Around Chinatown, Singapore

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Fon-Man-Ji is local historical external medicine manufacturer. Fon is famous for its Red-Flower Oil which is made by old approach and tools. Its function is to heal musle sore, stomachache etc. Each small bottle costs only 2 SG$ (=40 NTD). It's economical and also the best gifts for your friends.

What to buy: Red-Flower-Oil

A great place to shop for those souvenir gifts you want to take home. Beautiful chinese handbags, slippers, hair pieces, clothing, etc 3 for $10 - what a bargain. Also, look out for the store where you can buy little glass globes and bottles, painted with your name on them.

What to buy: Souvenirs

What to pay: Depends how long you spend shopping!!

Holistic Books?
Music for meditation?
Healthy eating?
Yoga classes and wellness seminars?

That’s what Whatever is all about.

The have a large selection of books from
Deepak Chopra to Eating Right for your blood type.

There menu serves breakfast, snacks,
soups, organic salads, fresh juices, teas, etc.

Yoga classes, along with seminars on wellness
are programmed into their weekly schedule.
If you don’t have the yoga cloths, don’t worry,
they have that too!

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This tip does not refer to any particular shop at all. I just want to share a few of my favourite things that I picked up while browsing around some of the many, many shops that you can find blindfolded all over Singapore.

I really like the wooden shoe horn with mother of pearl inlays. It cost me about S$20 from a small shop not too far from the NE4 exit in Chinatown. I don't have to bend down as far to get my shoes on with the extra long handle on this shoe horn.

The pot of Chiao-She-Hao (Jasmine Tea) I found at Hue Hwa on the corner of Eu Tong Sen Road and Cross Street in Chinatown. There you will find lots of interesting Chinese food, artifacts and other curio's.

Wherever I may go I always seem to add to my ever growing fridge magnet collection. And the more magnets that I collect the more stuff ends up being stuck on my fridge door.

The Chinese Iron Balls were a very thoughtful present from my kids who saw me admiring them sitting in their beautiful silk cloth covered box at one of the many 3-for-S$10 shops in Chinatown. It was not too far from the NE4 exit in Chinatown.

And the surf T-shirts I found at the Pasar Malam in Toa Payoh... I never seem to have enough of them.

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As I've stated in my China Town tip before, this is a great place to do some unusual shopping. Whether you're looking for supertouristy things (they're there) or some great traditional handicrafts, you're sure to find something to your liking! Take the time to stroll the busy, narrow streets and take in the sights and smells. Relax on the terrace of a hawker and have nice cold drink . Chinatown can be very hot due to its narrow streets, so make sure you drink plenty of water.

What to buy: Anything you set your heart on.. from touristy stuff, to food and handicrafts.

What to pay: Little. Chinatown is quite cheap. Haggle for a better price, people expect you to!

The 5 store building at the corner in the photo is Yue Hwa Store. It is a very big Department Store in Chinatown and claim to be the one stop shopping for products from China. It may be true, but my wife went there and she said everything in Yue Hwa was expensive. She liked The Majestic very much (the smaller building next to Yue Hwa in the photo) because it's much cheaper there.

Chinatown is the place to be for the adventurous and the frugal. It's filled to the brim with little food shops that sell cheap eats (my fave: yang tau foo ) and 3 for SGD10 souvenir shops.

Smith Street is the famous Food Street. But it isn't the only place to find small, quaint eateries. Unfortunately, during my last trip, I was only able to venture out in the street markets (Smith, Pagoda and Trengganu) and didn't explore People's Park Centre, People's Park Complex and Maxwell Market.

What to buy: Ooooohhhh, a lot! I cannot even begin to describe the smells! I promised myself that I will stay here when I come back in August, and update this tip!

What to pay: Food is cheap (well, relatively, anyway--I come from the Philippines, where food is a lot cheaper). You can choose the ingredients for your yong tau foo (such as squid balls and fried wanton) for about SGD0.40 to SGD0.50 per piece. Rice topping meals can cost about SGD4-6. Drinks cost about SGD1.00-1.30 for a can of soda or a bottle of water.

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The 3 for $10 store offers items that are indeed 3 for $10. =) Bags, fashion accessories (earrings, bangles, necklaces) glass coasters, souvenir stuff, and lots of other things can be had for the price.

What to buy: bags, bangles, earrings

What to pay: 3 items for $10.

I think this is the best place to get the souvenirs before you head for other places or before you fly home.

You will be surprise that actually those souvenirs in other countries, example thailand and vietnam, you can actually get them here.. if well bargained, can be at cheaper price..

Shocked right?! I went to china town just after my vietnam trip and realized that those seramic dolls that I carried all the way back from the country is sold here! and will similar price before bargained!

A one man show, this shop offers good deals on Asian stamps.

Though the selection may not be the widest, I can always count on the nice shopkeeper to give me a good deal.

Look out especially for local and China FDCs, mint stamps, used stamps etc. As most of his mint stamps are not openly displayed, you may need to do some probing.

What to pay: Very reasonable