Singapore: Finding the Perfect Souvenir

Just as Paris hawks likenesses of the Eiffel Tower, and New York the Statue of Liberty, Singapore's kitschy pride of joy is the Merlion — a huge water-spouting statue at the mouth of the Singapore River that writer Edward Peacock once memorably described as "the product of an inauspicious one-night stand by Leo and Pisces." Get your Merlion souvenir (from S$5) from the Chinatown Heritage Centre.

Another quintessential Singaporean keepsake is the national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim Orchid. Take home a gilded version (from S$22) from RISIS Gift Gallery.

But the most lasting memories of your trip will probably come courtesy of the Coxford Singlish Dictionary (available from most bookshops for S$11), which deconstructs the local patois, Singlish.

• 1. Chinatown Heritage Centre
  48 Pagoda Street, Singapore 059207; 65-6325-2878 1.283411103.844332 chinatownheritage.com.sg
• 2. RISIS Gift Gallery
  3 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec City Mall, #01-084, Singapore 038983; 65-6338-8250 1.295076103.858685 risis.com