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[maria-ze]

| SG Guide |

China Town Day

Breakfast at Duxton Hill

Acoustics Coffee Bar brunch and fancy acoustics

The Coffee Code Singapore nice design and viral waffles

Five Oars Coffee Roasters Heritage red bricks building

Walk around Duxton

Appreciate modern shops, galleries and cafes along Duxton Hill, Neil Road, the six-metre sculpture by Kaws by Mondrian Hotel and Duxton Plain Park.

Climb the Pinnacle@Duxton - an HDB with an impressive sky bridge (6 sgd, you'll need an ez link card or an ID).

Visit Singapore City Gallery with a nice Singapore city center mock-up model. Right next to it is the well known Maxwell Food Centre, nice lunch or snack option.

Walk to Thian Hock Keng Temple at Telok Ayer St with the garden and sculptures. Amoy street and Boon Tat street have plenty of food options for brunch, lunch and dinner. Note that the restaurants in Singapore might be opened in the morning and in the evening and be closed around 2-5pm. Telok Ayes St can be visited on the downtown day as well.

From there walk via Ann Siang road and hill park to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (temple, lovely buddhism museum and rooftop garden), Chinatown Complex for some souvenirs and fun vintage decor pieces and Chinatown Street Market.

Look out for the traditional medicine shops for the witchcraft vibe.

Next to it is the oldest Hindu Sri Mariamman Temple.

Bonus is the gorgeous pre-loved luxury store The Née Vintage Store.

Wrap up the walk with the colourful Chinatown market square and The Majestic mall for fancy Chinese souvenirs and products.

Lunch and dinner recommendations

Potato Head Singapore great rooftop burgers and grill

The Yellow Chair tourist-oriented Chinese opposite to the Chinatown Heritage Centre (reviews are bad, but we really like this place)

Thirty9 very decent Italian at Duxton

Xiao Ya Tou delicious casual Chinese at Duxton

LQV Le Quinze Vins French wine bar by Telok Ayer Street

Shikar posh Indian

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| shop for furniture |

My biggest passions of all. So glad our apartment is partly furnished, otherwise I'd keep on spending half of the family income for the new pieces.

Most of the shops have home accessories, homewares and decorations, but I'll do a separate post on this little nice (un)necessary things.

soul & tables - multibrand shop with selected high quality and timeless items. All the wood is natural and has fantastic velvet-like textures, upholstery is great as well. Staff is friendly and the service in the shops and online is very good. What's not friendly are prices and it's barely affordable to furnish the whole apartment with this shop, but it's great if you're looking for a statement piece or for something you know you'll use a lot. Showroom in Tan Boon Liat, more info on it in the end.

island living - that's how I imagined my life in Singapore before moving - rattan, airy daybeds, reclaimed wood and concrete, consoles to show off beautiful antique pieces... Needless to say my life did not turn out like this, but you still can try ) Love the furniture and the styling.

Castlery - very nice timeless pieces, full range of what you might need for a new apartment. Natural materials and color palette, expensive and relaxed Hampton look and feel with ok prices. Showroom at Orchard.

Originals - Singapore based, old and new furniture, natural materials only, colonial and japandi. Very beautiful, very expensive, but that’s what you expect from leather, wood and restored vintage Indian cabinets.

Kave Home - Spanish brand that gone international. Not cheap, but the quality and the designs are great. Again it's probably the place for the statement pieces, so use it to treat yourself and stroll around the showroom at Raffles City.

Rooma - handmade rattan and wooden furniture, all the asian vibe you've been looking for. All furniture is customisable and they are mostly focused on creating of custom pieces, therefore you'll not really find anything in the online shop. At the same time they have several outlets in the Tan Boon Liat building. Affordable + you can get something truly unique from the available pieces or create your own.

HipVan - Ikea for those who are bored with Ikea ) you can get all you need in one shop with affordable prices. Love the variety of mid-century styles Quality depends and I would recommend to avoid big "wooden" pieces like chest of drawers because it likely to be quite obviously printed texture. Good thing is that there's a showroom at Suntec so you can check it before buying.

IKEA - I mean, you know Ikea, what do you want to read here? It's predictable, it's affordable, it's the chance to have the same items you had at home, you friends have at their homes and you had at that Airbnb in any country. What I'd like to highlight is that it's really one of the cheapest options with the predictable quality. Trolleys for example will be cheaper and better than any Lazada ones, mattresses are great and cheapest as well.

fortytwo - the largest online furniture shop with probably forty two million items. Singapore based, reasonably priced. If you do not get overwhelmed with scrolling for hours and ok not to see/touch furniture before buying - it might be your first choice.

Hock Siong - pre-loved furniture, decor and all the possible home items. Instagram is fun and being updated with the new pieces all the time.

Tan Boon Liat - it's a huge 15 story furniture shop with plenty of boutiques and showrooms in one place. In general it's focused on natural materials, colonial and luxury designs so don't expect a lot of cost-saving options, but it's a chance to visit several brands at ones and get inspired by the interior stylings as well. The building itself is a part of the adventure - the view from the upper floors is great (and a bit scary) and all the shop doors are from the outside balconies (fancy!). Make sure to get water, snacks and hiking shoes - this one will take few hours to investigate.

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| shop for plants |

Because plants are the new pets and pets are the new babies.

There are a lot of small fancy outlets, garden shops and manufactory scale tree nurseries in Singapore being the truly green city, but I'll list the ones I personally shop and like.

Rooted - lovely small shop in the Bras Basah.Bugis, good selection of plants and pots, and repotting service. Online shop is in place as well with the delivery for bigger plants.

The Nursery - expensive, but oh they're good. huge variety of plants including exotic breeds and very big plants, stylish ceramics, fancy pottery. Have not been to the boutique yet and did only online shopping, but yes, you do have expectations when something's called "boutique" )

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| shop for clothes |

Asian brands

If you're opened for on-line shopping - check this asian brands, they worth it and deliver to Singapore in days, sometimes even faster than the local ones.

shop at velvet - a suspiciously cheap brand from Indonesia. Good quality natural materials, nice designs. No showroom in Singapore, most of the items are one size and they fit the European s-m me perfectly.

TURN BLACK - stunning brand from India with traditional and modern designs in black and black only. They also have some homeware and furniture in black and dark wood.

dash & dot - another one brand from India with some impressive statement garments. Festive and casual, shiny and monocolor, kaftans and modern wear. If you look for a silver trench, a golden dress, a polka dot top and porcelean skirt - this place is for you. Look books are beautiful as well.

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| shop for clothes |

Singapore shops with showrooms

You move to a new climate, new lifestyle and dress code. Local brands have been here forever and they already nailed how to deal with all of this and will be your best partners for the the wardrobe update.

I'm a minimalist and a fan of simple lines, black-and-white and natural color palette and dense high-quality fabrics, so all the brands below will follow this pattern.

Singapore brands

from there on - the first asian brand I discovered (not 100% sure it's Singaporean). reminds me of the beloved GATE31 from Saint-Petersburg in the "forever summer" setting and with cheaper prices (it's likely the only time I'll say something is cheaper here). Love the lining and thick jersey that still does not make you feel hot. I have items in sizes s-l that fit my european s-m. Showroom in Orchard.

THE FORM - basic and minimalist clothes with high quality and good prices. They have both nordic and asian vibe. Probably my favourite brand here, own few identical office items in different color. I go for m-l sizes to better fit my hight. 2 showrooms - Raffles City and Orchard.

Love, Bonito - the most pink and girly shops in SG. It took me time to notice great minimalistic clothes hidden in this pink walls. Despite being asian fit focused, they propose wide range of sizes. Absolute love - numerous padded pieces that let you go without a bra. Outlets in almost all big malls.

the editor's market - everyday fashion, accessorise and homeware. Plenty of outlets, good selection of casual and business pieces, quality seems fine, colors are natural and sophisticated, both classic and edgy designs. For some reason I never bought anything there - feel overwhelmed by the selection in the shops and sizes feel asian-small, but still recommend.

Southaven - reasonably priced brand with nice clothes and accessories that do not shed. I saw a lot of bad reviews blaming the quality. Well, some designs, fabrics and colors do look and feel cheap, but I own few great pieces I wear on repeat and have zero regrets. 3 outlets in Orchard and one by East Coast park.

Sans and Sans - smart and mature (in a good way) clothes. I consider them a local COS - neat and edgy designs with affordable prices. I find european models in outlet designs and webpage a bit confusing and fits seem to be more aisan that stops me for trying on every time I reach the outlets, but I still find them very imperssive.

Charles & Keith - shoes and bags that are a national treasure. Casual, fun and official, affordable. If you feel you saw it somewhere - you probably did - partly because there's plenty of outlets and people wearing them, partly because of the vivid styles, and last but not least because of the referencing or copping the current runway trends (no judgment, still love them).

Reckless Erica - the most feminine brand of all with prints, flying skirts and all that romance, but still quite minimalistic. Design studio visits by appointment only.

I'll keep on updating

[maria-ze]

| a house turning into a home |