Singapore Expats

Exiles from the 'other board'

Discuss about the latest news & interesting topics, real life experience or other out of topic discussions with locals & expatriates in Singapore.
Post Reply
User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40376
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:16 pm

missis, all are welcome here. We are like one big family. And all that entails :oops:

Seriously, have a read of the various stickies at the tops of the forums. ;)

Our biggest headache here are spammers & advertisers and, while not a big problem, unintentional advertisers (regulars who forget the rules occasionally). Oh, we don't like MLM'rs either! Strong Eagle's biggie!
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

User avatar
JR8
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 16522
Joined: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:43 pm
Location: K. Puki Manis

Re: Also migrated from the Other Board

Post by JR8 » Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:59 pm

missis wrote:Hi, I was there on the other board earlier today when the final straw that broke... took place where you, Pripps, some otherS and I said bye! Sad because it would seem that the other posters on there would have no idea what happened and I'm sure there would be more migrants if they knew... Hope we see a better situation on this site!
Hi Missis. Yeah today was mad. The ritualistic nee gleeful bashing by the Admins of Kubes was just ... shocking to behold. Followed by them deleting the whole 90 post topic without a word of explanation to anyone (which was par for the course for them really)

Hope we can be more chilled out here. It certainly seems less tense.

Hey let's carry out a test...

Mustafa.

... ...

Hey wow, I didn't get deleted for that! :)

User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40376
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:11 pm

Oh we've recommended mustafa's quite a few times here! Matter of fact, they are my personal money changer of choice among other things! :cool:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

User avatar
nakatago
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 8363
Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:23 pm
Location: Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Children

Post by nakatago » Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:24 pm

they sell everything there, right? :lol:
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

User avatar
Splatted
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 919
Joined: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 2:59 am

Post by Splatted » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:05 am

nakatago wrote:they sell everything there, right? :lol:
Almost everything.

They used to be the only stockist I knew of that held Rexona for men in the aerosol spray (all black tin) - and very cheap compared to prices in Australia. But last year I had to settle for the roll-on when I was on holidays there.

User avatar
JR8
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 16522
Joined: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:43 pm
Location: K. Puki Manis

Post by JR8 » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:28 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Oh we've recommended mustafa's quite a few times here! Matter of fact, they are my personal money changer of choice among other things! :cool:
Bit of an in-joke on ES. Er, as much as one might have a running joke inside Colditz.

Mustafa really mystifies me they seem to have two jewellery, TV, and other departments at different ends of the building: as intuitive as the escalators in Ion. But if you can find what you want then it is meant to be one of the better deals you'll find in town.

p.s. for changing money (in size) I always go to The Arcade at Raffles Place. Their margins are tiny, I even had a guy presumably trying to unwind a position deal at better than market (Reuters pager) a year or two back. In contrast you would not be in the slightest surprised to see a 15-20% spread on S$ from something like Travelex in London.

Girl_Next_Door
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 621
Joined: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:35 pm

Post by Girl_Next_Door » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 8:34 am

Personally, I prefer Arcade as well. Some of my colleagues claim a particular one is better than the rest, but seriously, I think anyone of them are better than most money changers outside CBD area.

Plus, considering the fact that I walk to Arcade, I figured that the amount of cab fare I spent going to Mustafa (or any other recommended money changer) will be more than exchange rate differences I stand to gain.

And nope, I don't change millions of dollars when I travel, unless you are referring to rupiah. :lol:
Last edited by Girl_Next_Door on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
nakatago
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 8363
Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:23 pm
Location: Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Children

Post by nakatago » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 9:09 am

I haven't checked but do they sell the following in Mustafa?

* Tide Detergent
* Cheez Whiz

:P :lol:
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40376
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 9:37 am

Cheez Wiz? Processed food junkie are you? :lol:

Bet you got cheeto's crumbs in your keyboard as well don't you! :D
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40376
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 9:41 am

I'll agree on the Arcade as well, but like others, I don't change huge bankrolls of money so the difference to me is usually the transport costs involved. I have to make a special trip to the Arcade out of my way but Mustafa is right at the Farrer Park MRT so I pass there 2x daily anyway. But yeah, the Arcade, second floor, right side, walking from the up escalator about 2/3's the way back (past the POSB but opposite side) has very good rates with very small margin and better rates for larger amounts if notified ahead of time. Can't find the card or remember the name at the moment though.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

User avatar
nakatago
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 8363
Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:23 pm
Location: Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Children

Post by nakatago » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 9:49 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Cheez Wiz? Processed food junkie are you? :lol:

Bet you got cheeto's crumbs in your keyboard as well don't you! :D
Not really, just wondering, because some people ask me to buy them Cheez Whiz whenever I go home to my country. Goes well in beef calderata. Also, why is cheese (even plain 'ole cheddar) so expensive here in Singapore?

And ew. I don't touch Cheetos anymore for a good 15 years already, much more eat them while using a computer.
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

User avatar
JR8
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 16522
Joined: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:43 pm
Location: K. Puki Manis

Exiles

Post by JR8 » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:42 am

My approach is to do a quick scoot past the entrance and down the 1st floor (i.e. up the escalators), and note down the rates on offer.

I find a lot of them will have the same rate. The two by the street entrance are usually not quite as good, but I suppose they get the lazy passing traffic.

The one I use most is on the 1st floor, opposite POSB, on the right. It is called Sheen Intnl. Last time I used one also on the right but a little nearer towards the escalators. That one really is almost a cubby hole/glass fronted kiosk.

To the unitiated watch out for the guy (just after Sheen on the right) who quotes offer/bid rates, rather than the standard bid/offer, as that might confuse you. Also on the Ringit you can get some frankly confusing quotes... .42-2.4, i.e. half being quoted inverse! You might want to take a calculator.


p.s. When I said 'trading in size', trust me I don't mean size to buy a Bentley :). Just the kind of sum I expect your Joe Average Expat might need to do a few times a year. On such sums you can get them to shave their rates a touch.

User avatar
JR8
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 16522
Joined: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:43 pm
Location: K. Puki Manis

Exiles

Post by JR8 » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:57 am

Mustafa are currently quoting Sterling at ...
'GBP British Pounds 2.0860 2.1110 '
... a 2.5 cent spread. I would expect that to about half a cent at The Arcade...

missis
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:37 pm
Location: Holland Road/6th Ave

Wow JR8

Post by missis » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 2:22 pm

thats...ooh..at least half a dozen posts mentioning Mustafas that remain untouched! I like it better here already :D

User avatar
JR8
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 16522
Joined: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:43 pm
Location: K. Puki Manis

Post by JR8 » Thu, 25 Mar 2010 2:38 pm

Hahaha... amazing eh? :)

Next up posters will be replying to people asking for suggestions on hotels, and they won't have their topics summarily deleted either.

The mind boggles how horizontally chilled this forum seems to be :D

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “General Discussions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests