Australia has shared a travel bubble with international safe travel zones in Singapore and New Zealand since November 1.

Residents can enter Singapore through the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) as a short-term visitor, enjoy the city sights, hawker market cuisine and tourism attractions before returning home quarantine-free.

I took up the challenge to out-eat, out-shop and out-play during a last minute holiday in the Lion City from November 14 to 19.

The diverse range of food found on street corners and back alleys are a constant highlight.

Singapore's history as the top maritime capital of the world transforms its cuisine into a deep melting pot of Chinese, Indian, Malay and European flavours.

Mee Siam (Siamese noodle soup), laksa (spicy coconut soup), chilli crab, Hainanese chicken rice, Bak Kut Teh (pork rib cooked in herb broth), Char Kuay Teow (stir fried rice noodles), turtle soup and Kaya toast (toast with butter and coconut jam) are all held in highest regard.

The best valued offerings are found outside your hotel and I'd strongly recommend visiting nearby hawker markets or local favourites such as the Jumbo Seafood restaurant chain for chilli crab, Toast Box for Kaya toast and Qi Ji Marina Square for Mee Siam.

After a big meal its time to unwind with some shopping in the maze of narrow souvenir stores in Chinatown, join the bustling crowds buying spiced sweets and silk sarees along the roads of Little India or explore the bright artisan cafes and middle eastern traders of Arab Street.

The city is also known for its high-end fashion with international designer labels lining air-conditioned malls in Orchard Road, Vivo City and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Taxi rides are a fair-priced and ever-ready solution for carrying those bags back to the hotel at the end of the day.

Enough about food and the shopping, you're asking where's the excitement and fun?

The exhilaration that will make the entire trip worth it can be found in three easy-to-reach locations, The Gardens by the Bay nature park, Singapore Zoo and Universal Studios Singapore.

For the young and young at heart, Universal Studios is a gigantic theme park with 24 rides, seven roller coasters, seven themed zones and merchandise stores on Sentosa Island.

The best of the bunch is the Battlestar Galactica: Cylon inverted roller coaster which reaches speeds of 90 kmph while performing five inversions, a corkscrew, an inverted loop, zero-g roll and plunges into a five metre deep pit filled with artificial fog.

Gardens by the Bay nature park is a national landmark featuring three separate waterfront gardens with innumerable flowers and trees. The bayside monument to nature covers 101 hectares and hosts the largest glass greenhouse in the world, the Flower Dome.

It's hard to choose a favourite here but the carnivorous Truncated Pitcher Plants in the mystical Cloud Forest dome are hypnotically alien, while the sprawling Flower Dome of international plants and 18 massive solar-powered 'supertrees' are perfect examples of functional beauty.

Out of town and continuing the natural world theme, the Singapore Zoo is one of the world's best rainforest zoos. It houses more than 2,800 animals from over 300 species of mammals, birds, and reptiles with semi-open enclosures and tropical jungle habitats grouped into distinct zones. The entire park is easy to navigate on foot, a delight for families and individuals.

Another standout includes the Marina Bay Sands Singapore hotel, The Shoppes shopping centre and casino complex. The resort was billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property at $8 billion when it opened in 2010. It also boasts the world's longest infinity pool at 142 metres and the largest outdoor pool at a height of 650 metres, which holds commanding views of the city.

Now for the big question on everyone's lips, is it safe to travel there?

The most up-to-date Smartraveller advice encourages Australians to "exercise a high degree of caution due to the impacts of COVID-19."

The 5.45 million people living in Singapore are at the forefront of health safety with more than 85 per cent vaccinated and there is little to no crime seen by tourists.

A negative Covid test is required within two days of departure from Australia, a test is taken on arrival and further testing upon return to Australia. The testing process in Singapore is straight forward to plan, pre-book and extremely efficient with results.

The country's TraceTogether app is well made, easy to use and widely accepted by all businesses. It doesn't even need your phone to be open or have internet access, and simply uses bluetooth to tap and enter any store, market or building across the city.

Fly: Flights to Singapore in December vary between $500 to $1200 return.

Stay: A single night at the mid-range Mandarin Orchard Singapore starts at $156 per night, while rooms at the world's most Instagrammed hotel, the Marina Bay Sands are more than $489 a night.

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