365days2playThe one great thing about Singapore is that shops open till late! I’m sure this is one thing I’ll never get used to if I ever move to a European country, or New Zealand/Australia for that matter. Shops in Oslo slam shut at 8pm while in Copenhagen, it is 7pm! For London, if I don’t remember wrongly, it’s 6pm! And shops are not open on Sundays! How do people buy their things if the shops close so early? I was stuck in the rush hour traffic just now. That was 4.30pm, HELLO??? Well I suppose if you leave work at around that time, there’s still 1 or 2 hours for you to get what you need.
Worse still for tourists, museums and castles close at around 4 or 5pm at this time of the year, 6pm if you’re talking about summer. I like to take my time when I’m on holiday, so it’s okay for me, but for those tourists who like to pack their days chock full, I really think that Europe’s not the best place for that. Europe’s a place where you just have to take things slowly, enjoy a very long dinner and go to bed early.
If you want your evenings and nights to be buzzing, definitely go visit an Asian country. The US is not that bad either. I recall when I was in Florida Orlando, some museums were open till 9 or 10pm! I recall being able to visit Disneyworld in the day time and still make it to Ripley’s Believe it or Not at night!
I know the reason for this is that Europeans value family time. Shopping is not a pastime, it’s just an errand that has to be done when supplies run low. But surely you would think that it would be the Asians that value family time just as much if not more?
Anyway, let me leave you with pictures of Strí¸get in Copenhagen, the world’s longest pedestrian street. It’s a shopping haven, but buy what you will before 7pm!
