This is the best cappuccino I've found in Bangkok, and the only place in the city I've ever ordered a second cup. Down a little alley, suddenly you reach this place, all big glass windows overlooking the river with a view over to Wat Arun. The cappuccinos come with a proper big froth rising above the top of the cup, slightly burnt around the edges.

It's north of the flower market, Pak Klong Talat. Walk north from Tha Tien pier, past River Books. There's a sign on the corner of the lane; turn left into the lane and go to the end, where the river is. Hard to explain, so here are the co-ordinates: Just cut and paste into Google Earth. 13.7434705145N 100.492430184E

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Superb place for breakfast. I notice that one of the owners is a westerner: if he's not Australian, I'd be very surprised, because this place has a really Sydney feel about it. Decent coffee, papers from Bangkok to read, and a 'hang around as long as you like' vibe. Don't leave without trying the Bagel Egger: it'll set you up good for a day of cycling around temples.

Th Chao Fa Ngun (in the centre, and Luang Prabang is small, so you'll find it easily);
tel: 071 252292

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Great cafe: hard to believe it's in Singapore. I don't know what this building was originally, but the owners have transformed it into some sort of organic-Scandinavian-modernist-but-not-too-new-looking environment, with eclectic furniture, fantastic music and a view across a small green valley which had me, as a one-time Singapore resident, scratching my head and going 'where the hell am I?' Highly, highly recommended for a weekend brunch or dinner any night of the week.

28B Harding Road, off Dempsey Road, which is off Holland Road in the direction away from town;
tel: 6479 3343

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A bar, a Thai restaurant, a bakery and an Indian restaurant in a cluster of Jim Thompson-style Thai houses. Gorgeous.

Sukhumvit Soi 38

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Food Loft (on the top floor of Central Chidlom) and Park (on the top floor of Emporium) are great upmarket food courts with stalls run by some of Bangkok's best restaurants. Great places to eat good food in a buzzy environment.

Central Chidlom: Chidlom BTS station. Emporium: Phrom Phong BTS station.

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Good place for a beer.

Madinat

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Holland Village is the closest thing Singapore has to an organic hip neighbourhood. Head there on a Sunday morning, buy the fat Straits Times and a couple of magazines from the stall on the corner, and settle in outside Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf with an eggs benedict and an Iced Mocha Blended while watching the people go by.

Holland Village. You can get a cab, or a bus, or an MRT to Buona Vista then walk (not too near) from there. Just get a cab!

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A hip little collection of cake shops, cafes, restaurants, an Apple Mac shop, and a good supermarket. Grab a coffee and sit and watch Bangkok's finest come and go in their new 4WDs.

Thonglor Soi 15. Get a cab from Thonglor BTS station if you don't want to cab it all the way.

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Bangkok is actually a very hip place; the people are entrepreneurial and have a great sense of style. Playground is a mini-mall with a great magazine selection, a couple of cafes and a good restaurant on the top floor, a bookstore, clothes, great regular art shows and other designy things to look at.

It's on Thonglor (Sukhumvit Soi 55). Get the BTS to Thonglor then a cab up the road. Playground is on the right. Or just get a cab from wherever you are, it's cheap.

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The fantastic Foreign Correspondents' Club. Stylish, beautiful, great food, very cold beer. The original in Phnom Penh is great, but this is even better. I wish I had done this.

Near the river, any tuk tuk driver will know it.

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Great Vietnamese restaurant. The owner has expanded so there must be about 20 of them dotted around the island but the original one was the cutest, in an old colonial house in Waterloo Street, though it now seems to have closed down.

www.indochine.com.sg

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Five Ways is a little intersection of, you guessed it, five streets. It's got a whole bunch of fantastic cafes and bars, while still maintaining a low-key feel. It's a great place for buying the Sydney Morning Herald and eating breakfast.

It's in Paddington, so you can walk there easily from Oxford Street

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An amazingly long and beautiful walk through the jungle. About 9 or 10 kilometres of walkway through amazing primary rainforest, perfectly preserved.

The Treetops trail is awesome - a walkway a hundred feet in the air, through the vegetation. The ground-level walkway is well signposted, and even though it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere, you're never too far away from civilisation.

Runners and walkers scoot round here every Sunday morning - it makes a great start to the day - but the shady paths make it a pleasant walk at any time of the day. A real treasure and a great alternative to hitting the malls while you're in Singapore.

Just get a cab and tell the driver Macritchie Reservoir. He'll take you to the front entrance. Walk so the reservoir is on your left, and keep turning left; after 9 or 10 kilometres you'll end up back where you started.

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A cool, small cinema, showing unusual and less mainstream films. A good place to catch up with what's going on in the Asian film world and a good antidote to the megamultiplexes rotating Harry Potter and Narnia, seven days a week. Nice cafe and occasional talks by respected filmmakers.

RCA - Royal City Avenue. The listings will be in the Bangkok Post cinema section

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Not a bad place for a pizza - good food, decent atmosphere, always buzzy with a lot of people coming and going, and drinkable house wine in carafes.

Sukhumvit Soi 11

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