Where to shop?
To be honest, unless you are into luxury items, Singapore isn’t exactly the shopping paradise. In fact, locals would complain that the shopping scene in Singapore is repetitive and boring which has some truth in it. Although there are countless shopping malls in Singapore, many of such malls have the same stores in them. If you are looking for mega chains like Uniqlo and H&M, you would be able to find them all across the island. However, if you are looking for a bargain or clothes at a wholesale price, you would be easier to locate them in our neighbouring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.
Some people will say that Orchard Road is iconic for shopping, while it is true to some extent, I would say that most of the stores there are catered to the rich (luxury brands etc). Be it luxury fashion and watches, you would be able to find them in Orchard Road. However, that is not to say that you would not be able to find a good bargain in Singapore, I have heard that Singapore is one of the more competitively priced places to buy Apple and other tech products – so you just have to do your own research when it comes to pricing.
What about souvenirs?
Food Souvenirs
To be honest, if you were to takeaway any type of local fare for beyond 2 hours (which is near impossible if you were a tourist who stays beyond Indonesia), it probably will not taste nearly as good. Instead of taking away the food itself, I would recommend preparing the food yourself back in your home country by using the various mixes and pastes you can get here.
An example would be the peppery pork bone broth otherwise known as bak kut teh here, which is very popular with tourists. You can go into any supermarket to buy the pepper mix and prepare it the recommended way, just put in the meat of your choice and whatever you feel like having (like tofu skin, garlic, vegetables). Of course it will not taste 100% as the original flavour, but it will come close – I had many friends who have told me that it is pretty close to what you can get so I would recommend this. Other types of common food paste you can easily get is laksa paste, chicken rice paste, rendang, chilli crab and many others. If you are too lazy to prepare laksa, the instant noodle version is actually pretty good as well in my opinion.
There is a little bit of traction for the salted egg potato chips but I do think it’s a little pricey although they are quite addictive. You can buy those at most supermarkets or even at the airport if you like the flavour. My personal favourite is buying jars of kaya for a lovely pandan flavoured spread that goes well with bread, you can get those at your local ya kun or at most supermarkets (cheaper option).
Other Souvenirs
Besides food, to be honest I cannot think of any souvenirs that Singapore makes to bring home unless you are into those gimmicky shirts, keychains, small items that you can probably get at Chinatown, Bugis Street or even at the airport.
Singapore does have limited edition lego sets and small toy collaborations but you have to do your own research on this. It does help that Singapore hosts the F1 race so there are limited edition merchandise regarding the race as well. So to be honest and to summarise, I would just refer you to the previous section on food souvenirs (kaya, pastes etc).
Is there outlet shopping?
For regular shopping, please check out the section on Shopping in Singapore above.
On top of normal shopping in the many malls in Singapore, there are a total of 2 ‘outlet’ malls in Singapore. Luckily for us, these 2 malls are located at both ends of the island. 1 is called Changi City point which is located right next to Expo MRT station, 1 is called IMM which is a short distance walk from Jurong East MRT station.
Both of these malls specialize in outlet shopping – but please do not expect a large open space like those in other countries, these malls are not the mega-scale type of mall and have a big variety of stores there. However, something to take note that these 2 malls do not typically stock luxury goods – so if you are looking for luxury brands, I am afraid they will not carry what you want. The type of goods you will find in these outlet malls are typically your mainstream sports brands and other casual brands – so if you want a ‘slightly-cheaper’ deal then your regular malls, you can check them out but please manage your expectations on the prices. I would not recommend going out of your way just to visit these malls although it is possible to plan to go to Changi City Point for a while if you have time to spend before your flight as the mall is about 10 minutes by train to Changi Airport itself.
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