Yahoo! Singapore Answers blog

I was sitting in the bus one day, and saw a bunch of teenage boys getting off the bus. This was at the bus stop right outside Alexander Hospital, so I was curious as to where this bunch of boys would go. Was it to the Alexander Village across the road? Nope, and then I remembered that Queensway Shopping Centre was just further down the road! Right! That must be it. Afterall, Queensway Shopping Centre is famous for all those little shops selling reasonably priced branded sneakers and bags. In fact, I bought my Teva sandals and backpack for my Greece trip last year from there! It’s a great hang-out for teens, especially with the MacDonald’s up on the 2nd floor. Not just for teens, I quite like the old shopping center charm that still exists there. The shops are all small and crammed full of goods. They are unique, individual shops, and though they may sell the same type of goods, the shoppers are given the luxury and choice to browse and compare prices. We can even bargain in such shops! The whole place may look a little grimy, but it’s cosy and has the old “kampong” feel.

Good ol’ Queensway Shopping Centre!

These type of shopping centers are pretty rare in Singapore now (the only other one I can think of is maybe City Plaza near Paya Lebar MRT and Peninsula Plaza). Just take a look around Orchard Road, or maybe just around your neighbourhood, and you’ll see shiny, new buildings hosting the same old shops: Bossini, Giordano, Watson, G2000, This Fashion, Charles & Keith etc. In fact, you don’t even need to travel all the way to Orchard Road to shop, just walk to your neighbourhood mall! These shops may be cleaner and newer, but they look like something out of the same cookie-cutter. Same shops, same products, yawn. Give me a shopping center with many different little shops anytime!

Christmas Decorations (one of many) at VivoCity, charms of the “New”.

What about you? Any views about the shopping centers in Singapore? Any recommendations of interesting shops here?