Singapore - Buy

The Singaporean currency is the Singapore dollar, abbreviated SGD, S$ or just $ (as used throughout this guide). One dollar is divided into 100 cents. There are coins of $0.05 (gold), $0.10 (silver), $0.20 (silver), $0.50 (silver) and $1 (gold), plus bills of $2 (purple), $5 (green), $10 (red), $50 (blue), $100 (orange), $1000 (purple) and $10000 (gold). The Brunei dollar is at par with the Singapore dollar and the two currencies can be used interchangeably in both countries, so don't be too surprised if you get a Brunei note as change. As of June 2006, one Euro is worth about $2.00 and one US dollar is worth about $1.60.
Restaurants often display prices like $19.99++, which means that service (10%) and sales tax (5%) are not included and will be added to your bill. Hotels and fancy restaurants may note rates as +++, where the third plus denotes 1% CESS (essentially a tourism tax), for a total surcharge of 16.55%.
Tipping is generally uncommon in Singapore, although bellhops still expect $2 or so per bag. Taxis will usually return your change to the last cent, or round in your favor if they can't be bothered to dig for change.
ATMs are ubiquitous in Singapore and credit cards are widely accepted (although shops often levy a 3% surcharge, and taxis a whopping 15%). Currency exchange booths can be found in at the airport as well as in every shopping mall and usually offer better rates, better opening hours and much faster service than banks. The huge 24-hour operation at Mustafa in Little India accepts almost any currency at what are probably the best rates in town. Travelers checks are generally not accepted by retailers, but can be cashed at most exchange booths.


Costs
Singapore is expensive by Asian standards but cheap for visitors from most industrialized countries: $50 is a perfectly serviceable daily backpacker budget. Food in particular is a steal, with excellent hawker food available for less than $5 per generous serving. Accommodation is a little pricier, but a bed in a hostel can cost less than $20 and the most luxurious hotels on the island (except maybe the Raffles) can be yours for $200 with the right discounts.


Shopping
Shopping is second only to eating as a national pastime, which means that Singapore has an abundance of shopping malls, and low taxes and tariffs on imports coupled with huge volume mean that prices are usually very competitive. Most stores are open 7 days a week from 10 AM until 9 PM, although smaller operations (particularly those outside shopping malls) close earlier — 7 PM is common — and perhaps on Sundays as well. Keep an eye out for the Great Singapore Sale [42], usually held in June-July, when shopping centres pull out all stops to attract punters.
Antiques: The second floor of the Tanglin Shopping Centre on Orchard and the shops on South Bridge Rd in Chinatown are good options if looking for the real thing (or high-quality reproductions).
Books: Borders at Wheelock Place and Kinokuniya at Ngee Ann City, both on Orchard, are the largest bookstores in Singapore.
Cameras: Peninsula Plaza near City Hall has Singapore's best selection of camera shops.
Computers: Sim Lim Square (near Little India), for the hardcore geek (and slightly cheaper prices), and Funan IT (Riverside), for lesser mortals.
Electronics: Very competitively priced in Singapore. Funan IT (Orchard) and Mustafa (Little India) are good choices. Avoid the tourist-oriented shops on Orchard Road, particularly the notorious Lucky Plaza, or risk getting ripped off. For any purchases, remember that Singapore uses 220V voltage with a British-style three-pin plug.
Ethnic knick-knacks: Chinatown has Singapore's heaviest concentration of glow-in-the-dark Merlion soap dispenders and ethnic gewgaws, mostly but not entirely Chinese and nearly all imported from somewhere else.
Fabrics: Arab Street and Little India have a good selection of local fabrics like batik.
Fakes: Unlike most South-East Asian countries, pirated goods are not openly on sale and importing them to the city-state carries heavy fines. Fake goods are nevertheless not difficult to find in Little India or even in the underpasses of Orchard Road.
Food: Jason's Marketplace in the basement of Raffles City (Orchard) is perhaps Singapore's best-stocked gourmet supermarket with a vast array of imported products, but Takashimaya's basement (Orchard) has lots of small quirky shops and makes for a more interesting browse. For a more Singaporean (and much cheaper) shopping experience, seek out any neighborhood wet market, like Little India's Tekka Market.
Hi-fi stereos: The Adelphi (Riverside) has Singapore's best selection of audiophile shops.
High-street fashion: Ngee Ann City (Takashimaya) and Paragon on Orchard.
Music: The three-story HMV in the Heeren on Orchard is Singapore's largest music store.
Scuba gear: The Concourse shopping mall in Bugis has a good selection of dive shops in the basement.
Sports goods: Queensway Shopping Centre, off Alexandra Rd and rather off the beaten track (take a cab), seems to consist of nothing but sports goods shops. You can also find foreigner-sized sporty clothing and shoes here.
Tea: Chinatown has plenty of tea shops, and there are some high-end stores for both Japanese and Chinese varieties in Takashimaya's basement, but Time for Tea in Lucky Plaza (Orchard) may have the best prices.
Youth fashion: Most of Bugis is dedicated to the young, hip and cost-conscious. Some spots of Orchard, notably the top floor of the Heeren, also target the same market but prices are generally higher.