Singapore by night

When I was in the Bugis Street Market the other day I picked up a souveneir magnet in the style of a Survivor: Singapore logo with the motto "Outeat, Outlast, Outshop". Shopping seems to be a beloved hobby for many of the people here, with the crowds on Orchard Road on Christmas day something that has to be seen to be believed. Many people wear genuine designer clothes and bags. Crowded stores-wise, we had a particularly oppressive experience inside the dark nightclub-esque Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store that left us shaken outside like the morning after a bad pill trip. 

In general, the malls are amazing. When we had to cross a side street off Orchard Road via an underpass, my travel tour manager and I found ourselves in a labyrinthine four level basement of stores, with fast fading hope of ever reaching the other side of the street that had seemed just 25 metres away. Add the number of subterrainian levels to the numerous above ground outlets and you can easily see why Singapore would be a shopper's paradise, and a place I'd feel quite happy to dwell in.

Being a melting pot of cultures Singapore also offers a large variety of cuisines to try at cheap prices. We had dinner in the Gluttons Bay Market that sits alongside Marina Bay, where I had my first dalliance with pineapple fried rice, before strolling about and taking snaps of the city skyline and the high-end Marina Bay Sands shopping complex (including a floating Louis Vuitton store and nightclub).