It was a typical humid, sleepy Saturday afternoon in Singapore. Instead of sweating it out cheek-by-jowl with the masses, I decided to escape north on a cool green bus ride to Sembawang Park.

I boarded the yellow Trans-Island bus number 167 on Scotts Road and settled back for a relaxing ride. Approximately 40 minutes later, it was like entering a long, leafy cocoon, with massive rain trees on both sides of the road. I could feel my tension ebbing away.

En route to Sembawang, massive rain trees shade the road.

Farther along on my journey, I disembarked across the road from a row of shops at bus stop B35, and stopped by the air-conditioned The Prata Place. When I took my seat, I was enveloped by the heavenly fragrance of light-as-choux prata, essentially an Indian pancake.

Usually served with chicken curry or mutton, here it comes with many different fillings, such as pineapple, banana, mushrooms, strawberry and chocolate. I opted for a banana prata.

The edges were crispy, while the filling was creamy banana. SG $7 (US $4.50) buys a substantial meal, including teh tarik, literally “pulled tea,” which is poured back and forth from a mug to a glass. The result is frothy, full-bodied and sweet.

Two doors down from The Prata Shop is Han’s, an eatery run by a Hainanese family for the last two decades. It’s always been a popular choice for its pastries and western-style meals. The Hainanese have long had a reputation for being superb cooks of western fare, having worked for the British during Singapore’s colonial times.

Yo ng tau foo, a variety of deep-fried foods made from tofu, is the specialty at the coffee shop at the far end of the row. Each portion is served with lightly blanched vegetables, and everything is slathered with delicious, pale-brown gravy. Each entrée costs about SG $5. (US $3).

From here, bus 138 goes to the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. The Singapore Zoo is an “open” zoo where only rock walls and streams prevent the animals from escaping. Special attractions here include Children’s World, the Primate Kingdom, the sea lion and penguin gallery, the air-conditioned polar bear exhibit and a miniature railway. Among the zoo's many endangered species is the world’s largest colony of orangutans.

The Night Safari is a nocturnal zoo that is adjacent to the Singapore Zoo. There are more than 900 nocturnal animals in eight zones that re-create various geographic regions, such as the Southeast Asian rainforest, African savanna, Nepalese river valley, South American pampas and Burmese jungle.