The Arcade

There’s so much packed into this building. I keep surprising myself at how many times I end up returning here planned or otherwise.
I haven’t tried the money changers and wonder why folks just don’t pull out cash from an ATM when they land at their destination country. The convenience of this option must trump the difference in forex gained by waiting in line and fighting the crowds to get a favorable conversion… Also minimizes the risk of traveling with a lot of cash. Go figure.
I really like the stationary stores and office electronics stores on the first floor. The proprietors are friendly and prices are competitive.
I also frequent the juice stalls and the Parkway Shenton Medical clinic on the 19^th floor which btw has an amazing view of Marina Bay.
I also recently needed a notary and lo and behold there was one to be found in The Arcade. There’s a bunch of random businesses tucked away into every nook and cranny of this building that keeps giving. I shall write a poem about it.

The place to go to for currency exchange. Anything you want, it’s right here! There are so many moneychangers here, of all sizes, that you practically have to walk around for ages to check out the rates.
I come here especially when I have multiple currencies to get, since they have everything in one place. Mustafa has a great currency exchange desk too and that’s 24 hours, but The Arcade has more choices and sometimes better rates.
If you want popular currencies like USD, EUR, JPY, AUD, RMB, MYR etc, it’s all here and in great abundance. The moneychangers are practically fighting for your business with these currencies.
But if you want less popular currencies like Hungarian forints or Danish/​Swedish kronors, they still have them, but in very small quantities and not so competitive rates. The better way would be to identify one of the shops and tell them what you need in advance, so they can procure larger amounts and at better rates specially for you.
The best part about coming here is how accessible it is (Raffles Place MRT) and that there are numerous little local restaurants and dessert stores to eat at after a long, tiring afternoon of currency exchange. That now sounds a little weird after I type it out, although I do this way too much.