They say its citizens wake up already thinking of their next meal. NICK HARMAN says that with so many delicious choices available, it's no wonder

IF YOUR idea of a spicy start to the day is a bit of Marmite on toast you may not be ready for breakfast in Singapore. Here a bowl of Mee Siam will blow steam out of your ears with its vibrant mix of sour, salty, sweet and very hot; a trademark blend of flavours I was soon addicted to as I toured this island.

The Botanic Gardens in Singapore was the perfect place to start. The tropical temperature had yet to build and I could sip my Mee Siam, a typical Peranakan dish, while watching people practise their tai chi.

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If a walk makes you hungry, you're in the right place. Food beckons you everywhere you go in Singapore, a magical spread of South-East Asian cuisine. You eat, enjoy and then you spot something irresistible and you happily eat again.

No longer just a "stopover" place, Singapore has become a main dish and in the Marina Bay Sands resort there are celebrity chef restaurants to make anyone's mouth water.

I ate modern Spanish in Santi, an outpost of chef Santi Santamaria's iconic restaurant Can Fabes in Catalonia. The hotel has more than 2,500 luxury rooms and perched on top is the Sands SkyPark, a giant "boat" that straddles the hotel's three enormous towers. At the stern is Sky 57, a gourmet modern Asian restaurant where you can enjoy the views of Marina Bay, the South China Sea and the road system that doubles as the Formula One track in September.

Singapore is easy to explore thanks to its cheap taxis and well-designed public transport system. Near the iconic Raffles Hotel is True Blue, a traditional restaurant. I ate ayam buah keluak, a chicken dish made with the nut from the kepayang tree.

Looking like a large unshelled almond, it takes 40 days to prepare. It is buried in ash and banana leaves before the kernel is taken out, mixed with spices and then put back into the shell.

You can find almost anything in the island's many food courts: ancient collections of cheap-eat street stalls. In Maxwell Food Centre, which is almost a century old, there are dozens of tiny stalls often no bigger than a wardrobe.

You buy from the stalls and eat at one of the communal tables. You could spend a month in here and not eat the same dish twice.
I loved the carrot cake but mysteriously there's no carrot in it.

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Instead, it's made from daikon radish fried with garlic, eggs and fish sauce.

Chopped spring onion is added and, as usual with nearly all Singa food, there is a bowl of fiery chilli sauce.

In Zam Zam in Little India, they specialise in halal murtabaks, thin sheets of dough with a piece of bread added on top along with an egg, some mutton, chicken or sardine. These are then folded up and flung on to a searing griddle. Served with a bowl of hot curry sauce, they cost just £2.

Wander through any of the many huge "wet markets", piled high with bundles of herbs and fresh fish and you long to get cooking yourself. That's what I did at Ruqxana Vasanwala's cooking class at her pretty cottage in the suburbs. Here, I pounded aromatic pastes and fried meats and learnt a wealth of tricks to recreate the dishes back home. Then I ate my self-cooked meal of beef rendang, before heading to a shop to buy a stone pestle and mortar that threatened my baggage allowance.

That day I moved on to the Fullerton Bay Hotel. This new hotel has the best views of the bay from its 100 elegant rooms. Lunch though was at Capella, the luxury hotel designed by Foster + Partners on Sentosa Island, a lively leisure resort 15 minutes south of Marina Bay. The Knolls restaurant here serves high-end Singaporean food, taking classic street dishes like Singapore chicken and laksa and raising them to Michelin standard.

Later that evening I went to Holland Village, an area full of restaurants and bars. Here is 2am: dessertbar, a restaurant recommended by chef Jason Atherton. Behind the counter Janice Wong and her team create chic puddings that ooze creativity. I loved my dish purple: fruits, flowers, berries on a base of purple potato.

I left Singapore's feast of food with a delighted stomach, a heavy heart and, thanks to my impulse-purchase pestle and mortar, a very weighty suitcase.

GETTING THERE:
Funway Holidays (0844 557 3333/ funwayholidays.co.uk) offers five nights at Marina Bay Sands from £1,231pp (two sharing), room only.

Price includes return BA flights from Heathrow to Singapore and transfers.

The Fullerton Bay Hotel (dialling from UK: 0065 6333 8388/fullertonbayhotel.com) offers doubles from £197 per night (two sharing), B&B.

True Blue (truebluecuisine.com); Capella (capellasingapore.com); 2am: dessert Bar (2amdessertbar.com).

Ruqxana Vasanwala's Cookery Magic (cookerymagic.com) offers courses from £30.

Singapore Tourism: 020 7484 2710/yoursingapore.com