Singapore has a plethora of malls, and one Australian tourist visited one of the swankiest ones in the country, but found herself bewildered.

TikTok user _jessiecarr, who is on a solo trip here, candidly shared her experience visiting The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands in a video posted on Thursday (Aug 24).

"Don't go to a shopping centre in Singapore unless you're rich," she warned, looking around.

Wondering if it was maybe "just this [mall] that I'm looking at", Jessie pointed out the designer shops all around her, including Bottega Veneta, Hermes, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton and Prada.

"I have not yet seen one affordable store that I could actually spend money at," she added, then correcting herself to "would spend money at" instead.

Visiting the TWG Cafe, she noted that the place was "on a water feature" and had "gold teapots and s***".

"I do not belong here, get me out," she joked.

Jessie also spotted more affordable brands such as Lululemon — which she still considered expensive but "not complete designer" — Bath & Body Works and Sephora, where she noticed product prices were the same as in Australia.

She remarked: "We might be getting somewhere. I think we're at the poor people side of The Shoppes."

Wondering if she would end up at $2 stores eventually if she walked further, Jessie was disappointed to find out that the path led to a food court.

And right above were Dior and Gucci stores, to which she exclaimed: "F*** off!"

One netizen played into Jessie's perceptions of how expensive Singapore's malls were, joking in the comments: "These are like thrift stores for us here. MBS not even expensive."

"Clearly that is loose change for us Singaporeans," another joked.

Others agreed with Jessie's assessment of MBS.

"You’re at the wrong shopping mall. I can’t afford anything much there too," a comment read.

"I go there just for the toilet... I am broke like that," read another.

Some netizens gave Jessie suggestions for malls with more affordable stores.

"Go Suntec City, Marina Square, Vivo City," a netizen commented. "Or go to the heartlands. Bishan Junction 8, Causeway Point, Tampines 1, Century Square — those kinds." 

Others suggested IMM, Lucky Plaza, Far East Plaza and Mustafa Centre.

Visiting Singapore on US$100 a day

While Jessie may have found the stores at MBS too expensive, Canadian couple Nicole and Mico recently tried to see if they could make do with just US$100 (S$135) a day when visiting Singapore.

"Unfortunately for us budget travellers, Singapore is often regarded as one of the most expensive cities in the world," Mico said.

While they also visited Marina Bay Sands, they spent little time at The Shoppes and opted to pay $17 each to head to the SkyPark Observation Deck instead.

They also visited Haji Lane, the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay — which they didn't deem worth the price — and ate at Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant and McDonald's.

Last month, two other tourists challenged themselves to spend a day in Singapore with just $50 between the two of them.

drimac@asiaone.com

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