Singapore is a great place for a short stopover holiday on the way to somewhere else. With Changi International Airport being a hub for flights in and out of Australasia, a three day break can both help you deal with jet lag and give you an insight into a small country with some big attractions.

Relax and sleep a little late on your first morning in Singapore, then spend the afternoon and evening at the Singapore Zoo and its brother and neighbor, the Night Safari. Singapore Zoo is one of the finest zoos around, with very few of those distressing cages and a big emphasis on natural habitats for the animals. My personal favorite is the orang utan program. The zoo now has 24 orang utans who live in a free-ranging environment – that means they basically live “above” the zoo in trees, platforms and hammocks. At 6.00pm, the zoo closes, and it’s time to go next door.

A short walk around the car park brings you to the Night Safari, open from 6.00pm to 11.00pm daily. This is something special – an entire zoo based on the premise that many animals are more active at night. Special lighting is used that’s just enough for visitors to see the animals, but not too much that the animals think it’s day time. You can ride on a small tram or take any of three walking paths to view animals like lions, leopards and elephants.

Grab a cable car across the water to Sentosa Island and make a day of it. The biggest attraction is Underwater World, a huge aquarium with plenty of fish and sharks to observe, with a conveyor-belt tunnel going through a tank being the main attraction. Entry to Underwater World includes a visit to Dolphin Lagoon (get there by shuttle bus), where you can either sign up for a personal “meet a dolphin” session or watch a choreographed show. Try to get off the beaten track at Sentosa by following some of the walking paths through the forested areas rather than always using the shuttle bus. There are dozens of other activities on Sentosa, and plenty of places to eat and relax.

Stay in the city on your final day in Singapore and spend the last of your Singapore dollars on some clothing or electronics. You can’t get the same savings as you could twenty years ago in Singapore, but the city center shops are colorful and exciting. Also try to get into some of the cultural side of Singapore by exploring the streets of Chinatown, perhaps stopping in at a temple. And enjoy some of the cheap and delicious Chinese food you can find there.