Shopping Centers in Singapore

I felt like this post took soooo long but anyway, here we are again! This will be my last installment about our trip to Singapore. For every trip, may it be local or international, what we eventually look for are the places where we can buy some pasalubong for our very expectant family and friends. This has been engraved within our culture and I don't think this is going anywhere anytime soon.

CHINATOWN!

When I have been researching about the places to go to shop in Singapore, places like Bugis, Orchard Road, Chinatown, etc kept popping out. Eventually, I trimmed down the places to where we can buy cheap stuff to bring back home.

On our second stay in Singapore, after our short trip to USS, we returned back to our hotel rooms. While my mom was fast asleep on her bed, I kept contemplating as to where I can hang out and spend some well deserved touristy feel. I eventually decided on heading downstairs to use the hotel's pool, but when I went to inform my aunts, they told me that they wanted to go to Chinatown to checkout some pasalubong stuff!

So I immediately returned to our room and changed from my swimsuit. Because of how tired she was, my mom opted to pass this one out.

CHINATOWN

So from Sentosa Island, we rode the Sentosa Express to head to Vivo City. We then rode the SMRT from Harbour Front all the way to Chinatown.

Where the good deals are 👌

A post shared by JustineDELEON (@tatinzkii) on May 12, 2017 at 6:04am PDT

 Below the sort of metal roof is the exit of SMRT Chinatown Station

We decided on postponing on purchasing stuff and simply roamed around the area first. We did this so we can survey where the cheapest deals are.

My aunts checking out the stalls along Pagoda Street (at this point, they were not yet Pagoda!)

The Pagoda Street exit from the Chinatown SMRT Station is already lined with stores. If you walk along ahead, you'll see the Chinatown Heritage Center who offers tours and other culture-immersing activities. Aside from the shops, by the end of the street, you'll see one of the very famous temple in Singapore; the Sri Mariamman Temple.

You may opt to go inside just be sure to remove your shoes and that you won't be entering simply to take selfies or photographs (this is prohibited BTW). Remember, this is a temple and is very sacred for those who worship in this place!

Anyway, if you walk along South Bridge Road and continued to Smith Street, you'll be greeted by the CHINATOWN FOOD STREET!

FOOD! STREET!

The place is dotted by numerous food stalls which offers different cuisines ranging from Malaysian, Chinese, and even American menus!

We decided on eating our dinner here first before continuing our journey to purchasing pasalubongs.

After that, we headed towards the side streets which connects Smith, Temple, and Pagoda Street. We were able to buy most of our stuff here since the cheapest deals are around this area.

You can buy almost anything in Chinatown. From chocolates, bags, t-shirts with "I <3 SG", caps, cups, fedoras, chopsticks, and many, many more!

We decided on heading back to our hotel at around 9 in the evening since my mom was still waiting for her dinner :))

Anyway, we were able to buy most of our stuff from here since it really was cheap. I was able to buy 4 t-shirts with different designs for only S$10 (that's around PHP 350+). We were also able to buy some chocolates for only 2, 3, or 4 packs for S$10, depending on the brand. Also 2 really big bags for somewhere between S$10-S$15?

BUGIS STREET

For our last day, both my aunt and mom were determined to search for this dollar store they found posted in Facebook. So as the good daughter-slash-niece, I did my best to find where it is. Fortunately, it was easy to find since it was only located in Bugis Street.

Bugis Street :)

As our routine, we boarded the Sentosa Express to VivoCity and rode the SMRT at Harbour Front Station. From there, we got off at Outram Park and transferred to the East West Line. On the fourth stop, we got off at Bugis Station. The station is at the basement of a mall called Bugis Junction.

You simply have to get out off the said building and you'll see the very big sign of Bugis Street just across the mall.

We were pretty early when we arrived here so most of the shops were not yet open still, we roamed around to check out what the stores offer.

Most of the stuff being sold here are clothes and other fashion-related stuff. Though this is the most popular destination for purchasing pasalubong, I suggest that you head to Chinatown instead since it gets a bit pricey here in Bugis.

Anyway, since what we were looking for is the dollar store they were itching to check out, we walked along the store-lined street until we reached a crossing. On our left, I finally saw the sign of ABC Dollar Store!

It's technically a mini supermarket but they really do offer cheap stuff! I was able to purchase Oreo Cookies for S$.70! And a pack of crunchy noodles (with 10 pieces inside) for S$10. But what my aunts and mom were looking for here were the cheap bathroom essentials :))

They hoarded the St. Ive's Facial Scrub (I think it's 250 or 500mL) that costed S$1! They also bought a lot of Dove beauty bar as well as shampoos and liquid bath soaps. Aside from this, they (along with me) hoarded the chocolate and cookie isles.

Something to note is that I think 70-80% of the workers here are Filipinos! This is where my aunt offered the free passes to Adventure Cove :)

If you want, you can still stay in Bugis and check out the malls that surrounded the place. For us, we decided on eating at a Hawker Center across the street.

After that, we headed back to the airport to check in for our evening flight.

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Yes, we were only able to check out two shopping places in Singapore. But if you're on a tight budget, I suggest that you check out these places. Some store owners even use Tagalog to entice Filipino tourists HAHA!

Other places you can check out is Orchard Road; although the stores here are for branded stuff. There's also a mall in Marina Bay Sands which you can check. 

If you're in Sentosa, you can head to Festive Walk for some high-end shops. And of course, you can make your last minute shopping at Changi Airport!

Hope this series helped you on planning your next visit in Singapore! :D

Thank you for reading!