The Adelphi
Don’t roll your eyes too far up when you visit this medium-sized mall and find audio cables going for a few thousand bucks. The Adelphi specialises in high-end hi-fi equipment, from standing speakers to turntables to the more arcane stuff like digital-to-analogue converters and phono pre-amps. There are also a clutch of second-hand record shops. Be prepared to be given the snooty nose at a few of the boutiques, though – these guys are hardcore audio nuts.No, not Sim Lim Square. This grungey, Jover Chew-less mall is a Mecca for in-the-know geeks who love tinkering with their gear. Across its 17 retail floors (they don’t have a fourth floor, but there’s a basement level), you’ll find all the nuts and bolts: circuit boards, resistors, fuses, all manners of digital and analogue cables… the list goes on. And you’ll wanna pop by early – most of the shops close at 5pm and don’t open on Sundays.
Far East Plaza
Cheap tween fashion first pops to mind when we mention this shopping centre, but you’ll also find a bunch of vintage luxury watch shops here: Monster Time Gallery (#02-22), HJ Luxury (#02-35), Three Crowns (#03-97B), Sheen Gallery (#04-114) and Lu-Ann (#05-107) among them. They all stock second-hand timepieces – at very reasonable prices, too – from your usual Omegas to your unattainable Patek Philippes.
Bras Basah Complex
If Art Friend (#03-33) doesn’t already have what you need, the many other tiny stationery and craft stores will. For inspiration, there’s Cat Socrates (#03-39) and its wealth of twee tchotchkes, as well as the design tomes at Basheer Graphic Books (#04-19).
Go straight down to the basement, where dozens of musical instrument stores sit. You’ve got your guitars (Fenders, Gibsons, Ibanezes – they’re all here), pedals, amplifiers, drum kits, synths, accessories and basically anything you’ll need to rock out. Davis Guitar (#B1-40/41) has been a mainstay for decades, while Sound Alchemy (#B1-19) stocks the hyped-up Fender Japan models.
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