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GV Gold Class
If you're really primed for a pampering, head for the 3rd floor of Great World City shopping mall. This swanky cinema features plush carpeting and single and double reclining seats complete with footrests, table service and a reasonable menu.
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GV Grand
If you're really mad for a movie and primed for a pampering, head for the 3rd floor of Great World City shopping mall. The swanky 'gold class' cinemas at this multiplex feature plush carpeting and single and double reclining seats complete with footrests, table service and a reasonable menu.
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Hacienda
One of the best bars around the Dempsey Rd area to kick off the shoes in the garden after a long hot day, sink a few mojitos or draught beers under the trees and contemplate the evening sky - at least until the band comes on.
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Happy
Officialdom forbids kissing and taking your shirt off at Happy but that doesn't seem to stop anyone. It's mostly full of buff boys, but girls are welcome too. Indulge your inner 'Happysexual' (the signature cocktail).
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Harry's Bar
The original and best. Harry's is a classic financial-district hangout that gained moderate infamy as the haunt of Barings-buster Nick Leeson and remains a favourite for its jovial atmosphere and great live jazz, blues and R&B.
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Ice Cold Beer
A raucous rock pub in Emerald Hill, a pedestrianised lane of crumbling, lantern-lit shophouses. There can be few more atmospheric spots in the city to stop for a drink - that is until you realise it's all a bit of a charade. That little neighbourhood bar strip is entirely owned by a single company, but even so the drinking holes are all good, drawing crowds of locals and tourists alike.
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Ipanema World Music Bar
If it's sleaze you're after, look no further. This stalwart of Orchard Rd's famous 'four floors of whores' is packed to the rafters with Western men and the girls hoping to collar them for the evening. However, it does have one of Singapore's best cover bands and, if you make it clear you're not interested, you'll soon be left alone.
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Jazz@Southbridge
It's not easy to find top nonclassical musical acts in Singapore, but this relaxed bar has come up trumps. Run by an irrepressible vibe-playing enthusiast, it regularly features performers from around the world, but it's worth going most nights to see the house band, especially magnificent but largely unheralded drummer Tan Boon Gee. Regular bassist Eddie Jansen and occasional pianist Mario Sero are also excellent.
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Kazbar
Popular Middle Eastern-themed pub, with curtained nooks and deep sofas inside and bar tables outside. Male office workers seem strangely drawn to the place: surely nothing to do with the comely belly dancer doing the rounds in the early evening - must be the dips and pita bread.
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Km8
Horns locked with Café del Mar in the Ibiza-lookalike contest, KM8 just about holds its own, despite being hampered by a less-convenient location and earlier closing times. On the plus side, it's more laid-back, less crowded and the DJs are less intrusive in the daytime.
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L'estaminet
Like Oosters, L'Estaminet is heavily stocked with a wide selection of Belgian beers, but the bar has a more rustic feel, more likely to be populated by shorts and t-shirts than shirts and trousers. It also serves up some superb wood-fired pizzas. Head to Sebastien's for dessert afterwards.
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Le Carillon De L'angelus
The excellent wines do justice to the superb tiled interior of this French wine bar. Lovely though it is upstairs, our favourite spot is the comfy chairs and sofa downstairs in a private little nook facing the chalkboard wine list. The cheese platter is a must.
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Liquid Room
Less liquid, more gunmetal, this intimate club's industrial vibe and top DJs set the scene for serious dancing. Inside there's progressive house, tech-house and trance. Toilets are rare as pills - you might find yourself squirming on the spot regardless of the music.
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Lot, Stock & Barrel
We're not sure what happened to the 'Lock' and 'Two Smoking', but this long, lean, regulation bar is perfect for a dim-lit evening ale or five and some jukebox abuse. There's a solid selection of beers on tap for reasonable prices
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Mama Africa
The thatched Disney-goes-Swahili décor here is a little hard to take, but there are plenty of beers on tap, infectious bongo rhythms and spicy African-styled bar snacks like lamb sausage and calamari.
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Marco Anywhere
This place has been around forever, and so has the house band who play covers to loyal locals and expats - often 35-plus. Drinking horrendous quantities might help you cope with the pink and grey interior. No need to get dressed up.
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Ministry Of Sound
When those decadent Brits came swaggering into town to pose a challenge to all-conquering Zouk, a few thought it wouldn't last. Very wrong. MoS can now arguably claim to be the city's top club, and the enormous queues to back it up. Seven rooms, superb digital sound and light, a chequered dance floor and a 20ft water curtain, not to mention hordes of the nation's youth. Women get in free on Wednesdays.
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Molly Malone's
Molly's statue looks like she's been wheeling her wheelbarrow a bit too long, and experienced drinkers will have seen her faux-Irish décor and the Genuine Irish Stew menu a hundred times before, but that doesn't make it any less appealing.
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Momo
Karaoke bar with 10 private rooms, done out like a horror movie French bordello.
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Movida
Decked out like a '70s disco, this Latin dance club features an excellent, eye-catching, thoroughly danceable band from Paraguay. The best of the lot.
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Mox Bar & Café
More gay-friendly than overtly gay, Mox is a cool place to squeeze in a few heart-starters before wiggling downstairs to Happy. The rooftop views are almost as interesting as the furniture donated by people's grandmas.
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Muddy Murphy's
Ok ok, it's another Irish pub, but the substreet level courtyard also singles this one out from the rest and makes it a perfect retreat from Orchard Rd. Live bands play here regularly, a few of the deedly-deevariety.
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New Asia Bar
Singapore's most spectacular views join forces with a giant curvilinear mother-of-pearl wall, soaring ceilings and a VIP mezzanine for a drinking experience management insists will leave you feeling 'charged' (as opposed to 'overcharged', hopefully). There's an around S$25 cover charge at weekends.
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Next Page
This is where Hunter S Thompson would have hung out if he'd been a journo in Singapore not San Juan. Dark timber bar, red lanterns, exposed brickwork, booths, pool table, Carlsberg on tap and quirky bartenders - sit down and write the next page of your novel.
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No. 5
Asian retro bar in Emerald Hill, a pedestrianised lane of crumbling, lantern-lit shophouses. There can be few more atmospheric spots in the city to stop for a drink - that is until you realise it's all a bit of a charade. That little neighbourhood bar strip is entirely owned by a single company, but even so the drinking holes are all good, drawing crowds of locals and tourists alike.
