On the Norteast fringe of Chinatown, just a stonethrow away from the point where Sir Raffles first landed, Raffles Place and The Riverside-Quays are forming a lovely shopping, entertainment and dining area along the Singapore River, where glitzy skyscrapers rise above beautifully restored old port warehouses. Obviously, as shopping is not the main thing to do around here, you will find a lot more about this area in the Restaurant and Nightlife section of this website, as well as at the Singapore River sightseeing tour. Nevertheless, there are some excellent shopping venues around here and since you will probably visit the area anyway, why not mentioning them...
You can start your Singapore River journey from either MRT-Clarke Quay, MRT-Raffles Place or from one of the River-taxi jetties.
We will start from Raffles Place: this bunch of glittering, hightech looking steel-and- glass skyscrapers (including Singapore's three tallest buildings), just to the south of the mouth of the Singapore River is, actually, where the city's financial hub is (if not Southeast Asia's financial hub...). Being a draw for the rich and the powerful, the shops here are naturally targeting the well-heeled, sophisticated shoppers who had seen it all, and prices are accordingly high.
- OUB Centre, on No. 1 Raffles Place (adjacent to the MRT station) has five floors of retail space, with a good mix of prestige boutiques, businessmen oriented shops and other shops that specialize in a variety of goods, from Jewellery and gifts to toys, lifestyle products and office supplies. Open daily (except Sundays, 10 am - 8 pm)
- The old, classic Fullerton Hotel has some luxurious shops and boutiques, worth visiting.
From Raffles Place, you can walk along the south bank of the Singapore River, passing through Boat Quay's numerous cafés and bars. Turn right and cross the river on Elgin Bridge, proceed strait (on North Bridge Road) for another couple of minutes and you will get to Funan DigitalLife Mall. The mall (also known as Funan Centre) is a true heaven for lovers of IT technology and electronic gadgets... It might not be as cheap as places like Sim-Lim and Mustafa, but it certainly is the place to look for the newest and most innovative stuff. There are also some ordinary shops and a large supermarket at the mall.
Back to Elgin Bridge, cross it to the south bank and turn right. Further up the stream, the areas of Clarke Quay and Riverside Point, near MRT-Clarke quay, form a major draw for tourists and locals alike...
- The newly opened Central is a modern five-story riverfront shopping mall, located right on top of MRT-Clarke quay (next to Coleman Bridge). Boasting almost 300 shops and F&B outlets, the mall is strongly Japanese-themed, which means that many of the tenants are businesses from the country of the rising sun (although there is a good mix of both Japanese and Western-style fashion boutiques). Fashion and fashion-accessories are the big thing here, alongside a relatively good choice of gift shops, home décor, jewellery shops and... of course... some very nice restaurants and cafés.
- Riverside point, next to the fancy Swissotel Merchant Court Hotel, is a lovely waterfront complex with nice architecture that combines the restored historic structures. Fashion, fashion accessories and Jewellery shops are the main fare here, other than the obvious range of alfresco diners, riverside bars and cafés.
- Clarke Quay, on the other side of Singapore River, across Read Bridge, is one of Singapore's most popular Wine & Dine arenas. There is not so much in the way of shopping here, other than the popular Sunday Flea Market which is held here regularly, once a month...
- Next to Clarke quay and attached to the Novotel, Liang Court is a mall for both families and adults, with some known Japanese outlets and other shops. Kinokuniya is a massive Japanese bookshop, selling a wide range of both Japanese and international titles, as well as magazines, comics, CDs, greeting cards and so on... Meidi-Ya is a high quality Japanese supermarket, where you can fetch some unique Japanese products and foodstuffs that can't be found anywhere else. There is also a counter of Singapore Tourism Board in the mall.
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Chinatown
