.visitsingapore.com
http://www.stb.com.sg
Singapore Tourism Board

KOREA-SINGAPORE RELATED
http://www.koreansingapore.org/
Site of the Korean Association Singapore.

http://www.singkoschool.org
Site of the Singapore Korean School (my school !)

http://sgp.mofat.go.kr
Korean embassy in Singapore

http://www.mfa.gov.sg/seoul/
Singapore Embassy in Seoul

LANGUAGE PROMOTION
http://www.goodenglish.org.sg/SGEM/
The Speak Good English Movement.

http://mandarin.org.sg/
And, of course, the Speak Mandarin Campaign.

FOOD / DINING
My favourite Korean foodcourt stall is KimDaeMun at basement Concorde Hotel (next to Istana, between Dhoby Ghaut and Somerset MRT stations).

The must-eat for tourists to Singapore would be chilli crab but if you have time and the stomach space, I recommend the following :

http://nosignboardseafood.com/
1. My fave seafood restaurant. The other very popular one　 is Jumbo.

2. Nonya / Peranakan food, for the simple reason that you can onl　 y taste this cuisine here and in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Malacca.

Snacks / Light Food
Pandan Chiffon Cake, Singapore fans of Korean stars who visit Singapore often feed them with this cake.

Beancurd ?? ??, the sweet variety sold where soybean drinks are sold. I recommend Ping Le, Mr Bean, Jollybean, in that order. There are other famous one　 s in Rochor, Selegie and Geylang but it is so easy to find a Mr Bean chain store. The ?? from Mr Bean is also recommended.

Popiah, spring rolls (not the deep fried one　 s), a very healthy snack.

Rojak, a Malay word that describes an assortment of fruits and vegetables (cucumber, pineapple, turnip) and bite-size dough crullers (yu-tiao) tossed in shrimp paste, sugar, tamarind or lime juice and toped with ground peanuts. The really good one　 s include slivers of ginger flower bud (Bunga Kantan) or lime rind bits.
 

www.makansutra.com.sg
There are many ways to choose what to eat – by cuisine, dish, location, rating, etc.
(If you wonder why there is a picture of a cuttlefish to the left of the word ‘blur’, it is because locals have a phrase that goes “blur as sotong !”. Sotong is the Malay name for a type of cuttlefish and the phrase is usually used to refer to someone who has committed a minor slip-up.)
'Makan' is the Malay word for 'eat'.

http://www.soshiok.com/

Kaya Toast
The top 2 are :
http://www.yakun.com and http://www.killiney-kopitiam.com
That said, my fave kaya is from a stand-alone coffeeshop in Katong called "Chin Bee Chin".

MEDIA

Newspapers
http://www.asia1.com.sg
The short list of Links found at the bottom at this site is very useful, making this site a good starting point. It is often my default homepage (at other times, the default is a search engine site). This site also leads you to the other local language papers (Lianhe Zaobao is the Chinese one　 ).

http://www.straitstimes.com/
The local English newspapers.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/
The local English business newspapers.

http://tnp.sg/
A tabloid but not free. Can be purchased at 7-11 stores and news vendors off the streets in the afternoon.

http://www.todayonline.com
A free English tabloid, similar to Korea's Metroseoul, distributed at subway stations Mondays to Saturdays.

http://www.omy.sg/
A free Chinese tabloid with a couple of bilingual articles, similar to Korea's Metroseoul, distributed at subway stations Mondays to Fridays.

TV

http://www.mediacorptv.com/
The local broadcasting company.

WEEKLY
http://www.asia-city.com/singapore.html
Every Friday, you can pick a copy of the IS Magazine (contains info on what's happening next week, food, music, movie reviews etc) at selected cafes.

CINEMAS
Movies
http://www.shaw.com.sg/
Shaw theatres bring back memories, especially for the older generation, because the first movie they watched or the venue of their first date was probably at a Shaw theatre.

http://www.gv.com.sg/Booking/index.htm
Then came duplexes and cineplexes. For a better choice of location, this is the one　 to check out.

The other 2 worth checking out are :
http://www.cathay.com.sg
http://www.ewcinemas.com.sg/

Performances / Ticketing
For a good listing, check out the 2 major ticketing agents :
www.sistic.com.sg
(Sistic is also the ticketing agent for The Esplanade http://www.esplanade.com/ (fondly called by locals as “The Durian”. If the cab driver reacts with a puzzled look to “The Esplanade”, usually saying “The Durian” will get you to the destination !)

http://www.tdc.sg
Sistic's competitor.

Direct booking is required for :
www.theartshouse.com.sg
This is the site for performances held (and films screened) at the old Parliament House, which is next to the new Parliament House.

TRANSPORT / STREET / PHONE DIRECTORY
Getting around Singapore by taxi, subway/MRT or bus :

http://www.transitlink.com.sg/
The consolidated guide.

Bus
http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/busGuide_index.htm
(For an overview, http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/geninfo_buservices.asp)

Taxi
http://taxisingapore.com
The consolidated site.

http://www.cdgtaxi.com.sg/
http://www.smartcab.com.sg/
http://www.smrttaxis.com.sg/

http://www.premiertaxi.com/
http://www.primetaxi.com.sg/
http://www.transcabservices.com.sg/

Train
MRT (Mass Rapid Transport)
http://www.smrt.com.sg/smrt/index_travel_time.htm

NEL (North-East Line, train service serving the NE route)
http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/nel/serviceguide_journey_planner.asp

AIR / SEA LINKS
http://flightinfo.asia1.com.sg/
Singapore’s Changi Airport is really efficient and reliable and I’m not saying this just because I’m a local.

http://www.singaporecruise.com/
Short cruises are quite popular although some may view them as floating casinos.

I’ve mentioned transport by air and sea but not rail because for short trips to Malaysia, locals go by car / coach / bus rather than train. It has been 2 decades since I last took the train !

STREET DIRECTORY
http://www.streetdirectory.com.sg
I prefer this one　 because the other one　 listed below sometimes prompts for software installation.

http://can.com.sg/

PHONE DIRECTORY
http://www.phonebook.com.sg/

GOVERNMENT
http://www.gov.sg

http://www.agc.gov.sg
Access to Singapore statutes (not the full list is available onl　 ine).

http://www.nlb.gov.sg/
Public library site. Here’s where I check on the availability of Korean books and where I can borrow them, if I’m not reserving them onl　 ine.

http://www.moe.gov.sg
Ministry of Education, the one　 responsible for my education (I went to public schools, most of us do.)
See also http://www.singaporeedu.gov.sg

http://www.centralsingapore.org.sg
Singapore is small but is still divided into districts. This one　 is the community website for the central district.

http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/mss3.asp
Weather forecast. Singapore is a small place but they still provide weather forecast for the different parts of our island. This site is important for updated PSI readings when the air gets polluted as a result of forest fires in Indonesia.


KOREAN GROUPS IN SINGAPORE
http://www.hankookchon.com/
http://www.snowsg.com/
http://www.korea.com.sg/

http://cafe.naver.com/singaporeliving (run by Xaexal)
http://cafe.naver.com/foodnbook (run by Silver)
http://cafe.daum.net/tonysing (run by my friend Tony for Koreans interested in travelling to Singapore/Malaysia)