Buying Outdoor Gear

Hani wrote to ask for recommendations on buying outdoor gear in Singapore, for a Nepal trek. I started off squeezing a few tips into the comment box and then finally decided this was long enough to merit its own post. Here it is...

First, you've probably already got a list of gear you need. It helps to consult with an experienced friend to write up the list, if you don't want to be making six trips back to the outdoor stores like we did!

If you've got a couple of days in Kathmandu before you start your trek, you might want to consider buying a few things there instead. Some outdoor gear is much cheaper in Kathmandu than in Singapore, and you'll have a wider range of choice.

Items better purchased in Kathmandu include waterproof jackets; warm external clothing - fleece jackets, hats, gloves, and even fleece pants if you need them; and trek poles.

Next, hiking shoes. These are best bought early because you'll need time to break them in. We bought ours two weeks before our trip, which was cutting it a bit close. I wore the boots everywhere those two weeks, even to the office! We bought our boots from Camper's Corner. The staff there are friendly, knowledgeable, and will patiently offer advice while you try on different pairs of boots to help you get exactly the right fit. The shops at Peninsula Plaza also sell a limited range of hiking boots and shoes.

Campers has a wide range of trek pants and thermals, and if you buy a lot of gear from them they'll give you a nice little discount.

Then, bags. Sports Connection at Funan mall, Plaza Singapura, and Peninsula Plaza is a good source for a wide variety of backpacks and day packs. I liked the branch at Funan because they, again, patiently helped us out with fitting and trying day packs to get the right fit. The store proprietor loaded three day packs with books so I could try how they felt when loaded, and let me browse around the store for half an hour carrying different bags to test them out. In addition to our bags, we ended up buying our Nalgene bottles, Camelbak-style water bladders, and a bunch of other stuff from here.

Regular sports shops like Royal Sporting House, World of Sports, and the many stores at Queensway are also a good source for bags.

Our entire list of sources:

Camper's Corner - boots

Sports Connection - bags

Sportslink - general sports gear

Peninsula Plaza - several outdoor shops here too

Adidas and Nike flagship stores at Suntec

eBay Singapore

We sold some of our gear, like the trek poles, on eBay after we got back.

Enjoy your Nepal trek, tell us all about it! I love the anticipation of planning for trips.

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Settlers in Singapore

Carl and Kathy are visiting this week, and they've brought over a present guaranteed to cut our sleeping hours in half: the Cities and Knights expansion pack for Settlers of Catan.


The original Settlers game was a Saturday night staple for us back in Manila, and we've now learned that everyone else has since moved on to Cities and Knights - leaving us woefully behind. A situation soon to be rectified!

We started playing at 10 PM, with Carl explaining the rules as we went along. Knights, barbarians, commodities and city developments add more depth to the Settlers game, and the wide range of progress cards (replacing development cards) gives players a lot of flexibility. Carl's sheep and wool factory eventually propelled him into first place, but John put up a good fight... I sense a re-match in our immediate future. The game took three hours in all; as we become familiar with the new rules, games should go much faster.

Thanks, Carl and Kathy! It's great having you here, our home is always open to you and all of our friends.

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Trekking Toa Payoh

On Monday we decided to slow down and see more of Singapore on foot. So we started out from Thomson Road, stopped at Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice, walked past Balestier, past the vast green space of the Singapore Polo Club, and then stopped at a cluster of flower wholesalers whom I'd always seen from bus windows but never visited.


It was a good decision. The chilled storage areas where they keep the cut flowers were a wonderful relief from Singapore's muggy weather. Better yet, I discovered a great source for cheap flowers. At Far East Flora I picked up a bunch of 10 orange tulips for S$15 or so; they had roses for about S$1 each, and huge bunches of mums or orchids for S$10. They also sell flower food and supplies - baskets, floral foam, the whole range. Much more comfortable than going to Divisoria, I have to say.

After paying for the tulips and a vase, we continued in the direction of Macritchie Reservoir and stopped in at Mt. Alvernia Hospital to give the flowers to a colleague recovering from appendicitis. Unlike Manila hospital rooms which turn each hospital stay into a small party, this Singapore ward was a no-nonsense affair: no couch for visitors to stay overnight on, and they kick everyone out when visiting hours end! I extracted two tulips so that the remaining eight would fit comfortably in the vase.

From Mt. Alvernia Hospital, taking the bus back on our normal route seemed like a cop-out, so we decided to keep walking in a direction we've never been before. This gave us a first-hand view of the Circle MRT line being constructed, and a heart-pounding moment when we walked under a half-finished overpass protected only by a flimsy wooden panel that looked like it wouldn't protect us from a heavy rain, much less falling concrete.

We walked up Braddell Road ("Does that sign really say 'Ang Mo Kio'? That's far!" "See, that's the highway entrance going to Ang Mo Kio." "Oh."), debated left and right turns at intersections, and slowly got hungry. We could see the lights from HDB coffeeshops and hawker stalls, always two blocks away behind a tall fence or unfordable canal. So near and yet so far. We consoled ourselves with the thought that those hawkers probably served pig's organ soup or fish head curry anyway - not our favorites at the best of times.

Finally, a familiar bus number. 56! But, 56 going in the wrong direction, coming from our neighborhood when it should have been going towards our home. If we kept walking we'd circle all the way around and emerge somewhere near Little India. The route map at the bus station indicated that Toa Payoh Central was somewhere in our not-too-distant future. Note to self: if one is ever lost in Singapore, the bus station route maps are lifesavers for navigation.

At this point we were starting to enter the outskirts of Toa Payoh, where the streets blur into a maze of similarly-named passages snaking between anonymous HDB blocks... Toa Payoh Lorong 2, Toa Payoh Lorong 4, Toa Payoh Lorong 6. We decided to walk four more bus stops, get something to eat at Toa Payoh Central (at this point, we joked that even a McDonald's would have been welcome) and then board the MRT at Toa Payoh station for the ride home. Of course, we still had no idea where we were at this point -- in the space of two blocks we saw signs to "Toa Payoh Central" pointing in three different directions.

Finally, after passing yet another anonymous lorong, we stopped to check out the route map at the bus stop. No route map. Hmm. It was time for another momentous decision - take the bus or keep walking? At this point bus 56 pulled up, all brightly lit and shiny. It was a sign! We boarded the bus and my walked-out feet thanked me.

John made a crack about how funny it would be if the Toa Payoh mall were the next stop. As we rounded the corner... you guessed it. A big red McDonald's sign welcomed our bus to Toa Payoh Central, followed shortly after by half-a-dozen food places, a FairPrice supermarket, and a Popular bookstore. Ah. So much for touring suburban Singapore malls.

Bus 56 deposited us, intrepid urban trekkers, a short distance from our house... proud owners of two very well-travelled tulips.

P.S. I looked Toa Payoh up while writing this blog post and can't believe what I've found. The Singapore tourism board actually has a page for Toa Payoh. And you can also read Toa Payoh's entry at Wikipedia. Er, how fascinating. ;) 

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Capoeira in Singapore

I've recently resumed training capoeira, a Brazilian martial art (and a very artistic one, at that), with Mestre Ousado. He leads the Association of Capoeira Argola de Ouro, which is the first capoeira association in Singapore.

They recently performed at WOMAD. The group often also does demonstrations / street rodas on the first or second Saturday of the month, 6 pm or so, on Orchard Road in front of Takashimaya.

Batizado is coming up, September 11 to 14 at NUS. Interested members of the public are welcome to join the workshops from September 11 to 13 - even those with no prior capoeira experience.

Regular classes are held at The Substation on Saturdays (4-6 pm) and Sundays (3-5 pm); and NUS on Wednesdays and Fridays (7-9 pm both days). You can check out class details and contact information here.

New students interested in joining the class should show up at either venue about 15 minutes before class start time, and speak with Mestre Ousado.

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The Chocolate Factory

We tried a few chocolates from Laurent Bernard, chocolatier (at The Chocolate Factory at Robertson Quay), after dinner at Irene's place.

What can I say... those dark chocolates are heaven. Even at the whopping price of about S$38 for a dozen chocolates. You really do get what you pay for.

The Chocolate Factory sets aside a chilled walk-in room to display its chocolates, sort of like the walk-in chiller at Corduroy & Finch. You take a plate and a pair of tongs, pick out the chocolates that you want, and take them to the counter for serving or packing.

In addition to chocolates, The Chocolate Factory also serves a range of cakes and tarts - mostly chocolate-based, of course.

Be warned though - the cafe is small and staffed by a tiny crew. That means your order gets personalized attention from the chef, but it also means a loooong wait for your order to be filled.

Max Brenner's has a new rival for the distinction of being my favorite chocolate spot. I just love competition.

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