It’s easy to feel like you’ve done it all in Singapore. You’ve ticked off the museums, sipped and savour your way through every café you bookmarked, and taken more leisurely park strolls than you can count. But before you settle for another predictable date this Valentine’s Day, it’s time to shake things up. These unique and fun date ideas in Singapore dial up the romance without defaulting to the usual suspects. From playing real-life Mario Kart to creating taxidermy art, these date activities will spice up your time with your boo.
If your idea of romance involves sparks, head to Styxx for a fun dinner date. This modern Middle Eastern grill throws convention out the window by serving food straight onto the table, turning it into a blank canvas. Skewers land sizzling, sauces and condiments follow, and suddenly you’re co-creating edible art together, Jackson Pollock-style, but with lamb fat and pink tahini. It’s messy, tactile and oddly intimate – the kind of shared experience that fast-tracks bonding. Just when you think things can’t get hotter, sparklers arrive to fire things up. Add live DJ sets on Wednesdays and burlesque shows that blur the line between spectator and participant, and you’ve got a riotously fun date with serious chemistry potential.
This one’s not for the faint of heart. As the name suggests, The Ice Bath Club is a social club with ice baths, a sauna, and a magnesium hot bath. Grab your partner’s hand – you’ll need the moral support, trust us – and plunge yourself into the ice baths – one is kept between 3°C and 6°C, while the other is slightly warmer at 8°C to 12°C. This activity isn’t meant to torture your beau – there are various health benefits associated with ice baths including reducing inflammation and muscle soreness. Find out more here.
If dinner-and-a-movie feels a bit… par for the course, tee up something more playful at GreenBox by My Golf Kaki. This indoor golf experience is perfect for dates who like a little friendly competition with their flirtation. Whether you’re both seasoned swingers or complete beginners, the simulators keep things light-hearted, with plenty of chances to laugh at rogue shots and celebrate the rare hole-in-one. It’s surprisingly intimate too – standing side by side, swapping tips, maybe brushing shoulders as you line up your shot. The relaxed, modern space means there’s no stuffy country-club energy here, just good vibes and better banter. Win or lose, it’s the kind of date where chemistry matters more than your handicap – and that’s a score we can get behind.
Accessories can add major oomph to any outfit, especially if it’s a unique pendant or ring hand-crafted by your beloved. Clink Clank Clunk offers jewellery-making workshops for newbies, with professionals guiding you through the process of metalsmithing and metal stamping. The ring band workshop is priced at $155, and all materials are provided – just bring your creative ideas with you. Get crafty and learn more about the classes here.
The comeback of Y2K is still going strong, with film being a popular way of capturing memories. Couples who want to take the next step in photography can explore shooting with black and white film, and working in a darkroom at Objectifs. This workshop is for serious folks as attendees have to go through four sessions in total, where a fine-art photographer goes through the basic darkroom skills needed, and insights on shooting with film. More details on the workshop can be found here.
Romantic hotels in Singapore are aplenty, so try something new this Valentine’s Day and stay in a tiny 150sq-ft container instead. Tiny Away Escape at Lazarus Island is an eco-friendly option for couples who wish to escape from the concrete jungle, with features like food waste recycling systems and energy-efficient electrical appliances. If you’re worried you’ll have to sleep on the floor, rest assured that the cabins come with a queen-sized bed, as well as a fully equipped kitchen and shower.
Crafty couples will have a whirl of fun at Tombalek, where cheeseboards and culinary knives are made from scratch. Tombalek also has glass-blowing classes and bench-making workshops, should you need new decorations for your home. Do note that covered shoes are a must when attending the workshops, and disposable masks and earplugs are recommended if you’re sensitive to dust and loud noises. For the ladies, avoid wearing bottoms that expose the upper thighs. More details can be found here.
If squishing with sweaty bodies at nightclubs isn’t your cup of tea, here’s the next best thing – listening bars. These intimate bars combine artisan cocktails with melodious tunes, and you and your partner can browse through endless rows of vinyl records. Time to see if your music tastes are compatible with each other.
In place of a beachy getaway with your boo, why not pick up surfing together – right here in Singapore? Trifecta, located in the heart of Somerset, is Singapore’s first surf-snow-skate facility. They run surfing classes at a deep water wave pool, the perfect ground to safely pick up skills or practice endless tricks before that surfing camp in Bali. If snow sports are more your thing, then head over to the snow arena to learn skiing or snowboarding. Classes take place on a conveyor belt that can tilt and shift to mimic real mountain terrain. By the time you both make it to the slopes, you’ll be able to spend less time in lessons and more time actually enjoying the sport.
Show your date how fast you’re willing to move – you know, if taking things slow ain’t your thing. Located at The Palawan @ Sentosa, Hyperdrive serves up three stories of racing fun with virtual gaming elements. The track has 308m of speedy straights and 14 thrilling turns, plenty for you to zoom around during the 8-minute play session. To keep things interesting, HyperDrive incorporates Mario Kart-like features – collect bombs and missiles to throw your date off their game and gain turbo boosts to set yourself ahead. What’s a relationship without some friendly competition, right?
With some darts, we mean. Take your boo to Oche Riverside Point, a swanky darts bar at Clarke Quay that stands out for using real darts and dark boards, combining the classic game with the latest tech. Play digital games ranging from skill-based challenges such as classic 501s to a high-adrenaline “last player standing” type. An automatic score tracker will keep tabs on who’s ahead, so you can just focus on the (friendly) competition. Oche also has sharing plates and pizzas, a weekend bottomless brunch, and a heady cocktail lineup to round out the date.
At Black Crow Taxidermy & Art, you can create beautiful works of art with preserved butterfly specimens – including butterfly domes and frames. Under the guidance of owner Vivian Tham, you can also do an animal dissection class, involving the dissection and skinning of a frog. She will teach you all about its anatomy and biology – a fun and educational date that’s not for the faint of heart! And in case you were wondering, all the animals that are preserved at Black Crow Taxidermy & Art have been ethically sourced.
If sewing or knitting is a little too…delicate for you – then try tufting instead. At Tuft Club, workshop participants are armed with a heavy tufting gun, which is used to thread yarn into thick canvas to create fluffy works of art. Whether you want a rug that looks like your beloved pet or a wedding ring (you know, for the most unique proposal ever), the folks at Tuft Club will guide you towards achieving a wonderful rug worth displaying in your home.
Create your own scent with Maison 21G’s Perfume Creation Workshop, where you can design a personalised fragrance that sets you apart from the rest. It’s your very own bespoke perfume, crafted from sustainable, natural ingredients. You’ll be guided by scent designers every step of the way, as you capture your own preferred scents in a bottle. For a romance-filled experience, join the Love Perfume Workshop where you’ll get to create three personalised perfumes with your loved one.
Escape from the bustling streets of the city with a loved one at The Sundowner. Perched at the top of a conserved shophouse in Siglap, this rooftop retreat runs a variety of workshops and private experiences to get your zen on. Want to get in touch with nature? Sign up for a rooftop farm experience and learn about anything from organic farming to the secret life of ants and bees. Foodie couples will want to try out its various F&B experiences, including cocktail mixing, honey pairing, pizza making and coffee roasting. If you just want a romantic night under the stars, then good news – The Sundowner’s rooftop lounge can be booked out for a private movie night for two to 10 people. Choose the movie you wish to watch, bring some chips and get comfortable. Your ticket allows you to get drinks from the bar and access to the BBQ pit with all the necessary dining utensils. Learn more about The Sundowner here.
Maybe getting matching tatts is too much too soon for your relationship, but there’s no harm picking up the art together. Tucked away in eclectic Pearl’s Hill Terrace, State of Shiok offers pseudo tattoo classes and art jamming sessions for a unique date together. For $68 per person, you get three hours with some ‘fake skin’ to practise tattooing on – stellar music and good vibes included. Out of ideas? The studio provides visual guides so you and your boo can bring home a decent tattoo.
17. Get swept away by a theatrical dining experience at AndSoForth
Photograph: ANDSOFORTH
Quality restaurants are a dime a dozen, but it’s entirely different over at immersive dining restaurant AndSoForth. This whimsical company is best known for its immersive theatrical dining experience at a secret venue where you feast on stories over the course of a meal (or two). For couples looking for a memorable date, there’s never a dull moment here – especially with their novel approach to how food should be experienced. Read more on its latest Wonderland Upside Down experience here.
Indulge in some crystal shopping together at Harmony Gem Crystals. At this store, you’ll find a wide range of crystals of all shapes and colours. Everything is helpfully arranged according to colour, going from yellows and reds to blues and greens. But if you’re still feeling overwhelmed or have something specific that you’re looking for, then the friendly staff are always ready to help. Pick up rose quartz for unconditional love or green aventurine to turn up the romance – or hey, some amethyst to put yourself first.
Couples that art jam together, stay together. But if neither of you has an artistic bone, let Motion Art Space teach you to paint. Here, physics does the work – using pendulum swings, spinning tables, paint and canvas, you’ll be creating inspired abstract pieces in no time. Housed in a second-floor shophouse on Arab Street, Motion Art Space also creates a fun and laidback environment for your date, thanks to soft disco light and danceable tunes. Sign up for the couple package ($129/2 pax) which includes premium pearly paints alongside a standard canvas, four basic paint tools, and all the tools available at the studio.
If you’ve checked off every possible activity on your date list, shake things up by getting down and dirty with clay à la the iconic 90s classic Ghost.Arudio Studios offers short courses and trial pottery workshops for couples. Let your creative juices flow and put your nimble fingers to the test with the ceramic hand-building coursewhere you learn the basics of pinching, coiling, slab-making to create an array of cups, plates, and vases you can spruce up your home with.
Board sports might be intimidating to some, but that shouldn’t stop you and your beau from picking up a new hobby. Local adventure sports company The Ride Side offers fundamentals classes where you can learn the basics of skateboarding, longboarding and surfskating – things like standing on the board, kicking off, generating speed and making turns. And if you’re keen to progress further, you can purchase (or rent) a board of your own to pick up advanced skills in surfskating – which will have you ‘surfing’ the roads of Singapore in no time. It’s super fun, a great workout, with an open and friendly community around it to boot.
If you’ve got a furkid to pamper, plan a puppy date to Jurong Play Grounds, a large recreational park which includes a nursery garden, padel tennis courts, an outdoor heated pool – and yes, a dog water park. Let your puppy splash around and play catch in dedicated pools at Wag and Wild, but if they’re not a fan of water, bring them for a ramble at the public dog run. Pet-friendly Al Capone’s is nearby if you need a refuel, and it even has a special pet menu to keep your furkid satiated.
Take both hearts of steel to Forest Adventure’s treetop course at Bedok Reservoir Park. Overcome the Grand Coursetogether where there are 44 wobbly crossings and three breath-taking zip lines across the water. Safety is of utmost importance, so you’ll be strapped on with a harness and briefed on using your equipment and how to move on the course. But don’t worry, once you’re on the course, you’re free to swing like Tarzan and Jane – we’ll let you decide on that roleplay.
Before things get way too serious, head down to the Fragment Room for a smashing good time. The Fragment Room makes the perfect rage room for you and your partner to release any suppressed frustrations through smashing plates, glasses, electronic appliances and more. Instant gratification is guaranteed, and in a sense, it signifies you’re breaking all your issues and moving on together with a clean start.
Now, you can officially say that you’ve walked through hell with your date at Haw Par Villa. If your partner loves all things kooky, a trip and stroll through the theme park of horrors would be a good bonding activity. Multicoloured statues and tableaux – some looking rather neglected– depict scenes from Chinese history and mythology. The highlight is the Ten Courts of Hell (responsible for childhood nightmares for generations of Singaporeans) where small-scale tableaux show human sinners being punished in a variety of hideous and bloodthirsty ways – in extremely gory and graphic detail. A good conversation starter, that’s for sure.
