With the humidity and burning Christmas decorations on Orchard Road, it’s hard to get into the Christmas mood in Singapore. Add in the pressure of the office gift exchange and buying silly things for loved ones just because it is that time of the year to buy gifts — Christmas can be so unforgiving.
But we’ve got your back and we know how it feels to let good money be slipping away in December, or leaving the shopping till the last minute because you’ve been discouraged by the Orchard Road crowd. So here’s the plan. Go cheap and go offline. As in less-than-$20-per-person cheap, and yup, you have to go out to some of them neighbourhood shops. Don’t worry, no one will know how much of a cheapskate you are.
GIFT IDEAS
Colour Me Not Bad
Colouring books for adults (not x-rated, just regular colouring books with complex patterns) are all the rage now and screw it, you ain’t got time to order them from Books Depository so to the shops you must go. Surprisingly, your local bookstore Popular is well stocked with these books by illustrator Johanna Basford. Each book ranges from $14 to $25 and if you buy two, you’ll even get a discount. Yey for Christmas discounts and really, it makes for a decent gift (see above).
Locate the nearest Popular store here.
SG50 For The Final Time
This year had a lot of people pining for old things Singaporean. Singlish phrases we used to cringe at became acceptable and the dragon playground structure we took for granted is now sacred. Drop by The Little Dröm Store at the School Of The Arts (SOTA) to pick some pretty melamine plates ($12.90 each) with the classic playground designs or iconic sayings like ‘Steady Pom Pi Pi’ and ‘Jiak Kan Tang’. Being patriotic can be classy too.
The Little Dröm Store: SOTA, School of the Arts ,1 Zubir Said Drive, #02-01, Singapore 227968
Sock It Up
Who says socks make for lousy gifts? Not if they look really nice. Local label Freshly Pressed makes socks that are worthy of showing off. Like most people in the workforce, the socks come with names and a name card with their backstory. Giving socks for Christmas shows that you’re a chill and nice guy — too cool to stress over a Christmas gift, but kind enough to give someone he probably doesn’t care too much about a unique gift.
Check out the list of stockists for Freshly Pressed here.
Big Ben
What’s Christmas without sweet treats? If manufactured candy canes and silly sweets are too juvenile for you, then you should get baked. Baked goods, that it. Ben’s Cookies serves some classic and solid biscuits around — I mean who wants to eat button-sized cookies when you can get a giant one that tastes homemade and authentic with lots of gooey and warm chocolate in-between bites? Chances are, a lot of other people should be cookie-crazy too so getting a box of five for $14.75 makes for a thoughtful and sweet present this Christmas.
Ben’s Cookies: 435 Orchard Rd, #B1-50 Wisma Atria, Singapore 238877
Artsy Fartsy
If you’re known as the hipster among your colleagues and friends, don’t fight this label — own it. Show them that going to museums make you a better person who can buy tasteful gifts that are practical and still look good on Instagram. Stick to the simple stuff like the museum tote bag, or a print of one of the paintings. Look at the official museum tote bag from the National Gallery store, Gallery & Co. It’s red on the inside, looks minimal, and is perhaps the classiest tote bag you’ll ever see. Plus if you sign up for the newsletter updates, you get 10% off stuff in the store. Ace!
National Gallery Singapore: 1 St. Andrew’s Rd Singapore 178957
Culture Voucher
When in doubt, voucher. You can’t go wrong, really. As unoriginal and cold as it seems, a voucher is like an awesome buffet where I can choose whatever I want, until they stop you because there is a limit. A $20 Kinokuniya voucher can get you very far in friendship, a $20 Sephora voucher will make you everyone’s BFF, a $20 Bath & Body Works voucher might make you a hit with the office aunties — vouchers man, people love that shit.
Notebook planner
Looking ahead is always good. It means you always have your shit together — even if you forgot to buy gifts for the Christmas exchange. Skip the indulgent stuff and give people what they really need: a good old notebook planner. Helps that it looks pretty as well — like these ones ($13.90 each) you can pick up from Megafash in Katong I12, and of course the minimalist ones from Muji that won’t cost a bomb.
Pick up a planner at one of these Megafash outlets.
EATS
Pizza Party
Jesus’ favourite food was bread, so what better to eat on his B-day than bread with some processed meat on top. He also had a penchant to eat with a bunch of friends so the more the merrier (and cheaper, since you’ll be splitting cost). There’s a couple of pizza places around town to get your classic thin-crust, so there’s no need to go gourmet and expensive. Dominos is dealing two extra large pizzas for $44, Canadian Pizza is always 1-for-1, Peperoni Pizzeria have huge pizzas enough for a lot of people. After all, the company’s all that matters, no?
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner
Nothing can go wrong with a huge-ass bucket of chicken. Even better is the part where you split the cost of the food with the sharing party — ah value for money. The ever so dependable KFC are running their Red Hot Chicken Christmas promotion. Top choice Korean fried chicken, 4 Fingers, has a $99 for 99 pieces of chicken deal. Yes, you best believe that there will be close to a hundred pieces of chicken in a box. Gather nine to 10 people and they chip in with a tenner each, and 10 pieces of chicken will have your name written on them. Best thing, you don’t have to stress about preordering, just pick ‘em up yourself.
Order your 4 Fingers Chicken at any of these stores.
Starbucks and Chill
With their festive flavours, seasonal red cups, and specially-for-Christmas merchandise, Starbucks really know how to cash in on Christmas. Thing is, people lap it up happily. Panettone in a cup — why not? And because they are so generous, and lucky for you, everyone in the world loves Starbucks, the festive merchandise are at 30% off now. If getting a sparkly green tumbler isn’t what you’re planning on, from Dec 21 to 23, between 3pm and 7pm, purchase any Venti Christmas drink and have another to share with someone you’re meant to give a gift too. There’s nothing more intimate than making someone your significant other for 1-for-1 deals.
Check in to your nearest Starbucks here.
