Heading over to the Lion City for a holiday and wondering what to buy in Singapore for your family and friends? Whether it’s Merlion-themed merchandise, cooking pastes or snacks, here are some Singapore pasalubong ideas that you can look out for.
This guide covers all you need to know about unique Singaporean souvenirs, and features some must-buys you can’t go home without. We’ll also talk about the Wise card and how it can help you to stretch every peso when paying while travelling.
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Singapore is known for a couple of things including some key landmarks and national icons. If you’re looking for pasalubong ideas or presents that will make anybody think of Singapore, look no further.
There’s no way any visitor to Singapore would miss out on visiting the famous Merlion statue. Whether it’s the most iconic one at Merlion Park or any of the other smaller statues, Singapore’s official mascot is well-known worldwide.
As such, there are plenty of Merlion-themed merchandise like fridge magnets, keyrings and even postcards. If you’re wondering where to buy cheap souvenirs in Singapore, you’ll want to check out places like Bugis Street for street vendors and shops that specialise in souvenirs for tourists. The perfect thing to get if you’re thinking about what to buy in Singapore that’s truly representative of the country.
The national flower of Singapore is an orchid, so it’s little wonder that there are plenty of orchid motifs on souvenirs as well. You’ll be able to find jewellery either shaped like an orchid or even featuring preserved orchids, as well as scarves and other clothing items featuring prominent orchid motifs.
If you prefer something a little more subtle, there are also orchid-scented perfumes and teas with orchid petals.
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Supermarkets are aplenty in Singapore, and they are a great place to browse for pasalubong ideas, particularly for those who enjoy food. From ingredients, to Singaporean pantry staples, you’ll be spoilt for choice looking for the perfect gift.
There are plenty of delicious Singaporean dishes like bak kut teh, chicken rice, laksa and more. However, those dishes are typically time-consuming and difficult to cook from scratch at home. WIth the help of instant cooking pastes, however, home cooks will be able to skip the tedious part of preparing spice pastes and get right into cooking.
Prima Taste is one of the most popular options in Singapore for cooking pastes, and they offer a wide variety of dishes including fish head curry, satay and many more. In fact, if you’re a fan of Singapore’s noodle dishes, the Prima Taste LaMian line actually comes in different flavours like fish soup, chilli crab, prawn soup la mian and laksa.
There are even complete sauce packs for dishes like char kway teow, rojak, mee siam, mee rebus, rendang and other delicious local dishes. If you know someone who loves to cook and enjoys Singapore cuisine, you’ll want to stock up on these cooking pastes for them.
For folks with a sweet tooth, kaya jam is a must-buy in Singapore. Made with eggs, coconut milk and sugar, this delicious spread is the perfect accompaniment to toast. There are two types of kaya jam, Hainanese kaya and Nyonya kaya.
Hainanese kaya uses brown or caramelised sugar for that dark colour, while Nyonya kaya is a light green colour thanks to the pandan leaves used during the cooking process. Which you enjoy more is personal preference, but you can easily find both versions in Singapore from shops like Breadtalk, coffeeshops like Ya Kun or Heavenly Wang and in supermarkets like NTUC FairPrice.
While Singapore might not have as many natural resources or grow as much of its own food as its neighbours, there are plenty of delicious snacks available that are perfect for bringing back as pasalubong to share with family and friends.
Even though bak kwa is Singaporean meat jerky, it’s not quite the same as regular jerky that most of us might be familiar with. Typically made with pork, some shops even offer chicken or beef bak kwa. With a salty-sweet flavour, these slices of meat jerky are much more tender than normal meat jerky. Popular brands in Singapore include Kim Joo Guan, Lim Chee Guan and Bee Cheng Hiang. Some shops like Kim Joo Guan even offer vacuum-packed bak kwa, which is super convenient to pack into a luggage to bring back to the Philippines.
Most bak kwa shops offer taster samples in-store, so feel free to walk in and try a sample before you make your mind up on which shop you prefer. Bak kwa is typically sold by weight instead of by slice or piece, so you’ll want to make sure you really enjoy the offerings from a store before you make your purchase. Prices range anywhere from $33 SGD¹ to $37.50 SGD² (around 1,424.51 PHP to 1,618.76 PHP) for regular sliced pork bak kwa from various shops, although it can be much more expensive for different meats.
Salted egg snacks were all the craze a few years ago, and if you ever enjoyed a pack of salted egg snacks, they might have come from Singapore. Irvins is one of the most popular brands selling salted egg snacks, and their snacks are made right in Singapore. Another well-known brand is The Golden Duck Co., which also makes its snacks in Singapore. A 95g bag of salted egg fish skin costs $9.50 SGD³ (around 410.09 PHP) from Irvins while The Golden Duck Co. is slightly cheaper, offering a 115g bag for just $8.88 SGD⁴ (around 383.32 PHP).
Aside from the ubiquitous salted egg fish skin snack, these companies also produce other snacks like seaweed crackers, potato chips and even cornflakes, all coated with either salted egg or other flavours like mala, tom yum goong and other flavours.
Now that you’ve got your eye on a couple of things to buy from Singapore, save more when you spend with the Wise card.
With the Wise card, makaka gastos ka ng 40+ currencies sa mid-market rate, kasama ang USD, SGD, GBP at JPY. Kaya, siguradong makakakuha ka ng sulit na deal sa mahigit 150+ countries. Para makapagsimula, gumawa ka lang ng libreng Wise account, mag-order ng card, at mag-top-up ng PHP.
Maaari kang mag-order ng physical card ng Wise sa halagang 369.90 PHP. Kung mayroon kang physical na card, makakagawa ka ng chip and PIN payments, at may 2 libreng ATM withdrawals na aabot sa 12,000 PHP bawat buwan.
Kapag nasa abroad ka, puwede mong piliing gumastos ng direct as PHP at hayaan mag auto-convert, o i-convert sa gusto mong currency gamit ang iyong Wise account. Kahit ano piliin mo, makukuha mo ang rate na nakikita mo sa Google, na may kasamang low, transparent fees mula 0.57%.
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