Bugis Village also known as Bugis Street Market is a good place for tourists and locals alike to pick up a souvenir or two such as fridge magnets and keychains. It is not a flea market, but more of the street's night market concept stores with fixed price, although you can also bargain for higher value items like a luggage bag.
You can find 'I love Singapore' or 'Singapore is a
Fine City' T-shirts that go for three pieces for $10. But of course, it must look lame for locals to wear these T-shirts here or elsewhere. Not that we are not patriotic. I think one would look pretty hilarious too, wearing a 'no
chewing gum' t-shirt. You cannot find chewing gums at Bugis Market or elsewhere in Singapore. So, do I miss chewing the sugary gum? Fortunately, not really.
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| Entrance to Bugis Street Market |
If you are looking for inexpensive watches, you can get a $5 watch at Bugis Market. These are not fake branded watches like those found in some alleys in Bangkok and other parts of south-east Asia, but a no-brand watches. Some may think they look cheesy. But who cares as long as it works. A watch is a watch.
You can get five fridge magnets for ten dollars or three or four t-shirts also for ten dollars. But that means you will need to cough up $10 to realise some 'savings'. Great bargains of souvenirs for the visitors as you can then give your friends, family or colleagues back home a $1 magnet or $5 t-shirt each.
You can also find many shops selling shoes, clothes, handbags, smartphone, and tablet accessories such as phone covers and folio cases and many other knick-knacks. Though the prices here are not necessarily cheaper than what you can find in the
HDB neighbourhood shops, however due to the size of the market and the many stalls in one building, there are bigger range of products. There is also a large section where you can find clothing and shoes. Plus you are unlikely to find merlion-theme toys or chocolates in the neighbourhood shops.
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| Inside Bugis Market |
Just browsing around is quite an experience. Inside the market you can also find a row of deep-fried snacks stalls that sell local snacks such as
kaya balls and
apam balik with peanuts, the sort of snacks that we find at
pasar malam. There is also a small but comfortable food-court inside at the first floor, that sell local dishes like
roti-prata and
chicken rice, so you can shop and have your meals there. Or enjoy a cup of teh-C after browsing.
There are also some eateries at the exterior, at the sides and at the back. At the back of the market, you can find stalls selling fresh tropical fruits like rambutans, mangos and langsat. There are also sellers selling the awesome smelling king of fruits,
durians, that you can buy and taste on the spot, with some makeshift tables provided. Or you can get the styrofoam packed durian and eat it at the hawker centre across the street. Do not bring it back to your hotel! Its a no-no for the obvious reasons.
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| Rambutans and langsat. Tropical fruits stalls. |
Bugis market is conveniently located opposite
Bugis Junction mall and
Bugis MRT station. Behind the market is
Albert Centre Food Centre. The
hawker centre sells a variety of local dishes at very affordable price. You can get noodles for $3.50. So, after your shopping and browsing at Bugis Market you can have your meals at the hawker centre. On the 3rd storey of Albert Centre you will find dried good and sundry stores selling vacuum-packed mushrooms, nuts and other dried foods. Bugis Junction mall is a teens-centric mall. At the basement of Bugis Junction, you can find many snacks' shops and there is a food-court at level 3.
For the tourists, if you are looking for key chains and fridge magnets you can also head to Chinatown as Bugis Market can get really crowded and squeezy to browse around stuffs properly especially during the weekend, though the experience is different and they also sell many other things than souvenirs such as clothes, shoes and luggage. Make sure you go level 2 of the market so you can check-out other shops too.
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| $5 watches at Bugis Market |
And if you are looking for some beauty services such as manicure and pedicure, head to level 3. Half of level 3 offer inexpensive manicure, pedicure and hair salon services. Level 3 is connected to the next door
Bugis Cube shopping mall. And being indoor helps a lot when it rains. There is also the outdoor street market at the back closer to Albert Centre Market and Food Centre. Many tourists will also look for the dollar store at the back to stretch their dollar further, simply known as the ABC store. Well, not all items sell for a dollar though, but most items are affordable. Still if you buy too many items, the cost do add up!
The atmosphere at the outdoor market next to Albert Centre resembles
Chinatown but has a more local feel to it. The Art Lane next to Bugis Market have occasional events during the weekends such as open air music events with flea market style of shops. The whole building has a vibrant vibe to it. Bugis market is open daily from 11am to 10 pm.
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Bugis Street (Bugis Market)
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Bugis area is historically linked to the
Rochor-Kallang River basin trade in the 19th to mid-20th centuries with the indigenous traders of
Bugis ethnicity from South Sulawesi, Indonesia, who settled in the area, hence the name. The earlier inhabitants at Bugis likely moved there from Pulau Balking Mati, now
Sentosa Island, due to the malaria outbreak in the mid 1800s.
Bugis area was once notorious as a haunt for sailors and transvestites. But it has been sanitised and transformed to a youth-centric leisure and shopping area. Sadly, for those looking for the iconic flea market, Thieves Market at Sungei Road, near Bugis, it has ceased operations since July 2017. Still, this vibrant Bugis Market and the outdoor market behind it have enough attractions and pull for a fun day out browsing at the myriad of goods at affordable prices.
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