1. Singapore = Food.

The city-state dominates the ‘net with food blogs where hungry netizens compare, dissect, argue and swap foodie fodder, scouring the island for new tastes. And nearly every conceivable victual from every earthly corner has a home here. Fancy authentic Egyptian Baba Ghanoush? Arab Street’s got you covered. Crave something Nigerian besides a scam e-mail? Find it on Verdun Road in Little India. If it’s edible and fits on a plate, bowl, banana leaf or sheet of paper, we’ll wolf it with zeal. But if you truly want to sample Singapore’s food culture, head to any of the hawker centers in the heartlands — there’s a huge variety of stalls there at dirt-cheap prices.

2. Green thrives in the big gray city

Singapore’s a Garden City, literally. Amid the concrete jungle we call home, there’s the Botanical Gardens, HortPark, MacRitchie Reservoir, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve — each claiming myriad varieties of flora and fauna. But the most common impression left visitors to Singapore concerns the rows of trees that line roads everywhere, from expressways to suburban streets. It’s not just a green facade — Singapore’s a champion of environmental initiatives, from the world’s largest CNG refueling station to its first Solar Greenlots for electric vehicles.

3. Greatest living politician

No one in Singapore, regardless of political stripe, has anything but a healthy respect — perhaps even awe — for Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. He led Singapore to independence in 1965 and served as its first Prime Minister for 31 years, setting the record as the world’s longest-serving Prime Minister. He’s the architect of Singapore’s present prosperity, laying a foundation of nation-building which has taken Singapore from a sleepy little island to one of Asia’s most developed states, despite its small population, limited space and lack of natural resources.

4. Dedicated to keeping us alive forever

Singapore has one of the best health care infrastructures in the world, with various dignitaries and royals from the region patronizing local hospitals — Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe even slipped in quietly for a ‘secret cancer check-up‘ in 2008. The health care provision system is also one of the world’s best, so good that some say it beats the proposed ObamaCare model.

5. First and only Night Race in the world

Singapore is the first F1 venue to host a night race on its streets, and will do so for several years to come. The inaugural race in 2008 also earned the city-state an unfortunate distinction for being the one in which Team Renault boss Flavio Briatore ordered Nelson Piquet to crash, giving teammate Fernando Alonso the win. It’s now known as the Singapore ‘Crashgate’ scandal — which might lend some cred to Singapore’s squeaky-clean image.

6. Water technology so good, we drink our own pee

Time magazine called Singapore the global paragon of water conservation. Through sheer effort, and more than a little desperation (Singapore imports less than half the population’s water from neighboring Malaysia with agreements set to expire in 2011 and 2061), the island turned to desalination technologies to provide for thirsty citizens. The result is NeWater, which is non-potable wastewater filtered into high-purity H₂O that can be used for industrial development and even drinking.

7. Most awesome crustacean dish of all time

The Singapore chili crab is famous. Despite what the Malaysian Tourism Ministry claims, the dish is distinctly Singaporean, as evidenced by the Singapore Chilli Crab Festivals staged all across Europe. Madam Cher Yam Tian created the succulent recipe in 1950 and it’s now the unofficial national dish of a food-loving nation, with restaurants and coffee shops serving it by the ton nightly.

8. English that no one else understands

It’s the unofficial ‘first language’ of most Singaporeans and one that would bewilder the remaining English-speaking world. Singlish is the creole of choice for citizens, cobbled together from various influences including Queen’s English, Bahasa Melayu, Tamil, dialects such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Bengali, Punjabi and even a smattering of various other European, Indic and Sinitic languages. Word of warning — if you don’t know it, don’t try it. It’ll make you sound sillier than we already do. Eh, dun pray pray ah …

9. Connected, mobile and most oblivious to the surroundings

Thanks to its minuscule size, Singapore has the infrastructure to support island-wide 3.5G mobile and wireless internet access. According to Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), there are 6.5 million mobile subscribers (as of July 2009), making for a staggering 140-plus-percent mobile phone penetration rate, and over four million in wireless broadband subscriptions. This is why you’ll see Singaporeans with their attentions dedicated to their phones, rather than their environment.

10. Campaign-craziest place on earth

There’s a Singapore-wide campaign for everything — Be Courteous, Speak English, Speak Mandarin, Stop Dengue, Save Water, Stop Littering, Be Kind, Don’t Spit, and Stop At Two are just a warm-up. We’d go on, but that would violate the current Stop Prattling campaign.

11. Natural disaster-free … for the most part

Owing to our geographic location, Singapore is sheltered from most of the natural disasters that afflict neighboring countries and the rest of the world. Still, people get a kick each time a strong wind blows down from the north or our houses rumble from the aftershocks of Indonesian earthquakes.

12. Most crooked-backed kids

Small children toting oversized backpacks crammed with books are common to our neighborhood streets. That would be due to our educational system, with streaming programs that start as early as primary four. This goes all the way up past secondary school, until you are able to choose your preferred subjects.

13. Coolest place to get vertigo

Atop the 226-meter Swissotel the Stamford, Southeast Asia’s tallest hotel, New Asia Bar is best for watching tipsy tourists and partygoers try to make sense of its tilted 72nd floor (it slants 20 degrees downwards for maximum eye-in-the-sky effect). And if that’s not dizzying enough, clamber up to the top floor helipad for a 360-degree view of the bright lights of Singapore. On a clear night you can see as far as Indonesia. Just don’t look down. Or fall over.

Swissotel The Stamford Singapore, 2 Stamford Road, Singapore, tel +65 6837 3322. www.equinoxcomplex.com

14. You don’t expect to get mugged or knifed at 3am in our darkest alleys

Singapore has a crime rate so low, ladies stroll without fear in the wee hours of the night. Neil Humphreys, a UK-born columnist who planned to visit for three months and ended up staying for almost 10 years, commented on how safe the island state was in his book, Notes from An Even Smaller Island. And contrary to Western opinion, there’s no strong police presence poised to cane anyone for spitting, chewing gum or scratching cars.

15. Craziest adrenaline junkie who won’t quit

Khoo Swee Chiow, a.k.a. the first Singaporean to reach Mount Everest (and once more without oxygen), a.k.a. the record holder for the world’s longest journey on skates (6088km in 94 days), a.k.a. the man who broke the world record for the longest controlled scuba dive, a.k.a, the cyclist who rode from Singapore to Beijing in 73 days (8066km)… You get the idea. He’s off his rocker, but inspirational to anyone with a yen for danger.

16. ‘Public housing’ aren’t dirty words

In many countries, ‘public housing’ conjures images of poverty, crime and places Rambo wouldn’t tread without a Sherman. Not so here. Public housing is actually pretty good, with most of the population living in government-managed apartments — it’s just not cheap. In fact, far from poverty, Singapore has the highest density of millionaires at 8.5 percent of the population.

17. The nanny state’s loosening its grip

Filmmaker Martyn See’s banned “Singapore Rebel” film, about Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan, has been given the green light for public screening. Yes, it’s four years since it was banned, and it’s been watched by half a million people on YouTube and Google Video since, but it’s a vital first step to more liberal arts. Baby steps …

18. The country’s built as if out of Lego blocks

For the world’s third most densely populated country, Singapore is stacked neatly by an imaginary obsessive-compulsive Lego master, one who’s managed to cram shoulder-to-shoulder buildings, religious institutions, parks, gardens, a water catchment or 33, numerous restaurants, cafes, nightspots, shopping malls and two award-winning zoos into an area just shy of 700 square kilometers.

19. Vampire shopping

Singapore’s stretch of Orchard Road malls accommodate the most fickle shoppers, connected as they are by an intricate network of underground passages, tunnels, sheltered walkways, covered escalators and the Mass Rapid Transit train line. Shop from Wisma Atrium on one end to Suntec City on the other without feeling the sun.

20. You can call it whatever you want

Digging into the history books, Sang Nila Utama, the founder of modern Singapore, named the island of Temasek as such when he saw what he thought was a lion, took it as a good omen, and renamed the place ‘Singapura,’ meaning “Lion city.” The English ‘Singapore’ evolved from the Malay name, hence the moniker ‘Lion City’ and one half of the iconic Merlion. Zoologists maintain that lions probably never lived there, not even Asiatic breeds, and that the beast seen was more likely a tiger, probably the Malayan Tiger. Funny how the island’s eponymous animal never really existed. But, then ‘Harimaupura’ (Tiger-city) doesn’t have quite the same kick.

21. Last bastion of colonialism

Raffles Hotel still plays refuge to the time-displaced, khaki-shorted British jocks of pre-Independence Singapore. It’s also home of the original Singapore Sling and one of the best places to have an old-fashioned English tea. Just don’t ask about the tale of the tiger under the hotel or you’ll get an hour-long history lesson.

1 Beach Road, Singapore, tel +65 6337 1886. www.raffles.com

22. Most educated, comfortable and honest taxi drivers

OK, so our cabbies aren’t the most educated, but we do have Dr Cai Mingjie, the “only taxi driver in this world with a PhD from Stanford and a proven track record of scientific accomplishments.” But educated or not, like cabbies everywhere, our taxi drivers are full of opinions and political commentary — just ask what they think of the government and watch their mouths outrace their motors in RPM. Plus, all taxis are meticulously maintained, with twice-daily washes and a rigid fare structure. The rides might cost more than other Southeast Asian countries, but you’ll never get cheated or over-charged.

23. The best Airport in the World

It’s the pearl of Singapore’s eastern end, voted Best Airport by more magazines and organizations than anywhere else. Families plan weekend excursions here, students spend inordinate amounts of time studying and daydreaming within its four terminals, and over 37 million passengers passed through its gates in 2008. There’s a great transit hotel in the form of the Hotel Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, an orchid garden complete with a koi pond, free video games and movies 24 hours a day and free wireless internet throughout the airport. Why does anyone ever depart this place?

Singapore Changi Airport, 75 Airport Blvd, Singapore, tel +65 6595 6868. www.changiairport.com

24. World’s youngest iPhone developer

Lim Ding Wen has written an iPhone app called Doodle Kids that allows you to paint on the iPhone using shapes like triangles, circles and squares composed of random colours and sizes. Within a week of Doodle Kids’ release through the App Store, it was downloaded more than 1,100 times. Ding Wen’s now busy porting his Apple IIGS title Invader Wars to the iPhone. What’s the big deal? He turned nine this year.

25. The greatest theme rides this side of the Equator

When Universal Studios Singapore opens next year, it will offer 24 movie-themed rides and attractions, including a pair of carefully coordinated roller coasters, seven themed zones, including The Lost World and Hollywood Boulevard, dinosaurs, lemurs, ogres, Egyptian mummies and the world’s first Transformers Ride, which will make its debut in 2011. And to secure Singapore’s monopoly on amusement, Universal Studios has promised that this will be the only park it opens in Southeast Asia for the next 30 years.

26. The most morbidly named island

Our very own pleasure island of Sentosa was once known as Pulau Blakang Mati, which in Malay means “Island (pulau) of Death (mati) from Behind (blakang).” All of this was swept under the dead grass carpet when the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board launched a campaign to rename the island ‘Sentosa,’ a Malay word meaning “peace and tranquility.” It obviously worked, considering it’s visited by some five million peace seekers a year.

Sentosa Island Singapore, tel 1800-SENTOSA (736-8672). www.sentosa.com.sg

27. Nostalgic about Communism

The Museum of Shanghai Toys (MoST) is home to tin toys made in China during the early 1900s. The displays are packed with wind-up walking robots, classic car replicas and ruddy-cheeked dolls, just for starters. And if you’re itching to get your hands on one, the museum store sells the actual tin toys imported from China, along with postcards and retro posters smacking with “messages” from the Cultural Revolution. Mao you’re talking! Museum Of Shanghai Toys, 83 Rowell Road, Singapore, tel +65 6294 7747. www.most.com.sg

28. Flimsiest excuse to gather thousands of people and play with lanterns

During Swing KPE! in September, 2008 over 10,000 people took to the KPE Tunnel with lanterns in hand, breaking the record of 2,204 lanterns previously set in Kiel, Germany in November, 2001. Singapore bagged the longest Guinness lantern parade record with an overwhelming 10,568 participants.

29. Every healthy male can shoot a gun

Compulsory conscription in Singapore of all male 18-year-old Singaporean citizens and permanent residents means that every one of them can aim and fire a gun. Whether they’ll ever put it to use is another matter altogether, since national service lasts only two years.

30. Tissue Paper Phenomenon

Loiter around any food court or crowded working class eatery during lunchtime, and you’ll likely find tissue packs scattered about the tables. But they’re not freebies courtesy of the management — they’re how the natives ‘chope’ (reserve) their seats. It’s bizarre, but strangely BYOT does make some sense in a time-saving way. Sort of?