Singapore's Number One Hobby

I had read that shopping was big in Singapore. And I had even heard that it was their biggest hobby. I thought those people were being sacrastic...but it is true. Singaporeans love to shop. I got to see this first hand because I was there during the Great Singapore Sale. It is an 8-week long retail sale. Bascially all the stores give upwards to 50S% discounts. Not to mention that Singapore has about 500 shopping malls. I'm not joking when I write this. There is an insane amount of shopping malls, more then I have ever encountered in my life.


I loved all their stores. I wanted to try on everything. The first day as I wandered around by myself I found my way into Raffles Shopping Mall. I was so hot that I needed to cool down in the air-conditioning. It was a downhill whirlwind of spending after that. I was surrounded by fantastic shoes and handbags. I spotted the cutest pair of heels. I picked them up...a green leather two inch heel, that looked like it came from the 1920s era. I loved them, but I didn't come to Singapore to shop. I was going to think about them as I determidly put them down. If I still liked them at the end of the week, I would buy them then (two days later I was back in the mall for those very pair of shoes!).

I found a cute aqua blue handbag too. I am an accessories girl and I have been looking for a blue handbag for months. I couldn't pass this opportunity up. So I bought it. Once the credit card came out for one purchase I couldn't stop. I found a fantastic pair of sunglasses and sunglasses NEVER look good on me, so of course I had to buy them. Then there was the climbing store. Could you believe they had a climbing store in Singapore? How could I pass up Patagonia sports bras (my favorite kind) which were more then half off since they were last years stock? It was becoming addictive. There were so many cute things. I just wanted to keep shopping.


Actually I didn't get into the malls that much, because my next trip was a little disappointing. It was overcrowded. It is the national hobby! I felt like I was back in the states in the mall the day after Thanksgiving, only I didn't have to find a parking stop. And this time I tried looking for cute clothes. I found lots of cute clothing, but nothing seemed to fit. I think that is because most people in Singapore are a size 0 with no chests. I just didn't fit into the mold. It tainted me from shopping and I resisted the rest of my trip. Thank goodness, because I might have been broke if I didn't!