The right time to shop in Singapore is during the Great Sale which was from May 27 until July 24 this year. Discounts were up to 70 percent on all items. Zara, for example, in Singapore has a more complete range. At @313 Somerset Zara is available on three floors. The labels are classified.
There are special offers, discounts and gifts when you use Master card which is the official sponsor. At that time apart from the discounts Master card provided a return ticket to Singapore for every purchase of $100 for non-local customers. Master card in Singapore can be used at more than 100 shopping centers. Unfortunately the limit of my Master card is less than my Visa (and it is usually like that) so I had to back it up with some cash.
I often purchase wallets at Takashimaya and Tangs on Orchard Road as most of my wallets do not last long as somehow I frequently lose them. Wallets are suitable gifts for friends or relatives. The original LV wallets here in Indonesia are more costly than in Singapore. At Bonia wallet boutique there is often a 50 percent discount on items while at Indonesia’s luxury malls the same items are labeled as new arrivals. For MAC cosmetics one can exchange six containers for one brand new item, so I always bring with me six empty lipstick containers to get one free MAC lipstick. Isn’t that fantastic?
Singapore’s ViVo City is the largest and most complete mall and it has a full range of branded goods, restaurants and a large cinema complex. It is very close to Sentosa Island, so if you have spare time you can dabble in gambling for a while. I sometime visit the island when I accompany a foreigner to Singapore.
For less costly but still original items go to OG on Bugis Street, which is similar to Jakarta’s Mangga Dua which is also in China Town. But you can’t use credit cards at every shop here, because the shops are small and rather congested like shops in a bazaar.
Virginia, Media Relations
Shopping in Singapore used to have such a prestigious ring to it back in the days when only people with a certain lifestyle could afford it.
Today traveling to Singapore has become easier and more convenient with increased number of budget flights available. Compared with other countries’ major cities Singapore still remains the number one choice for shopping for Indonesians. If Hong Kong is Asia’s Paris, then Singapore is its Milan for Indonesians.
Another notable consideration is that Singapore has brands that are not available here, even though we have improved substantially in that department but again we are trumped by the fact that Singapore has more alluringly price tags. The fact that they give a GST refund is the icing on the cake.
The extreme popularity of Orchard Road is overwhelming. Even with newer shopping addresses being introduced Orchard Road is still the most popular shopping destination. There is Forum, Renaissance, Shaw Centre, CK Tang, ION Orchard, Wisma Atria, Ngee Ann City, of course Lucky Plaza, Paragon, Mandarin Gallery, the increasingly popular Sommerset 313, further to Centerpoint and all the way down to Plaza Singapura.
Shopping in Orchard though generally defined from the junction of Orchard and Scott roads down to Centerpoint if not Sommerset 313. The more central the more premium the shopping is to a certain extent. The golden triangle would arguably be ION Orchard, Ngee Ann City and Paragon. Not even The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands can compete, well not for now at least. Obviously Suntec and Vivo City could not.
