Shopping in Singapore (Part II)

Besides mainstream shopping malls, Singapore also offers a wide variety of street shops, places bursting with our very own local flavour and indie shops!

Bugis Street- “The largest street-shopping location in Singapore”.

It has always been one of the most vibrant and colourful places in Singapore. It is a wonderful place if you want to get cheap deals in Singapore! There are approximately 600 retail shops there and more are coming in after the expansion. They offer attractive fashion, ranging from head to toe and also lifestyle products.




Getting there: Nearest MRT station is Bugis EW12.

Chinatown

You hear bargains! You hear “sales pitch”! You hear chewing, crunching, and food moistening in the mouth. This is Shopping in Singapore Chinatown. The best time to visit Chinatown is during the Chinese Lunar New Year as everything you need for Chinese New Year is there. The best thing about shopping in Chinatown is that one can offer bargain-prices for almost anything! Ranging from electrical and electronic goods to clothes and cosmetics. The central shopping area is the area around the junction of Cross Street with New Bridge Road and Eu Tong Seng Street, which includes shopping complexes like Chinatown Point, Yue Hwa, People's Park Complex and Chinatown Complex.



Getting there: A short walk from Outram Park EW16/NE or Chinatown NE4 MRT Stations.

Mustafa Centre

If you want to have some late night shopping, Mustafa Centre Singapore can be a good suggestion! It is the one and only shopping centre that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days in a week the whole year round. This multilevel store offers almost everything ranging from food, luggage, medicines, apparels, and electronics to gold jewellery. You can call it as a one-stop service convenience shopping mall, where you can get everything in just one night.

Getting there: Nearest MRT station is Farrer Park.

Indie Shops

1. SURRENDER (Open Daily 2-9pm)
Owners Earn Chen and Mo’ Wax DJ/producer James Lavelle

Where did the name come from: James came up with the philosophy of ‘surrendering to life’ and so when we started our clothes label in 2004 we decided to call it Surrender.

What do they sell:Their own line of apparel under the Surrender brand, plus bags, accessories, shoes and Japanese clothing labels like Neighbour, Visvim and Head Porter.

Address:119 Devonshire Road

Transport:Nearby Stations is Somerset

2. CHO LON (Open Mon-Fri 11am-7.30pm, Sat 11am-8.30pm, Sun noon-7pm)
Owner Ros Lovell

Where did the name come from: The lady and her husband were on their first buying trip to Hanoi in November 2001 and they overheard a lady use the word ‘cho lon’. It had a beautiful sound to it and they were desperately trying to come up with a name just then. The words literally mean ‘marketplace’.

What do they sell: Opened since 2002, the shop sells almost everything from vintage furniture, designer light fixtures and old and new accessories to quirky books such as ‘The Funniest Things You Never Said’, ‘A Thousand Places to See Before You Die’ and ‘How to Walk in High Heels’.

Address: 43 Jalan Merah Saga, #01-73 Chip Bee Gardens

Transport: Bus Lines 7, 61, 75, 106, 970.

3. L’ARTICHAUT (Open Mon–Fri 10am-7.30pm; Sat noon-5pm.)
Owners Kazumi Hiruma and Lynette May-Pjuen

Where did the name come from: L’Artichaut, when loosely translated means ‘art hot’. They want their gallery to have hot art that gets people’s hearts racing.

What do they sell: They stock up to 25 designers from countries like Paris, Italy, Belgium, Japan and Singapore. An example is the label OSel by actress-turned-jewellery-designer Nadya Hatugalung. New designers include Alex & Chloe, Argentum, Atelier11, Boudoir and Corpus Christi.

Address:37 Novena Terrace (62529155, www.lartichaut. com).

Transport: MRT Novena

4. THE WIZARD OF OZ
Owner Yieh Chen

Where did the name come from: The owner wanted something that was easy to remember and wouldn’t give a pre-conceived image of what the shop might sell. Our shoes are unique – apart from your everyday black shoes, we stock pairs with metallic studs, New Rock punk boots as well as zebra and horse-skin shoes. Everything but Dorothy’s red ruby slippers.

What do they sell: Men’s and ladies’ shoes, belts, handbags and other accessories like cigarette cases and lighters. All at 50 to 90 per cent off their retail prices.

Address:59 Ubi Avenue #05-08

Transport: Nearby Stations Eunos, Bus Lines 63

Sources: visitsingapore.com, bugis-street.com, travel-singapore-with-me.com, travel.yahoo.com, rafflescity.com.sg, timeoutsingapore.com