SHOP SINGAPORE!

My friend, Ryan Lee, an excellent photographer and publisher of iNeed Magazine, told me that Singapore is an enormous shopping center disguised as a country. He was not wrong, and nor was it an exaggeration.

It is not a wonder why so many people flock to Singapore just to shop. Here there are excellent finds that are definitely value-for-money. International fashion labels, hard-to-find items, jewelry, and top-of-the-line consumer electronic products. And should price not be a burden to you, well, they have outlets of the world’s most decadent brands.

So are you ready to shop Singapore? Let’s take a walk to Singapore’s many shopping districts, but do make sure you’re wearing super comfortable shoes and have the stamina of a hippo, because one thing is for sure, shopping in Singapore can put a strain on your lower extremities and back.

Chinatown is both a heritage place and a shopping Mecca for bargain hunters. Along Pagoda Street you will find souvenir items at four for S$10 or fashionable shirts and traditional Chinese clothes at S$4. Fashion accessories, gold and silver jewelry, and even world-class perfumes of known labels are sold in carts and temporary stalls. Mind you they are all originals, as according to our guide Hammin, Singapore is very strict when it comes to fakes. Here you will also find Eu Yan Sang, a traditional Chinese medicine shop. It markets more than 280 medicinal products under the Eu Yan Sang brand name and has 1,000 different types of Chinese herbs and medicinal products. S$100 in Chinatown will definitely go a long way.

Little India is home to the only 24-hour department store in Singapore, Mustafa Centre along Syed Alwi Road. An outsized department store, Mustafa is where you can find everything and anything at reasonable prices, although haggling is not a practice here. The lay-out of the store can be terribly confusing: On one floor you would find some grocery items but sans the snack and candy items. Here you will find clothes for men, and way way out there would be sports clothes for men. It’s confusing, but perhaps that is where the excitement of shopping lies – the joy of finding the treasure, that is if you have the whole day to spend in the store. With S$100 you would already fill a large balikbayan box with excellent souvenir and pasalubong items. And if you have more budget (and more time to find them) you might be able to buy designer labels at very affordable prices. The reason for the low price: Hammin said that the owner of the store owns the building so he saves a lot from rental which can be ridiculously high in Singapore.

Bugis. One of the destinations for cheaper shopping alternatives in Singapore is Bugis. What made the place famous is its large population of transvestites who do exciting shows here. That was in the late 90s though, and may no longer be true today, as Singapore now boasts of a variety of people of different cultural heritage and preference. But what remains in Bugis, up until now, is its reputation as a cheap shopping destination. More like the Divisoria or Tutuban of Manila. There are basically three shops of interest: the Bugis Junction, Bugis Street and Albert Complex. The Bugis Street is where you will find trendy and fashionable clothes at bargain prices, although the brand is not a consideration here. If you are looking for popular brands, then they may just be available at Parco Bugis Junction, just across the street, with trendy stores like Dorothy Perkins and G2 Black Label.

Geylang Serai is the Malayan ethnic shopping district of Singapore. It is nothing more but a market and may be very familiar to many of us. However, here you will find just about everything when it comes to spices and other ingredients for Asian food cooking. Aside from that, Geylang Serai is where you can buy trendy sarongs and other ethnic clothes and dresses especially for women, and at a bargain price. They also have a humble food court where you can taste ethnic flavors at a very affordable price.

Orchard Road. Should you prefer to shop with flair, head off to Orchard Road, home of the world’s most glamorous brands. One of the places of interest would be Ngee Ann City where you will find Takashimaya, a large Japanese department store, and Kinokuniya, an equally large bookstore. If shopping for beauty products is what you are after, then Tangs would be the place to go. They have everything that every woman would dream of. Orchard Road, however, still boasts of bargain, with Lucky Plaza just across the trendier Ngee Ann City. Here you will find electronic products at cheaper prices and yes, a Filipino store, as well as some other store of kinky interest. Should you happen to be in Singapore for the holidays, then you are in luck, as definitely most stores and outlets would be on sale, and when they are on sale, they can go insanely low. So never mind if you are in the most expensive strip of Singapore because you may just find a bargain here.

Singapore River. Culture and the arts teem in the banks of the Singapore River. It is here where you will find the durian-like dome that is called the Esplanade, home of Singapore’s artistic endeavors. It has several theatres and auditoriums, as well as outdoor stages where bystanders could enjoy world-class performances from some of Singapore’s emerging artists. The Esplanade Mall contains artsy boutiques with equally artsy and unique merchandise.

Harborfront. VivoCity is said to be the most family-friendly shopping center in Singapore, but from what I’ve noticed, it is also a classy mall with some of the world’s most expensive brands tucked in one roof. VivoCity, however, is extremely expansive both in area and in the stock that it carries. Here you will find a variety of products, it’s like putting everything that is Singapore in one place – from famous brands to brand-less items. VivoCity is where you will find shops like Pull and Bear (for the hip and young fashionista with affordability in mind), Puma, Pumpkin Patch (a brand of kids clothing from New Zealand), G2000, Camper (shoes), Diva (fashion accessories), Charles Tyrwhitt (tailored suits, shirts, accessories, casual shirt, and other men’s clothing), Zara (Spanish haute couture brand), Topshop, Warehouse, Topman, and so much more. They also have great food outlets that serve halal and vegetarian products.

MRT stations. Now, this is but a buzz, and I’m sure it is one that is credible as my source is a new friend who has been to Singapore countless of times. It is said that in every station of the MRT is a shopping mall. From what I observed, this is definitely true. From Chinatown to the more fab VivoCity, you would always end up in a shopping district in every stop, a reflection of the shopping culture of the country.

Things you need to know when shopping in Singapore.

As a footnote, I would like to add that the Singapore government extremely values their visitors and to show this, they have implemented the Good Shopping Tax or GST policy. This is basically the tax that you pay to the government for the products and services that you purchase. Here you can get it back the moment you leave the country, conveniently at the airport. This is equivalent to 7 percent of your total purchase. The catch is you must have a total purchase of S$100 on one receipt or accumulated receipt from one store. A form will be issued to you, which you have to fill up before claiming the refund. This makes shopping in Singapore duty free.