Tokyu Hands (Orchard Central)

The buzz: Japanese lifestyle mecca Tokyu Hands is making its presence known in Singapore with a new full-scale department store on Orchard Road.

The vibe: Bright lighting, white walls, and so many twee, colorful products it’s hard to know where to start. Also, it’s busy. Granted, we visited at lunchtime, but the store was filled with people shopping and exclamations of “oh that’s so cute” echo down the aisles. 

The goods: There’s a wide range of products—everything from cookware to handbags to craft items to lipsticks—but the focus is definitely on stationary and beauty products which occupy at least half the store space. While it may look like a little Daiso-esque at first glance, products are actually more on the upper price scale—with umbrellas going for over $50 and aprons from $42. We liked the range of fancy made-in-Japan bags (from $84), the Christmas baubles and decorations (from $6) and the imported Japanese beauty products like the Tamanohada Aroma shampoo ($23).

Why you’ll be back: This could well become your go-to shop for presents thanks to the sheer range of stuff (cute as well as practical) that make it near on impossible to walk out empty handed.