Singaporean souvenir
Hello everyone👯
Have you had a good time in Singapore through my blog or have you been interested in the multicultural nation? As my final post in the second semester of Prefectural University of Kumamoto, I will guide you all to recommended shops and souvenir points in Singapore.
What is the classic souvenir?
1. TWG TEA
 |
| TWG Tea Garden at Marina Bay Sands |
My recommendation is 1837 Black Tea. (S$9~/50 g) It is the most standard and well-known taste, so if you are not good at tea, how about trying this? The sweet black tea blended with fruits and flowers lingers the tea aroma and taste pleasantly for a while, therefore it must be a nice combination if you drink it with some simple cookie or cake.
 |
| 1837 Black Tea |
 |
| Patisseries (Cakes and Macarons) |
2. Pineapple Tarts (LE Cafe)
 |
| 10 Pineapples Tarts (S$11) |
LE Cafe is one of the traditional and long-lasting confectionery in Singapore. When you go into the shop, the sweet and sour aroma will make you more starving!! The star of the dessert is pineapple tarts called Golf-ball tarts, which is filled with pineapple jam inside the dough that retains the real pineapple's texture. According to my host mother, Chinese people eat it at breakfast, and as the matter of fact when I wanted to make do with a light meal, the pineapple tarts was always in my hand. I'm sure you can enjoy it as a meal even if you are not good at sweet bread or cookies.
 |
| Moonpie (S$17~) |
In addition, there are moonpie, soya milk tarts, and coffee cookies in LE Cafe, therefore if you want to grab something to eat at reasonable price, how about looking into the pineapple tarts?
Le Cafe (Mackenzie Road)
5 minutes from Little India MRT Sta. on foot
http://www.lecafe.com.sg/ (the link)
If you want to buy souvenirs in large quantities...
3.Value Dollar Shop
When you leave some money before getting on the plane, how about going to Value Dollar Shop? If I compare this family-friendly shop to some Japanese stores, it is similar to "Daiso" or "Don Quijote." It offers you Asian countries' food (Malaysia, Thai, China, Vietnam, Japan), daily necessities and house hold stuffs. When I stayed in Singapore, "FIRE SALE!!" signs caught customers' attention and it was always busy welcoming them all day.
 |
| Big Kit Kat (S$1.5~/ about 120 yen) |
 |
| Daily necessaries |
Why can they sell goods at such surprisingly reasonable prices? This is because they are over-stocked items, purchased-out products, damaging labeling or packaging, food items nearing the expiration dates and parallel imports. However, the quality and quantity are the same with the new ones. I think this kind of shops are more eco-friendly and a way to lead to reduction of the food loss. If you don't stick to these points and the brands, I strongly recommend you to go there.
| Peanut Butter Sandwich (S$5/ 360 g) |
My recommendation is Peanut Butter Sandwich from Julie's, Malaysian company. When I was worn out in Singapore in the first week, my Vietnamese friends gave me Julie's biscuit and helped me in both physical and mental conditions. It reminded me of nostalgic tastes which my mother bought me when I was a third-year student before the center exam. Therefore, I bought a lot of Julie's biscuit, which has double memories, for my friends and family before leaving Singapore. Needless to say, rich and indigenous souvenirs are fine to share them, but it is much greater to convey the whole memory in Singapore with pretty sweets, right? When you can't choose souvenirs, how about telling your precious memory?
There are 15 Value Dollar Shop in Singapore.
Check the nearest Value Dollar Shop from your hotel, the airport and MRT Station!!
|
 |
Through reading your blog, I feel like as if I were traveling in Singapore. Especially, I got interested in Value Dollar Shop because it has many reasonable products and it looks really attractive!! Julie's cookie, which you mentioned, had a very good taste when I ate it. By the way, I have a simple question for you. I'd like to know why TWG Tea is so popular. In the first place, is tea famous food or a main product in Singapore? If you don't mind, please tell us.
ReplyDeleteTo tell the truth, I couldn't find out the reason, but I guess TWG has getting people's attention in such a short time in the world, which increased the fans drastically and efficiently. (It establised i 2008 and within a 11 years, it has 19 salons.) In addition, the factor that Singaporean people tend to pursue more delicious food and drinks, so the tendency matched with the TWG's fine taste.
DeleteThis was a very nice way to end your semester blog Mako. I learned many things about Singapore. Maybe one last thing that I think would be useful is a short list of cultural Dos and Don'ts for Singapore. It is a multi-cultural country, though largely Asian in nature. As such, non-Asian readers might appreciate knowing what should be done as etiquette and what shouldn't be done.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your advice. As you said, the typical Asian manner should not be understood with non-Asian people so easily. I should have mentioned about the rules and law in Singapore.
DeleteYou still have a chance.
DeletePineapple tart looks very delicious! It makes me want to eat very much. I was also very surprised at the value shop. I would love to go there !
ReplyDeleteI got a lot of Singapore knowledge on your blog. Before reading your blog, I didn't know about Singapore and frankly, I wasn't interested in there much. However, after reading your blog, I learned a lot about the charm of there, and now I really want to go there. Thank you for the wonderful information!!
Every time your comment keeps my motivation and it has never decreased so far!! Pineapple tarts should be eaten joyfully because the combination of the sour and sweet tastes couldn't be better. I hope you're getting more and more interested in Asian countries and planning to go there someday.
DeleteIt's definitely a great idea that you reviewed some of the shops you mentioned before. If I ever get the chance to go to the country, I would probably visit le cafe, and buy pineapple tarts. Just the mere looking and description of this sweet makes me really want to try it. To be honest, I was almost completely uninterested in the country before, but since I started viewing your blog, my appreciation and curiosity towards the luxury country have grown on me, which, I am very thankful to you about. The effort put into each post has been really remarkable. I was always mega fascinated by the pictures you displayed, interesting bits you explained about the country, and your personal stories there, all which just kept me entertained.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nao!! As you say, our blogs are more powerful than we think because they are definitely potential tools to connect with people and promote them to dive into the new world. I prefer traveling and posting like a diary based on my experience, as such I'll keep that habit.
DeleteIt's amazing that there are more than 800 kinds of tea! I have recently been able to drink various kinds of tea, so I would like to go there.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Such a lot of fancy tea will attract you even once you drink a sip of them. As I said, TWG tea has several Japanese salons specifically in Kanto area, so if you go there, you can try!!
Delete