Bugis Street Market in Singapore for all your souvenir shopping needs

If you’re needing to buy a boat load or just a handful of souvenirs while in Singapore, you’ll want to check out Bugis Street Market which is located within a 5 min walk from Bugis MRT Station on the green line. Here’s an MRT map (as of Dec 2019). One of my favorite things about Singapore is the ease of use and navigation (lots of signage everywhere) of their train system (if you’re ok with English).

Once you alight at Bugis Station, you head up the escalators and exit the gantries. Once you’re out of the station you want to turn right. As you reach the end of the hall, turn right again and go up the escalators. Here’s some pictures for visual reference.

Once you’re at the top of the escalators, look straight and a bit to the right (one o’clock position) and you’ll see a crossing to cross the road. Try not to get too distracted by the shopping mall on the left, haha.

Once you’ve crossed the road, you’ll be at the back entrance to Bugis Street Market. I call it the back entrance because there isn’t any signage, that I’ve noticed, to let you know that you’re entering Bugis Street Market. Entrance is below the ‘Happy Hour’ sign. Much to my disappointment, the shop displaying that sign is a watch / time piece shop and not an alcohol vendor. Just in case you’re wondering, the image at the top of this post is what I’d say is the front because there is a Bugis Street (Market) sign, although in my opinion, it’s way too high to be noticeable.

At first glance it may look a bit shady because (other than the lack of signage) it just looks like a narrow and crowded lane with souvenir / gift shops, snack / drink shops on either side but if you go in a little ways, there are lanes/paths on either side that lead you deeper into what is Bugis Street Market. You’ll be amazed at how much stuff is crammed in there. Some of these lanes open up to a bigger section of shops. You’ll even find escalators up to even more shops, lots and lots of tiny cubicles of stuff! I didn’t get a chance to go exploring this time around as I was on a mission for computer parts and had to walk through Bugis Street Market to get to the Sim Lim Square, which is the place to go for IT parts and such. I’ll post about that in the coming days.

Prices at Bugis Street Market is comparable to prices you’ll find at the other touristy places like Chinatown but I’d say you can find better deals here. You can bargain here, a bit, in the shops that are deeper in the side lanes, not so much in the main lane that you entered from. Some vendors can get quite rude and or pushy though, so take that into consideration. Bulk is pretty much the name of game here, you’ll find a lot of 3 for $10 Sgd t-shirt deals in here as well as handful of keychains / magnets for cheap too. It’s generally easier to bargain if you buy a lot, the vendors seem to get nicer in attitude too. Aside from souvenir shops, I’ve seen tattoo parlours in there, gadget shops, gadget accessory shops, and of course lots of clothes. Here’s some pics.

Well worth a look see if you need to buy a bunch of souvenirs or relatively cheaper, trendy, young people clothes. It should take about an hour or two if you’re just window shopping, to see everything provided you don’t get lost in there. I’d say just kidding, but I’ve been lost in there and had to ask for directions to get out, TWICE!

I take everyone who visits me and needs to get souvenirs to Bugis Street Market and none of them regret coming and some request to come again on subsequent visits. Although it can get really crowded in the main lane, once you branch off to the sides, there are less people but the walkways are narrower, so be careful not to knock anything over with your bags and bags of loot! Happy shopping, everyone!

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How to get to Wat Saket, Golden Mount via public transport

In my opinion, Wat Saket is a must visit when in Bangkok and its’ main attraction is Golden Mount. Golden Mount, from afar, looks like a temple on top of a walled fortress and is even more spectacular when seen at night. If you’re interested in looking at some more photos of Golden Mount, HERE’s my post on it

Now the train stop closest to Golden Mount / Wat Saket is on the MRT line (blue line) and the station you need to alight at is named Sam Yot. If you plan on staying late keep in my mind the last train scheduled for departure towards Sukhumvit station. I got there at about 11:45 pm and missed it.

If you’re on the Sukhumvit Line (light green line) then you will need to change trains at either Asok and take the short walk to Sukhumvit MRT station (I’ve outlined details of the walk in my post HERE regarding getting to Wat Arun without taking the ferry). Note: if you’re close to Siam station on the Sukhumvit line it may be a shorter travel distance if you change trains to the Silom line (dark green line) then alight at Sala Daeng station to take the train at Silom Station on the MRT line (blue line). It sounds confusing but one you check out the train map, it’ll be easier to understand.

Sam Yot, I think, is the nicest looking station I’ve seen in Bangkok so far as it looks like a more traditional shop house rather than a transport station. Here’s a photo:

I can’t recall how much the fare was but it should be around $30 Baht. Once you alight at Sam Yot station and exit the building you’ll see this:

That’s the direction you need to go. Continue on until you cross the heritage bridge (there’s a brown sign if you wanna read about it). Right after you cross the bridge you need to turn left and keep walking straight. You’ll need to cross the street about 3 times before reaching the Wat Saket premises. Should be about a 10-15 minute walk depending on how long it takes you to get across some of the intersections, I remember one being quite busy and there are no pedestrian crossing lights.

You’ll be looking for this entrance:

Have fun at Wat Saket and Golden Mount!

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Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market and surrounding area via public transport

Hi again, everyone! Here’s another post regarding one of the “must visit” places in Bangkok, which I was told, is Chatuchak Market. However, it might not be as “must visit” as everyone makes it out to be. I’ll list the details of my visits and let you decide for yourself. If you don’t know, Chatuchak Market is a HUGE market with an outdoor section and an indoor section. Area wise it’s maybe about 3 soccer fields? I’m just guessing though. Here’s a map:

So how do we get there? I started off on the Sukhumvit BTS Line (the light green line on the train maps). If you are as well then the station you need to alight at is named, Mo Chit. If you’re on the MRT, the station to alight at is Chatuchak Park or Kamphaeng Phet. As you can see on the map, Chatuchak Market is between those two MRT stations (that should be a better indication of its size as opposed to my guesstimate, lol). Once you get off the train at Mo Chit, you’ll need to exit the station using Exit 1. Here’s a couple of pics to help you find your way:

You’re going for the overhead bridge in the photo below:

Then down the stairs,

Walk past the MRT station (Chatuchak Park station). If you’re on the MRT, this is what your exit/entrance looks like 😎

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I finally found it! Train station close to National Palace and Wat Pho

If you’ve been following my shenanigans in Bangkok, specifically how i ended up at the Grand Palace (that post is HERE) and how to get to Wat Pho via public transport (post is HERE) then you know that i had great difficulty, although worth it in the end, when it came to getting to the Wat Pho/Grand Palace area via public transport.

This “new” way, I’ve found does not include any boat rides for those of you who get sea sick, like me. It does include a change of train lines though. If you plan on visiting Wat Arun while you’re around the Grand Palace / Wat Pho area, you will still have to take the ferry across the river as this MRT station is on the same side of the river as Wat Pho and the Grand Palace.

This MRT station is about a 10 min walk from Wat Pho, basically in a straight line, so you wont have to navigate any side streets or anything like that. How I didn’t find this station in my visits to this area is beyond me even more baffling is why it didn’t come up (if it did, it was so obscure I missed it) in my Google searches.

Well, the reason, was because … drumroll …. it didn’t occur to me that there were two train lines/systems. The BTS (which i thought was the only one) and the MRT line. So I Googled ‘BTS’ stations. My daughter’s bf Googled ‘MRT’ stations (because he’s from Singapore and they call their train system ‘the MRT’). I can’t really tell you which way to go from Wat Pho since the complex is huge and with multiple entrances/exits but if you just use Google Maps with the “magic” search term you should have no problems finding the station and subsequently the path to it.

The “magic” search term is … Sanam Chai MRT Station. The photo above is the entrance to the station, which is underground. This explains why I couldn’t see the tracks when I was looking up and around for train tracks, hahaha. In case you’re wondering, Sanam Chai MRT is on the blue line.

Since the MRT station is not a BTS station, the Rabbit card (prepaid BTS card) is not accepted. Instead you have to use the machines at the station to buy a token. Once you get the token, you ‘tap’ it on the card reader at the gantry and only when you exit do you put the token in the slot of the gantry/turnstyle thing. Just like on the Airport line, if ypu’re interested in getting to Suvarnahbumi Airport or Don Mueang Airport from the Sukhumvit BTS line or vice versa then check out my post about that journey HERE.

To get to the Sukhumvit Line (light green line on the maps) from Sanam Chai MRT station, get on the train heading to Bang Sue Station. Ride this train to Sukhumvit Station which is about 7 stops away. When you alight at Sukhumvit Station you need to take a short walk to the connecting station on the light green Sukhumvit Line named, Asok station. There’s clear signage to guide you, so don’t worry. The ride will cost you $28 baht (from Sanam Chai Station to Sukhumvit Station). Just to be clear, there is a Sukhumvit Station which is an MRT station on the blue line and a Sukhumvit Line which is the light green BTS line.

Consider following me for updates and to find not only my other travel bloopers, blunders and shenanigans but also photography related news/reviews and the occasional contest entry.

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you’re interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don’t hesitate to contact me for more details. Thanks in advance!

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