Good astro shops in Singapore?

[Mokusatsu]

I'm visiting Singapore in a few weeks. On previous visits I've often bought electronics, clothes and a watch at cheaper prices than I could get them here in Australia. What are the prices on astronomy gear like over there, and can anyone recommend any good shops?

I'm in the market for a pair of high quality 7x50 binoculars and a pair of 100x25s. If I buy from Australia I'd probably get the Andrewscom 100x25s and a pair of Williams Optical 7x50s from the same source. Does Singapore have an equivalent place, where maybe I could save GST?

[tempestwizz]

I haven't researched lately, but I was there for a while a few years ago and had difficulty in locating any serious astro stuff. The closest I found was located at their large exhibition centre. There is an observatory at the centre and also was a planetarioum which ran tours for tourists. The obs was controlled by the owner of a mostly photographic shop located within the centre. he seemed friendly enough, but didn't carry much astro gear. The weather in Singapore is such that it is cloudy most of the time, and it is buried in light pollution, hence not much opportunity for deep sky stuff. I found the prices at his shop weren't cheaper than I could find in the main stream shopping malls, and since it is located about a $25 taxi ride each way from the Orchard Road area I haven't been back on subsequent visits.

Binos should not be a problem to locate at any of the squillion shops there. Probably get confused by a deluge of gear that you are unfamiliar with and won't know if it is good quality of not.

You can get the local GST refunded at the airport on the way out, but you need to ensure you get the appropriate paperwork from the vendor when you purchase it. That action often sorts out the legit vendors from the dodgy brothers also.

Good luck, Id be interested to hear if you can find a proper astro shop there with a range of stuff.

Brian

[Andy01]

There's a largish astro shop at the science centre in Jurong, ask for Jeffrey Lim. http://www.astro.com.sg/astro/index_Final.cgi
There's an astro society based there as well - http://tasos.org.sg

[Mokusatsu]

I checked out that shop's website, their range of binoculars isn't huge. Mainly Celestron. At this point I am gravitating toward just ordering from Andrewscom, maybe taking them to Singapore to claim as a duty free item.

Does anyone have an opinion on the relative merits of the Williams Optical 7x50s vs their in-house brand "ultra" bins which they claim are the same quality as high end Japanese gear, for the same $399 price?

[Visionoz]

Singapore is no longer the shoppers' haven it used to be reputed for!
Even duty-free is not really so except for alcohol/cigarettes and perfumes.

The last time I was there the camera shop assistant told me I should shop in Australia if I found that their prices were the same as is Australia; which is fair enough and thus I bought all my Canon gear here in Perth and enjoy local support/service and warranty... :D

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[dannat]

The William optics & ultra binos are probe made innthe same factory, there may be qc or glass diff (small) , jmo get 10x50 in lieu of 4x50
Keep in mind they are a heavy hand held bino

[dannat]

the binos of alec's in the classifieds i would recommend -minox make some very good quality & importantly mechanically sound binos
minox 8x44 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=140133)

[LewisM]

Having lived in Singapore for too long (unfortunately-lah!), I can only recall ONE shop that actually sold respectable telescopes - Meade, Celestron, Vixen and Tak. He WAS on Orchard Road (unfortunately - means he's more tourist oriented).

Thing you will find out about Singapore is any GOOD shop, and not one out to swindle tourists, is located quite off the beaten track in the residential accommodation areas. Katong for example has the best hobby shop in Singapore (for plastic modellers anyway), and there are others in places like Pasir Ris and even Jurong or Loyang.

[Mokusatsu]

My wife is Singaporean and goes back every year to visit the family. I can certainly attest to the tourist-orientation of the Orchard Road type places vs the ones you'll find in the suburbs.

It looks like for whatever else it has going for it, Singapore is not much of an astronomy optics Mecca... I'll probably order from either Andrewscom or some big American discount place, more likely the former.

[brian nordstrom]

:) Google up " James Ling " he is a friend of mine and fellow iStar owner , he has the 200mm f9 monster .

He is a lovely guy who spends so much time showing the night sky to the public from down town Singapore in his 8 incher .
He would be more than willing to help in any way possible , he is like that , a great guy :thumbsup:.

If you check out the 'iStar scope club' ( google it ) and his contact details are there .

Also google 'Singastro' its the Singapore equivalant of our IIS , a great site with plenty of info on what you are looking for .

:D On a side note it was these guys along with James Ling that tracked down the Non-Existant 'Telescopes.com' warehouse that was supposed to be in Singapore thus proving the site is a scam , there was much talk on this on Cloudy Nites a few years ago , great people just like us that hate scammers :D .

Brian.

[LewisM]

Gee Brian, catch up - Telescopes.com moved to Indonesia :) :D

And Indonesian guys proved it was non-existant too.