Tips for a trip to Singapore (from an Aussie)

Here are some tid bits that I have gathered in my trips to Singapore. I wish someone had given me the 'heads up' before I moved to the little Red Dot <-- For starters, that is what Singapore is called.

Alcohol
Singapore is renowned for having expensive alcohol, so I made the mistake of stocking up in Aus. I actually discovered later that it is actually cheaper to buy alcohol from Singapore airport (duty free) than it was to purchase in Australia. The limit is 1L per person.

Hawker Centre/Food Court Etiquette
In the traditional hawker centres and modern airconditioned food courts such as Ion, many Singaporeans reserve a seat before they order their food. It makes complete sense as there is nothing worse than walking with a tray of hot herbal soup without a place to eat it. The verb is to 'chope'. Now in terms of what you can 'chope' with, I've seen handbags (not recommended), umbrellas, tissue packets as well as even empty tissue paper packets signal that a seat is taken. As they say, when in Rome...

One more thing, given the bargain prices for a mee goreng, serviettes/tissues are few and far between, so be prepared to purchase them.

++
When I first started dining in Singapore, I was unaware what '++' meant. Basically, it means that on top of the price you pay, you have to pay 10% service charge and on top of that, 7% tax. This results in a 17.7% increase in the cost of your meal. As a small rule of thumb, if someone is taking you to your table and there's a serviette, expect ++!

Groceries
Now I have to say, having a Coles and Woolworth duopoly in Australia really gives you a small town perception of how many brands of grocery stores exists. Below is a list/brief description of the grocery stores I have identified:

• NTUC Fairprice
• Cold Storage (Apparently more expensive than Fairprice. Depending on the location, the stock may be quite tailored to expats e.g. abundance of meat, alcohol etc.
• Giant - I love Giant, it's got a Costco type offer, buy in bulk generally groceries, but there's also homeware and appliances (Certainly in the Vivo store). The items are on shelves (rather than pallets) which makes the experience a little less 'ALDI'. My tip is to avoid Giant on weekends, this place gets crazy.
• Sheng Siong  - I haven't been here yet, but it's meant to be very budget, maybe like Franklins?
• Marketplace by Jasons "Your Lifestyle supermarket" (If you have an expensive lifestyle that is...)

Department Stores
Again, being from Australia and only having access to Myer and David Jones, I am constantly surprised how many department stores there are on this tiny island AND how different their ranges are i.e. they don't actually stock 60% of the same stuff!

At Orchard, there are your more premium department stores:

• Takashimaya (from Japan)
• Isetan (from Japan)
• Tangs (Originated in Singapore)

At Bugis there is the more middle market department stores:

• OG
• BHG

Elsewhere on the island:

• Robinsons <- Feels a bit like Target, mainly focusing on shoes and clothing
• John Little <- This barely counts as a department store, it was like a scaled down version of Kmart
• Marks & Spencer
• Metro (never been)

Electrical

• Courts - My only warning of Courts is that the selection online is broader than the selection in store. When I was looking to purchase an office chair, I was told that their office chairs are rarely on display in a physical showroom.
• Harvey Norman

This post is WIP, so I will try and include more insights as I progress. Before I sign off, I will quote an ad that I saw on Singaporean TV.
"Low Crime doesn't mean no Crime".
Whilst Singapore is overall safe and organised, as with any travel, mind your belongings.

Xx Keep the change!