Essentials: Singapore

1) Water that seems to fall from the sky: the world's largest indoor waterfall, the Rain Vortex, pours from a height of 40 meters from the glass ceiling of Changi Airport into a basin. Every minute, up to 40,000 liters of rainwater cascade down seven storeys. It was the brainchild of architect Moshe Safdie. He has already created another water-rich landmark in the city: the three towers of the Marina Bay Sands complex with their spectacular infinity pool.

2) Six different time zones – since 1905, Singapore has changed its time six times. Initially, the city-state was seven hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, but now it's eight hours ahead, just like Malaysia.

3) There are four official languages in Singapore: Malay, English, Mandarin, and Tamil. Additionally, Singlish is spoken, which might seem like local gibberish, but it's an official creole and really not easy to learn. Nearly 30 Singlish words have made it into the Oxford English Dictionary.

4) For Singapore's taxi drivers it's important that you feel at home in their cars. Perhaps this is why it is customary to address them as "aunty" or "uncle" – no matter the degree of relationship or their age. They're probably just one big family. 

5) Singapore is one of the 20 smallest countries in the world, but it has a total of 64 offshore islands. However, only a few of them are accessible.