Shopping in Singapore?

[josepidal]

I might have a chance to pass by Singapore on business next month. Anything particularly worth buying over there? Any good tailors?

 

[My View2]

Please see: http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...ight=singapore

 

[acidboy]

although there are good tailors there, as somebody once mentioned, they are hard to find, imo. though i had a couple of shirts made at far east plaza, jack's is the name of the shop... decent though not equal to hongkong standards. and more expensive.

going down orchard its all name brand stores. in any case takashimaya and tang's have a good line of otr apparel and shoes, while forum has a collection of better high-end stores like etro. ngee ann city (where takashimaya is) also has good shops.

what i like better in singapore are the bookstores. borders has a one in whelock place and kokinuya in ngee ann has a very wide range of titles.

 

[xarope]

If nobody has told you yet, singaporeans have 3 main passions: food, shopping, and food!

Having travelled all through asia, I'd have to say Singapore is the "safest" place for you to try asian food, we've got great local food (i.e. chinese, malaysian, indonesian and indian) as well as western cuisine, and it's not just in pricey hotel/boutique restaurants either. Singaporeans delight in going one place for dinner, another place for desert, and yet another place for coffee/tea, thus "showing casing" their knowledge of the best places for the appropriate courses.

Kinokuniya is a definite visit; borders and barnes& noble are just no comparison for sheer variety.

I also find electronics are quite reasonably priced compared to Europe and Americas, Sim Lim Square is the place to go for parts, with Funan Centre as a more upmarket consumer place. For cameras, highly recommend Alan Photo in Sim Lim (ground floor - although in Singapore we'd call it the first floor; no ground floor in singapore) - not sure if the Alan Photo at Funan is related.

Tailoring wise please see the thread that My View2 has highlighted already.

Hope this helps.

 

[acidboy]

i have to take exception with the electronics, though. one of my peeves are pushy salesmen who try to give you "the talk". you know, like "i'm giving you a special price for this phone, and if you don't get it now i don't think i can offer it again next time." or "if you're getting this camera, i have this set of lens that you must include or else that camera is worthless." most of the proprietors/salesmen in sim lim and lucky are like this, based on my experience. i'd rather take it slow, look at the merchandise and happily ask for any assistance if i need it. they certainly are pushy, specially considering that the prices really are not much different from where josepidal and i are.

oh, and if they feel that you are not going to buy anything, these vendors are fast to turn the other way and make you feel that you should perhaps loiter elsewhere.

 

[xarope]

Sim Lim's not that bad, depending on which stores you go to (I generally avoid the first couple of floors except for Alan Photo). Agreed on the pushy salesmen, hence my recommendation of Alan Photo for cameras, they'll ask, and if you say "just looking" they won't push.

Just stay away from places like Lucky Plaza... talk about pushy and annoying "oh GST not included", "Visa +3%", "no no, the standard battery not included" grrr...

New York is just as bad... my friend had a very bad experience with buying some accessories there.

Oh and feel free to send me a private message if you are in town, if I'm not away on business too.