SINGAPORE is famous for its shopping malls.

Every corner you turn, everywhere you look, there's a huge sprawling mall under construction.

Add the two new integrated resorts into the mix and we have an island of shops.

We have so many malls, it's exasperating!

I love shopping but I am not overzealous about it.

Lately, I haven't been shopping that much due to my expanding waistline and, even when I do finally buy some maternity wear, it would probably be done online because of a lack of simple and classy maternity clothes in Singapore.

Having said that, I have done my fair share of shopping at our malls.

My favourite malls in Singapore include ION Orchard, Paragon, Mandarin Gallery, Takashimaya and VivoCity.

ION Orchard, Paragon and Takashimaya are on my list because they boast a wide variety of brand-name shops and great restaurants.

If you comb through them, you would find little gems, like the shop that sells only Japanese snacks or the one that sells really pretty stationery in ION Orchard.

Takashimaya is where my regular yoga studio is and it has ample parking space, which is a bonus.

Paragon is small, comparatively, but it has a good mix of high-end and edgy brands and you can valet-park your car in its basement carpark.

I love the Mandarin Gallery for hard-to-find brands and cool locally designed clothes.

Most times, I can't resist stopping by the numerous small boutiques on my way to the famous Ramen haunt, Ippudo.

VivoCity is on my list because of the GV cinemas there.

I've spent many Saturday afternoons sitting reclined in the Gold Class cinemas watching a movie. This is one of my and my fiance's favourite pastimes.

VivoCity is also a really good mall for Christmas shopping as the shops are never really too crowded and you can find a range of reasonably priced items to buy for friends and family members.

The shopping malls I dislike are probably the ones you hate too.

One of these is Lucky Plaza because, well, you know why: It's grimy, seedy and old.

The same reasons apply to People's Park Complex.

There's a popular mall in Marine Parade that I go to but hate - Parkway Parade.

It is crowded almost every day, and don't get me started on the parking situation there. It is absolutely horrendous.

The shopping centre was built in the 1970s and I don't think its developers knew how popular the place would become and how many cars it would have to accommodate decades later.

The carpark is enough to make me curse and scream. A one-way only entrance and exit ensure you are always going to be stuck behind some car whose driver cannot park quickly.

The only plus point about Parkway Parade is the Cold Storage supermarket located in its basement.

Another place I could not care much for is the shopping arcade at Marina Bay Sands. It tries too hard to be sophisticated, upmarket and Western.

And even though I usually do take to nice places, I find it too snooty for me to give it my time of day.

But, then, I'm sure it doesn't care: I'm not one of its high rollers.

And there you go: A rough guide to the shopping spots on our island.

Monday was a public holiday because of National Day.

How did you spend it?

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