Shopping paradise

Or more like a shopping hell?

There are probably hundreds of shopping centers in Singapore. I simply can't understand where all the customers to these huge malls come from.

Shopping at Jurong Point

This wing in JP "only" has 3 levels

I've been buying some IT and camera stuff, clothes and groceries. Some general guidelines:

• Computer hardware is not cheaper than in Finland and problems with warranties are likely
• Student licences for software, such as Adobe Creative Suite, are dirt cheap
• Photographic equipment is considerably cheaper, but at least Canon SLR bodies don't have international warranties (EF lenses do)
• There are four different types of clothing available:
• Original quality international brands
• Singaporean brands, made in Singapore
• HK and Taiwanese brands, made in HK and Taiwan
• Chinese, Indonesian or Thai fake copies of brand stuff (not common in Singapore)

Some experiences of shops and stores follow. IT and camera stuff and home electronics:

• Sim Lim square (near Bugis), an IT-hell. Lots of dishonest sellers. Proceed with extreme caution.
• Matrix IT store. They did not try to sell me anything by force, let me inspect all stuff carefully and had a good price. No extra charge for using credit card. Bought a Lenovo netbook here.
• Most camera stores on the 1st floor tried to cheat me with overpriced filters, credit card charges or adding the GST at the moment of paying. Disgusting. Did not want to buy anything.
  
• Funan digilife mall (near Cityhall), another IT-hell. More credible dealers than in Sim Lim sq.
• Song Brothers had friendly service and best price for a Canon DSLR. Bought it here.
• Alan Photo should be a credible dealer, but was out-of-stock of a basic EF 50/1.4 lens.
• Peninsula Plaza (near Cityhall), different kinds of stores.
• Cathay Photo on the 1st level had extremely good service and a competitive price. No extra charge for credit card purchase of a 50/1.4 lens. At home I noticed a flaw in the lens (even after checking it out in-store when buyng), and it was no trouble changing it to a new piece at CP. Would definitely shop here again.
• Courts, several locations (eg. Jurong Point mall), a general home electronics store. Prices and collection just don't seem very good to me.
• Harvey Norman, several locations (eg. Jurong Point mall), home AV and IT store. Better prices than at Courts.
• FairPrice xtra, several locations (eg. Jurong Point mall), a general store. Electronics are pretty cheap, bought a large fan with a stand for S$20.

Shopping for clothing in Finland is a pain in the ass, but I really love it Singapore. All kinds of nice looking and especially affordable shirts, jeans, shorts, shoes etc. are plentiful everywhere. Lots of discounts apply.

• Far East Plaza (near Orchard), fashion and cell phones. This mall is especially favored by the young. Lots of Taiwanese clothing available, but take your time to find to best prices.
• "Sports mall" (near Ikea, Queenstown), sports and casual clothing. A huge collection of sports shoes and shirts. Prices are usually good. 2nd floor has casual clothing like Far East Plaza.
• Peninsula Shopping Center (near City Hall), a general mall, not very exquisite. Discount clothes on the basement level, but collection not very good.
• Jurong Point mall (at Boon Lay MRT), a large mall. Mostly brand name stores, altough some cheaper small ones also exist, especially in Marketplace on the 3rd floor.
• Converse store sometimes has nice discounts. Bought pair of shoes for S$40, usually they are S$80–S$120.
  
  
  
• Lee has some incredible discounts, but those clothes looked downright awful. Standard-priced ones are too expensive.
• Several stores (such as Spade) selling decent quality, okay-priced, nice looking young people's clothes
• Several stores (such as VIP fashion) selling "Hong Kong quality", nicely priced, trendy looking young people's clothes
• Discount stores selling mostly not-that-good-looking clothes (like those of Seppälä in Finland), of course at a cheap price
• Bugis market
• Fake stuff or Taiwanese & HK brands at best. It takes time, but some real nice discoveries can be made here. Bought a couple of pairs of jeans and a few shirts at almost-Thailand price. It took a whole day to find good quality though. Easier to buy than in Thailand as no haggling required, prices are fixed.
• IMM mall, "the Mega Mall" (near Jurong East MRT), a general mall. Fashion stores are mostly on the 1st floor, a few more on the 2nd as well. A disappointment, much worse than Jurong Point.

Groceries:

• 7-eleven, everywhere. Expensive, small, poor selection.
• FairPrice Xtra, usually in large malls. Almost anything can be found there. Pretty nicely priced.
• Sheng Siong grocery stores, often not very close to large malls. Very good variety of groceries and fresh meat and fish. Cheaper than FairPrice. Luckily there's one next to my door, so I buy all my food and drinks here.

For cheaper (read: fake) stuff, I'd advice you to go to Bangkok. Chatuchak market is the largest (it's absolutely huge) and the cheapest, Khao San rd generally ok-priced, and the Lumphini night market pretty nice as well.

Chinatown market in Kuala Lumpur has acceptable prices, too, but only if you haggle hard enough.