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RIGHTLY, or perhaps a tad unkindly, Singapore has been described by some as one big shopping mall. But to shopping aficionados, such a generalisation only means that this modern city can lay a safe claim to being one of Asia’s most sophisticated yet diverse shopping destinations. While it’s a year-round shopping paradise, the best time to visit is during its annual eight-week Great Singapore Sale (www.greatsingaporesale.com.sg), when all kinds of discounts and deals pop up island-wide from late May through July.
To kick-start your all-out Singapore shopping spree, there’s perhaps no better place than the much vaunted – and flaunted – Orchard Road, where you can peruse a bevy of Singapore shopping malls, conveniently stacked one after the other, all the jolly way from Wheelock Place (near the Orchard MRT station) to Plaza Singapura (Dhoby Ghaut station). MRT, of course, stands for the Mass Rapid Transit trains that run both underground and above ground throughout most of Singapore. But walking is probably the best method to explore Orchard Road. If you can stand the heat and afternoon downpours just to bag that bargain, consider yourself a true Singapore shopping loon.
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Orchard Singapore, a road with attitude, shopping mall guide
Originally named after the many pepper and nutmeg plantations dotting the road in the 1840s, Orchard Road has undergone a S$40 million revamp that unveiled widened pedestrian walkways and better lighting. The bustling shopping belt starts off from the busy junction where Wheelock Place (501 Orchard Road, tel: [65] 6738-8660, www.wheelockproperties.com.sg) stands with an unmistakable glass cone built within its architecture. Its flagship tenant is Borders (01-00, tel: 6235-7146, www.borders.com.sg), where you can spend hours browsing shelves upon shelves of books, magazines, CDs and DVDs. Paperchase has a section for attractive cards and giftwrap on the go. Orchard Singapore is the epicentre of designer search.
Other tenants in Wheelock Place include collectible pen boutique Elephant & Coral (03-07, tel: 6736-1322, www.elephant-coral.com), Apple computer and iPod reseller, epiCentre@Orchard (02-20, tel: 6238-9378, www.epicentreorchard.com), the Nike shop (02-02/03, tel: 6738-1965, www.nike.com.sg), chockfull of the latest sports gear, and Marks & Spencer (tel: 6733-8122, Basement 1 and 2), well-known British department store with fashion, foodstuff, toiletries and decent underwear for men and women.
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| Millenia Walk near Suntec City |
Straddled atop the Orchard MRT station is ION Orchard (www.ionorchard.com), touted as “Singapore’s first multi-sensory experiential shopping and lifestyle mall”. So that’s music, colour, perfumed stores and increasingly heavy bags, and a serious sense of space – this gargantuan mall will house more than 300 stores across 640,000sq ft of drool-worthy shopping. Aside from visiting the stand-alone stores of Bimba & Lola, Boss Selection, Christian Audigier, Custo Barcelona, IWC Schaffhausen, Just Cavalli, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Tam and 7 For All Mankind, shoppers can call on the duplex flagship stores of Cartier, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Topshop/Topman, Uniqlo and Zara.
A short detour into Scotts Road will bring you to Far East Plaza (14 Scotts Road, tel: 6734-2325), which in recent years has spruced up its image serving a younger clientele with a variety of small shop units hawking designer t-shirts, dresses and accessories – in particular Level One, which is a designated zone for street fashion. While the wares here are not always dirt-cheap, limited-edition Japanese tees, for example, are still affordable at just below S$50 (the approximate exchange rate is US$1 = 1.45 Singapore dollars). Now commence the Singapore shopping bargain hunt.
Directly opposite the Far East Plaza is DFS Galleria Scottswalk (25 Scotts Road, tel: 6229-8100, www.dfsgalleria.com/en/singapore). Show your passport for duty-free savings on international luxury brands like Burberry, Cartier, Dunhill, Prada and Tiffany & Co. Be prepared to embrace an assortment of fashion, cosmetics and liquors, as well as a selection of local specialties, like Tiger Balm medicated ointment, Chinese tea and Singapore Sling in takeaway bottles.
Making your way back to Orchard Road, check out Tangs (320 Orchard Road, tel: 6737-5500, www.tangs.com), a Singapore shopping institution, founded by C K Tang in 1932, in what remains the heart of the city. Tangs is now a posh lifestyle store that, aside from stocking international brands in fashion, shoes, accessories, beauty products, electronics and homeware, offers exclusive and specialised merchandise. Check out Tang + Co on Levels 3 and 4, with women’s and men’s collections, and PlayLab (Level 4) with casual wear and funky accessories, bearing labels like bods. bodyknits, FCUK, Levi’s and Mooks.
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| Orchard Road wall-to-wall shopping |
Just a quick underpass away is Wisma Atria (435 Orchard Road, tel: 6235-8177, www.wismaonline.com). Its tenant mix includes longtime highstreet favourite GAP (01-18, tel: 6732-0438), trendy ALDO footwear and accessories (03-24, tel: 6836-2271) and Lanvin (02-47, tel: 6733-6167), which excels in high-quality tailor-made suits for men.
Japanese department store Isetan (tel: 6733-7777, www.isetan.com.sg) is the flagship tenant here with other interesting stores including quirky Singapore shop Red Army Watches (01-02/03, tel: 6732-6043, www.redarmywatches.com) – combine revolution themes with Russian timepieces bearing brands like Vastok Europe, Zeppelin, Poljot International, and you’re halfway there. Add Moshi Moshi Jewellery (B1-54, tel: 6738-1178, www.moshimoshijewellery.com), specialists in silver jewellery and you have a one-stop shop for the latest wrist wear.
Over at Pacific Plaza (www.fareastretail.com.sg) on 9 Scotts Road, our insider tip is head for Quintessential (02-01, tel: 6738-4811, www.quintessential.com.sg) and keep your eyes peeled for quirky recycled "eco handbags" by Ben & Bear. Designed by Raewyn du Toit, the bags are made from throwaway jeans, belts, clothes and inner tubes from tyres that are refashioned into must-have feel-good fashion accessories.
Lucky Plaza (304 Orchard Road, tel: 6235-3294, www.luckyplaza.com.sg), once a prominent Orchard Road landmark, has lost much of its shine due to the mushrooming of swankier competition around it. It is notorious for touts persistently peddling copy-watches and is a favourite haunt of Singapore’s foreign domestic workers on Sundays. Stop off here for cheap Singapore shopping bargains.
If haggling gives you a headache, you can adjourn to the fixed price tag comfort of Paragon Shopping Centre (290 Orchard Road, tel: 6738-5535, www.paragon.com.sg), where you’ll find everything under one roof for the fashionista in you – from Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Ermenegildo Zegna, Miu Miu, Salvatore Ferragamo, Banana Republic and G-Star, to department stores such as Metro (tel: 6836-3322, www.metro.com.sg) – founded in Singapore in 1957 as a textile store in a two-storey shophouse. Paragon offers high-end Singapore shopping with style, space and, of course, that ubiquitous Singaporean specialty – really cold air-conditioning.
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| Heeren mall on Orchard Road |
Orchard Singapore gets ever more glitzy at the Heeren (260 Orchard Road, tel: 6733-4725, www.heeren.com.sg), where you’ll find HMV (relocating midyear to 313@Somerset), where CDs on sale can sometimes go for as low as S$4.95. New releases can usually be bought for less than S$20, while harder-to-find imports retail at S$40. Exit HMV’s musicland into Levels 4 and 5, you may think you’ve been teleported to Tokyo’s Harajuku district. The Annex shops at the Heeren revel in street and vintage fashion wear, as well as funky accessories, toys and comics. Both Hereen and Paragon offer some of the best designer brands and outlets for your Singapore shop list.
Ngee Ann City (391 Orchard Road, tel: 6506-0461, www.ngeeanncity.com.sg), with its imposing façade and grandiose interiors, is a worthy stopover for a couple of hours (or a day, if you can spare the time) on your Singapore shopping itinerary.
The Japanese department store Takashimaya (tel: 6506-0458, www.takashimaya-sin.com) has international labels like DKNY, Kenzo, Bally, Bulgari (or BVLGARI), Hermes, Jimmy Choo, Salvatore Ferragamo, Cartier, Pucci, Escada Sport and Jim Thompson stretched over a whopping six floors from Basement 2 to Level 4. In its food hall, you can also sample Japanese snacks and sweets, and gourmet food items from Harrods and Fauchon.
In the other parts of the expansive Ngee Ann City, you’ll find popular designer boutiques signposted by Alfred Dunhill, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss, Guess and Club Monaco. But don’t forget to drop by Japanese Books Kinokuniya (03-10, 6737-5021, www.kinokuniya.com.sg), the largest bookstore in Southeast Asia, and Best Denki (05-01, tel: 6835-2855), where you can take your pick from a wide range of electrical appliances.
Next to Ngee Ann City is the Meritus Mandarin Hotel. A S$200-million facelift is transforming shopping arcade, the Mandarin Gallery, into a 190,000sq ft retail space. New labels like Trioon (by upcoming Singapore designer WeiLing Liu) will sit alongside international brands, like Hugo Boss and Mauboussin, filling five flagship duplexes that come complete with floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
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| Borders: hands-on browsing |
Centrepoint (176 Orchard Road, tel: 6737-9000, www.fraserscentrepointmalls.com/malls/cp), is another popular shopping centre thanks to its legendary tenant, Robinsons (tel: 6733-0888, www.robinsons.com.sg) – another homegrown department store with an illustrious history as a trusted retailer. Taking up five floors, Robinsons welcomes shoppers with its Beauty Hall and big names like Clinique and Estée Lauder. Women can check out ensembles from Coast, Trucco, Jessica, InWear and Part Two, while men can indulge in Matinique and Cottonfield. If you’re shopping for your home, there is Margaret Muir’s collection of embroidered bedlinen, and brands like Calvin Klein Home, Alessi and Dorma.
Nearby Orchard Central (www.orchardcentral.com.sg) is a 14-storey mall boasting Nike, Levi’s and The Hour Glass. Neighbouring 313@Somerset (www.313somerset.com.sg – open end 2009) has already enticed HMV to move from the Heeren – expect the change by the end of 2009.
Towards the other end of Orchard Road lies Plaza Singapura (68 Orchard Road, tel: 6332-9298, www.plazasingapura.com), built in 1974 and later extensively renovated into a one-stop urban mall. It features the popular French hypermart Carrefour (Level 1 and Basement 2, tel: 6836-6868, www.carrefour.com.sg), department stores like John Little (03-31, tel: 6835-9776, www.johnlittle.com.sg), as well as another branch of Marks & Spencer (02-16, tel: 6835-9552).
Singapore shopping options in Marina and Raffles City
Moving out of the Orchard Singapore enclave, another shopping area fast gaining prominence is the Marina Bay area, which has a cluster of malls deserving of mention.
Raffles City Complex, designed by world-renowned architect I M Pei, is perched atop City Hall MRT station, and a great starting point for exploration. Raffles City Shopping Centre (252 North Bridge Road, tel: 6318-0238, www.rafflescity.com.sg), part of the complex that also houses an office block and two hotels, has another branch of Robinsons department store and numerous fashion and specialty shops such as Swatch (01-41, tel: 6334-5951), agnès b (01-26, tel: 6334-4910), Calvin Klein Jeans (01-06, tel: 6336-0610) and Dockers (01-14, tel: 6333-4517).
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| Paragon lights up on Orchard |
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store (01-37C, tel: 6336-1870) allows you to peek into the vast art collection that the museum (fondly known as The Met) has on display in its homebase of New York. Reproduced works of art (created under the supervision of art historians and master craftsmen) can be bought at a fraction of the price of comparable originals – for example, a couple of hundred Singapore dollars for an Indochinese sculpture or exquisite necklace. Hand-painted porcelain plates and intricately printed neckties can go for less than S$100, or you can choose prints of famous paintings, notepads and bookmarks that will hardly dent your wallet.
Take the CityLink underground passageway (1 Raffles Link, tel: 6339-9913, www.citylinkmall.com) to an interesting mall below ground that connects you to Marina Square and Suntec City Mall. Along the way, check out a smaller HMV store (B1-47, tel: 6238-7218), contemporary women’s footwear at Charles & Keith (B1-31, tel: 6338-0913, www.charleskeith.com), Godiva Chocolatier (B1-15, tel: 6238-0819, www.godiva.com.sg), and L’Occitane (B1-13, tel: 6238-8426, www.loccitane.com.sg), a natural beauty brand from France.
Conveniently connected to CityLink is Marina Square Shopping Mall (6 Raffles Boulevard, tel: 6339-8787, www.marinasquare.com.sg), comprising four levels of shopping with more than 300 shops including; GEOX (02-128, tel: 6333-9819), which touts comfy Italian shoes that “breathe”; The Planet Traveller (03-113, tel: 6337-0291, www.theplanettraveller.com), Asia’s largest lifestyle travel store with a floor space of 5,000sq ft catering to all your travel needs; Fourskin (03-358, tel: 6333-1878), a local label offering trendy tees for around S$20; and CLUBMARC (02-101, tel: 6338-8095, www.clubmarc.com), a sophisticated label for men and women.
Suntec City Mall and one fountain
Accessible from Marina Square via an overhead bridge is Suntec City Mall (3 Temasek Boulevard, tel: 6825-2667, www.suntec.com.sg), a sprawling shopping mall divided into four themed zones (Galleria, Tropics, Entertainment Centre and Fountain Terrace) and features the Fountain of Wealth, acknowledged by The Guinness Book of Records as the largest fountain in the world. Legend has it that you should wet your hands in it, return to Singapore, and get instant wealth – although with all this shopping, your wallet might not agree.
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| Looking across the river at Boat Quay |
Fashion fans take heed: you can seek out Mango’s largest Asia store (01-157, tel: 6339-2720) here, together with the G2000 flagship store (01-143, tel: 6334-1035, www.g2000.com.sg). You’ll find specialty shops offering casual wear, home furnishings and leisure products speckled throughout the Tropics zone. The mall also features Carrefour’s first store in Singapore (Level 1 and 2, in the Entertainment Centre zone, tel: 6333-6868, www.carrefour.com.sg) and Toys ‘R’ Us (03-005, tel: 6336-3908, www.toysrus.com.sg).
Tick tock, tip-top watches and furniture on Millenia Walk
An often-overlooked Singapore shopping gem is Millenia Walk (9 Raffles Boulevard, tel: 6883-1122, www.pontiacland.com/milleniawalk.shtml, designed by Pritzker Award winning architect Philip Johnson), within walking distance from both Marina Square and Suntec City. It houses over 190 interesting fashion spots and speciality shops.
Looking for a Singapore shop doing watches? You'll be spoilt for choice at Singapore watch shops like the Hour Glass (01-27, tel: 6339-4870, www.hourglass.com.sg, which has four outlets just on Orchard Road), and Cortina E’space (01-62, tel: 6339-1728, www.cortinawatch.com). Don’t forget previously mentioned Red Army Watches in Orchard Road’s Wisma Atria.
Millenia Walk’s fashion outlets to recharge your wardrobe include British India (01-79, tel: 6337-1410), Celia Loe (01-67, tel: 6337-9887, www.celialoe.com) and Bread & Butter (01-73, tel: 6336-7310), while beauty, spa and cosmetic stores take the shape of Aesop (01-57D, tel: 6336-4747, www.aesop.com.sg) and Senteurs De Provence (01-77, tel: 6334-4163, www.senteurs.com.sg).
If you’re into designer furniture and home accessories, check out SPACE (02-26/03-05, tel: 6415-0000, www.spacefurniture.com.sg) and its splurge-worthy pricetags – think S$5,000 for a sofa. Then crank up your wallet again for brand name home entertainment systems at Atlas Experience (01-59, tel: 6339-0966, www.atlas-experience.com). For more affordable furniture and electronics, roam the sprawling Harvey Norman store (02-27, tel: 6311-9988, www.harveynorman.com.sg).
Singapore electronics and computer shopping
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| Take a drinks break at Emerald Hill |
Near City Hall station is Funan The IT Mall (109 North Bridge Road, tel: 6336-8327, www.funan.com.sg), which, as its name suggests, is geek heaven. Notebook PCs, ranging from Lenovo and Acer to HP and Fujitsu, are on display at various shops here, as well as other computer hardware, software and accessories scattered on different floors of the building.
Across North Bridge Road from Funan is The Adelphi (1 Coleman Street, tel: 6339-9179), where most of the respected hi-fi brands are on sale to satisfy the cravings of even the most ardent audiophile. Also nearby is Cathay Photo Store located in Peninsula Plaza (111 North Bridge Road, 01-11, tel: 6337-4274, www.cathayphoto.com.sg), if you wish to stock up on camera lenses or try out the latest digital camera or video-cam.
Bugis Junction and Arab Street
Another place to get cheap computer electronics and audio-visual equipment is Sim Lim Square (1 Rochor Canal Road, tel: 6338-3859, www.simlimsquare.com.sg), a more crowded, less organised version of Funan, but with more room for deals and price negotiations. Sim Lim Square is near the Bugis MRT station, which is also where you can alight to visit Parco Bugis Junction (200 Bugis Junction, tel: 6334-8831, www.bugisjunction-mall.com.sg), where you’ll find department store BHG (tel: 6223-2222, www.bhgsingapore.com.sg), incorporating the popular Muji store, famous for its minimalist fashion, stationery and household items.
Apart from various little shops selling everything from fashion to electronic items, Parco Bugis Junction also boasts boutiques such as Little Match Girl (02-05, tel: 6336-3396, www.littlematchgirl.com.sg), m)phosis (01-02, tel: 6339-8553), and shoe-and-handbag seller Kipling (01-04, tel: 6337-8023). Other stores include The Body Shop (01-28, tel: 6338-0096), a smaller outlet of Books Kinokuniya (03-09, tel: 6339-1790, www.kinokuniya.com.sg) and Sony Style (01-58, tel: 6837-0646, www.sony.com.sg).
Across Victoria Street, opposite Parco Bugis Junction, is hard-to-miss Iluma (201 Victoria Street). Designed by award-winning Singapore architecture firm Woha, it features a distinctive façade – 10-storeys of studded lights that resemble oversized gemstones. More than 150 shops for the young, hip and trendy – like flagship menswear label Mark Fairwhale (shop 01-12, tel: 6835-9897), shoe-centric D&C (02-04, tel: 6238-6838), Style Evolution (03-06, tel: 6884-4475, www.style-evo.com) for fashionable bags and wallets, as well as smaller boutiques like Berries Studio (02-08A, tel: 6884-9918).
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| Little India: gold and spice |
Beside Iluma, you’ll find Bugis Street, with its sheltered walkways and shopping zones housing over 600 stalls of trendy street wear and eclectic knickknacks. Any breezy, fun Singapore shopping expedition should mark Bugis Street as a must-do.
For more bazaar-style shopping, take a stroll over to the Arab Street area that oozes Malay cultural vibes. Check out hand-woven baskets and other cane, straw and rattan products, as well as antiques, retro artefacts, batik shirts, table linens and sarongs. For textiles ranging from chiffon to silk, stop for a look at Basharahil Bros. (101 Arab Street, tel: 6296-0432) and Poppy Fabric (111 Arab Street, tel: 6296-6352). As Arab Street is near the Sultan Mosque, you’ll also find Singapore shop houses selling the holy Quran, prayer mats and songkok (headgear worn by Muslim males) – not to mention coffee shops and restaurants serving Malay, Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine. Hip boutiques are beginning to line the nearby Haji Lane and adjacent streets crisscrossing this “kampong glam” district.
Visit carpet retailer, Anil Brothers (26 Haji Lane, tel: 6298-3395), House of Japan (55 Haji Lane, tel: 6396-6657), Pluck (31 Haji Lane, tel: 6396-4048) and White Room (37 Haji Lane, tel: 6297-1280, www.atwhiteroom.com) for vintage clothing and other delightful kitsch; Grandfather’s Collections (42 Bussorah Street, tel: 6299-4530) for antiques and retro finds, and Salad (25 Haji Lane, tel: 6299-5805, www.the-salad-store.blogspot.com), where black-and-white home décor and fashion accessories rule the day.
Little India and Chinatown shops
Other ethnic shopping enclaves in Singapore include Little India and Chinatown – both are tourist attractions in their own right, steeped in ethnic colours and flavours. Little India is about 20 minutes’ walk along Selegie Road from Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, (or go straight to Little India MRT station). Here, you can choose from Indian gold jewellery (intricate bridal ornaments to more affordable bangles and ankle bracelets), brassware, silverware and, of course, yards and yards of glittering saris in multiple hues.
If your friends back home enjoy cooking Indian curries, ready-made packets of spice are wonderful take-home gifts. Should the assault to the senses start to numb, you can always escape into Mustafa Centre (145 Syed Alwi Road, tel: 6295-5855, www.mustafa.com.sg), a modern 24-hour department store that offers everything from electronics, clothing and toiletries to foodstuff at very reasonable prices. Small packages of delicious Ceylon tea from Mustafa’s shelves make affordable gifts of under S$10.
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| Chinatown bargain shopping/ photo: STB |
In the shadow of the financial district’s high-rise towers, Singapore’s Chinatown is accessible by either Chinatown or Outram Park MRT stations. If you plan a stint of shopping in Singapore, set aside a half hour or hour at least for this district. Chinatown Point (133 New Bridge Road, tel: 6535-2846) is situated just above Chinatown station. Inside, the section that is generally of most interest to travellers is The Singapore Handicraft Centre, where different shops offer a mélange of crafts such as bronze works, paintings, antiques, pottery, porcelain wares, wood carvings, embroidery and more.
Just across the junction from Chinatown Point is Yue Hwa department store (70 Eu Tong Sen Street, tel: 6538-4222, www.yuehwa.com.sg), which offers authentic Chinese products including tea, herbs, medicines, foodstuffs, silks, cheongsams, handicrafts, household items and antiques.
OG People’s Park (100 Upper Cross Street, tel: 6535-8888, www.og.com.sg) is a household name in Singapore, with a long history in Singapore’s retail scene. Like any department store, it sells fashion, accessories, beauty and cosmetic products, toys, and so on.
While in Chinatown, you can also venture into the maze of shophouses all along Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road and South Bridge Road. Don’t forget to wander into side streets (like Smith Street, Trengganu Street, Temple Street and Pagoda Street) and any interesting alleyways – you never know what you might find, whether a quaint medicine stall hawking snakeskin, an authentic teashop or a smoky store selling tidbits and barbecued pork.
Holland Village and Dempsey Road antiques
Explore Holland Village (accessible by buses 7, 77 or 106 from Orchard Boulevard, or a 20-minute jaunt on foot from Buona Vista MRT station) for handicrafts and more shopping without the bright lights and ice-cold temperatures. With its mix of cafés, pubs and eateries, Holland Village is also dubbed Singapore’s “bohemian enclave” and the perfect spot for people-watching. This is also where you can find a variety of shops selling well-made souvenirs and handicrafts – from Bali-inspired crafts to Chinese silks.
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| Lunchtime stroll through Millenia Walk |
Located in Holland Road Shopping Centre, Lim’s (211 Holland Avenue, 02-01, tel: 6467-1300) brims with interesting Asian-themed furniture and creative décor ideas (like porcelain vases, lacquerware and silk pillow covers) sourced from China, India and Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. Just off Holland Road, two bus stops away from the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the Dempsey Road area (now part of Tanglin Village, www.tanglinvillage.com.sg) is home to art galleries, antique shops and furniture and carpet dealers.
Nestled within the former British army barracks (which later became the Singapore Armed Forces’ Central Manpower Base), Linda Gallery (Block 15, Dempsey Cluster, tel: 6476-7000, www.lindagallery.com) is a specialist in contemporary Chinese art and Indonesian paintings, but on occasion also showcases Singapore art. Woody Antique House (Block 7, Dempsey Cluster, tel: 6471-1770) is another interesting place to peruse and discover Burmese teakware and Chinese antiques.
And back to Tanglin Road
Closer to town, just before the Orchard Road shopping bustle, Tanglin Shopping Centre (19 Tanglin Road, tel: 6737-0849, www.tanglinsc.com) is another good place to hunt for Asian antiques and curios – from Persian carpets to Japanese pearls. Select Books (03-15, tel: 6732-1515, www.selectbooks.com.sg) is an independent bookstore specialising in Southeast Asian titles, while Antiques of the Orient (02-40, tel: 6734-9351, www.aoto.com.sg) offers antiquarian maps, prints and books, as well as original photographs and postcards. Enjoy the quaint buildings of Tudor Court while you are at it. Head back into the hustle of Orchard Singapore or delve into the quieter side of Tanglin.
Tanglin Mall (163 Tanglin Road, tel: 6736-4922, www.tanglinmall.com.sg) is a centrally located shop stop for families with kids as well as expat singles on the run. The basement food court serves excellent Indian vegetarian as well as Korean. But why limit your choices. There’s lots more. Sample British India, Salam Carpets, Birkenstock, Kidz Design, Royal Sporting House, an excellent basement bits-and-bobs-for-the-home store, and the bopping That CD Shop (shop 01-17, tel: 6732-2568), a hands down favourite with locals and expats for its huge CD and movie range, exotic compilations, and welcoming attitude. Sit down on the sofa and listen. They’ll crank up the volume up for you.
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| VIVO City/ photo: STB |
If you can’t get enough of Singapore’s original and creative art scene, pop over to MAAD (tel: 6534-7209, www.maad.sg), short for Market of Artists And Designers, which is a one-of-a-kind crafts market at Red Dot Design Museum (28 Maxwell Road; nearest MRT station: Tanjong Pagar) that provides a platform for budding artists and designers to transform their innovative ideas into reality. MAAD bazaar is held every first weekend of the month (Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 7pm), filled with designer t-shirts (starting from S$28), hand-crafted earrings (from S$15) and necklaces (from S$30), pinhole cameras (around S$250), as well as dresses, toys, bags, iPod skins, and all kinds of eclectic items.
Some big retail shopping options
Now, for a complete shift in mood: VivoCity (1 Harbourfront Walk, tel: 6377-6860, www.vivocity.com.sg) is a sometime rising star on Singapore’s competitive retail front. Easily accessible from Harbourfront station, this is Singapore’s largest retail, entertainment and lifestyle destination, well-positioned to tap tourist traffic heading for a spot of gambling or theme-park fun at Sentosa Island’s Integrated Resort.
Designed in the signature style of internationally-acclaimed Japanese architect Toyo Ito, it houses the multilingual bookstore, PAGE ONE (02-41, tel: 6272 0822, www.pageonegroup.com), beauty stores Crabtree & Evelyn (01-09, tel: 6270-6887, www.crabtree-evelyn.com/stores/country/singapore) and Sa Sa (02-176/177, tel: 6376-9713), another branch of electronic chainstore Best Denki (02-07, tel: 6276-6636), and fashion boltholes Pull and Bear (01-28A, tel: 6276-2260), A|X (01-202, tel: 6376-9646), Diesel (01-204, tel: 6376-9007) and Fox (01-29, tel: 6278-4236). For serious shopaholics, VivoCity should top any Singapore shopping list.
Local Singapore shopping malls
It’s worthwhile to note that while Orchard Road, Marina Bay and Harbourfront remain the main shopping clusters in Singapore, suburban malls have also cropped up in housing estates like Tiong Bahru (Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road, tel: 6276-4883, www.tiongbahruplaza.com.sg), Bishan (Junction 8, 9 Bishan Place, tel: 6354-2955, www.junction8.com.sg), Woodlands (Causeway Point, 1 Woodlands Square, tel: 6894-2237, www.fraserscentrepointmalls.com/malls/cwp) and Boon Lay (Jurong Point, 1 Jurong West Central 2, tel: 6792-5662, www.jurongpoint.com.sg) – all of which are easily accessible via MRT.
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| Tudor Court: heritage shopping |
Most of these malls do not have much character, as they serve the basic needs of residents rather than catering to tourists, but they do have supermarkets (mainly Cold Storage and NTUC Fairprice), and the usual clothing stores like Giordano, Baleno, Hang Ten and Bossini, where jeans can start from S$20 and polo shirts start from S$10, as well as pharmacies and beauty stores like Guardian Pharmacy, Watson’s and The Body Shop. Often they also have healthcare equipment vendors like OSIM and OTO.
However, travellers curious enough to venture into the heartland should head towards the Eastern neighbourhood of Tampines (which is also a stop on the MRT line), where there is yet more choice – Tampines Mall (4 Tampines Central 5, tel: 6788 8370, www.tampinesmall.com.sg) and Century Square (2 Tampines Central 5, tel: 6789-6261, www.centurysquare.com.sg). But the newest and shiniest is Tampines 1 (10 Tampines Central 1, tel: 6572-5522, www.tampines1.com.sg), which aims to bring a dash of “metropolitan lifestyle” to the area, with fashion brands such as Springfield (01-03, tel: 6781-6073), Promod (01-01, tel: 6782-8510) and Uniqlo (02-28, tel: 6587-0093, www.uniqlo.com/sg).
Singapore Airport duty-free shopping prices for alcohol, perfume
With so many retail choices in downtown Singapore, most visitors won’t postpone their shopping experience until just before their departure. But Changi Airport Shopping City (www.changiairport.com.sg), winning the vote for the world’s best duty-free shopping, should keep last-minute duty free shoppers more than happy. Apart from world cuisine provided by 80 food and beverage outlets, numerous newsstands and the usual duty-free outlets selling fragrances, cosmetics, cigarettes and liquor, departing passengers can check out the first Mercedes-Benz boutique in Asia Pacific in Terminal 2 of Singapore airport (Departure/Transit Mall North), where a wide selection of exclusive gifts items like model cars, toys, golf and lifestyle accessories are on display.
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| Terminal 3 Bulgari duty-free shop |
The other Singapore airport duty-free stores include M.A.C. (Terminal 1 Departure/Transit Mall Central and Terminal 2 Departure/Transit Mall Central, tel: 6542-9235), Bobbi Brown (Terminal 1 Departure/Transit Mall Central, tel: 6545-5841), Origins (Terminal 1 Departure/Transit Mall Central, tel: 6545-5841), Montblanc (Terminal 1 Departure/Transit Mall West, Terminal 2 Departure/Transit Mall South and Terminal 3 Departure/Transit Mall South, tel: 6542-1572), RAOUL (Terminal 2 Departure/Transit Mall, 6542-9660), Bottega Veneta (Terminal 2 Departure/Transit Mall Central and Terminal 3 Departure/Transit Mall South, tel: 6543-4466), Tod's (Terminal 2 Departure/Transit Mall Central, tel: 6543-4466), Vertu (Terminal 3 Departure/Transit Mall, 6242-0555), Tiffany & Co (Terminal 2 Departure/Transit Mall South, tel: 6543-2443) and Shanghai Tang (Terminal 2 Departure/Transit Mall Central and Terminal 3 Departure/Transit Mall North, tel: 6543-4466).
Singapore duty free shopping prices at all three terminals are competitive with elsewhere in Asia. The slippery greenback means rates are fluctuating constantly. Pick up a 50ml Dior j’adore eau de toilette for around S$88, Chanel No.19 parfum 7.5ml at S$148, Chanel No.5 at S$192, a BVLGARI Rose Essentielle 50ml eau de toilette at S$87, a one litre Chivas at S$46.90 and a one litre bottle of 12-year-old Johnnie Walker Black Label for about S$44.50. Don’t forget to bring along that extra bag – or simply buy one at Changi Airport. Then fill it up right to the top.
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