As if 2013 wasn’t eventful enough, the year ahead promises to be an exciting one, with all kinds of sporting, culinary and travel highlights, plus the release of more than 30 local films. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Read on to find out more.
Sporting Glory
Set to be the city’s latest crown jewel, the new Singapore Sports Hub, located over 35 hectares of Kallang, will be home to the 55,000-capacity National Stadium (hello, world’s largest dome), Indoor Stadium, Sports Museum, Sports Library, Water Sports Centre, a multi-purpose indoor arena, and a sprawling 41,000 sq. m. of retail and waterfront space. Scheduled to open in April, it clinched its first award—the Future Projects Leisure-led Development title—at last year’s prestigious World Architecture Festival. The Sports Hub’s 2014 calendar is yet to be released, but Philippe Collin Delavaud, CEO of SportsHub Pte Ltd, says: “The Sports Hub will be proudly hosting the Southeast Asian (SEA) Swimming Championships, Asian Netball Championships, AFF Suzuki Cup and the WTA Championships this year. In 2015, it will hold its first international multi-sport competition: the 28th SEA Games.”
Game, Set, Match.
Come October, Singapore will be hosting the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Championships, having beaten Mexico’s Monterrey and China’s Tianjin in the hosting bid. The WTA announced a staggering deal worth more than $70 million that will see the annual end-of-season tour championships take place here for five seasons. You’ll get to see world-class tennis players like Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in the flesh vying against each other for a prize kitty of US$6.5 million at the new Sports Hub.
Oct 17-26. Sports Hub, 15 Stadium Rd., 6344-2660, www.wtachampionships.com. Price TBA.
Get Muddy
On the subject of sporting events, rumor has it that cult endurance event Tough Mudder, which has seen over one million participants worldwide to date, may be hitting our shores this year. With 25 incredibly challenging military obstacles—like swimming through a frigid ice bath—designed by British Special Forces, it has been dubbed the toughest event on the planet. However, participants aren’t timed, and are encouraged to regard the event as a personal challenge, rather than a race. Nothing’s been confirmed yet, but aspiring Mudders can preregister here.
Wax Lyrical
Get up close and personal (well, almost…) with your favorite celebrities at Madame Tussauds Singapore, Sentosa’s latest attraction, which is slated to open at Imbiah Lookout in the second half of the year. Besides housing life-sized wax replicas of the internationally famous including Jay Chou and Katy Perry, “Madame Tussauds are already working with a number of local celebrities on sittings, but [are] unable to reveal any as yet,” says Meike Schulze, Divisional Director of operators Merlin Entertainments in Asia. The museum will also feature a special ride—the first outside of its London flagship—that will take visitors through Singapore’s culture and history.
Prize Pearl
Art fans alert: More great works will soon be on show at Gillman Barracks’ latest addition Pearl Lam Galleries, which opens January 16. Founded by and named after the flamboyant Chinese heiress and art icon, the new gallery debuts with the blockbuster show Where Does It All Begin? (January 17-February 28), showcasing abstract works from the Asian and Western art worlds curated by Phillip Dodd, featuring Chinese greats like Zhu Jinshi and Su Xiaobai, and young British artist Peter Peri. “Our Singapore gallery has been strategically chosen to […] engage in cultural exchange and provide a platform for rising and established talents from the West and East to meet, interact and engage, hence, complementing the critically acclaimed programs of the existing Shanghai and Hong Kong spaces,” says Lam.
I Object
See and be seen at two new exhibitions hitting town this year. Parisian fair Maison & Objet Asia is making its Singapore stopover at Marina Bay Sands for four days in March, part of its 10-day pre salon-tour of five Asian cities and Singapore Design Week 2014 (March 10-16), showcasing the latest design trends from the region. Confirmed exhibitors include Fendi Casa from Italy, Lala Curio from Hong Kong and Outsign from Singapore.
Also making its debut here is the prestigious Milan Image Art Fair, a one-of-a-kind exhibition solely dedicated to video and photography. The fair’s unique format is also a draw; over 140 international artists will each have individual booths, enabling visitors to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their artistic endeavors.
Maison & Objet Asia is on Mar 10-13. Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, 10 Bayfront Ave., 6688-8868, www.maison-objet-asia.com. $65.
The Milan Image Art Fair is on Oct 23-26. Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Ave., 6688-8868, www.marinabaysands.com. Price TBA.
Wild Thing
Chef-restaurateur Willin Low has announced plans to reopen Wild Rocket later this year. However, the restaurant won’t be moving anywhere new; it will remain at its Hangout Hotel premises at Mount Emily. Of course, with every big change comes something new, but Low promises that the Wild Rocket ‘DNA’ will essentially remain the same, even with the inevitable revamp, so don’t expect anything other than modern Singaporean fare. “Wild Rocket opened in 2005 and our signature dish was the laksa pesto pasta. When we reopen, there will be a new dish also inspired by laksa and equally boomz (to borrow a word from Ris Low)”. He adds that his brunch and burger outlet Relish will be closing later this year and relocating to a new home soon after.
Wild Rocket will reopen at 10A Upper Wilkie Rd., www.wildrocket.com.sg.
Relish is currently at #02-01 Cluny Court, 501 Bukit Timah Rd., 6763-1547, and #02-07 My Village, Serangoon Gardens, 1 Maju Ave., 6634-3422, www.wildrocket.com.sg.
Mile High Club
The azure waters and pristine beaches of the Maldives are now within even easier reach. Tiger Airways has just ventured further afield to be the first budget carrier offering a direct flight route (from $350 return) to the tropical islands. With four weekly flights to Male, commencing on January 24, you can start daydreaming about your next beach getaway.
Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia have just launched their new Explore flights to remote islands in the Indonesian archipelago, including Tambolaka and Bima. Until January 31 return fares start from $288.
Tiger Airways, 3157-6434, www.tigerair.com.
Garuda Indonesia, 6520-2888, www.garuda-indonesia.com.
Get a Room
The past year was an eventful one for hotels, what with the opening of Amoy, The Westin, Parkroyal on Pickering and Zhongshan Park’s Ramada and Days Hotel, but 2014 is set to be just as busy. French luxury hotel chain Sofitel So, which collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld to design its emblem, will finally open here in May. “Every corner of the hotel exudes a certain charm that is a mix of playfulness and elegance,” says General Manager Tony Chisholm. “Rooms have a Parisian feel but are accentuated with Singapore touches.
The golden-tiled pool at the rooftop bar HI-SO, the first of its kind in Singapore, as well as flagship restaurant Xperience are also major highlights.” More hotels expected to welcome guests this year include The Patina (at the junction of Stamford Rd. and North Bridge Rd., www.patinahotels.com) and Traders Hotel (www.shangri-la.com/singapore/traders) that’s part of Orchard Gateway.
Sofitel So Singapore is at 35 Robinson Rd., 6701-6800.
Peeping Tom
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands will heat up in April with the arrival of Tom Ford’s first store in Singapore, thanks to the folks at FJ Benjamin. Following the same design concept as the brand’s Madison Avenue flagship, the boutique features a classy, razor-sharp interior and stocks the complete range of menswear, womenswear, accessories, eyewear, fragrances and beauty products. “The brand’s exquisitely constructed and beautifully finished men’s suits have long been highly sought-after. Its womenswear is just as impeccable,” says Ben J Benjamin, Luxury Division General Manager of FJ Benjamin. In addition, opening in February, famous American brand Bath & Body Works (#B2-42) will make its Asia debut at the upscale shopping mall with a 3,000 sq. ft. standalone store.
On a High
Hush-hush speakeasies hogged the nightlife scene last year. In 2014, club and bar owners are taking their plush parties up to the skies, right within the CBD. At the top of Singapore Land Tower, the much-delayed Vogue Club will finally open (though dates remain unconfirmed at press time), the 11,000 sq. ft. space featuring a two-storey cylindrical glass structure, providing unobstructed, 360° panoramic views of the city from 200 meters above ground. Just a stone’s throw away is Ultimate 1-Altitude (opening in February), a sleek, futuristic lounge, replacing the sports bar 282 & City Golf, on the 61st floor of One Raffles Place.
Vogue Club is at 45/F Singapore Land Tower, 50 Raffles Place, 9151-1257, www.vogueclub.com.sg.
Ultimate 1-Altitude is at 61/F One Raffles Place, 1 Raffles Place, 6438-0410, www.1-altitude.com.
Palm du jour
The 41-unit luxury residence Seven Palms Sentosa Cove—Singapore’s only beachfront condominium—was released for sale back in 2009, and after around four years, we’re finally about to see if it lives up to its buzz. Designed to look and feel like a luxury resort (no surprise), the coastal residence features low-density architecture for an unobstructed view of the South China Sea, a 45-meter infinity lap pool, a beach club, as well as private lifts and decks with every unit. 12 units, priced at approximately $9 million per residence, have already been snapped up by the super-rich.
Picture This
The local film industry is gearing up for a bumper year, reportedly with more than 30 projects set to be released by the end of 2014. One of the highlights is Tony Kern’s anthology of horror shorts Afterimages in August. “The idea for a collection of Singapore horror stories came about after I began hearing various local urban legends repeatedly,” says Kern. “Being from the US, I’ve already had plenty to draw on in the way of American urban legends, but I became more interested in local legends and beliefs. I started to come up with my own stories based on events that seemed to reoccur here in the region. Pool drowning, suicide jumpers, body parts found in the canals… There is a pattern of reoccurring events that happen here Singapore that don’t happen where I grew up in Ohio. They are almost ‘uniquely Singapore’ as the old tourism campaign promises.”
Mars Landing
More marquee names are arriving in town for concerts, including Bruno Mars, Phoenix and a host of other stars at the brand new Hostess Club Weekender—featuring indie starlets The National and post-rockers Mogwai. Plus, don’t forget the returning St. Jerome’s Laneway Music Festival (Jan 26), with debut performances by Chvrches, Daughter and Frightened Rabbit at The Meadow @ Gardens by the Bay.
Phoenix performs on Jan 15, 8pm. The Star Performing Arts Theatre, #04-01, 1 Vista Exchange Green, 6636-0055, www.thestar.sg. $68-$148.
Hostess Club Weekender is on Feb 22. Fort Canning Park, 70 River Valley Rd,
1800-471-7300, www.nparks.gov.sg. $118-$150.
Bruno Mars The Moonshine Jungle Tour is on Mar 26, 8pm. Singapore Indoor Stadium, 2 Stadium Walk, 6344-2660, www.sportshub.com.sg. $128-$328.
