How to Plan a Weekend That Isn't Just Brunch and a Mall

Friday, 6 PM. Somebody in the group chat asks what everyone's doing this weekend. Three people suggest brunch. One suggests a mall. Nobody is excited.

Plan a Singapore weekend by time of day. Get outdoors early, before the heat. Catch the free Gardens by the Bay show at 7:45 PM. Keep Friday and Saturday nights for Clarke Quay, where the Slingshot runs until 1:30 AM. Book the Night Safari ahead; most of the rest is walk-up.

This is how we'd plan it. We're open every weekend at Clarke Quay, so we know what a Saturday looks like from the riverside.

Friday night is for the thing you've been putting off

Friday and Saturday share one advantage over Sunday: most people don't have to be up early the next day.

Friday and Saturday are also our late nights. The Slingshot and the GX-5 Extreme Swing open at 5:30 PM and run until 1:30 AM on both nights. Dinner first, launch second, drinks by the river third. The order matters. Nobody wants 3 to 5Gs on the Slingshot on a full stomach of chilli crab.

Come before 7 PM if you hate queues.

Saturday morning belongs outside

Singapore is hottest in the afternoon, so get out early. Two options, depending on how much effort you want:

• Moderate effort: the MacRitchie TreeTop Walk, a 250-metre suspension bridge through the forest canopy, up to 25 metres off the ground, according to NParks. It's free, but it's a proper hike in, around 2.5km of forest trail each way from the Venus Drive car park, so allow a few hours. On weekends it opens at 8:30 AM, half an hour earlier than on weekdays, and last entry is 4:45 PM. It's shut on Mondays unless it's a public holiday, so on a long weekend the Monday is a fourth chance to go.
• More effort, more reward: Pulau Ubin. Get to Changi Point Ferry Terminal early, take the bumboat across (about 10 minutes, a few dollars, cash only), rent a bike, and ride to the Chek Jawa boardwalk. The boats leave when they fill up, so a Saturday morning crowd works in your favour. Come back before the afternoon heat sets in properly.

Then get indoors somewhere with air-conditioning until the heat breaks.

Saturday evening, free or nearly free

Garden Rhapsody at Gardens by the Bay runs every night at 7:45 PM and 8:45 PM, roughly 15 minutes of music and light in the Supertree Grove. It's free and you don't need a ticket. Get there by 7:30 PM if you want a good patch of floor.

Or walk the Southern Ridges at sunset. Henderson Waves, a bridge 36 metres above the road between Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill, is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore, and it's lit up after 7 PM.

If you want animals instead, the Night Safari is the weekend's one hard booking. It sells timed entry slots, so book before the weekend rather than on the day.

Sunday is slower, and that's fine

Sunday has its own rhythm. Brunch is allowed. We're not monsters.

The useful thing to know is that we open earlier on Sundays (4:30 PM) and close earlier too (11:30 PM). So a Sunday ride fits before a relaxed dinner, rather than as the last stop of a long night. That suits families. The GX-5 takes 2 to 5 riders, minimum age 12 and minimum height 120cm, which makes it an easy pick for a family with teenagers.

What to book ahead and what to just turn up for

The Scream Combo saves SGD 20 for adults (SGD 10 for under-18s) against buying both rides separately, if your group can't decide.

A few things that save a weekend

Check the sky. Afternoon storms are common here, and the rides are suspended during rain or lightning alerts until it's safe again. Have an indoor backup in mind.

Bring cash for Pulau Ubin and small hawker stalls. Plenty of places take cards now, but not all.

Empty your pockets before a ride. Loose items, hairpins, brooches and safety pins all have to come off, and glasses need securing.

And don't try to do everything. Two plans a day is plenty. Leave the gaps for lunch and a nap.

When Saturday night comes round, start from the river with what's within walking distance of Clarke Quay.