I've decided to break my journey from Abu Dhabi to Sydney with a stopover in Singapore for some retail therapy. I only have 48 hours; can you suggest anywhere that I should visit?
The clean and green state city of Singapore deserves its reputation as a consumer's dream thanks to its residents' all-consuming passion for shopping. Orchard Road is the city's retail hub and at this time of year it sparkles with festive lights (once appropriately sponsored by the credit card company Visa). If you love designer labels this is where you should spend at least a day trawling its numerous mighty malls. Ngee Ann City and ION Orchard are home to high-end fashion outlets such as Prada, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton and Dior. Present your Singapore Airlines boarding pass at cafes and restaurants at ION Orchard, and you should receive up to 50 per cent off some items.
If all of the above sounds like hard work, retreat to the Four Seasons Singapore (www.fourseasons.com; 00 65 6734 1110), a five-star hotel on Orchard Boulevard a few minutes' walk from the heart of the action. A double room costs from 430 Singapore dollars (Dh1,218) per night including breakfast. And if your passion for contemporary fashions threatens to fade, spend an hour at the thoughtfully curated National Museum of Singapore (www.nationalmuseum.sg) on Stamford Street, admiring the "living" gallery devoted to the history of fashion and women's tastes from the 1950s to '70s.
If you crave one-offs rather than gilt-embossed leather goods, ignore the air-conditioned mega malls and head to Arab Street in Kampong Glam where fabric shop after fabric shop sits alongside small retailers selling clothing and knick-knacks. Given Singaporeans' love of the new, there's also a surprising market for vintage clothing. Wander down to Haji Lane, which runs parallel to Arab Street, and look into the White Room (www.atwhiteroom.com) for a great selection of vintage men's sunglasses. There are dresses in fetching prints to be found at Dulcetfig (www.dulcetfig.com), which specialises in vintage clothing and accessories including shoes and handbags. Slightly out of the way is the cutely named Dustbunny Vintage (www.dustbunnyvintage.com) on Bukit Purmei Road in Telok Blangah near Mount Faber Park, which does a neat line in vintage bags and "play purses". It's open by appointment only, call 00 65 6274 4200 to arrange a visit.
If you like being surrounded by lovely things, stay at the Scarlet (www.thescarlethotel.com; 00 65 6511 3333), a boutique hotel, amid the shophouses of Erskine Road, right in the middle of the Central Business District. A double room costs from $185 (Dh523) per night. It's within walking distance of Chinatown, and it's here that you will find stalls selling trinkets; worth a stroll to soak up the atmosphere.
Do you have travel questions or queries? E-mail them to us at travel@thenational.ae
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
Company%20Profile
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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors