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What locals actually give: bak kwa, tarts, tea, orchids and better fridge art.
Skip the keychain stalls. These are the shops Singaporeans use when they need a gift: bak kwa on New Bridge Road, pineapple tarts, kopi and tea, orchid jewellery, Peranakan tiles and local design. Check your home country's customs rules before you buy meat.
Order: Sliced bak kwa
Chinatown · $$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The benchmark on New Bridge Road: thin sheets of sweet pork grilled over charcoal until the edges caramelise. Sold by weight.
Pork jerky is refused at customs in Australia, the US, the UK and the EU. Eat it here, or check your country's rules before buying.
Order: Traditional sliced bak kwa
Chinatown · $$$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The oldest name in Singapore bak kwa. It grills sliced pork rather than minced, so it is leaner, chewier and smokier than the mall brands.
Taste the traditional and the spicy before you choose; 500g makes a generous gift. The same meat rules at customs apply.
Order: Bak kwa, pork floss
Chinatown · $$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
From a 1933 market stall to a household name. Besides bak kwa, the Chinatown shop sells pork floss, prawn rolls and sausage.
Compare a slice here with Lim Chee Guan a few doors along, then pick a side. Meat rules at home still apply, so check first.
Order: Kueh lapis, pandan chiffon, pineapple tarts
Civic District · $$ · MRT City Hall (EW13/NS25)
Daily 10:00–21:30
Layered kueh lapis, pandan chiffon and pineapple tarts in tidy boxes. The default thank-you gift in Singapore offices.
Kueh lapis and cookies keep for days; fresh kueh is for today. There are shops in every Changi terminal if you run out of time.
Order: Pineapple balls and tarts
Chinatown · $$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Daily 09:00–20:00
Buttery pastry around slow-cooked pineapple jam, packed in tins printed with the skyline. A second shop at Jewel covers last-minute runs.
Pineapple balls survive a suitcase better than open tarts. Buy sealed tins rather than loose ones for a long flight.
Order: Sweet and salty tau sar piah
Chinatown · $$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Daily 10:00–21:30
Tau sar piah: thin, crackly pastry around sweet or salty mung bean paste, from a Teochew bakery recipe that dates to 1943.
Get a mixed box of sweet and salty. They are best within a few days, so buy them on your last afternoon, not your first.
Order: Cookie tins, egg rolls, pandan chiffon
Marina Bay · $$ · MRT Bayfront (CC34/DT16)
Sun–Thu 10:30–22:00; Fri–Sat 10:30–23:00
A pastry chef's revival of his family's 1965 confectionery: cookies in local flavours, egg rolls and pandan chiffon, boxed for gifting.
The nearest proper gift shop to the conference halls. Tins pack flat and keep well. More shops airside at Changi T1, T2 and T4.
Order: Kopi, and kopi powder to go
Chinatown · $ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Mon–Fri 07:00–18:30; Sat–Sun 07:00–21:00
A heritage-style kopitiam in a Chinatown shophouse. Drink a kopi at the marble tables, then take a bag of the blend home to brew.
Ask for kopi siew dai if you like it less sweet. Kopi powder needs a cloth sock or a fine filter to brew properly at home.
Order: Kaya jars and kopi packs
Orchard · $ · MRT Somerset (NS23)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Breakfast at the original shop off Orchard Road, then take home the brand's kaya and coffee, sold in jars and packs.
A kaya jar counts as a liquid at airport security, so pack it in checked luggage. Check the date and chill it once opened.
Order: Salted egg fish skin
Orchard · $$ · MRT Somerset (NS23)
Daily 11:00–21:30
Crisp fish skin and potato chips tossed in salted egg yolk, curry leaf and chilli. The snack Singaporeans hand-carry to friends abroad.
Light and sealed, so it rides fine in hand luggage. Also sold airside in every Changi terminal. One bag rarely survives the flight.
Order: Loose-leaf tea in tins
Marina Bay · $$$ · MRT Bayfront (CC34/DT16)
Sun–Thu 10:00–22:00; Fri–Sat 10:00–22:30
Walls of tins, a 50-seat tea salon and a bonbon counter, a short walk from the conference floor. The gift-box option done properly.
Loose-leaf tea clears customs almost anywhere. Sit down for a pot first and buy the one you liked; tea macarons are for eating here.
Marina Bay · $$ · MRT Bayfront (CC34/DT16)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The big name in traditional Chinese medicine: herbs, tonics, bird's nest and soothing oils on tidy shelves. Gifts for parents and in-laws.
Medicated oils and balms are light and loved by older relatives. Check your country's rules before packing bird's nest or dried herbs.
Orchard · $$$$ · MRT Orchard (NS22/TE14)
Daily 10:00–22:00
A Singapore brand that preserves real orchid blooms in gold, alongside orchid-shaped jewellery. This is its flagship shop.
Each natural orchid piece is slightly different, so choose in person. RISIS also has shops at the Botanic Gardens and airside at Changi.
Chinatown · $$$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Collector Victor Lim's shop of the bright glazed tiles that once lined shophouse walls, from salvaged antiques to new copies.
Replica tiles make sturdy, flat gifts; antiques cost more. Wrap them in clothes in your checked bag, never loose in a backpack.
Order: Nanyang-style oolong blends
Chinatown · $$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Mon–Sat 08:30–18:30
A century-old Chinatown tea merchant that still roasts, blends and packs its teas here, including the dark oolongs drunk with bak kut teh.
Small paper packets are cheap, light and pack flat, and dry tea is welcome at most borders. Closed on Sundays.
Order: Oolong and pu-erh leaves, clay teapots
Chinatown · $$ · MRT Maxwell (TE18)
Tea house Sun–Thu 11:00–21:00, Fri–Sat 11:00–22:30; shop opens 10:30
A Neil Road tea house since 1989 where staff show you how to brew gongfu style. The shop sells the same leaves plus small clay teapots.
Sit for a pot before you shop so you know which leaf you like. Queen Elizabeth II once visited; the house still mentions it.
Bukit Merah · $$$ · MRT Redhill (EW18)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Blue-and-white plates drawn with Singapore icons and made by Japanese kilns. The design gift locals actually put on the table.
The Henderson Road shop opens Monday to Saturday. In town, Supermama also runs the shops at the Asian Civilisations and Peranakan museums.
Changi · $$ · MRT Changi Airport (CG2)
Daily 10:00–22:00
Homegrown designs, books and local gifts in one shop on Jewel's ground floor. It is landside, so you can shop before you check in.
Give Jewel an hour before your flight: Kele and Bengawan Solo are on the same floor. Jars and bottles go in your checked bag.
Order: Kaya toast chocolate bar, bonbons
Orchard · $$ · MRT Orchard (NS22/TE14)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Bean-to-bar chocolate and bonbons made in Singapore, in local flavours like pandan coconut. The kaya toast bar starts conversations.
Chocolate and tropical heat do not mix: buy it last and keep it in the cabin. The Dempsey factory runs bonbon-making workshops.
Order: Kopitiam Collection chocolate bars
Buona Vista · $$ · MRT Buona Vista (EW21/CC22)
Daily 10:00–21:00
A small chocolate factory with a café attached. The Kopitiam bars taste of Singapore: kopi gao, teh C, ondeh ondeh and zi char cereal.
Buy a set of the Kopitiam bars as gifts and keep them cool. Café last orders 20:40; walk-ins only. Buona Vista MRT is next door.
Kampong Glam · $$$ · MRT Bugis (EW12/DT14)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Batik cut into relaxed, modern clothes, including their signature Utama trousers, in a Kampong Glam shophouse near Arab Street.
Batik breathes in the heat, so wear it this week. Opening hours are not posted online; message them before you make the trip.
Civic District · $$$ · MRT City Hall (EW13/NS25)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The hotel's own gift shop: Singapore Sling glassware, Raffles kaya, tea and homeware in the hotel's colonial style.
Pair it with a Sling at the Long Bar. The kaya jar counts as a liquid at airport security, so it goes in your checked bag.
Bras Basah · $$ · MRT Bras Basah (CC2)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A small local design label with gifts that only make sense here: Singlish mugs and totes shaped like a takeaway kopi bag.
Up on the fourth floor of Bras Basah Complex among the art supply shops. Mugs need bubble wrap; the totes fold flat.
Tanjong Pagar · $$$ · MRT Tanjong Pagar (EW15)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A home label that turns shophouse facades, old tiles and local landmarks into prints for cushion covers and table linen.
Cushion covers weigh almost nothing and fold into any bag. It is a short walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT in the CBD.
Order: Gin bottles
Dempsey · $$$ · MRT Napier (TE12), then a walk or taxi
Hours unknown, check before you go
A local craft gin distilled with Asian botanicals, including a gin flavoured with orchid. A bottle says Singapore without a Merlion on it.
Bottles go in checked luggage, and your home country's duty-free alcohol limit applies. Pair it with an evening at Dempsey.
Unofficial · not affiliated with TOKEN2049. Hours and prices change; check before you go.